Now my work is on my skin....

...Permanently! And no, it's not another 3rd degree burn.

It's official, I have taken my work to the next level and had it tattooed on me forever. For over a year I have been wanting to get at tattoo of a pin up on my upper arm. Something really cool, something really hot... something really sexy in a vintage/food kinda way... I can't really describe it you'll just have to wait and see it. I haven't gotten it yet because my mom, my sister, and now Gordon are all saying I should wait because 'its not something I'm going to want in my wedding photos'. I say I can just cover it with make-up (they make really good make-up for that stuff now) or make sure my dress would cover it.

I'm waiting. I'm not happy about it but I'm waiting. But I'm not going to wait forever.

So I've been doing some tattoo browsing on the Internet hoping it would get me my tattoo fix and I would get by until the time was right. That's when it came to me. Something small, something food related, something cute, something me. Its not the best picture cuz I took it with my phone (our camera is broken, again). It's on my left wrist. Its a dessert fork and spoon. They are placed in the way they would be on a properly set table, just above the dinner plate. I love it. It's not as sexy as a pin up girl just wearing an apron and holding a chocolate layer cake with a cherry on top but its a start.

I'm really bad at this

It's not like I don't have the time to blog and it's not like I don't have the desire to blog. I just don't know why it's not getting done.

Update (the short short version): Chicago trip: It was fun. We drank too much everyday. I got sunburned, bad. We saw most of our friends. Wished we could have spent more time with them and with our families. We realized how much we miss Chicago and how it will always be home in our hearts.

Fun walk home: The other day I walked a different route home. It was a nice sunny day. While waiting at a red light I saw this:

Do you see him in there? Isn't he a cute little monkey? Who do you think put him here? He brightened my day.

Adventures in Project Runway: Some people I work with are always talking about going to the bar across the street from the restaurant to watch Project Runway on Wednesday nights. So this week I decided to go. They have this whole set up; Franny, a server at work, dresses up as Heidi and for a donation you can participate in the challenge. The only problem is that you spend so much time working on your model that you miss what is happening in the show. The challenge this week was to find something in nature and make an evening gown. They didn't tell us till later that you would have to get up and give a back story and explain your dress. I have no problem making a dress out of scraps and using tape and staples to put it together but I did not want to get up in front of a group of theater people, fashionistas and all of the the Gays I know and explain a dress. Her name is Telula and she is a German country girl. She likes to spend time in the fields of Bavaria's country side picking flowers.
I didn't win. I didn't get to watch the show. I didn't get home till 1:30am. The up side is that Jay winner of Season 1 was in attendance that night. It was fun.

Fire!

I know there has been a bit of time between posts on my Chicago trip and I am sorry. I will conclude the recap of my trip home soon.

But this is big!

Yesterday was kind of a crappy day. It was the first day for the city of Philadelphia to feel the effects of hurricane Hannah. It was hot and muggy. The sky looked like it was going to burst with rain at any moment. This made the kitchen unbearable. It was sooooo hot. No one wanted to do anything. We were dreading having to make brunch. Sarah started telling me about stories of the last place she worked at and how the transformer blew up one night and how they all had to tie flashlights to their heads so they could see what they were cooking. I told her about at my last place the heat didn't work for an entire winter and I'd have to cook with the hood off and the kitchen doors open with fans pulling the heat out of the kitchen into the dinning room and the staff would come in to warm their hands over the grill.

I went down to the basement to cool off and start working on some desserts. When I came back upstairs to get a sheet pan all I could smell was burning. I asked Mel... our resident fuck up that should have been fired months ago... what he burned this time and if he took it out to the trash. The smell was so strong I didn't want it to get into the dinning room. He said, "It's not me. The building is on fire. Don't make that ticket that table left." WHAT?!!! Sarah came into the kitchen from the dinning room and said, "The building is on fire so we are telling all of the customers they have to leave." WHAT? WHERE? HOW? HUH?! I was only in the basement for 5 minutes when did all of this happen? Then there are sirens and a fireman told the manager up font that we had to leave the building too. I went and got my phone from my locker. Asked Mel if he pulled the potatoes out of the oven, he said he turned all the ovens off and the stoves too. Grabbed my drink and we went outside. There were 7 fire trucks out there. they had Market St blocked from 4th to 2nd and 3rd St blocked from Chestnut to Arch.

