Hey! Are You Union?

SEPTA is the public transportation system here in Philly. The union workers of SEPTA decided to go on strike today. This left Kyle and I no option but to hoof it to school/work.

Click here for the exiting news story

It didn't really affect me since I normally take the bus TO work only because I am perpetually running late. When I leave work I always walk home. Kyle, however, had to face a 35 minute walk to campus. I think he split a cab fare with other students to get back home. I hope this strike doesn't last long because it's kind of annoying. At least the weather isn't so cold once the sun comes out of hiding.

I wasn't prepared for the big dose of whimsy I received upon arriving at work. As I sat at my desk I saw a big flash of orange out of the corner of my eye. The owner of the Phila architecture firm was wearing an oversized poncho/sweater combo topped with a loose black scarf imprinted with metallic orange moons and stars and (I do not lie) a 3 foot tall pointy black wizard hat with, you guessed it, more moons/stars on it. She was conducting meetings, huddling with staff, and discussing her latest client presentation with me all as if she were your everyday run-of-the-mill resident wizard. It was pretty funny because I overheard her and her husband (who is also a partner at the firm) conversing very seriously about this presentation and I glanced over and thought about how much talent it must take to talk seriously with a pointy 3 foot hat on.

Kyle went to the apartment leasing office to cash in on our $50 cookie. Apparently the building manager randomly asks people in the elevator if they have a chocolate chip cookie and awards them $50 if they give him one (I know, sounds really bizarre and I probably should have played the lotto that night with that kind of luck). He tells Kyle that management is trying to keep people happy because we're having to put up with renovation & scaffolding in the lobby and super-double-duper sloooow elevators. I could write a small novel in the time it takes the elevator to make it to the 37th floor where we are. It really is frustrating so, now that I think of it, yeah! we deserve that $50!

I've always heard people say you start to take on characteristics of your spouse the longer you're married. I (scarily) noticed how close I got to that this weekend when I found myself happily enjoying a good 20 minutes of one of Kyle's preferred TV shows featuring none other than midget wrestling. Oh, help me! Did I just say that?! I do not find wrestling to be as entertaining as Kyle but somehow Kyle and I bonded over this midget wrestling. I found myself intrigued and disgusted at how these little people could look so tough, be so mean, and have so many tiny muscles? It all was a bit surreal....

Valley Forge Pictures

Pretty trees at Valley Forge....


It was coooold....this is us playing in the leaves at Valley Forge. Apparently it's a federal offense to remove leaves from the National Park Grounds....

A $50 Cookie and a Trip to the Pokey Averted

Ok, this was a long one...bear with me

Another weekend, another excursion. This car rental thing is working out really well for us. It's so cheap at $30 a day! We went to Valley Forge and once again noticed we were the youngest people besides those who were with their parents. This solidified our theory that we must have a taste for eldery entertainment. What with our Friday night jazz evenings at the Four Seasons, Longwood Gardens, and now this. Apparently Kyle and I should have paid more attention in history class because we both thought we were going to be checking out battlegrounds. Little did we know that no battle was fought at Valley Forge, it was just a winter encampment where Washington kept his troops during the winter. We toured the replicas of soldiers cabins, Washington's Headquarters (which is intact as it was back in the 1700s), and a neat patriotic Episcopal chapel. The scenery was really beautiful because the leaves were turning colors and it was sooooo chilly!

Our pastor and his wife invited us & Kara over for dinner tonight. We had a good time with them and learned that the pastor and his wife attended and met eachother at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY which is where Phillip and Cami will be headed next summer/fall. Small world, huh?

On our way to dinner we had an interesting exchange in the elevator. The manager of our building got on the elevator and saw the platter that I was taking to the Thompson's and he asked "what do you have there?"
me: cookies
he: they're not chocolate chip cookies, are they?
me: yes
he: well, you know what happens if you get on the elevator with me and you have cookies?
me: you take all of them?
he: no, you have to offer me one
me: sure
he: come by the office on Monday and I'll give you $50.
WE: WHAT?!
he: seriously. thanks for the cookie...

So my cookies are apparently worth $50 apiece...just you remember that. And he even offered the money without even tasting first. He must have really had a hankering for a chocolate chip cookie!

On our way back from dinner we had another funny experience. To give you a little background, most in-town driving excursions put Kyle and I at the mercy of Kara's driving (just kidding, Kara!!). The main road to get to our pastor's house/church is is on a really confusing street which runs diagonal thru the city and it's just not marked clearly at all. You'd think after 4 weeks of Sundays we'd figure out how the street works but....whatever. Today as we were leaving the pastor's house, we finally did something illegal. Of course there was a cop behind us and the lights start flashing. Uh-oh. Kara starts panicking. It's a bit chaotic in the car and right before the cop comes to the window Kara gives me a scared look and says "you guys, my driver's license is at home in my backpack!" oh no.

