Opening Day, 2014

Yes, I made it out alive. Real life just gets in the way of blogging. Oops. Anyways....BASEBALL! 

Opening Day Night. The tailgate/barhop started at 10:30 am...for a 5:00 pm game. We were ready to party. The season ticket crew plus a lame-o Dodger fan packed into a truck and headed towards downtown San Diego. We parked in the tailgate lot and used our pre-purchased parking ticket because planning ahead rocks. Cruised over to Bub's and met up with some friends for some breakfast and Mama's Peach Tea. And Fireball. And life size Connect 4. After that, we headed to Barleymash...because St. Germain Sangria. It was a little different than the time before, but still so good. After thattttt...Titled Kilt. More booze. After thatttttttt, back to the tailgate lot to meet up with more friends, close out the party and head into the game. Photos of the same 8 people in similar poses for your viewing pleasure:

I'm not a fan of repping your gang with peace signs in photos...Chels knows this, but it happens. And this is the look you get from me when it happens. Whatever. She gets a pass for it today A) Because everyone does it now just so I can get upset. I've learned that no real reaction (or vocal scolding for it) is the best reaction. B) Because it's Chelsea's birthday today and she gets to do whatever she wants...within the law. Or without, as long as she doesn't get caught. Happy Birthday ChewSaw <3

via, edited.

We scored probably my most favorite Opening Day tee's, camouflage print and a Jerry Coleman star. Headed to our seats, watched the opening ceremonies, PLAY BALL! Wandered around the stadium, saw a tri tip sandwich sign, spent $10 on a sandwich, and was left very disappointed. Sat in front of 2 very annoying, sort of racist dudes. Padres took the lead and won the first game of the season. Headed back home in the most awkward ride home ever. Being nice to a veryyyy drunk girl who is in love with one of the dudes in the truck makes for some great jokes that will never get old. And that's it.  

Did you go to Opening Day? Or any of the games played thus far this season? Do you plan to? You better! Because BASEBALL!

Also, a super sweet giveaway where you can use your winnings towards sweet stuff to wear to your next game! Make sure you check everyone who is part of it out and of course, make sure to enter! P.S. Guessing game time! I'm on the bottom left...can you guess what stadium my photo was taken at?! The winner gets nothing extra other than the satisfaction of knowing you get it right!  

Kristin : Brandi : Michelle : Lisa : Kelly

Marty : Emily : Chelsee

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I've Got Nothin'

Seriously. This is my 2^nd post of the month! Look at me killing it with content. Ha. Life hasn’t been blogworthy lately, and I’m not a fan of a bunch of lame filler content, so that explains my internet silence lately. Which kind of totally sucks because I gained a good amount of followers/subscribers/readers and have given you no material. Sorry for being lame.

Let’s throw some updates from my last “life lately” post...because that's all I've got. 

Credential Program Applications: The two teaching credential programs I’m applying to require two applications. An official graduate application that’s pretty much just a formality [which I officially submitted last night!], and a supplemental application where you submit letters of recommendation, test scores, personal narratives, and all the other qualifications you have to enter the program. I’ll submit those in about a week and a half, only because I’m still waiting on two things. 

CSET: Feb 17^th came and went, and I took the 1^st CSET subtest. Kind of feeling meh about it, but it is what it is. Waiting on some money to get deposited into my bank account soon so I can schedule the other two subtests. Scheduling these tests is one of the two things I’m waiting on to submit those supplemental applications…so that money needs to be deposited ASAP. 

Volunteering: My last "official" day in 8^th grade was last Thursday but I'm headed back today to pick up letters of recommendation...the second thing I'm waiting on for those supplemental applications. 

Work: I mentioned interviewing and drug testing for Home Depot, heard back about a week later everything was good to go and they needed me to do some new hire stuff the next day. I couldn't make it happen because it was the day I volunteer and it wasn't enough notice to not show up to the classroom. I didn't hear back for 5 days and 2 voicemails, so I figured out I screwed that chance up for myself and got cut. I did get a call back on the 6th day, but at that point, I had already applied to a different place and had an interview scheduled that I followed through with. I now have a second job as a Guest Ambassador at the SD Safari Park :] I'm super excited to start! I had orientation Tuesday, and one of the best things about it was getting to go on the Africa Tram Safari before our lunch break. Yay for giraffes!