We sat on the steps of the restaurant across the street and watched everything unfold. There is a restaurant on the corner of Market and 3rd called Pizzicato. Connected to Pizzicato is a place called Bijou which is a private party space and bar owned by Pizzicato. There are offices and apartments above them. Farmicia, my restaurant is in a separate building but is attached to the other building. Smoke was billowing out of the windows and coming from the roof above Bijou. The air was full of smoke and ashes were falling from the sky. We sat and waited. Radio and TV news people came and started asking questions and interviewing people. I got cornered by one of the radio people. I said that I didn't see anything and she moved on to someone else. We heard saws, timbers breaking, saw smoke and people coming out of the building. The staff of Pizzicato started to show up and were in shock at what they saw. The fire fighters got it under control, put out the fire and started to clean up.

We were allowed to go back inside. By now we only had 2 hours of brunch left and weren't sure how long it would take for the fire fighters to clean up and open the streets back up. When we got back inside I fond that Mel had only shut off his stove and his oven. Everything else was still on. Potatoes were burnt. Fuckin' Mel! I should have known better than to believe him. Brunch went on. Everything else was ok... until it started raining.

Then, the basement flooded. A pipe broke and water was flowing into the basement like water from a fire hydrant on a hot city day. Sarah tried to fix it, running back and forth from the hardware store down the street. It got to the point where she just had to give up and wait for it to stop raining before it could be fixed. When I left there was about 4 inches of water on the basement floor. And the heaviest rain came later that afternoon after I had gone home.

What a day.

Chicago Part Dux

Day 2: 1st day of Lolla

Gordon and I woke up early and headed into the city to hang out with our friends at Lollapalooza. While we were waiting for Tommy, Gordon's old boss, to show up with our tickets we had lunch at Panera. I miss Panera. Their bagels and soups and sandwiches are sooooo good.

We spent most of our time in the Lolla Lounge. Its the VIP lounge. You can see 2 of the stages from the tables in the lounge. The is an open bar, catered lunch, dinner and you could get a free massage if you're too worn out from sitting around drinking and watching the bands.

I met up with Aaron Ball. He's still the same old Aaron. We ended the night at bar watching a friend's band instead of watching Radio Head.

Day 3: Lolla day 2 and Chicago Fire Game

We started the day at Lolla. But it was a short day for us because we were going to the Fire game later that evening. Gordon and I started drinking as soon as we got to Lolla. I started to get sunburned and I also got one of those free massages. Kate and Nick picked us up and we tailgated before the game. So there was more drinking in the parking lot. Then there was the drinking during the game. It was a great game and the Fire won! After the game Kate and Nick dropped us off back at Lolla were we met up with our friends that we had left behind earlier. We all went to this little bar on the north side of the city. Where we drank some more. By now my sun burn was starting to set in and a day of beer and sun was taking its toll on me. The night finally ended and we went home.

Sweet Home Chicago

Chicago: Day 1

We arrived yesterday a little after 10am. What a wonderful feeling to land in Chicago! I haven't been this excited about going some where since I went to the World Cup 2 years ago. As we walked out of the airport to wait for our ride I noticed the air was better. Mind you, we are still at the airport but the air quality was so much better. It felt easier to breath. Maybe it just seemed that way because I miss Chicago air, as silly as that sounds.

Gordon's mom picked us up and took us back to her house. She got a new puppy 2 weeks ago. His name is Riley and he's a 5 month old half black lab half border colly. He's super cute and very lovey. (a picture will follow later) After playing with Riley and checking out the vegetable garden we headed out for lunch, something I had been looking forward to since we decided to come out here.

El Faro #3 Elgin, IL

This location of El Faro opened when I was in elementary school. A kid in my class, Edgar Soto, had some family that was opening a Mexican restaurant on the west side of town. They already had 2 locations and now have 7 or 8... they are all named El Faro #__. Soon after opening it became a very much loved place by everyone that lived on this side of the river. Always busy and ALWAYS open. In high school kids use to skip class to get lunch there. The flower shop I use to work at ordered lunch from there at least once a week. My favorite is the Chicken Burrito. It has the perfect combination of seasoned chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, and cheese. I add sliced avocado to mine. Its huge! I normally only eat half, but not this time. I tried my best to eat the whole thing. Towards the end it got difficult but man, was it delicious. We have yet to find a good Mexican place in Philly. Its just not as large of a culture in Philly as it is in Chicago and its surrounding areas. Philadelphia is definitely missing out.

