Tribe in Tampa

Earlier this month we took an overnight trip to see our beloved Cleveland Indians take on the Tampa Bay Rays.   It was a nice break from the work week, and allowed us to see a new stadium while rooting for the Indians.   Below, a few highlights


We stayed at the Hotel Indigo, a boutique hotel in downtown St. Petersburg.

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It's centrally located downtown, so we walked to Tropicana Field on Wednesday night, and were able to take advantage of the free stadium shuttle afterwards.

Check out the adorable rooms. . . .

I was smitten with the bedding and color scheme; you can barely see the checkered bed skirt and shams, which also included navy blue.   It was intense, but I liked it!

The halls were a bit busy, but again, it worked.   The building used to be a local inn back in the day, so it has a funny layout, and the folks who run it decide a quirky decor would be a good idea.

Initially known as the Heritage Inn, this building was built in the 1920.   I asked Michael to stand by the sign that explained it was one of the first hotels to offer a chilled ice water system to their guests.  Guests could refill the pitcher from their  room with chilled water before retiring for a relaxing night's sleep.   Naturally I tried to turn on the spout.   Michael explained that modern hotels featured ice machines and cold water in the bathrooms so this feature has been rendered obsolete.   Right.   Good call, Cornellie.

Time to go to the baseball game!   Tropicana field is a dome, so it's climate controlled and full of big lights. 

Our seats were very good; we were seated about 5 rows up on the third base side.  

Most importantly, I had a great view of my boyfriend, Michael Brantley, because he bats left handed.

The Tribe ended up winning the game, 10-6 overcoming shaky pitching.   Our section had a smattering of Cleveland fans, which made the end of the game that much more fun!  There was a bit of trash talking among some silly guys, but it's a sporting event.  What do you expect?

It was a late night, but we got back to our funky hotel room around 11:30 and were asleep around midnight.   The 3 am fire alarm (seriously!) was unwelcome.   We were jolted awake, only to stand outside in 80 degree heat and excessive humidity.   Thankfully there was no fire - especially because it took the 7 fire trucks more than 10 minutes to arrive.   Sheesh.  We were all allowed inside after about 30 minutes, but I was not amused.

We had a little free time the next morning so we went for a stroll along the bay.   I was evidently channeling my sister, because I came upon a stray kitty cat sleeping on a picnic table.   So I took a picture and talked to her.

We headed back to "The Trop," this time remembering to take a photo.   The sidewalk leading up to the stadium depicts fish and sting rays and other Florida motifs.   Just as you'd expect!

Since we got in so darn early, we took some time to explore the stadium.   The Sting Ray tank is a highlight but there was a crazy line, so we headed up to the 'bleachers' and got a birds eye view instead of walking right in front of them.   We even found a guy to take our picture with home plate behind us.

Sadly the Tribe was shut out 6-0 on Thursday afternoon.   We were glad to have had the opportunity to see our home team in a new stadium, and even happier to see them win one night.   Seeing any kind of live baseball is always a great way for the two of us to spend a few hours!

Opening Ceremonies

First things first- I did not find there to be a legitimate 'battle' between Mary Poppins and Voldemort.   I know MP is awesome, but her simple act of flying in would not scare him away.   Where was the action?  Liars!

One of the good things about the opening ceremonies is that despite not watching with all my friends and family, text messaging means we can still share thoughts in real time.   Highlights are below

Pannie: The first half hour can be summed up thusly: YAY ENGLAND!
Al: What the @#$% is this crap?

Mom: A storm knocked our our DirecTV right when the Red Queen appeared!
Ashley: Suffragettes!
Al: Danny Boyle is apparently on more drugs than a Soviet athlete
Mom: Matt is pissing me off
Al: Holy @#$%^# Germany!   Stick with designing cars, not clothes 
Mom: Dad needs a Nigerian hat

And finally, my favorite image of the night, courtesy of many facebook friends

Opening Ceremonies!

No surprise, but if you need to find me this evening, I will be on my couch watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics Games.    I will also be making fun of Bob Costas [a given] and texting Pannie about all sorts of things including, but not limited to, finding her a boyfriend with a crazy long last name.   With any luck I will also learn a new word in the process.   Last time it was 'sartorial'   Anyway.

Besides drooling over the male swimmers and guys on the track team (I'd drool over the gymnasts too but they're all at least 6" shorter than me) I will be anticipating this pomp and circumstance.

British literary characters?  Check!    Mary Poppins?  Voldemort?  BATTLING EACH OTHER?!?!   What in the world?

Fingers crossed that He Who Must Not Be Named gets his ass kicked by the magical nanny.

Happy Travelers

It's Thursday which means... it's time for another installment of The Book of Jules.   You know, the post where I share my opinions with everyone else, whether on not they care about them.   This is the beauty of a blog to which only I post! 

Today's topic: TRAVELING

More specifically, air travel.   If you have traveled on an airplane any time in the past 10 years I can only assume you will agree with my sentiments that the traveling public, in general, is ignorant.   Frequent business travelers (hi Dad!) are likely exempt from the term traveling public, but I have seen a lot of crazy things.   Keep in mind I live in the most visited travel destination in the world.   Technically, no I do not live in Disney World, but we do share Orlando's airport.   When I fly, I fly with non-business travelers.   Large families with multiple generations results in strollers and balloons and Grandma not knowing she has to take off her coat and her shoes and God knows what else.

Here are some tips I am sure these kind people could benefit from knowing.  It goes without saying that it is not comprehensive, but speaks to commonly seen 'situations' here near The Mouse.

