Some Very Necessary Things

I'm having a little bit of a terribly hard time believing that August is TOMORROW. Excuse me, but where is my summer going and why is it going so fast? Anyways, a dump truck threw a softball sized rock at my windshield + broke it, casually reminding me that I'm only paying for liability insurance. That means Thursday Things is reasons to smile themed!

First of all, on Tuesday Fox Sports shared a picture of a shirtless Kliff Kingsbury. Hello, yes please and thank you. It's not even really an article, and it's approrpiately titled "Ladies, Here's Kliff Kingsbury Shirtless" It's a really important development in College Football. I promise.

SPEAKING of College Football, I'm so glad all of the hype videos are happening. So glad. I get chills anytime I hear an old Larry Munson call. If this video doesn't get you pumped for football season, I don't know what will. Thirty days until we tee it up between the hedges!

Yesterday my mother talked me into asking people to like my blog on Facebook and the last time I checked I had 123 likes which blows my mind. I also now have 21 bloglovin' followers AND over 9,000 site views. Y'all are the bomb.com + I really mean that.
Source
So that's all I have for Thursday Things, Spotify's Throwback Thursday playlist is on point again this week. You should go check that out!

Another Round of Confessions

Oh hello Wednesday, we meet again! Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known today was Wednesday if I hadn't opened my bloglovin' feed this morning and seen all of the Humpday Confession linkups! It's been one of those marathon weeks. Two weeks really, since the team was in town so we worked all weekend too.
Vodka and Soda
Since I've been working my day job and at the ballpark, I literally haven't been able to make time in the day to run [you try working from 8 am until 11 pm then tell me I'm making excuses] but my run tracker app has noticed and has been very saucy with me lately. Yesterday it sent me a little push notification that said "you must be doing your running indoors, make sure to log it so it counts!" I see what you did there, passive aggressive runkeeper.
source
I am pretty sure that coffee has replaced blood in my veins. I genuinely struggle without it. Coffee and water because I read on the Internet that drinking a gallon of water every day will make my hair look prettier. So I've been trying to drink at least a gallon of water every day, in addition to my coffee.. So either my hair will look great or I will drown. You can't put anything that's not true on the internet. 
not true
source
Speaking of a gallon of water, I learned the other day that I genuinely don't know how many ounces are in a gallon. My third grade teacher would probably be rather disappointed in me. My thought process went like this [out loud] "okay, there are four quarts in a gallon, and sixteen ounces in a quart. so 64 ounces in a gallon? I can totally handle that!" I'm so cute. There are 32 ounces in a quart. In related news, I do a lot better with the metric system.
source
Sometimes, I can sing pretty well, if no one is paying attention and I don't realize that I'm singing. Usually I sing terrible and loud on purpose. But, in my commuting time, I put on little car concerts for everyone around me [you're welcome, fellow commuters of Atlanta]. I've been working on getting to where I can sing All By Myself without taking any more gasping breaths than Celine does. I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in the act of extending my lung capacity -- but I'm happy to admit that I nailed it driving home last night.
source
Those are all of my confessions this week! Head over to Kathy's place to see everyone else! Also. If you haven't seen the video that man made all by himself in an airport, you really need to. Here you go!

Liebster Award!

Y'all. I mentioned the other day that I was doing my first ever sponsorship + it's so great. Oddly enough, taking that little leap helped me to bug all of my real world friends to follow along. I couldn't tell you why that was such a tough thing for me to do, because they were the ones encouraging me to write to begin with... anyways. So I was nominated by the lovely Sweet, Sassy, Southern Belle + I'm going to use her rules!