Later I went shopping with my sister. While we were out it started to rain. Serious rain too, with wind, lightning and thunder. This bummed me out cuz I was planning to lay in the pool for most of the afternoon. After shopping I went back to the Mays house where I found Gordon napping. The poor guy never went to bed the night before. I too took a nap for a little bit. Then my mom, sister and brother came over. We had a little bbq with burgers, dogs, potato salad, taffy apple salad, and beers. It was good and nice to see everyone. Later our friends Kathryn & Sean, and Rob came by. We sat out in the screened porch drank beer and talked till midnight. It was so nice to see and talk to them. Hopefully we will get to see them again this weekend.

Today is the first day of Lollapalooza. The forecast says its gonna rain. I sure hope not but I'll bring ponchos just in case. It's good to be back. There is a calming feeling in knowing where everything is and who is around you. It's true, you never know what you had till it's gone.

Obesity in America

So I know I was stressing about the whole weight thing yesterday more than I should have. But then I had a dream last night... more like a nightmare.

I dreamt that I was sitting on the couch watching the news. The news caster was giving the top story on the newest obesity study in the US. Cut to general footage of the bottom half of fat people sitting and walking on city streets. Then I see it... The 'fat' person walking across the screen is ME!!! I recognized my tattoo on my ankle.

YIKES!!!!!

What does this mean?

It's official...

I. AM. FAT!

Its true. I've tipped the scale. I think that some time between the ages of 24 and 25 my metabolism woke up one day and said, "I'm tired! I've been working your ass off for 24ish years! I've been makin' sure you can eat what ever you want and you don't have to exercise. I'm tired and I don't want to work anymore! You're on your own."

There are lost of things that can account for the weight gain...
1. I have a job where I'm around food all day. Its good food and I make it myself.
2. I haven't really exercised in over a year.
3. I recently tried a new birth control that has a side effect of weight gain.
4. I only work 8 hours a day so the rest of my day is spent sitting on the couch.
5. I have been drinking A LOT more since moving here.
6. I do indulge in eating farm fresh bacon, every day... I have to make sure its of good quality, for the customer of course.

The battle of the bulge began last summer. I noticed that my jeans were getting tighter. It was hard but I gave away my size 2 jeans and bought some that fit. Then we took a trip to Las Vegas and I knew we would spend some time at the pool. My bikini still fit but I didn't look my best. I figured I'd just stay in the water and no one would notice. Later in the year we went to Keystone, CO. I had to, at this point, squeeze my self into that same bikini and then sit in a hot tub with some of Gordon's co-workers. Not my best bikini moment. This was the beginning of the 'roll' down hill for me. So since I've been here I have gone up another pant size... now 2 sizes larger than I was last summer. I noticed in some of the pictures from when Gordon's parents were here how bad it has really gotten.

I leave for Chicago in a few days so there isn't enough time to slim down before I see my friends. BUT, when I get back things are gonna change. They have to.

Grillin'

I want to live in this neighborhood!

What's on the old boob tube.

Quantum Leap

....Striving to put right what once went wrong.

I'm sure most of you remember this show. I have fond memories of this program. I remember it use to air on Thursday nights and we would have to record (on tape) the episodes because my mom was in a bowling league and she would miss the show. My sister and I would watch the show when it was on and then again when my mom got home. It was always funny to see Sam dressed as a woman and try to put on makeup or walk in high heals.

In our latest cable upgrade we got a new channel I had never heard of, ION. Its kinda like Pax (if anyone remembers that channel). They show re-runs of older TV shows. I stumbled across Quantum Leap in the guide and was thrilled. I have now replaced my obsessive watching of Law & Order SVU with Quantum Leap. It's a more touching, feel-good way to spend the evening. Plus, a lot of the episodes that have been on lately I don't remember ever watching.

Weeds
....There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one. And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

We got into this show a little late. We don't have Showtime so we are not current on the show. But, we have been watching via Blockbuster online. We spent two weeks watching the first two seasons in preparation for the release of season three on DVD. We are still waiting to get season three but once we are done watching that it's gonna be hard to wait for season four. Its such an awesome show!!! It is so funny in a very sarcastic matter of fact kind of way. I've always loved Mary Louise Parker and she does an amazing job in her role as drug dealing/small business owning/twice widow/mother of 2. If you haven't seen this show, get it on Netflix or Blockbuster Online and spend a weekend watching it.

Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood

Again, I came upon this show late. Oxygen is another channel we got in the cable upgrade. I got hooked on Tori & Dean: Inn Love marathon leading up to the premiere of Home Sweet Hollywood. They are so cute together. It's refreshing to see a couple so in love and have it all together. Liam is a super cute 'little monkey'. Tori works so hard to take care of her family and have a life different from what she knew growing up. Love this show. Gordon only watched the show for a few minutes the other day and all he had to say about it was, "His glasses are awesome!". So, if anyone out there knows what brad Dean's glasses are please let me know so I can try to get them for Gordon.

Everyone's doing it...

This applies to many things.



1. My blog: After reading a friend's blog I am compelled to finish telling my stories from when I was too busy to post. (Thank you Kathryn for your LA update. I can't wait for more.) So here I am filling you in on all the happenings. When I first moved to Philadelphia things weren't looking so good. It was kinda depressing not knowing anyone and not knowing where anything was. Things have really picked up in the last few months. I have made a lot of friends. I have ventured out and walked the streets of Philadelphia finding parks, shops, bars, and restaurants. Philadelphia is a beautiful city. Its got little hidden streets that cars can't drive down. Its so old and rich in history. It actually makes me miss Chicago more. I wish I had this much free time when I lived there; especially in the summer. I would be at the beach almost every day.



2. Craig's List: Sure its a great place to job search, find a cool apartment, or a second had bike. But, did you know you could get friend's there too? Seriously, normal people too, just like you. They are out there. They need friend's too. You never really think about it till you're put in the situation of not knowing anyone. Your friend's are built into your life. As a child you make friends at school playing kick ball or four square. When you get to high school you change it up a bit, maybe start smoking with the cool kids or pick up a new sport. When you go to college its the people in the same major, at the coffee house, or have the same interests in music and politics. Then there are your work friends, couple friends, married friends, and friends with children. But when you lift your life out of that world and plop it in a place where the only person that knows anything about you is the person you live with you find yourself wondering, now where do I go get friends? Answer: Craig's list. I started to look for classes; yoga, pilates, quilting, or art. I came across a book club. Joined it, and found that everyone was new to Philly with in the last 9 months or so. All fun people from different walks of life, different parts of the country, and with different occupations. So I started looking again, always with the goal of finding a quilting circle. Instead I found a 'Women's Group'. It sounds like a bunch of old ladies talking about arthritis and stuff... quite the opposite. Its a bunch of gals in their late 20s, also all new to Philly, that like to drink. So far we have hung out every Thursday or Friday for the last 4 weeks and got drunk on beer, wine, and good conversation. It's been a blast.



3. Shitting on Sidewalks: This may sound a little strange to you. I promise you it is but it is also very real. Philadelphia has a homeless problem. There really is no place for these people to go. Every major city has it's homeless but its really bad here. They are everywhere all hours of the day and night. They sleep on steam vents to stay warm in winter, in door ways to get out of the rain, and on the side street next to our building. On average I walk past 2-4 sleeping guys every morning on Filbert. About a month after moving here I noticed a pile of shit on the sidewalk. Everyone knows what dog poop looks like, this was not from a dog. YUCK! It took over a month for it to decompose in the rain. Double yuck! Gordon had a similar incident at work where someone defecated in a corner of the entrance of his office building. They used news papers to wipe with flew around in the wind, thus spreading shit everywhere. Then we noticed that our 'neighbors' on Filbert were using a turned over milk crate pushed into an alcove as a make shift toilet. Shit begins to pile up, literally. By now it is getting warmer out and the smell is becoming more noticeable. Not that piles of shit on the sidewalk wasn't noticeable enough. The latest heap was left the other morning. It was fresh, still glistening in the light peaking through the buildings as it rose over the city. This is where I live and these are the things I see everyday.

Sick Day

And its not one of the fun ones.

I went to work this morning and I had a bit of a tummy ache. No biggie, I can work though it. Then I started to get dizzy. So I made my self something to eat, the luxury of working in a kitchen. That didn't help. Now its worse, and the dizziness is bordering on fainting. So I drink some OJ... that will bring up the blood sugar and help a little, right? WRONG! All of a sudden I lost it. Running down the stairs to the employee bathroom... thank GOD it was just cleaned! I got sick for about 30 minutes. When I came back to the kitchen Kevin, the owner, said that he was gonna call someone else in and I could go home when they got there. He joked that it was morning sickness. I guaranteed him that it was not. Maybe it was the milk I drank last night... The date on the container was the 26th and I didn't notice it until I was throwing the carton away and my glass of milk was almost gone.

