29 Things I'm Thinking Right Now

i'm alive. and this is a real blog post. not a mirage. i know you haven't seen one of these from me in a while, so i understand the confusion. you get 29 thoughts that have crossed my mind recently in honor of the 29 days i didn't post this month...you're welcome.

-one of my favorite friends, keri, got married over the weekend. it was an incredible wedding.

-getting pampered at a salon as part of a bridal party rocks. free champagne. and you hear things like how your eyelids are perfect pallets for makeup. and how beautiful your hair is. and that your eyebrows are shaped perfectly.

-bachelorette party was in vegas. it was my first time there to really party since i've turned 21. it was a lot of fun. and it was not a lot of fun. both. at the same time.

-vegas recap: long drive. edc weekend. don't like techno music. coyote ugly. big ass pizza. sleep. pool party. lots of booze. lost sunglasses. thunder from down under. lax @ the luxor. tired feet. hotel pizza. coyote ugly. sleep. sunglass shopping. win big money. pool party. expensive dinner at hakkasan. long ass line for afrojack at hakkasan. long ass walk to hyde at the bellagio. long as wait at the bellagio. sleep. pack. drive home. sleep.     

-you're not supposed to fall in love with a stripper. but i did. one that's in thunder from down under <3

-69. the amount of times we heard "that's a big ass pizza" while carrying a pizza down the vegas strip.

-your phone screen can still shatter while being totally enclosed in a lifeproof case.

-blood orange vodka rocks.

-ninja mimosas rock. thanks juliette :]

-my job at the safari park still rocks.

-baby cheetahs are the cutest. we have one at work right now.

via

-i'm still overwhelmed at my office job. a month and a half left and i'm done.

-anyone else think that ice challenge is stupid?

-i need to pick up on this fitness and healthy eating thing again. it's totally been abandoned this month.

-i need to actually WEAR my fitbit. it sits in my purse and only counts those steps.

-i like soccer. i like team usa. i like competitions that take place on a worldwide stage. i can't get into the world cup this year. not sure why.

-i miss playing soccer.

-i've committed to using a lilly pulitzer jumbo agenda for the rest of my life. i'm obsessed. with lilly. and with consistency. *i've used the small for 2 years and loved it. just needed to go up in size. and this is totally not an ad.

-i'm really good at holding grudges. that's not nice of me.

-television: so over pretty little liars. super behind on sytycd. wish cara maria didn't get ko-ed from the challenge. picked up on mad men. ellen still has reruns on. i might re-watch the hills.

-my next teacher test is in 2 weeks, and i haven't studied. i start today. my notes will be titled "pink lemonade" because i'm using a yellow legal pad and a pink highlighter. 

-i complained about that whole angels stadium thing to management. they apologized. and someone offered me free tickets. i didn't take them up on it. i'll elaborate more on this soon.

-3 weeks ago i did a wine and paint thing for another friends bachelorette party. i've always wanted to do something like that. and i loved everything about it other than the part where i suck at painting. 

-i'm getting california fever. i want out. never thought i'd ever say that...but i feel like i need a big change in my life after i finish my credential program. looking at dallas and nashville right now. this might just be a phase.

-i need to read mocking jay. 1st part comes out in a few months and i still haven't cracked open the book!

-i need to stop spending money! but a savings account totally burns a hole in my pocket!

-my biggest struggle right now is deciding between carrying a cross body messenger bag for school and a purse with handles for personal crap OR a cross body purse for personal crap and a shoulder tote for school.

-tony gwynn is gone. i'm sad, but not distraught like i feel i should be.

-tony gwynn memorial was the coolest/weirdest thing to attend.

