Baltimore Small Tales: A place to read about hopes, thoughts, dreams, tragedies, and triumphs.

Sometime down the line, the name of this blog is going to have to change. For the past 4-5 months, we've been looking for homes away from Baltimore. 

Lately the pros of leaving the city have heavily outweighed the cons. I won't go through the pain of listing them all out here, but one of the primary reasons has to do with a strong need for change. It's time for a new chapter.

We've seen probably around 50 homes so far, maybe a little more or a little less. None of them have felt quite right. Every time we walk into a home that needs work, we usually run out the front door within the first 10 minutes.

But over the weekend, something very strange happened. On the way to the house we were going to see, we saw about 8 deer running along. One was actually galloping in front of people's front yards. Something I'm not used to seeing. We pulled up to the house (location not to be disclosed as I don't want to 1) jinx myself and 2) publicly announce where we are looking) and instantly it felt like, well, home.

As we walked in with our realtor, I could instantly tell that the place needed some attention -- floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall that should be in your living room, scratched up wooden floors, tacky wall paper duct taped in the kitchen ... the list goes on and on and on.

But as we walked from room to room, I couldn't help but see the place with new tile on the floor, new paint on the walls, and new toilets in the bathrooms. It wasn't until I was standing on the grease coated carpet in the master bedroom that I finally realized that maybe I might have just gone insane. Because in some wild, twisted universe, this place felt like it belonged to Allan and I. It was the place that I could see myself not just writing my first book, but my second, third, fourth, and fifth.

This evening, we went back to the property (which is on a sizable piece of land), and took a closer look around with a contractor. We'll find out just how much the grand total of necessary improvements will be soon.

Will we still want the house or will it be too much? We'll have to see. But if we do decide to make an offer on this house, and if the bank happens to accept it, you better believe I will do a before and after post on here of all the renovations!

People buy foreclosures and fix them up all the time. I just never saw myself ever considering it. I always thought my first or "dream" home would be brand new, or look close to it. This is definitely far from it.

It's a new year and with it comes the need to purge old things from years past.

I had never thought about consigning my clothes before. I always donate them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. But as of yesterday, I can now say that I've put some of my favorite items up for sale.

Before heading over, I did a tiny bit of research and had lengthy conversations with multiple store owners throughout Baltimore. Each store is different in terms of what they're looking for, but if you're interested in ever consigning your clothes, here are a few tips:

• Call first. Most consignment stores will only take designer names and most will only take them by appointment only. Some fill up so quickly that they won't meet with you until a certain time period hits. 
• Think about the time of year. Most consignment shops take clothes that are in-season only.
• Make sure your clothes are washed and without wrinkles.
• Start with some of your best pieces. That way the next time you go, the store owner may be more inclined to meet with you sooner rather than later.
• Find out how and when you might receive a payment for your clothes. 
• Don't bring anything to consign that you wouldn't buy yourself.

The store owner that I'm working with seems to think that the items I brought by will sell quickly. One can only hope! I have bags of other items that need a new home.

This cracks me up every time I watch. Happy holidays!

Since writing about my concussion in fall 2010 the post has been read the most, month after month. Each month I notice that hundreds of people have made it to this blog (and viewed the post) after searching for:

• concussion thirst
• how much fluid to drink after a concussion
• concussion sinus pressure
• sinus headache concussion
• can you watch tv with a concussion

And many more phrases like these. If your concussion is as bad as mine was, long-term effects from post-concussive syndrome resulted with:

• gaining ~5-10 lbs (since you're not as active for months on end)
• refraining from drinking (alcohol) or not drinking as much
• having a new appreciation for your health

It took me about a full year until I felt completely normal again. I've tried yoga and acupuncture since and have kept up with both practices regularly, which is probably why I've been calmer and happier than before the concussion happened.

If you have a specific question about a concussion that you haven't found the answer to anywhere, please leave me a comment and I'll let you know my take on it. I know concussion information is hard to find, so hang in there if you think you have one and go see a doctor!

I haven't written a music review since college and I don't plan to ever again. But I have to say that CSS's latest album 'La Liberacion' truly captures what it's like to be young and carefree. Each song is like a catchy synth pop filled chapter out of a novel about a 20-something girl living in [you insert the large city].

The songs are super upbeat. If you like dance music at all, this is a good album for that, too.

All the songs are good, but if you've never really listened to this band and are curious, check out a music video from the album here:

So Sweet Bakery went out of business. At first, I had heard that it was by the end of the year. But then I saw on their Facebook page that they were closing doors this past weekend.

Now, most people take the top layer of the cake home with them when they married. But Sweet had a better option. They would make a  new layer of your wedding cake for you close to your 1-year anniversary so that you could enjoy it fresh.

I emailed them early last week to see if there was any way possible that we could pick up a fresh layer of our delicious marble buttercream frosted with cannoli filling wedding cake. It didn't have to be big, just enough for two slices. I never  heard back.

I guess when September rolls around we'll either have to ask another baker, which won't be the same as it is, or skip it altogether. Oh well.

I'm excited that someone nominated this blog as "Best Personal Blog" for the 2011 Mobbies! You can vote once a day until this Thursday, Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.

A not so shameless self-promotional post is coming up soon.

