BASEBALL Vacation

For those of you who know, one of my life goals is to attend as many Major League ballparks as possible! I've currently seen: the Oakland Coliseum (Oakland A's), AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants), Angel Stadium (Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles... I hate that name, it's either LA or OC, figure it out!), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Arlington Ballpark (Texas Rangers) and the former Shea Stadium (NY Mets). That makes eight... out of 30 teams - I've got a lot more to go!

But this summer, I'll set food in another :)

J.D. went to college in Des Moines, Iowa, and he absolutely loves the midwest. My former boss at Pacific recently moved to Omaha, Nebraska. Cool, so how does this all fit in???

Well, the College World Series has forever been held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha and is rich in history, stories and above all - college baseball playoffs. 2010 will be the final season the CWS is held at Rosenblatt so I guess they're going ALL OUT this year. I've been told to do so by about five different people, so this summer I will be volunteering at the College World Series in Omaha! I can't wait to be a part of all of this, make some baseball connections and see some new parts of the country.

J.D., who also does the same thing as I do for a living at Sacramento State University, is also extremely interested in volunteering! The CWS runs from June 18-27 so what we're planning on doing is flying out to Omaha on June 16.

The night we fly in, we'll find a hotel near the airport and explore Omaha. On the morning of the 17th, we'll rent a car (yay, I'm 25 now and can finally do so!!!!) and drive three hours south to Kansas City where we'll explore the city and also catch a KC Royals game at Kauffman Stadium (MLB park #9!) in the evening. Then the plan is to stay the night in KC, get up on the 18th and drive 3.5 hours north to Des Moines, Iowa, where J.D. gets to show me his old college stomping grounds for two days. Maybe we'll even fit in a minor league Iowa Cubs game....

On the morning of the 20th, we're hoping to make another 3.5 hour drive to Omaha in order to volunteer at the College World Series for a few days before flying back to California on the 24th.

Can't wait!! There's going to be so much baseball jam-packed into one week. We started pricing it out last night and are looking to purchase flights and reserve the rental car this weekend!

After this I should really consider making a weekend trip to San Diego to see the Padres play and essentially knock down the last remaining California ballpark :)

Oh and did I also mention J.D.'s fav team is the Mets??? So for his birthday next month, I got him tickets to see the Mets play in San Francisco this July. Third row behind the Mets' bullpen... what a good girlfriend I am :)

Welcome to the Rock

I've been living in or near the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly my entire life. And for some reason, I've never been to Alcatraz. I've missed out on elementary school field trips there or something, don't know. It's something I've always noticed and have known about my whole life, but figured it was touristy and I am not a tourist.

Well not anymore kids. This weekend, I am going to be a San Francisco tourist!

With the exception of a group of 10 of us after prom - I'm going to be staying in my first hotel in The City. For Valentine's Day/President's Weekend we're leaving for SF on Sunday morning and staying until Monday afternoon.

We're probably going to the SF Exploratorium since they have two things that we think are neat: an exhibit on the science of baseball (!!!) and a special Valentine's Day "Ultimate Date Tour" where you learn about science and love, emotion tracers to the brain and even whether or not you and your "date" create finger "sparks." It's totally dorky and right up our alley. (Or is that just me?). Then we're trying to find a place to eat dinner - so far we have reservations at a sushi/seafood place in the Nob Hill district, but I'm still trying to see what's out there. And we might close out the night at a wine bar! But the best part about our hotel is that they provide a complimentary wine tasting hour with our reservation, so that's always an idea :)

Then once we grab some breakfast and check out Monday morning (can't believe I actually get a day off!) we're going to take an early boat out to Alcatraz and then head back to the pier or Fisherman's Wharf for some clam chowder in bread bowls :)

And with any luck, our puppy viewing on Saturday night goes well and we can take one home when they're ready to leave mommy on Feb. 22.

Enjoy the long weekend, everyone!

Las Vegas, finally!

