Meet the Mets' New Home

In part 2 of the sports weekend with Luke, we went to see the Mets' brand new home--Citi Field. Oh, and watch them play baseball inside it, of course. Verdict? Two thumbs, way up. I may be a little biased, but I think Citi Field is way cooler than the new Yankee Stadium. Want a tour? You got it.

Welcome to "Citi Field Fanwalk." The sidewalks outside the stadium behind home plate are lined with hundreds of these bricks. Apparently when the stadium was being built you could buy a brick and put your own message on it, making sure you're a part of the stadium forever. Hmmm, where was that little tid bit before they were all sold out?

The similarities between the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are pretty crazy--even down to the "in-game entertainment." Smells kinda fishy. So it made sense for Citi Field to have their own "hall of fame." I'm not sure if I actually grew up watching the Mets, but it seems like all my earliest baseball-on-TV memories have something to do with the Mets, so these pictures were pretty cool to see . . .

and these above the gate to left field . . .

The view from our "cheap" seats (the new stadium don't come cheap) was actually really cool. I was diggin' that Pepsi sign (hollatma LIC peeps). Not sure if that's a new addition or if they had that at Shea . . . little help from the connoisseurs out there? The awesome light and sky when we got there were a major bonus . . .

. . . so I couldn't resist a bit of an "artsy" shot.

I've decided all the classic "Americana" at baseball games is one of my new favorite things. Nothing better than a seventh inning stretch with "take me out to the ball game" followed by a rousing rendition of "meet the Mets."

Fun time. Great game. And the Mets won. I think I may be turning into a good luck charm.

Open Season

The US Open came to my back yard this year. No, not the US Open that comes every year, the US Open (the golf one, that is). Add another reason to the ever-growing list of things I love about this town . . . a 40 minute train ride and I'm staring at the best golfers in the world. Ok, cheesy I know, but for a guy like me, this was sort of a dream come true.

We decided to go to the practice round on Wednesday and watch the real show on TV. Turns out it was a good decision--the weather was awesome Wednesday, not so much since then. We got to see all my favorite players except Tiger. Can't win 'em all I guess.

The whole experience was even sweeter since the US Open this year is being played at Beth Page State Park (The Black Course), which is a public course, and one that my brothers and I played last summer for the first time. The guys out there this week are handling the course a tad bit better than we did.

The other great thing about the practice round? You can take your camera with you, of course. The pics . . .

The 18th grandstand (pre-crowds), green, and fairway. That is one sweet hole.

The leader board. I think "Eastman" would look sweet on that thing, don't you?

Sergio . . .

Phil . . . I may or may not have squealed like a little girl when I saw him that close-up (don't you dare judge me).

Play Ball

I guess sometimes it pays to be a corporate monkey. I scored two free tix to the Yanks game tonight from work--and they were great seats. It was awesome to see the new stadium. In true Yankee fashion, it's over-the-top in niceties. The place was great, the company was awesome, the game was fantastic. A couple great plays from Jeter, a home run from Damon and Jeter, and A-Fraud didn't do jack (not that I would ever actually root against anyone). Oh, and the Yanks won--5 to 3.

A few pics of the evening.

The Hall of Fame (I'm not sure it's actually called that).

The vendors (hawt dawgs, cold beah heah!)

Uncle Buck showed up . . .

The view.

The seats.

My favorite Yankee.

Taking Fun to New Heights

I love days like we had Saturday. 72 degrees, nice breeze, lots of people out, lots of energy . . . it's a good time in NYC.

We have been wanting to see "In the Heights" for awhile now. We weren't crazy about dropping the mad cash for the tickets . . . so, we did what every other person in NYC does . . . we stood in line at the TKTS booth. Long story short, tickets were still not cheap, even at 30% off, so we went to the theater to put our names in the lottery, didn't get picked, so we got the "final sale" price of the tickets. Half off baby.

This was probably one of my favorite shows. I LOVED it. Read about the story here. It was moving. And Jed got to go back to his roots (he used to live in Washington Heights).

Next on our "do whatever the freak we feel like today" list was picture taking (of course)--mostly by yours truly, banana pudding from Magnolia for my husb . . .


"Falun Gong" parading . . .

wandering in and out of shops, and ending the day where every human being should end their day . . . Dylan's candy bar.


Here's to many more summer days like this . . . especially the 72 degrees part.

The Repercussions

That's one big hole--big enough to drive a (fire) truck in, you might say.

A Woodside Rescue

How many FDNYers does it take to rescue one of their trucks from a giant Woodside pothole? Apparently quite a few. Jed found this scene on the corner of our street walking home from work. We had to check it out. It was the closest thing to a block party we've seen since we moved here. Plus the entire squad (fleet? crew? battalion?) of the FDNY was out in full force to the rescue.


After awhile the news crews showed up, too. Not to be outdone by Jed, doing his best photojournalist impression--I think he had visions of getting one of his shots on Anderson Cooper tonight.


I kept saying with all the firemen around if he takes enough pics we could make our own calendar and sell a million copies on eBay.


3 hours later, they finally got the truck out--and the crowds went wild. Gotta love this town.

In Case You Were Wondering . . .

This is what H looks like at 5 AM. Couldn't help myself. Besides, 5 AM, PM or any other kind of -M, I think she looks fantastic.