Blog — "daily life"

It's no secret that we love baseball. If you follow me on Instagram, you may or may not be sick of seeing my photos from Oriole Park and Camden Yards. I grew up listening to Harry Caray broadcasting the Cubs games on AM radio, chewed my nails through watching my dad's hometown team the Pirates play in the playoffs in the early '90s, spent years with a glove on my hand at first base, and happily married someone that loves the sport just as much as I do.

When we moved to Baltimore eight years ago, we were glad to be in a baseball town, and took advantage of being a bike ride away from Oriole Park. About two years ago, we realized that we were attending so many baseball games, that it was actually more economical to purchase a small season ticket package, and so we did.

Over the course of the past few years, the Orioles have gone from last in their division to winning their division and heading to the playoffs. As season ticket holders, we are lucky to get first dibs on some postseason tickets. When the ticket information arrived in our mailbox, Andrew and I excitedly looked at each other, knowing that this could very well be our only chance to potentially go to a World Series game, a definite bucket list item, and we purchased our postseason tickets the next day.

Our first game of this postseason was Game 2 of the ALDS against the Tigers. It was a come from behind win with the winning runs scored in the bottom of the 8th inning. The stadium was electric with energy and as loud as I've ever heard it to be. The Orioles went on to sweep the Tigers in three games on Sunday night in Detroit, so our postseason excitement will only continue.

As for now, here are a few shots I snapped at Game 2 capturing some of that excitement on Friday afternoon.

Are you a baseball fan? Have you ever been to a postseason game?

On Saturday, temperatures dipped below 70 during the day and a crisp and fresh breeze beckoned us outside to enjoy the entrance of fall. We headed to Larriland Farm to stock up on apples for our next canning adventure. There is something rather happy about mingling with others amongst apple trees, people peeking out from their tall branches, hoping to reach high enough for the perfect apple. Everyone is jovial, a bit romantic, and even a tad nostalgic while enjoying a beautiful fall day.

We picked Ida Red, Golden Delicious, Mutsu, and Red Delicious while munching on a few here and there. And when our bags were full we headed back to our car, bellies full and ready to can homemade applesauce. We were delighted by the size of the orchard and farm, and made one last unexpected stop to pick some cauliflower, spinach, and raspberries before heading home.

Do you enjoy apple picking? What did you do this weekend?

I am a klutz. I am convinced it has something to do with my tall stature and the fact that it seems everything around me has been made for midgets. Doorways always promise bumps on my head, and tables always induce massive bruises to appear on my knees. And my cards? They usually come about from some ridiculous scenario within my own life. This new klutz card most certainly has a story behind it-- one that is almost too embarrassing to tell, but I suppose I will anyway.

A few weekends ago, we went to our favorite local bar to watch football. Later that evening after the game had ended, I was relaxing in my reading chair with crossed legs. As I sat, I felt some rather tender spots on my legs. After changing into shorts and doing a further inspection, I noticed two large bruises on the outer sides of each of my calves near my knees. The bruises were so large that they had actually caused bumps to form. I panicked and grasped at any sort of explanation as these were insanely serious bruises.

I had been wearing my tightest pair of skinny jeans that day, and depending on how I sat, they sometimes pinched a little around the knees. I was convinced that the skinny jeans were so tight that they had caused the bruises. As I explained my predicament to Andrew, he began laughing at me.

Later that night, as I climbed into bed, I continued to lament about my horrible bruises and how the skinny jeans just must have been too skinny. Andrew, being rather sleepy and tired, had no time for my silly ideas, and prompted me to Google the probability of what I believed had occurred. To my horror, my Google results linked me to a health website that suggested I had blood clots due to jeans that were entirely too tight. Obviously, this had to be true-- Google searches never lie, especially if they have anything to do with your health.

The next morning, the bruises were just as bad, so I vowed not to wear skinny jeans or cross my legs until the bruises went down. By Thursday, I had completely forgotten about the scenario, until that evening. We made our way back to our favorite bar for the Steelers game that night, and I perched myself upon one of their brand new bar stools. I was just about to comment on how much I liked the changes they had made to their tables and stools in the seating area when I felt two sore spots on my outer calves. I looked down and noticed that as I sat with my feet on the rung of the stool, the tapered legs of the stool were rubbing against my calves.

"You won't believe this," I whispered to Andrew, on the verge of hysterics. "Won't believe what?" he responded. "The bar stool! It's the bar stool! The damn bar stool is what bruised my legs!" And then, we crumpled into a pile of laughter over our bar table.

Unless your job requires you to dress professionally, you are probably sitting there reading this blog post while sporting a stretchy, oh so comfy, pair of yoga pants that have seen better days. Let's be honest-- I don't blame you. Those things are probably the comfiest damn things on the face of the earth.

However, after wearing yoga pants most days for a couple of months into self-employment, I...

Unless your job requires you to dress professionally, you are probably sitting there reading this blog post while sporting a stretchy, oh so comfy, pair of yoga pants that have seen better days. Let's be honest-- I don't blame you. Those things are probably the comfiest damn things on the face of the earth.

However, after wearing yoga pants most days for a couple of months into self-employment, I realized that it needed to end. Wearing yoga pants was quite possibly one of the worst things that I could be doing for myself, and I needed to break the habit. If you think I've totally lost my mind at this point, I'll convince you otherwise.

1.

You shower.

Think about it. How many times do you crawl out of bed, throw on some yoga pants, and then stumble to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, never to change out of those yoga pants for the rest of the day? Yup. That was me. And quite honestly, after a while I just started to feel dirty if I still hadn't taken a shower by late afternoon.

2.

You feel better about yourself.

If you've showered, taken the time to put on a nice outfit, and have accomplished this by 9am, then that's a win. You will feel 200% better about yourself. You won't feel like a slob. You'll feel put together and most likely have a better body image of yourself, which only leads to a better outlook for the rest of your day. It's a confidence booster.

3.

You become more productive.

Getting out of those yoga pants and into a nice outfit will make you feel like you're on a mission. If you can accomplish that, I guarantee you'll start your day with more motivation to accomplish your goals for the rest of the day. I have noticed that on days that I don't shower and put on real clothes by 9am, my entire day slowly becomes a complete waste. I often like to throw on a cute pair of shoes in addition to getting nicely dressed. Cute shoes

always

up the ante.

4.

They're an incentive to work out.

If you're like me, you love fashionable workout clothes just as much as any other type of clothes. Choosing a few pairs of yoga pants that you really love can be an added incentive to be active and sweat it out.

If

you work out,

then

you get to wear your yoga pants. Use them as an incentive to be active, not to lounge around the house.

5.

You have more reason to shop for cute clothes.

What's the point of shopping or buying fashionable items when you never wear them? Not wearing yoga pants all day makes me more excited about what I can do with my day to day wardrobe. I love being able to dress for my mood. For example, if I'm feeling like a rock star businesswoman that day, I choose a blazer and pumps. And, knowing that I'll actually be wearing the clothes I purchase makes it easier for me to justify buying them.

I've stuck my guns with the No Yoga Pants rule for a few months now and it's a game changer. Of course I indulge on the weekends and have at least one lazy day because we

all

deserve that. However, I've jumped ship on the yoga pants during the week. Have I convinced you yet? Are you guilty of wearing yoga pants non-stop?