Weight Loss: Still crawling, 22 lbs lost overall, 40/50/60 to go. Now that I’ve got a second job, and the credential program application process is almost done, I’ll have some time to kick this thing into overdrive. Which I’m totally due for. About 110 days until Vegas and Keri’s wedding!

It’s safe to say life has been a little crazy and has left no room for fun. No partying my face off. No weekend getaways of any sort. No Netflix binge watching. No Pinterest pinning sprees. Nada. Other than this weekend. It was Marcus’ birthday, so Friday night was spent playing a little beer pong, stack it, and just dance. Sunday was karaoke night. Good stuff. I was happy to get out of the house for a bit and spend time with some of my favorite people.     

Happy Thursday! 

Weekend Update: Some Busy Days Off

I always have weekends off...but since school started, they’ve for the most part been spent doing school work. I wasn’t completely caught up on school work, but I made an executive decision to have a little fun, and get the school work done at the end of the weekend.

Friday: Did a whole lot of nothing. Except for homework of course, which totally contradicts that first statement above. Oops.

Saturday: I got my hair cut and styled! And then headed Old Town, San Diego for a Day Of The Dead celebration, which was on my fall to-do list. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to participate in this thing because a friend of mine who passed away last year really loved the celebration. If she were still here, she’d most certainly be there. But because she couldn’t, I was there for her. I actually was there as a volunteer and worked at the cemetery all day. I tried not to think about it much because it gives me the heebie jeebies a little.

Day Of The Dead: It’s a Mexican holiday celebrated November 1^st and 2^nd of each year where people celebrate the lives of their passed relatives, friends, and other loved ones. Although it is a Mexican holiday, people from all over the world of different races, colors, ethnicities, etc. are welcome to celebrate it. Some of the more notable things that come with celebrating Day of the Dead are sugar skulls, both the actual candy and face painting, marigolds…which are believed to bring the souls of the deceased back because of their strong aroma, and lastly the altars, which are sort of a shrine in honor of your loved one that includes the previously mentioned sugar skulls, marigolds, and anything else the person might have liked while they were alive, such as their favorite food, favorite music, beverage of choice, etc.

At the cemetery, there was a public altar where people were welcome to bring things for their loved ones. Some people brought photos, vodka, tequila, a big mac, nail polish, a cigar, etc. Below is a shot of the altar. There’s also some popsicle sticks that people could write their person’ name on. A few days after the event, the organizers burn all of the mementos provided as a memorial to everyone remembered.

Due to the abundance of candles in the cemetary at night...
I was given a fire extinguisher.
Marty reporting for fire duty!

After wearing make-up for 12 hours, the best feeling
ever was to be able to put my hands on my face! 

Sunday: Started off with a brunch with some Southern California bloggers! We went to Pacific Coast Grill in Cardiff and all enjoyed some good food and drinks, as well as the company of each other. Jill and Amanda did a great job organizing it all :] They provided us with some cute flowers and vases, as well as some amazingly beautiful necklaces. If any of my readers are Southern California bloggers, keep an eye out for the next event! It most likely will be wine or beer tasting!

The super cute table set up Amanda and Jill put together!

The sweeeet view!

Our pretty gifts from Jill & Amanda!
Stole this picture from Abby!

All of the beautiful girls in attendance!
Thanks Amanda Kathryn for the group photo!

TOP: Jill from Classy with a Kick, Raina from San Diego HR Mom, Abby from The Fabulous Life of a Natural Disaster, Amanda from Amanda Kathryn, Amanda from A Beautiful Mess, Adrienne from Pretty Chouette, Brianne from San Briego BOTTOM: Jessica from Wifesticated, Kailyn from Kailyn Marie, Marty from MartyWithTheParty

I made it home for dinner where my parents were having a small bbq for my grandpa who turns 88 years old today!

