I moved to Philadelphia, City of (Brotherly) Love, in September 2008, and I've barely seen it outside the little neighborhood where I live, work, and go to school. So here's my ongoing list of Places to Check Out, to be moved to a list of Places I Have Checked Out as I do so. Suggestions? Let me know!
Philadelphia Places to Check Out:
Art Star Like, the coolest boutique or something. http://www.artstarphilly.com/
Franklin Fountain Old-fashioned ice cream place recommended by friends. http://franklinfountainphilly.blogspot.com/2009/03/energy-and-persistence-conquer-all.html
Milk & Honey Market "Opening soon" in my 'hood. http://milkandhoneymarket.com/
Reading Terminal Market Comparable to Pike Place Market in Seattle? Need to investigate. http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/
South Street Occasionally hung out there as a college student; haven't been back since.
Check it out: Zooey Deschanel's cotton commercial! She actually recorded a whole three-minute song that you can listen to and download. And you can learn all about her cotton-y look, too. Zooey says, "While I enjoy vintage styles, it's important that a fabric keep its shape. Form is essential to me, even in casual wear."
What do you think? Is this weird? I guess cotton is just about the least offensive product to endorse, and at least they let her wear cute clothes, right?
Thanks to a generous birthday gift, I have finally begun my Bell Jar collection. It wasn't a collection when I just had one copy, but now that I have two, I'd say it qualifies. My new copy contains that same "biographical note" in the back by Lois Ames, as well as my favorite villanelle Mad Girl's Love Song and SP's little sketches. It also adds a foreword by Frances McCullough.
Of course, my trip to the bookstore wouldn't be a success if I didn't deplete my entire gift card. I also got yesterday a paperback copy of Special Topics in Calamity Physics and two new-to-me young adult novels: Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (about the friendship between two zinesters!) and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.Let the summer reading begin.
Tomorrow is my birthday! I'm a Gemini dating a Gemini (his day is in May), so there are really four of us in this relationship. Therefore, we need this print from Etsy artist Elsita, aka Elsa Mora, a thirtysomething Cuban/ American mother of three. I love the colors, the crazy hair, the two sets of legs! Elsa makes all kinds of art and also blogs at http://elsita.typepad.com.
Gemini is #1 in my new series tentatively titled Imaginary Art Gallery. This is everything I would hang in my bathroom next to the Mona Lisa if I were Daddy Warbucks.
Call me Jenny Come Lately, but I can't let No Doubt's appearance on last month's flashback episode of Gossip Girl pass by without some sort of comment. Dude, it brought me back to 1997, when I saw them (but not Weezer, because I was too busy being sick in the restroom during my so-excited-I-can-and-will-puke phase—TMI?) for the first and only time at the Jones Beach theater. Gwen and Gavin always tied Kurt and Courtney for the title of My Favorite Couple of the '90s. But G&G could never have happened if Gwen hadn't fallen in love—and broken up—with Tony first. And now they're c-cool! Check out these vids chronicling their relationship, from heartbreak to regret to okay-ness.
So back a couple of weeks ago, when I posted about Jenny Han's haiku contest celebrating the release of The Summer I Turned Pretty, I had no idea that I would win it!
The theme of the contest was "your favorite things about summer." This is what I wrote:
long bike rides with friends bugs a-glow in clear glass jars slurping otter pops
But if I were you, I'd be more interested in the prizes!Miss Jenny sent me a signed copy of the book (which I plan to read and booktalk for my YA lit class), plus this really cool USB mixtape thingy with songs by Beck, Band of Horses, Jenny Lewis, The Smiths, and many others including my favorites, Camera Obscura. Thank you, Jenny!
I moved to Philadelphia, City of (Brotherly) Love, in September 2008, and I've barely seen it outside the little neighborhood where I live, work, and go to school. So here's my ongoing list of Places to Check Out, to be moved to a list of Places I Have Checked Out as I do so. Suggestions? Let me know! 
