Spring is here...and with that comes much anticipated nicer weather, the desire to be outdoors and baseball season. I will admit I am not a huge professional sports fan, but I do have a special connection to this team...keep reading to learn more. If you are a Philadelphia sports fan, there is something to be said for opening day at Citizen's Bank Park...which is today! The Phillies, like any team. have certainly had their ups and downs over the years, but it can always be fun to spend a nice day at the ball park cheering them on, It is a bit extra special this year as the park actually looks like the photo above... full of people. This hasn't been seen in 2 years like so many other big events which involve crowds. Perhaps a topic for another day... but, are we truly on the other side of this pandemic?? I sincerely hope so, and it is so nice to return to these types of activities again. This can make for a great day to spend with the kids, and Citizen's Bank park is very kid friendly with lots for the little ones to do besides just watch the game. 

There is a mini-ball park for the kids as well as a huge playground, the Phanatic, and of course ice cream in a mini baseball helmet! (which is a big kid/mom & dad favorite too😉)

As an orthopedic surgeon doing a sports medicine fellowship, part of my responsibilities was to assist in covering sporting events. I finished my residency in 2003 and then did my fellowship at Jefferson in Philadelphia. The attending surgeons I worked under were the team physicians for various professional Philly sports teams including the Phillies as well as several local college and high school teams. Team coverage for the Phillies was actually a lot of fun. We were given 2 tickets to the game (great seats behind home plate), and there wasn't usually much concern for injuries that would require our attention so we could truly enjoy the game. During my fellowship year, Citizens Bank Park was just being completed. The fellowship is a year long and starts in August so we covered the last few games at the old stadium (the Vet)  and then the first season in the new stadium. It was a really cool time to be there. My older daughter was 3 years old then, and she came to many of the games with me which was so much fun. She even has a ball signed by several of the players she was able to meet that year.

The head trainer for the team at that time was a wonderful guy and was the true go to person if there was an injury. He was always really good to all of the fellows who came through, and when we finished our year, he gave each of  us a framed jersey with our name embroidered on it. This hangs in the hallway of one of my offices and often sparks questions and comments from patients when they see it.

I took both girls to games several times after that year, but I haven't been back to a game in a while. The kids, or should I say young adults, continue to go when they can...and she still prefers the red hat❣️⚾️

So here we are..."the Working Moms" just a couple of hours ago celebrating the end of a busy week. What better for a fun Friday idea, than drinks with a good friend after a long work day. I finished up in the OR and then stopped by Lisa's place which is just 10 minutes from where I work. We see each other often, but Friday evening is a great time for us to catch up and relax a bit after our hectic work weeks. As you may have gathered, if you follow our blog and see Lisa's Wine Wednesday posts, she always has a wonderful bottle of something to open when I get there! Tonight was "pink bubbly" and it was fabulous. She whipped up the amazing bruschetta she shared in one of her Tuesday Treats posts, and we had a great snack with a great drink and even better conversation. Cheers to Friday night with a great friend!🥂 On to the weekend...Happy Easter to all💗🐰

A night out with great food, people, music and dancing can be so much fun. When it is also a fundraiser for a great cause it becomes a charity gala, and it can be a very special night. A dear friend I work with has been involved in organizing an incredible event for the past 7 years in support of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) which is a rare neuromuscular disorder which her niece was diagnosed with as a baby. The gala has always been very well attended and enjoyed by all. 

For us ladies, this can be a great "excuse" for a new dress, hair and make-up appointments and maybe a mani/pedi too! I know it always was for me. It would then be a great opportunity to socialize with friends and co-workers. A beautiful venue, a fabulous band, a silent auction and some very inspirational stories made for an amazing night every year. Sadly this event, like so many others, had to be cancelled last year. Looking forward to the chance to attend the "Cure SMA" gala soon!🥂

So as you can see above, I am a fan of a basic black evening dress. In fact the majority of my cocktail or formal dresses are black. About 5 years ago when I went to the gala, I decided to go with something other than a basic black dress and fell in love with the dress you see below. It does have  a black pattern, so I didn't stray too far! I thought it was unique, and I was super excited to wear it. 

