Baltimore Part 1: Crabby In More Ways Than One

We took off for Baltimore early Saturday morning and a Metro ride, some subway transfers and a train ride later we were in Maryland. Erich, in his 'saver' of the relationship mode, deemed it in a easy walk from the train station to the hotel...a mere 15 blocks. We quickly learned that Baltimore blocks are about 5 times the length of the typical New York block. A very despondent, sweaty, bag-laden Me narrated the walk with colorful curse words and nasty scowls directed towards the maker of the 'Train Trail of Tears' decision. This unhappiness was punctuated by a raging case of poison ivy rapidly growing across my back and arms.

We finally located the hotel, a beautiful Art Deco establishment a few blocks from the Inner Harbor of Baltimore and after a quick shower set off to meet some of Erich's friends at restaurant on the pier. In true, Melville-Devendorf 'we're on vacation, we can rest when we're dead' fashion', we headed off to a Orioles game at Camden.

The stadium is truly remarkable. Its proven my favorite of the three we've visited this vacation (though I did demerit Mets' Citi Stadium for its astonishing lack of delicious buttery popcorn. ) Sadly the Orioles lost due to poor pitching, thereby squashing Erich's theory that he brings every home team a guaranteed win when his derriere grazes their stadium.

We navigated our way home, saw baseball great Jim Palmer who I only recognized from his life insurance commercials, bought some Benadryl at a very sketchy 7-11 and called it a night. ...Itch....Itch....Scratch....

NYC Part 3: Don't Be So Rash

We deemed Friday a day of R & R, mainly due to the residual headache from the previous night's activities at the pub. I was, as you can see from Figure A below, feeling a bit peckish from the metro ride into Grand Central, punctuated by the smell of someone's breakfast sandwich and noisy French teenagers in the seats ahead of us.

Figure A

To bolster our spirits we set off for a few bookstores and after nearly weeping at the amazing selection of the art section, we enjoyed a casual stroll through Central Park. Just when we found a suitable site to settle in for a read we were accosted by the Good Morning America crew, complete with foundation-laden host, questioning us about Whitney Houston. Apparently everyone's favorite crack-loving diva is slated to perform in the park next week. The GMA host's task was to feign near-orgasmic excitement at the thought of 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' being belted out to the local hobos and bevy of Asians frequenting thelush lawns of Manhattan. Erich exercised self-control in not making a comment about smack and I was able to silence my desire to scream, "You're a bad man Bobby Brown."

After escaping the host-from-hell we found an empty bench admist the Hans Christian Anderson garden where we perused our new purchases. I decided our honeymoon needed some excitement and maybe a rash or two to spice things up so I decided to MERELY LEAN AGAINST THE BACK OF THE BENCH WITH MY HALTER DRESS ON AND ACQUIRE MY FIRST-EVER CASE OF POISON IVY.

Blissfully unaware that the itching on my back was soon to blister into a vast canvas of bumps we headed back to the subway to take off to our second baseball game - Mets v. Giants. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our good pal Brian for lining up free tickets to the game. Really I should be thanking Brian's grandmother for giving birth to children who then gave birth to Mets' pitcher Tim Redding whose cousin is Brian who married my old friend Casey...but...for the sake of time and to avoid confusion, thanks Uncky Brian! The Mets won and I spent my night taking pictures of the adorable David Wright, thankfully one day before Giants' pitcher Matt Cain decided that smashing that beautiful face would be a positive career move.

We headed back out of the city, learned that Tarrytown is home of the world's most ghetto drive-thru and spent the rest of the night scratching and eating 10 piece nuggets. (Note to Ryan, avoid visiting Tarrytown at all costs. Their lack of hot mustard might send Holly into a rage that makes Hurricane Claudette look like a tarty-French breeze.)

NYC Part 2: Shopping with a Side of Buttons

Thursday morning we headed back into the city, this time our destination was Mood Fabrics, orchestrated as a surprise by Erich. For those that don't know, Mood Fabrics is the textile and trim store utilized by the contestants in Project Runway and I pretty much muss my pants with excitment and lick the television when images of it blare across my screen.

The store is in Manhattan, on the 3rd floor of an old building complete with an old-timey elevator with an old-timey elevator operator. I, blissfully unaware of where we were when we exited the lift, smiled at the security guard like a drooling idiot and turned around in circles, tripping over my bottom lip.

I was so overwhelmed that I wandered the aisles, petting bolts of fabric like their were Golden Retrievers and readying myself to build a shrine to their walls of buttons. We finally settled on a mid-century mod woven that I plan on making into a skirt and then headed back to Button Country. I managed to excercise the most self-control I've ever shown by not trying to ingest any buttons, though I did lick a ribbon and maybe a tassel or two. After about an hour choosing buttons and me struggling to control my urge to sift through my buttons like a 7th century sultan with his pile of gold, we continued down 5th avenue for more shopping.

We saw the requisite tourist sites - Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Waldorf, etc. After a trek back to Grand Central to rendevous with our good friend Kristin we headed off to the Upper (or maybe Lower) something-side to catch up with another ol' bud Tim. Erich and Tim graciously allowed Kristin and I to visit what was my 6th H&M of the day to purchase what I probably could have found in the H&M at home but that's not the point Erich, it's NYC....oh sorry, I do digress.... then off to dinner at what Tim deemed 'an artisan pizza cafe.' We of course laughed at this whole 'artisan piece' selling point because Tim was one of those oil painting goonies mentioned in the previous post but we were shamed into admitting the pies were truly works of art. We shared a pitcher of Sangria and some fabulous pizza then decided it was time to do what we do best - drink pints, make fools of ourselves and take pictures of each other in front of gay bars. It was back to our hotel after that, complete with a free metro ride thanks to Kristin's ability to schmooze the conductor with her charm. Unfortunately this charm did not work to obtain free chicken from the Popeye's our bladders unloaded on in Harlem. The city, she's a tough mistress.

NYC Part 1: I've Got Yankee Fever and the Only Cure Is More Baseball

First day in New York City. Up at 5:30 a.m. to leave from the Adirondacks. We arrived at 10:30, navigated the trains and were at Yankee Stadium by 11:30 to explore the new stadium.

We sat with the 'Section 203 Bleacher Creatures'. I think the entry requirements for this exclusive club include carrying an additional 40 pounds on your frontispiece, created with malted hops and barley. Our neighbor included an elderly gentleman who enjoys oil painting at his Maine summer home and visiting local art museums. Erich was quick to remind me that twice now I have been duped into believing men actually oil paint when they merely want to leggo-my-eggo, but this guy was legit and we had a great time discussing Jeff Koons' last exhibit at the Met and our preferred type of watercolors.

Oh yeah...and the Yankees won in the bottom of the 11th. I was too distracted by the popcorn and hot dogs.

And...in case you haven't heard...our wedding photos are posted! Check out Ryan Collier's website for our wedding photos!

Welcome!

You've landed at Caitlin and Erich's blog- a space for checking in with everything going on with our fantastic lives. (Disclaimer: We happen to think our lives are fantastic. If you are really into shopping for shoes, painting tiny metal warriors or watching far too many Yankees games to be considered healthy then you might think we have fantastic lives too.)

This little blog started as a means of communicating with wedding guests and vendors and is gradually growing into a record of what goes on in our world from month to month. Check back often and let us know you care.