West Philadelphia, Born and Raised ...

Ok, well I wasn't actually in West Philly this past weekend but my NJ Transit/SEPTA trip to Philly took me past the West Philly stop and of course I had to start humming the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It also took me past the home of Paddington Bear (well the real home is London's Paddington Station, but this is the PA equivalent) and the Scarborough Fair. So why were Nissa and I headed to Philly for the weekend? The Big Red Wine reunion of course.

Big Red Wines were a group of 5 of us from Law School. We started spending time together dining and enjoying wines on the banks of the Seine in Paris during the summer international law program our school hosted at the Sorbonne. Well, with a start like that, wine became a vital part of our get togethers, thus the name. Sadly, this trip was missing Jen (she had the best excuse, her little sister was graduating from medical school!), but Jillian hosted at her fabulous house and Margaret and Paul made it (along with Nissa and myself of course).

First, transport was needed to get to some local vineyards so Margaret and I grabbed a zipcar at the 30th Street Station (beautiful old station by the way) and headed out to Jillian's to make our escape to wine country. Turns out the vineyards of Bucks Country were better then expected, though we only got to visit 3 due to a late start. Most of them have a interesting tasting set up - it's totally self-pour. There is an attendant to be sure you don't abuse the privilege and to answer questions about the various wines but there is a line of about 20 bottles from dry to sweet in front of you and you can just keep pouring until you are ready to move on. We tasted about 10-16 wines at each place unlike the 3-8 wines typical in the Finger Lakes region. Margaret kindly DDed, so we could all indulge. We found a few worth buying and headed back to Philly to start our band, a Beatles Tribute band.

We grabbed food to go near Jillian's where they had the AC cranked so high we all turned into ice cubes and needed to put the heat on from the drive back to Jillian's. Jillian had saved a nice bottle of Hermann J. Wiemer's (one of my favorite vineyards) Pinot Niors which was great with dinner then off to the Wii for the Beatles. Turns out she has a drum set, two guitars and three microphones so we are able to rock out together for hours while enjoying the better wines from our trip to the vineyards. We even reached Jen on the phone so we could serenade her with a resounding rendition of "With A Little Help From My Friends." Exhausted and hoarse, we headed to the many bedrooms available and woke ready for mimosa's and brunch in Philly.

We headed downtown to dump the zipcar and went to the Continental for brunch, were it was sunny enough to sit outside so Nissa could join us. Then I dragged everyone to a gourmet doggy store to Nissa some cookies and Paul found a nice mug with a picture of his Australian Shepard on it for his wife. Then we meandered around to enjoy the nice weather and parks in Philly before returning to the start of all our adventures - the 30th Street Station. Jillian and Margret headed off for their trains and Paul and I took of for the North - NYC and Boston.

Sadly, the George Washington Bridge took us captive for many hours to travel about 7 miles but we made it to the city and Paul had clear sailing (though late) the rest of the way to Boston.

All though this adventure is over, I am already looking forward to Big Red Wines second reunion this fall - hosted by yours truly here in the Big Apple. Now where should I drag everyone?

Quote of the Post:
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
- The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Flashback ... to A-Phi

So this past weekend I was in town without guests - what to do. A friend from my firm, Rodrigo, and I decided to explore our city. He hadn't been to Central Park in about 10 yrs so Nissa and I decided to show him around. First I sent Nissa to a new groomer so she'd look snazzy, but the groomer totally butchered her cut, but I'll save that rant for another day. Anyway, we headed into the park and met a ranger (yep, they exist in a city too). She told us how to figure out where we are in the park so Rodrigo could post it on foursquare (he's a bit obsessed). Turns out that every lamp post in the park tells you which cross-street you are at and some even tell you if you are West, Central, or East. Amazing, now I'll never be lost. After that we headed to the Rambles near the Lake, before stopping at a cafe for some Sangria in the Park.

Next, he convinced me I should come to a house party in the lower east side. I have to say I felt like I was back in college at a frat party or apartment party. There was the token, very drunk, preppy guy spraying everyone with champagne, the drunk giggly girls hanging on the guys, music that was only missing Aqua's Barbie Girl (which I played when I got home just to complete the night), and my friend and I were on the dance floor belting out I Will Survive (along with the slightly newer Single Ladies). Yep, just like college. It was a lot of fun to dance again, but I forgot how sticky alcohol covered floors get.

Sunday was a little less eventful, with a bit of sleeping in and finishing up some work for Monday, but one has to be able to pay for their life. ;-)

Actually, speaking of paying for life, I have a finance guy - really. They kept calling my office so I finally met with one and despite not having much money he's looked over my debt/income ratio (way too much student debt - it's half my take home, ugh. It is even more then my rent). Beside the 401K (which we spiced up with some additions) and paying of student debt, we are setting up short-term and long-term savings plans and tax-shelters. Yep, I get to have a tax shelter - not sure exactly how yet. It turns out you need about 3M to set up a trust which amazingly I don't have. Though I felt really lucky when I got my lottery ticket the other day. ;-) Apparently, it is within a life insurance policy but I haven't had the time to figure it all out yet. We met this past Monday and finalized the 401K strategy and started my tax-shelter paperwork. I'll keep you posted, since I need to be approved for life insurance before we go any further.

More flashback for the coming weekend and a shout out to Big Red Wines, most of who I will see this weekend in Philly. Can't wait!

Quote of the Post:

I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

- Aqua, Barbie Girl

Dogs and Terrorists and Wicked, Oh My!

This past weekend ended up being quite an adventure. Two vet buddies came to town with intentions of exploring parks with our dogs and seeing Wicked on Broadway - we got a lot more.

Amy, Connie and Ike arrived Saturday and the first order of business was to explore Central Park with Nissa and Ike after a quick lunch of burgers at the Riverwalk. Due to a misjudgment on my part, we ended up walking along a cross-park road with no entry to the park all the way to the west side (but plenty of taxis). There we finally entered the park and frolicked with dogs and people alike around the lake.

We made a quick dash to my apartment to settle the pups in and get ready for our Wicked night. We arrived in time and wow, what a great show. The set and costumes were fantastic, the songs memorable and the singing amazing. Well worth the wait and I would recommend you see it if it comes to town.

We had reservations at The View for dinner afterwards and so headed into the heart of Times Square only to be thwarted by barricades, police, reporters and smoke and where directed west to 8th Ave. As we walked along it became clear there was no way to get to The View and the mounted police were extending the barricades north of Times Square so we made a quick dash into Tasti-D for sustenance and ran east so we didn't get stuck cutting through Central Park at night. Once home we turned on the news only to learn we had been less then 1/2 a block from a suspected terrorist bombing attack. Geez, I feel safe. Even better it was the street vendors that noticed the smoking car, not the police - I suddenly feel like buying some fake Louis Vuitton to support them! Luckily I had some leftover pizza to reheat and Sherlock Holmes for us to enjoy while we came to terms with our adventure.

No weekend would be complete without a trip to Le Grainne Cafe and a walk on the Highline to walk off the best french toast ever. New this time was the construction site of a water feature in the park; can't wait for it to be completed. Next we headed back to the east side to meet Amy's friend at Serendipity for frozen hot chocolates, not a bad way to finish a weekend. I am hoping this weekend is a little less exciting though.

Quote of the Post:
I don't cause commotions, I am one.
- Elphaba Thropp, Wicked