So after avoiding it for nearly a month, it's now time to regale you with tales from my first "real" trip to Las Vegas.

DAY ONE

J.D. and I hopped on our plane on Dec. 12 in San Francisco, headed towards Las Vegas. We enjoyed the quick one hour flight in the middle of the day, but upon arriving in Sin City, stopped to grab a quick bite to eat in our terminal. We tried to find a healthy option and ended up paying $20 for two half-sized paninis, chips and a soda. Yikes.

While awaiting our luggage, I wanted to wander through the airport, as every aisle was lined with slot machines or video poker! But again, grabbing our luggage was a breeze, as hardly anyone was flying to Vegas in the middle of the week, in the middle of winter. So we grabbed a cab and made our way through the desert, to the Strip, and our final destination, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.

We walked up to the front desk, and I asked the woman working if we could possibly check in an hour early, since our flight arrived sooner than anticipated. She replied that it was no problem, but we'd have to wait 20 minutes before heading up to our room because house keeping was still tidying up.

No problem, we still had to eat our lunch and wanted to check out the place. So we stowed our baggage behind the desk and wandered in awe throughout the hotel. Let me just say that the ambient lighting and soft music pulsing through the lobby made me feel like I was inside of some futuristic day spa. We eventually made our way through the casino and to the central dining area. Again, hardly anyone was around, so we had prime real estate at an open table in front of some crêpe/frozen yogurt shop (guess what I had after lunch?!).

After filling our bellies and wasting over 30 minutes, we headed up to our room. Except, the keys didn't work. So we trekked back downstairs once again, asking for them to re-key our cards. So the same woman apologized, said yes the key was in fact dead, and re-keyed it. She also told us, if it didn't work a second time, to call the front desk from the phone located in the elevator room, and a technician would come up to help us.

Guess what? The second key didn't work, so I angrily called the front desk and they said someone was on his way. But J.D. and I waited, and waited. And made a pact that if 20 minutes passed, we'd call again. So he did in 20 minutes, and they still maintained that someone was on his way.

Well, after an hour of waiting, someone finally did meet us. And was appalled that we'd been waiting so long, because he only received the work order 15 minutes ago. He walked us to the room and explained that the entire system had switched to new keys and the front desk was still using the old system, because - it not so few words - they were idiots. So he told us he'd relay the word on that we'd been inconvenienced and he was on his merry way, as we, finally, made it to our room!

And what a room it was! I believe it was almost 800 sq. ft., including a living room with massive TV, front bathroom, bedroom with walk-in closet TV thing, and the largest room of all - master bathroom with TV - waterfall tub, shower, and a separate room for the toilet.


Anxious to get out, we wanted to familiarize ourselves with every corner of our hotel, then hit up the Strip at night! But while I was getting ready for our night out, J.D. angrily called guest services and complained about our hour ordeal. The front desk apologized for our inconvenience and offered us a $100 credit to the hotel owned dining services! SWEET! That would be about three free meals for each of us to share. Suddenly, that hour wait didn't seem so bad anymore.

As promised, the technician did put in a good word for us at the front desk, and they called apologizing for their f-up and were willing to offer us a mere $50 credit. However, she looked at our file, and realized we'd already been given $100. Again, she apologized and hung up. I'd be ok if I am never apologized to again after that cluster.


Then we were out, walking down the Strip when our bellies once again called to us. So we decided to enter the first casino, New York, New York, and look around there for a place to eat. Our location ended up being Nine Fine Irishmen, an Irish pub/restaurant.

Drinks around, J.D. ordered fish and chips, as I picked out a maple-drenched piece of salmon with leeks and dried cherries.

And then the rest of first night was all about taking inventory. After dinner, we walked the length of the strip and ended the night with a large "vase-like" glass of yummy frozen alcohol and sugaryness.

This is what we saw that night (much to our hurting feets' dismay):

Days Two, Three and Four to come!