Wear comfortable clothing that is meant to be worn in public

I did not say pajamas or sweat pants.  Comfortable, public-appropriate clothing does exist, I promise.  I don't know when this happened, but as a culture, Americans seem to not give a hoot about their appearance, especially when traveling.  Comfort reigns.   I am all about being comfortable during long trips, but most of you are on a plane for 3-4 hours.  We are not flying to Beijing; we are flying from Chicago to Orlando.

Do not wear copious amounts of jewelry

There will be metal detectors at security.   You will forget about the 84 bracelets on your arm and waltz right through, and have to come back and take everything off.   Don't bother wearing them in the first place.   Trust me, they do not go with your sweatsuit anyway.

Know your group number

Many airlines board by zone or group number.   Familiarize yourself with this designation so you are not clogging up the works lingering at the jet way door while others go before you.  Relatedly, do not assume you are more important than everyone else and charge ahead to take your seat.   You will inevitably put your suitcase in the overhead bin above MY seat, which would have been vacant had you waited your turn.
If you are a family traveling with small children - and I swear I am often the only person who is NOT - do your homework.   Get the special family with kids boarding card so you can get settled.   Do not wait until you are at the gate and junior is hungry or covered in Chik-Fil-A sauce and crying for his Mickey balloon.

Do not walk down the aisle while dragging your [too wide] carry-on bag behind you

You will bump into everyone on both sides of the aisle.   Pick up the bag and carry it in front of you.  If it is too heavy to pick up, you have no business carrying it on and should just check it.  We all know you have checked other bags and the double jogging stroller even though everyone in your party is at best overweight and at worst asking for the seat belt extender (I am sorry but I see this all the time and it boggles the mind)

Do not pull on the back of my seat.  Ever.

But especially when you are getting up or sitting down or adjusting your iPad cover or assisting your child with his Nintendo DS or whatever the kids are using these days.

Stand back from the luggage carousel

Do not stand against the carousel with everyone in your family.  Take a few steps back, allow yourself, and others, a wider field of vision so we can all see what is coming 'round the bend.  When you see your suitcase with the Christmas ribbon on the handle, you may step forward to claim it.   Until that happens, send one parent with the kiddos to get an ice cream or something.  They are super excited that they are in Florida, but it does not take 8 people to get suitcases.

So- what drives you bananas when you travel?

Weekend Wrap Up

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Friday

• Last minute dinner at the hard-to-get-a-reservation California Grill, complete with fireworks from our table.   This was our approximate view, though I obviously did not take the pic
• Dinner was just after a much needed haircut.   I was a happy girl
• Afternoon Costco run (because we all need 92 boxes of tissues)

Saturday

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• Trip to Cocoa Beach
• Altercation at McDonalds about the size and temperature of a latte
• Air popped popcorn and wine during the baseball game

Sunday

• Animal Kingdom for 2.5 hours to ride all the best rides before the crowds and heat were unbearable
• Delicious dinner
• Molasses cookies & Irish coffee & the Sunday crossword

How to: Maximize Drawer Space

Messiness makes me twitch.  I color code, I organize, I try to keep things clean and orderly.  This is not news to anyone.

One area where chaos really bugs me is in drawers and closets.   Figuring out what to wear can be hard enough on a good day.  Throw in a messy drawer or wrinkled shirts and you are setting yourself up for trouble.

My issue with shelves and drawers is stacking.  I used to keep my tank tops in a stack in my closet.  The problem with that is the maintenance.   If I wanted a tank top halfway down the stack, I made a mess trying to get to it.  And if I was not not careful, the entire stack fell down.  A similar issue arrises with shirts are stacked in a drawer.  You can't see what you have and start rummaging.  Your drawer turns into a disaster, you have to refold your shirts and put them back.   Consequently, when I was living with stacks, I kept wearing the same few shirts living on the top of each pile.  That's dumb.

Awhile ago I decided I need to re-think my top folding situation and came up with the following.   I did not invent this method; it simply works for me.  By folding the shirts into squares and lining them up like file folders, I can easily see what I have.   They are still organized, but are arranged in such a way that I can see a logo or pattern on the shirt easily.   (You eagle eyes will notice in the top photo that tank tops on the left side are organized by color, but t-shirts are not.  They are organized by neck shape and print vs. solid.   Just because that works for me and how I get dressed!)  Incidentally, I find I can fit more shirts in each drawer using this method!  Very efficient.

Here's how to do it!

Start with an unfolded shirt

 Fold the shirt in half vertically (sleeve to sleeve and shoulder to shoulder) and if there's a print on one side, keep that visible.  If the print is allover or centered this won't be an issue.

 

Tuck the arms in so you have a nice neat rectangle

Fold the shirt in half top to bottom

Fold in half again to form a nice neat smaller rectangle

Put the shirt away!

Note: When I stick a shirt in the drawer, I put it in with the collar side down and facing the back of the drawer.   This way, the print on the front of the shirt is visible.   Less important with this design, but helpful for traditional shirts with centered logos, as you can see from the row of shirts on the far right.   I can easily see what the patterns are on all of these shirts and they are not in a stack!   So easy

How do you keep your clothing organized?

New Airplane Smell

Michael describes his travels on a new airplane earlier this week

Text Message #1: If what I read online is right, my plane is less than two weeks old and has Boeing sky interior!  I am pumped

Text Message #2: Beautiful plane- bins are huge so it speeds boarding.  Windows have the illusion of looking bigger

After picking him up at the airport, conversation in the car:

M: It was amazing!   It even smelled like new plane.   It was a 'new airplane' smell, which is different than a 'new car' smell.

Me: What, exactly, does that mean?

M: It smelled like I was inside a new computer!