Chivalry isn't dead… or did it make us feel worse on Valentines Day

What can I say, Valentines Day is overrated in my book. I sound like a pessimist, yes, but I do not think I'm wrong. Ask any guy what they think about the dreaded Vday, and you'll get the same response in which I'm trying to convey. Plus who ever said that the men are the ones that have to be extravagant on this Hallmark holiday? We all say it, the road goes both ways… 

My goal on the 14th was to avoid being "negative Nancy" and supportive of those girls on cloud nine that act like Valentines Day is Santa Claus. I was at work, and not even 10 minutes into my work day I came across a guest. She asked me if I had big plans for the evening,  I smiled and said I was single. She was somewhat surprised, proceeded to tell me I must be intimidating (which I get a lot and is turning out to be a shitty excuse for my singledom). This guest is a bit of a talker, and continued to indulge in her plans for the evening. It involved consoling her lesbian friend who ended a ten year relationship with her partner… As our conversation was ending, she jokingly invited me to her pity party. I laughed, played it off as nothing, but how should I have responded to that? Offense? Flattery? I was confused, but continued on my quest to make it through a complain free day!

The weather was a bit reflective of my mood, gloomy and looking ready to break into a storm at any minute…

I encounter another guest. A man with a witty demeanor, sarcastic at best, and about 350 lbs. Upon his arrival with his family, scoping out the place, my coworkers and I greeted them with a warm smile and "How are you doing today?!" His remark, "Slow, fat, and stupid in that order." Eventually his family left, he did a little bit of work, and needed a lift back his hotel. I obliged. He asked if I had plans for the evening to start up small talk, and I retorted with "I'm single". He spewed a slew of nice compliments, and asked "How is it that you're single?"

How does one respond to such a question?

Really.

Dont you think that if I could answer that question, I wouldn't be single. I gave a polite laugh. Thankfully the ride was a short one because that launched a deep internal conversation about where I am in my life.

That's something we can discuss over bottles of wine sometime.

I close down work, end up home, soaking wet because the weather got the best of me. I'm greeted by B, we make dinner, toast to our current single status, cash our bottle of wine, and decide we should hit the town. We both understood that it was dangerous territory with the amount of couples out, but figured maybe after dinner everyone took dessert back to their respectable homes. 

Quickly, we put the day behind us, and in five we put on our Sunday's best and hit the bar. One drink in, people are funneling in and out of the bar, it wasn't overly busy. I do notice a man that sits down behind B, and he orders himself a Stella and continues to mind his own business. We made eye contact once, maybe twice, but never struck up conversation. We're ready for round two. (Papabear is in town, so after his meetings were done he cozied up to the bar in G&B style.) Round three complete, and I'm ready for the bill. Our bartender (she is also single, so we obviously bonded over the pointless holiday) approached me as I was rifling through my cash to pay and whispered to me, "your bill has been taken care of." I was beside myself. Who took care of our bill?! Another bartender? A cute guy I hadn't seen or made eye contact with, but wanted to be charming and buy our three rounds? Boy did I hope for the latter. It's like that situation in an airport when you see one cute guy at the gate before you board. As you anxiously sit on the plane, and he's walking down the aisle (no pun intended), you hope that his seat is next to you. Shortly after that you find that his blonde, 5'3 girlfriend is right behind him, followed by the 500 lb man that plops down right next to you. You know you've been there.  The bartender didn't want to tell us, but she quietly gestured at the gentleman sitting behind B at the end of the bar. I was still beside myself, and once again didn't really know how to feel. Flattered? Offended because we can pay our own tab? Guilty because we didn't engage in conversation with him? We rounded up the troops, I walked over, gently grabbed his arm and thanked him. We all did. I can put all those other pointless feelings aside, and just be grateful. Why should we call into question a mans kindness (especially on the 14th). The three of us laughed about it, my dad remarked, "It's been awhile since I've had a drink bought for me at a bar!" (Papabear doesn't go out with G&B, so he quickly learned how it felt. We're only kidding!) After letting our "one-day-annual-love-fest" marinate, we've come to the conclusion that no matter the day, no matter the person (boyfriend, family, or stranger) appreciating a kind gesture is all it takes. Who knows the motive behind peoples actions, who cares. One's reaction of gratitude is the most rewarding outcome for any giver. 

