Kickball, Baseball, Engagement Planning and NFL Draft Week!

April 20-26.

This past weekend we planned on starting some yard work but we ended up with flurries and cold cold weather! Cold weather makes the ground harder and thus impossible to do any yard work. Saturday I'm honestly not sure what happened or what we did. It's funny how the only way I remember my life is by reading the blog to see what I did. 

Sunday was a ridiculous marathon drinking kickball kind of day. We lost, which is normal but then we went to flip cup for a few hours and then decided Bottomline was a good idea afterwards. It was not. It never is. 

Sunday was also our 1 year anniversary of being engaged. Can't believe the time has passed so quickly. We were going to plant a tree for earth day (something i've always wanted to do) but we couldn't pick a tree and the weather wasn't good and it was all just too stressful. I ended up being extremely angry and sad about it but I guess there's always next year. sigh. 

Monday I did some computer application things. One test was a typing test. Results: 

I've always had 100wpm on my resume but I always make one or two mistakes. This was ooc! I used to love playing typing games, like TyperShark on yahoo! It came in handy. This is one of the main reasons I was always able to write a 5-7 page paper in under 2 hours or a 15-20 page research paper in 8-10 hours. 

Tuesday we got a package. I found one not so surprising item and one surprising item! 

Not surprising: 

Surprising was a pretty neat black and copper Jaguars hoodie! Today the Jaguars also had the uniform release party. I usually don't like change but the uniforms look pretty neat. I think there was way too much psychoanalyticalness going on with it but whatevs. i want to get a new jersey but not sure who to get. I want Shorts but I'm worried he'll leave soon or something! Don't want Blackmon... really don't like him and obviously cannot handle Gabbert. Sigh. 

Tuesday night we went to the nationals/cardinals game. That was disappointing and there were also way too many cardinals fans at the game. 

Wednesday I booked the mehendi artist with Nimisha's help and sent out an invite. One thing done, 1 million to go. I also went out to Old Town with Sam who, despite living here for about 7 years, never made it out there! Blew my mind, given that I've worked in that area for about 4 years! We walked around the waterfront and had some ice cream. 

Thursday was the NFL first round draft. We failed last year and this year, but we're definitely going to make it to NYC next year for the draft. Perhaps I'll have another first pick lol. We ended up watching with some friends at a local bar in Springfield. Said bar is out of control amazing. 2.00 GIANT beers and about 8 giant screens -- would be perfect for Sunday football, except there is smoking indoors. sigh. 

On Friday, Scott, Miriam, Hailey and Penny came over for a sleep over. Scott brought some pretty awesome Asian beer and we ordered pizza. We watched the draft and then talked for a while before we realized it was 2 in the morning!

Yet another eventful week and one without pictures! sigh.

Baby Shower, NFL Schedule, and Taco Night

In an effort to catch up on the blog situation I'm going to do posts for a whole week of activity. It's honestly the only way I'll catch up and I really don't have many pictures since the whole phone situation. Mid-June, you and my new iphone can't come quick enough! 

So here we go April 13-19. This past weekend we went to a nationals game and Umesh and Nimisha's Baby Shower. So i'll start by saying, n brown people baby shower is very different than a white people baby shower. Let's get cultured. 

1. There are indian outfits. This is Nimisha ready for the cake cutting: 

2. There are brown things and decorations: 

3. There are lots of brown aunties causing chaos at all times:

4. There is some weird tradition where the youngest unmarried male cousin slaps the mother-to-be with red dye. I have no idea what this tradition represents or why it's done. Perhaps i'll google it one day. And yes, i have pictures: 

nimisha getting prepared to be slapped by Akash's red hand 

here it goes!

and there it lands.

haha love this one.

all done! 

Okay so for the most part brown baby showers are different, but there are some similarities.

1. Everyone takes lots of pictures with the mother-to-be. Here's just one:

2. There are games and activities:

 bib/onesie decorating. Personally love the pink and yellow. Their parents are Quiznos owners. 

Sketchy was proud of his bib!

this was my personal favorite.

food tasting/guessing game. All the guys played this one.

discussing the color and texture of what they're about to eat.

3. There are always other mothers and babies there!

Lisa and Pria and Minal and Reina

Sketchy loves Pria's big cheeks.

and Pria loves Sketchy's big cheeks (and beards -- she's fascinated by them)

Monday we went out with Melanie to see a free screening of Disconnect. Sidenote: Sketchy has become a ninja at getting these free screenings. Best thing I ever showed him how to do! We have screening passes to Fast and Furious 6, The Internship (Vince Vaughn) and The Heat (Sandra Bullock and the bigger chick from Bridesmaids) lined up in the next couple weeks! 

Disconnect had Jason Bateman in it and a few other familiar faces. It was a serious movie that follow four stories that all connect in the end. Similar to a "Crash" type of movie. It was definitely a little dark and a mindtwist. I'd suggest for folks who like darker movies. 

