i feel like i'm in newsies

baby brother came down this weekend briefly (drove himself! first solo drive to philly! hurrah!) and we headed up to new york to catch up with our homegirls tori & alex. they are literally the two sweetest people- beautiful, talented, hilarious, and just so genuinely nice. they're the best. we hung out in their sweet apartment in Manhattan (they go to marymount- tori for the theatre BFA program and alex for communications and possibly dance . . . ), walked across the brooklyn bridge (perfect weather- seriously, sunny but with a nice breeze. absolutely ideal. and of course, i felt like a newsie walking over to recruit spot and the rest of the brooklyn newsies to join in the strike . . . you guys have seen newsies right? christian bale? disney musical? turn of the century newspaper boys? it's a classic. if you haven't seen it, get on that asap.), hung out in dumbo, browsed cool bookstores and a candy shop (there was even a baby party in the candy store! babies & candy = best.), sat by the river, got awesome paninis (goat cheese and grilled veggies), hung out in soho, went out for thai food (which drew is totally not into but he went along without complaint. if it was up to him, we'd eat olive garden every night- that's the kind of food he's into. so major kudos to the baby bro for branching out), got pinkberry frozen yogurt, and watched goonies (another classic! i love me some kids movies.) it was nice to catch up with all parties involved on the trip. they're three of my favorites and i enjoyed spending the time with them. it was full of plenty'0'laughs. and though i've never been a huge new york fan, this trip really changed that for me. i got a chance to see a much more livable new york and now i could really see myself moving there. though i still have pretty strong allegiances to the keystone state . . . but it's good to know that i have another option.

my foodie heart belongs to el rey

j.carr came into the city for some hanging out on wednesday. we decided to go to el rey (on 20th and chestnut for philly phriends) for some dinner and holy crap. best. choice. ever. made. it's a steven starr restaurant with a kitschy mexican vibe and fairly cheap fare (in the $8-15 range). julie's friend emily happens to be a hostess there and when she got off her shift she sat with us. now emily is the kind of girl people just seem to gravitate towards- small, pretty and absurdly friendly. it was pretty obvious her coworkers like her because we got hooooookkkeeddd upppppp. i'm talking free margaritas, shrimp things, mini tacos, crab salsa, churros with caramel goat cheese dipping sauce, salt lime ice cream, roasted mango ice cream, and chocolate chilli ice cream. the only thing we were charged for was our original entrees. (i got the zucchini and corn quesadilla. so good.) we even doubled check to make sure it wasn't an accident. but nope. all free. total vip treatment. i was feeling pretty pimp. as a bonus our waiter was addoorrrabblllle. the kind of beautiful where you just look at their face and smile and nodd to whatever they're saying. he could have told me to try the steaming hot plate of feces with a side of cat vomit and i would have just nodded and stupidly stared at him.

but seriously: go to el rey. baller food. hottie staff. decent price range. doooo ittttt.

pure silliness

all of this. pure silliness. all my friends? completely silly. we've been playing a lot of charades and just being goofy all the time. my friends are very bad at charades. and very competitive during scattegories.

also: listen to this. avett brothers? john prine cover? perfect for summer.

beachy keen

took a trip south (maybe? is philly to jersey south? it has to be a little southernly at some point.) to vacay for a bit with the family. in my younger years (high school) the bradleys and weigels took an annual summer beach trip to some spot on the jersey shore- usually sea isle or ocean city and this year the families decided to revive that old tradition in a huge ass house a block away from the beach in sea isle city. seriously- it was a friggin mansion. we had a pool and two decks and the place was decked out in some seriously high-end tacky beach stuff (hula skirt shower curtains, fake palm frond lamps, flamingos everywhere- the works.) we mostly hung around and read and i took a few pretty serious naps. we also worked in a para-sailing adventure (my mom screamed like a crazy person the entire time) and some skee-ballin' and a family clam bake. it was a nice relaxing couple of days full of lounging with the fammmm and eating wayyyy too much (i never buy snacks because they're mad expensive but my mom is a huge snack fan so there were goldfish and swedish fish and salsa and cheese sticks and brownies a plenty.) i forgot how easy it is to live with my family- i could easily live at home forever and eat awesome food and be surrounded by my favorite company in the world. and yet, i think i'll take a pass on that idea.

i heart xpn

sooooo this weekend was the xpn xponential music festival, held on the camden waterfront (con: it's camden. pro: beautiful views of philadelphia from across the river! especially at night when it's all lit up. makes me forget ever diaper i've seen in a bush or smashed forty on the street. so beautiful.) the three day festival included performances by grace potter and the nocturnals, big head todd and the monsters, dr. dog, edward sharpe & the magnetic zeroes, the felice brothers, yo la tengo, the walkmen, free energy, bobby long, and a whole bunch more. and since i'm interning with the lovely folks at xpn this summer, i got to help out with the festival. my job was pretty much to babysit bands- to pick them up at one end of the festival, walk them to their green rooms, the stage, their vans, back and forth, etc, etc- just being a task master basically and giving them time checks/being all up in their grills every five minutes. the whole event was broadcast live on the radio so the time element was really important. and while it could have been considered a really stressful event (some of the bands had 80904239048 members not to mention all the people on their guest list we had to keep track of!) but i had a blast. i love being busy and we all got sweeetttt walkie talkies (plus training on walkie etiquette) and all access badges. which reminds me of those sweepstakes where you would get all all access pass to some cool kids award show or slime filled amusement park. it was exciting to actually have one in real life and be able to literally have access to everything. i got to watch the bands from the side of the stage and hang out with them before/after. plus i got to spend some quality time with my fellow interns and internship boss lady all of whom i love. and a bunch of my friends were there volunteering of just enjoying the music (i even used my all access intern power to get my friend on a guest list- sayyy whhaattt). overall, glorious weekend. best internship ever.