Aloha

Here are some pictures I took on my iPhone from my trip to Hawaii over Labor Day weekend!

Morning run on Waikiki, 8/28:

Breakfast at the Hilton, 8/28:

Beach, 8/29:

Margaritaville, 8/30:

Hodgepodge of photos

Since I've been talking a lot about my adventures, I figure I'd post some photos for you all to see. These aren't really turning out full size... I'll see if I can figure out how to make them smaller. In the meantime, here is the link of all my recent photos on facebook. You can get the actual size there!

Enjoy! Hope the holiday weekend treated you all well :)

Moules frites and my new kitchen/dining room!

J.D. and me at my alma mater: UC Santa Barbara!

Wine and cheese tasting in Santa Barbara. That was soooo delicious!

Santa Barbara crew at another wine-tasting room and jazz house! I had such a blast :)

Why I've been living in a cave

Tomorrow is my last day of grad class!!!! All I have to do is turn in my paper, present for about 5-10 mins., then I'm on my merry little way for the summer. That means, however, that I need to finish my paper (I'll get it done after lunch at work, nothing else today anyways).

And then I get to start thinking about moving THIS WEEKEND! I have to put up pictures of the new place soon, it's kind of cute really :) I'm very excited for my own place finally, for the first time in my life!

And then J.D. and I were looking at where my Delta/American Air/United sky miles could get me this summer. Belize is actually really cheap, fits in with my miles, and after watching a documentary on the area, looks like a wonderful plan! Especially since I promised myself that after living in France twice and visiting lots of Europe, the next place I'd like to visit in my life is South/Central America. It's not actually going to happen, but a girl can dream right?! :)

Other than that, when I'm done with grad school tomorrow, I have three more weeks of baseball until the year is over. Then the final week of May, I'm going to move Aimee out of her apartment and spend a few days in Newport/Huntington again -- we're thinking about going to California Adventure in Disneyland this time. Then the weekend of June 6, it's Laura's wedding at Lake Tahoe! And then my weekends are free free free until work starts back up again in August. That's also when I get to make the trip up to Eugene, Oregon, for Jenn and Eric's wedding.

Oh yeah, and did I mention, I'm getting a job promotion that should start by mid-May?! Lots of exciting things to look forward to this summer, maybe Belize will be another one?

"Work Trip"

This last weekend was such a blast! I'm so grateful my final paper was moved back a week, otherwise I would not have been able to have had the opportunity to go down to Orange County this weekend!

First of all, I've always wanted to go down to Cal State Fullerton because that baseball team's almost like a legend among all D1 collegiate teams. They just have so much history, and for an A's fan, have had a lot of players go professional. The field was beautiful, it was extremely hot all weekend long, culminating with a 95-degree day game on Sunday. It almost had a minor league feel, so again, I'm really excited I got to see the park!

But that's not entirely the whole story.... I sort of got to see history in the making! See my article and read the PDF I made to understand what I'm talking about :)

Other than that, get ready for a brief recap of the weekend.

THURSDAY: My sister came and picked me up and I got to check out her house in Newport Beach for the first time. I'm really jealous of where she gets to live! Only one block from the ocean she lives and to kill time while we were waiting for our friend Gianna, we walked a couple of blocks down the street to this small dive bar on the ocean. It was a neat little sports bar with a Mexican theme, so of course we each had a margarita to start things off. While waiting, this group of guys from Jersey (just imagine the accents already...) stopped at our table and "had to find out who we were." Small world, one of them went to UCSB. But a cute awkward and tall guy started talking to me since I was getting so heated with the Angel's game on tv. In the land of the Angels, I was actually cheering when they started getting pounded!

Long story short, they invited us to come over and take shots in Huntington Beach (where we were ironically headed for dinner), but to our better judgment we turned down the offer from what would have been a drunken chauffeur. Then Gi finally arrived and we headed out to a delicious Mediterranean hole in the wall restaurant in downtown Huntington. We stayed there for hours, as the waiter flirted with us all night and gave us free appetizers and baklava after dinner. The baklava, he said, was a gift after I correctly guessed that he was originally from Turkey, and not Greece, as my sister surmised.

