Life 2.1

My brother came to visit this weekend, partly to see me but his trip conveniently coincided with Mardi Gras!

He took a red-eye flight Wednesday night/Thursday morning, so I picked him up before work, gave him the grand tour of my place, handed him a pile of blankets and a pillow and told him there was lunch meat in the fridge and that I would be back later.

After work, we went to a local bar and snacked on some food while the Budweiser Girls asked if we wanted airbrush tattoos of a fleur-de-lis with the BudLite logo underneath. We passed, but Joe did manage to get some Mardi Gras beads with the BudLite logo on them for Bubba. We met up with B² since I have not seen her in ages. We kept it low-key since I had to work the next day.

Joe got rested up on Friday before we headed downtown to meet up with John-John and his Marine buddies. We met them on Bourbon and headed to one of my accounts for a quick pizza before going to the balcony party on Bourbon.

The streets were crowded, but manageable as we made our way to the Royal Sonesta Hotel. After a quick stop at a daiquiri shop, where I turned down an offer from a daiquiri girl to take a shot from a test tube, we made it to the hotel. We flashed VIP passes to get in the door, because you know, that’s how we roll, and up to the balcony we went, where we all got to throw beads to the party-goers below and met up with a couple of my friends from work. We also took the time to snap a couple of pictures for the scrapbook, of course.

That is the daiquiri girl who was selling shots but clearly Joe was already good in the drink department

JJ and John-John in their bead glory

Me and Kristen on the balcony

Joe and me on the balcony

John-John and Joe tossing beads

Somehow during the course of the night, Joe and I got separated, as he and the guys went off exploring. I met back up with him later and we headed home. We did, however, get to see just how the city deals with the ahem remnants of Mardi Gras. They literally bring in bulldozers to scoop up the garbage. No joke. We were driving down Canal at the intersection of Bourbon and it may or may not have been in the wee hours of the morning and we saw multiple bulldozers scooping up trash and dumping it into the garbage truck. Then we also got the pleasure of seeing them powerwash the streets with a horrific perfume-scented spray that proceeded to make me sneeze incessantly.

I was never so excited to go home. Plus, we needed to rest up for Saturday, which started off with a trip to a po’ boy shop for Linner (around 4pm). After Linner, we went back to my place to get cleaned up for Saturday festivities.

I would like to take a moment to describe the weather conditions as of late. In a word, freezing. Yet somehow, I thought it was necessary to wear cute going-out clothes and heels on Friday. That, I learned, was an epic fail. I quickly rectified that on Saturday when I wore my (f)UGGS and a long-sleeved t-shirt layered on top of another long-sleeved t-shirt and a coat over that. And one glove, thanks to Brooke, for my drinking hand. Hey, adult beverages over ice are cold! That was a much smarter route.

Saturday was also Endymion. That is the parade that was going on and we happened to arrive right as it was ending. That translates to hoards of people. We were all crowding onto Bourbon and it was the most atrocious experience of my life. Joe and I were ready to tun around and go home. My dad would have moo-ed like he was in a herd of cattle multiple times. It was THAT bad. We finally met up with John-John and the first words out of his mouth were in frustration. I believe it went something like “I have wanted to punch about 10 people in the last 10 minutes.”

We agreed. I personally had wanted to punch about 20 people, including the pint-size hooligan who thought howling at me would endear me to him. Really, he was the inspiration for the Pants on the Ground song, so odds weren’t in his favor.

As we headed back to the balcony party, I saw someone I worked with and we all rolled in together. I had never been so grateful to be above the madness. John-John ended up retiring for the evening early, but Joe and I lived it up on the balcony with all my work friends. Saturday was definitely a solid night.

In fact, (L-Boogie this is for you) Saturday was a top night….*top* night! (Side note, if you haven’t seen The Wedding Date, you totally should.)

John-John and Joe on Night 2

Joe and me on Night 2

I think this girl’s name was Zeta or something. During Mardi Gras a friend of a friend of a friend becomes your friend.

Some of my work crew

Beads beads and more beads

Joe and one of my work friends tossing beads

More of my work crew

Proof of our time on Bourbon Street

That is a huge pile of beads just on the street waiting for the bulldozer

Saturday was capped off with Joe winning big at the casino, which prompted him to ask if his feet were evening touching the ground he was so pleased. I can’t blame the kid. It was a solid night all around.

Sunday was spent primarily on the couch, since we were exhausted from the night(s) before. We ordered a pizza, watched tv then had a late dinner at Acme Oyster House where we dined on chargrilled oysters, seafood gumbo and friend shrimp. After returning home we rented a movie and watched it before getting up before dawn to get Joe to the airport.