Rules
  • Thank the person who nominated you and post a link back to their blog. 
  • Display the award on your blog by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.  Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.  
  • Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
  • Answer 11 questions about yourself which were provided by the person who nominated you.
  • Nominate 3-11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less that 1,00 followers.
  • Create a new list of 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
  • List these rules in your post.
  • Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it.
  • You can nominate/tag someone that has already received the award as long as they are not the person that nominated you.
First, 11 facts about myself!
  1. When I first started college, I was a biomedical engineering major. I thought I was going to work in a lab + save the world. When I got to college, I realized I wasn't as smart as I thought I was...
  2. I have almost no self control when it comes to anything nautical or anchor print. To say I have an obsession with anchors would be quite an understatement. 
  3. I cry at all of the sad parts in movies, no matter how many times I've seen them. Sometimes, I cry because I know what's about to happen. 
  4. I still sleep with a stuffed animal. He's a teddy bear, his name is Minus [as in, Minus the Bear], he goes everywhere with me + sometimes I document his adventures. I would be a liar liar pants on fire if I told you I was even remotely ashamed of the fact. 
  5. I have owned three cars in my short life, all three of them have been named after Beatles songs. The first was a pathfinder that I loved until the wheels almost fell off, the second was a mazda cx-7 that I thought was more practical than the Jeep Wrangler that I really wanted [spoiler: I was wrong], and a Jeep Liberty that is paid for and adorable. I'm still working towards that Jeep Wrangler though. 
  6. I did not have a passport until this year. I've never been out of the country, I've never really traveled anywhere. That's all about to change. 
  7. I graduated college early because I didn't have any good sense at all. I knew I wanted to graduate to work in the baseball fiscal year, but I didn't think through that I could have stayed two more semesters and had two degrees instead of one. 
  8. Speaking of degrees, mine is a Bachelor of Science in Education in Sport Management from the University of Georgia College of Education. You try making all of that fit on one line in a resume. 
  9. I don't have a problem with silences, I don't think they're awkward at all, but I will talk as long as you'll let me. I've never really met a stranger. 
  10. As outgoing as I am, I have some pretty major anxiety issues that, oddly enough, I'm too anxious about to figure out how to fix them. 
  11. I really think that the oxford comma is important and I will never stop using it. NEVER I TELL YOU!
Next! The 11 questions provided for me!
  1. How/why did you start blogging? I started originally when I moved to California so that people could keep up with me, I wasn't very good at it, then I blogged for work, at Winter Meetings, and finally for myself! 
  2. What do you do when you’re not blogging? Adventures. I like to live like [pretend maybe?] that everything is an adventure, I figure that attitude makes life more fun. I'm always looking for a new adventure or kind of trouble to get into. 
  3. What do you like most about blogging? I like meeting new people, seeing what their lives are like, what they think is important enough to share with the world, and being able to share the things I think are important to share in the world! 
  4. What do you dislike about blogging? Oh man I always always feel like the kid trying to butt into the popular group when I comment on bigger blogs. I know that's not the case and that everyone likes to read comments, even if they're dumb. I just constantly worry that mine are dumb. 
  5. What have you learned since you’ve started blogging? It's okay to bug your friends to read your blog, even though the stats really don't matter -- it's cool to see how many people are reading what you have to say, and you can easily spend an entire hour searching for the PERFECT .gif for something you feel is super clever. 
  6. What’s your favorite season, and why? baseball. followed very closely by football. So essentially summer and fall. Also I love Christmas, but hate winter... 
  7. What’s your favorite summer activity? Being outside, with a book, preferably by a body of water + with a cold margarita in my hand. The days are longer and everyone wants to be outside. I love to be outside! 
  8. Do you have any pets?  If so, what kind(s) and how many? Not yet! I want a puppy so bad I could die, but my roommate does have a dog and I refer to her [the dog] as my other roommate. 
  9. What is your favorite food? PIZZA. give me pizza or give me death! 
  10. What is your favorite drink? Tequila Sunrises. YUM. followed closely by one of my famous margaritas + a free beer. [oh, that sure makes me sound like I have a drinking problem doesn't it?]
  11. If you could go anywhere in the world for your dream vacation, where would you go? Ireland. I want to go to Ireland so bad I could just die. My goal is to make it there for St. Patty's Day before I turn 30. 
Bloggers I nominate!! 
My dear friend Jen, from Not Fast, Not Last. 
Another Jen, at Tin Can Cozy
Michelle at Becoming a Heath

Here are my 11 questions for these babes! 

  1. What's the story behind the name of your blog? 
  2. What tv show/book/movie do you absolutely love but everyone else thinks is weird or ridiculous?
  3. What is the one thing you cannot live without? 
  4. What is your biggest pet peeve [blogger or otherwise]?
  5. If you were trapped on a deserted island [whatever with the cliches] with just one book series [or just one book, if you'd prefer], what would you choose?
  6. If money were no object, and you could 'make a living' doing whatever you please, what would you do?
  7. What is your guiltiest pleasure? [I'm sorry, I think pleasure is such an icky word]
  8. What is the best job you have ever had and why? 
  9. If you could give yourself one piece of advice, ten years ago, what would it be?
  10. What is the one non-obvious thing you cannot live without? 
  11. Windows down, volume turned all the way up, what song are you listening to? 

Oh Heeeeey Friday

Y'ALL. It's the last Friday in July. Where on earth did my summer go?! Today, for the oh hey Friday linkup, I bring you five completely unrelated things. How fun right?
 
first of all -- this adorable agenda. Erin at Two Thirds Hazel is hosting a giveaway for it, but I have absolutely zero self control so I entered the giveaway + then bought the agenda [also a koozie...] but come on how cute?! Check out ban.do for more adorable things. I'm sure I'll be buying at least five of those glitter bomb barrettes [that's another word I can't spell..] You should definitely check 'em out over at Ban.Do! I really wanted the "I Am Very Busy" agenda, but it was already sold out! 