Hope everyone made yesterday special for themselves. 

Love, 

G&B

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes.

Not really a change in latitudes, I just love a good Jimmy Buffett song reference. And truthfully, I think we all secretly (or not so secretly) would like to adopt a little bit of J Buff's easy-going island mindset into our own lives. Or maybe it is just me. Either way, it brings me to what this post is actually about. The brain trust here at G&B would like to take this blog in a new direction, a no-limits, can't-stop-won't-stop, no-topic-untouched sort of direction. By that I mean that we will no longer limit our scope to simply a few of our passions but rather make this a more all-encompassing space to explore a multitude of thoughts and ideas. We have been batting around several topics and fun ideas for posts and I think y'all are really going to enjoy. It has been awhile since we have gotten excited about posting and it sure feels good to get back in the saddle. The planned posts will be more frequent, but a little smaller in size because we realized it doesn't need to be a novel each time we sit down. Frankly, I think that is what was limiting us before. Since we started out with this singular thought of what the blog needed to be and trying to come up with similarly related posts each day was getting a little repetitive. And after further reflection, we decided to remove the damn dam and just give 'er hell. 

This blog will now essentially be an outlet for all sorts of creativity. Without revealing any specific topics, I just want to reiterate that we are excited about changing things up, going with the flow and seeing where the bender takes us. I realize that a bender usually implies mass alcohol consumption but these will (mostly) be sober ramblings with a couple of alcohol induced shenanigans. Though I must admit, sometimes the best ideas and discussions come from a cold beer (or ciders, even margaritas) among friends. 

Mahalo. 

G&B

We've got some catching up to do.

Good evening ya'll. I must say, its been too long.  Red wine in hand, I have to toast the New Year, new things, and...

Hello PGA season.

Last update was Halloween, sorry we missed the New Year ya'll, but lets be honest we've all been busy.

Quick catch up:
Thanksgiving- yeah, we all ate too much, I know. B and I started a tradition last year to not actually eat a turkey dinner on this Holiday. Held true this year, we both dinned elsewhere. I must say Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, truly grateful for your steak and wine selection. Delectable. It was up there with the previous years Sushi and Sake. Wonder what next year will being?
Also, our reminder that Christmas is right around the corner. Time to start thinking of those New Year resolutions...

December brought some exciting things. 1) I was lucky to work the PNC Father/Son challenge along side legendary golfers and their talented sons/grandsons/daughters. 2) I surprised my family in the snowy north. To make this short and sweet, I convinced my brothers and parents that I had to work Christmas and the New Year (like I had done the year prior, but my family was kind enough to join me in the sunshine state). Two days before the surprise, my older brother wanted to come down to surprise for the New Year. Problem, I think so, I broke the news to him. I had kept it from him for 2 months. TWO MONTHS. 12 hours later I received a text message from my twin, "Justin spilled the beans". Really. All I needed was my brothers to keep the secret for one more day. Luckily, the secret was kept, I made it to my brothers door step on the evening of Christmas Eve. I got just the reaction I had imagined for two months, a warm embrace and tears. Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year, hope everyone was safe. Made good decisions, and rang in the year with love, friends, and happiness.

Dustin Johnson won the first tournament of the season. Mahalo.

Other tournaments occurred, nothing overly worth noting. Yeah, TW put some scores together, but I must say Phil Mickelson's win was much more exciting.
Some of the most shocking things that have occurred this season for the PGA tour would have to be all the players switching endorsements! By far the worst decisions would have to be: Webb Simpson from Polo to Izod, or maybe Watney leaving Hugo Boss. Really Rory, you'd prefer Nike over Titleist? The list goes on, but we'll elaborate a little later. This certainly takes me to the next big event of January.

I can't neglect Orlando's influx of golf nerds for the PGA show. Always an exciting time of year, rounding up the passionate and the knowledgeable to appreciate the unveiling of this seasons designs and equipment. Obviously, the fashion excites me. I had the pleasure of meeting some incredible people, one of them being Ralph Dunning. I got to listen to his run down for his line this year, the inspiration, and the drive to design exceptional pieces with performance and functionality. If only women were so lucky to have a designer create fashion and function. (cough cough, c'mon someone needs to step up to the plate!)

