All you procrastinators take note, Mother's Day is almost here. This Sunday, May 11, is the big day. If you have not gotten your card in the mail, do so now! If you plan to spend the day with the special mother in your life or need last minute gift ideas, look here.

• Take her out to the ball game. The Orioles are at home in Camden Yards this weekend playing the Kansas City Royals. This is a great option if you have young kids.
• Belly up to the brunch buffet. These top brunch spots are always a great choice. But many restaurants offer Mother's Day specials for both brunch and dinner.
• Hit the mall. If you don't know what you want, go to a Baltimore area mall where you can find most anything. If you have something sweet or sparkly in mind, check out these lists of jewelers and candy stores.
• Flowers are always appreciated. If you can't get out to a local flower shop or your mother is far away, send flowers online.
• Let her take herself out with Restaurant.com certificates. If your mom doesn't live nearby, these restaurant certificates, which offer discounts to restaurants in Baltimore and across the country, are a great way to take her out to dinner. Though they do have minimum purchase amounts, (read more about how Restaurant.com works), Mom can dine out for very little. And now using the coupon code MOM, you can a $25 restaurant gift certificate and a $10 deLa Flowers gift certificate for just $5. With the same code get 50 percent off the Dinner of the Month Club plus the flowers gift certificate.

Like steamed crabs and fresh corn, live music in the great outdoors is just one of the perks of summer. This summer Baltimore has plenty of spots to spread a blanket and catch some tunes.

• Harborplace
• Patterson Park
• Belvedere Square
• Lurman Woodland Theatre
• Lexington Market

^{More Music: Pier Six Pavilion | Rams Head Live!}

Now with Big Brown crowned the Kentuckly Derby winner, all eyes turn toward Baltimore and the Preakness Stakes on May 17, 2008. Just before the kick off of the Triple Crown this weekend, officials at Pimlico announce the slate of festivities for Preakness Week this year. Many of the old favorites, like the Preakness Parade and free concerts, are back. But some, namely the fireworks in the Inner Harbor, are absent.

I have been checking in with the Preakness Celebration organization waiting for a full update, expecting to see more events added, but they never came. The 5k race, which last year had ballooned into a three-race Triple Crown, is not on the agenda. Neither is the Preakness Eve fireworks in the Inner Harbor, and the Preakness Balloon Festival, which last year floated all over the Baltimore metro area stopping in Baltimore and Howard counties as well as the Inner Harbor, is staying put at Turf Valley Resort in Howard County.

But don't worry the most cherished traditions, including Sunrise at Old Hilltop, crowning Miss Preakness,the Crab Derby at Lexington Market and the Pee Wee Preakness are still on.

More:

Full Preakness Schedule of Events

Preakness in Photos

Preakness Tradition and Trivia


Photo by Middleton Evans

  Now that the April showers have passed (cross your fingers on that one!), this month brings not only May flowers but May festivals. The warmer weather means we can begin enjoying the many outdoor festivals and events Baltimore has to offer in the Inner Harbor and elsewhere. And the first weekend in May is the kickoff! Look for these events this weekend:

• Kinetic Scupture Race - Inner Harbor, Canton, Patterson Park
• Flower Mart - Mount Vernon
• BaltiMORE for LESS - Inner Harbor

If you're interested in indoor or evening events, there's also the Maryland Film Festival this weekend.

More Links:
American Visionary Art Museum
Inner Harbor Parking
Mount Vernon
Patterson Park

OK, Dad, you're in charge here. When the kids are small, they want to honor Mom, but sometimes all that honoring can wear a mother out.

While brunch is great when the kids are old enough to fill their own plates, it may be overwhelming for little ones and, in turn, for Mom. Gifts can be a fun and easy way to get the kids involved. Let them make their own gifts with these Mother's Day craft ideas. Also kids love to help shop. Here are a few resources for shopping for Mom:

• Flowers
• Candy
• Jewelry

But usually when the kids are happy, so is Mom. So another idea is a day at one of Baltimore's top family attractions.

Some people are afraid of spiders or snakes or bees. Not me. My phobia? Bureaucrats.

But I've had so many negative experiences with official-types, who demand notarized forms in triplicate to fix a simple typo. All that power, so little understanding.

So when my drivers license needed to be renewed, I put off the trip to the Maryland MVA, even though (or maybe because) my license had already expired. How fast the years had flown since my last trip to the MVA. Then one day I suddenly realized my license had expired months earlier. My husband's had too. He went to the MVA within a week and took care of it, just like that.

I, on the other hand, procrastinated. I needed a haircut. I was busy at work. The kids had dentist appointments. I had an excuse for every day of the week. Finally my motivation came in the form of a vehicle registration renewal notice. I usually renew by mail, but this time I purposely ignored the notice, knowing that it would inspire me to make the trip when it was too late to renew by mail.

Worked like a charm! On April 30, the day my registration expired, I arrived at the Essex branch of the MVA at 8:35 a.m., prepared for any contingency. I brought my property tax bill to prove my address change. I found my auto insurance policy just in case I needed proof of insurance. I stuffed two magazines and an iPod in my purse to pass the time. I made arrangements for someone to pick up my kids if I wasn't finished by noon. Yes, that was overkill, but phobias aren't reasonable.

I was done by 9:15 a.m. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and I didn't need any of that stuff. I even had the courage to ask how my husband might get an error in his name fixed. But thank goodness that's his job. I'm not going back there again until 2013!

Virgin Mobile Festival (formerly Virgin Fest) comes back to Baltimore's Pimlico Race Couse August 9 - 10, 2008 with a line up of more than two dozen acts on its two main stages and dance tent. Some of those added to the line up of the previously announced headliners Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots include:

• Bob Dylan
• Iggy & The Stooges
• Paramore
• Chuck Berry
• The Black Keys
• Wilco
• Moby
• Underworld

See full line up.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Update: Just announced....his name is Samson. A fine strong name for a young elephant.

The Baltimore Zoo's new marquee attraction steps out into the public eye this Saturday, April 26. With Mom at his side, the "little" guy (ha! he weighed in at 290 pounds at birth) will greet visitors between 10 a.m. and noon every day (weather permitting; check the Zoo's website for updates).

First Lady Katie O’Malley, Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith will be among the dignitaries there to welcome him -- and announce his name. The public voted on names: Chewie, Crush, Duke, Samson and Zeus.

See photo gallery of the baby elephant.

Growing Home, a Baltimore County program designed to encourage homeowners to plant trees, makes adding a tree to your property a little easier and cheaper.

For 2008 the program has added Baltimore City as a partner too. Both jurisidiction have been working to increase the area's tree canopy because trees benefit both individual homeowners and municiplities. They do jobs that would otherwise fall to local governments like help control storm water runoff, reduce erosion and clean the air. But since most of the land is in private hands the program is designed to get homeowners to do the planting.

The program offers tips on where and how to plant a tree plus a guide for choosing the right tree for your location. Also a $10 coupon for a tree can save you a bit of the green stuff.

According to the campaign, planting a tree helps homeowners:

• Save energy costs
• Raise property values
• Protect the environment.

  Mother's Day is just around the corner! If your plans for that special mother in your life—whether it's your mother, mother-in-law, grandmother or wife—include going out for brunch or dinner, start thinking about reservations now. Inner Habor restaurants, in particular, fill up quickly. If you have gifts or other activities in mind, click on this Mother's Day guide. And don't forget that the Preakness events go on Mother's Day weekend.