second of all -- my baseball behind the scenes series is doing great + everyone is being so sweet about it -- so thank you thank you thank you! Check out yesterday's about why you should be going to MiLB games! 
third of all -- as far as my summer bucket list goes, I am slacking hardcore. I am already through to the Prisoner of Azkaban in my Harry Potter series re-read, so there is that. We're going to shoot the hooch NEXT WEEKEND, so I'll buy the waterproof disposable camera + that will be such fun. We did make cutoff shorts! Well, my mom did most of the legwork, but I didn't document the process. They're super cute though. I wear them constantly. Men's pants are so much more comfortable than women's. What is that about?
fourth of all -- this babe at Sweet, Sassy Southern Belle is setting the bar pretty high for blogs I sponsor in the future + she's even nominated me for a Liebster award! Which is too cool. I'm working on that post so I might have one scheduled for a Saturday -- who am I even? Anyways. 

LAST! But certainly not least. I have figured out a no heat, no muss, no fuss way to mermaid waves + I was already doing it without realizing it. French braided pigtails [or boxer braids if you must]. I discovered the "not your mother's beach spray" which is essentially coconut oil + saltwater. So to get the perfect mermaid waves, all I have to do is braid my hair either after a shower or just during the day, spray it with my "texturizing" spray + take them out of the braids gently. WHO KNEW? 
okay so you can't quite see the mermaid waves here, but HOW cute is Louie?

Why You Should Be Attending Minor League Baseball Games [even if you don't like baseball]

It's a common cliche in Minor League Baseball to say something along the lines of 98% of fans leaving a Minor League game can't tell you if the team won or lost. Now, I've never seen the results of that particular exit survey, but I do think it has it's merit. Minor League Baseball has a completely different atmosphere than MLB. I could go on for days about why you should be hanging out at Minor League games, so this is going to be a multi-part series!


Tickets are dirt cheap. really when it comes to MiLB everything is super cost effective. If you catch the right day, most teams offer a "family four pack" which is four tickets, four food vouchers, and four drink vouchers. It's a steal. If you're in it for more than one game, most teams offer a "flex plan" now where you can pick your dates and get a discounted rate on tickets that way too. Check the team's facebook or twitter page, there's probably another ticket deal there.
visalia rawhide
photo by Ken Weisenberger
Two words: Thirsty. Thursday. Show me a MLB park that does $1 drinks, and I'm down. It's not just dollar beers, it's dollar cokes [soda, pop, whatever they call it in your neck of the woods.] It's a dollar. If you're not invested in dollar drinks, you're probably doing it wrong anyways.  Theme nights. "Minor League, Major Fun" might as well be the league's official mission statement, motto, and party line. It's something they teach you as an employee, get the fans here and show them a good time. Planning theme nights + putting them together was probably one of my favorite parts of the job. Like I've said before, everything about me is loud, so I love putting on a costume or dressing up for a theme party. It's even more fun when you're trying to turn all of your existing field games into games that fit in the theme. Don't believe me? Check out Ben Hill's chronicles of the Minor League Promotions!
midland rockhounds

You're right on top of the action. I get it, you don't want to sit in the nosebleeds at the big league parks. Even if you don't like baseball, it's still really cool to be so close to the game that you can just about touch the catcher. There are some MiLB parks where you're closer to the catcher than the pitcher is. Imagine that, you're almost part of the game. Plus, these guys are kids so they [almost] all want to sign autographs!

That's it for part one, what is your favorite part of a Minor League Baseball game? Do you have something I should include in the next list? 

Humpday Confessions :: Eight

I purposely didn't post yesterday because I really want everyone to read my interview with Meredith! So you should go read that before you get any further into my confessions because she's such a babe + super talented. Plus there's that absolutely adorable picture of the two of us from Winter Meetings. So, go on, I'll wait.
Vodka and Soda
Yesterday I learned that flirting with the Geek Squad tech will not actually get your computer fixed any faster or get you a price break on their service plan. Which is really unfortunate, because yesterday was a good hair day + I looked pretty cute to boot. 
here
Literally the day after I wrote Traffic Trends that Really Grind My Gears I dealt with every. single. thing. on that list. Every single one. There was actually a car on my commute home that was the pokey car in the left lane, sped up when I tried to pass them, + had their bright lights on. Karma, I see you. 
karma
heeeereee
I admit that I use Pinterest for my research more than I use google at this point. My Europe trip is in 158 days + I'm looking to use that as a justification to finally buy myself a good solid camera + take some photography classes. What good is a trip to Europe if I don't take pictures? Does anyone have any suggestions on a camera? Obviously, I'm leaning to the Canon Rebel...
here
I am really struggling with the whole creating a coherent train of thought, even though I've had coffee already. It's going to be a long day. Head over to Kathy's blog + find some better confessions than the ones I have for ya. 

