txt me

I saw a cookie with this on it for Valentine's day. Seriously? Is that what we want is for someone to text? What about call or hug or have a cup of coffee or bottle of wine with me? Now, granted, the cookie looked pretty delicious (if you are a cookie type, which I am not) but it got me thinking about society and being way too connected and my generation and future generations and what that all looks like and its pretty unreal.
As I sit here in this colorful and bakery, my laptop is on my lap, my iphone is on the arm rest of the overstuffed chair, my ipad is just an arms length away on the floor ready to be picked up at any moment so that I can check email for the 42nd time today. Ugh. I can't imagine life without my laptop or my phone and feel almost panicky if I can't get service or it doesn't tell me the best way to get where I am going or if I can't have a conversation with someone while driving to and and fro but at what expense.

Here is what I love in the spirit of this holiday:
I love lunching with girlfriends
I love seeing old people holding hands
I love capturing precious moments and delighted smiles with my camera
I love meeting people from all over the world in places all over the world
I love making something mind blowing and delicious
I love the sound of a cork popping
I love the gift of time
I love counting my blessings
I love seeing someone's face light up

Baltimore pride

 What a week it was for Baltimore! After making it to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, they played extremely well against as good of a team as the 49ers. It was unreal to see the brothers coach against each other - I couldn't imagine what it was like for their parents. There were a lot of people that I knew that actually made the trek down there which I am sure was quite an experience. Its been 12 years since they last made it this far and I certainly wasn't as much of a football fan at that point. I worked Super Bowl Sunday and needless to say it was not crazy crowded. I headed out at a decent time and went to watch with Sarah and Alan over purple Natty Boh's and all kinds of yummy dips. The commercials were not spectacular. Beyonce's half time show was pretty amazing -- people were even commenting that there was a lot of football on during her performance... ha! The fact that the lights went out in the second half and it could have completely thrown the game (and certainly did for too long) was pretty crazy. But they won!
Once I found out that the celebration parade was going to be on Tuesday, I couldn't get it off my mind. I knew that it was going to be cold and packed and crazy but I still wanted to be a part of it. Thank goodness for JZ. She also wanted to be there and so last minute-ish we decided to brave the traffic and head downtown. We actually made it on the field!! It was so cool to be in a sea of purple. Of course I was wearing my Ravens gear but was also so bundled up that it could not have been seen with the human eye. We huddled with thousands of other people in anticipation and a while later the team arrived! The energy that was already high completely changed. Something that I won't soon forget, that is sure! Of course, in typical Jen and Kelly style, we rolled out in search of food and heat in Federal Hill. It was a great and unexpected day - love those.