Way to go Birds!

Gotta love a good night at Camden Yards!  I should have known it was going to be stellar when the O's were already winning by 6 and the first inning hadn't even ended yet.  In the end, a franchise record was broken - 8 Home Runs in a single game (2 players made 2 each!) and the O's beat the poor Phillies 19 -3.  I actually kinda felt bad for them.  That is until the Phillies pitcher was ejected for trying to hit JJ Hardy.  Then I decided they deserved what they got.  

Though the best part of the evening was seeing Chris Parmelee - a player who was acquired today - make 4 hits (2 of which were HRs) out of 6 in his very first major league game with the Orioles.  He totally deserved the Player of the Game honor and the 3 pies that were bestowed upon him by his team mates : )

Way to go O's!

So Sad

After a season of so many ups and not many downs, seeing the Royals beat the Orioles to get to the World Series, was just a little, ok, a LOT depressing.  They've played so well and so hard this entire season.  Getting to the World Series seemed like a foregone conclusion.  But as good as the O's were, the Royals were just a little better.  In this series they couldn't do any wrong while the O's couldn't do anything right.

But even with the loss, all of Baltimore is still behind the O's.  They made the whole city care about baseball again, for the first time in a very long time.  They showed us how to play under pressure and kicked butt in the process!  I suppose since they're out now, they can focus on the 2015 season.  It is afterall, just around the corner... #Wewontstop  #Ibackthebirds

Friday Five

1. I've always loved this song.  Well, when I say always, I mean pretty much since "Love, Actually".  This version might actually stand up to the last 3 minutes of the best romantic comedy ever written!  Still not quite sure why they did it, but I'm happy they did.
           

2. The O's are currently playing in the ALCS championship!  We're down by one run, but we we were down by 4 so we're almost there.  #Wewon'tStop  Go O's! Update- We're now tied!

3. Absolutely anything RENT themed is pretty much perfect. How sweet is this?!

4. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that this inspiration is still around should be the top of my Friday Five list every single week.  But seeing as she rightfully won the Nobel Peace Prize should be sung from the rafters.  Malala Yousafzai  has been an inspiration pretty much her entire short life.  She's amazing and is proof that Pakistan's closed off regime won't silence the real revolutionaries.  Most of all she's someone the women and girls of that region can look up to and emulate.

5. Theatre on television is about the best invention ever.  While I would very much like to get to every show in NYC, it's a little impossible.  But now that Great Performances is screening some fabulous shows like "The Nance," I'm a very happy camper.  Speaking of "The Nance", Nathan Lane may be one of the most underrated actors in NYC and Hollywood together. How has he not won all of the awards!?

Currently...

I was told today, by a friend whose dog house I'm in, that I never talk about myself (which is why I'm in the dog house.in the first place)  In my defense, if she'd asked, I'd have gladly told her what she wanted to know.  But because I didn't say something immediately, she got a bit bent out of shape.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I'm not a big talker in general.  But I've always felt that the whole, brag about everything happening in your life at that very moment, was a bit overwhelming.  Honestly, I'm not that interesting.  In other words that's not how I roll.  But in the interest in making her happy and not mad at me, here's all about me currently in one little post.

I am...sitting on my sofa wrapped up in a blanket trying to clear out some shows off the DVR. (In this case, Supernatural)

I keep...wishing tomorrow was actually Saturday instead of Friday after a ridiculously meeting-filled day.  Though the fact that Monday is a holiday, does make things look a little brighter.

I wish I could...get away somewhere for a quick vacation for a battery recharge.  North Carolina would be nice.

I love...the Orioles and the fact that they're in the playoffs.  I'm used to all of Baltimore getting excited about the Ravens but seeing the orange everywhere is so new and so exciting!

I read...a little too much about the George Clooney wedding in Italy.  I was under the impression he was waiting for me to marry.  Imagine my surprise when he wed the lawyer instead... ; )

I dance...never.  But I do jam to some classics in the car in the morning.

I think...meetings that last longer than an hour should be outlawed.

I really...need to get get a clue with Etsy.  I've been leaving it by the wayside lately and need to get back into the research.

I need...a haircut badly.  But as usual, I'm being totally indecisive.

I should...be in bed.  My eyes are fluttering and I'm pretty sure I've lost the thread on this storyline...

I can...do this much better than sharing this information in person.

I like...cupcakes, especially the double chocolate one I had tonight.  Yum!

I make...cards and such but I've been severely slacking.

I always...Pinterest.  It's a minor obsession that I'm pretty much ok with.

#WeWon'tStop

So the afternoon was slogging along after seeing the Ravens get trounced in Indianapolis.  It was ugly and sad and ridiculous.  But then, this happened:

And of course,the afternoon looked a whole lot brighter!  Way to go guys!  You deserve all the good things to come!