I struggled through the rest of breakfast. It got really busy for a little bit and I was a bit shaky from before. When Sarah got there I left. I walked home and crawled back into bed. It woke Gordon up and he was a bit confused as to why I was getting back in bed at 11am when I should be at work. I slept for a few more hours. I'm feeling a little bit better but still shaky.

So here's what happened.

Last time I blogged we had just gotten back from NYC..... since then....

H2O Go!:

We went and saw H2O at the Troc. I haven't seen them in about 7 years, which is right around the last time they wrote and toured an album. It was awesome! I was sad when it was all over. They may be old men but they've still got it.

Visitors from the West:

The following weekend Gordon's parents came to stay with us for 6 days. It was nice to see them. While they were here we did all of they touristy things that you do when you visit a new city.

One night we went out to dinner at Devon. It was nice. Gordon's mom and I ordered our meat cooked the same way but when they came out hers was under done and mine was over done. So we switched.

On Saturday we went sight seeing. We started the day with an informal dance picture in front of the fake flowers in our building's lobby.

We stopped by the first post office in America which was located just north of where Benjamin Franklin use to live. The structure behind us is the post office and his print shop. we are standing in what would have been his garden. I walk past this post office everyday on my way to work and always thought it was a museum but its a functioning post office.

Then we got on the bus tour. It was a bit pricey but it takes you all over and you can get on an off as many times as you'd like if you want to see the sights they are telling you about.

The only downside to an open top is that the branches can be low. I got hit in the face once. I ducked and it grazed my cheek and ear. The tour guide was facing us so she didn't see them coming and was almost decapitated a couple times.

YIKES!!!

The next day was the Pride Parade. And we caught the 'tail end' of the parade as we were on our way to the Liberty Bell. Gordon's mom had to get a few pictures. I guess it's not something you see on the streets of Streamwood everyday.

We did make it to the bell without getting caught between some greezed up gay men in tiny shorts.
We ended the day near the art museum. It was a nice weekend even though the weather was hellishly hot.

That's all for now. There's a lot more to say but I don't want to overwhelm you with all of my crazy antics. There will be more tomorrow.

Update

There are things I have been doing. People I have been meeting. Outrageous things I have been hearing. And my completely non-existent social calendar is now an existing and double booked thing.... I need to start writing events down.

I want to tell you all about them. But I've got places to go and people to meet. Soon, my far away friends, soon you will be in on all of it (visual aides included).

Best Weekend Ever: a photo recap with light commentary

Memorial Day Weekend first memorable one ever.

Gordon and I have been soccer sick... It's kinda like home sick but for your soccer team. Some of the best days of last summer were spent tailgating and watching the Chicago Fire with my sister and her boyfriend. This past weekend the Fire were playing against the New York Red Bulls. Gordon and I made plans to go to the game and stay with my aunt.

Plans fell through with my aunt... she was supposed to take us out in the city but opted to stay home leaving the city for us to discover on our own.

Enter the bright lights of Times Square.
There were way too many people so we ventured to the side streets.

Outside Radio City where in a few weeks you can go see Bill Clinton.

NBC Studios. I was hoping to run into Kenneth the Page. No luck.

Rockefeller Center. It was hard to get a good picture with all the people eating dinner on the ice rink getting in the way.

Then we met up with Anna, one of Gordon's college friends. She took us to this awesome New York Bar. Its called Chevy's Tex Mex... great margaritas!

Then we caught the last train back to my aunt's house. She actually called to remind me when the last train was.

The next morning we drove to the Meadowlands for the game.

Drank a whole bunch of beers with the Section 8 guys.

We were escorted from our private section of the parking lot to our private section of the stadium by security. We were secluded from everyone and everything....beer guy included. Suck!

Gordon was having a blast!

After the game we were escorted back to the parking lot singing and cheering and badmouthing the losing team the whole way. After a few more beers provided by some very nice Mexican guys we heard that the team was staying at a hotel near by and everyone was heading over. So we went too.

We were greeted by Chris Armas, retired captain and now assistant coach.

I thought he was taller.

The lovely Chad Barrett one of the top scorers on the team.
Mr. Chris Rolff.
Zach Thorton, ex goal keeper.

This one is a little blurry cuz Chris Armas took it with my phone.

Shortly after the above photo we headed back to Philly. Both of us had way too much to drink and only had a not so good breakfast at my aunt's house. I wasn't feeling so good and passed out in the car. We did meet some really cool people and had a great time. I learned that my Fire jersey is a very desired jersey. I've always felt out of place wearing a baby blue Chicago flag jersey that was only worn by the team for one or two games while everyone else was wearing red. From what I was told they are very hard to come by and people pay a lot of money to get them... Thank you Gordon, it was a surprise when I got it and I love it even more now.