This is where it gets weird, "Max," he said his name was, started to develop a little crush on my sister and then he started showing us pictures of Istanbul, saying we should go visit soon. While it is much prettier than I'd ever imagined, his next suggestion was proposterous. He told us to go and his parents would pick us up from the airport, house and feed us the entire time. Wow..... As the night began to dwindle away, he suggested we go to bars with him. Instead we booked out of there and went to a bar where I met my friend Chris, who works at our athletic conference office and who I have almost daily contact with, but I had never met up until that point. It was a good night made that much better when our friend Max randomly showed up. Needless to say, Aimee was quite unhappy about the whole thing, especially after I kept saying she'd dance with him.

FRIDAY: Oh yeah, did I mention I was on a work trip? We didn't have to be at the field until 4ish, with game time set for 7 p.m. So Aimee and I took our time waking up, then quickly showered and hopped on bikes and rode around Newport all afternoon. About lunchtime, I decided I wanted to go to a little diner and find some kind of brunch food, so we found this cute little surf shop-inspired diner and got egg white omelets with all kinds of fruit and veggies. And I indulged my inner child by ordering a tall, cold glass of chocolate milk.


After riding around a bit, we stopped at the harbor and then made our way back to her house, packed up and watched tv at my hotel suite in Brea before it was time to head back to the field. That was an exciting night, as my Tigers defeated Cal State Fullerton, the NO. 6 TEAM IN THE NATION!!! 5-4 in the top of the ninth inning, after we put up four runs in that inning! It was also my first time on radio since all the broadcasts prior were broadcast solely on the Internet, and the person working in the studio for the radio station had nothing but good things to say about my broadcast. So that was an exciting moment for me.

SATURDAY: Taking our time waking up again, we headed down to the lobby and had breakfast with Ben, my co-worker since the softball team was also playing at Fullerton last weekend. After breakfast, Aimee and I met our student team manager, Antonio, and headed to Downtown Disneyland! It's been about five-six years since I last went to Disneyland, so that was fun to come back to the area again. We first went novelty shopping and then found ourselves in the ESPN Zone. Antonio treated us to a game card and we played sports/arcade games for the better part of an hour. My favorite part was actually striking out Alex Rodriguez of the NY Yankees in a pitching simulation. But I won't tell you that my fastball only clocked at 43 mph. Embarrassing.... the gun must have been off. That's ok though, because I get bragging rights since Aimee walked A-Rod on four-straight pitches and Antonio gave up a home run ot Jason Bay. After we ran out of points, we headed to the House of Blues for lunch and then drove back to campus to catch some of the softball game that afternoon. About an hour later, it was back to work for me, so I went up the concourse and on the other side to the baseball diamond, where I got to broadcast another win for Pacific!!! This time it was 14-10, after we posted four runs in the sixth, seven in the seventh and two in the eighth for our FIRST series win EVER against the Titans. Super exciting.


SUNDAY: Wasn't all that exciting, as we woke up and went straight to the field for the only day game of the weekend. Actually, scratch that. Baseball games always make for a fun day. Can't win 'em all though, but we fought hard and almost pulled out the sweep with a 4-3 loss before making the 6.5 hour bus ride back up to Stockton.

Again, it was a great weekend and I'm so glad I got to go! There's nothing better than baseball, except maybe baseball in warm weather, no, how about baseball in warm weather in Southern California on the beach?

Heaven.

ENFIN!

Yessssss :)

In a little over two hours, I only have to teach THREE classes (from hell) and then it's Christmas break! No more work until January 7th!!!

Then Aimee and I are off to Cannes, Toulon, Lyon, Paris, and Switzerland!

New Year's in Paris is going to be legit!