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 Obvious Reminders For MLB Opening Day

MLB Opening Day. My favorite day of the year <3

There’s a few different “Opening Day” celebrations happening this year. The first is the officially official Opening Day of 2014 which actually happened a week ago when the DBacks played against the Dodgers in Australia. The second is Opening Night which is this Sunday, March 30th, Padres v. Dodgers at Petco Park…the game I’ll be attending :] The third is Opening Day which is Monday, March 31st. The last "Opening Day" is your respective team’s Home Opener which might happen Opening Night/Day orrrr you might have to wait at least 3 games for their away series to finish up before they head home and have their Home Opener. Regardless of what Opening Day you’ll be attending, baseball season is starting and that’s a wonderful thing. So there’s some things you should know for that first home game of the year…

BUT FIRST! Let’s start with a small font disclaimer. I might not be totally qualified on advising of things to know for Opening Day. Even though my friends and I have been to first home game of the season at Petco Park for the last (at least) 4 years…I wasn’t totally “there” ifyouknowwhatimean. #toodrunktofunction. Also...these suggestions are based on opening day and busy games at Petco Park. Some suggestions might totally apply to your local stadium, others won’t. Sorry ‘bout it.

Tickets. 
Do you have any? If you’re planning on going to the game, I’d suggest getting some. At this point, it might be a little too late for some of you because Opening Day might be sold out. That’s the case with the Padres…Opening Night sold out about a month ago, so anyone looking for face value tickets is kind of SOL. The remaining options are overpriced Stubhub, unknown third party ticket sites, sketchy Craigslist, or scalpers. If you find a sweet deal, awesome! You can totally keep reading. If not, and you don’t have tickets, bookmark this for next year when you plan ahead! If you don't have tickets but still want in on the action, head to a bar near the stadium and watch it on tv! You'll most likely be among others who failed in getting a ticket having just as much fun! 

Parking. 
I haven’t had much trouble with this, but I know how much of a pain in the ass it can be. For starters, consider traffic. Leave with enough time to either totally avoid traffic altogether, or budget enough time to be okay with be moving at a crawl…or slower and maybe miss some of the game. Everyone and their mom goes to Opening Day, and since everyone is headed to the same area, the roads are gonna get backed up. Also, because everyone is going to the same area, everyone is probably going to be parking in the same area too. Don't get stuck without a parking spot! If you can, buy parking passes in advance. That way you know you've got a guaranteed spot no matter how late you leave and how much traffic you sit in. You don't want to spend 40 minutes looking for parking half a mile away and pay $40.  

Transportation. 
How are you getting to the game? And home from the game? Alive? I hope so! The most important point with this is to make sure you've got a sober driver. To and from the game. If everyone wants to party, look into public transportation or hiring a driver! 3 years ago my friends and I took the train and trolley to Opening Day. From what I can remember, it was kind of a blast. We were able to bring booze on the train, party on the way down, and had reliable transportation! If you gave your limo driver the night off, download an app (Uber/Lyft...whatever) and have someone pick you up! Or book a night at a hotel in the area and walk/cab it. The other thing to keep in mind with transportation is to make sure you think about traffic. If you're anything like me, you'd rather be an hour early than 5 minutes late! You don't want to leave home/work too late, get stuck in backed up rush hour and game day traffic, and miss the first pitch!

Pregame. 
Load up a truck with some tailgate necessities: booze, food, bbq, tables, corn hole, etc. Head to the stadium early and party before game time. Why? A) Getting to the area early enough to tailgate means you've most likely avoided backed up traffic and have a better chance at being on time to the game! B) If you're there early, that means parking lots aren't crowded yet and you've got a better shot at getting a spot! C) $15 bottle of Fireball for everyoneeee beats 2 $8 shots of Fireball at the stadium/bars. D) PARTY! Just make sure to drink responsibly. And if you don't, hopefully someone is keeping an eye out for you making sure you're safe! Thanks friends for helping me with that last year!)

Our Plan.
Season Ticket Crew+1 are headed to Opening Night. The game is at 5:00-ish, but we're headed down at 10:00 for some brunch. Followed by some bar hopping for sangria!. Followed by some tailgating. Followed by the game. Followed by...work Monday morning. Hopefully we make it out alive!

Is anyone going to Opening Night/Day or your Home Opener? What are your plans for the day? Let me know!

