'Murican Christmas 2012

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I haven't quite gotten into the spirit yet- mainly I'm dodging tourists and people who apparently forget how to walk in the city like a normal human being for the month of December (I mean seriously?!? you're going to take up the entire sidewalk and go 0.002 miles an hour arrrrgggghhhh)- shopping in downtown SF during the holidays is not fun. I need to get my head in the game since Christmas is a week away- woo hoo!!! I need to stop muttering 'seriously/are you serious right now/you've GOT to be kidding me' to all the tourists and perhaps throw in a 'happy holidays' every once in awhile to mix it up a bit. Or I could avoid it all together by shopping online (where I've done 90% of all my shopping...oh Amazon Prime how I love you). Anyways, here's a last minute gift list if you're stumped on what to get for an American loving family member or friend.

Polk Street Boxing Gym

Awhile ago, I mentioned that I started boxing classes at Polk Street Gym and in my very first 'real' class (aka not the beginner class) a guy spat in my face. In. My. Face. It was completely unintentional, he just happend to have a lot of saliva and when you punch you're supposed to breathe out every time. He just breathed really hard which resulted in me trying not to dry heave since I had gloves on, he was still punching and there was no way for me to wipe my face until the time ran out. Plus he was being super nice and helpful since I was new and I didn't want to be rude...I've learned to smile but avoid him when it comes time to partnering up from then on out. Anyways back to the point- I love boxing!! Initially I was really bad, like really really bad...as in one of the worst one trainer had ever seen (I think he was exaggerating but whatever). BUT I stuck with it and I've been told I'm much improved. 

Weekend Recap

We were told it was going to be a rainy weekend but it turned out to be pretty nice- minus the epic rainstorm that happened Sunday morning. The storm was so intense that it knocked out two windows in my apartment building super early in the morning...also I thought the ceiling would cave in and the worst neighbors ever would fall on me. Anyways, yes two windows shattered because of the weather...crazy town. At least no one was walking around at 5am when shards of glass fell from 4 stories up. And the worst part? My brand new Hunter boots hadn't even arrived yet! JK but seriously, I ran (possibly squealing 'thats for meeeeeeeeeeeee') when the FedEx guy arrived with my Piperlime box yesterday (after repeatedly checking both the FedEx tracking website and weather.com to see when it would rain)...they are so pretty! Definitely a good purchase. And I totally wore them to work today even though there was only a 30% chance of rain...they have yet to be tested splashing through puddles. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

(Foot)Ballin' at a Christmas party

Well I haven't crossed #24 'Go to a football game' off my list yet but I did go to a party with Joe Montana, Dwight Clark and Joe Staley! How did that happen? Well my roommate's company hosted a party for a tree lighting event in downtown SF where Robin Thicke performed- pretty awesome looking tree eh?

Thanksgiving 2012

Turns out that there is a limit on how many pictures you can post for free on Blogger- good to know. Now that the blog is all fixed up: happy belated-Thanksgiving! Since my parents were in Australia this Thanksgiving (no I was not invited, yes I was super jealous) and Christine's kitchen is in major renovation mode, I 'hosted' Thanksgiving at my parents house. What do I mean by 'hosted'? Well basically I did the appetizers, one roasted veggie dish and set up the decorations...and Christine did EVERYTHING else. It was awesome! It was a sunny day and warm enough to hang out around the pool so we put the apps outside on the bar. 

Weekend Recap

How is it almost Thanksgiving?!? Seriously this year is going by so fast. This weekend was a busy but fun one- dinner and drinks on Friday night, intense workout Saturday morning (our trainer just kept saying 'this is for Thanksgiving' when we would moan or complain- it was actually very motivating since I plan on eating a ton), party at my friend's house Saturday night and a full day of Thanksgiving prep on Sunday. All the food has been purchased and all the decorations have been brought out- now I just have to make the food (I'm doing appetizers and this veggie dish) and get to decorating (my fav part). FYI if you're wondering the best way to make a turkey, Serious Eats asked chefs for their tips/tricks- they also have a page dedicated to all things Thanksgiving related.  Speaking of making food, I am obsessed with my Smitten Kitchen cookbook specifically the Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta scones...I've already make them twice with more frozen in the freezer. Seriously wishing they weren't frozen so I could eat one as I write this.

