Citygirl Bites! Philly Road Trip Edition, #1

I haven't done a Citygirl Bites in ages, so, what better way to wrap up our Philly road trip story than to spotlight all the straight-awesome food we had while we were away. Mmmmm...Food porn!



On our way into Philly we stopped in Pittsburgh to eat dinner at Primanti Bros. Restaurant. They're known for their huge sandwiches with fries and cole slaw on the sandwiches. This is my fish sandwich. HUBS got a root beer float and some giant red meat sammy, plus we shared an amazing order of chili cheese fries. (That's right, we got fries even though each sandwich had fries on it. We are special.) If you're ever in the area you need to eat this food. Really.

Our next meal was a hotel-delivered one from Romano's on Sunday (our travel recovery day). Of course, I forgot to photograph a single item we ordered, but everything was good. We ordered a pizza (great crust, sauce and toppings), chili (filled with sweet peppers and meat and giant beans), a crab cake sandwich (yum) and a stromboli (HUBS ate this one by himself, but he loved it.) There were a ton of leftovers. Thank God we got a kitchenette in our room!



On Monday we stopped at Moshulu. It's an early 1900's sailing ship that's been turned into a restaurant. HUBS and I had been walking around all day and were tired, sweaty and sticky. We were also starving and my feet were aching. I was so glad that this place didn't have a dress code, we would not have gotten in with our tennis shoes and shorts otherwise.



This is my pulled pork sandwich. Um...You will not have a better pulled pork sammy, people. I swear. It was served with homemade chips and a little salad. Both very, very good as well.



HUBS ordered this. I think it's pork with some rice. Now, it was really tasty. But, you see how little is on that plate, right? Does anyone think that HUBS, who routinely eats two Bic Mac's, fries and a giant soda in one sitting, could be even close to full by eating this? No? Wow, you guys get smarter every day. Again, glad we had those leftovers!



We also shared dessert. Do you see this beauty? It's the Mosulu Coupe and it includes: banana fritters, dulche de leche ice cream, caramel peanuts, flourless chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, fresh chantilly cream, chocolate sauce and wet pecans. Dammit! It was good! God!

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of our eats. But, in the meantime, I'm working on ideas for my Tuesday Tipday series. I need to know: What kind of tips would be helpful to you? Let me know in the comments!

Music Monday: VMA Edition

Thanks guys. There's just never enough tongue in celebrity photos.

Did anyone watch the MTV Video Music Awards last night? I gave up my award show fascination about 10 years ago, but I still enjoy a brief recap of fashion and faux pas, don't you? Well, here we go!

What folks wear is always the best part. Some people inevitably look good no matter what, but some of our celebs are so desperate to stand out/not-be-forgotten that they'll put on any damn thing and leave the house. Observe...







I mean, what in the crispy fried hell, people?! A mask, Nicki? A head cube, Katy? A...whatever the hell, whoever the hell you are? It's a little bit pitiful how everyone has been so intent on out crazying Gaga for the past couple of years. (Kind of like how everyone wanted to out freaky-couture Rhianna a few years back, but no one ever managed it.) And yet, without this ridiculous motivation, we wouldn't be witness to sights like this, would we?

They all need to just stop, and give Gaga the Crazy Crown. Why? Because this is how that heifer showed up last night:



See? And now no one else can show up dressed like a dude 'cause it'll be obvious they don't have an original fashion thought in their heads. (Not that fashion originality should matter much. Can you sing? That's really all that should count. Alas, the world doesn't quite work that way all the time.) Gaga decided to go all Satchmo Fierce on our asses and debuted her male alter ego Joe Calderone. Apparently she stayed in character for the entire show. Awesome.

In other news? That's right, Bey is gestating:



All VMA pics, zimbio.com.

Now, on to more important music stuff. Last week a music legend you may not have heard of died: Nick Ashford. With his wife, Valerie Simpson, he wrote several hits for artists like Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Chaka Khan and the duo of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.

They also recorded as Ashford & Simpson. Don't tell me you've never heard this one:

Well, I Won't Be Going Here Anytime Soon...

That's right, the whole state is now off limits until they get this shit under control. Ick!

Music Monday: I'm A Bit Bored

Not with life in general...Actually, yeah, with life in general a little bit. But, mostly I'm bored with fast food. In the past few weeks we've had everything: Hardee's, Jack-n-the Box, Penn Station, McDonald's, White Castle's, Sonic, Taco Bell, Church's Chicken, Arby's, Five Guys Burgers and Fries...If you can drive up to a window or get your food in a greasy paper bag we've eaten it.