The cop tells us we made an illegal turn. None of us saw the signs! He asks Kara for license and registration. The three of us know the first part of that request is gonna be a problem. Kara is pretty hilarious to begin with so, flustered as she is, she starts to open her glove compartment (which is completely stuffed to the brim with papers). She's fumbling around with a GIANT wad of papers, receipts, etc....opening each one while saying "well, we just moved here from Texas.....uh, I hope I have the right papers, I'm not quite sure where my registration is.....ummm..." she's opening every single paper....meanwhile the cop looks less than impressed. However we all know Kara is stalling because she doesn't have her license. "Here's something! Here is my title...here ya go....ummm..." I see her open a receipt for some sort of car maintenance and she's trying to give that to the cop. Because we all know cops ask for car maintenance receipts when they pull you over?! I was trying to hold back a roar of laughter because it was just plain ridiculous what was happening. Finally the cop says "how about your license? can you just give me that?" So this is it, I think. We're going to jail. She says "weeeeeellllll...." the cop says "oh-no! no crying...girls always cry". Kara says "no! no! no tears here. I'm not going to cry it's just that my license is in my backpack and I was just coming from school and I left it behind....." The cop finally said he would let us go with a warning and we were amazed and very thankful that Kara used her feminine wiles to avert a disaster tonight.

What a day! We're looking forward to getting that extra hour of sleep tonight!

New York is not for Sissies

It's been a rough week. Yesterday I got an email from my boss asking how I was doing and apologizing for having "thrown me to the wolves" working by myself in Philadelphia and sending me on this big series of client meetings by myself (because there was no one else available to come from NYC to go with me). He threw in an encouraging word that the team really liked working with me...I was feeling pretty good and needed to hear that because I was starting to feel like I was in over my head.

My happiness was short-lived because it all went downhill at my afternoon meeting. Someone got totally bent out of shape and was SO rude to me. I was really upset when I left because I always like doing a good job. Today I talked to my boss and we sorted out the information and it wasn't all my fault so that made me feel better because I tend to beat myself up about stuff like that.

Kyle said people in New York are just crazy and mean. One of his classmates said when she worked in New York someone threw a chair in a meeting so I guess I fared better than that?

Anyways, the weekend is here and I am so excited to put all of this behind me. Kyle and I are going to rent a car and head to Valley Forge and apparently the leaves are turning right now so I hope we get to see some good color! YIPEEEE!!!!!!

Inspector Gadget and the Case of the Split Pants

Really. I debated with myself about telling this story but I'm all about being real on the blog. I was in a rush this afternoon getting all my stuff together to leave work and I bent down to stuff some papers in my bag. All of the sudden I hear a big loud Crrrrshhhhh!. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest and for about 4 seconds I thought my bare bum was exposed to the world! How embarassing!! I did a quick booty check, ran to the bathroom and realized it was the lining in my pants that ripped. I was safe. Although, before I knew I was safe I immediately sent praises up for the Inspector Gadget raincoat that could provide cover.

Another busy day in New York. Whenever I'm there it seems that I barely get a break to eat lunch. I'm always busy busy. People at that office work hard and fast and it just sweeps you away.

Finals are over for Kyle. I think the results come in next week. Annnndd....I think I just heard gunshots outside??....and now ambulances....hmmm....we really do live in a good part of town?! I promise.

OK. We're about to settle in to watch the Astros game. It's do or die. They gotta win tonight!!!

2 blogs for today....I'm on a roll

Kyle has ruined my new raincoat! He announced that I look like Inspector Gadget....and now I wonder, do I really look like this?
So every time I pass my reflection in a building or whatever I have to stop myself from laughing out loud because maybe I do look like a cartoon? But that's OK. If I look like Gadget then so does half of Philadelphia.

I can't decide what's worse...a New York accent or a Pennsylvania accent. I had 2 people invade (or rather I should say, I graciously offered up) my "CEO office" to discuss another project temporarily and I aaaallll-most stuck a pencil in my head after listening to 2 hours of PA accent. I don't even know how to describe it but it is horrific sounding.

Fortunately, I had an excuse to vacate the area to grab my usual cold-day lunch which consists of hot soup and a sweet corn muffin. Mmmmm. I even joined the other girls here who gather for lunch at the Philly office. After lunch and talking with the girls here, I decided I will not complain about work any more. As design firms go, I work for one that takes good care of their people, provides great benefits, and doesn't work their staff to death with no compensation. It's easy for me to take for granted since it's the only place I've worked since graduating but there's a reason people come back to work for my company after leaving to explore other firms. So, enough of the attitude. I have a great set-up and a new corner office, what's my problem?!

Grrr! My eye tic is back. The last time the old eye tic pestered me was around February when I was stressed out working on a big project in Houston. Apparently, something is causing the eye tic to come back? Could it be the stress of being appointed the new CEO of my imaginary company? quite possibly....

Hopefully Kyle is doing well on his test tonight. He wasn't so excited about yesterday's test.

We gotta Nor'easter blowin' through today!!!

Now this is a new phenomenon for me. I've never heard of this weather condition called a Nor'easter. And please do not call it a "North Easter" because I distinctly saw The Weather Channel spell it in big capital letters: "NOR'EASTER" (the drama is in the apostrophe). Kyle is familiar with these Nor'easters since he lived in Connecticut and he explained to me (in great detail last night) the meteorological weather patterns that create a Nor'easter, complete with hand motions and all. It was as if I had my own personal weather man in my living room, the only thing lacking was a radar screen behind him. So basically this Nor'easter is bringing rain now and will bring snow in the future when it gets colder. There are also high winds today because ol' Wilma's outer bands are lashing the east coast. More gray skies for us! Enough of this weather lesson...

