CHRISTMAS AT FENWAY -- CONGRATULATIONS

Dear James:

Congratulations! As a citizen of Red Sox Nation, you are invited to attend the sixth annual Christmas at Fenway presented by Stop and Shop, this Saturday, December 13! This "invitation-only" event will provide those in attendance with a guaranteed opportunity to be amongst the first Red Sox fans to purchase 2009 Sox Pax and select single game tickets. Please be sure to RSVP below.

As a guest of the Red Sox, you are invited to arrive at Gate D on Yawkey Way beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 13. Upon arrival, you will need to check in with a member of the Red Sox Christmas at Fenway staff. The ticket sale begins at 10 a.m. Please read the guidelines below and then click to RSVP to attend this year's special event.

  • A print-out of this invitation and a picture ID will be required to gain admittance.
  • This invitation must be handed to the ticket sales representative at the time of purchase
    in exchange for purchasing your tickets.
  • You are allowed to bring up to two (2) guests to enjoy the festivities; however, this
    invitation allows only the random drawing winner the opportunity to purchase tickets.
  • This invitation guarantees you the opportunity to purchase up to two (2) Sox Pax
    (max four (4) seats per each pack) as well as up to eight (8) single game tickets.
  • Game tickets will be issued at the time of purchase (makes a great holiday gift!)
  • Fans in attendance will have a special opportunity to preview and purchase a
    selection of items from the inaugural Great Fenway Park Yard Sale, to be held on Sunday.

The Christmas at Fenway celebration will also include Red Sox players, coaches and alumni. There will even be a very special visit from Santa Claus.

Please note this invitation is non-transferrable. Only the person selected in the random drawing will be eligible to attend with their guest(s). A photo ID will be required upon entry.

Airfare from HIA to Boston Last Minute -


$199.00


Hotel Stay in Boston for 3 nights - $107.65


Attending Christmas at Fenway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg

See what replublicans REALLY think about McCain's VP choice when the cameras go off, at least until they pull the vid down

MILF (don't you forget!)!      

So the Tori concert was pretty good.  I cant say it was great because of 2 reasons.  besides the above quoted line (from Big Wheel FYI), i'm not too fond of her newer work and that was about half the concert, and 2ndly there was a spotlight they were using to backlight her for the people on floor level, well it ended up shining right up into our section for 4 or 5 songs and basically blinding us the entire song.  Other then that though it was a wonderful experience.  If she ever comes around again i am going to defenitely get closer on the floor though!  She started off with her Santa persona for about 6 songs then switched over to Tori.  She played 3 of the 6 songs i really wanted to hear, so thats not too bad odds given how many songs she has to choose from.

Well time to recap my vacation now that its done.  Started off going to the O's vs the red sox game thurs sept 6th.  It was a very good game and fun to watch.  Got to go down with some different people then usual so that was nice as well  

Then next went down on Sat to stay over and see the sox game.  was 2 rows behind the red sox dugout, got to talk to julio lugo.  Eric Hinske gave his batting practice bat to the one kid next to me.  Still didnt get a ball though!  Dice K started... and pitched terrible.  oh well.  it was fun to be that close.  afterwards went up to the camden club and looked over the field.  Then we went back to the hotel and the mess started.  got food at the restaurant, then our waitress vanished for about 20 minutes and we couldnt find her to get our check.  it was not a good experience.  Then we called for an extra pillow and that never showed up. Ugh. 

Next day woke up, went to the game that day.  a much better game.  was out in left field this time.  not bad seats at all.  I think this is the only time i actually used seats from the season package i purchased.  Afterwords went to the hotel next door to eat, the food was very very good, we both got the crab cake and steak meal.  the chef overcooked our meals by accident but to compensate he gave us dessert for free, which we took back to our room to eat.  I called down for 2 forks....  after getting bounced around to 4 different places someone finally came up....with 2 knives.  She did get us 2 forks after i explained to her what i actually wanted though.  Not a good experience at that hotel, never stay at the baltimore city center sheraton if at all possible! 