On Tuesday I went to the National Zoo to check out the new American Exhibit with Sam. Since she was moving that weekend I wanted to maximize my time with her. There was a bald eagle which was in hiding and lots of walking involved. It was so so so hot and my allergies were no joke, but all in all was a fun outing. 

weird otter/beaver thing.

weird otter/beaver thing

some tiger thing or maybe white fox?

this guy was fun. =)

Wednesday I was going to have dinner with Kelsey and Catherine, but Kelsey evidently killed her ankle when she took a bad fall. She ended up having to go to the emergency room. We were going to reschedule but that never happened. Bad Nalini. Now that engagement is over, definitely need to get on that and do dinner with them soon! 

Thursday was the release of the NFL schedule. Sketchy, Catherine, Diana and I went out to Front Page for happy hour and to watch the release but it was too crowded and they were not playing the release special. After happy hour we ended up parting ways with Diana and heading over to buffalo billiards to catch the release. The release was exciting because we immediately began planning which games of the season we'd be going to! Sketchy's very excited for his Thanksgiving week. Monday night is the niners/skins game. I was looking for an opportunity to get to Candlestick before they blow that up at the end of this upcoming season. Think I found the perfect situation. Around Sketchy's birthday in August there is a game at candlestick on a sunday and then a game at CenturyLink Stadium the next Thursday. Roadtrip from San Fran to Seattle seeing a variety of these places: San Fran, Yosemite, Napa, Redwood National Park, Mt. St. Helens OR Mt. Ranier, Seattle.

On Friday, Catherine and Matt came over for a taco/chipotle style dinner and to spend the night. We watched the end of the Boston Standoff before we had dinner. That whole thing was depressing and miserable. I was happy to know that my friends and their families in boston were safe but obviously my heart goes out to the victims and their families. We watched Moneyball which was a good movie, not sure if i like the message of the movie but good nonetheless. 

And that was that week. Sigh. this is so much easier when done daily. 

Sketchy's Mom's Birthday

Today is Sketchy's Mom's birthday. Sketchy did not realize this until a day or two ago! We were originally going to check out the Pirate Bar in Silver Springs (the one from a Bar Rescue episode) but we had to cancel last minute so that we could go down to F-burg this weekend for his mom's birthday. Will definitely need to make pirate bar happen at some point. 

Will probably have pictures to share on Monday. This weekend is going to be super busy. Tomorrow we're going to a National's game in the afternoon and then the Kickball Kickoff Party is in the evening. Sunday we're missing our first kickball game of the season for Umesh and Nimisha's Baby Shower. I love baby shower games! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Edited Maternity Photos

So there are quite a few pictures that were really pretty. I think we took pictures for about an hour and I got about 300 photos. I wish that some of them were more clear. Also wish there were not tourists in the background of the pictures, but don't think you can do much about that when you're taking pictures during cherry blossom season! 

Can't upload them all or it would take forever, but here are a few:

This is my favorite of Nimisha by herself

This is my favorite picture for quality.

This is my favorite picture based on the content -- they look really happy. But it's blurry and not good quality. 

In other news, today is Kate's birthday. Happy Birthday Kate! 

In other, other news -- tomorrow is Friday! 

Maternity Photography

Today I had lunch with Brenna at a local pub between Chinatown and Georgetown Law's campus. I had another chicken sandwich -- really on a chicken sandwich kick lately. Lunch was really good. Got to catch up a bit. No pictures with new phone.

Later this evening I took some maternity pictures of Umesh and Nimisha. They are seriously some of the most photogenic people ever. Made my job easy. A lot of the pictures are VERY cute. Will share some of them tomorrow. Have to edit them and such. After taking pictures we went out to dinner at Noodles & Company. I love that place. It was nice to catch up with them! 

Temporary Phone Situation

Today I finally got a new phone hooked up. I'm up for a free upgrade (free iphone) in June, so I will just use AJ's old droid for now. It's been difficult trying to text since it's all very different. Too many buttons -- just want my one home button back!

When we got the phone turned on, we realized that we could no longer track the stolen iphone. Fail. The phone had finally moved beyond the apartment! Should have filed a police report when I was in detroit. I don't care as much about the iphone -- it's the principle. Who steals a phone? Blah. Dislike people in life.

I also learned that I cannot take pictures on this new phone for now because I need some kind of memory card. Meh.

Chicken Sandwiches and Detroit

Detroit was an exceptional success. Thank you so much Kate for having us! So I met Miller (Kate's cat -- I wish I could say he was named after the beer but is actually named after a hockey player). He was really scared of me so it was a perfect relationship. Actually ended up finding him very cute which is shocking since I'm not a cat person.