I've cooked a few times since we got back from Philly, but when I don't feel like cooking or making sandwiches or doing brinner, that kinda means fast food. And, I'm tired of it. I have not had a single fast food meal in the past month and a half that I thoroughly enjoyed. I ate it because it was in front of me and I didn't want to cook, but I wasn't enthused about what I had. Also, I generally ended up being full but completely unsatisfied by whatever meal I'd eaten. Blah.

I am not happy about our reliance on fast food. And yet, I get so fucking tired of trying to cook new and interesting things with the same old ingredients we can afford. Plus? I just plain get tired of cooking and can't stand the thought of it about four times a week. (We don't actually eat out that many times per week. There's a fair amount of Ok, what's the fastest possible thing I can make tonight going on. Quesadilla's, anyone?)

I hate being bored with my food. When you get down to your last $20 before pay day and you've made the tuna fish and the homemade pancakes and the beans and rice and the mac 'n' cheese and otherwise cleared out the pantry/fridge and you can't stand the thought of preparing anything, what do you do?

Seriously, friends. What do you eat when the pantry's bare and you have little funding? Am I ignorant to some here's-what-adults-do magic?

Anyhoo. Enjoy a little Cold War Kids, why don't you?

Philly Philly Bo Billy...

Banana fanna fo filly
Fee fi mo milly...
Philly!

We spent Thursday and Friday of our Pennsylvania vacation packing in as much museum-going/site-seeing as possible. We hit The Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium and the Academy of Natural Sciences. We also traveled back to the waterfront for The Independence Seaport Museum and got caught in a torrential downpour on our way to see a couple of submarine/navy ships. We took the ferry. We hung out at Gettysburg. We walked until I thought my feet were going to fall off. We drove a long, dark, twisty road until we thought we were going to pass out. We had fun. Isn't that all that matters?

It's Possible We Have A New Cat

This is Rudy Huckleberry. So named because when we first saw him the week after we returned from vacation, his nose was bloody and red (as in our favorite reindeer). I know what you're thinking, What kind of surname is Huckleberry? Well, here's your answer for that.

After seeing him hanging out with the only remaining stray from the original group for about a week, we started seeing him only by himself. As you can imagine, I was worried. Clearly he's too damn small to be roaming the streets alone. Then about three weeks ago, as HUBS left for work, we spotted him on our front porch.

He was wet and covered in ants and pretty obviously hadn't eaten in days. After HUBS left I came back inside, outfitted myself with rubber gloves and a bath towel that's basically a rag and went and caught him. This wasn't hard since he was weak from malnourishment; I let him smell my hand for about five minutes and then scooped him up.



He's been living in our bathroom ever since. We have to keep him sequestered until he has all his shots/parasites taken care of so he doesn't give anything to our other felines, and so far things are going pretty good...With three exceptions.

Last night he and Shakes got into a paw war underneath the bathroom door (there's just enough room down there for some determined kitty paws). Unfortunately, Shakes got hold of one of Rudy's back paws and ripped the shit out of it with his claws. The poor guy bled kinda bad but he's walking and running alright, luckily. He's also having some stomach troubles today and hasn't eaten much. But I'm hoping we can take care of that at a vet visit tonight.

You know, though, how I know I really, really like cats now? Two weeks ago, right after I started him on some anti-parasite meds, I went to check on him and noticed he seemed uncomfortable. That led me to notice some hangers-on in Rudy's personal cat area, which I got paper towels to take care of.



Turns out the dingle berries weren't what was bothering him. [WARNING: CAT CONVERSATION ABOUT TO GET GRAPHIC REAL FAST!!] Rudy had parasites sticking out of his kitty butt. Yes. I know. And, no lie, you guys: I pulled them out*.

That, my friends, is kitty love and devotion. No shit.


*If you need to forget that image, check here. Awesomeness is assured.*

Tuesday Tipday: Don't Prostitute Your Daughters

In many cases, a covering up is apropos.

But, you knew that already. Right?

Music Monday: Well, That's New

I know I'm not exactly flush with bad health over here, thank God, but it occurred to me just a few minutes ago that I used to be healthier.

I know what you're thinking, You've gotten older, Citygirl. This is what happens when people get older. Yeah, I'm older. But, fuck, I'm not old, you know?

On Saturday I noticed that the lymph node in my neck on the right side was swollen. Then, on Sunday I noticed that a muscle behind that lymph node was also swollen. Now, my neck and shoulders had been bugging me all week while trying to sleep and after waking up. I thought it was just my now-flat Walmart special $5 pillow that we just got last year. (Just how the fuck much do I need to spend to get a good pillow, anyway? Does anyone know?)