When we got home I crashed and Gordon tried to order pizza. Apparently all of the good pizza places in Philly close before 10pm on a Sunday. He settled for Domino's and came to bed later. I woke up the next morning sunburned and realizing that pretzels and dip is not enough to eat when you're doing heavy drinking. The weekend was over because Gordon had to work later that day. But it was fine anything else would have ruined the fun.

Oh, Dr. Jones!

I love Indiana Jones. I have loved those movies ever since I was a kid. It was a family thing at my house. We all loved to watch Indi fight Nazi, save a village in India, and search the world for treasures. When I was a kid I use to torture my brother by pretending to pull his heart out of his chest like the guy in Temple of Doom. He use to cry and scream for my mom because he actually thought I was going to pull his heart out. Ahhh, sibling love.

So, since all the talk started up about a new Indiana Jones movie started I have been excited to go see it. All the teasers Shai LeBouf was giving on SNL were driving me crazy and making me a little scared. When I went to see Iron Man there was a preview for Indiana. WOW!!! This just fueled the fire to go see the movie the moment it came out. I mentioned this to Gordon and he told me that there was going to be a press screening the Sunday before the movie comes out. I was so excited. I told him we HAVE to go!

I woke up Sunday morning like it was Christmas. I couldn't wait to go. We have been to screenings before, but none like this. When we got there was a whole catered breakfast buffet; coffee, juice, bagels, pastries, fruit, and mini muffins. It was 10:30am and they had run out of regular coffee. All Gordon wanted was a cup of coffee, poor guy. We also got free popcorn and a soda. They showed the movie on two screens. The titles started to run and they weren't in traditional Indi graphics, it was strange. I won't give anything away, I hate when people do that. I will say that I wasn't ecstatic about the touches George Lucas put on the Indi story line. BUT, it was action packed and I did like Shai's character.

Hope you enjoy the film.

Movie Maddness

In the past few weeks I have been watching a good deal of movies. Gordon and I have been watching a movie on Sunday nights after I make dinner. Kinda like an indoor date night.

Recent movies:

Road to Perdition: A lot bloodier than I thought it was going to be. It was really good.

LA Confidential: Again, really good. I love Kevin Spacey.

Wassup Rockers: I knew nothing about this movie except that Gordon said we HAVE to move it to the top of the list. It was done by the same guy that did KIDS, all the characters were played by the actual kids the movie was about.

Hollywoodland: This was actually a movie I already owned, thank you prize closet. But I had not opened it until the other day. It was a little slow moving, but it got good and left some unanswered questions... I hate that.

Dead Man: This movie stars one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp. It was so slow... the story dragged, the plot was not good. I fell asleep and did not care to go back and watch it again.

Lone Star: 30 year old Police murder mystery set in rural Texas. It was so so. Again, I fell asleep just before the end so I don't know who killed who. I didn't get to watch it a second time either because I had to send it back.

Crash: Not the NC17 one... the more recent Oscar winning one. TOTALLY NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS! I honestly knew nothing about the movie except that it had won an Oscar. I really thought it was about drugs or something else. I thought it was a little over the top but really good.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Laughed my ass off. So good. I would see it again.

Iron Man: I'll be honest, I'm not a comic book into a movie fan(excluding BATMAN). I liked it. It had action, a love story, and a hook at the end to reel you into the sequel.

Baby Mama: I love Tina Fey and Amy Poller. They are great together. It was funny, it was touching, it was funny some more. The movie takes place in Philly. I would not recognize anything in that movie if I didn't live here. It was fun to know where they were and think, hey I've been there. Steve Martin was also in this movie. I wasn't expecting that at all because they never showed him in the previews. He's great.

I watched all these movies in the last 2 weeks. I have one more for this weekend; Wristcutters: A Love Story. I'm looking forward to it.

Do you ever....

... think about your life and wonder where it's all going? Job, relationship, friends, the whole thing... what the hell are you doing and why?

I've got a lot of free time on my hands now that I'm in Philly and I think about these kinds of things all the time.

I thank God for Gordon. I love him more now than I have in years past. But is that because he's all I have now or has our love really grown to a height that you only see in movies and read in books? I think it has grown. He really has been the only constant in my life for the last 8 years, though all the ups and downs of all those years. Moving all over the country and having jobs/losing jobs. Seeing the world and what it has to offer me. He's the one I want to be with, forever.

