Bad ass...

Morgan State Frosh, and Philly native, Ameer Ali is a bad ass.

Way to rep Baltimore.

Birthday Cake!

Happy Birthday Jen!
Thanks for the bomb red velvet cake.

Sugarbakers
752 Frederick Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
410-788-9478

Yeah, I ate it all.

Well I did get some help.. but trust me, I housed the Napoleon, chocolate chip cookie, and rasberry pistachio creme cake. Yeah. Heaven.

Next time I'll just go for the whole cake; it's more cost effective when you eat in such quantities. 

Yum. 

Patisserie Poupon

820 E Baltimore St

I Spy during my commute

During my 5 mile run from Friends to Mt Vernon...

Mural on Falls right near 83 split in Hampden

Mural #2 on Falls, before Clipper Mill

Jones Falls isn't just an expressway, there is actually a Jones Falls :)

Industrial stuff further down Falls en route to Charles

Baltimore Bicycle Works and neat mosaic windows 

And then I noticed a production crew setting up next to the monument...

The End.

Welcome Back Spring

In honor of the first official day of spring, I have decided to wear flip flops to work.

...even though its 40 degrees outside :(

Downtown Commute & Pastries

After a day of low productivity at work (were on spring break, so there isn't much to do...) I plan on "commuting" home to Mt Vernon by foot. The Penn Station shuttle isn't running from Towson since its break for them too so my only option unless I wait 2 hours for a ride, is to run home. Here is my planned course.

Depending on how time is looking, I may stop in some shops on the Avenue as I will be coming right down Roland and intersect with 36th. I am in diar need of a new coffee table and couch; neither of which I could bring with me on my run home but I could maybe pick something out.

A much needed reward post-commute, will be one if not several, pastries from Patisserie Poupon on E Baltimore St. I am so excited! I was lucky enough to sample a couple of their pastries at Marie Louise Bistro who purchases from Poupon, but it'll be that much more thrilling to go to the shop itself. They specialize in catering for events; weddings, etc. but have a small storefront area with petite goodies for tasting :) Photos soon to come if I don't eat too quickly.

Spring Break Meet wrap-up

Tiger Track Ladies did a great job this past Saturday at the Coastal Carolina Spring Break Invitational in Myrtle Beach. Considering it was a a blustery 45 degrees the majority of the day. Lots of outdoor PR's (first outdoor meet of the season) and a general good time. Just wish it could have been WARMER. Results here

We stayed right on the beach which was pleasant. Early morning runs, wet sand, and lots of seashells. I have some great shots that I will need to upload from my camera at some point. I took full advantage of this trip as a break from everyday life and proceeded to eat every burger, fry, ice cream available. It was well worth it.

With the kick-off of outdoor comes the planning of my "racing season". Which will be slim but I figure if I can put some things down officially and get myself to eventually register, I will be on the right track. No strategy as of yet but plan to run around 2 short races (5K or so) in preperation for another half; perhaps the Broad Street Run thrown in there as well...in passing, I also hope to run an 800m race on the track at some point by end of summer. Ambitious!

And now for something completely unrelated...

Scanwiches

"Scans of sandwiches for education and delight" YUM!

Fells Point Fro Yo

One would think the Fro Yo craze hasn't quite electrified the country from coast to coast...until now. Baltimore will have its very own frozen yogurt establishment-Mr. Yogato- in the heart of Fells come this April!

Having been a loyal patron of Pinkberry in Cali, I have had a hard time accepting the plethora of competitors. After a trip to one of the east-coast based Pinkberry locations in NYC, I noticed a handful of similar fro yo types touting "tart and healthy yogurt with a sundry of toppings"; Red Mango, Yogurtland, etc. just to name a few...

DC joined the picture last year; first came TangySweet. Seriously? Could these places be any more of a rip off of eachother? Even the names sound the same- compound words with some sort of fruit or adjective. TangySweet didn't really do it for me, and after commenting on their similarities to Pinkberry to the founder, he didn't seem to pleased...I will admit their fro yo is actually quite tastey :)

Haven't yet made my way to the Mr. Yogato in Dupont, but have heard/read good things. They may peddle the same tart yogurt concoctions with unlimited toppings, etc. but they seem to do it with character. Some unique nuances, like their "rules" list (see below) make this place seem a bit quirky and very Baltimore-esque.

Rules of Yogato

1. If Mr. Roboto comes over the speaker system and you sing along, you get 10% off yogurt.


2. Try your luck with a trivia question. Get it right for 10% off, but get it wrong and 10% is added.


3. If you will wear a yogato stamp on your head, you get 10% off.


4. If you can recite the Stirling battlefield speech from Braveheart in a great scottish accent, you get 20% off yogurt.


5. Order a yogurt for 30 consecutive days and we'll name a flavor after you. View 30 Day Champions


6. If a customer suggests a topping or flavor which is then adopted, that customer receives a 5% discount for life.


7. If anyone can stump Steve on trivia regarding Seinfeld or "The Rock," 10% off yogurt.


8. Anyone wearing a kickball uniform and has played hard (evidenced by dirt on their knees) will receive an automatic 10% off yogurt.
   

When assessing dessert choices in Fells Point proper, you will have a new option in town...I intend to agonize over the options; smooth organic gelato from Pitango or kooky low cal fro yo from Mr Yogato. What will you choose? The Dessert saga continues...