Probably the most monumental event: I turned 25. (I've constantly been reminded I'm now closer to 30 than 20...) Did I mention I joined the world of cyber dating? Thats a whole other can of worms.

That pretty much brings us to present, I think I hit the high points.

I say this with the utmost hope that B and I can follow through. We want to make time for this blog. This is our chance to share with you the exciting world of two adventurous girls that have an upbeat, humorous outlook on life. You know what, I need to highlight something really special, B ran her first 5K! Props. She kicked of this year in a healthy direction, hopefully that will inspire us all to lace up our shoes and hit the pavement.
Back to the basics ya'll, time management.
Find time for yourself (and for us of course).

Lets talk soon,
G

MARCHing it up

Whoa. Is this thing broken? Wait...no...we are just insanely busy. I know, you have heard that before and that should be no reason to deprive you of your necessary G&B fix. I can't apologize enough. To make up for it, I will recap some of the craziness that has been our lives for the last few weeks as well as some much needed insight as to the current state of professional golf...so buckle up and lets get to it.

PGA Tour: Florida Swing
By far the most anticipated month of the season not only for us but for everyone in this golf-crazed state as well. The population of Orlando during these winter months obviously grows exponentially because of a little place called Disney World, but it seems like there are even more golf nuts roaming around too. I guess there are a few golf courses in this area...who knew? Which brings me to my first topic, this week's stop on the PGA Tour is a home game for us which is awesome. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is taking place this very week over at Arnie's course, Bay Hill which coincidentally is less than 5 miles from where we live. Awesome. And being the important and well-connected people that we are, G&B has secured badges to this event.

(Anyone who knows me knows that I can't resist putting a 

picture of this little old cutie up. Just look at his smile!)

Remember when I said we were well connected? Well, it just so happened that Griggs came to possess badges to literally the most impossible event to get tickets for ever...I am of course referring to The Tavistock Cup. Which was held this year at the beautiful Lake Nona Golf & Country Club just outside Orlando. If you don't know what this fun little get-together is all about, do yourself a favor and Google it. I mean seriously, tickets aren't sold to the public, there is a color-specific shirt dress code for spectators, they leave brand new Audis parked on the holes AND LEAVE THEM RUNNING. I don't know how they let us in, I bet a typical bar tab rivaled the amount I owe in student loans. This place was ridiculous and we were so in awe the whole time. Not to mention epic people watching, there was a golf tournament going on. We almost got hit by an approach shot from Gary Woodland, we watched Trevor Immelman hole out for eagle, we were so close to our beloved Adam Scott that we could smell his sweat, oh...and Tiger was there too, white shoes and all...what did you expect?

Also, can I just say, how exciting this PGA Tour season has been thus far? Playoffs up the wazoo, Rory was #1, now Luke is back on top, Tiger withdrawing, Sergio had a 12 on a hole. I mean seriously people, you can't make this stuff up. I really hope these are just a warm up for all of the awesomeness that will ensue at Augusta...

Spring Break

It is kind of weird to live in an area that is actually affected by spring break. Our usually quiet and peaceful spot on Cocoa Beach was overrun last week with crazy, drunken youths. I realize we are not far removed from that time in our lives, but it was different knowing we had to get up and go to work the next day. We soaked up the sun and took solace in the fact that most of those rambunctious children probably had homework to do and we, of course, did not. Wait, I take that back, I gave us a very important task and it was to get in more golf and vitamin D, preferably at the same time. Guess what? We are already acing that assignment. 

Fashion Update

We gotta get back into the designing mode and along with updating this blog a little more regularly it is at the very top of our ever-expanding To Do list. But until then I suppose I can take a whack at some fashion critiquing while Griggs is still at work. While nothing has seriously jumped out as being overly awesome, there have been a few guys who are showing up each week looking as good as they play. 

You already know our love for Keegan Bradley and his new sponsorship. He has also taken to wearing red on Sundays just like another guy we know. But Keegan does it in a very different and great way. He donned this outfit in the final round of the WGC-Cadillac. Nicely fitting red pants, matching red visor, plain white polo and some matching red/white shoes. The shoes are a little iffy for me, but these red and white ones are WAY better than the all white ones. Trust me. 

