The After Wedding Jaunt

After the toasts, fire juggling and a small group of us waving off new bride and groom, those of us remaining left the reception (it was over) and went to a local bar. I hadn't seen P's friend C. in years, so many years that I didn't recognize him, nor he me, so that was nice. I had seen I. at my college reunion in May for an instant or two but hadn't gotten to spend an evening with him in a while either. Also nice.
L. suffered from a headache but still managed to wear this hat for a brief spell.
It was cold.

My Latest Addiction

A while back my coworker, C., mentioned that she was reading the Twilight series of books. I knew that the series was written by a Mormon, or Jehovah's Witness or some such person and that it involved vampires. Take away the religion, and I knew these books would be right up my readerly alley. Especially when I learned that C. had the whole set! So now, I'm on the last book and I am trying very hard not to read it because I know that once I do, there won't be any more lovely vampire/werewolf stories to follow. It's the same old thing, intense, ridiculous love, heightened danger and physical prowess. Magic. You know, the usual. Not all that well written but populated with familiar character archetypes that allow you, the reader, to get real comfy real fast. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Whatever will I read when I'm done? I was thinking about Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs the other day, I don't remember liking the book all that much but its main character is now popping into my head at odd moments. And I can always re-read Empire Falls while I'm at it. Or, I could go in a different direction, it may be about time to pick up John Irving's Widow For One Year again, or Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye. Hmmm. So many books. And this post, just one long procrastination before I give up, make myself a cup of tea, wrap myself up in blankets and get on with learning how Bella and Edward and Jacob and the gang are going to end up.

The Phillies Won!

So, eventually, you will see that I paid a little attention to the whole 'World Series'. The Phillies, by the by, won a little while ago. You'll see.

P. and C. Get Hitched

P. and C. got married in a nice older theater, original fixtures etc (?), in Hawley. The styling of the stage was simple but creative, the ceremony original but not long. The reception was a scant half mile away from the theater, we walked.

Um, Hello Activity

There was a lot of talk in the office today about this.

Lackluster B.L.T.

After checking in, I went to park my car farther down the street so that I wouldn't have to feed the meter every three hours. On my walk back I ran into J., I., M. and K. J. and I. were my neighbors, and friends, my senior year of college. M. and I were in the photography department together and K. was J.'s girlfriend, who I had never met before. I tagged along with them and had lunch at the local diner. I ordered a B.L.T. and the tomatoes and lettuce disappointed, and the bacon couldn't really make up for that.

A Day And A Little, Away

Last Saturday I drove up to Hawley, Pennsylvania to witness the nuptials of my college friend P. and his, now wife, C. It's been a warm September and early October, on the whole, so much so that I didn't even notice that fall really has been happening. The drive up, about three hours, was lovely...ah foliage and colors and wide spaces.




Once in Hawley, I checked into the Falls Port Inn. Our (my dear friend L. and I were going to share a room) original room was great, but the innkeeper realized that the previous guests hadn't left the key behind. So, we were upgraded. It was a giant room, with fireplace and king sized bed (none of the rooms had more than one bed) and a nice blue palette.

Carrots

Also at the farmer's market I bought monstrous carrots for a beef stew. Last Friday, I realized I wanted more carrots, so I went to Whole Foods and bought another bunch. Look how piddly they look. Heh. C., M. and A. came over for dinner that Friday, we thought that J. might stop by, but that didn't happen. I didn't take a single photograph of the stew (almost a completely proper Boeuf Bourgignon, actually) but it was good.

Blackberry Pie

Another trip to the farmer's market on a Thursday in the past resulted in a lovely little blackberry pie.
It made me smile, all sweet and berrrrry.

Lunch c/o Zorba's Taverna

I ordered the charcoal pork dish for our last lunch of the busy season. I liked the potatoes the best, but the meat wasn't bad.