Yesterday I was in NYC and got to hear Bette Midler sing "Fever" and "Hey, Big Spender" from my desk at work. She is so good at singing those jazzy songs and I was humming the tunes all day. I left a rainy New York last night and was so grateful for my new raincoat. Not only do I repel the rain, but I look cute doing it. What else could a girl ask for?! I didn't post yesterday because Kyle was hogging the computer with some excuse....I think he mentioned something about studying for finals? I suppose that's more important than posting my blog? hee hee ;) He's got the last final today and then it's on to the second quarter! (Wharton is on the quarter system)

I'm trying to make the best of my work situation and living in a conference room all separate from the rest of the world. As I walked in today, I imagined that I was the owner and CEO of this company coming in from the cold rain to sit in my heated corner office. I say to the admin (in my mind, of course. I'm not totally nuts), "Hold my calls! I'll be in a meeting till 10!" Then I slam my invisible door shut (because there is no door on this conference room) and do my part to make my company run. Yes, good thing I have an active imagination because I feel much better today than I did on Friday. Two people have already come by to complement me on my new "office" and the spacious square footage....well, this IS what a CEO like me is accustomed to, no?

Unpacking....Still!

I spent most of the day today fixing up the apartment. There were some frames and random items that were in boxes and still unpacked so I tried to tackle all the little straggling pieces. Will this apartment ever get put together?! It's getting close...

Kara gave us a ride to church again this morning. The sermon was good. The topic was loneliness. Kara and I decided we (and I'm sure Kyle) could relate to that on many levels being here but I thought it was especially fitting after my Friday episode of being moved to a corner all by myself at work. Pastor Jeff and his wife invited us over for dinner on Saturday so we're looking forward to visiting with them.

Kyle has a final tomorrow so pray for him. I have to go to NYC. It'll be an early evening but we're trying to stay up and watch the Astros. So far we're winning 1-0.

World Series Saturday

Surprise! Today ended up being a rainy day. I had to go to the post office and ended up having to walk several blocks because the post office near us isn't open on Saturday (whatever?!) I ventured out hoping I wouldn't run into any one of the approximately 3 people I know in this city. No makeup, hadn't showered. I looked pretty rough. On my way back I had to stop in a few stores. With all this rain and it hovering in the 60 degree temps, I've been on a 2 week long look-out mission for a little raincoat that can double as a light jacket. Today, I found it in one of my favorite stores called Zara. It's perfect. Now I don't have to fear the rain because I have a rain coat and it's so cute!

Kyle listened to the Aggie v. Kansas State game over the Internet. We won! I spiced up my afternoon by doing some laundry. Speaking of spice, I was inspired by the Food Channel to make an exciting dinner. The other day I watched Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals and she made this chicken breast covered in mashed up honey roasted nuts and bread crumbs with a side dish of succotash. Yes, succotash, like the pilgrims & Squanto. I don't know about you but when I was in Kindergarten we made a Thanksgiving meal (including succotash) and we sat around dressed as American Indians and Pilgrims and ate the feast. But I digress....

The meal turned out pretty good. I was impressed with myself. And that's why I like the Food Channel. I'm hoping to learn how to cook.

We (Kyle especially) were very excited to watch the Astros game. Kyle busted out his Clemens jersey and his old school 1988 Astros Buddies Club duffel bag.....

Kyle would like everone to notice that he is obeying the Mayor's decree to not wear socks. He was singing a funny song while he was showing off his lack of socks, hence the akward pose.....
And to maintain the superstitiousness of the game he did not shave today.

This is me sneaking up on Kyle right before the game and look at what the little booger is watching on TV......wrestling!!!!!

Another Friday Night, Another Week

First of all, a big HURRAY for the Astros!! We're anxiously anticipating the 1st game of the World Series. My mom reports that the Mayor declared everyone in Houston should go sock-less throughout the series.

Whoa! It's been a busy week. Kyle's been furiously studying for finals. 2 days in NYC (Mon & Tues) for me has wiped me out. I had meetings all day on Thursday in Philadelphia.

Today at the Philadelphia office they moved me from my nice window seat cubicle and sitting around people to sitting all by myself in what used to be a conference room . It's actually kind of depressing. I tried to remain positive about the whole thing because the conference room used to be the owner of the company's office. It's a corner office with glass looking out into the lobby and it has a heater in it so no more frozen hand syndrome for me. But it's still more isolated than I would like. And I was just starting to get such good leads on road trip destinations from my neighbor at work! He's the one who recommended Longwood Gardens and we all know how perfect that trip turned out!

Kyle and I went to Pietro's Coal Oven Kitchen this evening for dinner. It was yummy. Another one of our little neighborhood restaurants. It's so cold here already. It reinforces my fear about winter. I've already brought out my wool coat and a lot of people are just wearing light jackets?! I'm still trying to figure out how to dress.

Hopefully the rain will let up around here so I can get out while Kyle studies all weekend.

GO ASTROS!

Interesting....today the biggest headline story on the local news was how to avoid hitting deer on the road. Apparently that's a big deal around here.

