goodbye mike.

Mike Maroth has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. I am anxious to see who we get in his place. I will miss him because he was definitely one of the most handsome Tigers. I decided to work on a handsome baseball team. I'll let you know what the lineup is as soon as I come up with it. I promise it will be good.

not even a euphemism.

A rotisserie chicken stunk up my trunk today.

back to reality.

I got home from the little Tigers road trip on Wednesday evening. We actually got to my sister's, where I left my car, just before 4pm. It was nice because my parents were there so I got to see lots of awesome family and then drove home to see my awesome husband. I missed him so much! And then I fell asleep for 12-hours.

I do plan on posting more stuff about the trip but I spent yesterday recovering from the craziness of it all. It was a really great trip and I think my uncle summed it up when he said, "We'll have to do this again sometime once we've forgotten about all the negative stuff!" And he was so right. For some reason I find it incredibly cool that I asked my 69-year-old uncle to go on a 5-day road trip with me and we actually did it and survived and overall had a wonderful time.

vacation + robbery = exciting!!

This is the view from my cousin's bathroom this morning.

As my cousin's boyfriend left this morning he heard someone running down the steps. It was the robber who had just used a crowbar to break in to the 1st floor apartment and the door that leads to the 2nd and 3rd floor apartments. Five cop cars showed up and then a big ol' SUV pulled in and four cops with giant guns jumped out and went through the alley. I wasn't going to take a photo but my aunt insisted and I have to say I'm glad I did (but don't tell her I said that). Unfortunately, by the time I got there the other three cops with big ass guns had already gone inside. Luckily Brent (cousin's boyfriend) had left when he did because the robber didn't get much. He had piled a bunch of stuff up by the door and was apparently going to hit the other apartments before loading up his getaway vehicle. As of tonight, I'm pretty sure he's still out there but at least he isn't here.

go tigs!!

Today was a really great day. The Tigers beat the Phillies in a really loooong and exciting game. I'm pretty tired right now so I'll just post some photos.

Here's some broken bell. I figured it must be important because I had to go through security in order to see it.

It is actually very cool. You should definitely see it if you are in Philadelphia!

Uncle Larry found this diner. We met up with my cousins before the game. Very fun diner and it will be interesting to see what rating it gets!


Oh sweet baseball.


Verlander at bat!

city of brotherly love.

I met my aunt and uncle at our rendezvous point yesterday morning. Our agreed upon time was 9AM but they did not arrive until 9:15, which in my opinion was no big deal. It was, however, a big deal to my uncle and by the time we had moved about 100 feet, my aunt and uncle had their first spat. My first thought was that it was cute and I was glad they were feeling comfortable enough to spat in front of me. Not all couples are cute like that and engage in more uncomfortable behavior such as smiling through gritted teeth and pretending like all is well even though you can cut the tension with a dull butter knife. No, not in this car. By the 4th spat, about 1000 feet down the street, it wasn't cute anymore. And I was hoping for gritted teeth and pretending. I'm good at pretending. I'm not so good at dealing with snippy old people. Luckily I have not been the target of any snippiness... yet. We still have a few days together.

Anyhoo...

Other than that, the trip was fairly noneventful. Lots and lots of talking. Luckily my aunt and uncle are very smart people and have interesting things to say. I didn't have to say much at all.

We arrived in Philly last night around 7 but since we had missed an exit at some point, it took us a long time to find our hotel. My uncle printed out the local map of the hotel but did not, for some reason, print out google, Mapquest, or Yahoo driving directions. I have a feeling he knows how to do that, but prefers the excitement of navigating mapless. I didn't mind because I had no plans and just sat in the backseat in my Dramamine induced coma and watched north Philly pass by my window.

Last night before I fell asleep I decided to open the curtains a bit hoping the morning sunshine would keep me from sleeping all day. I hate being the one in the group that sleeps super late and holds everyone else up. I forgot that we are on the other side of the time zone and this morning when I woke, saw the bright sun, stretched and prepared to get my lazy ass out of bed, I looked at the clock and it was 5:30. Damn. Closed the curtains and went back to sleep until a respectable 7:30.

Here are some photos from our hotel window. We are downtown on the 11th floor of a Hampton Inn. My uncle is very good at booking nice hotel rooms!




This morning we go in search of a diner (yay Julie! I'll try to take photos and notes!) and then to the game this afternoon. And then after we're all hot and sweaty and nasty from sitting in 90+ degree weather all afternoon, we'll get in the car and drive to Washington, DC. Good times.

on the road again...

After spending Monday - Wednesday this week in Dexter with my sister's family, I'm heading to Philadelphia and Washington, DC today with my uncle Larry and aunt Nancy. We'll be at Tigers games on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday so watch for me! Sometimes they show Tigers fans. I tried to get chef hats but should have started that quest last week. Oh well. Hopefully I'll have enough fun to want to post while I'm there. I have a million things to post about from last week... Justin's no no. The lady with the box, the large box, at the restaurant. But you'll just have to wait.

uh. thanks? i'm sorry??

I took my 11-year-old niece, her friend, and my nephew to Stucchi's tonight for ice cream. As we were sitting there enjoying our delightful and messy waffle cones, my niece's friend said to me, "You are a nice aunt. I mean, Paige said you were nice but you really are a nice one. I have mean ones. All they ever say is, 'I'm gonna smack your face.' They never laugh or take me out for ice cream."