Kate drove us around everywhere so I got a good feel for Ann Arbor. We ate at a bar in Ann Arbor on Friday where I got one of the best Chicken Breast sandwiches ever (chicken sandwich number 1). We went out Friday evening around the college. Things were pretty hyped up as the next day was HashBash (yes. evidently some crazy protest to legalize marijuana where people just smoke it up in a public place) and people were also super excited for Michigan's success in March Madness. The atmosphere was fun. We went to a few bars.

As most of you know, I got my phone stolen in the bathroom. Ridiculous. I still can't believe anyone in that bar really needed to steal my phone. Using the find my iphone app we were able to locate it on Saturday. We actually went to the person's apartment and tried knocking on the door. I truly wish I had filed a police report just to screw with that terrible person's life!

I'm not so upset about losing a phone because they're replaceable, but I hated losing all my pictures on my phone.

I kept checking the find my iphone app and was able to see that the person had charged the phone and was on the move. I locked it and texted numerous times that I would give a reward for the phone. Some people are just ridiculously dumb I guess. So that's the end of my iphone. Currently using AJ's old droid (thanks AJ!) until June when my upgrade is available.

After Friday's ridiculousness, we had lunch at a pretty good brewery. I had an IPA marinated chicken breast sandwich with goat cheese (chicken sandwich number 2)! It was delicious. We also got a very large super cheap flight! We then headed to Detroit.

our flight of brews

Detroit is a much smaller city than I thought. Their "people mover" is about 12 stops that just goes in a circle around the city.

people mover

We took a little trip around Detroit on the people mover where I got a few pictures. We also were able to take a look at the area and decide whether we wanted to stop or not. 

view from people mover

neat mosaic motor city-esque art at a people mover stop

Comerica Park and Ford Field in the background

Comerica Park

We ended up going out in Greektown which had greek music playing and lots of random bars and greek places. 

We went into this bbq place where the staff was super friendly

my random stout. totally don't remember the name of this beer

also the place where we discovered this gem. Didn't actually try it but really amazing name.

We then walked back to our hotel which was incredible -- was actually the GMC building. 

our hotel

inside our hotel -- view of CANADA (across the river)

random thing in our hotel I really wanted picture of

View from our hotel. Gives you an idea of how small Detroit is -- that's basically the entire city!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a super sketchy but very authentic looking bar called The Detroiter!

Bars on the door -- yes! 

Lots of signage in the bar. Lots that said Malaka's Bar. I didn't understand. But also this is my crazy whiskey sour that came with cherry and cherry juice?? I've ordered many whiskey sours and have never gotten a cherry in it. Looks like a shirley temple.

We then headed back to the room, got ready and headed out to the MGM Grand. There was a neat restaurant called Taps in the hotel but was completely booked for the whole night. We finally found a food court area where i got a chicken sandwich (chicken sandwich number 3). 

After some gambling, we hit a club where there was the craziest mix of hip hop music mixed with alternative rock/pop lyrics. OOC. We also ran into 7 (YES) bachelorette parties. The bachelorettes all looked so happy and festive! After the club, Kate headed home and Diana and I gambled until 5am.

At 9am we were up for day two of Detroit. Kate had headed home because she wasn't feeling well. Diana and I headed to Nemo's (suggestion from the nice guy at the airport bar) which is evidently the best pre-baseball game bar in Detroit. They have a shuttle which takes you to and from the game (only about 5-10 minute ride). Best part -- you can take your drink on the bus, as long as you finish it before you get off the bus! Nemo's was awesome. We asked for a menu and were told (by the owner himself -- love when owners are at their bars) "we have burger and fries or chicken sandwich and fries." The feel of Nemo's was clearly amazing. So I got, yes, you guessed it, a chicken sandwich (chicken sandwhich number 4).

Comerica Park was really nice on the outside and inside. The fans. I would rate them a 3 out of 10 and that's being generous. No one was cheering, the music was so low so no one was singing anything. I feel like I was watching baseball with a bunch of foreigners who had never heard of or seen the game before. The beers were cheap as were the cracker jacks though!

entrance of Comerica Park

After the game we headed across the street to another brewery I had heard about from the man at the airport bar! We had a beer and then headed back to the hotel to meet Kate to head back to Ann Arbor. On the way home we stopped at a White Castle (my first White Castle experience) where I was unbelievable enthused by the "chicken rings" -- I thought White Castle only had burgers! The chicken rings broke my chicken sandwich streak. It was only when I was sitting in the airport on my way back to DC that I realized I seriously ate only chicken sandwiches for three days!

Diana owes me some pictures since I basically hijacked her phone for pics throughout the trip. More to come at some point.

Overall the trip was really fun. I feel that was absolutely did Detroit justice in just a few days. It's a tiny city but nice. Ann Arbor is crawling with lots of bars and restaurants to try though -- definitely will be going back to visit again!