Baseball Behind the Scenes with Meredith Perri

"Tommy La Stella girlfriend" is still the leading search term to get to my blog [it's actually tied with DIY wine cork shadow box, hollaaa]. I realize that using that term will keep me pretty high on that list, so I'm actually making it more of a search term to lead you to my blog... Anyways, without further ado, I want to introduce everyone to the lovely Meredith Perri, who has agreed to be my first ever interview for my Baseball Behind the Scenes series!

I met Meredith because we were both Job Seeker Journalers for Ben Hill down at Winter Meetings. Mostly I met her because I'm a total creeper + recognized her in the hotel. I obviously have zero shame, but I'm glad I probably creeped her out, because now we're great friends! 
baseball winter meetings
here's a picture of the two of us being adorable.
Where did you go to school + what was your degree? I just graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism and a minor in history. 

What made you choose baseball? I grew up in one of those baseball families. In 1994 -- when I was two -- the Hudson Valley Renegades opened up a stadium about 30 minutes from my house. I was there when that team won the NY Penn League in 1999. I had my 10th birthday party in the right field concourse even though my birthday is in March and the season starts in June. My brother and sister both worked for the team. I also made it to at least one game (usually more like eight) each season until I was 16. I can distinctly remember when I was in the fourth grade thinking that I wanted to write about minor league baseball for the rest of my life. I watched the Mets every day, but there was something about the minor leagues and the awe that the players had about playing the game. Then in the sixth grade my father brought home a copy of the Mets media guide. My brother, who is seven years older, and I took turns at the dinner table finding little facts to quiz each other on, and when I went to bed that night I took the book upstairs and started to read it cover to cover. I wanted to know everything about the team. It was 2004, and this new kid David Wright was having a pretty solid rookie season. After maybe a week or two I told my parents I wanted to become a beat reporter covering the Mets because I loved finding the random stories in that media guide and telling people about them. Now that I'm 10 years older, the dream is still the same -- although I would take writing about any team. I love this idea that my words can have an impact on people whom I will never meet. The idea that one day I could write an article that means so much to someone that they save the newspaper clipping and find it years later all tattered and browned with age -- that's the real dream. 

What is your favorite part of the job? Right now I cover the Cape Cod Baseball League, so I have to say that my favorite part of the job is watching these college-aged players try to turn the sport they adore into a career. The other day I was at Fenway Park covering the league's workout and watching those players react to being on a Major League field was incredible. They were kids again for a minute -- sure, they were trying to turn a children's game into a professional job by impressing scouts, but they took pictures and felt the grass. They had respect for the opportunity they were given and you could see it in their eyes. 

What is the best story you have from working in sports? We're going to have to switch over to hockey for this one. I loved my time at Boston University, but they don't have a baseball team. They do, however, have one of the most storied hockey programs in college hockey. Covering the BU men's hockey team for the independent student-run newspaper The Daily Free Press is the goal for anyone in the sports department of the paper. It has it's challenges though -- including the fact that you have to pay your way to any and all away games. So, back in February the team traveled out to Notre Dame for a two-game series. My friend Kevin, who also covered the team, and I made the trip to South Bend to cover the games. I remember waking up at about 4:45 in the morning because we were going to take mass transportation to the airport. We got there and everything was great and on schedule. That lasted about three hours. We got on the plane and as it started to take off and pick up speed, the plane suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The pilot came over and said that they had a crew coming to check out the plane because a light had popped up on the dashboard. Minutes later the pilot came on again and said it was a false alarm. Alas, the same thing happened when we tried to take off the second time. That light was for one of the engines. We were forced to get off the plane, but we couldn't get on another flight for hours. We were definitely going to cut it close at this point to make it to the game at this point because we were flying into Chicago then driving to Notre Dame. We eventually got onto another flight, but there was a lot of fog so even that one was delayed. We landed in Chicago at the time the game started. We got to Notre Dame with three minutes left in the contest. Thankfully, we had followed the game on Twitter - well I did, Kevin was driving. The sports info director was completely understanding of the situation, and when the game was over he explained to the coach what had happened. We still wrote up a story - in part thanks to the coach giving very detailed answers. I was so happy there was a second game that weekend because if we had flown all that way to miss the only game... well let's just say I would have thrown a few fits. 

What has been the coolest experience from working in sports? I'm finding it really hard to pick one experience, but I think I'll go back to the summer after my sophomore year of college. I was interning for SportsNet New York in the digital media department and covering the Mets for MetsBlog.com. I did an interview with Justin Turner about Twitter, and it was my first time talking to a professional athlete. I don't know if it's my coolest experience, but it was my most memorable because I was actually doing what I had set out to do eight years earlier. I told people I would cover the Mets one day, and I really was. 

Bonus: I can think of very few jobs where you can get the kind of adrenalin rush that covering sports gives you. You are always under pressure to come up with something unique and to keep the reader entertained -- all on deadline. When you find out that the piece you wrote gave someone goosebumps though, man, it gives you the kind of euphoria that will last for days.