Kyle's busily studying for his first final tomorrow. I made cookies. I'm so Martha.

Kyle and I are now munching on fresh baked cookies and watching the Astros. We really hope we can win this thing tonight. We are flipping between the game and the Food Network. Ever since we got cable I have been completely intrigued by the Food channel. I love watching all the interesting recipes these people come up with. I especially think Emeril and the Iron Chef are fun to watch. Kyle thinks I've been cooking more since we got cable. Maybe??
Oooooh, just saw a show advertised named "Sugar Rush". Who could resist a show called "Sugar Rush"? Not moi.

We're winning 5-1 at the moment. For the record, the Cardinals players we dislike the most: Kyle gets very angry at the sight of Pujols and I get the heebie-jeebies when they flash pitcher Taverez on the TV. Kyle and I have decided Taverez' face looks distinctly like a real live monster.

Still Commuting...

Still not a lot going on except for the hectic commute. It's tiring doing the travel at the beginning of the week. Early to bed, earlier to rise....I thought I was going to be able to come home early today but (the audacity!) those people at work actually expect me to get stuff done so I had to stick around and finish up what I was working on.

Kyle's studying for finals. He's on the quarter system so his finals are at the end of this week and beginning of next. Hopefully he can squeeze in a little bit of time to watch the Astros make it to the World Series! Yesterday's win was just soooo close and it all slipped away!

I can't wait until Friday!!!

Same ol', same ol'

There hasn't been much to report the last few days. I've been hauling it into NYC for work. Was there today and am going tomorrow so I've got to get some sleep. It's been pretty busy.

Kyle went to a recruiting dinner at Morton's Steakhouse tonight. He had a big ol' filet mignon without me. Life's rough, huh?

We're watching the Astros and hoping they can finish off the Cardinals tonight so we can go to the WORLD SERIES! Go 'Stros! The score is 2-1, St. Louis is winning :(

Good night, sleep tight

A Perfect Day to Visit the Garden

The Short Version:
We finally got out of the city!!! And it was a beauuuuu-tiful day too!!!!
Today was THE day to be outside. We rented a car and took off to Longwood Gardens under perfectly clear skies, temperatures in the high 70s, and a great breeze. A really perfect day. I was so excited to finally go to Longwood and boy was it spectacular.

Click here for the amazing pictures of the Gardens

The Long Version:
Pierre duPont's family has owned this land near Kennett Square, PA (about 45 minutes west of Philly) for centuries. After admiring gardens in Europe and parts of the Americas, Pierre decided to recreate botanical gardens on his land and the family developed a huge garden complex including the original duPont home and a 4 acre conservatory. Kyle and I decided that Papaw would certainly love this place.

Now, I have always liked taking pictures of flowers for some reason. So when I entered this place I was completely overwhelmed. I went pretty crazy upon arrival but Kyle tells me I really lost all control when we visited the Wall of Orchids and the Water Lily Pond. I took a bazillion pictures and I'm so ecstatic that my camera really captured the amazingly brilliant colors. However Shutterfly doesn't capture the color as well as I wanted. I hope you enjoy the pictures because I had so much fun taking them.

Kyle and I were really having a spectacular time upon leaving Longwood. Smiling, laughing, holding hands, making googly eyes at each other. We just were enjoying all the beauty of the gardens and the perfect day......
however, our carefree happiness was suspended ever so briefly as we attempted to take the rental to Costco to do some bulk shopping. About 4 tense miles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike revealed that Kyle and I would never be good teammates on our favorite TV show, The Amazing Race. I'm sure I don't have to go into detail about driving disagreements between couples, we've all been there, right? Suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty once we found ourselves on the Turnpike (not the right road) and it was a matter of split-second decisions that kept us relatively close to the Philadelphia Metro Area instead of somewhere in Car-Jacking Land (aka New Jersey). We found our way back to a recognizable road and decided to leave Costco for another adventurous day. The jumbo 75-roll pack of toilet paper will have to wait.

Square is Famous!!!!

Square is on Letterman tonight and she was tricked into saying the "a" word. Make sure you watch CBS tonight.













Here are pictures I took of my TV.

A Day in the Life

8:45: looks like another gray day

9:10: hahaha...laughing because a friend emailed she has to go to the doctor to remove a Q-tip that broke off in her ear. hee hee hee

10:18: it's really raining outside. I hope this stops by lunch time because I need to venture out to get food

10:30: AH! It hit me. It's too early in the day to hit me. Let me explain: It's very cold, as most office buildings tend to be, and every day my right hand, which controls the mouse on my computer, gets so unbearably cold that it starts to feel hot. It feels like the circulation just stops. I have to periodically sit on my hand to warm it up. It really hinders my work and I think I'm going to have to pull a Michael Jackson and wear one glove on my right hand so that I can function properly.

10:35: I've unfolded the end of my long sleeved sweater and created a sleeve-glove for my frozen hand. It's sort of working but makes it difficult to type

11:48: Still raining. I'm so hungry!