50/50

Depending on what sort of fan you are - baseball or football - it was either a really good Sunday in Baltimore or a really bad one.

If you happen to love Baseball in Maryland, you're probably a little grumpy this evening.  The Orioles lost Friday then managed to pull out a win last night.  But the streak wouldn't continue, and they ended up losing again today.  Of course they are still the AL East champions, so I suppose you can't be too grumpy.  They're not in the knockout rounds just yet, so a small loss to the Sox was just a bump in the road to the World Series.

On the other hand, if you're a football fan in Baltimore, you are happy and a bit leery this evening.  The Ravens by no means looked fantastic today.  Joe threw some ugly passes and players that should have caught the ball, didn't.  But the Browns made some HUGE mistakes too and we ended up with a win anyway.  But the worrisome part was the potentially season-ending (career-ending?) injury to the one of the best guys on the team - Dennis Pitta.  He's a big player who just came off the IR a few months ago, where he spent most of the 2013-2014 season for a fractured hip.  It was scary to see him do pretty much the same thing today.  Sad because we may not have him this season, but even more upsetting because he's such a great guy and you never want to see players hurt.  Fingers are crossed in Baltimore tonight, I'm sure.

At least Maryland can celebrate one win tonight.  But with the way the Ravens looked today, I'm almost certain that the Orioles will have more wins in their future than the Ravens will...

Throwback Tuesday

Yes, I realize it's usually Throwback Thursday, but in honor of the Orioles (fingers crossed) clinching the AL East tonight with a win, I'm making it Throwback Tuesday.  This picture was taken when the Orioles last won the World Series in 1983.  With any luck, we'll have a similar picture in a few weeks.  

The last time they hit the playoffs was 1997.  In the last few years, we've gotten so close we could taste it.  I'm pretty sure all of Baltimore has been waiting for this moment.  And after all the years focused on the grand football team of Baltimore, it's pretty fun to finally be appreciating those awesome baseball players too!  Way to go boys!  #WeWontStop

Friday Five

1. Not only are the Orioles on a hot streak (after the first of 2 games today, the magic number is now 7!), the Ravens managed to pull out a win last night against the Steelers.  And not just any win, a really big win that ended Big Ben's streak of touchdown passes thrown.  Way to go guys! It seems Harbaugh was just a little excited - it seems he forgot just how big his players really are : )

2. In other Sports news, somehow Rory McIlroy managed to hit a golf ball off a tree into a spectator's pocket.  I was never that great at science but that has to be against the laws of physics, right?
            

3.  With the anniversary of September 11th this week, there was a lot of focus on survivors and their families, as well as first responders.  At the time of the attacks, there were also dozens of disaster dogs combing the rubble looking for signs of life.  13 years on, all of those hero dogs have passed away except one golden retriever named Bretagne - and she's about the most adorable dog ever.  Instead of retiring into a cushy life, she still manages to work for a living by allowing children to read to her at a local school. What a cutie!

4. As someone who used to teach little ones, I hearby decree this is an entirely accurate picture of a kid who's just had enough of this crap. : )  It was taken by a White House photographer back in June and somehow was released this week.  I don't even know the kid's name but I want to meet him.

Speaking of cute kids, this one is super adorable too...apparently.  If you don't recognize him, he's the kid that made headlines a few weeks ago for being interviewed by the news and using the word apparently about 20 times in a 2 minute segment - in other words he's a cutie pie and apparently, pretty darn clever too.

5. And people wonder why I don't cook all that often - every darn one of these things have happened to me at least once (most often more than once...)

Baltimore Happenings

Because of the whole Ray Rice shabang, Maryland has been getting quite a lot of bad press over the last week.  Between the Ravens losing terribly last weekend, and the Ray Rice craziness, you'd think Maryland was a terrible place to live with nothing but bad things happening.  This week, that couldn't be farther from the truth.  There are actually tons of fabulous things happening but you'd never know it based on the national press.

First up is the Orioles!  I'm not a HUGE baseball fan, but judging by the quality of the Ravens last weekend, I'm switching to rooting for the Orioles this season.  For the first time in a very long time, they're playing well.  In the last few years, they've gotten increasingly great under Buck Showalter.  And this year they seemed to have finally hit their stride. They're in the race for Division lead.  As of this moment, the magic number is 8.  They only have to win 8 more games to win the division.  How awesome is that!?  Seeing as there's virtually no chance for a super bowl win this year, the Orioles getting to the World Series would be really what these sports fans in Baltimore need - a team to root for!

If I'm going to keep bringing up the Ravens, I suppose I should mention that their rivals are coming to town for Thursday Night Football tomorrow.  A Ravens Steelers match is always dirty and rough and really brings the fans out.  I'm hoping, with everything going on in the NFL, this game will follow the same pattern.  It'll be interesting to see if the team can rev up the same level of energy they usually have when the steel city boys come to town.  If Terrell Suggs is any indicator, tomorrow's game should be quite fun!

