Party time in Philly

Sidewalk gambling is open for business on a bustling street in Philadelphia. This young man was a fast-talker and was taking $40 bets on which of his three bottle caps a small red berry was under.
...here he goes. On this bet he actually lost $40. I am not sure if he did it on purpose to build confidence or that he is actually not going to make much money at this endeavor.

When I get home and out of the cold, I am greeted by the two dogs curled up on the couches. This is Colie: she is a 10-month old boxer, pit-bull mix with lovely eyes.
And here is Trotter (or "Trot"). He is 5 years old and has a ton of personality.


While procrastinating on further edits my little sister's gradate school application essays, I decided to get my hair cut and straightened...I enjoy the silkyness ...
Here I am with straight hair and polka dots at the comapany holiday party...where I was not recognized by a number of people
yes..those are my co-workers on the dance floor of a venue that was too large for our group size: the former Real World House of Philadelphia.
Ice sculpture, ATTACK!
Cat, Erika and Dillan :)
...and some huge chunks of meat.

The next evening we celebrated Emma's birthday earlier in the month with a solid gold dance partyThe gold coat was also handy for Heather's yoga class I attended with Ian the next morning.

The fabulous weekend extended into Monday night with front-row end zone tickets to the Eagles game.
The Eagles won handily and friends and colleagues from coast to coast recognized me on national television despite the green and white face paint.
I'm a lucky kid, alright.

Thanksgiving with the fam

Well, here is my nuclear family...this is pretty much where all the magic begins
(L to R: dad, me, sis and mom on thanksgiving 2008)


One shock wave out on my dad's side, you get the power-team shown above. ObieWan (the dog) is adopted.The day after our thanksgiving feast, Brian, my sister's brilliant, muscled, and tatooed boyfriend (rippling arm above) insisted that we leave for SF's new indoor rock climbing gym by 7:30am ( really?)... Here I am not long after the gym opened with quickly fading forearms.
Here is my little sister....she's such a little crack addict.
And my sister belaying my mom...yeah, I'm pretty impressed.

3bdrm townhouse by a park

Well, after 10 weeks of scouring craigslist and visiting mildly insane druggies during my free time on the weekends I finally found the living situation of my Philly dreams:
* shiny hardwood floors
* big, open kitchen with deck for grilling
* 2 great roommates
* 2 ridiculously cute dogs
* right next to multiple parks, tennis courts, basketball, running by a river
* quiet, tree-lined street
* 5min walk to center city and friends

...and, as with many great transitions in my life...the move began with a very detailed list (pictured below)
The plan proceeded into the packing stage with the help of a box of black garbage bags purchased at 8am the morning I intended to move...boxes are so overrated
Cat in the early (read: less productive) stages of packing up the apartment
....and then magically...I was moved...and then I ran 13.1 miles in below freezing weather at 7am...no, really.

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So, here we are at my house. Would you like to come in? ..Like any good house tour, I thought we would start with the bathroom on the third floor. I highlight this bathroom (making up a full one of the 2.5) because it is mine.

Here is my stunning bed in a nook in my 3rd floor bedroom
...and a view of my room and two windows from where the steeo, slippery stairs lead into my bedroom
The KITCHEN!!!! Future home of things like COOKING and HANGING OUT
and the stairs of DANGER...please don't visit me and fall down my stairs....leading down into living room on the first floor. (The boys live on the second floor and are not profiled yet)
Stay tuned for pictures of my two favorite dogs and new roommates! :) WOOO! (oh yes, and office Christmas party pictures)