1:02: Lunch at last! It's definitely a soup day. It was windy & sprinkly out there but my trusty umbrella held up under the wind. It threatened to blow inside out a few times but thankfully I was spared the embarassment

2:13: It's days like these I wish I was in NY with the rest of my team, working in my own office. My connection to the NY network is down. I can still do my work but being off-line makes it a bit annoying. TECHNOLOGY! (big sigh)

2:18: I wonder if Kyle is having a good day. hmmm....I sure hope so

3:12: Hand is still freezing! On hold with Overstock.com. Never ordering from them again. I can't stand customer service representatives that are rude and then hang up on you!

4:41: one hour left....

4:53: Kyle is headed home from school

5:11: Listening to the song "Come Back to Texas" on the iPod. It's such a great, upbeat theme song. "Come Back to Texas....it's just not the same since you went away...before you lose your accent and forget all about the Lone Star State. "

5:43: I'm outta here!!!!!! Kyle's cooking some ravioli and I'm headed home.

7:14: Just finished a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats for dinner. I wasn't that hungry. My lunch soup was pretty filling.

8:15: Returned from Rita's. We bought 4 pints of water ice to tide us over through the winter. I think we're going to have to make another trip tomorrow. They close for the winter on Sunday!!!

Just Another Regular Day

I'm beginning to think fall/winter around here is about gray, cloudy skies and cold weather. I don't mind cold weather but it makes it especially gloomy if you can't see blue in the sky or the sun everyonce in a while. I'm hoping the sun hasn't gone into hiding until April. That would be very sad.

No eventful storeis today. Work is fine. Went to my usual food truck for a turkey hoagie. Sat in the park for lunch. I have a feeling it's going to get too cold to do that soon.

Dunkin Donuts is a phenomenon here. I dare say it's bigger than Starbucks (!). There is a DD on every corner. I've been afraid to actually enter one out of fear of becoming addicted plus the convenince factor scares me. The pumpkin spice donut has been taunting me through the DD window and today I finally tried one for lunch-dessert. yummy

I'm going to make something delicious (and easy) for dinner because I finally have my recipe book back. I think I'll make taco soup. Our friends in London made this for us when we were there last year and it tasted so good on a cold day. Kyle especially likes all the cheese involved in the recipe.

Since Pumpkin Spice Donut scammed me into eating it, I think I may workout tonight. I'm going to take it easy this time. Only 10 minutes on the elliptical. On Saturday I tried to push myself to do 15 and Kyle returned from a study group to find me spread eagle face down on the floor of our apartment just praying that my heart wouldn't explode from the strain and panting like an absolute dog. How embarassing. It certainly wasn't my most glamorous moment.

Thought for the day:
Sometimes I just don't understand architecture people.
A co-worker posted this website: http://www.breuertrailerhouse.com/
His friend is selling this house. I'm very sure it has some place and story in architecture history but to me it looks like the person who bought it is a slave to maintaining the interior 1960s mod just to be authentic. Weird. So weird.

I Saw the Goo!

It was an EARLY morning!!! I woke up at 4:45 so that I could take the early train into NYC and get some work done before the Goo Goo Dolls' mini concert on the Today Show this morning. I was at my desk working at break-neck speed so I could go downstairs. I tried to block out the yells and screams I could hear outside every 15 minutes which made it very difficult to concentrate because I wanted to run to the window to see what was going on! However, I pushed aside my raging curiosity until I had finished what I needed to do and then at 8:30 I ran downstairs with my camera, pushed my way through the sign-waving crowd, and waited for about 10 minutes before they actually started the song. Holding my little camera above the crowd, I got a good 1 min 30 sec video of the whole thing. And, bonus to all this, I finally got a picture of the elusive Matt Lauer. I hadn't seen him once all these times I'd stalked the Today Show personalities. I think he's been on vacay. He looks pretty good in person, I have to say. I am such a TOURIST!
(Picture above is Goo Goo Dolls lead singer with way too much makeup on. Looked like a very ugly girl. It was kinda scary.)

New York is getting fall-ish. The weather is cooler, the ice-skating rink at Rock Center opened today and we could see people skating through the window, I treated myself to a Starbucks and felt so urban chic with the whole scene.

For all of those who heard my Subway v. Walk 20 Blocks dilemma this weekend, I did end up taking the subway this morning instead of walking out of bomb fear. As is a loving husband's duty, Kyle calmed my subway fears with the rational argument (as rational as you can get at 5 AM) that terrorists seem to attack at 8:45 (naturally) so since I was taking an earlier train, I should be safe (of course). That reasoning was good enough for me and I made it OK.

After a long train ride back to Philly I was delighted to pieces to receive a package from my parents with homebaked cookies. Thanks mom! And just a note that we are praying for Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim and hope that we hear good news from the test results.

It's been a long day but what a relief that we have cable. Since I'm busy blogging, I'm missing simultaneous programming of baseball, football, and wrestling. Hmmmm....

And Another Weekend Ends....

It's been a long (and still rainy) Sunday.

We went to church this morning with our new Aggie friends & Kara. Our Aggie Section composed about 1/5 of the congregation this morning. Pastor Jeff is amazed that we show up with new people (Aggies, no less) every Sunday. It's pretty funny.