American Mid-Century Modern: Alexander Girard

*Warning I am a huge furniture nerd so this may be extremely boring if you're not*

Last night Herman Miller hosted a presentation on Alexander Girard in their SF showroom. It was the last presentation in a series that traveled to each of their US showrooms and it was awesome! I love me some mid-century modern design so this was right up my alley (I responded in 0.2 seconds when they asked for volunteers to help run the event). HM had set up some of their classics from the relaunched collection (including a pretty awful plaid- totally not my thing but I guess people like it??). Lisa Eames (granddaughter of Charles and Ray Eames) showed up for the lecture and brought a bunch of items from the Eames archives- super cool to see the old textiles, sketches and posters.

Election Night 2012

I had a little election day party on Tuesday night and it was a ton of fun. As a first time voter (holla!), I was super excited to get home, turn on the news and see how things were going. After all the prep work I did getting ready to vote, I wanted to see how it all turned out...major fingers crossed for Obama (half Canadian, young, female, living in SF <-- of course I wanted Obama to win). The red white and blue decorations I picked up from Papersource turned out awesome- very festive for the night. I ordered some pizza to feed us (with lots of leftovers...mmm cold pizza) from Extreme Pizza: Pandora's box, Mr. Pestato Head and Adrenalin Rush (my personal favorite except this time they forgot the 'tangy slaw' which is the best part). Alyse and Rebekah brought over some delish wine from the local wine store (which is awesome and I need to go there more often- good prices and great selection) so we kicked the night off well. 

#35 Vote in a Presidential Election

Check that one off the list! Just like for the primary, Lindsey and I were up bright and early to get our vote on before work. Finally being able to vote for a president is a pretty awesome feeling - be sure to get out there and vote!

Halloween 2012

I went as a mountie again this year although unlike last year I added a special touch:

Giant's Parade

Apparently baseball is America's favorite pastime which means that when the Giant's won the world series (woo hoo!) I knew I had to attend the parade. A super American event for a team that swept the world series?? I was so in! They held it on Halloween so it was a mix of costumes and black and orange in the crowd. FYI every time I think/say/write 'black and orange' I immediately get the Wiz Khalifa 'Black and Yellow' song in my head...just sub orange for yellow and you can go around with that in your head for hours...speaking from experience. Anyways, I ended up walking over to the Herman Miller showroom which is right on Market street and had a great view (although not as great as Gabby and Kelda's view- they were like 10 feet from the players...super jealous).

Election (Party) Prep

Its almost election time- which means I am getting super excited to vote for the first time. Also exciting? The Giants game! Blogging while watching the game means that I'm typing without looking at my computer...gots some mad skillz up in here. BTW who knew that Kevin Bacon has a new TV show?!?! The commercial was like .2 seconds long since they're trying to get back to the game but I am intrigued. Also I love that he was a part of this. Lastly, the Dorito Taco from Taco Bell is disgusting and NOT available for free at any time...hopefully this warning prevents someone else from showing up at a TB drunk and demanding free tacos (not that I did anything like that ever). Anyways, back to voting, I'll be up early on the 6th to get my vote in before work so I did some prep this weekend by reading my voter info packet while drinking green tea to try and make my throat feel better (if I get sick AGAIN imma be real pissed). Still need to look into a couple of the Propositions a little more but I'm about 80% ready to vote.

Video Overload

This is not very American of me but I didn't watch the debate tonight...yup first time I get to vote and I haven't watched a single debate but thanks to Twitter and Facebook I have a general idea of how things went. I have some homework to do before I go vote- lots of taped debate watching will be happening this weekend. I might not have watched the debate but I did watch the Giants WIN (!!!) and since baseball is America's favorite past-time, I think its probably just as important. Anyways I have been finding some awesome videos that need sharing and who really wants to work on a Tuesday morning?!?!

Austin Vay-Cay 2012

Since my favorite Bus (aka Nicole) lives so far away in the wonderful city that is Austin, its become a tradition that I visit her every year for her birthday weekend. I've already covered the dancing and the eating (and yes I felt slightly nauseous when all that food was listed out one after the other) so heres the rest of the trip. We started off my first day shopping and eating along South Congress- I found some cool old political buttons in Uncommon Objects.Then of course we had to head into Allen's boots where I was tempted to buy the 'Murican themed red white and blue boots...unfortunately they were $700 and I stupidly put myself on a budget so I had to turn them down.