Life is so go go go lately, that I don’t even get a break on days off…but even if I did, I’m not sure how I’d handle it. Ha. How was your weekend? Any good stuff in your schedule?

OH! And last but not least…remember that bigs and littles thing I’m doing? Well my “big” Jess is hosting a giveaway and I’m totally part of it. It's my first one! Check it :] 

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Life Lately...Part 2

Whoop. Part 2! No lame-o intro like yesterday, let the good times roll!  

Del Mar Races-

Horse races happen every summer out here and this was my first chance to go in a long time thanks to a work event that was being held there! Bet on random horses mostly because their name related to something in my life. Ended up picking a lot right, but somehow bet wrong and left the track being down $20. Oh well. It was super fun!

Baconfest-

My friends and I had been looking forward to baconfest for months. We are lovers of bacon. Even bought some super sweet day of the pig shirts from Butcher & Baker for this event! Unfortunately, it was kind of a letdown. Extremely hot day, too many people, not enough vendors which led them to run out of food an hour and a half into the event, lots of beeeeer (which sucked for someone like me who doesn’t drink beer) and ran out of water. Our group of 6 probably got about 7 samples out of the 40 advertised food vendors and that was because we split up a couple of times and were in different lines and got samples for everyone. Lots of people were upset, complained on their facebook and twitter. I wrote an e-mail to the organizer and threw a fit because it wasn’t worth the $60 they charged us. They’re working on righting the wrong and offered unsatisfied people VIP tickets for next year…I’ll keep you posted on how that works out :] We went to a friend’s beach BBQ right after and that was cool, but the best thing about that was we all got to see a random couple get engaged! How sweet is that?!!

Our awesome shirts!

The sweet proposal we got to see!

Birthday-

I turned 25 last week. Had some drinks with my friends the night before the big day! Couldn’t hang for a midnight drink because I’m a grandma and was in bed by 11:00 pm. Went to 6 flags with a few people on the day of my birthday. That was tons of fun, but very exhausting. And the drive was kind of veryyy long! Might need to get a hotel in the area next time. Not many pictures of that since I left my phone in the car all day…didn’t want to risk losing or dropping it! Also, one of my biggest goals for myself was to have my degree by the time I turned 25. I graduated in May and got my diploma in the mail the day before my 25^th! Just in time :] Birthday gift to myself was a new watch...I’ve been on the hunt for one for months. Loved this one, pulled the trigger and got it :] 

OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL!

Rascal Flatts-

Wasn’t too excited about this show, would have been the 3^rd time I’ve seen them and the other 2 times were very unimpressive. The only exciting thing about it was The Band Perry was the opener and I’ve loved them and the energy they put into a show for a while now! The Band Perry was great, and Rascal was better than the 2 other times that I’ve seen them, but still…nothing special. Whomp.

Fireball Jello Shots!

Most of us! Including Jessica's crew!

Okay, I think that’s it…or what’s noteworthy at least. There’s a couple of concerts and last few baseball games in the schedule before life settles down a bit. As fun as everything has been, I’m cool with some down time!  

Weekend Update: Natasha's Birthday Staycation

Maybe once school is over, I’ll become a better blogger. 17 days until graduation, WHOOO HOOO! Seriously though…how are bloggers able to post their weekend nonsense first thing Monday morning?!! I barely have enough time to get out of bed and get ready for school/work.

Here’s my weekend update :]

Friday: Did absolutely nothing for the night…except for homework.

Saturday: Worked in the morning, then got ready to go to downtown San Diego for a little staycation while we watched some Padres baseball for my friend Natasha’s birthday! We didn't sit in our regular seats and switched it up a little.

Keri & I

Natasha & I

Rant: The souvenir cups at Petco Park are like exactly the same size as the cup holders so my drink gets stuck and I can’t ever get it out. Instead, I put my drink (that I had taken 2 sips out of) on the ground. The people next to us had left their seats to get food and came back and knocked over my full drink. I kind of sighed super loud…but as a joke. The jerk didn’t apologize OR offer to purchase me a new drink. Asshole.