Meredith just wrote a great piece about a day in the life of a Cape Cod player here, or catch up with her here, on Twitter, and on Instagram!

Total Social Favoritessss

I missed the bus on the first TWO #TotalSocial posts, but just barely caught this one! Mostly because I am doing my very first ever sponsorship over at Sweet, Sassy Southern Belle (okay it was a freebie from her twitter, but I totally want to take it seriously to decide if I should keep it up) and wanted to make sure I followed all of Sarah's tips from her Saturday Sessions.

Venus Trapped in Mars

favorite drink :: tequila sunrise. as long as the orange juice doesn't come from the soda gun.
favorite brunch place :: anywhere with bottomless mimosas, a good fried egg, and cheesy potatoes. 
favorite movie :: Garden State. 
favorite hairstyle :: braided pigtails, it's okay, I'm adorable. plus. mermaid waves.
favorite musician/group :: The Beatles.
favorite weekend activity :: tailgating in Athens. 
favorite color :: green. followed closely by red + black. 
favorite decade :: forever and always a child of the 90's. 
favorite food :: pizza. 
favorite instagram account to follow :: @thedailyballoon
favorite season :: baseball season, followed very closely by football season. 
favorite beer :: cold, free ones. I'll be your best friend if you give me a cold Drafty Kilt by Monday Night or a cold Sweetwater though..
favorite sound :: this is a tough one -- crowd noise at Turner Field or Sanford Stadium. gets me every. time. close second? a summer thunderstorm on a tin roof. 
a picture featuring multiple favorites :: pigtails, brunch, puppies...



I Came Up With More Secrets To Tell You Today

Wednesday has become my favorite day of the week because first of all, the button for this linkup, second of all, I love how it's like a community of confessors, I always find at least one fun new blog to follow per week.
Vodka and Soda
instagram I've confessed before that I get anxiety when it lists all of the names of users who have liked pictures, but this week I'm finally ready to admit that I genuinely don't understand what makes a picture popular on instagram. I took a really cool shot of downtown Rome, got all sorts of real life compliments on it, and it didn't even get the 11 likes necessary to make it a number (that's a lie, I liked it to make it 11 because of said anxiety) but yesterday I posted a picture of a bowl of Cap'n Crunch + my coffee + it got 20 likes in like thirty minutes. obviously cereal is the answer. 
the bachelorette I've started watching this with my roommate + we're a week behind, so no spoilers or whatever. but on hometowns we were genuinely floored when she was whining about going to football games every Sunday. I'm pretty sure I would say "we get to go to football games every week, all around the country?! can we do baseball stadiums too!?"
here
rapping in country songs NOPE. someone please make it stop. I can't handle it. this remix of Drink to That All Night with Pitbull almost caused me to crash my car the other day I was so surprised when it came on Spotify. I like Pitbull as much as the next girl [I even thanked him for helping me run the Peachtree] -- however I'm not mentally ready for this crossover trend. let's make it stop. okay? PS JERROD NIEMANN ALSO SINGS A SONG ABOUT THAT DONKEY DONKEY. it's looking like he's a big part of the problem right now.
cruise
here
working from home this is my favorite part of my job right now. well right around with making my own schedule and having a pool at the office. I worked from home yesterday and accomplished so much. I cleaned the apartment, did laundry, went for a run, actually ate breakfast, it was a great day AND I saved all the gas, hollaaaa.
heeere
Make sure you head over to seee Kathy + find some fun new blogs to check out!

Traffic Trends That Really Grind My Gears

I mean come on with that title. I giggled the whole time. Anyways, I'm the commuting queen. I spend all sorts of time driving in Atlanta traffic. Just all of it. There are some things that people do while driving that make me all road ragey and I'm hoping I can write something that will go viral and make everyone better drivers. Gotta change the world for the better any way we can right? Without further ado, here are thirteen things that would lower my blood pressure if everyone stopped doing. Plus I'm linking up with Erica for Listed Tuesday!!

