How to....

....run at 6:30am the Monday after Thanksgiving. 

1. Blast Andrew WK. 

Try running to I Get Wet 

without being pumped up. 

I dare you. 

2. This view across the South Street bridge. 

Even if it's below freezing

and your belly is still full of leftover stuffing, 

Philly's pretty nice in the morning. 

How about you? 

How do you jump back on the exercise saddle after time off? 

Fallin' for Philly

In the past 10 years, 

I've lived in 5 (very) different cities and towns.

Something I've noticed recently? 

Every place has a season. 

The season the city comes alive. 

The happiest version of that city. 

Yes, it definitely depends on the people living there too...

I mean, I would never move to a city 

whose season is Winter. 

Everyone always talks about the winters in Chicago. 

But for those who have lived there, 

Chicago is a Summer city. 

Bloomington? 

Easily Spring. 

....and Philly? 

Fall. 

Most definitely fall. 

Don't believe me? 
Here's some very convincing evidence. 

 Didn't know Martha Stewart lived in my neighborhood. 

People here take their window dressings very seriously. 

And their house cats ;-) 

Oh, and Jax wasn't sure what to make of this guy. 

"Hey....should I fight him?
Because I totally will... 
In your honor of course."

"Pretty please?"

hahahaha. 

I think Summer cities are my personal favorite. 

Of course, fall is pretty easy to love too.  

What about you? 

Sunny days....

This weekend was great. 

It's hard to be grumpy when it's 65 degrees.

Especially when you know it's probably 

not going to be this nice again until April or May.  

Here are some snaps! 

After a good long run, 

JDog and I stopped by the studio 

to hang out for a bit. 

He would have preferred snoozing on the couch. 

Our apt is a block away from this square. 

It's pretty great, 

especially on days like today. 

Oh, did you hear? 

JK Rowling wrote a book about Muggles. 

Not sure how I feel about it yet. 

More interesting?

Batboys on bikes. :-) 

 And even better?

 Our neighborhood gelato shop. 

Today's choice was grapefruit and bourbon vanilla.

It takes every ounce of willpower I have

to not go in there daily. 

I'm.Not.Kidding.

If it were socially acceptable, 

I would be right there with that kid, 

demanding samples of cioccolate scuro

with my face pressed on the glass.

We sent Poppa B the gelato pic. 

His response? 

When we ventured home, 

JDog got the bottom of the cups. 

Here, I'll read his mind for you. 

"If you try and take this cup from me, 

I'll bite your face off"

My thoughts exactly pup. 

~~~~

We also trekked to the Franklin Institute to see Skyfall. 

The movie was pretty great...

(Action movie and Tom Ford suits? Yes, please)

and this statue was nice too. 

Don't Ben's knees look weird? 

I sure think so. 

I'll spare you the inappropriate joke I made :-) 

How about you? 

It's suddenly the holiday season too. 

When did that happen? 

happy times.

Making me happy this week? 

Simple. 

Long fall runs with the pup. 

The hubs in the kitchen. 

Dinner with my friend Stacey from Chicago. 

How about you? 

Scenes from the weekend...

....two weekends actually :-) 

I've been so busy with work and fam, 

I haven't had time to blog! 

Well, more accurately, 

I've spent my spare time 

hanging with the hubs, pup and a Manhattan. 

Either way, 

here's what we've been up to lately! 

Halloween! 

I went as Dora the Explorer, 

and Tony was a cowboy

(two years in a row) 

I have to admit, 

Anth looks pretty great as a cowboy. 

So much so it made me want to run down 

to Texas and buy a farm. 

Oh, and the green lighting

and random farm gear? 

File under #thingsfoundatanartparty :-)

Also, this past weekend, 

my parents came to Philly for a visit. 

It was so great to see their smiling faces! 

We took a tour of my new jobby job. 

Mom wasn't excited at all ;-) 

Dad on the other hand? 

Super pumped. 

hahahaha. 

 Mom and I took the pup up the Rocky steps. 

He obviously sees another dog in this shot....

We stopped by our fav local bar to watch the ND game. 

 My dad, the waiter. 

And mom with the photobomb win. 

(can you tell how happy I am about shake shack?!)

Yay family! 

Yay costumes! 

Yay yay!