Friends come and go. The good ones are there even after months of silence. I am thankful for my friends that have been there for over a decade and those that haven't, but even though they are still thousands of miles away always call or answer at just the right time. I am realizing that I really need friends here. I'm starting to lose it.

My job couldn't be better. I can honestly say I love going to work. But, its all I have right now and I can only be there the time I'm scheduled to be there. I find myself wanting more.

I feel sad inside and I don't know how to shake it.

Suggestions?

Fun Friday Fact

Today I learned that the 2 guys that I happen to spend about 80% of my day in the kitchen alone with are in fact ex cons. They have each have spent time in jail for one reason or another.

This makes their conversations about the correct ways of making 'jail wine' so much realer.

Hip to be a quilt square?

So if you're not aware already, I joined a book club. Next week is the first meeting. I finished the book last night. (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See) It was really good. I liked it a lot. But now what do I do with my evenings? I pulled out my sewing machine and started back up on a quilt I started a while ago. It's nice to be quilting again. I love the results. I think it would be great to make some quilting friends here, ones that are under the age of 40 that is.

I've noticed there are yarn stores all over now a days. I have also noticed a growth in the knitting sections of craft stores. And then there is also the abundance of 'home made' scarves that pop up in winter. If its soo cool to knit can it be cool to quilt too? In Illinois I knew of quite a few quilt shops. Every time I went in I was always in awe of all the colors, the fabrics, the machines, and the possibilities. I've looked for quilt shops here and have only found one. ONE? In all of Philadelphia! I haven't gone yet but it really doesn't make any sense to me. Philly is surrounded by Amish country and this area is rich in quilting history. How can there only be one shop in the whole city?

In my quest for something to do in the evening I was originally looking for yoga classes, dance classes, or sewing classes. I found plenty of knitting classes but no quilting ones. I'm gonna keep an eye out and maybe by some stroke of luck I'll find a sewing circle. Unlikely though.

WeekEND

Friday: Barack the vote!


I was walking home from work when I noticed that they were setting up for the Barack Obama Rally. From what I was hearing was that the rally would start around 6. When I got home I told Gord about it. Since his path to work is the same as mine I knew he would have trouble getting to work with the rally going on. We left together. I wanted to see what was going on. When we got to Independence Mall we saw huge crowds of people. I decided to stay and check it out. I found a patch of grass, sat down, and started to read. As time went on more and more people started to show up. T-shirt and button vendors went up and down the rows of people selling their products. There were also girls selling brownies and 'home baked cookies'. I don't think that all of these people were part of the Barack campaign. It was like a circus. There were demonstrators, musicians, people drawing characters, police, secret service, news trucks, and helicopters.
I was sitting reading my book waiting for the speeches to start. The guy next to me was also alone and there were two girls sitting behind me. The guy, Paul a law student at Temple Univ., started talking to the girls behind me clearly hitting on one of them. She quickly said that the girl next to her was her boyfriend's sister. Shortly after their conversation died down the girls left. Paul then turned to me and started chatting me up. I too quickly mentioned my boyfriend. He was a nice guy but wouldn't stop talking. Law school this, ex wife that, I hate Hillary, bla bla bla. I started to text the two people I know in the city besides Gordon to try and get one of them to come save me from crazy lawyer Paul. Spike never responded but Trey did and said he would be there right after work.
I had been on that little patch of grass for 2 hours now and not much had happened. Then people started clapping and cheering... was this it? was he finally coming out? Nope it was Pennsylvania native Ed Kowalczyk, lead singer of the the band Live. He sang 'Lightning Crashes' then he sang 'Imagine'. After the crowd's cheering seemed to calm down it started up louder than before. Will I Am came out and sang his hit. Then there was more waiting. The sun had set and the temperature had dropped by now. It was 8:30 when Trey finally showed up. Barack still had not come out yet. Then all of a sudden there was a roar. "Are you ready for change?" The crowd went crazy. As his speech went on he talked about the history of Philadelphia and the great government that was formed here. He said a lot of positive things. He left the stage with a final roar from the crowd and Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours' playing.
I'm glad I went. I cannot vote in the Pennsylvania primary but now I know a little bit more about a potential president.