snowmageddon walking dead
source

  1. being pokey in the left lane :: BONUS douche points if you're being pokey, people are passing on your right, AND THERE'S THE SIGN THAT SAYS "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT" somewhere super close to you. It's not as safe to pass on the right because blind spots and that's where slow cars who are following the laws drive. That left lane on the interstate is for passing not for being pokey. I understand if you're passing cars but still going slower than me, I'll let you pass those cars and just grumble a little bit about having to turn cruise control off. 
  2. not giving a thank you wave :: listen. I don't want you to send me a thank you note for being a decent human being and letting you over when you get stuck or letting you turn in front of me instead of blocking the intersection, but is a simple "hey thanks for not being a jerk" really that much to ask for? I over compensate for those of you who don't thank you wave by giving a little thank you wave for people who are just minding their own business and obeying the law. Thank you kind citizen!
  3. bright lights on the highway :: hey. so this blows my mind. first of all, on the highway there are other cars around you with headlights AND streetlights. SECOND OF ALL. if you come up in my rear view mirror with your blinding bright lights on I'm probably going to hit my brakes because I can no longer see in front of me. Why do you even need them? You're just being a jerk. If you're going the other way -- you're going to blind me momentarily. My eyes don't adjust to drastic light changes very quickly, so please turn your bright lights off. 
  4. speeding up when I try to pass you :: if I've said it once, I've said it twenty million times, if I'm driving on the interstate/highway, I'm using cruise control. so I couldn't care less if you're going faster or slower than me, I just don't want to have to take cruise control off. 
  5. not speeding up to merge :: HEY so the concept of merging is that you're supposed to join with the already moving traffic. So if you're merging onto I-75 S + the speed limit is 65, you're not going to be able to get in there going 45. some of the merge lanes in Atlanta are about fifteen feet, so you gotta get your act together pretty fast. 
  6. not getting over when you know the lane is ending :: so we all know this person. this jerk who sees the whole "left lane closed in 1000 feet" and thinks "cool, that means I can gun it for 999 feet and then cut someone off" I'm not gonna let you over, bro. When you come super close to hitting me, I'm going to yell at you but slam on my brakes because I don't have time to be in a car wreck. 
  7. coming to a complete stop before making a right turn :: okay. I know you can't hang a right at 65 mph, I drive a high profile vehicle and it will roll over if I take a turn too fast. HOWEVER there is no reason you need to come to a complete stop to turn, okay? turn on your blinker, slow down, but don't act like there's a stop sign to get in the damn turning lane. 
  8. talking on the phone :: so there are two types of people in this world, those who can talk on the phone and drive, and those who can't. If you can't maintain your lane, speed, and not being a jerkface while also talking on the phone -- good for you! [I can, but because I use cruise control, duh.] 
  9. slowing down because there is a cop, traffic, or something else happening on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD :: hey, that police officer running radar for cars going northbound isn't going to cross four lanes of traffic and then the median to give you a ticket for already going under the speed limit. that state patrol who has someone pulled over on the other side of the road can't give you a ticket for failing to slow down and move over BECAUSE THE MEDIAN IS BETWEEN YOU. [turns out the trend here is slow drivers. obviously I missed my calling to drive in NASCAR.]
I really wanted this list to have 10 traffic trends because alliteration. I almost added "being pokey in the left lane" again for emphasis. Seriously, just get over, it'll help with traffic and make the world a better place. Like, it might be the key to world peace. If everyone was a more courteous driver, maybe we could work all of our other issues out.

What traffic trends grind your gears? Did I miss an obvious #10?

Monday Motivations

I just did some Facebook stalking for the group of people I'll be going to Amsterdam/London/Paris with over NYE and realized I'm going to be the trip grandma. I'm hoping they call me "Cool Aunt Kasey" before "Grammy K" but I'm having a super hard time dealing with it.
this is actually A PRINT YOU CAN BUY!
I saw this on Pinterest the other day and had one of those "THIS!" moments. I feel like I'm constantly giving the advice of  "if they gossip to you, they gossip about you." I'm so thankful that I have so many positive and encouraging friends in my life. 

Also, I found this article, 8 Lessons I Want to Teach My Daughter. I think it could be called 8 Lessons We Should All Try to Remember. I love it. "In every tough situation, try kindness first" "don't complain unless you can offer a solution" "be present" I think these are all excellent lessons we should all live by.

FRIDAYY

So we have games all weekend, meaning that today's not quite the start of a weekend, for me anyways. HOWEVER I didn't do Thursday Things this week, then I found this whole "Hey Friday" linkup so I'm using it as an excuse to share the five best things that happened this week. Duh.

First of all. THIS. The Braves went on a nice winning streak and promptly decided to go on a losing streak. Last night, we snapped the losing streak, and in the trend of "distraught Mets fans" I bring you this man,  feeling like we have probably all felt at some point.
Freddie Freeman
Thanks for this gem, Deadspin.
Second of all. There are few things I love more than when Bryce Harper does something stupid. Just makes me a really happy camper. So when I stumbled across THIS article about him trying to break his bat mid temper tantrum and failing, I had to watch it a hundred times.