Now, though, I don't know. Clearly something is wrong in my neck-type area, but what? I called my doc today but she can't get me in until next Monday. I think I'll try HUBS' doc tomorrow to see if he can fit me in sooner.

Anyway. Did any of you catch the meteors this weekend? I woke up at 5 a.m. but it was disappointingly cloudy outside, so no shooting stars for me.

Well, enjoy these video selections from The Bird and the Bee. The above song has been one of my favorites for years, but I'd never seen the video until last week. Thank God for YouTube!

Happy Friday! Meteors And Such

Photo

Ah...Doesn't Friday feel nice? Especially when it's only 77 degrees and we get a little rain to take care of the cracked, broken ground.

My weekend is going to be filled with freelance work, seeing as how I got a new gig for the website I write with most often. And, I was even able to get some additional funding for the new story I'm working on. Yee!

I also think a trip to someplace outskirty to see more of the Perseid Meteor Shower would be fun. I told you yesterday about how I caught it by accident a couple of night's ago and now I want more, baby! I like the idea of taking a nap then waking up a couple hours before dawn to give a sky show a good shot. Here are some meteor watching tips if you're into sky watching.

Are there any sky nerds out there like me? As a kid I was sure I was going to work for NASA, until I realized how much math I'd need to know. My folks got me a telescope as a kid (which I still have, but admittedly haven't gotten out in years) and I've fostered a real love for NOVA Science Now and the occasional book about physics and astronauts.

Also blowing my star watching mind right now? Google Sky Map. You can even put an app on your phone, which I did and found Jupiter in the sky two nights ago!

So, get out there and do some meteor watching this weekend. Dream of the infinity of space, my friends. Enjoy!

Yes, I'm Still Talking About Philly

As of today we've been back from our vacation for exactly a month. What's happened in this past month? Well, we've:

-Gotten sick and gotten better
-Buried a cat
-Picked up a stray kitten
-Bought all our Christmas presents
-Switched to cheaper cell phone plans with spiffy new smart phones
-Run out of money
-Then, within a week, had an unexpected period of financial security



Plus, I've:

-Impressed a new editor at work with my story ideas
-Written lists of employment and networking goals
-Reached out to some folks who could help me toward those ends (it's been over a week, haven't heard from any of them)

Not a bad list of things done, though of course I'd planned to get more accomplished immediately post vacay.

My biggest issue for the past few weeks has been getting enough rest. I keep saying I'm going to get ready for bed by 10:30 and then be in the bed trying to sleep an hour later. You know what I've actually been doing? Going to bed past 1 a.m. then getting up by nine the next morning, staying up all day and being exhausted but still not going to bed at night. I was up until three this morning! Then got up at nine! I'm silly with sleepless irresponsibility! But the nice thing is that I saw two shooting stars that made me feel really happy!!

Alright, I still have pictures to share, so here we go!






Delaware River


Ben Franklin Bridge






Joan of Arc


Schuylkill River


Tiger fight!


Prairie dog fight!


Hippo eyes!

Music Monday: Keep Your Husband Away From The Beard Trimmer!

See that man up there? That's HUBS. He'll be largely unrecognizable to most of you now, due to what he claims was an accident with his hair clippers. He walked into the bedroom late last night, took off his glasses and showed me this:



I don't know if you notice, but his eyebrows are basically just peach fuzz now. The damned fool ACCIDENTALLY SHAVED HIS FUCKING EYEBROWS OFF!! The lesson, ladies? Leave your husband alone with personal electrical appliances at your own embarrassing peril. Lucky for HUBS his glasses cover the area enough to make his mistake (fuck all) barely noticeable.

Now, as you contemplate the oddness of the situation, enjoy this video from Peter Bjorn and John:


This combination of song and images makes me feel like I'm living in an alternate universe. In a creepy yet fascinating way. Oh, yeah.

Because I Do My Best To Keep You Entertained

Menacing, yes. Though, not on a kitler level.

It would be fair to say, at this point, that cats and me? We're like this. And seeing as how I love me some funny cat pictures, I couldn't help but share my latest discoveries: kitlers and Ron Swansons.

You can thank me later.

From Cape May To Atlantic City

HUBS and I made July 5 an all Jersey day. After leaving Cape May we drove a couple hours north to Atlantic City, hung out with a feral boardwalk cat, walked the boardwalk until our feet hurt while dodging numerous inconsiderate sea birds, got lost inside a casino, ate mediocre BBQ, saw downtown AC at night, did a lighthouse drive-by and headed back to our hotel exhausted. All in all? It made for a good and not totally sad day.