It was kind of a stressful game because so many people from our group were coming at different times, some had tickets, others didn’t, some misplaced their tickets, and others were just being pissy pants. By the 7^th inning of the game, a majority of us were in our seats having a good time, and were treated with extra innings and ultimately a Padres win!

Besides it being Natasha’s birthday, we also went to the game because the Long Haul Bombers were going to be there jacking hits out of the park. It was pretty cool to see these guys hit the ball hard and far. Pretty sure they were using shaved bats…but who doesn’t in slow pitch?

We hit up Bub’s at the Ballpark for some post game shots and drinks and then headed to the hotel for some shut eye.

Sunday: Woke up bright and early to get ready for brunch at the park…one of my favorite perks of being a season ticket holder. Lots of food, and some interaction with the players. Natasha played catch with one of the Padres, and we chatted up Cashner for a bit while he was chilling in the bullpen. He let us know that one of our favorites, Hatcher (bull pen catcher) was sick and not going to be there. Sad face.

We had an hour to kill after brunch was over so we headed to our seats and waited for the game to start. Caroline’ beer slipped out of her hand so she owed some quacks. Chelsea lost hers too so she also had to pay up.

It was a fun game with a Padres win AND SWEEP over the Giants. After, we headed to Bub’s again for some dinner…I wasn’t too pleased with what I had (chicken fingers) but it is what it is. I guess we’ll just stick to their bar. Right as we were gonna head out, Casey Kelly walked it. Not a lot of fans know he is because he was just pulled up into the majors last year and is a relief pitcher for the Padres, and probably the most handsome guy on the team. He had tommy john surgery not too long ago so he’s actually not playing right now and actually recovering. We blew his cover and asked for a picture and talked to him for a little, super cool guy!

It was a good little vacation, some chill time before I take on these last two weeks of school and finals! 

Weekend Update: Cornstalks I Tell Ya!

Weeeeeeeeeeekend update :] It was a good one!

Let's start with Thursday. I'm in a theater for wannabe teachers this semester and we spent a majority of the time working on a play that we were supposed to perform for an elementary school. We had to write the play/scripts, master the craft of acting, develop and construct out set, and put on a show for the kiddies. Thursday was performance day. It went really well, I'm pretty sure everyone loved it! It took place at Story Farm, Farmer Jessie was the narrator, Petunia & Penelope pig were BFF's with Sally the sheep and even though Shaggy wanted to play with them super bad, he couldn't get them to notice him. Throw in some costume changes, our interpretation of 1 Dalmatian's performance at the Farmer's Choice Awards, the moral of our story which is "Be Yourself" and viola! you have the best play of our class. At least in my opinion. Keep your eyes peeled for Shaggy the Shy Wolf at a jungle gym near you!

Friday was my friend Caroline's birthday so I went over to her place and had dinner with her and her family. The plan was to go out to downtown SD for a night of dancing and drinking. Unfortunately, my back decided it'd be a fun weekend to hurt. No idea what happened but the muscles are like super tight. This kind of killed my plans to go out because of how much it hurt. I waved goodbye as I headed home and they headed to the club.

Saturday was Caroline's pool party/BBQ so I headed back to her place to hang out. It was a pretty beautiful day but the water was cold :[ butttt that didn't keep me out. Spent most of the time playing with her super adorable 3 year old nephew but I did manage to mingle with the grown-ups. We played some drinking games and corn hole and it eventually turned into a jacuzzi night with all of us haning out. I stayed until 11-ish because it was time to head home and get some sleeeeeep.

[Cool & The Gang with a few missing]

Sunday a group of us headed out to Del Mar for the Brizal Bazaar at the Fairgrounds. One of the CLAMS, Keri, is engaged, so we hit up the madness to do some scouting. Holy moly talk about craziness. There were so many people there, and so many vendors! It was more of picking up fliers and seeing cool stuff rather than actually talking to vendors about details and pricing. After a few hours of that, we all went out to La Jolla for some lunch. Good food, good drinks, and good times had by all :]

Then we all parted ways, but Caroline, Chelsea, and I stayed in the area because we scheduled massages for Lime's birthday at Spa Gregories in Del Mar. Thanks for the hook up Groupon! Oh, btw...my masseusse's name was DRAGON. That was pretty awesome. Hahaha. The massage definitely relieved a majority of the tension that was in my back that carried over from the other day! They've gained a customer in me!

