Better Late Than Never - Brian's Visit to Philly

And now begins my Better Late Than Never series... which could also be called, I Was Too Lazy This Summer to Bother Blogging.

Summer fun started almost as soon as Joe's classes were finished for the year. Our cruise was booked for June 22nd, and we had asked my brother Brian to fly in and watch Buster while we were gone. Since I don't get to see Brian often, he came a week before our cruise so we could hang out.

The three of us (Brian especially) are really into history and politics. Joe had never been to Washington D.C. before and, with it being only 2(ish) hours away, it was a no-brainer that we'd go while Brian was visiting. We booked a hotel near the city so that we could spend Monday and Tuesday exploring the sites.

We spent the first day looking at the monuments and other D.C. landmarks. It was incredibly hot and humid... nearly unbearable. Plus I made a stupid shoe decision and my feet started hurting literally 10 minutes after we left the car. It was still fun, though :)

Had to apply some bright red lipstick to distract from my sweat-drenched hair

After we were all too exhausted to continue, we decided to head to the hotel. Upon arriving, we noticed that many of the rooms had balconies with rocking chairs. Leave it to Joe, he somehow charmed his way into a free room upgrade. SCORE! The guys were thrilled :)

We ate dinner at the hotel bar. The food was cheap and surprisingly good.

The next day we focused on the Smithsonian museums. Joe is a huge fan of aviation and space, so he was most excited for the Air & Space museum.

I told you he was excited ;)

And, of course, the obligatory shot of Joe somewhere he is too tall for

I was just thrilled to see Dorothy's ruby slippers

After exploring the museums, we headed back to Philly and spent the next couple of days recuperating and playing The Last of Us. Actually, I should clarify. Brian played and Joe and I watched... we aren't that good at shooting video games. But it was a lot of fun to watch and to follow the story.

Thursday night, we had another fun thing on our docket. We were going to be trapped in a room with a zombie!

Yes, you heard me right :)

Trapped in a Room with a Zombie is this cool attraction (for lack of a better word) where you have 60 minutes to solve a series of riddles and puzzles to escape a room. There is a "zombie" in the room attached to a chain, and every 5 minutes the chain releases a little bit so that the longer you are in the room the closer the zombie gets to you. If you get touched by the zombie, you are "eaten" and you have to sit out for the rest of the hour.

Although it was just the three of us in the room, Joe, Brian and I were optimistic that we could solve the puzzles. We realized pretty quick that we were in trouble. It was tough! Being a fan of scary stuff, I really didn't think the zombie would phase me. But I was desperate to not get "eaten." So much so that I actually pushed Brian in front of me at one point when the zombie got close.

Yes, I am a terrible sister.

Luckily he did not get "eaten."

In the end, we did not solve the puzzles and escape. They walked us through how to get out of the room once the hour was up, and we would have needed more people, more time, or clearer brains (we were all exhausted) to have had any hope of getting out of that room. But it was still a blast. I would LOVE to go again when they change the puzzles (which they are supposed to do soon).

Our last major event was the Philadelphia Comic Con on Friday. We were really excited to go because there were supposed to be several actors from The Walking Dead in attendance. Unfortunately the two we were most excited for (Daryl and Maggie) were slated to be there on Saturday, not Friday. Boo :(

Before we went to the convention center, though, we hit up Reading Terminal Market for some sandwiches from DiNics. While known for their pork sandwiches, their Italian beef brisket sandwich is one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. It's not pretty, but it is FABULOUS.

MMMMMMMMMMM.....

Comic Con ended up being fun, despite not seeing Daryl and Maggie. Lori, Shane and Herschel were there - so that was pretty sweet. I took a couple of sneaky pictures of Herschel, which is strictly against the rules so I won't post them ;) We didn't get any autographs or professional pics, because we are too cheap for that haha.