After church, I thought I would go into work and get a little ahead since I have to go to NYC tomorrow and I needed to do some things. Well, as soon as I stepped in I heard the security alarm warning tone. DARN IT! I totally forgot these people have an alarm and since I'm not technically this firm's employee (here in Philly), I have no idea how to disarm it. Sooooo, the blaring alarm siren goes off. And I'm trying to turn it off with no luck. A police car shows up. Thankfully I don't look like a hardened criminal because he didn't arrest me but I ended up not staying because we couldn't figure out what to do and the owner of the firm didn't return my call immediately. So now tomorrow morning I have to leave a full hour earlier (AHHH!!!!) on the 6AM train to NYC so I can get my work done. Oh well....

The cable guy came to install our cable TV and now we have way more channels than we've ever had and are contemplating if this was a mistake. Although Kyle gleefully proclaimed that wrestling will come on twice a week now instead of one. Now, that's something to look forward to! I've never dealt with cable guys but this one was weird. He realized he would have to run the cable through our dining room (because of where they terminated the cable when the last person moved out) and actually said he would have to reschedule the installation because:
1) Kyle was having a study group in the dining room and he couldn't work with all the people in that room
2) we changed the work order (decided not to get internet)
3) he didn't have a staple gun to route the cable through our dining room.
WHAT?! It's bad enough we had to freeze our scheudles today to wait for him to show up between the vague time slot of 12-4 PM but he would have to come back? No thank you. We moved the dining table and the study group to the living room, I own a staple gun, thank goodness, that he used and he somehow managed to change the work order manually. What is WITH cable people.

Kyle's group was here for 4 hours. They wore out their welcome at about hour #2. I entertained myself doing laundry and reading a book tucked away in our bedroom.

After a lengthy Friday email discussion with my fellow northeast transplant friends about which winter boots we should buy for us novices facing the impending arctic winter, I decided on the Merrells. They're super comfy and look cute too. I've been eyeing them for a while and finally bought them today.

Those Aggies!!!!!

We just got back from The Fox & Hound and watching a very difficult A&M v Colorado football game. It was difficult to watch in many ways. We've been having massive rainstorms so when we arrived at 6:30 (for the 7 PM kick-off) the satellite had cut out and there was no game. Finally about 7:30 the satellite kicked in and we started watching the game. Then about every 10 minutes the restaurant would switch off the game and turn it to some random game even though there was a group of about 20 of us Aggies watching the game?! (I could see beads of sweat forming on Kyle's forehead at this point and knew it was taking every ounce of self-control for him to not YELL hysterically to get the game back on!!!). And of course the satellite kept going fuzzy and messing up at critical times. Plus Colorado is really out-scoring us by a horrible margin.

But on the bright side, Kara met us to watch the game. We also met a new Aggie couple who just moved here and they seem really nice. They are both going to nursing school (just like Kara) and will hopefully join us at church tomorrow. It's a small world. All of us girls attended Grace Bible Church in College Station so that is funny.

Today has been such a gloomy day with all the rain and since Kara is the only one with a car around here she graciously took me and 2 of her nursing student friends to the King of Prussia mall earlier today. K.O.P. is one of the largest malls in the US and it is awesome!! They have Nordstrom, Neiman's, and all sorts of other fun stores that can't be found around here unless you go to NYC. It's pretty comparable to the Galleria, I would say.

So since Kyle and I's grand plans to go to Longwood Gardens got smooshed by the rain, today turned out to be enjoyable...meeting new people and getting out of the city for a while.

The weather lady (whose name is Amy Freeze?! imagine that) just reported that today was the 2nd wettest day in Philadelphia history (and their records go back to the late 1800s). A lot of the rivers & streams are cresting and parts of the city got 10" of rain!! Good thing this info doesn't really affect us since we don't have a car but it's interesting to note...

Friday & Food!

Today I decided on a food truck that I will deem my "regular" food truck. I have gotten lunch from the food truck at the southwest corner of 20th and Market St for 3 days in a row and I calculated that at$2.75 for a decent sized (and filling) turkey hoagie, I cannot beat this price if I were to buy the ingredients myself and bring a sandwich to work every day. The Italian couple who runs the food truck is really nice. I think the guy recognized me as a triple header customer because when I arrived at the window he already knew "turrr-key?...wanna little must-ed, dahling?" No mayo here and he picked up on the fact that I had refused oil and vinegar on my sandwich for the past 2 days and he didn't even ask today. Now that's service. I was wary of food trucks for a while. It's taken me several months since moving here to get over the fact that people make your food. In a truck. WITH their bare hands. Along with handling money and change. Hmmmm....I just try to avoid watching them make the food and move on while thinking to myself "the acids in my stomach are very powerful to destroy germs". The rest of Philadelphia eats from them and they are surviving.

Unfortunately, we may not go to the Gardens this weekend. It's supposed to rain all weekend and all next week. What a bummer.

We received a mysterious package in the mail today (which is always exciting in itself) and it turned out to be a cute quilt from Aunt Mary with a sweet note. Thank you for thinking of us, Aunt Mary! It brought a smile to my face :)

Kyle took his mid-term accounting test last week. Today he received an email from his accounting prof that said in her 11 years of teaching this class is the smartest she has ever seen. They scored the highest average ever! This news comes with a tinge of scariness since the class is graded on a curve and while Kyle did great, his score is not in the top half of the class. This is discouraging to Kyle but what's important is that he passed and he's doing great!