THIRD we're so close to football season I can just taste it. We've booked our room for the Clemson vs UGA game and UGA Football shared this update this morning. Fifty days is LESS THAN TWO MONTHS! I obviously need a new gameday dress for the occasion.
from UGA Football's Facebook page
Along with the hotel room for Clemson, we also booked a room for recruitment. I haven't been back for recruitment since I graduated. [Fun fact, senior year I had my wisdom teeth taken out the first day of recruitment and I was back for recruitment by Philanthropy round.] So that means I'll be back in Athens TWICE in August. Doing hoodrat things with my friends.
go DG
FIVE! "Tommy La Stella girlfriend" is still the leading search term to find my blog. I'm gonna count that as a favorite. My post about how I didn't agree with the LinkedIn article got so much positive feedback -- so y'all are just all the bomb.com. I even planned an interview series with some of my favorite people in the sports industry -- so get excited to see more pictures like this one!
baseball behind the scenes
Photo originally by Ken Weisenberger! 
I'm linking up for Fan Friday AND Oh Hey Friday! I'd like to call that multitasking. 
Venus Trapped in Mars

Humpday Humpday Confessions!

This might be my favorite link up ever. Happy happy humpday y'all.

Vodka and Soda
I listened to All Too Well eight times on my drive to work today. My drive to work is only about thirty minutes. So you do the math. I'm not even a little bit sorry. I might even listen to it again right now. [side note, you should totally read her op ed in the WSJ about the future of record sales.
more Taylor dancing here!
PLL scared the pants off of me last night. Not literally, I was wearing a dress, but STILL. I wasn't prepared for like. any of it. Especially since usually the episode doesn't get interesting until the last like two minutes, this one was like heart racing the entire time. I also really dig Hanna's new hair.
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere
I wore my hair in pigtails almost the entire holiday weekend. Out in public. Like out to the bars. I also wore jean shorts that are loose with tank tops and my chucks. OBVIOUSLY I was going for the girl next door look, but whatever. I didn't need a purse and my feet didn't hurt at the end of the night.
here here here 
Yesterday I had every intention of going for a run but when I got home my roommate was about to start watching the Bachelorette, so instead I drank wine and watched trashy reality tv. I even might have been hooked on the Bachelorette. So there's that. Maybe I'll run today, probably I won't. 
source 
That's really all I have to confess this week, it's been pretty slow. I think I'll go listen to All Too Well again now... Do you have anything to confess? You should probably head on over to see everyone else's confessions with Kathy.

Isn't Everything In Life About Sales?


There has been an article that keeps showing up on my LinkedIn feed titled Why Sports Management Majors Are Doomed to Fail and I have let it get a little under my skin. I was hoping that it would be promoting some little thing I've been missing within the sports industry, specifically Minor League Baseball because it was penned by one of the VP's for the New Britain Rock Cats. However, as a two time Winter Meetings attendee, I already knew that sales were important. So for our second installation of Baseball Behind the Scenes, I have a different argument on why this is such a tough industry to stick with. 

Job Seeking Journalers Extraordinaire

The article mentions Baseball Winter Meetings our author interviewed 117 candidates for three open positions. That is, in my opinion, the biggest problem facing Sports Management majors as well as those of us who have graduated and moved our lives across the country three times for jobs. You interviewed 117 candidates for three open positions. I'm willing to bet at least one of those three positions was an internship with no real room for growth. As many of you may already know, I was also at the Winter Meetings and wrote blogs about the experience for one of my heroes, Ben Hill. The lack of turnover in sports for full time positions is something like trying to get a job at a university where every teacher has tenure.

I started working in sports at the ripe age of 16 as a minimum wage ticket taker. I took every opportunity to work extra hours, dress up as the mascot for appearances, and stuck with that job until I was a sophomore in college. My college internship was with a summer wooden bat league team, so it wasn't very sales focused because we didn't sell tickets at all. I took my first full time MiLB job at the 2010 Winter Meetings/PBEO Job Fair and moved about as far away from home as possible without leaving the country. I knew that to stick with that organization I would have to pick up a sales aspect to my job and I never took issue with it.
When I realized I couldn't juggle the cost of living in California, combined with my car and student loan payments, I needed to move on. I took a job that was almost exclusively sales with the promise that I would be able to move into a more community centered role as the seasons went by. The cards didn't fall that way so I moved back to Atlanta and took my Trainee position. I worked in MLB and I wanted to go back to pulling tarp, making a few sales calls, dressing up as the mascot, and working 100 hour weeks for peanuts. 

Now, I'm in a position where I have too much experience to be entry level and not enough experience to be a manager. I'm in a position where I am all for sales in addition to the community and marketing programs. I was only selected for one interview the entire time I was in Orlando and I still haven't heard one way or the other from that team. I've interviewed for several positions since, and have been turned down for a variety of reasons that are out of my control. I'm constantly tweaking my resume hoping to make it stand out against the thousands that a team will receive from TeamWork Online and PBEO.
Maybe the Sport Management program at UGA trumps a lot of other programs, or maybe my unique road into Minor League Baseball prepared me for a sales aspect, but I was never surprised by the fact that I would have to be at least partially a sales person. So here I am, back as a minimum wage game day employee holding out hope that something will open up and I'll be a perfect match for the team. Sales is a huge part of Minor League Baseball, but it's not the only issue facing those of us trying to find a job that sticks. 