Back to reality. Whomp. 

How was your weekend?  

The Rumble: Padres v. Dodgers

Raise your hand if you've failed at blogging lately... [Marty raises her hand.] I usually try to get 2 posts in a week but holy moly life has been a little crazy lately! 

There are 4 more weeks left of school and it's graduation time! This means that I'm about knee deep in papers, presentations, and exams. Also, baseball season started and I'm obsessed with all the action happening with that. Finally, 2 of the CLAMS have their birthdays this month and the way it works with us it's usually a birthweek/weekend celebration so I have to make sure to get stuff done so I can accomodate the celebrations without forfeiting much school work. Oh, and I finally got back on my health kick, time to drop some weight! Which means waking up and exercising before the sun comes out since that's the only "free" (meh, who cares about sleep) time I have! BLAH. As crazy as things are, I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is good.

You know whose life isn't so good? Zach Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Dude's collarbone was broken after getting into a fight with Carlos Quentin of the Padres.

In my 24.66 years of baseball fandom and regularly attending games, I have never ever seen a bench clearing fight and I was at the game last week when the brawl and injury happened!

My BFFs and I have season tickets to the Padres and our next game to catch after opening day was Thursday April 11th which was another Dodgers game! Playing against them is always fun because there's a huge rivalry between the teams and the fans.  

We got to our seats Thursday night which are in left center field, closest to the center fielder. My friends and I have this thing we like to do and that's yelling at the (away) teams center fielder that their shoe is untied (even if it's not) to get a peek at their bootaaaaay. Why? 

Alex Rodriguez and I share the same sentiment. 

Baseball pants make butts look good. Real good.

I shouted at Matt Kemp to "tie his shoe" and to my surprise, he obliged! Kind of. He just bent over real quick and touched his toe and popped back up. Better than nothing I guess!

Matt Kemp on the left.

There were some Padres fans heckling Matt real hard. He was getting pretty annoyed with it and doing hand gestures back to the fans and kept looking back at them between pitches. 

Even doing the same thing as Tony Gwynn Jr. below

I was already pretty excited because I've never seen a ballplayer react to hecklers like this...ever and it was sort of making my night.

THEN...this happened:

View of the brawl from my seat.

I. Lost. My. Mind. Lost it. I couldn't believe I was witnessing a bench clearing brawl! As crappy as the situation was, it was SO exciting to see! After like 5 or 10 minutes of "fighting" everyone cleared out and went to their corners, the pitchers walked back to their respective bullpens which is where our seats are. Good thing I was recording on my phone! As they made their way back and through the door up to the bullpen, one (Dodgers) fan was heckling the Padres pitchers and Luke Gregerson took it super personal and was calling out the fan, check it out:

Right before shit gets real between Gregerson and the other fan, ANOTHER FIGHT BREAKS OUT. OMFG! I couldn't keep my cool. I was too excited. I never thought I'd see the day where this happened. Hahaha. After the second "fight" happened the guys were too pumped to go chill out on their bench. They all stood by the fence ready incase another one happened. No such luck.

The internet and sports media was a buzz all that night and the day after over the fight. Apparently Greinke and Quentin have this history and Quentin thought he was hit on purpose. He took a couple of steps towards Greinke and Greinke said something that caused Carlos to charge the mound which started the first brawl. Once they cleared out Jerry Hairston Jr. (a former Padre) heard some of the Padres (who he will not name. Voldemort?) making fun of Greinke's injury and he got pissed and ran to their dugout to call them out on it. Shit went down again and another brawl sort of happened. At the end of it Quentin, Greinke, Hairston Jr. and Kemp were all ejected from the game. Matt Kemp got in Quentin's face in the parking garage talking crap ending it with "We'll see bitch" while being broken up by Clayton Richards and some coppers. We'll see is right. Padres hit up LA Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week and SWEPT them! Whoop whoop. I'm excited for the next Padres/Dodgers series I get to go to at Petco :]