 The next day we went on the baltimore duck tour.  the driver was really boring, and there really isnt much in baltimore to see besides inner harbor i've found out. Then we went over to the aquarium, but the dolphins just had a baby so there was no dolphin show so we decided against it.  we went over to the stadium and picked up my cal ripken bobble head set ( its sweet!), then back to the hotel to leave.  On our way back home we stopped at a winery in maryland and got some wines. 

The next evening we went down to baltimore again to stay outside BWI for our flight.  Stayed at a hotel i booked though hotwire for 59 bucks.  it wasnt bad.  served the purpose, and they didnt care i stayed parked there the whole time we were in boston, which saved me 40 bucks or so in parking. bonus!

We flew up to boston then.  checked into the westin and were upgraded upon my asking to a junior suite on the corner on the 32nd floor.  it was a beautiful room with a great view!  We went to the red sox game at fenway that day and it ended with Big Papi hitting a 2 run walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th.  That was awesome.  came back, tried to find food but there doesnt seem to be any 24 hour eateries in boston for some reason so we got room service.   it was VERY overpriced as you'd expect, but the food was good and it came up right on time. 

The next day we checked out and went over to the bed and breakfast.  i wasnt too sure about that place, especally after the westin, but overall it wasnt too bad.  the location is great, right on newbury st ( which is the rodeo dr of boston).  Breakfast was decent every day, even if it never changed.  We moved there and then we went to fenway to do the tour.  I got to sign my name on the green monster, and was calling kids down to do the same, eventually the guide looked down and saw one of the kids doing it so they got stopped but it was fun while it lasted.  Manny was out catching fly balls in the outfield when we were there.  that was a treat.  of course, now 10 days later hes STILL not playing.  I dont get it.  I also bought my papelbon jersey that day.  after which hes played terrible too.  i'm cursing these players i think! after that we went to do the duck tour in boston.  that one was alot nicer then the one in baltimore.  boston also has alot more sights to see, which helps i'm sure. :P  we ate that night at Vox Populi.  it was alot of seafood mainly (and steak for me).  It was OK but i dont think i'd go back.  i wasnt even impressed with their martini menu, or the 2 drinks we ordered, nor was either entree anything special.

The next day was the big Yankees Red sox in fenway game day.  we started the day at the museum of fine arts because i wanted to see if they had any of their Raphaels on display.  Sadly, once again they didnt, they were renovating that part of the museum.  we did look over the monets again though.  such exquisite work.  From there we went a block away to the isabella stewart gardner museum.  This was a real treat.  it was a museum that she set up that in her will it states they will lose control of it if they change anything.  so everything is the same as how she had it laid out.  there is everything from classic paintings, to a garden in the middle,  to Chinese work, to a letter signed by marie antoinette to an Old Guard flag from Napoleons empire.  After that we went to the boston common and took the Swan Boat ride.  the public gardens and boston common are a beautiful area.  We went back then went to get in line to get in the game.  It was total pandemonium at fenway.  They block off Yawkey way on game days so only ticketholders can get in, they have clowns and a band, and NESN (their regional sports network) broadcasts from outside... its crazy.  went in for batting practice, the guy 2 seats over from where i was standing 1 hand bare handed caught a big papi HR, without even spilling his beer in the other hand.  i was impressed.  The game was OK until the red sox bullpen imploded and they lost.  oh well. 

The next day we got a late start due to being up so late at the game.  we took a trolley tour, it was ok, not too informative though, then went to the aquarium to see the penguins and Myrtle the Turtle (who i found out weighs 590 lbs now).  I love the aquarium up there its such a nice place.  On our way out we walked down Milk st (because i love the name of it!) and went into an irish pub sorta place so we could watch the end of the sox game.  Had a few drinks there, and a 1 lb lobster for 10 bucks.  cant beat that deal.    we walked newbury st some tonight, going into feline's basement, the famous discount store there.  i saw some decent stuff, it reminded me of a more upscale version of TJ maxx, they had burberry purses there, and Tru Religion jeans so a little better then TJ maxx, but not as much of a discount.