Fridays are our nights to go explore the little restaurants sprinkled throughout our neighborhood. Center City is CHOCK FULL of cute little restaurants and the ones we visited so far have been excellent. We're off!!! Tonight it's a repeat at the Italian Bistro. They have great bread.

Recipes, Row Houses, & Squigglyvision

I have been really bummed about misplacing my recipe binder with all my favorite recipes (including the famous cookie recipe). I've been without the binder for 2 months, unable to cook all our favorite meals. I figured it must be in a box that I put at my parents house for storage. Today was a a great day because I FOUND IT!!! It was in a box labeled "work stuff". A box I had already looked through twice but apparently not close enough. I am so excited.

I went to the girls Bible study group tonight with Kara. The girls are nice and I enjoyed myself. We meet in one of those typical "row houses" they have here in Philly. I'm sure you've seen these houses that are smooshed together and all look identical with porches in the front. It's such a weird way to build neighborhoods. Kara said she sees row houses built like this even when there is plenty of land available.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend. I'm hoping it doesn't rain as forecasted (remnants of yet another tropical storm!) so that Kyle and I can enjoy our fun-filled Saturday plans.

Kyle would like to report that we are getting cable installed on Sunday and until then we are watching the Astros on "Squigglyvision" TV.

Check out Kyle's new business cards (or, I guess, school cards??)




Who gets school cards? Fancy.

Ready for the Weekend

I just discovered there's no La Madeleine around here. Not even in the burbs. It's a southern thing. What? How will I survive winter without tomato basil soup?! I don't believe this....

I'm soooo excited about this weekend. Kyle and I had talked about renting a car and visiting the city of Valley Forge but especially Valley Forge National Historic Park. There's a museum there and lots of interesting history on the famous battle that George Washington led. BUUUUT, I went to work today and my neighbor told me about a place called Longwood Gardens which is this massive acreage owned by Pierre duPont. It is supposed to be really beautiful. Now I can't decide where to go? And, of course, I want to visit quaint little Amish Country. I think it'd be fun to go to the Adirondacks in upstate NY too. There are so many fun places to choose from....

Looks like this may be the last week before it turns cold. I hear there's a cold front a comin' through.

Lastly, I'm happy to report that I made it through Wednesday (so far) without bruising myself. Ok, I'm off to work out....I'm turning over a new leaf....

Tuesday, Tuesday

Penn Station makes me laugh. It's infinitely amusing to see 50 yr old adults dressed up in suits and business attire run like a mob of 4th graders to recess when their train is announced over the booming speaker. I've never found the need to run for my train but I think some of the NJ Transit trains have gates that are far away and when the track number is called, some of these highly professional and poised people assume a panicked look on their face and tear off in a semi-sprint. What a riot!

At lunch I had to rush to Fashion Ave (7th Ave) to get thread. (I can't get thread in Philly unless I go to "Fabric Row" on a weekend b/c I can't make it during their business hours in the week). The Garment District in NYC is neat. (I wish I was a dressmaker!) All sorts of fun shops selling fabric, ribbons and sewing notions line the crosstreets of Fashion Ave in the Garment District. All was good except I couldn't find the original shop I was looking for so I had to ask around for an alternate thread shop. How hard is it to find thread in this city?!?!?!?

I finally got what I needed and was running a little late heading back. I get off at my subway stop at Rock Center but I didn't recognize the exit I was at. I kept searching for the familiar underground tunnel that connects the subway to my building. As I neared the subway exit I was busy trying to read the signs on the other side of the exit turnstiles before I actually went thru them. Because you can't go back once you've gone thru the turnstile (they don't go in reverse, only forward so you can't get back in the subway after you leave). I'm reading the signs......concentrating......trying to find that familiar tunnel location......before I realize it, I go thru the turnstile and.....BOOM! Metal bars -- 2 inches from my face!

Which brings us to today's most embarassing moment:
I had gone thru the exit turnstile and, because of my intense sign-reading, I didn't notice the exit was closed off on the other side by a movable metal partition that looked like a jail cell front. I am now stuck in an 18"x12" box between turnstile and jail cell gate and the turnstile won't go backwards. I am stuck in what looks like a mini prison and a man in the corner who looks like he is "of the street" is laughing at me and harshly asks me, "What are you doing!?".
As if maybe I was trying out some new Houdini trick or something? "What the heck does it look like I'm doing? I am stuck you idiot!! Does it look like I did this on purpose?!" was what the New York Lori wanted to say but I really said something a bit more polite. I tried to gracefully jump over the turnstile which took a few tries because I am wearing a fitted skirt. I banged my shin hard in the first attempt but finally made it out.

See, mom & dad, I'm still as uncoordinated and klutzy as always. Will I ever grow out of this? Between Monday's Platter Attack and Teusday's Turnstile Trauma let's hope that I don't have a bruise slideshow to post on Friday's blog.

AHAHAHAHAHA! I will laugh at myself so that I don't cry! :) Who needs cable? I am my own amusement these days.