(Pitango gets my vote) ;)

Burger or Bust

Turkey Burger Bonanza...

Dinner a couple nights ago, prior to Myrtle Beach track trip.

Turkey patty with chopped spinach, feta, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, old bay, cayenne pepper, and a pinch of chili powder. Topped with tomato, sprouts, MORE spinach, MORE cheese (swiss), avocado spread on bottom, honey mustard on top served on toasted wheat bread. All out of english muffins :( yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Perplexed!

I am at a loss right now with my silly Blogger formatting. For some reason or another, my sidebar content (links, profile, etc.) have all relocated to the bottom of my blog. It makes the page look so blah. My OCD-ness is not helping...must have this fixed STAT. Any ideas?

Spinal Tap. Seriously.

This is a dream I tell you...

Guess what I heard today? Head Coach Rog mentioned in passing that everyone's favorite hair band Spinal Tap will be gracing the stage UNPLUGGED at the Lyric Opera House this May. This event marks the 25th anniversary of their 1984 mock-umentary- This is Spinal Tap. None other than Nigel, David and Derek will be there to perform hits from this legendary film and other Christopher Guest cinema favorites! AHHHH!

Unwigged and Unplugged
An Evening with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
Tuesday, May 12 @ 8PM

I only hope Stonehenge will make an appearance.

Life Sans Car

So I have been living without the convenience of my beloved Element for two work days now and I am surprisingly okay with it. Since Ross got the new job in Woodlawn, he drops me off in the AM and then I must fend for myself as they say in order to get to practice at Towson. This is until he gets his very own car ;) Today I will attempt to take the Penn Station Shuttle from campus to Penn Station in Mt Vernon! How conveeeeeenient! From Friends to Towson for practice is approx 3 miles so I have been running there since the weather has been okay, when it gets crappy out....I don't know what I'll do. Here's the route I take. It's nice cause it totally forces me to at least run 3 miles everyday during the week since I don't really have any other option...PS- I hate Rodger's Forge hills.

Foot Mileage 3/10/09: 5 total + Lifting

Working on my Green Thumb

I have all intentions of sprucing up my apartment with some actually living plants. But I have NO idea where to go, what to get, and where to start... Here are some inspiring pics that have me aching for horticulture.

Design Studio at Farmer's Market, an icelandic design company...notice the lovely living branch type thing in the corner (photo taken from designspongeonline)

I love the perfect size potted tree/plant thingy near the fireplace, it's a nice hefty size. Even the aloe plant on the mantel brings life to the space. Pic found in a sneak peek post about Life + Limb store owner Molly Quan's who resides in Portland, OR. (photo from designsponge)

Ironically enough, I checked out Molly's shop and it specializes in "interior plants and homewares for modern living." How perfect is that? I might have to peruse their online selection- although I would really like to buy local and not spend too much...

Here's the space I'm trying to fill...

It's a tall and narrow space that needs something well...tall and narrow. I think I might try Ikea in White Marsh and maybe the Home Depot on Joppa. Any other suggestions for that perfect plant?

I just realized I reference Design Sponge like daily. God, I love that blog.

Sun Means Run...maybe

*An image of what I hope Mt Vernon will look like this weekend- blue skies! Probably won't be so green and lush, but gimmie sun!

I am so excited. It is slated to be WARM, WARM, WARM this weekend. Highs of 67 Saturday and 70 Sunday? Ridiculous! I would love to pretend that means I will be doing a lot of running but... my mom is in town and I am recovering from pneumonia so I may be continuing to lay low...(<--- making excuses!) Oh alright, maybe I'll go and run- without a watch though, so it's more for fun :) 5 miles or so a day this week after a week of hacking my gunky lungs up. I hope to get in about the same today after practice. Hopefully my mileage total will be at 30 or so? I'm such a slacker. It's funny this Sunday will be the EXACT opposite Sunday from last week as it was just beginning to snow and was a mere 30 degrees or so. Ugh, I love the inconsistencies of Baltimore weather.

Gearing up for the girls spring break meet next weekend in Myrtle Beach at Coastal Carolina U. Everybody really looks forward to this meet for obvious reasons; great weather, beach and of course it being our first outdoor meet of the season. Hopefully we will set the bar high for the rest of the season. We'll be there for most of spring break so the Miami bikini contests and infamous bar crawls will be replaced with track intervals and long runs. ha.

A couple of Towson trackers will be competing this weekend at the indoor ECAC's in Boston. Our weight thrower threw the qualifying standard with a PR at our last meet- woo hoo! Our hurdler was quite close to the qualifying standard and would have been our lone track competitor, but we decided to take the 4x4 team instead who was a mere .5 seconds off of qualifying. Season PR in a great performance last Friday at the Fast Track Invitational at the NY Armory!

Knitted Wonders

I love sushi! Especially when it's made of yarn! I am totally re-blogging as I found this image on Design Sponge...I think, er somewhere during my daily blog perusals. Either way, I am definitely a fan of this elegantly done sashimi and sushi knitted dish.

If you are an accomplished knitter and crochet worker, you can make this yourself by following the pattern available for purchase on the NeedleNoodles Etsy page in PDF format. Also featured are crochet Pork Chop sandwiches and BLT's! Woo hoo for food influenced knitting!

PS- SO not Baltimore related but worth noting as always :)