Our last day started off by checking out, then heading down to the JFK library.  This was another very impressive place.  They focused so much more on his life then on his death and assassination.  They had a short movie which they used his own voice clips to narrate most of, then you went into the museum itself.  there were sections based on parts of his life.  they had another short movie devoted to the cuban missle crisis too.  They also had some sections on Jacqueline as well, such as her party planning and some of her dresses.  We had lunch there overlooking boston harbor, then went up to Harvard.  That was a total waste.  it was freshman visitation weekend so there were tons of people there.  we got off the subway and it was like a total clusterfuck.  we walked the campus some, werent too impressed, then left.  we went back and walked newbury st from the start to our hotel, ducking in a few stores along the way.  i bought a shirt from a consignment store, and bobbi looked in a store where you design your own purse. Such fun for me, but i managed.  then we flew home and that was that.

I also went to see west side story in lancaster yesterday which was a pretty good show, and FINALLY made it to restaurant week in philly today with my family.  we ate at la familga, a very nice italian restaurant down there.  i'd recommend it.  now off to work again for me.  bleh.

Well wendsday officially started my vacation, except for 2 hours tomorrow or so to do some end of the month crap, i dont have to go back to work until sept 23!  Whee!  I'll be busy though with a few days in baltimore then my trip to boston.  then a week+ off to do nothing, then end it with the first day of restaurant week and going down to philly for that.  hopefully it'll be a good time.  Dont worry, i'll be calling everyone i know from fenway when i'm there for yankees red sox. :P

ok so how about this, on tuesday, my job paid for me to not only goto the phillies vs marlins game, but paid me overtime for it, paid for all our tickets, paid for parking, paid the turnpike tolls to get there, paid for us to eat at tony lukes, and paid me mileage there and back (which was like 80 bucks).  I guess for almost 200 bucks and a tony luke cheese steak it made it tolerable to watch the phillies play.  Oh and i got to see ryan howard hit 2 homers.  that was pretty sweet.


Red sox at the O's this sat, Fox sat baseball, look for me on TV!  Just over 1 month until Yankees @ Red Sox at Fenway!  Its gonna be a WILD time!

Oh, and i touched 97 MPH on a papelbon fastball on Wii The bigs.  Go me!

Yes, this means i found a Wii to play around with now finally.  it defenitely is a different experience playing it vs most video games i've played. i kinda like it... if only i can figure out how to pitch properly with Dice-K!  So who's up for a Wii sports bowlathon? :P

Its kinda strange for me, the one person who i trust more then anyone in this world is my ex wife.  We talked about this a few weeks ago and we decided its because we have a comfort zone with eachother, we know eachother that well.  as i think she put it "The rest of our relationship might have sucked, but at least we had that".

We were out today for a few hours and it just reiterated this point to me.  She even joked "we've been together for 4 hours and it feels like we're married again".  I am very thankful to be able to have that sort of relationship with someone who i know i can trust unilateraly and without question.  Alot of other things between us might not have worked, but at least i have a really good friend out of it, thats ALOT more then most people get out of a divorce (unless you have a good lawyer! )

Its so hard to develop that sort of relationship with someone else, especally those of you who know me fairly well know i dont open up to too many people, so that makes it even harder for me personally.  This might be why its so hard for me to form new relationships.  It takes a long time to form that level of trust.  I dont know.  maybe i should go back to mindlessly playing WoW right now.  makes life easier. :)

yea i know any  family members who read this its my parents anniversary, and my cousin's birthday, but come on, priorities ya know?!?!  Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of the greatest movie ever, Star Wars.  Need I say more?

as some of you may know, my rabbit, Mr Floppy, has been having dental problems for the past few weeks.  Having taken him to a dental specalist outside of baltimore earlier today, it was decided that because he A) may not even wake up from the surgery he'd need at all, B) would not have a good quality of life afterwards even if he did, and C) the surgery was alot more extensive then originally thought, I decided to have him put down.  i did not want to keep him alive on pain meds and antibiotics, which, the specalist told me, wouldnt help much longer because of the progression of the decay allready.   Mr Floppy was an interesting rabbit to have, having 1 ear up all the time, and 1 ear down.  he would always come over to me, and loved my hand (sometimes literally).  I'll miss him, but it was for the best, it isnt right to keep anyone around who is suffering and in pain just for your own personal gain.  thats selfish.




Mr Floppy hanging out in his cage