For our first Mardi Gras, I have to say it was a pretty decent one. Though we’re both unsure as to how people do this for a week straight. Not to mention the extra few days thrown in for the Saints Superbowl victory and parade. They clearly have livers of steel.

Cheers to Mardi Gras 2010!

2 Comments | In: Life in the boot-shaped state | tags: Mardi Gras, New Orleans, vacation. | #

I have yet to complete my adventures of my trip to NYC/Jersey so a recap is due, mostly because the longer I put it off, the more likely I am to forget something.

Upon my Saturday morning arrival, I headed to Brooklyn to meet up with Jersey J and a couple of his friends. Check out this view from his friend’s balcony.

Yea, it’s not bad.

Following me changing out of my pajamas which I had flown in, we headed to the Guggenheim Museum where we took in the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. I felt very New York City in the museum, but it definitely wore me out and the idea of ordering pizza in was a solid way to cap off my first day.

Sunday was the Mets game at the new Citi Field, which was already covered in a previous post.

Monday I set out to wander the city. I wandered around Union Square, spending more time in a bookstore than I probably should have but I like bookstores. I like the smell of the pages and I like to browse, what can I say? I also purchased 2 books and am pleased to report that I finished them both. Also a sign of a productive vacation. The subway rides to Brooklyn and back certainly helped with that too. Monday afternoon, I had made plans to meet Jersey J and another winery alum for drinks. Since I was a bit early, I took my new book and read it in Madison Square Park, which was close to my beverage destination. Talk about relaxing.

The three of us watching the Home Run Derby at a local establishment where the bartender created new drinks and had us test them. That part wasn’t bad either. The food was great, including the sliders and shrimp dishes we had.

Tuesday, Jersey J and I cruised around Jersey City, made a Target run, and went to Liberty Park where you can see the Statue of Liberty, along with Manhattan.

The following photo ops presented themselves:

Lady Liberty

The Manhattan skyline (the Statue of Liberty is not pictured but would be at about 3 o'clock)

My hair is totally in a (small) ponytail

Tuesday night-Thursday were pretty much spent in Brooklyn at the Cyclones game, since they were playing Williamsport. Two former players for the price of one

I saw Josh get his first pro win on Tuesday night and met his delightful family.

The winning pitcher and me

Sam played in games 2 and 3 after getting cleared by the trainer. Good thing too, because I was going to be seriously bummed if he didn’t play any of the games I came to!

You know you've hit the big time when you're on the jumbotron

One of Sam's at bats

More at bats

I would like to take a moment to point out that he is 10th in the league with a .323 batting average. Well done, sir, well done.

Holdin' it down at 1B

Following the game Thursday, I hot-footed it to JFK and boarded my plane to head back to the Boot. Sadly, I had to sit on the plane for an hour while they cleared the airspace around JFK for Air Force One. This did NOT make me a happy camper. I would have much preferred to sit in the terminal, where my dinner would have most assuredly consisted of something more than a coke and a snickers bar.

I did finally make it back to Nola and special thanks to B-Squared and Big Metal for coming to get me waaay later than anticipated.

Top-notch vacation, in my book.

No Comments | In: Social Adventures | tags: baseball, New York City, vacation. | #

…or two…or eight. Subtitled: The Athletics Staff Goes to Perdido Key

I can’t believe it took me this long to discuss the fact that I (again–yay!) went to Florida for a mini-break. Promptly at 5pm on Friday, some of the girls hit the road to Perdido (CA-readers: think Pensacola) to meet up with the other half of the Perdido Crew, who had the pleasure of departing Thursday night.

Now, before I get into the joy that was Perdido, I think I must do the car ride to Perdido justice. And by justice I mean it’s time to discuss what went down on said car ride. Because I had never been to a Sonic, it was determined that I must try it because, let’s face it, who doesn’t like tots? So, Wendy busted out her iPhone and began searching for the Sonic nearest the *lovely* city of Theodore, Alabama. (You too will call it lovely. Read on.)

We drove a while and according to the iPhone, the Sonic was supposed to be in a building that most closely resembled a bail bonds store. I’m not entirely sure that was the function of the building, but they coulda fooled me.

So we call on Lola (my GPS) and Big Metal found us another Sonic down the road. We pulled in ordered up, sitting outside of the car for a bit, waiting for our food. Whilst waiting for our meal, we notice a dark-colored sedan with rims, idling in the area of the gas station where one might check the air in their tires. Thinking nothing of the sedan, we wait patiently for our food, chit-chatting. Then, an old beater of a truck pulls up and we witness what we can only determine to be a drug deal. Phenomenal.

Fast-forward to the end of the trip when we think we should probably use the restroom before we get back on the road. We promptly discover there is no toilet paper in said restroom. So Wendy goes in search of toilet paper. She returns, one roll in hand, and informs us that we must return the roll to the cashier because she practically had to give them her license in order to obtain TP. Really, people??

