Both of those things should be a bit easier because Hotel de Brier will be closed for a few months. I have LOVED having people visit, and I definitely can't wait until Stacey comes back in April, but having so many guests means that it is incredibly hard for me to find time to blog and I'm eating like a tourist several days each month. Plus, I don't have time to exercise when I am hosting people or cleaning in prep for / recovery from visits.
Our most recent guests were my parents, and they arrived Tuesday, December 17 (hence the reason for no posts since 12/16). This was a surprise because, for some reason, I got it stuck in my head that they were coming on the 18th. I found out less than 24 hours before they landed that I was wrong. Oops. I don't think I've ever cleaned my house so fast.
We did a ton of fun stuff while they were here, and started off by getting cheesesteaks at Tony Luke's on the way home from the airport (my favorite spot - so far - for this Philly staple). While there, I almost bought this shirt:
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| It's a bit hard to read because of the glare but it says: Tony Luke's Old Philly Style Sandwiches: We Hand Select our Beef and then there are some mobsters with a gun to a cow next to a car with an open trunk and one of the mobsters says to the cow "Get in Da Trunk". BAHAHAHAHA. |
On Wednesday, we braved the Christmas crowds at King of Prussia Mall. It wasn't as crowded as I feared, but I was certainly glad we were there the Wednesday before Christmas and not the Saturday before!
***Side Note: Fun Fact*** The King of Prussia Mall is the largest mall in the US in terms of the number of retail stores ***End of Side Note: Fun Fact***
Thursday we visited the Chestnut Hill area of Germantown. I had never been to Germantown, and am so glad my mom wanted to check it out. The neighborhood is only about 25-30 minutes from our apartment (pretty much like everything else in Philly), and it is full of cute shops. I definitely plan to take Stacey there when she visits.
***Side Note: Fun Fact*** Notable residents of the Germantown area of Philly include Louisa May Alcott, Bill Cosby & Charles Darrow (the inventor of Monopoly) ***End of Side Note: Fun Fact***
A lot of the buildings are Colonial-style, so you feel a bit like you've stepped into the pages of a history book:
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| I didn't bring my camera, so I totally stole this photo off the interwebs. Click here for photo credit. |
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After the steps, we went to Reading Terminal Market and ate some delicious pork sandwiches & ice cream. We also did some shopping (of course), but it was SO PACKED we weren't there long.
That night, we went to see a play called Cinderella: A Musical Panto. If you have no clue what a panto is, no worries. I had no idea either, and I've taken theater classes (hangs head in shame). According to Wikipedia (because I am too lazy to summarize myself), a panto is:
A form of musical comedy stage production, designed for families. It was developed in the United Kingdom and mostly performed during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, employs gender-crossing actors, and combines topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale.[1] It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
I was a little skeptical, because I was afraid it would be too family-friendly and not entertaining for us adults - but I was so wrong. The play was hilarious and it was a ton of fun to be able to shout things and see audience members be brought up on stage. This theater puts on a panto every Christmas season, and Joe and I plan to make it a yearly tradition while we are in Philadelphia.
Saturday, we stopped by the Italian Market - which Joe hadn't yet seen. It was pretty busy, but we were able pick up ingredients for risotto and had sandwiches at Paesano's - which I've been wanting to visit ever since I saw an Anthony Bourdain special where he went to favorite Philly food spots. It did not disappoint. Joe and I couldn't decide on sandwiches, so we got two and split them. We shared the Zaweech (sweet Italian sausage, caramelized peppers & onions, sharp provolone & pepperoncino) and the Bolognese (crispy fried lasagna, meat sauce, smoked mozzarella & sharp provolone - it also comes with a fried egg, but I am not an egg fan so opted out).
For dinner that night, my dad made a new kind of risotto and it was DELICIOUS. I'm going to get the recipe from him and try it out myself - I'll share it here when I do.
Sunday, we toured Eastern State Penitentiary. Readers of this blog know I've been a handful of times lately, so Joe and I decided to buy a membership so we can go whenever we want and bring guests for free :) We also get 4 free tickets to Terror Behind the Walls next year, which was absolutely a major selling point for me :)
Even though I go somewhat frequently, I still enjoy each visit. This one was particularly fun because we were able to take a (free!) guided tour. The guide was very good, and I learned a ton of new information and got to see things that aren't open to the general public.
Here are some pics I took:
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| This was the inmates' baseball field. |
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| Joe enjoying the tour. He's so happy to be out of school. |
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| Joe wanted me to take a picture through a hole in a wall - it turned out pretty sweet! |
Monday, we decided to pretend was Christmas day since my parents would be back in California for Christmas. We woke up, had a big breakfast and opened presents. Then my mom and I went shopping (something we could never actually do on Christmas) and made it home just in time to get ready for a special dinner at Morton's steakhouse. The plan was for it to be a celebration of Joe finishing his first semester of dental school, but when I made the reservations and they asked if we were celebrating anything I forgot and told them it was my birthday. Oops. That meant that the menu was dedicated to me and not Joe. Sorry!
***Side Note*** It's not like I lied - my birthday WAS the next day. ***End of Side Note***
I had never been to Morton's before, and was so excited to have a chance to try it. It was delicious, and a perfect last dinner with my parents before they left the next day.
Unfortunately, my parents had to leave on my birthday (Christmas Eve) so they could be home with my brothers on Christmas. Since we couldn't do anything too time consuming and because it was raining, we just bummed around. Frankly, bumming around is one of my favorite things to do, so I was thrilled to spend my birthday morning/early afternoon doing just that. We watched several episodes of Full House, I opened my presents from my parents, and then I got to eat surprise In-N-Out for lunch!
My mom and dad had bought a couple of burgers and fries, froze them, and then transported them here in a cooler so Joe and I could have my traditional birthday lunch. I have awesome parents :)
Joe and I planned on dropping off my parents at the airport and then going to a movie, but some of the floors in our apartment building were getting refinished and I was worried the fumes would kill Buster so didn't want him left home alone.
***Side Note*** I am sure to be a very nervous ACTUAL parent someday ***End of Side Note***
Instead, once we dropped off my parents we rented a couple of Redbox movies and came home. We ate pizza, watched a movie, I opened my birthday presents from Joe, we ate cake and ice cream, and then we watched Aladdin (one of my gifts from Joe). It was an awesome night. Very low-key, but very fun.
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| Didn't Joe do a great job on my cake?! |
For dinner, Joe made Coq a Vin and it was DEVINE. We paired it with a bottle of our wedding wine to celebrate our first solo-Christmas, which was followed up by more alcohol and a post-Christmas hangover.
So, as you can see, we have been VERY busy. Now that all the craziness has died down, I've been spending as much time with Joe as I can before he has to go back to school on January 2nd. I probably won't be blogging again until then.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! See you in the New Year!
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