Swapping Fabulous

My group of friends is a super-stylish bunch. I'm always in awe of the way such a diverse group of women can throw together an unexpected, fashion-forward outfit and strut about town looking, as Tyra would say, fierce. Each girl has her own flavor, her own way of making a mark. And none of us make a lot of money, so these women are looking awesome for cheap.

Times being as hard as they are, both on a global (gulp, massive bank failures...) and a personal level (aargh, unemployment...) I thought it might do us some good to get together and have a little fun, all the while getting a new wardrobe and doing some good for the world. Not too much to ask, right?

To that end, I invited some friends to get come over with their cast-off clothing. We had some drinks and snacks, and finally got around to checking out everyone's goods.


Melanie and Alison came in the South Philly uniform: grey wife beaters and a bad attitude.


My new apprentice, Melissa, joined us with some fabulous clothes of her own to contribute. Here she checks out a blue dress:


When two people wanted the same thing, we made them rock-paper-scissor for it. Here Amanda and Rachel fight it out for the dress Rachel is wearing: (Amanda won, for the record)


Melanie and Katie duke it out:


Even Rachel's boyfriend Leo got in on the fun-- here he models some galoshes:


Hyde modelled some fashion for us:


And of course later we had a fashion show with all of the rejected clothing. It should be no surprise to anyone who knows them that AJ and Lindsay were the most enthusiastic of models:


Connecting with the camera, like Tyra taught them:


Hyde doesn't seem amused by our attempts to make him more fashionable:


When the night was over, both Hyde and Betty seemed to really love the fact that there was a giant new bed for them to sleep on:


The party was an enormous success-- we had a ton of fun and I scored a great new wardrobe! Today Deb and I took the reject pile to the MS Research drop box. This was such a good time that I think we have to do it at least once a season. A big thank you to everyone involved!

Pooper Scooper

The ugly reality of being pet mommies is really coming home to us lately.

As I parked my bike outside our apartment last night, I could hear Hyde whining from the street. This is not a good sign, I thought to myself.

Sure enough, when I got inside, I saw a very guilty looking dog standing in his crate, which was absolutely covered in diarrhea. Poor guy, he was pretty miserable. I cleaned everything up and we planned to call the vet in the morning.

At 5am, Hyde was up again and at the front door, whining. Deb got up and threw some clothes on, but she was too late. He had lost it right by the front door. On the only carpeted part of our entire apartment. Oh well, at least we got to use the wet-vac option on our shop vac.

We called the vet, who recommended fasting him for 24 hours and then feeding him plain white rice and boiled chicken for 48 hours. He's been good since then-- still not as "solid" as I would like, but he is able to hold it until we get outside. So we're keeping our fingers crossed, and if anyone has any recommendations, we sure would welcome them!

And in non-dog shit related news, I attended opening night of The Wilma Theater's production of Tom Stoppard's Rock and Roll. I am covering for Gina Rizzo, the wardrobe supervisor, this weekend while she attends a wedding. The show itself was great, but the party afterwards was the real highlight of my evening. Since Deb was in a show of her own, I took Melanie as my date, and we had a blast.

It's such a different atmosphere at the Wilma-- it was such fun to dance with the cast, crew and even the artistic director (can you imagine that happening at the Walnut?!!) to loud rock music piped into the lobby. I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to running the show this weekend.

I Did Not Live Until Today...

Couldn't resist posting this:



Politics + musical theater = SUPERDUPER GEEK-DORK-NERD







Thanks to Deb, Lori A and Dani W for all bringing this to my attention at around the same time.

Super Sweet Monday

Ah, Mondays. The perfect day off. So why do so many people want to change the day off lately? Baffling. But I digress...

Yesterday we decided to take Hyde to the big dog run in the Curtis Arboretum to let him run and get him a little more socialized with some friendly dogs. Most of the dogs he meets in our neighborhood are quite aggressive, and we have to be very careful which dogs he interacts with. It's kind of stressful for both Hyde and his two over-protective mommies.


But all of the dogs out here are super friendly. Hyde sniffed a lot of butts and ran around with his new friends. There was some friendly humping and nipping, but once the big dogs established their dominance, everyone got along famously.


Hyde even got a good run in:


After the dog park we tidied up the house a bit and then settled in with our good friend Amanda to watch an episode of HBO's True Blood. I'm really getting into this show. Amanda brought over an amazing strawberry and peach strata, and we drank beers, watched a spooky show and enjoyed some delicious dessert. A perfect fall evening.

And in more somber news, this fire happened just down the street from us last night. It was a big night in South Philly-- all the neighbors were out gawking in the street and you could see a huge column of smoke from our porch. Deb actually heard the explosions mentioned in the video. It was pretty eerie. Thank god no one was hurt.

Walking Tour

Walking around the city yesterday in the beautiful fall weather was an amateur photographer's heaven. Here are some of my favorite shots from my city of Brotherly Love.

I started my walk in Pennsport, where patriotism and the mortage crisis are in sharp focus:


"This park is my soul!" said the crazy homeless dude the other day. Riiiiight. This park is where my dog poos every morning. Almost the same thing.


Church on Moyamensing:


I love the old houses in Society Hill.


Apartment complex, 2nd & Walnut


Old City walkway, unchanged for 300 years.


Willy Penn keeps an eye on his city.


I became increasingly fascinated by signage in my walk-- this is a sign from The Continental restaurant.


Save Economy


I love all of the little pieces of art you can find in the streets of Philadelphia. This is from a horse watering trough, 1869.


Looking up at the skeleton of Ben Franklin's house.


Smoke shop


Straight, and to the point.


More street art, of a more modern kind.


The sky was absolutely amazing yesterday.


Bell sculpture outside the African American Museum.