Then we have the biggest event of them all, that is completely non-sports related (though sailing is a sport so I suppose one could make the argument...) - The Star-Spangled Spectacular kicked off today with the arrival of a few tall ships into the harbor.  By weekend's end, there should be 33 ships from Navies around the world docked in the Inner Harbor.  There will also be fireworks, the Blue Angels, tours and festivities at Fort McHenry all to commemorate the writing of the Star Spangled Banner 200 years ago.  I spent a lot of time at the Sailabration that followed the same theme in 2012, and was super impressed by everything.  Because of that, I'm super excited to see what they have planned this year.  Be forewarned, I took TONS of pictures in 2012.  You should probably be prepared for another onslaught this weekend : )

Friday Five

1. "Delicious!" by Ruth Reichl: I've read a few of her other books before but this was her first novel and I fell in love with it.  For some reason I haven't been reading as much as I usually do this summer, and this was the first book that I flew through and couldn't put down. Fantastically chick lit and foodie lit - my two favorite types of books.  Seriously, how could it have gone wrong?!

2. A fabulous sports week: Not only did the Ravens triumphantly return last night to a 23-3 win against the Niners, but the Orioles are also winning currently 12-2 during their 60th anniversary game.  To top it all off, Tiger Woods missed the cut and Rory McIlroy is in the lead for the 3rd week in a row.  Now if we could Phil Mickelson to start playing actual golf again as opposed to the putt-putt he's been playing the last few months, things would be perfect!

3.  Not to sound like a broken record, but seriously, the GISHWHES'ers are doing some astoundingly awesome things!  Check them out!  They so deserve the recognition mostly for being brave enough to go for it!

4.  File this under the label "Strangest News Story You'll Read All Week" - Kama the Surfing Pig...Yep, you read that right.  He's a pig that lives in Hawaii and has a thing for surfing...apparently.  It's bizarre, yes.  And a pig doesn't really have facial expressions but he certainly looks like he's having a good time : )

5. I'm still not over the trauma of having to present but I have to say I feel a bit accomplished in the fact that I didn't completely suck.  I'm also pretty darn proud of myself for getting a bunch of tech geek guys to actually Pin things to Pinterest.  I'm totally taking that as a win!

Friday Five

1. Apparently, without me knowing it, I moved from Baltimore to Pamplona Spain this morning.  Seriously?  How does this happen?

2. In honor of the US Open occurring this weekend, Golf.com has had some seriously great stories this week.  This one on the US Open 15 years ago, that Payne Stewart was a wonderful tribute to a great golfer.  And this one, on how much greater than Tiger, Phil Mickelson just makes me smile!

3. Last week was the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy by allied forces.  To memorialize this anniversary, Brian Williams spoke with 4 veterans who were there on that day and took them to Normandy to memorialize the anniversary.  It was a fantastic hour of television celebrating the Greatest generation in every way they deserved.  I'm not sure it's online but if you ever get the chance to see it, it's definitely worth watching.

4. A great night at the ballpark.  Last night I had free tickets to the O's game.  Of course, it's been raining everyday for the last week so I wasn't assuming it was going to be a good evening.  Somehow, even after a ridiculously wet day, the rain finally stopped about 5ish and the game went off without a hitch.  On top of all that, they won 4-1.  Woohoo!

5. A fresh new start which is all I'm going to say right now.  But suffice it to say - Yay!

Wishful Wednesday

After the first real day of spring here in Maryland, with temperatures above 60 and lots and lots of sun, I'm most definitely in the Ballpark mood.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that the O's clobbered the Yanks last night 14-5 and seem on their way to doing it again this evening, after a small rough patch.  I'm so looking forward to an evening at Camden Yards enjoying some Boog's BBQ and lemonade.  Go O's!

Friday Five

1. Love those O's!  Okay, I'm not nearly on the O's train as much as I'm on the Ravens train, however, when they do things like this, you just have to support the boys in orange.  Buck's basset hounds are about the cutest little dogs I've ever seen!

2. Anyone looking to purchase me an early Christmas gift can look no further.  Too, too cute!

3. A girls afternoon at the park with the niece, followed by a girls evening with the niece and her mama.  An afternoon will perfect early September weather and cutie to spend the time with: Perfect!  Today's Natalie-isms include:

N: Um, Aunt Kris, my seat's wet.
Aunt Kris: Why is your seat wet?
N: Um...I spilled...

After learning what the word rotten meant: (muttering under her breath as she's trying to unbuckle herself) This rotten car seat...