Scrabble With the Public

So, I went to the public library two weeks back and played some Scrabble, hosted by Philly Plays Scrabble. I tied my first game...it was a very good game, and lost by 11 points in the second game. I went back the next day and lost by 20 points. I don't play as much of the game as I used to, the ebf and I played a lot and when he moved I started playing a lot of online games...now, I don't know, I still love the game but I don't seem to have the time to play online all the time (though, it seems, I have countless hours to spend posting photographs of my life on this blog). The competition was pretty good. I want to play a few more games in an attempt to participate in the tournament...who knew that 'mo' was a word? I didn't.

Lunch c/o Mugshots

I forget the name of this sandwich, but it had spinach, goat cheese and pesto. I liked it. The dragon thought it looked more like a bench. Little does it know that its wrong, it was a sandwich...and I ate it. This was from Mugshots.

Chicken Curry Lunch Box c/o King of Tandoor

For lunch, at work, chicken curry lunch box. It was very tasty.

Liberty

After dim sum N. and his friends were going to go see the Liberty Bell. Though I knew I had to get to work and worried about the cost of parking my car in a lot (though it seemed I could get a lower rate through getting my ticket validated at the restaurant) I wanted to see the Liberty Bell. So I tagged along.

It sure is a bell, and tourists like to take photographs of themselves in front of it. The guides (rangers?) standing by the bell had a lot of information to share. This was nearly three weeks ago, so I can't really tell you any of that information, sorry.

Dim Sum c/o Joy Tsin Lau, Part 2

After my shopping, I met up with my N. and his visiting friends for dim sum at Joy Tsin Lau.
The last time I ate dim sum at Joy Tsin Lau, we were put in an awkward corner at the front of the restaurant, right by a wall of dingy aquariums. At the end of the meal I realized that my purse and jacket, which had been placed on the floor, were soaked as a result of this seating. This time around we were wedged in a corner right by the water station, away from the main concourse of carts and constantly knocking elbows with one another and the waitstaff. It was not ideal. I'd like to think it wasn't because we were white, but the number of times I've been given a crap-tastic table at dim sum makes me have to consider the possibility that race is a factor. Not that there's anything wrong with that, in this case, except that it pisses me off when I need binoculaurs to see the food carts.

I hadn't been overly fond of Joy Tsin Lau's shrimp dumplings in the last go round, but this time they were great. We also ordered the amazing dumplings from the live fry cart...still meaty with a wonderful lemongrass undertone. Good all around.

Shopping, White Cats and Not Living According to Your Principles

That Saturday I had to get a few things for a wedding that I was going to be attending (that I went to just this past Saturday, actually, and I'd like to get the photos up before the wedded couple celebrates their fifth wedding anniversary but I just don't know if I can post that many blog entries in one sitting) and, unfortunately, this involved Wal-Mart. Whatever, I think Wal-Mart's evil and all, and I know I should live according to my principles...but sometimes you just want to buy something that you need, for which other places charge you $50, for $30. I'm a terrible person. This Wal-Mart is along the river (I couldn't tell you which one, the Delaware maybe?) south of South Street by a little ways, nearby is also a grocery store, an unhelpful and stupid Home Depot, and Ikea, a Target and a Marshalls. It's a regular shopping mecca, and yet at the edge of all this commerce is this river.
Old docks and factories. White cats. Birds. It's not exactly a pretty landscape but it is somehow striking. And I hardly ever see white cats, I'm not particularly fond of how they look. But that might just be because I've never met a white cat that I've liked? Enough about cats.
I think the other side of the river is New Jersey. Maybe Delaware? It looks like a pile of gravel or sand there in the distance. Is it a cement factory? I should do research on these sorts of things.

Ravioli in Marinara Sauce c/o Fairmount

On the Friday following the Tin Angel Thursday, I ordered ravioli in marinara sauce for lunch. The dragon go so excited it lost its feet.
The whole dish was not actually that super in any word, I don't actually know what there was to lose one's feet over.