opening weekend

on friday the orioles played their season opener against toronto. while i ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, across from camden yards, i watched as one and two and three people turned into five and ten and twenty, all gearing up to celebrate the return of summer - the return of baseball.

as the day progressed, and my booth responsibilities took me back and forth between the convention center and the hotel, i had the opportunity to watch (and take photos of) the continued swell that ultimately engulfed eutaw street and much of pratt street in a swarm of black and orange.

the crowd at camden yards THREE hours BEFORE game time!

since the nationals are fairly new to the dc metro, growing up here meant that the orioles were our hometown team. i saw a more than a few games at camden despite the trek it required, and being here this weekend definitely gave me the feeling of being home again.

there has been a wonderful energy in the city this weekend, which was enhanced this morning by my own excitement at getting to see a good friend. as luck would have it, julie returned from a vacation to spain yesterday, and since her in-laws, in virginia, were looking after the kids while the parents played, she decided to make a quick trip up to baltimore to see me.

though we were originally scheduled to meet last night, i suspected that the international flight might have her a bit exhausted, so she decided, instead, to meet me for breakfast before i headed back to booth work. i was so appreciative of her efforts in doing so (which required a 1 1/2 hour drive, each way, to spend roughly an hour together, before making the drive home to north carolina) that a special breakfast was in order.

i did my research and found a place not too far from the hotel that had gotten great yelp reviews. looking at the menu sealed the deal, and when we arrived at miss shirley's cafe, i couldn't wait to order my coconut-cream stuffed french toast.

heaven on a plate

the meal was divine. cream cheese, mascarpone, buckets of coconut, and some other delicious ingredients combined to start a party in my mouth that i never wanted to end! i also wanted to prolong the experience for the sake of getting more face time with julie. since stay in frequent phone contact, there wasn't too much to get caught up on (other than the spain trip!) but it was soooo nice to just be able to hang out.

julie and i, reunited, after seven whole months!

now, i'll tell you a little secret. the older i get, the more i think that if i ever get married i'm going to have (happily) a much smaller wedding than i once dreamed of. i still sometimes muse about the details of this fictional wedding, one of which is the choice of bridesmaids. and this is one detail that has been resolved for some time. so, the cool thing? i'll be seeing every one of them this month, even though they live in three different cities. pretty cool, huh? ;)