There are at least 200 people at this event. I remember getting stuck in traffic on my way there and arriving late, so I missed the cocktail hour. I checked my coat and headed into the ballroom. I was not sure where my table was, so I was ready to scan the room to look for familiar faces.  What did I see instead...I immediately laid eyes on another woman wearing the same exact dress!!! I was beside myself. I was convinced I had found this fabulous unique dress. Luckily we were never side by side on the dance floor, and it didn't stop me from having a wonderful evening. But seriously, what are the odds of that?!?! I decided to go back to my basic black after that!😉

Roller coasters aren't for everyone, but what kid does not enjoy a day at an amusement park?  When your kids are small, some parks are better than others. You definitely want something geared toward younger, smaller kids or it will be a frustrating day when they can't get on most of the rides. I found that out the first time I went to Hershey Park with my girls and they were barely tall enough for any of the rides. It has since become one of their favorite places. Luckily we have a park even closer to where we live called Dutch Wonderland which is perfect for the little ones, so for a few years this was our go to spot. We have also discussed Disney a lot on the blog which is certainly another great place geared toward young children but also with tons for the older kids and adults. Nice weather, outdoors, rides and maybe even some junk food....sounds like a great option on a summer day!🎢

Earlier this month, I did a "Fun Friday" post about international travel, and mentioned I would do a follow up post about a trip to Italy, so here it is! As we are almost at the end of the first month of 2021, we have not seen any change in our travel restrictions, and sadly I think it may be several months more until we do. Once that happens, I would highly recommend this destination. I was fortunate to travel to Milan almost exactly a year ago for a ballroom dance competition. I made this trip with my dance teacher and a few others from our studio. It was special because my teacher is from Italy, and his family was able to come to the competition. It was also really amazing to be there and have time to sightsee with someone who lives there and speaks Italian. We were able to take a day trip to Florence which was beautiful and also spend part of another day touring Milan. The rest of the time was spent dancing which was very exciting in an absolutely amazing ballroom. Of course there was time for enjoying some incredible food as well!

This was an incredible trip, and I look forward to returning to Italy with my family at some point in the future. I would love to do another dance competition there someday as well. I became a huge fan of international travel with the first trip we took in 2018 to France and Spain. I was so lucky to take another trip to Europe with my family in 2019 while my daughter was doing a semester abroad in the Netherlands, and then this trip in early 2020 before the world as we knew it changed. I am anxious to get back to this kind of travel and so many other aspects of life which remain limited. I am saving up lots of frequent flyer miles and cannot wait to put them to good use! This post highlights two of my favorite ways to have fun... travel and ballroom dance. I am missing all of it so much right now, but try to remain hopeful that we can all get back to our "Fun Friday" activities soon!🤞🏻🇮🇹✈️

An opportunity to try something new can be a little scary depending what it is, but also so much fun. I grew up around horses and used to ride competitively when I was in high school. My younger daughter has also been a competitive rider over the past several years. It has been a lot of fun to now be the "horse show mom", but it also made me want to ride again. I was able to hop on the horse we leased on occasion which was great, and I remembered enough to feel comfortable even though it has been many years since my riding days.

My daughter's trainer set up this amazing experience for the show team and even this horse show mom was able to participate. We did a polo clinic at a nearby facility, and we were then able to watch a match afterward. It was a beautiful day, and we had so much fun. Even as a rider in the past, this was a very different type of riding and the addition of the polo mallet and ball was quite a challenge. It was a very cool thing to try, and I would love to do it again. The best part was being able to take something my daughter and I had in common and then try something new related to this. We enjoyed our first time polo experience together!🐴

My older daughter studied abroad her first semester of sophomore year in college which was in 2019. She was in the Netherlands and was able to visit a different country almost every weekend for the 3 months she was there. It was an incredible experience for her. My mom, younger daughter and I went to visit her for a week during her fall break and made the most of our time there. We met up with her in Dublin first and then returned to Paris for a couple of days followed by Amsterdam and then finished the week in the town of Well (where her program was located in the Netherlands...at a castle!) This was another amazing trip with the added bonus of spending Halloween at Disneyland Paris. As big fans of Disney and Halloween, this was a special treat!

I was also very fortunate to travel to Italy in January of 2020 for a ballroom dance competition in Milan. We had a day off from dancing and traveled to Florence which was beautiful. I will share more from that trip next week.

We had planned to explore Asia next, with a trip to Thailand and Singapore for my younger daughter's high school graduation gift...the trip was booked for August of 2020...enough said. High hopes for 2021 and the ability to take that trip and maybe some others too!✈️🤞🏻