| Birthday Celebration & MLB All-Star Game Day 1  Tanya's Daily Scoop CURRENTLY IN: DALLAS, TEXAS Well HOWDY! (said in the cutest most cowgirl tourist twang possible) I am actually sitting at LAX right now and on my way to DFW with Cosette and Javier. Which btw I think this is the first time that I am flying with Javier. We are meeting Dave Y. there at the airport in Dallas. He flew in from a Las Vegas red-eye last night, has already arrived and is waiting for us to get there. Once we do get there aside from the usual grabbing a rental, getting something to eat and checking in, the entire trip has been scheduled and planned around the MLB All Star Game and Festivities!!! (which I attend every year with some very minor exceptions)  Credit: Fox News TONIGHT is the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game. After a long day of birthday celebrations for Jet yesterday (see below), getting home and finishing up all the last minute packings, getting under 2h of sleep, waking up at 2AM to get on the road by 3:10a and arriving here at LAX, I think it's fair to say that we are excited to say the least!!  In the shuttle from AVIS to LAX (c)travelincousins.com Definitely lots more pictures and vlogs coming your way from Texas!! RELATED BLOGS: All Star Game Fun in San Diego Travelin' Tanya at the ASG in Cincinnati As far as yesterday went, I'd say it was successful overall, however not without a little bit of stress and anxiety thrown into the mix. Since the majority of my CA Fam Bam are kinda late risers, I opted to do a lot of "clean up" - projects and things that I wanted to finish before leaving town. Everything was going to schedule accordingly and I was a happy camper, that was until... I realized that I didn't have my Drivers License! One of my errands was going to AVIS to pick up a car rental rather than park at the airport for 2+ weeks and instead of taking ride share or asking a 3am favor of someone who would much rather be sleeping. Anyhow, the employee forgot to hand me my drivers license back and when I called the rental office the guy told me that they wanted to call me but couldn't find my phone number?! Hmm... It's on the contract! The one I was just looking at to call YOU! So needless to say that I had to jump in the car and jam back over to the rental office to pick up my much needed license - in traffic now. UGHHH After that was all taken care of, I was much relieved and headed to go meet up with the rest of the group at FREESOUL CAFE who was featured in one of my Foodie Friday posts from 2014. While the restaurant has since been somewhat renovated (no more bakery case - insert sad face here) and the menu slightly different, it is still super delicious, and still has wonderful desserts. I honestly think it might very well be my favorite local vegan cafe. And this is where Jet decided to have her Birthday Brunch as well as get her Birthday Cake from!!  The Fam Bam celebrating Jet's birthday (c)travelincousins.com  I ordered the FSC Salad - which I love (c)travelincousins.com Being located in Old Town Tustin, after our meal Jet had decided that she wanted to go walk around Armstrong Gardens. So we had all took a nice stroll over there.  Strolling in Old Town Tustin (c)travelincousins.com  Old Town Tustin (c)travelincousins.com Then it was back on the road to a Kombutcha Tasting Bar and for Gelato, before heading back home to hang out, play games, open gifts, have fun, eat, and let's not forget...have cake! And to catch you up just a wee bit more, this baseball lovin' fan had also went to see a game on Thursday night - SEA vs LAA along with Cosette, Javier and Houston. The Mariners won in a blowout fashion... Speaking of fashion...you can see that I was donning Mariner wear from last years ASG that was held in Seattle, WA.  Baseball fans! (c)travelincousins.com  Rooting for Seattle (c)travelincousins.com  Heading to our seats (c)travelincousins.com  In our seats (c)travelincousins.com Now, finally back to Dallas...  Look who found me at DFW! (c)travelincousins.com I'm off to the MLB All-Star Celebrity SoftBall Game. Catch ya soon! Ciao 4 Now, -Travelin Tanya | Historic Look at The All-Star Game  Elisa's Daily Scoop CURRENTLY IN: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK Hey there!! TGI THE WEEKEND! I have to say, this week was amazing! I got a chance to catch up on so much, spent some real quality time with Kelsey, and got a great deal accomplished with work-related stuff. Additionally, Tanya and I had a chance to not only talk but we were able to do it on Zoom this week and see each other!! What a treat it was!! With Tanya on the road for a few weeks, she will be traveling to a number of exciting US destinations, including her upcoming visit to the east coast later this month! We will be spending an entire day together in two weeks, on a day trip to upstate New York to visit Tanya's aunt (and my cousin), for which I'm so excited! And as only fate would have it - the day we are spending today is NATIONAL COUSINS DAY!!!!! How cool is that!  So as you can see from Tanya's blog and our title today, it's all about the MLB All-Star Game for the next few days, as Tanya is currently in Dallas to partake in all the festivities of All-Star Week!!! So how much do you know about the All-Star Game?  Let's take a little journey into the history of the All American pastime of baseball's annual All-Star Game!! Now, unlike my cousin Tanya, I've never been to an All-Star game, however, I am a baseball fan and have a long family history going to baseball games right here in New York. You are probably already well aware that Tanya is a NY Yankees fan all the way. Me, on the other hand - I have mixed alliances. Let me elaborate...  Having grown up in Queens, most of my friends growing up were NY Mets fans. But, it goes further than that. My cousin worked for the Mets from the time we were teens and as a result, (and considering how close the then-home to the Mets, Shea Stadium, was a hop, skip and a jump to get to. I can still recall the excitement of having the good fortune of attending the 1986 World Series between the NY Mets and the Boston Red Sox, when the Mets grabbed the world champ title. I will always cherish my signed World Series baseball! Additionally, my high school boyfriend had a pretty good connection to the Mets, as his father was the manager of the team from 1977-81. (Any baseball fans out there guess who that might be?)  However, with most of my family having their roots in the Bronx, and then attending college and living on the Fordham campus, I also felt (and still do) a very strong connection to the New York Yankees. So, to sum up, I really just love both New York baseball teams and will root for both. Now, in the event of a "subway series" as was the case in 1997 - well, I was Mets all the way. (Sorry Tanya) BUT I DIGRESS. Getting back to the MLB All-Star Game, The first All-Star Game was held on July 6, 1933, at Comiskey Park in Chicago as part of the 1933 World's Fair. According to Baseball Almanac, "it was initiated at the insistence of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, to coincide with the celebration of Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition. For over seventy-three years, the "Midsummer Classic" has remained a fan favorite showcasing the top talent in baseball." That pretty much says it all!! Each year since 1933, the Midsummer Classic, better known today as The All-Star Game, is held in a different venue each year. The venue is chosen by MLB. The criteria for venue selection are subjective; generally, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted the Game in many years – or ever – tend to get selected. Over time, this has resulted in certain cities being selected to host more often than others. Can you guess which city has hosted the most All-Star Games? If you guessed New York City - you would be correct!! New York City has hosted more Games than any other city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. So, to all of our followers in Dallas - congrats for hosting the All-Star Game this year!! Signing off for now, -Travelin' Elisa  |