The reigning Masters champ not only sneaks up leaderboards quietly but he also gets on to the very difficult Griggs&Bagger Best Dressed List. Kudos to Nike and Charl for dressing his small frame perfectly. I am really digging this heathered gray button down, its understated and classy. Just like Charl. 

Believe me when I tell you that I am strictly posting this next picture because this is what Tiger's Sunday outfit SHOULD look like. Taken last Sunday prior to withdrawing from the WGC-Cadillac Championship and prior to a mid-round shoe change. As if he was just taunting G&B by breaking out the black pair for the first half of the round and then pulling a cruel joke by switching back to the grandpa-looking white ones midway through the day. But guess what, the joke is actually on Tiger because he is the one that looks like a mismatched idiot.

Tiger is our absolute worst repeat offender and we were so thrilled at the switch up into the black shoes and then horrified a few hours later when he put the white ones back on. I suppose the only respectable thing to do at that point was to withdraw from the tournament after he put those awful shoes back on. 

I think that should about wrap it up for this kid. Work tomorrow, then off to Bay Hill on Thursday. Rough life. I know. 

Cheers!

-G&B

2012 PGA Season

The highly anticipated 2012 PGA season is practically here and guess what?

We have something to say about it! Weird, right?

There are several stories that we have our eye so lets get to it.

The Majors

Duh. Who isn't interested in these tournaments? The Majors this year will hopefully be as thrilling as last year and maybe even produce some more first time champs (we mean you Dustin Johnson...just avoid those pesky "bunkers" sir, and you should be fine).

The Masters at Augusta National always seems to have drama and heres to hoping that this year will be no different. Maybe Tiger should see how a back 9 charge works for him instead of his exciting front 9 one last year. Or maybe our beloved Aussie Adam Scott will continue his excellent play to claim his first career major. Or perhaps another unknown like Charl Schwartzel will make a name for himself on Alister MacKenzie's famed layout. Who knows? But it sure will be fun to watch!

The US Open is at The Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco, California. The previous US Open held here was a bit controversial, Lee Janzen won the event, but many of the other players in contention (most notably, runner up Payne Stewart and Kirk Triplett) complained about the greens being too hard and fast to putt on. Another issue with was the pin position on the 18th, it was apparently impossible to putt on. Stewart 3-putted and Triplett incurred a 2 stroke penalty because he used his putter to stop the ball from rolling off the green (real professional, Kirk...). It has since been flattened out but nonetheless, this tournament should still provide its typical drama.

The Open Championship (its proper name, but we can still call it the British) will be at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in northern England. This course will have a lot of great memories for many different people. This is the tournament that vaulted David Duval into the #1 World Golf Rankings spot over 10 years ago. Our fellow Minnesotan (and reigning Senior PGA Player of the Year) Tom Lehman won his only major here and Spanish great Seve Ballesteros won British Opens here in 1979 and 1988. As with all British Opens, it will be as much a test against the course and the local weather. 

The season's final major, The PGA Championship is at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. The most famed layout at the seaside resort that boasts 5 courses total. A little bit of trivia to impress your friends, this is the filming site for one of the greatest movies of all times, 

The Legend of Bagger Vance, how awesome is that? I bet it makes you want to watch the PGA Championship 10x more now, right? That and the idea of Keegan Bradley getting an opportunity to go back-to-back? Yeah, we are excited too.

Tiger Woods
Anyone who has read this blog knows we have been rather critical of Mr. Woods' golf game progress since his man-whore days but we really are interested in what he has got going on. We gave him kudos for winning his own tournament, that was a step in the right direction and we think that he can only go up from there this season. Tournaments he is in (especially Majors) are much more exciting to watch on TV when he is in the hunt. Tiger playing well only improves the game of golf as a whole and as much as we hate to admit it, he still can get people excited to watch golf.



Florida Tournaments
Nobody is more jacked than G&B to go watch all these guys when the PGA comes to our newly-adopted home state of Florida. Before moving, I never really paid attention to how many tournaments are actually played here. Hopefully we will be able to attend a few of these events. This is me, rubbing your nose in it. Sorry.

