2012: PHILLIES OPENING DAY

Today, we tell the tale of two Phillies fans. Two Phillies fans on Opening Day 2012.

It was just an ordinary Monday morning; Christine woke up for work grumbling because it was early and the sun had yet to rise. Attempting to be productive at work she arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule and booted up her computer. Four hours to go until she was released to the thrill of peanuts and cracker jacks.

Tom, on the other hand, had taken the entire day off. He arose to the sound of birds chirping, not the nasty bleeping of an alarm, knowing that work wasn't on his agenda. Reading the paper, drinking coffee and petting his basenji took up most of the morning. With baited breath, he waited for the arrival of his favorite daughter.

Finally! Freedom at last! Christine picked up her purse and keys and rushed out the door of her office building. As she sped up the highway she sang loudly in the car while cursing those who just didn't drive fast enough (for her tastes). But she made good time and picked up Tom on schedule.

Of course, as they approached the stadium exit there was an influx of cars causing traffic. Did they not know it was Daddy-Daughter Day and beer was needed STAT?! Beep! Get out of the way!

Thankfully, once a fan of age enters the stadium a Brewerytown beckons. Waiting in line, they decided to get a delicious Flying Fish brew along with a Walt Wit. The joys of good beer are clearly not lost on Tom and Christine; they understand that Miller Lite is water and anything below Yuengling is deemed undrinkable.

Taking his first sip, Tom became giddy from the foam and carbonation.

Not ready to sit down, Christine made the decision to wander around the stadium. This turned out to be a poor idea since within five minutes a giant American flag emerged on the field prompting fantastic views and photo opportunities of course. They ran up the escalator and flew to their seats just in time to see the plane flyover.

It was an incredible sight!

But OH NO!

The game was set to start in 10 minutes, and not to be outdone, Christine made a visit to another Brewerytown. She had to keep up with Tom! She had to make him proud; you know, being the favorite daughter and all. So, when prompted by Tom, she did what any young woman would do...

 

Tom is a bad influence.

There isn't a lot to say past the first few innings of the game. It was a disappointment and throughout the stadium they continued to hear, "it's going to be a long season." Well, it might just be a long season but Christine and Tom will continue eating cheesesteaks, drinking beer and booing the Phillies like real fans do.

LONGWOOD GARDENS - WARNING: THIS IS MIRANDA POST

Today felt like a relaxing Saturday (bonus: it's only Friday!) because I was off work and out exploring Longwood Gardens with my mom, sister and niece. It's the perfect time for me to visit because it's TULIP TIME and they are my ultimate favorite flowers.

This (above) is the best looking tulip I've seen and it also has a great name to go along with the jagged edges; a pirate tulip - that is clearly not the latin name.

Arr! Look at me petals, matey!

 Miranda was excited all day about the flowers which was cute because she would walk up to them, stop and exclaim, "WOWWW!!" Sometimes she said the word so forcefully it looked like she was about to topple over from it. Being able to walk up to a flower and rip the petals off was such a joy to her; even if her mother did let her kill a few plants or two.

Now, even though my mom and I were completely happy to wander around the 1,000 acres of beautiful landscaping taking skillions of pictures my sister kept pestering us to go to the children's garden. This is where little kids can go on scavenger hunts, learn about nature and, most importantly, get soaking wet in their clothes making their parents upset - Miranda was no exception to the rule. She is a lean, mean water splashing machine.

After the soaking, we didn't do much else; just wandered around chatting and chasing the baby. The nice thing about Longwood is that it's a place where you can set your own pace. We spent about 4 hours there and didn't get to a lot of things.

But that's okay because today I became a member and can go there any time I want.

-happy face-

I'M SUPPOSED TO BE AN ADULT?

March 27, 2012.

It marked a very important date in all of our lives.

Did you celebrate? Did you party?

I sure hope so because .... 

I TURNED 30!!! WAHOO!!

Fogo de Chao Key Lime Pie = <33

To celebrate this momentous occasion my family (including the in-laws, of course) trekked up to Philadelphia to get our carnivore on at Fogo de Chao. This restaurant is my new favorite place in the entire world because where else can you get all-you-can-eat meat on a skewer served table side? 

There is one very important rule when you eat here though:  

This is a meat jog, not a meat sprint.  

Take your time because there's more where that came from.  =)

During the meal, Teresa, Kyle and I all were relatively calm and stayed classy (hahaha, classy...) even though we were busy eating entire cows. Karen, however, clearly became possessed by the spirit of the cow...

The birthday celebration continued through Monday and straight into my actual birthday. Trying to outdo the delicious key lime pie I had, Don Pablos handed me a giant sombrero while they sang to me. Ole! I was also  given a free dessert which was basically fried dough covered in powdered sugar and liquid sugar. Sugar, anyone?

And just when you thought that my birthday couldn't possibly get any better.... we went out for margaritas (unfortunately, no pictures were taken of me guzzling the sweet, sweet tequila) and because 30 is the new 20 - err, 21! - I went a little wild. By the time the night ended I was five margaritas deep and hoping to make it to work the next day.

What did I do when I got home at 9:30pm slightly intoxicated?

...besides calling Teresa...

I took pictures of myself with my new iPad, of course!

Then I passed out.

Good times. Here's to being the big three-ohh!