(ps- if you don't know what xpn is/listen to it already- you totally should! it's a great public radio station that plays "adult alternative". seriously- it's really baller.)

shows i'm obsessed with: pushing daisies

i have no idea why but i've been obsessed with watching tv on dvd this summer. and by dvd i mean netflix instant play (because our dvd player sucks and where would i even find dvds in the first place? rental shacks are a dying breed.) i'll literally become obsessed with a show, blow off all social engagements, and watch hours upon hours of the show until i'm completely done with the series. it's putting a serious cramp in my productivity as a human being. dishes go unwashed, errands go unrun, and upset mothers go uncalled. because i've become a slave to a new set of characters and i just can't wait to see what happens to my friends. <---makes me sound like a crazy person. anyway, my most recent obsession has been with the short-lived (undeservedly so) abc sitcom pushing daisies. despite having won several thousand million emmys (7) and having critics gush all over it, it got the boot and left behind a mere 22 episodes. all of which i finished in a matter of two, very unproductive days (productive in the sense that i watched an entire television series, unproductive in the sense that i stayed in my pajamas all day and failed to shower/leave my apartment.) i am so in love with this series, it actually hurt me to finish it. it brought sadness that i felt in a physical way and i actually skipped dinner that night. that kind of intense love.

things i love about this show:
1. the costumes. dear god i swoon. everything is so colorful and floral and retro and if these dresses were actually in my possession they would be covered in drool. i was so in love with chuck's wardrobe that i ended up sewing two floral dresses while watching the show. even the dudes are wearing cool stuff- patterns and purple hues and dreamy suits. siiiggghhhhhhhh.
2. the pies. the main guy, ned, owns a pie shop and dear god are those pies lookin' fine. imma hafta bake me one asap.
3. it's kind of scooby-doo-esque. the gang gets together, there's a suspicious murder, they follow the clues, it's always the shady character who did it and viola! case closed! it appeals to the child in me who loved spending saturday mornings at six am curled on the couch with dad, eating peanut butter and egg sandwiches, and watching scooby. yet, it's gone beyond the basic scooby mold enough to satisfy my adult self. excellent work.
4. the world of the show. critics noted that the show had a tim burton feel and it kind of does- it's incredibly stylized and almost cartoonish at times. it has definite vintage inspiration but is still set in modern times. kind of amelie-ish but in a less yellow, making-me-want-to-throw-up-adorable kind of way.
5. the chuck and ned love story = adorable. and i'm not really one for mushy stuff but seriously. it's very sweet.
6. chuck's bangs. make me wish for a more angular face and less cowlicks.
7. kristen chenoweth. hilarious. love her character. love all the characters actually- but hers is just so endearing. she breaks out into random songs and is just very human. and hysterical.
8. the bizarre murders. they're almost like theme parties and i'm a sucker for themes. they're very over-the-top and bizarre and just have a circus-y feel to all of them.
9. everything. i am absolutely smitten by this show. makes me want to call my mom and tell her i'm in love.

in an attempt to move on and not sink into a my-new-favorite-show-will-never-be-on-tv-again induced bout of depression, i've started watching dead like me. it's also written by Bryan Fuller and pushing daisies was intended to be a spinoff from it. so i figure i'll give it a shot. the worst that could happen is i lose touch with the outside world for another couple of days and forget to brush my teeth.

general thoughts

1. i've noticed that i have several habits that are so hammered into me (as most habits are) that I carry them out even when it's not entirely logical. example: growing up with a dog, i've been trained to never leave food below a certain level (the dog will get it!). now, i have (on two occasions) found myself running across the room to move food to higher ground despite not living with any animals. example 2: babysitting training taught me to always turn pot handles away from the edge of the stove so no youngsters can grab them. i still do this even though there ain't no babies living here.

2. i can tell i'm getting older because the one thing i really want for christmas this year is a subscription to a cheese-of-the-month club. (that exists, right? because it definitely should. also, i'm aware that christmas is six months away. i just can't stop thinking about cheese.)

3. i rode my bike through a big ol' pile of mud yesterday and ended up completely splattering myself with it. despite getting my shiny bike dirty and having to wash off my legs when i got home, it was kind of fun. this summer is very reminiscent of childhood summers. lots of game playing. lots of bike riding. lots of getting dirty. i'm a fan.

my one true love

oh neato burrito. how i've missed you. i can't belive we went four months (maybe longer) without seeing one another. i enjoyed every minute of our time together yesterday. even though it only lasted about ten minutes. i was especially hungry and you, you were especially delicious.