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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Thrifting Across America (Oh - and we went to the beach too)

About a month ago, I decided to try thrift shopping - and absolutely LOVED it. You can read about my first two excursions here and here.

I've been a few other times since, and the excitement is definitely still there. Since we are currently in the O.C., I figured this would be a great place to try to find some treasures (nicer areas, from my limited experience, equal nicer clothes since they are donated by the people who live nearby).

This time I dragged Joe so he could join in on the fun. Though he found a couple shirts, he is currently in the shower because he says shopping there made him feel "itchy." I guess I won't make this a couples thing ;)

The Good Will was a bit pricier than in Nor-Cal, but we found some things:

A Tommy Hilfiger dress shirt ($4.95) and a Burberry polo ($4.25) for Joe.

And an Old Navy (brand new!) shirt ($2.45), Alfani top ($4.95), and sorta retro-looking clutch (a splurge at $6) for me.

The next stop was The Salvation Army. All clothes were 50% off - so I was pumped. Joe totally struck out, but I found two shirts I liked:

I'm not sure who made the first shirt (and I am too lazy to check now), but it was just $2.50 after the discount. So was the Anne Taylor shirt.

Hopefully we can find a few more in nice areas to explore along our route to Philly.

Speaking of exploring, today we also went over to Balboa (any Arrested Development fans out there might remember Balboa as the place where you can buy a Bluth Frozen Banana). We had lunch, played in the arcade, and I got a frozen banana (how could I not?). Then we walked out on the pier and I took some photos. It was such a gorgeous day! Here's a photo dump:

When I think of Balboa - these are the two things I think of. The Ferry and the Ferris Wheel.

Always the future dentist ;)

I told Joe I didn't want to drink today, until I saw that margaritas at lunch were just $4...

So I had two...

Joe had this delicious looking fish. I had a boring Caesar salad. No picture necessary.

Gotta love a Zoltar machine!

Joe was successful at the arcade...

I was not. I played Deal or No Deal and had the option to make a Deal for 53 tickets. I elected for "No Deal." I got 6.

A frozen banana can make everything better :) Also, yes, my thumb is weird looking. I have one normal looking thumb and one mini-thumb. Meet my mini thumb.

I got a picture before I scared the bird away. Great success!

Sigh.

Ocean for days.

I am getting old. Instead of my first reaction being "Cool! Surfers!" It was, "It's 2:30 in the afternoon, why aren't these kids in school."

Balboa Pier

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Thrifting Part 2

I'm the kind of person who gets on a roll with something, throws my whole self into it, and then quickly uses up all excitement for said thing.

This is why my diets always fail.

(This is also why I am shocked that I am still keeping up this blog!)

My latest "thing" is thrifting. I wrote yesterday about my first trip to the Good Will and how I planned to go again this weekend.

Given that this is my new "thing," of course I couldn't wait that long.

There's a huge thrift store a couple of subway stops from my work that I've always wanted to check out, so I decided to hit it up after work today.

This time, Joe was the successful one. I found him two Ralph Lauren polos ($3.99 each) and a Lacoste polo (just $2.99!).

Unfortunately, there's a small stain on the Lacoste, but I am confident that with a bit of De-Solv-It, the stain will wash right out.

What is De-Solv-It, you ask? Simply the BEST stain fighter on earth. Seriously - De-Solv-It is to stains what Kryptonite is to Superman.

Amazon is pretty much the only place I can find it unless I get super lucky at Wal Mart (Target stopped selling it).

*Side note* Yes, I know $12.49 + $7.18 shipping is a bit pricey, but the stuff lasts forever and does its job. *End of Side Note*

Even though Joe got the designer duds, I also scored. I bought 3 short sleeve sweaters ($2.99 each) which will be great for summer! 

  
If you know me, you know that I do what I can to keep my arms (and, heck, the rest of my body) as covered as possible. Since it's apparently a crime for stylish shirts to have any kind of a sleeve, you will rarely see me without a cardigan on. But long sleeve sweaters just aren't going to cut it once we leave the bay area. 

With these short sleeve sweaters, I can wear any shirt I want, cover my arms fairly well, and not die of heat. 

#winning

On a more disappointing note, tomorrow I have Jury Duty. Yes, I know it is my civic duty. But I have 9 days left of work and 10 days left before we move - so it's not coming at a good time. If I get on a trial I may have to use vacation time (which means I won't get paid out for it). Plus, there are things that I need to wrap up with work and the move. 

I'm crossing my fingers that if I do get selected, it'll be a short trial. I am honestly intrigued by the process - as I've been busting through Law & Order: SVU on Netflix the past couple of months. So if I do get on a jury, at least I'll have a cool experience. I definitely would want to be "Madame Foreperson," and they'd be crazy not to pick me. After all, I'm theatrically trained, so I could read the verdict LIKE A BOSS! ;)

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Thrifting

As a soon-to-be unemployed gal (with a hubby about to spend quite a bit of $$ for dental school tuition) - I've got to start getting creative with money.

I've always been pretty careful with finances - I save and I try to only buy things on sale - but there's always room to be more economical.

Hence my latest attempt at frugality: thrifting!

We only have so much we can bring with us to Philly, and clothes that I *hope* will eventually fit need to be finally purged (especially when many of these clothes were too small even 15 pounds ago...)

**Side Note** Boy was it a painful dose of reality to see just how many of my clothes wound up on that purge pile. Must remember how tall that pile was when I try to find motivation to do P90x with my dad when we stay with them in April **End of side note**

Plus, with San Francisco not having warm weather and me not liking to show skin, I have very few summer clothes. Warm weather clothes are definitely going to be needed on this road trip and in the humid Philly summer.

So, clearly, I need to buy a few things so I have clothes to wear on our trip.

Hating to invest a lot in (what I hope is) a temporary wardrobe, I figured I'd give thrifting a chance.

We're lucky to live in a pretty ritzy area, so the Goodwill store had some nice stuff! Plus - the local Target donates clothes they can't sell, so many things actually were brand new with tags and everything.

I bought three shirts and a dress. I would have bought more - but I was pretty overwhelmed with the size of the store and how they "organize". Definitely not a fan of their system. Clothes are arranged by color rather than size, and given the average BMI of the women in this area, finding a L or XL was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Nevertheless, here's what I wound up with (excuse the wrinkles - they've been balled up in the bag since yesterday awaiting wash lol):

The dress is the first pic - looks short, but that's because I took the pic further away

I'm officially a fan of thrifting - it's discounted shopping that feels a bit like a game. You never know what treasures you might find! I think I'll go back again next weekend :)

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Reporting Live From My New Computer

Four and a half years ago, the computer guy at Best Buy told me, "Once you go Mac you never go back."

What he failed to mention is that someday I'd be prepping for a cross-country move, unemployment, and four years of dental school tuition.

So what do I do when my poor Mac dies on me and I need a new computer?

I go back.

So here I am, reporting live from my new (PC) computer.

I'm not going to lie, it's a tough adjustment. Heck, my relationship with my Mac was longer than my relationship with my husband! But given that my new laptop was $379 versus $1,000 - I think I can get used to it.

Pros? The color scheme. Totes loving that there is a lot of pink on my screen right now. I also like how fast this computer is.

Oh! And I am allowed to name my computer. Say hello to Buffy.

I am really hating Windows 8 - it's too "smart" for it's own good, which ends up just making it stupid.

Or maybe I just don't want to admit that I have a lot of learning to do ;)