Eating my way through Austin

Last year I was all about taking pictures of the cows we saw in Austin but since they're not there anymore (boo), I decided to try and take pictures of everything I ate. I would like to say that these are just the highlights but in reality for the meals not included, I either: 1) quickly forgot this photo-taking goal when food was placed in front of me or 2) was so desperate to eat what was in front of me (hello strawberry cheesecake ice cream from Big Top) that the picture was blurry and unusable. Oh well, you get the idea.

#45 Learn How to Two-step

Just got back from Texas where I spent a long weekend eating BBQ, shootin (of course), drinking beer, dancing and celebrating Nicole's (aka Bus) Birthday!!! I also got to check another item off the list! Full disclosure: I thought I would have this two-stepping thing in the bag. I mean I spent 10 years dancing when I was growing up- 10 years of lessons, recitals, competitions in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical and stage..and yet none of that was helpful when trying to learn how to two step. Why? Despite the 10 years I am still SUPER uncoordinated and I am not good at following directions. Luckily I had some kind volunteers willing to teach me. The first unsuspecting victim was the harmonica player of the band at our first night of dancing at Broken Spoke. He started slow just having me do the steps which were simple enough for me to ask him 'Literally two-steps?! Thats it?!?''. After staring at my uncoordinated self for a minute he goes 'oh girl no thats just the basics' and started spinning me all over the place...it was awesome! Spinning is my favorite part hands down. 

Exploring SF: Hayes Valley

Despite living in SF for four years, theres a lot of the city I haven't seen yet so Lindsey, Alicia and I decided to fix that this weekend with a trip to Hayes Valley. Its pretty sad that it took me this long to get over there since it is so freaking close...like an '8 minute bus ride' close. Oh well lesson learned, onto our Hayes Valley adventure! We were quickly drawn into the brightly colored window display of Room Service. Really cute (and bright!) accessories and the prices weren't too bad. Loved all the vases and obsessed with the giant horse head(s)- I have no place for it but I reeeeeally want one.

#18 Go to Disneyland

After the wedding extravaganza, my mom and I woke up bright and early to go to Disneyland!!!! I love Disneyland and always have. My mom is also a huge fan so we take our trips pretty seriously. And by pretty seriously I mean that before I even left for LA, I had printed out maps of both parks and highlighted all the rides we wanted to do while we were there...I mean we only had 14 hours!! This is not our first trip- we are seasoned Disneyland go-ers so we do not mess around...get in, hit the major rides and get out. 

We got to the park around 8:30 and ran over (literally) to California Adventures to get Fastpasses to the new Cars ride Radiator Springs Racers. It wasn't even 9 and the return time on our Fastpasses was already 1:40 so we knew it was going to be a popular ride (it sold out of Fastpasses by 11 AND the wait was 2 hours long- crazy!!). Then in a Disneyland miracle, the line for Toy Story Mania aka the best ride ever was only 7 mins long so we jumped in line. After beating my mom (100,000 points to 96,800 points <--- sucker!) we raced back over to Disneyland since we were taking a tour! Everything was all done up for Halloween so there were pumpkins everywhere - apparently on main street there are more than 300 and no two are alike.  

Turning the big 2-8

It was my birthday this past Monday (woo hoo for best day of the year!) and after a long weekend of wedding and Disney (update coming soon after I edit down my 200+ pics) fun, I decided to take the day off of work and just relax. Well it turns out that the weather had other plans and my flight back from LA was delayed 3 hours due to fog...at least I had a good book (Game of Thrones- seriously awesome). That meant less relaxing at home and more frantically trying to call a cab to get downtown for drinks with friends at Waterbar.

LA Wedding: Elisabeth and Alex

It was a crazy busy weekend but so much fun! My fam and I all met up in LA (where my brother lives) to celebrate the wedding of Liz and Alex! Since we don't have any family here in the US, we've been going over to Elisabeth's family's house every year for the holidays...that means twelve years of Thanksgivings, Christmases and Easters. Basically I think of them as my fake family- or how my mom prefers it, my California family (she thinks 'fake family' doesn't sound too good).