It was really cool to see all of the vendors, especially the artists. There were so many talented people! I ended up getting two T-shirts:

That's it for our adventures with Brian! Tune in next time for a re-cap of our cruise :)

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Stacey's Visit to Philly

It's springtime in Philadelphia! (finally)

I had forgotten how much I love this city thanks to the record-breaking snowfall that trapped me in our apartment for several months. But with Stacey visiting last week and the sun shining, I was able to re-visit some of my favorite places with one of my favorite people :)

Stacey arrived last Wednesday night and we promptly hit up a cheesesteak joint with Joe. Tony Luke's is still our current favorite, but it's hard to complain about eating beef piled onto roll and covered with whiz and onions.

Upon returning home, we watched some Full House (of course) and were reminded again and again that Michelle Tanner is a spoiled brat.

Seriously. Hate her.

Michelle didn't really annoy me as a kid, but now I want to smack her butt and send her to her room for, well, ever. I feel for D.J. and Stephanie, as Michelle is the clear favorite of Danny, Jesse and Joey. Frankly, who cares what Joey thinks, but if I were in that house I'd be vying much harder for Uncle Jesse's attention.

One constant and the biggest reason to watch Full House ;)

Plus, Michelle gets away with saying the most rude, smart-mouthed things ever. I can't imagine how much soap I would have ingested if I talked like her as a child. And the eye-rolling? I swear, if she rolls her eyes at an adult one more time I'll throw a shoe at my T.V. with the hope that it'll act like a voodoo doll and one (or both!) of the Olsen twins will get a swift kick.

And don't get me started on how she is always lying and stealing things. And DEFINITELY don't get me started on her getting to be princess for the day in the Disney World episodes.

What happened before part 1 of that episode ended? Oh, that's right. Bratty Michelle didn't like being called out for her rude behavior and decided to run off. This led to everyone frantically looking for her and wasting valuable ride and turkey leg time. How RUDE! Of course *SPOILER ALERT* they found her.

But I digress... ;)

On Thursday, Stacey and I decided to head to Germantown for a little shopping. I discovered this area right outside Philadelphia when my parents visited for Christmas and knew that Stacey and I needed to visit when she came. We had some lunch and hit up some shops. I scored a great deal on a couple of purses and a nautical-themed scarf that will be perfect for our cruise :)

Since quaint shops are just one side of the shopping coin, we also headed to a nearby mall for a little H&M, Charming Charlie's and LOFT action.

Friday morning we worked out with my trainer and, because that wasn't enough sweating for one day, we decided to walk to Rittenhouse Square and do some more shopping. (Rittenhouse Square is a major shopping area in Philadephia and is a few miles from my apartment.) Though my feet got tired, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and it was great to walk, chat, and buy more stuff :)

That night, we went to a restaurant called City Tavern. Although the original burnt down, the tavern was where historical figures like George Washington would drink and dine. The servers here wear historical garb and the menu includes old-fashioned recipes that the founding fathers enjoyed. Of course, I had to ask the busboy if the building was haunted. He and the waiter then went into a several minutes long historical overview of City Tavern - and it was AWESOME. As a history semi-buff I couldn't imagine a better ending to the meal, though they were both a little wish-washy on the presence of ghosts in the building :(

Saturday was our Reading Terminal Market day and I shared one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten with Stacey. Seriously - if you are a food fan (and, really, who isn't?), you MUST go to Reading Terminal Market if you visit Philadelphia. Grab a sandwich from DiNic's (I recommend the hand-cut beef brisket with sharp provolone) and finish up with an Amish donut for dessert :)

Photo credit

After Reading, we chilled out at home and watched Tangled. Well, Joe and Stacey watched and I dozed - shopping and eating had worn me out ;)

That night, we went to a Phillies game. Honestly, I'm not a big baseball fan and the game was BORING, but it was still fun to hang out with Joe and Stacey. The weather was also nice, and I enjoyed soaking up the sun and fresh air. We ended up leaving a little early and watched some Toddlers and Tiaras when we got home. It's not a true visit with Stacey unless we watch a guilty pleasure TLC show.

Sunday we did a little more shopping (this time with Joe!) and then we brought Stacey to the airport.