Enough about me. Kyle's been a little sick these past few days but we've been pumping him with NyQuil and Vitamin C. He's such a trooper. Still studying a lot but we've been trying to go to bed early and get lots of rest. Pray for our health this winter. The last thing we need is to battle some crazy bird flu.

Monday, Monday

I was in a rush this morning (as usual) to grab breakfast out of the refrigerator and as I pulled the door open one of those heavy Wilton Armetale silver platters (which I had decorating the top of my kitchen cabinets in Houston) came crashing down and landed squarely on my head with a thud and just stuck there (at least my big head saved it from crashing to the ground). But, really, who needs a hard wallop on the head at 8:15 in the morning? It was totally unneccessary for a Monday morning especially. I was upset this morning but now, looking back on it, I laugh at what a weird sight that probably was. I'm glad Kyle wasn't at home to see the Platter Attack because I'm sure he would have found it somewhat humorous and that would NOT have been a good thing....for him at least. But I'm OK, I have a tough head, I guess...
(PS: I was right. When I told Kyle what happened this morning he did laugh)

I am thankful for Rittenhouse Square Park. I love getting out of the office at lunch time. The park is only 3 blocks away (halfway between work and our apartment). I went there for lunch today and enjoyed my chicken cheesesteak. I noticed a big banner at the entrance of the park that read: "October 8, Carnival of the Dogs: Dress up your pooch in costume and come". That should be interesting...I am also thankful for the park benches that are just big enough for 2 strangers to sit on either end and eat lunch and it's not akward.

I am thankful for Nuts To You, an eclectic little shop that sells all kinds of snacks from dried fruits, animal crackers, candy, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolates, popcorn & of course every variety of nuts pre-packaged in 1 lb or 1/2 lb baggies. It's very reasonably priced too. My favorite are the animal crackers for $1.25/lb. Not bad. Mom, I think you'd be a fan of this store. They have quinoa.

Lastly, today I'm thankful for the flowers I bought at the flower shop on my way home. I noticed them on my lunch break and thought to myself "I know someone who was mildly injured this morning and flowers would be just the thing to cheer her up". A sympathy gift to myself for knocking some brain cells loose this morning.

A Rough Weekend Ends

Today Dee and I visited Pity-ville, population 2. Pity-ville is a land where people who have been transplanted to the northeast have decided they want to go back to TX. I've been having a rough weekend and she, living in CT, has been having a rough time too being away. She calls this afternoon and declares she's ready to go back to TX. Me too. Today I've just had it with rude people, stores closing at 6 PM, Rita's closing for the winter in 15 days, being confined to a carless 2.5 mile radius of life, and an overall general lack of familiarity. To cheer me up I had a Gelati at Rita's Ice. It was really good. A gelati is composed of custard (frozen yogurt) in a cup, then a layer of flavored ice (I chose strawberry), and another layer of custard on the top. SO good. My first Gelati. Normally I get the Misto but the gelati was a great choice.

We went to church with Kara (our Aggie friend) today. She drove us to Church of our Savior in Wayne, PA. It's about a 30 minute drive. There is so much beauty around Philadelphia. All the historic towns and cities, the countryside is beautiful. All the trees...I was so amazed, like I was in a different land that I didn't know existed out there because I'm stuck in a city-island. Church was nice. I liked it because it kinda reminded me of 1st Baptist back in Houston. We were all craving Mexican food as we left and we ended up going to a little Mexican restaurant dive in our neighborhood. It looked sketchy & run-down which meant, to us, that it had a good chance of being slightly authentic. I got some fajitas that were good. Although the concept of free bottomless chips and salsa was a little foreign....where is Pappasito's when you need it! And Freebird's! Pico de Gallo (the restaurant) would have to do for today. (Kara and I below)

Kyle and I just discovered a show called Cold Case that is on CBS. It is set in Philadelphia and there are a lot of shots in the show that are near where we live. Maybe that's what the TV cameras and filming on Broad Street was about yesterday?? Anyways, it's our new favorite show because we recognize places.

A Day of Observations

Today I did nothing interesting so I'll report a few interesting things I observed. There's never a shortage of interesting things to see when you live in a big city melting pot.

#1
As I walked along Broad Street, I noticed a man in front of me in a bright red pinstripe suit wearing a white fur cloak with a cane and a crooked hat. Yes, it was full fledged 70s disco fever pimp in my path. Two guys on the street actually stopped to take a picture with him because he was such a sight.

#2
As I walked further down the street, a policeman was directing pedestrian traffic out of the way and said there was a TV show being filmed so I looked around and there were cameras at every corner of the intersection and beyond but I couldn't figure out what was being filmed. Some people were looking 4 stories up at a building, some people were looking down another street, some people were looking at cameramen. I never saw the object that was being filmed...maybe it was the red-suited pimp man but he had disappeared by this point.

#3
The last interesting sight was 2 people strolling down Walnut Street (which is the main drag with all the nice clothing shops) on their Segways. As if it was the most normal thing and everyone rides a Segway to go shopping? Never seen that.

So that's about it. We watched the Aggies beat Baylor (barely). I met Kyle's learning team group whom he had persuaded into eating lunch at The Fox & Hound so he could watch the game and eat lunch at the same time. What a smooth operator ;)