Blog-iversary and SF-iversary

The blog is officially one year old (technically it was one year old in August but I'm always late so this  late announcement is in keeping with how I roll) that means I've been American for one whole year- woo hoo!! I'm celebrating by eating dry Puffins cereal (regular not PB) and drinking wine by myself and watching the best show ever (aka Friday Night Lights)..my life is craaaaaazy try not to be jealous. Anyways, I've completed 18/48 American items on my list making me 37.5% American- I've got a long way to go but it has been so much freaking fun crossing things off my list. This past year has been a BLAST and thank you to all my friends for making being American so awesome. What's next? Who feels like showing me something American???

Weekend Recap

(Belated weekend recap since I was exhausted on Monday - from watching FNL until 2am the night before- and my computer decided not to connect to the internet last night...ugh)

My weekend in one word: laaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzzy (say it like Oprah). Seriously, roomie came home at 5:30 Saturday evening and I was still in my pjs. In my defense, the weather was awful, my laundry was done and the whole house was clean so it wasn't a complete waste of a day. Speaking of cleaning the house, I am slightly obsessed with keeping things neat ('slightly obessed' might be putting it lightly). My books are organized by color, my closet is organized by type of clothing then size, I get literally hours of enjoyment organizing things...seriously, just organized my closet 'for fun'. Which is why I'm legit obsessed with High Straightenance and read it all the time. Oh and the other night I found this article 52 ways to organize your home and had to keep myself from running into Lindsey's room screaming that we need a shoe organizer for cleaning supplies (it was 2 am so I worked really hard to control that impulse). Yes I've been made fun of and no I do not care. PLUS its totally made me good at my job where being highly organized/neat and obsessed with details is pretty much a requirement...so yea...flying my freak flag proudly.

Wild Saturday Night

Sugar, butter, chocolate, egg, nasty looking frozen bananas and other baking stuff = makings of a good Saturday night. What, you don't stay in and bake on a Saturday? Weird. Anyways pre-baking, Lindsey and I bundled up (jackets, boots, scarves...yay SF summers!), and headed out for roomie movie night to see The Campaign. So funny! And despite eating an entire box of Sour Patch Kids, I couldn't stop thinking about eating my mom's delish Banana Chocolate Chip muffins....so I busted out my apron and made 'em.

Magnetic America

In keeping with my goal of visiting all 50 states (only done 4 so far...looong way to go), Lindsey and I have decided we need to collect magnets from all 50 states. So far there are a few overlaps (both went to Hawaii this year) and some non-American ones (holla at one of my favorite places in Vancouver- Stanley park!) but we are slowly starting to get a good collection going. Looking forward to adding a Texas magnet to the collection when I go in October for my yearly visit. Bonus: if we get enough magnets it'll hide how ugly our fridge is- win win! So, if anyone wants to go on a trip/road trip to another state and want a travel buddy- you just let me know and I'll be there with Swedish Fish (my fav travel food).

My new ride

Roomie Lindsey found this one when she was out sailing...yup its pretty much perfect for me. 

Weekend Recap

When the fog burns off, SF summers aren't too bad I mean check out those blue skies! We've had a lot of fog lately...A LOT. Probably because its over 100 degrees in the east bay and there's that whole crazy weather thing going on (if you don't know what I'm talking about check out legit Wikipedia info here) but its not much fun. What is fun is taking the long way on a walk to a client's site on Friday and snapping a few photos along the way...I forget how lucky I am to live in this city sometimes and going for a walk is always a good reminder of where I'm at. 

#9 Go to a baseball game

Lucked out on this list item- I got to go to TWO games in one week. Both were last minute and both were tons of fun. First game was with Lea and Rupal who were visiting SF for the summer. They showed up in their Giants gear ready to go! It was Lea's first major league game and my first game as an American.

Weekend Recap

Another weekend over...sigh...at least it was a great one. Just a lot of relaxing after a rough work week. Its crazy how I know when things will get bad (we had a project deadline for Friday thats been set for weeks) so I try to prep myself for stress/100000 emails/late nights/etc but it always overwhelms me anyways. Thats when I follow my 4 year-old cousins advice and 'take breaths' <-- he learned yoga in daycare...how cute is that?!? Anyways back to the weekend, spent the day with my Dad on Saturday and laying out by the pool. Sunday was brunch at Baker and Banker (post-half marathon for Rebecca) then I re-organized my closet. While that might sound awful to a lot of people, organizing is one of my most favorite things- seriously, its bad...totally relaxes me and puts me in a good mood. I used to go over to my friends houses in middle and high school and beg them to let me organize their closets (and then judge them when they couldn't keep them clean). And don't even get me started on my love of the Container store (so. many. options!!!).