The Honda Classic - PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens
WGC-Cadillac - Doral, Miami
Transitions Championship - Innisbrook, Palm Harbor
Tavistock Cup - Lake Nona (though we will probably NEVER be able to get tickets)
Bay Hill Invitational - Bay Hill, Orlando
Players Championship - TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach
ADT Skills Challenge - The Breakers, Palm Beach
Franklin Templeton Shootout - Tiburon Golf Course, Naples

Repeat Performances
There were some players last season that were really impressive and we are hoping they can follow up excellent 2011 seasons with even better ones in 2012. I kind of had these guys in mind:

Adam Scott - How could he not be included? He came thisclose at Augusta, won at WGC-Bridgestone amid caddy controversy and played like the the stud and leader he is at the Presidents Cup. I really think he is poised for a major win this season, he finally looks ready to handle the pressure of a big win situation.

Bubba Watson - 2 wins last year and one of them was a playoff! Also made his debut at the President's Cup, where he had a pretty decent showing. Bubba is really fun to watch and is a real risk taker on the course. His easy-going nature is what draws people to him and has probably was part of his successful 2011 season. Bubba came really close to a major 2 years ago at Whistling Straits, losing to Martin Kaymer in a playoff. He has matured since then and has really become a force. We are expecting good things from Bubba this season.

Keegan Bradley - I feel bad for any other rookies on tour who played well, they simply had no chance at Rookie of the Year honors when this guy had such a fantastic season. Winning the HP Byron Nelson, the PGA Championship and the Franklin Templeton Shootout (with partner Brendan Steele) the 2011 season was certainly a good one for Bradley and we are looking for him to follow up his great rookie year in 2012.



That should about do it for this post, of course there are other intriguing storylines that are exciting and these are just a sampling of the ones that we have been thinking about.

What are you guys most exciting to watch during the upcoming season?

Whoa, almost forgot! Happy New Year! 

Progress update

So while Griggs is off on her 2nd day of work, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to update y'all (thats right, we are in the south now, I am allowed to say it) on her golf game and progression toward the ultimate goal: the LPGA. I have to do this while she isn't here because she is crazy modest, truly "Minnesota Nice" and doesn't want to write about herself. Also, I just needed somewhere else to put pictures up that I take when I am out shagging balls on the course for her.

Her swing looks great and she is really striking the ball well. She has had one lesson with her swing coach, Kevin Smeltz, at Leadbetter since we have been down here and has been in touch with her mental game coach, Dr. Bob Winters as well. In addition to these lessons, she has played out at Championsgate and Stoneybrook West but spends most of her practice sessions at Orange Tree, where she is a member. Orange Tree is a great test with tight fairways and big greens and Dr. Winters says that if you can play well there, you can play well anywhere.

As for tournament play, Griggs is planning on amping up the schedule later this winter with some Suncoast Series events around Florida. We just recently learned that the LPGA has done away with their Monday qualifiers for tournaments, so that just means she is going to have to work that much harder to get to the top. Which she can and will do. Not sure if you know this but, she is a pretty hard worker.

On another note, can we all just take a minute to acknowledge the Adam Scott/KJ Choi royal womping on Tiger Woods/Steve Stricker yesterday? Uh yeah. Didn't expect that at all. JUST KIDDING. Of course we knew it was coming. The Woods/Stricker team couldn't even manage one birdie and didn't win a single hole. I also distinctly remember watching some bonehead on the Golf Channel in the preview show who said Adam was going to crumble under the pressure of playing against Tiger and having to deal with the whole Tiger-Stevie situation in a tournament setting. Well, guess what Mr. Golf Channel Bonehead, you were wrong, congratulations, sir.

Bunker Practice

So I think we all agree Mondays suck. But not when you live an hour from the Atlantic ocean. Which is where we are currently writing to you from, dear readers, Le Beach. More specifically Cocoa Beach. We know, be jealous. After a thorough baking in the warm Florida sun, we decided to hit up a happy hour nearby. Weird, right? Here is G&B enjoying a cold Fire Rock pale ale. Cheers!