Baseball has been one thing my dad and I can always agree on. He’s the reason I’m a die-hard Sox fan and also why I can carry on an intelligent conversation about baseball. I love the fandom, and I love how it brings my dad and I closer together (here’s an old post from a past blog that goes into that a little deeper!). This year, my dad would be out of town on Father’s Day (with my mom, celebrating my Aunt’s birthday in Mexico!). So I asked him to come to a baseball game with me the week before so that we could celebrate early. It just so happened that the Red Sox were in town that week finishing out the series with the Braves. I knew it would be the perfect way to spend time together and he seemed just as excited about it when I invited him.

Sure enough, it did start storming, so we headed for cover. We had a good bit of time to kill before the game started, so we walked up to the club level for food and drinks. We each had a SweetWater (the new standard for ballpark beer, in my opinion). We've been long time fans of SweetWater, so I'm happy the Braves have a solid partnership with them. I'm excited to see how it'll shine through at the new Braves stadium in 2017.

It was the fourth game of the series, and the Braves had won two of them. I was really anticipating the pitching matchup, Buchholz vs. Miller. I had seen Shelby Miller pitch plenty of times during the season, and neither him nor Buchholz had been very consistent, so it would make for an interesting game. There was plenty of action, but the first run came in the top of the 4th after Brock Holt hit a triple and thens scored off of a ground out by Big Papi. The Sox scored 3 more in the 6th off a combination of errors and sac flys. The Braves managed to score a couple of runs in the 6th too, but it would be the last scoring inning for them. After one more score in the 7th, the Sox held out and were able to seal the 5-2 win in Atlanta. 

Earlier this month, I celebrated my 23rd birthday. One of my many birthday outings was at Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta, GA. I’ve tried their beer before (probably at T.MAC), and I had heard that the brewery was a fun time, so I got a group of friends together and we checked it out! The rumors are definitely true. From the minute I walked in, the staff was upbeat and friendly which really set the mood and the atmosphere. 

We learned that they started out by raising money through a Kickstarter, which is one of those crowdfunding websites, and that as part of the donation, people got their names put on this wall. So we made a toast to them, tipping our hats to the people who made it possible for us to come out and enjoy the place. I thought that was pretty unique and definitely a memorable part of the experience.

Our tour guide was awesome, and she gave us a fun history lesson (yes, fun history, this place figured out how to do it) about Georgia and how beer brewing came to the colony. Which is ultimately how they decided their name, Jekyll, to pay homage to the history of Jekyll Island and how it contributed to what Georgia brewing is today. They really tell the story a lot better than I do, so you’ll just have to make a visit yourself! Then we were whisked into the room where they grind up all of the barley for their different types of beer. We were offered a sample of a cocoa flavored one that I reluctantly tried. It tasted like severely burnt cocoa krispies, but I imagine once it’s made into beer it tastes a lot better! Next stop was the warehouse where cases of beer were getting ready to go out for shipping. Here, our guide talked about how the brewery has been expanding to new states, which sounded really exciting for a company that has such a grassroots beginning. The last place we were shown was the bottling/distillery room. To my surprise, there was a group of guys bottling and labeling each beer by hand. The other breweries I’ve toured before had a lot of automated equipment that does these jobs, so it felt a lot more personal to see that each beer has some human effort put into it. With their expansion, though, our guide mentioned they were getting a fancy bottling machine in the next couple of weeks, so I felt lucky that I was able to see those extra steps before it was replaced with something more efficient. I also got a cool souvenir bottle cap that hadn’t been pressed yet. Pictures from the tour are below!

After the tour, we stayed a bit longer to enjoy the music and the people, and of course another beer. We learned about more of the types of beer they make on the tour, so I decided to try their ‘Merican Amber Ale. It was a great choice, and probably my favorite one that I tried all night. Vinnie tried the Cooter Brown Ale, and while browns are not my thing, he really enjoyed it (probably in-part to the awesome back story that goes with it). By then, the time had gotten away from us and we were late getting to my birthday dinner or else I could have stayed there all night. 

Jekyll Brewing was a total win-win. Good beer and atmosphere, good people, and I got to cross off another thing on my 101 in 1001 challenge. It was a fun place for our group to spend happy hour, and I definitely want to go back again soon. What brewery should I try out next? Let me know your recommendation below!