Saturday: Harassment Day

Saturday was as normal as it usually is... I work. Gord works. Saturday was National Record Store Day and Gordon wanted to go buy some stuff. He said I could go a long with him. On my way to his building I cut through another building. I always cut through there. It gets me out of the cold and the rain, when its cold or rainy. It also is a great way to avoid the bums on that block of Market St. There is an entrance/exit to the subway in that building. Coming up from the trains was a guy. This is the conversation that followed:

him: Hey pretty lady.
me: no response, walk faster.
him: You're walkin' kinda fast pretty lady. Where you goin' so fast?
me: no response, don't look at him, walk faster.
him: I'm talkin' to you BITCH! (he's following me now)
me: no response, walk faster.
him: You can run but you can't hide. I'm gonna catch you.....(i cant remember everything)....when I get you I'm gonna grab you and hold you down....
me: pushing my way through the doors to the outside and running across the street

Once I got to the doors I saw two motorcycle police and ran to them. I told them there was a man inside that was harassing me. I gave a description and told them what he was saying. They apologized and said they would go in and talk to him. I can only assume that he saw the police too and saw me go to them and that is why he didn't come outside.

YUCK! I was so uncomfortable walking the rest of the way to meet Gordon and didn't feel safe till he was walking next to me.


Sunday: Eat too much day

I was able to get Gordon to wake up before 1pm and told him I would buy if he went to brunch with me. I usually work on Sundays so I really wanted to go out. We went to Jones. Gord ordered the special, eggs with chorizo cheese, peppers, onions, tots and toast. I ordered buttermilk pancakes with caramelized bananas, toasted walnuts and maple syrup. I also asked for a side of 2 eggs scrambled. The server looked at me like I was crazy. "Are you sure? It comes with tots and toast, is that ok?" Sure why not. Gordon also looked at me like I was crazy. I said I was hungry and I'm paying I can eat what I want. Then we saw the pancakes. WOW! They were huge! Not like 'woah that's a big pancake' but 'WOAH that's 3 HUGE pancakes!!!' Gordon kept saying that we needed a third person at the table. I ate and ate and ate. I finished all my eggs, most of my tots and half of the pancakes. By that point I swear I could feel the pancakes expanding in my stomach. The waitress came to check on us a few times, the last time I said, 'That's it. I'm full.' Gordon laughed and said, 'She's tapping out.' The waitress then asked if we wanted dessert. We said no thank you and were on our way.

It's not for sale.

We have this bar that we have kind of be come regulars at. Gordon went there the first time he came to Philly. Gordon and Spike drink there every Friday after their show and for the past month or so the three of us have been going every Saturday. We know the bartenders and servers and they know us.

Monday they had a staff art show. Some of the stuff was really cool. They had paintings, photos, drawings, mix media art, and blown glass. Some were really expensive, others were available for trade. The pieces that Spike and I liked weren't for sale. I wasn't really looking to buy anything but Spike was a little irritated that the hot bartender wouldn't sell him her art. Who doesn't want to sell their art?



Tuesday was fun day. After living here for 2 1/2 months I finally met up with Marcia Green. We went to Starbucks and talked for 2 hours. While standing in line to buy something to drink we both said that we don't drink coffee. Neither of us like the taste of it. What were we doing at Starbucks?(I had apple cider she had hot cocoa) It was a nice evening. Hopefully there will be many more.



Tonight is a reading night. I joined a book club to try and meet people. I also thought it would be good for me to start reading more. The club reads one book a month which is something I feel like I can handle. Our first meeting is in a couple weeks. I've been reading every day but I haven't gotten very far. The book is good and I'm totally interested in it, but I don't start reading till I'm about to get into bed and then I get sleepy. I'm gonna start earlier tonight.

Home is where...

... ever Gordon is.

In late November Gordon was offered the possibility of becoming a full time on air DJ for a Philadelphia rock station. A few weeks later that offer became very real with an even realer 2 week move date. After long discussions and days of going back and forth over the idea of moving 800 miles away from the only city he had ever called home, leaving a great apartment, not being close to our friends and family, and me having to quit my job we decided to make the move. Gordon came and checked out the city and apartments. He moved here shortly after the new year. I packed up our apartment and desperately tried to sublet it so that we could avoid breaking a lease. I arrived at the beginning of February.

Things have been pretty good since we got here. I found an awesome job about a week after moving here. http://www.farmiciarestaurant.com/ I love it. I haven't loved my job in a very long time. The people are great, the food is good (I've already been given a chance to add some of my own things to the menu) and its close to home.

Everything is close to home here. I got rid of my car when we moved here. I walk everywhere. We are right in the middle of downtown Philly. I walk past the liberty bell and Ben Franklin's print shop every day. Its interesting to be in a city that is so deep in national history.