Also, can I just mention how excited I am to be co-hosting Fan Friday this week? Other than my love for baseball,  I'm kind of obsessed with Sarah over at Venus Trapped In Mars. I kind of love sports a lot. So when I started blogging, and reading blogs, my main search was for other bloggers like me who love sports too...with no luck. Until my friend Kayyyyyy did a guest post for Sarah and the rest is history! Because of her Fan Friday link up, I've been able to find so many other sports loving bloggers like myself! And I love it! 

TL;DR: I love sports. I'm obsessed with Sarah, her blog, and Fan Friday. Thanks for letting me co-host!

If you're sharing anything baseball related today, make sure you link-up!

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<a href="http://martywiththeparty.blogspot.com/" title="Marty With The Party"><img src="http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae274/venustrappedinmars/baseball_linkupcopy.png" alt="Marty With The Party" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Show Me Your City: San Diego Bars

So when I first read that Jess over at Living On Sweet Tea was thinking about doing this link-up, I was super excited. Hopefully it spreads across the blog world and she does this like once a month...there's so much about San Diego that I'd love to share.

But for starters, let's talk about my 5 favorite bars (with specialty drinks) in San Diego. Because for the year and a half that I've been reading blogs, I've learned that bloggers love booze, so I'm hoping this is a good read for everyone :]

Bub's At The Ballpark

Better known as Bub's. This place rocks. It's mine and my friends favorite bar to go to before and after Padres games in Downtown San Diego. There are so many things we love about this place but what won me over is Mama's Peach Tea. It's a personal pitcher filled with honey jack, peach schnapps, iced tea, and pink lemonade. SO GOOD. Kind of looks like the drink on the right in that bottom left photo...but it doesn't have a beer can floating in it. I had to hunt on the internets to find an actual Mama's Peach Tea from this place, but didn't succeed. I'm a litte disappointed I didn't have a picture of my own showing off its amazingness. Regardless. It's great, and my favorite.

Barleymash

I had heard so many great things about this place, and couldn't wait to try it. The opportunity arose during the Yankees series that started off our 5 stop barhop pre-game before game 2 of the series. Went out for brunch with friends and just as we were finishing up, a server walked past our table carrying what looked like heaven in a glass. It's called the St. Germaine Champagne Sangria Carafe, which has St. Germaine elderflower liquor, white wine, peach liqueur, fresh fruit, and a hibiscus flower. Caroline and I both saw it, decided it'd be a great idea to split between the two of us, and boom...it was ordered. I have no regrets, it was soooo good. Again, I'm super lame and don't have pictures of my own of heaven in a glass, but the good people running barelymash's facebook have me covered...

Bootlegger

I've only been to this place a handful of times, but it's a good one. There's a fire station around the corner and every time engine no. 4 wails by, the bartender rings a bell...and that means $4 fireball shots. It's a lot of fun. But I'm not here to talk about fireball, we're talking specialty drinks. And the one that tickles my fancy at this place is called Broken Butterfly, a glass full of goodness that is rum, lime juice, strawberry, and basil. So. Much. Yum. Blah, blah, blah...these aren't my pics. Thanks Yelp and FB.

On The Border
I've been old enough to drink booze for 4 years. At least 60% of my drinking has taken place at OTB. It started off as being the place to put some down before and after slow pitch softball. Then Caroline and I picked up the third amigo of our trio, Chelsea durning an NBA playoff run...and life has never been the same. This is where I started drinking margaritas and never looked back. My favorite off their lineup is a watermelon margarita. I'm assuming it's tequila, margarita mix, and watermelon. Either way, it had changed my life. Significantly enough, that I once created a "summer of watermelon margaritas" FB photo album. I've met so many great people because of OTB, there's no way it couldn't be on my list. Honorable beverage mention goes out to the Mexican candy shot!

PB Cantina

I've only been to this place twice, and had less than great experiences with the service each time, but the margaritas the size of your head made up for it...a little. They're called the mega margaritas and have a menu dedicated to mixings that you can fill this giant 32 oz. cup up with. My drink of choice each time was the Rosarito Pink Lemonade that's got tequila, triple sec, pink lemonade, orange juice, sweet and sour, and lime juice. Good stuff! I think a visit to this place in the near future needs to happen. 