Oh.

i love the weekend.

Since I don't have any real plans or schedule during the week, the weekends are a blast because I get to hang out with Jesse and now have plans or schedule with him! We did do some fun stuff this weekend though. Stuff besides Guitar Hero.

Yesterday we went to the Detroit Festival of the Arts. It was sunny and warm and breezy and just perfect for walking around watching people and art. We saw a fabulous hat.

Oh! And we went to the library and I got a library card. It was such an odd feeling to actually want to be at a library. Must be because I wasn't meeting people for a group project or research. Although I have to admit that I haven't been to the library for research yet. But I'm sure it wouldn't be fun.

There were these crazy Dutch people on stilts. Someone described them as dragons, but I thought they looked more like anorexic raptors. And they made really loud raptor noises too. And then there was a scary dude on stilts too. It was actually pretty cool.




Today we ran errands in Novi. I bought a fabulous pair of sandals. Oh I am so in love with them. I had never even heard of Born shoes but now I will wear them forever. So comfortable!

This evening we are heading to Toledo to catch a Mudhens game because Kenny Rogers is pitching in his first rehab start. Sweet! Yes. I know I'm a dork.

cookie update

What is happening to me. I'm blogging about baking cookies.

Anyway... I made the cookies. And they are amazing. And I've already eaten 2... I had to test them you know. To make sure I should continue. Yes. That's it. So if you find a cookie recipe that calls for 4 sticks of butter, make the cookies. Better yet, hire someone to make the cookies. It took me over an hour to zest limes, juice limes, and de-shell pistachios. What a pain in the ass. Thank God the cookies are delightful.

Perhaps I will make some tea and eat another one.

But not until tomorrow.

to bake or not to bake.

Cookies, people. Cookies.

There was something I cooked this week that called for fresh lime juice. I couldn't find a single lime at the grocery store so I bought a whole bag of limes. A girl can only drink so many cocktails with limes so I decided to look for recipes and found one for pistachio lime cookies. Yummy!! I went and bought all the supplies and was prepared to bake cookies today. As I was looking over the recipe I noticed something was wrong. Could it really say 4 sticks of butter? 4 STICKS?? Yes. It does. And I just don't know if I can bring myself to bake something to eat with FOUR STICKS of butter in it. Or if I can bake it, can I eat it?

I still haven't decided what to do. Maybe tonight I will sit around and eat the pistachios while I try to decide what to do. And then I won't be able to make the cookies because I ate all the pistachios. 4 sticks of butter. Disgusting. Right??

Maybe the recipe makes 10 dozen cookies and that is why it calls for 4 sticks of butter. Yes... maybe that's it.

Still disgusting though.

any given sunday.

Early afternoon...
Jen: Want to go for a walk at the riverfront?
Jesse: Sure.

A little later we decide to make sandwiches to eat picnic style at the riverfront.
Then we realize we don't have enough bread to make two sandwiches. Instead, we will stop at Subway on the way. But not the gas station Subway. Strip mall Subway is much less creepy.

A few minutes later...
Jen: Weather.com shows rain showers all day today. Maybe we shouldn't go?

It's not raining so we decide to go anyway.

At strip mall Subway...
Jen: What is the difference between the Italian B.M.T. and the Spicy Italian?
Sandwich Artist: The B.M.T. has ham.

A few minutes later...
Jesse: What does B.M.T. stand for?
Jen: I don't know. Excuse me, I have another question. What does B.M.T. stand for?
Sandwich Artist: You know what? I don't even know.

We finally find a parking spot.
Jen: Your moon roof is open.
Jesse: Yeah. I know.
It is a well known fact that the 2002 Volkswagen Golf TDI has a superior design that allows for the interior to remain dry when the moon roof is open and it rains.

We go to Hart Plaza and eat our Subway sandwiches. I am sad that this is the first time we have really explored Hart Plaza even though we have lived in Detroit for years now.
The seagulls plot against us. I am sure we are about to be attacked. I'm not sure why. The subs are pretty gross. They can have them if they ask. I take photos for identification purposes in case there is ever a trial.

We look at statues.

We walk on the riverfront toward COBO.

It starts to rain.
We walk a little further. It isn't raining hard.

We turn around shortly before the end of the riverfront walk.

It's raining harder.

Sideways.

In my ear.

I suppose with the right musical score and/or soundtrack it could have been an incredibly romantic moment. Lovers walking in the rain realize even the rain can't wash away their feelings for one another. They embrace. They share a passionate kiss. And then begin to slow dance to the music in their heads. In slow motion.

But we have no soundtrack. No ipods. No headphones or speakers. It's better this way because they would be destroyed in the rain.

Instead, we walk quickly with our heads down. Water drips from the brims of our not quite matching Detroit Tigers baseball caps. It's cold. It's wet. My socks are getting wet. My ear. It's raining in my ear. My socks and running shoes are soaked.

We get to the car. Out of the rain.

Or not.

memorial day picnic planning.

Me: I was thinking it would be fun to tell everyone to bring a disposable 35mm camera to the picnic. We all take photos during the picnic and at the end throw them in a bag and everyone takes a random camera home and is surprised by the photos they get!

Joel: That's a great idea!

Me: Really? I thought it might be fun.

Joel: Yeahhhh.... heh heh heh .... someone's getting a lot of pictures of my penis...

Me: Never mind.