Thus ended Stacey's visit to Philly - but I'm sure she'll be back soon :)

What didn't end is my marathon of Full House viewing. I've been watching it daily since she left, and my feeling on Michelle aren't changing in the slightest.

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Allow Me to Fill You In....

It's been quite an absence - sorry about that!

Here's what I've failed to fill you in on lately:


SPRING BREAK

Going back to California for Spring Break was a lot of fun!

Joe joined me in California for the first 5 days of my 11 day va-cay. Since he was only in town for a handful of days, we had a pretty packed schedule because we wanted to visit as many friends and family as we could. It was so much fun to see all the familiar faces :)

After he left, things slowed down and I spent most of my time either working or shopping with my mom. I was so strange to be away from him for almost a week - it's the longest we've been apart since we've been married - but I'm still going to try to make it home more often in the future. Since I can work from anywhere, I should take advantage of that.

It was also fun to be home for two Sundays because I was able to watch two new episodes of The Walking Dead with my parents - who are obsessed (especially my Dad). My brother, Brian, was home for the first Sunday and is a big fan as well. He convinced me to read the comics, which I started a few days ago and am TOTALLY hooked on. They are incredibly twisted so, being me, I obviously can't get enough of them.

***Side Note*** This is the first comic I've read, so I don't know if this is true for ALL comics, but I am SHOCKED at how many "adult situations" there are! Now I finally understand why some guys are totally obsessed with comic books ;) ***End of Side Note***

While I ate too much on my trip and only exercised a couple of times, I was still down 0.4 pounds when I returned... so I consider that a win. And that's after TWO visits to In N Out ;)

Of course, I HAD to Instagram my first meal there :) And, yes, I do eat a ridiculous amount of ketchup.

BUSTER'S BIRTHDAY

One downside of staying in California longer than Joe did was that I missed Buster's first birthday with us. He's four now, and his birthday was March 14. Not only did his mommy miss his special day, but the poor guy had to go to the vet for some shots!

I made it up to him by bringing home some presents. He also got a special doggy cookie in the shape of a squirrel (he loves chasing them) and Joe made him some chicken and rice to eat.

I'm impressed - the dog knows how to open a present...

I LOVE this picture because he looks like he dropped his mouth in shock at his present. Really, he was just yawning - something he does approximately 15,324 times a day.

DENTAL SCHOOL

The second semester of dental school has brought a shift for Joe. Instead of being in lecture all day learning science stuff, he's now doing more hands-on stuff! He's excited to finally roll his sleeves up. Not only is he assisting 3rd and 4th year students when they work on patients, but he is in lab doing things like making wax teeth and filling cavities on dummies.

Sometimes, he can bring stuff home. And then I get to take pictures :)

He's carving a tooth out of wax for this project. I don't understand the point, but nearly every (if not all) dental schools require this. Some make you do the entire mouth! It's incredibly time consuming.

Hard at work

But happy to be carving instead of having his head buried in a book.

TRAINING

Upon returning to Philly, I've been really focused on eating right and hitting the gym hard with my trainer. Though I have been lazy and haven't made it to the gym on non-training days, three extreme workouts a week is definitely a step up from what I had been doing. I'm going to aim for 5 days a week next week (3 with the trainer, 2 cardio days) - which is what she wants me to do.

Although I am not a fan DURING training, I am LOVING that I made the decision to do this. I can tell that I am getting an incredible workout, and I am already seeing some arm definition that I haven't seen in FAR too long. I'm so dedicated that I've even starting drinking protein powder drinks after workouts to help build muscle!

I love my trainer! She knows how much to push to make me red-faced, sweaty and sore the next day
- but not in a ton of pain.

The only thing that really stinks is that she wants me to weigh myself just ONCE a month. This is going to be VERY difficult, and it also means that you'll have to say goodbye to Weigh-in Wednesdays, but I'm going to be a good trainee and listen to her.


Welp. That's really about it. Life has been crazy busy with work and training, and there haven't been too many exciting things going on. That said, I hate inconsistent bloggers, so I am going to try to up my game :)

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Thanksgiving 2013

Two weeks without a peep, ya'll must have thought I died.