And...that's all I've got. My 5 favorite bars in San Diego whose specialty drinks I love. I'm not claiming to own any of the photos, or recipes, or whatever, but they were all too good not to share. Happy Thirsty Thursday all!

Weekend Update: Merp

Happy Veterans Day! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their extra day off! Let's remember the men, women, moms, dads, spouses, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, teammates, best friends, acquaintances,  spouses, colleagues, classmates, professors, enemies, frenemies...EVERYONE who made the decision to join the military and be part of a group that fights for our country. Thank you, to all of you!

If you follow me on twitter, you see that I complain a lot about the amount of homework I have to get done. The goal is to get ahead of schedule, so come Wednesday-Sunday of this week I can take time off from school and study for the CBEST, which I am taking Monday. This weekend was full of complaining, and some soccer.

Friday: I stayed in and watched a video about The Lemon Grove Incident and wrote a reflection on it for my diversity class.

Saturday: Chilled during the day, and read one of the longest chapters of my life...and then wrote my reading log for it. That was then followed by going out with Chels and Lime to see our local professional indoor soccer team, the San Diego Sockers! Unfortunately, the team ended up losing the game. I learned that professional indoor soccer is kind of a bigger deal than I thought it would be.

We got to the game early, so the girls and I
had some booze and dinner at Chili's. I got the
Berry Patron Margaritaaaa. Ayyyiyiiyiyi!

2. Our indoor soccer team has cheerleaders.

3. I don't think I'm going back to watch another game. 

This was my first time there, and it was the first 

time in 4 years that they lost a game at home.

4. A) They play quarters, not halves. B) At the end of 

the 3rd quarter, they do an audience frisbee toss.

5. The halftime entertainment of an indoor soccer 

game...was watching kids play indoor soccer. 

It was girls v. mostly boys, with 2 girls. 

Sunday: I spent the day at Barnes & Noble drinking chocolate milk and writing my personal teaching philosophy paper, which was pretty thought provoking. I also saw a guy skype out loud. If I didn't have ear phones...I probably would have been a little more annoyed at it. I finished a couple of other small assignments, and then got the heck out of dodge because it was freezing cold in there!

What I stared at for a good 9 hours.

How was your weekend? Anything exciting? Did your teams win? Mine lost...way to go Chargers.

Angry Balls

So a few weeks ago I mentioned that one of the things I was looking forward to this fall was drinking "Angry Balls" so this thirsty Thursday I will break down the recipe for you folks...

What you'll need:

Angry Orchard Cider & Fireball.

Pour a bottle of Angry Orchard into a cup as seen below...

Measure out 1 shot of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and pour it into your glass full of Angry Orchard

That's it! Angry Balls. It's been one my regular drinks for like the last month, and as long as the cider is on the shelves...I'll keep drinking it. No idea who to give credit for on this invention...but thanks to Natasha for letting the CLAMS know about it! If you try this out, let me know what you think! 

In other news...a couple of weeks ago, some girls organized a littles and bigs pair up thing so some newer bloggers can ask questions and get some help from a more experienced blogger, and I totally signed up. Not because I want more followers, or people to read my blog...mainly because after a year of blogging, I only know how to post content and don't really know my way around the actual blogger site and how to take advantage of everything it's got to offer. So I'm hoping my partner, Jess over at Living On Sweet Tea, will be able to help me out. She's already pointed a couple of things I can work on, it's just a matter of finding time to get it done :] Anyways, back to my partner...here's a little intro on her!

I'm Jess! I'm currently living in sunny south Florida where I soak up as much sun and salt water as possible. In 2009 I was married; by the end of 2012 I was divorced. This is my story of dating shenanigans, happy hours, and living a life I never had the chance to. Let me tell you something, doing it as an adult is a whole nother' story. 