But all relaxing weekends have to end- at least this Monday morning started off right with some seriously awesome music popping up on my ipod (I forget how many songs I have unless I put it on shuffle- yay for The Movielife) and no overly obnoxious fellow bus riders. What else makes for a good Monday? Links that I love...here ya go:

Wow Buzzfeed's 25 Reasons America Kicks Ass is awesome...number 10 is scarily true. Gotta love a good deep-fried <fill in the blank>...not sure if its more or less appetizing than a Swedish sandwich cake.

Now it turns out that we don't get NBC on our antenna (yup antenna- we're fancy like that), so we can't watch the Olympics which means we are missing out on things like this...amaze-balls.

Feeling like adding a little 'Murica to your living room? There are these state tables- super cute. And this license plate piece is fantastic.

This isn't American related in the slightest but if you feel the need for a new dance move and happen to like horses (Lindsey I expect you to share this at the barn) then this Korean music video is for you- I present Gangnam Style.

Need a quick work break? Check out the ever popular Whilst in SF and my new favorite Suri's Burn Book.

And now back to my latest guilty pleasure- Vampire diaries. I cant. get. enough. Seriously, I'm powering through the episodes on Netflix.

#42 Celebrate the 4th of July

...eh not so much. I ended up being sick and therefore a miserable disaster all day on the 4th so I definitely need a re-do next year. Still I headed out to the beach to celebrate with the fam for a bit. I felt better after eating three cupcakes...three delicious cupcakes baked by my awesome not-so-little-anymore cousin...I swear she'll be taller than me soon! 

 Since it wasn't the sunniest day, the girls alternated between huddling around the fire chatting and playing bocce ball. The boys played a little football and even flew some kites.

It was awesome to get to see family but I was bummed I was under the weather- next year I'll have to go big to make up for it!

Btw- I came across this 'Murican burger on a food blog: ground bacon, thick cut bacon, egg, bacon island dressing and bacon cheddar cheese. Hmm looks like they forgot to add bacon to the bun.

#20 Go to Vegas

Wow....just wow...Vegas is intense! And crazy hot...but it was all awesome since I was lucky enough to go with six of my favorite people. The seven of us get together once a year as a mini-college reunion but it was our first time as a whole group in Vegas! Luckily they'd all gone to Vegas before and were willing to show me the ropes. We stayed at New York New York which was great- didn't end up riding the roller coaster though (we figured hungover + roller coaster = bad combo).

SF turned Urban Playground

I don't know if you could call this video more American than NASCAR but it is incredible:

Love that it was in SF - but can't believe that they were able to shut down so many roads and not cause any problems (CBS San Francisco has info about the shoot here).

Independence Day 2012

'Murican beer pride photo thanks to Rebekah

So Vegas trip happened this past weekend...yup it really really did...I need some major recovery time. Long weekend plus a 3 hour delay (getting in at 11 instead of 8) makes for a miserable Monday morning. Great trip but I'm sooo tired...I'll recap in a few days. In the mean time, I already did my Canada Day prep post so here's a nod to my American side: 

1. Tracey from Shutterbean but together an awesome post about 4th of July foods. If you're trying to figure out what to serve or what to bring to a party she's got answers. I want her strawberry goat cheese bruschetta real bad.

2. Chiara from Oh Happy Day has a cute DIY red white and blue garland idea. Not sold on that one? She also has a giant garland DIY too.

3. Making It Lovely has cute table decorating ideas.

4. Planning a BBQ? Serious Eats has a 12 different homemade BBQ sauce recipes for you to try out.

5. AMERICAN FLAG CAKE!!! Obviously this is my favorite thing ever and someone *ahem Rebecca ahem* needs to make this.

6.  If you aren't sold on the cake I don't know what's wrong with you...I kid I kid that cake looks like a lot of work. Serious Eats pulled together a list of 15 desserts to make...these all look pretty damn good too.

And what will my plans be? Heading to the beach with the family (including my awesome cousins from Vancouver) to play in the sand and eat way too much food...can't wait!