Nope, alive and well. I've just been busy entertaining for Thanksgiving and working. But after going to Catching Fire (again) last night and realizing my last post was after I saw Catching Fire for the first time, I knew I needed to get back to the ole bloggity blog.

Thanksgiving was really fun this year, Joe's brother Eric and sister-in-law Shannon visited for a low-key holiday (my cousin joined us for Thanksgiving dinner since he goes to school in Philly). They were here from Wednesday night through Sunday morning - and it was a BLAST to spend so much time with them.

Before they got here, I decorated our table area to get things festive-looking:

That pumpkin is like 2 months old. I don't want to know what it's insides look like...

I went to Paper Source a week before to check out decoration ideas, and copied the sign from one they had and figured out how to make the felt leaf streamer thingy by myself. Those leaves were super easy, actually, and it forced me to learn how to use my sewing machine :)

After picking them up at the airport Wednesday night, we drank way too much wine and probably earned some time in Purgatory after a few hours of Cards Against Humanity.

Thursday morning (after sleeping off our hangovers until 10 or 11) we had to promptly prep the Turkey - which we allowed Joe to do.

 We planned to let the turkey cook several hours and then to start the sides about an hour before eating time (all our sides were quick ones to prep). But then this happened:

Yup, the oven started smoking and quick thinking was necessary to save us all from smoke inhalation.

We feared for the turkey, but luckily the smoke was just caused by some juices leaking over the roasting pan and burning off on the bottom of the oven. However, this turned out to be divine intervention, because we realized the turkey was done... 2 hours early.

Shannon and I jumped up and started rushing to prep the sides.

We still had fun, though :)

Until the last 5 minutes or so when it all went crazy.

But before we knew it, Joe was cutting the turkey...

And our Thanksgiving spread was ready to be dug into:

It was DELICIOUS

Buster even got a plate - er - bowl ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent shopping, eating, drinking, and earning more Purgatory time with hours and hours of Cards Against Humanity.

It was awesome.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

I hate being an erratic blogger, but I can't help it when the Brier sofa-bed is such a popular tourist destination ;)

For the second week in a month, we had a loved one visit. In October it was Stacey (read about her visit here, here, here, & here) and last week it was my youngest brother Brian. Over Thanksgiving, Joe's brother and sister-in-law will be visiting and then the week before Christmas my parents will be here. I'm loving all these visitors!

Since Brian and the rest of my family visited in June (read about their visit here, here, & here), his trip was more about hanging out and less about sightseeing. We did go to Terror Behind the Walls, the Rocky steps, the King of Prussia mall (where I got a great start on Christmas shopping), tried a couple of cheesesteaks, and went out to eat a couple times with our cousin Alex who goes to college nearby, but the rest of the time was pretty much spent just watching Breaking Bad.

Proof we did more than watch TV ;)

Brian is a Breaking Bad newbie and had gotten to the beginning of season 2 which, coincidentally, is where Joe and I were in our re-watch of the series. I love when the stars align like that ;) He liked it, but wasn't obsessed yet. Like everyone else I've ever talked to, it only took a couple of episodes of season 2 before he was absolutely hooked. We blasted through seasons 2 & 3 - and now he's going to start over with my dad. How he could stop mid-show baffles me, but he said it was a great note to leave on and his curiosity will help propel him through seasons 1-3 with my dad. Fair enough.

The week was awesome, and the cherry on top of all that awesomeness is the fact that:

I GOT A JOB!!!

I'm going to be vague because who knows who out in the blogosphere is reading this, but essentially I will be a freelance writer working on a project for a well-known internet company. The job is temporary, but I get to work from home (which Buster loves) and should last at least 3-4 months with the potential for me to be brought on for another project once that's finished. It is an ideal situation.

Unfortunately, because I am going to be writing all day for work, I have a feeling this blog is going to become a bit neglected. Not only am I sure to get a bit tired of typing, but my days are going to become pretty monotonous. Hopefully with more guests and the holidays coming up, I'll come up with things to write about :)

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Terror Behind the Walls

Happy Halloween everyone!