Well, it’s my birthday too, yeah! For the 23rd time in my life, it’s my birthday! (I guess 24th if you count day zero?) Either way, I’m entering my 24th year of life, and yeah I’m pretty excited about it. People don’t usually consider this a milestone birthday. According to Hallmark, it’s not as exciting as turning 13, or 16, or 18 or 21. But I’m convinced that (for me, at least), this is the birthday that marks that you’re no longer a rookie when it comes to being 20 something. At this point, I’ve dealt with a handful of real-life situations and I’ve gained confidence in being able to handle more things on my own. And even though Blink-182 is convinced that nobody likes you when you're 23, I like myself and the person I've become a whole lot (which I'm proud of!). I’m still new to actual adulthood, but for once it really feels like the world is my oyster. And that’s sort of ties in perfectly, because pearls are my birthstone. 

I am one of those people who will always make a big deal out of my birthday. It won’t matter how old I get, and I don’t even think I’ll lie about my age. I want to celebrate my life for as many years as possible, and be proud of adding on a year. Birthdays are a nice reminder that you were lucky enough to live another year on this fantastic planet. Each year it seems I become luckier and luckier to have such fantastic people in my life and wonderful memories and experiences that just keep adding up. Life is always something to celebrate, and birthdays are the perfect reminder of that. 

This year, I will be celebrating in many different ways. As tradition, my parents and I went to T.MAC for Thursday night pint night. They treated me to a birthday surprise that I really wasn’t expecting but am so excited to start using; a Nintendo 3DS! I haven’t played Nintendo games regularly since I had my GameBoy Color over 10 years ago. A decade is too long to go without some Mario and Luigi in my life.

I’ll be doing some birthday shopping and getting my nails done later this afternoon with my oldest and best friend Lindsey, which I’m very excited for! And later tonight a big group of friends and I will be heading to Jekyll Brewing for happy hour followed by dinner at a great place I heard about called Sushi Nami. I’ll definitely be blogging about it, so stay tuned for that! Saturday I’ll be spending most of the day with Vinnie and his dad, which will be so nice and relaxing! Then on Sunday I’ll be going out to lunch with Vinnie, my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Chad (at my favorite place, Taqueria Tsunami), and then heading to see the new Jurassic World movie! I’ve got a lot of things planned, and I really can’t wait! 

One thing I love about my birthday is that it’s right in the middle of the Gemini zodiac season. I’m not superstitious or anything, but there is something about the philosophy of the zodiac that I've always thought was so beautiful, and sometimes my horoscope is scary true. So, I’ll leave off with my birthday horoscope for the upcoming year. I promise, I didn’t peek at it before I wrote this post, but it looks like I’m in tune with myself pretty well because my optimistic feelings about my 24th year look pretty spot on!

If there’s one kind of food I know a lot about, it’s tacos. And if there’s one place I always go for great tacos, it’s Taqueria Tsunami. The first time I ate here, my whole idea of tacos was flipped upside down. Each bite is a delicious fusion of Asian and Latin flavors. Everything about this restaurant is unique. From the modern and chic atmosphere to the eloquent plating and presentation, the minute you walk into Taqueria Tsunami, you never want to leave. They definitely employ their slogan “a tidal wave of flavors” perfectly.

I’ve tried a few different sides (the queso tots are awesome!), but my new go-to is definitely the Cucumber Salad. Thinly sliced cucumbers marinated in sweet vinegar is the perfect palate cleanser between tacos.

When your meal is over and your tummy is happy, the server brings you a fortune cookie with the check. It’s a nice touch that ties into the theme perfectly. This place has definitely become a regular spot when I need a taco fix. I've heard they're opening a Roswell location soon, so I expect I'll be spending a good bit of time over there. I can't wait! Have I convinced you to jump in the car and try it out yet? I’m already reaching for my keys... 😊

Does anyone else miss Nickelodeon from the early 2000’s? I do. And so does Lisa Lo Paro who wrote How ‘As Told By Ginger’ Totally Explains Life In Your Twenties. I used to watch this show a lot, and I feel like I’m going to be googling some old episodes soon for a little nostalgia fix. Here are a few points Paro made in her article that I love and want to expand on.

So, overall the article was a fun and quick read that gave me a laugh and also made me think a little bit. If you ask me that’s the perfect balance in a web article. I hope you’ll check it out and maybe get some perspective of your own. If you have any suggestions on articles for me to read, leave me a comment!