4. The new trailer for Richard II: I've been waiting for months to see it, and while it's not what I imagined (David Tennant is playing Richard, I was assuming you'd hear or even see him at least once...of course I was assuming you'd at least see someone;anyone instead of just the English countryside) it's still pretty stirring.

5. During a crap week, the fact that in LESS than four weeks there will be a light at the end of the tunnel: I'm going to England, Paris, Stratford and Scotland!  Can't believe it's so close but in weeks like this it feels so far away.  Come on October!

Maryland, My Maryland

Yesterday, BuzzFeed (my favorite useless news site) posted this article on 20 reasons why Maryland is the "Coolest" State.  Now I've never quite figured out exactly how BuzzFeed works.  Do they have a staff that writes for them?  Or do they have contributors?  Because I think I've seen this article at least 10 times already substituting 10 other states/cities/countries/colleges/etc.  However, I must admit, it's fun to see my everyday in a nationwide story.  But, I'm not sure I agree with their reasons.  Maryland is pretty cool, as much as I complain about it, but their reasons why it's the coolest, are a little weak, quite honestly.  I'm not sure I'm creative (or invested) enough to think up 20 reasons why we Marylanders rock, but I bet I can dream up at least the top 10.

1.  Have to agree with the article on this one, the Ravens are the reigning Super Bowl Champions.  There is nothing we love more than our boys in purple!

2. We claim Cal Ripken, Ray Lewis, Michael Phelps, Edgar Allen Poe, Bryan Voltaggio and Josh Charles as our own.  

3. Not to be outdone by the Ravens, the Orioles began their own hot streak at the end of last season, and contrary to the last few games, have been continuing on that streak this season as well.  It's been quite a while since we've seen it, but we just might have another pennant soon.

4. Maryland Seafood.  Yeah, we're pretty famous for those little blue spidery things that everyone just loves (i.e. Maryland Blue Crabs) but the oysters, shrimp, and fish shouldn't be counted out.  

5.  We are home to Natty Boh (which is apparently a thing to be happy about) and Old Bay which BuzzFeed is correct in saying "we put that on everything!"

6.  Our weather rocks at least half of the year.  Sure it's hellishly humid in the summer and we could quite possibly get up to 4 feet of snow in the winter, but you have to admit autumn and spring are pretty nice.

7. Annapolis - A drinking town with a sailing problem.  There's really nothing to complain about when you're surrounded by boats and water, restaurants and shopping, historic monuments and present day houses of government.  It's the tourist heart of Maryland and I'm pretty fond of it.

8.  We can go down the ocean, hon.  Not many states (well, aside from all the ones that have a coast line, I suppose...) can boast an actual beach and boardwalk.  When you pile on the availability of Thrasher's French Fries, Dumser's Ice Cream, Boog's BBQ and Fisher's Popcorn, you're looking at one world class destination.

9. On our very own Ft. McHenry, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner.  The fort still exists today and plays host to multiple patriotic celebrations each year, as well as field trips and tours.

10. Washington DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and the Carolinas, are drivable within a few hours time.  If we really wanted to, we could leave the country (Canada) without jumping on a plane or train.

See that?  Contrary to what all food TV hosts that come here ramble on about, it is possible to talk about how great Maryland is without mentioning "The Wire"...

Let's Go O's!

It was the perfect night for my first Orioles game of the season...if you overlook the torrential downpour that delayed the game by 30 minutes, the absolute invasion of Baltimore by Bostonians (such a huge Sox faction that when everyone screamed, I had no idea if it was good for us or them), and the complete and utter thrashing the poor O's took from the Sox (it was 7-2 when we left, and it wasn't even the 8th inning yet...I'm too afraid to  search for the final score).  So, you know, a wonderful summer night at the Yard!

 

Contrary to what it looks like, I do actually have orange on.  And no I have no idea what the chick and the dude behind us are doing...

 

 

Birds of Baltimore

There's been quite a bit of excitement here in the Baltimore area this week.  We Ravens fans are usually fairly excited throughout the season.  And when we are doing fairly well, we tend to go a little overboard.  But what's really gotten us riled up this week is the fact that the Orioles played in their first playoff game in 15 years on Thursday and won. This means that we move on in the playoffs but more importantly we get to play the Yankees...at home!

With the Ravens AND Orioles due to play today, Baltimoreans were more than a little excited.  The Ravens game went off without a hitch.  They played sloppy but not as sloppy as Kansas City and came out on top of a crazy low scorer (9-3).  But unfortunately MD's goofy weather has gotten in the way of our Orioles' fun this evening.  The game was due to start at 6:15 but as of 8:30, it's still rain delayed.  It would seem the excitement will be holding off until tomorrow, I assume but who knows?

But that's ok.  We are still super proud of our Birds of Baltimore and we'll be riding the fun train as long as this lasts!