Here's some of her links so you can stalk her just like I have and see how cool of a girl she is! but when you stalk... #dontmakeitweird

Twitter

Instagram

Bloglovin'

Welp. That's all I've got for you guys. Booze and a new friend. Both are worth checking out! Make some Angry Balls while you stalk Jess!

Happy Thursday everyone :]

New Bookcase

So…I’ve kind of had an empty corner in my bedroom since we moved into the crack house this summer and for the last week my mind has been obsessed with adding a bookshelf. I’m still in the age range where Ikea furnishings are acceptable but was torn between that and a DIY pinterest project that was actually inspired by Kelley's coffee table! The only thing that kept me from going the DIY route was the wood crate things were only available online and I wanted them at my home ASAP. I was doing a Target shopping trip and came across a bookcase the perfect size and was more affordable than the one I had seen at Ikea…so boom, impromptu Target purchase!

I love pinterest and all the beautiful craftiness inspiration that it provides. Here are some bookcases that I loved!

Love the clean & organized look this has!

So pretty!

Flowers were a must have for me!

Photos!

Something that I had to include were the 3 old school cameras I own! I couldn’t wait to display those :] The couple of autographed baseballs I have from Joba Chamberlain and CC Sabathia made the bookcase also. What I didn’t have…books. I totally overestimated the number of books I own, so this fall I’m on the hunt for some to fill it with actual literature instead of junk. It's still under construction, but this is what we're looking at now...

Let's break down each shelf

Top shelf includes a DIY vase and some fake flowers, because I don't have the money to constantly replace dead real ones, and a "birthday bitch" headband Lime and Chels gifted me with on my 25th birthday. First shelf down we have some books on the top left...The Hunger Games trilogy and WTFO in both paperback and hardcover :] In front of those books is the first vintage looking camera, a Nikon something or other. The middle of the shelf is an empty picture frame for a photo I haven't printed yet and it sits on top of some cute handmade cards I got and totally love from World Market! The right side of that top shelf has the CC and Joba autographed baseballs which sit on my small collection of baseball books including a baseball roadtrip guide gifted by my friend Anna, Derek Jeter's "The Life You Imagine", and "162" by Steve Melia which tells the story of a dude who went to ALL of the Yankees games [home AND away] back in like 2011.

Second shelf down is a little more boring, to your left you see a black empty photo box, textbooks I couldn't sell back, and a mason jar with a silver glittery skull sitting on top of a pile of red glitter. I paid too much for that thing, but I love it.  

Shout out to my Yankee Stadium wall decor that I got for like 60% off!
Thanks for the heads up on that Marcus :] 

The middle shelf has some more books, including my 1st Chicken Soup For The Soul book from like 7th grade, my AUTOGRAPHED Lauren Conrad book, LA Candy, and book 5 of 7 in the Harry Potter series. In front of that is 2 decks of cards that haven't been used for like 7 years, and a film developing canister. Back in high school [and 2 weeks of college] I took a photo class where we had to develop our own film and print our own pictures using darkrooms and chemicals. It was legit my favorite class and the developing was my favorite part of the entire photo process! Moving on, next to that you see a super legit accordion Polaroid camera. Hey Ya! Last but not least, some middle school and high school yearbooks and "textbooks" which were sheets of paper bound with that coil binding thing. Oh and another photo-less frame.  

Last but not least...well least for now since they're so bare, the bottom two shelves. I ran out of books and cool stuff to display.  2nd to the bottom we have 2 super [kind of] rare Stonewall Brew bottles that I took from the Beerfest event I volunteered at. There's a cool story behind it, which makes them potentially valuable...so I took them. My last of 3 cool vintage hipster cameras, a Cannon something or other, the last of 3 empty frames, and a CLAM ticket book! I got these for my friends a couple Christmases ago and had my super talented friend Alma paint over the lame cover. It includes some of our favorite things! Bottom shelf is empty. Sad face.

Welp, that's it. What do you think? Anything I should add? What about book suggestions?!! HP is at the top of my list, and the Lauren Conrad beauty book but I can't really think of anything else. Let me know what's up.

Happy Tuesday kids!