So, hey, what time do the fireworks start? Is the game next Friday going to be rained out? What do you think is the biggest hurdle for those trying to survive in the sports industry? 

Not Fast, Not Last

I've had "getting my Peachtree time under an hour" or whatever on every goal list I've ever made. It's on 30 by 30, it somehow missed my Summer Bucket List [I'm assuming that when I wrote that in June I was feeling not mentally prepared to train and get it that low... I'm lazy, I admit it. I have a new goal anyways -- this year my start wave was too late for donuts. Next year? I want to be in whatever start wave gets donuts. 
a little extra cheesey on that smile there...
I know I mentioned earlier that I ran my fastest ever 5K a couple of weeks ago, finishing in like 43 minutes --- which averaged out to a 14 minute mile [which was still pretty slow considering there are people who run a stupid 15 minute 5K  that make me want to punch things]. Well I ran the whole damn 10K in an hour and twenty five minutes. I even made the outstanding decision to go out Thursday night before the run, apparently I should have a couple of beers the night before every race! 

Now that I've successfully celebrated my 12 minute miles, I'm considering a training plan. Imagine how much faster I could get to 4th of July day drinking next year if I could run, say, a 10 minute mile! OR EVEN LESS! 

Peachtree Road Race Thank Yous: 

volunteers :: especially those of you handing out beer at 9 in the morning. also don't forget the ones telling me how few miles I had left until I could have a beer. those definitely helped. ALSO ALSO the kids and adorable old people who were three times as excited for everyone else to be running. y'all rock too.

pitbull, ellie goulding, lcd soundsystem, and everyone else on the pop sugar playlist :: thank you for writing your upbeat bumping songs and for existing when I totally spaced on making a special playlist for this race. y'all really got me to that twelve minute mile.

 
run keeper :: thanks for telling me how fast I was going! I have such a great idea for a workout app, but until I figure out how to make it, you're definitely my go to. Thanks for reminding me a couple days later that I need to run, remember how we ran on Friday? it's super

the force.. star wars.. or my jedi training :: because there was definitely some usage of the force to finish this race, they were not the droids you were looking for. plus how awesome is that tank top?

jen :: for my texas flag running shorts, the "not fast, not last" mantra, and being genuinely stoked when I texted her at 10 am SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS about my twelve minute mile. you rock girlfriend.

my poor uber driver :: for not talking to me like I was an idiot for not knowing how to get back to my buckhead apartment without running into Peacthree somewhere and for only silently judging me when I said "I'm so cute" after I realized I couldn't do it.

Guess What Day It Is? GUESS. What DAY. IT IS!

It's humpday! Time for some confessions. Fair warning, we get a little rambly this week. HEY that's my first confession! boom.

I read this article the other day, cried like a baby [like a girl?], then I tried to remember when my argument stopped being "oh yeah? practice hard and maybe you can throw as well as a girl too!" and started being "I do not, I can throw just as well as you can!" I don't give a damn that this is part of a marketing campaign, I love the message. Just like the whole Pantene thing and the ban bossy movement.
from the article, duh.
Then I made the mistake of reading the comments and I got so irrationally angry at idiots on the internet. First there are the guys who say "men are stronger than women in every way, just stating facts" then there are women who are saying "this is just as bad as using that as an insult because you're making stereotyping videos like this" to that, I just want to say "did you watch the whole thing?" where the message is that there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing something like a girl, because you are, in fact, a girl? Duh. While we're on the subject of girls..

Don't read those video comments either.

I might have fought the urge to cry last night after we only got 1 minute of stoppage time and didn't quite make it. I really really wanted the USA to go all the way. Imagine everyone's reaction if the USA won the whole thing? Everyone would be so pissed at us. I was not clever enough to change the Secretary of Defense to Tim Howard though. Sassy Wikipedia entries have to be my favorite part of technology. Why do I never think fast enough for this?
Although I unpacked everything I took into my apartment, I have been driving around with all of my shoes in the backseat of my car since Saturday. So I'm sure that is helping out with my gas mileage. Whatever, I don't want to carry them down all the stairs, so whenever I get a good parking spot I'll unpack them. 
because there's a Lauren Conrad face for everything
I've been a little hesitant applying to jobs lately. I just got a rejection email from a job I applied for in 2009. How is that even a thing? Anyway. I've been told "no" a lot lately and it's taking a bit of a toll on my self esteem.
found hereeee
Also. I really like that Girl Meets World show. I don't care what you think about it unless you like it too. Then we can be friends.
I probably could have made this in the time it took me to find it heeeerre
So these are my confessions, what are yours? Check out all the other ones over at Vodka + Soda!