Being a horror movie buff and fan of anything creepy, Halloween definitely ranks as one of my favorite holidays. Unfortunately, I married a man who can't stand scary stuff. It's not that he's scared (well, maybe a little - deep down), it's that he finds it silly and doesn't see how people get enjoyment out of it. He also HATES people jumping out at him (or on a screen) because he doesn't like being startled, so that really limits my ability to ease him into the genre.

Luckily, he had enough other positive attributes and things in common with me that the disinterest in horror wasn't a deal breaker early in our relationship (it probably would have been for anyone else, which proves I married the right guy!).

That said, if there was one thing I could change about Joe, it would be that he liked scary stuff even a fraction as much as me. Seriously, it means so much to me that if I found a genie I'd use one of my three wishes on it.

I have made some headway in the 5 years we've been together.  When we met, he didn't like dressing up for Halloween. Over the years, we have had some wicked cool costumes and this year he excitedly made the executive decision as to what we would be (after 4 couples costumes chosen by moi, it was only fair he get a shot). He's also watched some scary movies with me - all of the Scream movies, the Exorcist, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Paranormal Activity.

But the one thing that I could never get him to budge on was going to a haunted house. So I'd always go alone while he stood outside catching up on espn.com.

Until last week :)

***Side Note*** I specifically saved this post for Halloween since we won't be celebrating until tomorrow. I couldn't NOT have a Halloween related post on October 31. See how great of a planner I am?! ***End of Side Note***

Philadelphia has one of the premiere haunted houses in the country: Terror Behind the Walls. It's 45 minutes long (SERIOUSLY!) and takes place at Eastern State Penitentiary, an old prison in Philadelphia that is literally falling apart (and which I described in this blog post).

When we visited Philly for his interview last year, I wanted to go but since Joe wasn't game we skipped it. When I found out he got accepted to Penn, my second reaction (after
"OMG his first choice!") was "YES! Four years of Terror Behind the Walls!"

Not kidding.

Of course, I never expected Joe to attend. After all, how could I possibly think he'd be willing to pop his haunted house cherry on not just the scariest haunted house I've ever heard of, but one he couldn't escape for 45 whole minutes?!

Well, I married a man full of surprises because a couple weeks ago while I was doing dishes he presented me with an envelope. I opened it to find two tickets to Terror Behind the Walls. I was in shock (and should do dishes more often, apparently haha). 

Our tickets were for last Wednesday, and I took photos on my iPhone to document the experience:

Terror Behind the Walls, as I mentioned, takes place at Eastern State Penitentiary. A wicked cool setting for a haunted house!

When we arrived, we had to sign waivers. For reals.

That's me pretending to be scared. Secretly I was about to pee myself with excitement at the fact that a haunted house needed a waiver to be signed. I expected to be horrified, and couldn't wait.

After signing the waivers, we got into line and heard an announcer shout that we had a choice to make: we could opt for a scarier experience by wearing a glow necklace and blood on our face, or we could have the regular experience. The catch is, the scarier experience means that the people in the haunted houses can touch you, grab you, and even "abduct" you!

Joe was caught off guard at the option, because before we got there I promised him that no one would be able to touch him (I've never been to a haunted house where it's been allowed). Although I tried to persuade him otherwise, he opted NOT to have the scarier experience.

Scared at the thought he might be touched.

I, of course, readily opted FOR the scarier experience:

Most everyone else did as well, as you can see from these  line pics:

I couldn't get any photos inside the haunted house (which is really 6 different haunted houses, all with different themes), but it was awesome! Definitely the scariest I've been too.

And the good news, besides the fact we both survived, is that Joe didn't hate it! In fact, he said he'll come back next year since he loved seeing me have such a good time :)

What a man I married :)

More good news. My 19-year-old brother Brian made a last minute decision to visit us in Philly for a week. He gets here Saturday night, and our first stop is Terror Behind the Walls. He loves haunted houses, and I can't wait for him to experience this one!

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