Skyline on Arch Street just south of Chinatown.


Chinatown. I treated myself to some Bubble Tea and some of the amazing pineapple coconut pastries that you can only get from Chinese bakeries.


This is my favorite house in Philadelphia, on Bainbridge between 7th & 8th. The combination of the industrial fixtures and the riotous greenery make me very happy every time I happen to walk by.


Sometimes you find art in the wildest places... like someone's front door.


Portion of a mural, some little side street in Queen's Village.


Clock tower, 7th & Fitzwater. Another building I love.


More street art:


I think this may be my favorite piece of signage:


Welcome to Pennsport. And to the street that I call home.


The Mummers Museum. How pretty.


More signage on 2 Street.


Yesterday was so much fun. It's amazing how well you get to know a city through the lens of a camera. I'm definitely planning to take these long rambling walks more often.

Breaking News: Sara is actually enjoying Fall

Me and Autumn are having quite a love affair. She's just been so warm and bright during the day and cool and crisp at night. There's this crazy glow about things these days.

Also, I'm really having a fantastic late tomato harvest:



Fresh herbs, sunflowers, juicy, just-picked tomatoes. And the other amazing thing about this gorgeous autumn we're having? I've been taking long walks around the city and seeing some amazing stuff. I'm pretty beat right now, but I will post some awesome pictures soon.

Until then, here are a couple of my favorite shots of the day:


Stone and bird


Happy birthday

Ink Fest

This image popped up under a google search for tattoo art. I think it's completely apppropriate.

Anyway, Deb and I went to Philadelphia Eddie's Fall Tattoo Convention today. It was so much fun. From the moment we walked into the door, we heard the cacophony of a hundred buzzing tattoo needles and smelled that sharp sweat and adrenaline mix that accompanies all good tattooing sessions. Plus the merchandise: tattoo flash on T-shirts, purses, thongs, slabs of wood, bumper stickers... you name it. I snagged a rad pair of skull earrings and Deb picked up a great flash art T-shirt from a tattoo parlor based in San Diego.

We flipped through a bunch of artist's books and saw some really impressive artwork and some really stupid tattoo ideas. I'm going to go on record here and say that I just don't understand what drives people to get life-like portraits of celebrities permanently etched on their bodies.

But anyway, after wandering around and taking in all of the sights (half of the fun is seeing what kind of people show up to a tattoo convention!!) we enjoyed some Bi Bim Bop at Tampopo and discussed our next tattoos. When we have the money, of course. Currently I'm tossing three ideas around-- a growth themed tattoo for my 30th birthday, some sort of greyhound themed tattoo (shut up), and something else, which is still germinating and not yet ready to be expressed here.

In any case, after today's convention, my body is sure itching for some new ink.

Gadget Girl

This is my new phone. Which I will NOT lose, drop in the sink or put in the washing machine. Really. I'm turning over a new leaf. And I love the organizational features the Blackberry offers.

I promise not to turn into one of those obnoxious Blackberry people if you promise to give me your number to add to my contacts.

Shit! Shit!

Literally. I took the dog out for a walk tonight, and wasn't paying too much attention to his sniffing about. I looked down and moved my foot just in time to avoid his nightly... er... deposit. I hastily shoved my phone into my pocket and got on my pooper-scooper duties.

It wasn't until the rest of our walk was complete and we were on the doorstep that I realized I no longer had my phone. I re-traced my steps. Nothing.

So I need your number. Because of course I lost my SIM card with my phone. Heck, I don't even have my own mother's phone number right now. (She very progressively gave up our home landline a few years ago. Jackie's always been a bit of a renegade.)


And have you ever gotten one of those emails from a friend who lost their phone that ends with "Everybody make sure to make a hard copy of all of their phone numbers, because losing them all really sucks"?

Well, they were right. So go do that, so you don't have to read any more blogs/emails/facebook notes like this one.

YES

Food Porn

I was awoken this morning to a flurry of activity on our deck. Deb decided to "grill breakfast". She grabbed the cast iron skillet, chopped up some veggies, cracked a few eggs and voila! Breakfast was served.


Putting the finishing touches on the grilled peaches:


My breakfast this morning: a frittata with ham, tomatoes, spinach and swiss cheese, grilled peaches with almond butter, toast with peach jam, iced green tea. (Deb chose iced coffee for herself) And best of all? Deb cooked it all, including the toast, on the grill!


And as a bonus, my second harvest of tomatoes is coming in beautifully. I'm thinking about incorporating them into a homemade pasta sauce.


The weather is so crisp and clear, the skies are beautiful, the leaves are starting to turn... could it be that I am enjoying fall?

Save Something for Tuesday

I'm back in Philly, and while I do love my fair city of Brotherly Love and wouldn't trade it for the world, visiting New York sure was fun. Mostly because I got to hang out with a few of my favorite people:

(l-r: Kris Carr, Noelle Font, Jenn Vitale, Leah McVeigh, Mary Turner, me.) We're all a little shiny here because the weather was FRIGGIN' HOT and naturally we tried to cool down by consuming loads of alcohol. Please notice Mary's hand on my boob. What a closeted lesbian!


Pssssst. Hey you. Yes, you. The one reading my blog. You likey? Become a follower! Just click on that handy little option to your right. Hey, if Phoebe is a follower, it must be cool. Plus I'm changing up the old template, just for a new fresh look. Whaddya think?


In other news, I can't get enough of this:


Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, I worship at your altar of scathing wit. And seriously, I fear for our country with the way our politics are going right now.





And last but certainly not least, I have some exciting news... yours truly will now be writing for a local blog. Details to come soon, I promise.

Until then, content yourself with this, more published work from our little menagerie here on 2 Street.