Joke's on Me

Sometime in January when the weather hadn't gotten above 15 degrees in weeks and it was painful to walk outside, I made a little deal with God.  I told Him that if He raised the temperature just a few degrees I would never complain about it being hot, ever again.  Seriously.  Don't judge me it was cold!

Well folks, this week Philadelphia has had record-breaking, killer heat.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/intense-northeast-heat-storms_2011-06-07

The Joke's on Me, I guess.  But, I'm a woman of my word.  I'm not complaining.

NYC - Week 2

This past weekend I made the trip up to Manhattan for the weekend.  It is kind of nice to go on "vacation" every weekend.  Although it is really messing with my weekend nap routine and on Monday I was seriously dragging through the day.  I was worn out.  And riding the bus is not fun, although it is the only time all week I have to read so that is good.

Friday night since I didn't get into town until about 7:30 we ended up just having dinner at the apartment and hanging out.

Saturday morning we woke up and went for a 5-mile run in Riverside Park.  It was such a beautiful park and a great run, even though the last 2 miles are a pretty steep incline and I wanted to die.  I think I just really like running in new places, it is so much more fun.

We got dressed and headed out for a day of adventure.  First stop was to a pizza by the slice place that was down the street from the apartment that Joseph had been eyeballing all week.  They were selling the worlds largest piece of pizza.  It was hilarious.  I got the "small" size that was still pretty big, and topped it with spinach to lesson my guilt about eating so much pizza.  Joseph got the "large" that was so big.  We were actually pretty amazed. But the pizza was really tasty.  

I had been hearing a lot about the Brooklyn Flea and I really wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, so this weekend we were going to Brooklyn.  We took the subway out to the Flea and then walked all the way back to Manhattan.

The Flea was cool, not as big or awesome as I had been expecting.  It was a hipster paradise though, maybe if I was more hip I would have liked it more. But since we don't have house to decorate and I think half of the things there I could probably find in my parents storage room or my grandmas house we didn't end up buying anything.  Apparently old random stuff is now hip.  I guess I just don't get the whole vintage thing. It was fun to browse and to see Brooklyn.  The flea is in the Prospect Park area and it reminded both of us of Philly.   

Then we walked back through some less cute parts of Brooklyn and made it over the Bridge.  There was a lady selling mangos sliced and on a stick so of course we had to get one.  Mangos are delicious.

Then we walked through Little Italy (which was an experience, and not a very good representation of actual Italy).  Then through the East Village and up to Union Square.  At this point we had been walking for about 6 hours and we were tired.  My feet hurt.  So we hopped on the Subway and headed back to the apartment.

NYC Saturday and Sunday - Week 1

Saturday morning we slept in, late.  It felt amazing.  When we woke up we realized there was no food in the house so we headed out to find a grocery store and a Rite Aide to buy supplies.  After walking a lot to three different places we were able to get regular groceries, produce and shampoo.  We relaxed around the apartment watching a movie.  Am I the only one who loves to watch movies in the middle of the day?

We headed out for our first run in central park.  We had planned on only running about three miles and we even tried to map out our route, but we kind of got lost and were just running whichever way we felt.  We ended up running around the Jackie O. Reservoir.  So beautiful.  Finally we just had to head to the edge of the park and run up the side so we would stop getting lost.  We ended up running a little less than five miles.  Not to bad.

Saturday night we headed down to the West Village to wander and find some dinner.  We ended up going to this awesome pizza place, it was yummy.  Then we walked around, and walked around NYU campus.  It was wierd to think about how we almost ended up going to NYU and how our lives would be totally different.  Although we love Philly, it was just interesting to think about.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we woke up, gave Joseph a haircut (I'm a total pro, in case you where wondering), got ready and headed out to explore.

Our first stop was ground zero.  Joseph had never been, and I hadn't been in years and we thought it would be our way to do something patriotic, since we weren't going to be having any cookouts or potato salad.

 We went into the St. Pauls Chapel, the oldest public building still in use, in NYC.  Where on the wall where some old plaques with my family name.  We took some pictures because it seemed cool.  One of the names was Effingham Warner, so for the rest of the day Joseph insisted that is what we will name our first born.

Then we walked down to Wall street, and over to the river to get a good view of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge.  Then we walked around the end of the island taking in the views over to Battery Park.

  Earlier in the weekend we kept running into this ice cream truck, and I said it was amazing how we kept running into this same ice cream truck.  Only later did I learn that there are tons of Mister Softie ice cream trucks in the city, so finally we broke down and got a cone. SO GOOD.  Vanilla softserve with chocolate sprinkles.  I don't know if it was because it was hot, because I got it from a truck, or because we were in NYC but it was tasty.

 Then we walked back up Broadway to Canal Street, I was hoping to browse through some knock-offs, but I just got scared of the pushy men trying to sell me bags out of garbage sacks.  So then we walked up and ended up walking through SOHO, a very cool neighborhood.

 By this point we were exhausted and very sweaty so we got back on the train and headed back to the apartment to relax for about an hour before I had to catch the bus back to Philly.

It was a great way to start the summer.

Joseph Moves to NYC

So Tuesday marked the first day of the summer of the internships.  Joseph has decided to abandon me for the summer doing an eight week internship in NYC followed by a six week internship in Charlotte, NC. This means that for the next 8 weeks I will be trekking up to "The City" for some weekend adventures.

Since last weekend was Memorial Day we went up to New York on Friday to spend a couple of days exploring and getting somewhat adjusted.  This weekend we did a lot of wandering.  Kind of my favorite way to see a city, just wander around and see things as you see them or head in a certain direction if you think of something you want to see.   Granted I was worn out by the end of the weekend but it was fun.

 Joseph is living on the Upper West Side (very classy), so Friday night we rode the train down to the Lincoln Center, which also happens to be where the temple is.  I had never been to the temple in Manhattan before and it was really cool.  That is also where we will be going to church, so that is cool.

 Then we wandered around a bit.  We found a Trader Joe's, always good.  Then we found The Shake Shack.  Apparently it is a very popular NYC establishment, and it did not disappoint.  Joseph wanted to go back there for every subsequent meal.  We got burgers, fries and shared a shake.  Let me tell you this shake was awesome, vanilla custard, strawberries, banannas, and shortbread cookies. I wish I had one right now.

 Then we wandered around some more and ended up at the south end of Central Park where we meet up with some of Joseph's law school friends.  We walked down to 50th street to see the building where Joseph will be working, which for some reason is exciting to me.  Maybe because it means we are getting closer to being done with school.

This is funny

It refers to that time of the month issues and may have a swear word in it. So you can't say I didn't warn you.

http://thehairpin.com/2011/05/my-period-takes-me-shopping#more

A Plea

Dear Philadelphia Citizens,

As I am sure you have noticed it is now summer here.  Hot, humid, sunny wonderful summer.  We have waited a long time for it.  It appears however that many of you have forgotten over the long winter that here in the city we live in pretty close quarters, and because of the heat it is very noticeable when you forget to put on deodorant in the morning or decide that you want to pee on the street.  Please refrain from committing such acts of negligence.  You are making my walks about the city less enjoyable and more stinky.

Yours Truely,

Megan

P.S. Smoking is stinky all year round.