Canada Day 2012 Prep

Its been a busy few weeks and its about to get even busier...at least its all fun stuff coming up! I checked NASCAR off the list last weekend and I'll be checking off going to Vegas this weekend, celebrating the 4th and going to the county fair next week. Some people might prep for a busy week by getting a good nights rest while they can...eh not my style. Instead I stopped mid-laundry and cleaning to bust into the two pounds- yup pounds- of Chimes ginger candies I bought from Amazon (I even signed up for Amazon Prime so I could get these in two days since 3-5 days seemed soooo long<-- new low) and am watching The Electric Horseman.  Cleaning? Packing? Going to bed early? Getting work done? Nope nothing is better than eating candy and watching hot young Robert Redford. 

#28 Go to a NASCAR race

This past weekend by friend Rebekah and I headed up to Sonoma to check out the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race. Technically the main race was on Sunday and we were there Saturday so I think this list item might eventually need a redo but for now I'm considering it checked off. We got to see the practice laps for Sunday so basically its like we were there and all NASCAR-fied. On Saturday it was the Pick-n-Pull Racing to Stop Hunger 200 NASCAR K&N West Series Race. What does that mean? No idea...my NASCAR knowledge is pretty much: cars go round a track, cars try to be the fastest, cars try not to crash....yup sums it up pretty good right? 

Weekend Recap

Another weekend is over but this one was a little different because it finally felt like summer! It was so hot that my friend Shiri and I hit the beach (along with the rest of the city) to enjoy it. I now have the weirdest sunburns ever- for example I have a 1" by 4" oval burn on my arm...umm seriously, how did I apply sunscreen so poorly?!?! After the beach, Rebecca and I walked over to the North beach festival- it was packed! We got some food (meat on a stick<-- always a good call) and took in the sights-I love how they decorated this window:

Hawaii Vay-cay

Quiet beach, sunny day, new book, cold beer and marinating in sunscreen...what could be better?!?! Nothing...actually sea turtles would make that better but more on that later. Bonnie, Rebecca and I decided we needed a girls vay-cay earlier this year and settled on Hawaii (3 states visited- only 47 more to go)!! We woke up bright and early (and I mean early...5 AM<-- ugh) to make our flight. Quick fyi: the flight to Hawaii is 5 hours not 3 hours...now THAT was a fun surprise when I got to the airport (always need to account for that pesky time-change). We got in with plenty of time to hit the beach...which was incredible! I ran around taking pictures because I couldn't get over how perfect it was...super sandy beaches, gorgeous blue water and coconut trees everywhere (which made sense after I found out we were on the Royal Coconut Coast <-- so fancy).

S'more Party

I missed my roomie's bday recently since I was in Hawaii so we celebrated a little late...but that didn't matter since we celebrated with s'mores!! Mmmmmmm. I was all over these growing up in Canada and I totally made some delish s'mores at Girl Guide camp...no big deal but I'm basically a marshmallow toasting pro. Since this is an American blog, I'll side with the Smithsonian (whoa legit right?!?), which says s'mores are more American than apple pie <--fightin' words right there. American treat or Canadian treat- who cares!?! These are awesome!

#35 Vote in a (primary) election

For the first time in 27 years I voted!! Pretty excited about this whole thing! I even woke up early so that my roomie Lindsey and I could hit the polls before work...I was real American and I hadn't even had breakfast yet.

Yea thumbs up for voting! Excited for what I refer to as the 'real' election in November then I can officially cross it off my list (don't really want to count a primary as my official list item).

And yes I was sporting my 'Merican shades to vote...obvi.

#26 Join a kickball team

 Another one checked off the list- I joined a kickball team! Bonnie and Rebecca decided they wanted in  as well so we went online and picked the team with the best name (since we didn't know anyone) and ended up joining the Bad News Beers (runner up for best name in my opinion was Tequila Mockingbird). Going into this I thought this would be super easy since I played kickball as a kid although in Canada we called it California Kickball- maybe because we played it outside? no idea. Yea not the case...I suck at playing kickball! Attempting to catch the ball turns me into a full on spaz: awkward panic expression, arms flailing, high pitched noises coming from my mouth...its just all bad. I am getting better at kicking the ball though and made it to 3rd base in our last game.