Shaking our heads in disbelief, we rotate in an out of the bathroom and return the roll, only partially kidding when we ask if they are going to charge us per square used.

Then we get in the car and continue our journey. We finally arrive around 10:30 and wind up just chattin’ away until finally at 2am we decide we have a big day of nothing but lounging going on so we had better get some sleep!

Three cheers for sleeping in on a Saturday!

After our leisurely Saturday morning, we all loaded up and headed to Publix where all things delicious are housed. I think Publix is my favorite grocery store. It saddens me that they are not in Louisiana. We bought lunch and stuff for dinner because the idea of all of us showering and getting ready to go out sucked the fun out of dining at a restaurant. Then it was straight to the pool. Where this went on:

Bean and me

Syd and Marley

Bean, Wendy and Leeann

Bean and me

Lisa and me

Leeann demonstrates some of the quality reading time we had

The Perdido Crew

Our weekend palace

After the sun went behind the resort building, thus putting our lounges in the shade, we simply packed up and walked 100 yards further until our toes hit white sand. Check this out:

Yea, this wasn’t too shabby

Lisa livin’ it up on the beach

Body surfing in the ocean

Then we had a nice relaxing dinner and movie night with the girls was a solid night!

Sadly, I wish I had more to report for Sunday but Big Metal and I spent a good portion of it on the road back to the boot where I had a meeting at 5pm but it was still a good weekend getaway!

Ladies of Perdido Crew, if I left anything out, feel free to remind me in the comments field below. I know there were a ton of good stories that I probably forgot!

3 Comments | In: Life in the boot-shaped state, Social Adventures | tags: beach, girls weekend, Perdido, vacation. | #

My new fav word is vacay. As in what I just took, that found me in Destin, Florida.

Destin might also be my new favorite place. It was incredibly relaxing and while I have been on some pretty stellar vacations before (Hawaii and my multitude of baseball trips come to mind) this one was probably the most relaxing and most likely served its purpose as time to unwind from the stress of adulthood.

Big Metal, B-Squared and I left Monday morning and made the 4-ish hour drive. We stopped in just outside of Mobile for lunch before we finally arrived in Destin, where I saw this from our room. It made me happy.

Since Monday was pretty much a travel day, we layed by the pool until the sun went behind a building and then we went off to get dinner at a Mexican cantina, where I enjoyed a strawberry daiquiri with my food. Definitely the way to start off a vacay.

Following a brief stint at the grocery store, the three of us watched a chick flick while we ate brownies that we baked in our “kitchen”. They were delicious.

Tuesday was the big day at the beach. The sand was white, the water was warm and clear…definitely not like a NorCal beach.

We even picked up some good karma by reuniting a lost 6-year old with her mom before we called it a day, since I was slowly becoming a dermatology commercial. As I write this four days later, I am reminded of the time my youngest brother had been badly sunburned and had to the put the catcher’s gear on for a game. The thing is, I misjudged the southern sun. I catch a lot more color down here than back home. That’s in part due to the fact that I wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt at the beach at home. So I failed to reapply and I was playing in the ocean for a good portion of the day. Also something that doesn’t happen at home. The water is way too cold to get in. So I’m sitting on the couch and slightly crispy in loose clothing.

Here I am, frolicking:

After Tuesday, we got cleaned up and went to dinner and ended our evening with another movie. Most of which I missed because my shortstop got drafted in the 3rd round so I was working, trying to set up interviews and whatnot. I didn’t mind that so much because, well, it was the third round.

Wednesday was gonna be another “work” day since it was Day 2 of the MLB Draft so we all sat by the pool and I found an umbrella and parked it there while listening to them call everyone’s name. We had four more guys go on Wednesday and I’m only slightly embarassed to admit that I pumped my arms in the air and screamed “yes!” with such enthusiasm that I scared the pool man who was checking the chlorine levels or something when my first baseman got called by the Mets. I have infomed my first baseman of his duty to be my in to David Wright.

After we had soaked up enough sun, we packed it up and it was then that we found out that Big Metal got a job offer (which she accepted) so in order to properly celebrate that, along with the Draft, we went shopping. I am pleased to announce that I got a whole outfit from Banana Republic for $9.00 by usnig my BR rewards. Following the successful shopping trip, we had a quick dinner before picking up the following dessert that also served as part of our celebration. It was delicious. Even on the drive home the next day.

Naturally, we stayed up late watching a movie and chatting while enjoying our cookie cake.

Because we had to return to reality by Friday, Thursday morning we woke up, enjoyed a nice breakfast in the resort community then went poolside before going to pack up and head for home.

It was such a good four days.

1 Comment | In: Social Adventures | tags: beach, Destin, Florida, vacation, vacay. | #