I had never heard of chocolate chip pie until I went on my honeymoon. When I had my first bite, I was in chocolate heaven. The best part is that pie is not too sweet, but sweet enough to do the trick.

For weeks, I thought about making this pie. What better reason than when showing my new neighbors around the house.

I looked around for recipes, and found one on a blog called, "No Food Left Behind."

It was really easy to make. It almost seemed too easy. I hadn't crushed the walnuts as much as I thought I should have, so I thought that would be the catch -- I always seem to have a downfall. But it didn't matter.  The pie was a huge hit.

Here's how to make it.

What you need:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 6 oz (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 9-inch unbaked pie shell

What you need to do:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add flour and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Blend in granulated sugar and butter. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into the pie shell. Bake for 1 hour.

Thank you, Karen from Indian Head, South Carolina! I will be making the pie again soon!

Today was the second time I was called in to be a juror for the Baltimore City Circuit Court. As boring and long as the day can be, I was surprised by a couple of things.

Before everyone checked in, the Jury Commissioner asked  those that were there for the first time to raise their hands. Arms went up all around me. Two years ago, I couldn't have said the same.

Later during voir dire, the judge asked if anyone in the room had immediate family members that were at some point involved in a criminal case, immediate family currently being tried in a criminal case, or if jurors had been directly involved in a criminal case at some point in time. Nearly two-thirds of the room stood up in acknowledgment. Baltimore is crazy!

Luckily, after a late lunch the day went by fairly quickly. To anyone that has to go anytime soon, I highly recommend parking at the outdoor lot I parked at today. It's located on Fayette, right before St. Paul. Since I got there before 8 this morning, the daily rate was only $8. The guys working the lot were also really fast to help locate people's cars. The perfect end to this? The gate leads out to Baltimore Street, so hopping on 83 is not a problem and/or weaving through the city seems easy.

I'll never understand the airline industry. It seems like you pay so much money, hundreds of dollars, to basically be treated like one of hundreds of cows herded from one place to another. And every few hours, you get thrown a bag of peanuts. It's no wonder why so many people get sick from flying... you're barely ever offered the chance to eat a full meal while in the air, you're confined in a small amount of space for hours, the bathroom on the plane is usually filthy, and the whole thing has a special way of exhausting the hell out of people. I don't care what airline you're with or if you're in first class, the experience always feels like you're not getting enough for your money.

Only this last time took the cake ... my first and last time EVER flying with Continental Airlines. The plane, one of the smallest I've ever been on, was extremely noisy and so small that nearly every bag had to be checked. I prefer larger planes but sucked it up because we were planning to go from Baltimore BWI to Newark International, a flight that should only take less than hour, before heading to our honeymoon destination: Nova Scotia.

Too bad that never happened.

Not long before we were supposed to land in Newark, the pilot got on the intercom to tell us that the airport was closed because President Obama was visiting and that we would circle for another 20 minutes before finally landing. Twenty minutes turned into 45. Then, the pilot got back on again to tell us that we still couldn't land in Newark and we were running out of gas, so that we had to land at the Allentown, PA airport for probably about 20 or 30 minutes tops.

After sitting on the tarmac for almost three hours, we were finally on our way to Newark International. Again, we were told we'd land in 20 minutes and landed about an hour later, almost six hours after leaving BWI and with another three or so hours to go.

While trying to decide if we wanted to keep going after feeling as though we could not trust the pilots, we found out that the airline had no idea where our bags were. We thought to ask when we got off the plane because we weren't sure if we had missed our connecting flight, and regardless didn't want to go on since it took so long to go such a short distance and the pilots seemed to be clueless as to what time-frames actually meant the whole time.

We were told to go from one department to another, each time rudely asked why we were asking the airline representative why we were in their specific department. We had never been to the airport before, so trying to find one place after another was beyond stressful and then after being greeted so poorly by customer service representatives, our moods just went completely out the window. Why even bother trying to go anywhere, let alone our honeymoon, when the people you gave so much money to help you get there don't value your patronage or your property?

We waited for almost two hours to fetch our baggage that never came. Exhausted, famished and disappointed, we took the tram to the car rental place, got the keys to a Chevy something-or-other, and drove the three or so hours back to Baltimore. Fourteen hours total to get absolutely no where.

The next day, we spent hours fighting on the phone with the airline. After looking into the Passenger Bill of Rights and talking with informed sources, I realized that what had happened was THE biggest airline screw-up I had ever experienced. President Obama had announced that he was coming to Newark earlier that week, it was all over CNN and other national news. It was obvious that the airline's employees at the airport and over the phone have no pride for the airline at all, or the customer service would've been better. There's so much more to say here, but this blog post is becoming too long.

After four phone calls and almost a week later, our bags were sent back to us and we were finally able to resolve the issue. The good part about all this is that we still will get to Nova Scotia ... the five-star hotel we were going to stay at was more than understanding and completely flexible about our need to postpone. We also were able to stay at an AMAZING place in the Poconos, which I'll post about later.

For now, I just wanted to tell my "why I won't fly Continental story" so that other people won't be as inconvenienced and frustrated as we were. Or so others don't have what is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, like a honeymoon, ruined.

My father, aunt and uncle, and many other people I know have had the same outlook on the airline and will never fly with them again either. It's crazy that in this economy that such a large company, a global airline, seems to take the general public for granted.