short posts and white shirts

I refuse to submit a post without at least one picture (or lots of hyperlinks). I just got an earful from Christie about how all of her "bla bla bla bla bla" is important! Oh well, someone out there just googled "gelato obsession" and got my wife's insane post. I'm sorry for you because now you'll feel obliged to view the slideshows and see more pictures of cats than ME!!!!

So, here's what's new: We're going to get Comcast high-speed and dump the speakeasy. After that, GOODBYE VERIZON, after we hook up Vonage VOIP service. I'm motivated by the free calls to Ireland. Maybe now I'll finally talk to my dad - or at least have no excuse to not at least try.

This picture is sort of staged, but also pretty close to how I spent a lot of my days before I had the luxury of call screening. That's me at my desk in what looks like a dry-cleaner prepared shirt. I've been ironing my shirts lately and the result is not the same. Maybe that is one luxury I need to afford myself.

So long America. Good night!

You know you're getting older

When you spend a Friday night ripping apart a bathroom, followed by dinner and posting on the blog. How much more exciting could we be?!

I posted some new pictures in the May photo album. You can access it by clicking on the photo to the right.

We spent some time ripping out the rest of the tile in the third floor bathroom in preparation for our remodel. Our toilet arrived today, and the tiles were shipped today and should arrive soon. I ripped out the tile on the bottom of the walls while Markus got stuck with the stinky (literally and figuratively) job of removing the existing toilet. I was happy to just keep chiseling away at tiles...

Last night we went to the gym and decided that we should go out for dinner. I picked a new vegan restaurant that recently moved from Willow Grove to a location about 3 blocks from us on S. 7th Street. It's called Horizons. Check out their website at www.horizonsphiladelphia.com. It was one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a long time, and I loved the atmosphere. It's one of the few places in the city where the bartender chatted us up and we talked to some of the servers and the people sitting next to us. We had to sit at the bar, even though we walked in at 9 pm for dinner, because the restaurant was reviewed by the Inquirer last week and received 3/4 bells. I had been wanting to go for weeks and knew our best shot to go now was on a weeknight and I'm so glad we did! I had cucumber avocado soup and yucatan salad while Markus had a hearty black bean soup with quinoa and seitan tips, and paella. I tell you, it was simply delicious. They have a cookbook that I'd like to buy because the food they served is exactly the kind of vegetarian food I love and would like to cook at home. We still eat meat, but also like to switch it up every now and again with tofu, seitan, tempeh, and other non-meat products. I also found a beer I love and could drink more than one of - Celis from the Michigan Brewing Company. We're going to search for it this weekend I think.

I have to return to Indy next week; it wasn't a planned trip but I'm glad to be going. Markus is always asking me if I need to spend more time there. I wonder if he's trying to get rid of me? We're working on rolling out a new software application and I am going to train some of the staff that will need to implement and use the product in the future.

I've been reflecting recently on the fact that I really enjoy my job and how lucky I am to be in such a position. For those who don't know, I am a business analyst. What the heck is that (I didn't know what it was til I became one)? Well, at my current job, the executives and senior management determine what our software applications need to do in order to maintain and generate new business (i.e., make money). When new features and functionality need to be developed, I would begin identifying the requirements (what does the software need to do, how should it behave in certain scenarios). Then I'd create detailed functional specifications that outline exactly how the features will work; these documents are then used by a software developer to write the code that makes everything work. I'd also work with a user interface designer to determine how the screens should look to a user of the software. If you think of any website you use, someone had to figure out what the software behind the scenes needs to do in order for the website to work (think Amazon or Expedia and placing an order), and how the website and its different screens should look, based on what information needs to be captured, whether the user can move forward or back when making a purchase, and so forth. I also work directly in our database to add additional records/information, make edits, or delete things that shouldn't be there. Since we're building something new, there are no pretty screens that make it easy, so we have to access the database to make any changes right now. I've learned quite a bit about MS Access, Toad, PL/SQL Developer, and Oracle databases; these are things a Spanish major would never dream of...

But, I have to confess that this type of work really suits me. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm extremely left-brained, anal retentive, detail-oriented, and this job allows me to swim in details all day long. Now that the weekend is here, though, I'll stop talking about work. I figured I'd take a minute and explain what I do, since most people aren't sure, and they wonder what the heck I'm doing when I go to Indy all the time. Now you know!

Markus and I are going to hit the gym tomorrow for Tae Bo, then go to Home Depot or Lowe's to get supplies for the floor and patching the walls so we can paint. I'll take pictures over the weekend and maybe post our progress on Monday night. We're looking forward to a neighborhood block party on Sunday - this will be our first opportunity to meet several neighbors, so it should be fun. Then Markus has to hit the books to read up for his next class. Lucky boy...

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Baby correction

After I posted last night's missives, I was laying in bed recounting what I wrote and I realized I didn't explain my mom's feelings on babies. Being the anxious worrywart I am, I worried about it and sure enough saw she was up bright and early posting a comment about it. (She's so productive, she's probably already done 2 loads of laundry) What I meant when I said that she was slowly warming up to the baby idea is this: my mom and dad are quite young, under 50 in fact, and she always joked that she was too young to be a grandmom. I agree that she is young, but I think that'll be a benefit to all of us once a little Christie (God help them) or a little Markus comes along. So Mom, I know you've always liked the idea of grandkids, but had to get used to the idea that you have a child who is old enough to realistically produce a grandchild (meaning, you're old enough to be a Grandma, Mom-Mom, Nana, or whatever we'd call you)! And yes, we would have to pick some names. I'll add this to the list of things Markus and I want to do before any babies (anything to lengthen the list!!! ha ha). Now if only you and Dad and Mom and Dennis would move into the city, we'd resolve that problem of only seeing each other once a month...

Capogiro, how I love thee

I almost forgot about this!

Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE food. Capogiro is one of my favorite places in the city - they make their own gelato each morning and use many local fruit and herb products in their gelato. The couple who own Capogiro went to Italy to study the art of gelato, bought special gelato-specific equipment, and have done so well in their first location that they opened a second store last year. Their first location is at 13th and Sansom, which is mere blocks from our house. Sometimes I look at this as a good thing, and sometimes, it's too close for comfort...

Some of my favorite flavors, and believe me, I've sampled a lot, are rhubarb, lemon verbena, lemon opal basil, pineapple sage, pineapple mint, and mojito sorbettos; their bittersweet chocolate gelato is simply out of this world. It's chocolate heaven. They make some plain old nut flavors, like black walnut and hazelnut, which are excellent, and a few different coffee flavors. Some of my other favorites are pistachio, Saigon cinnamon, Thai coconut milk, and Fior di Latte. Fior di Latte serves as the base for all the gelato flavors, but it's nice, light, and a little bit milky sweet just by itself. Okay, enough about flavors. Check out their website (http://www.capogirogelato.com) - they update their flavors each day, and each location has its own set of flavors each day.

They use seasonal ingredients, so in the fall you'll see flavors like butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato streusel (and yes, they're really good. I should stop saying that. I've never had a bad flavor.). Rhubarb pops up right around now, and later in the summer we'll see blueberry thyme and peach. The fruity flavors are usually sorbettos, which contain no dairy products. That means they're also lower in fat and calories (so you can eat twice as much, as we say).

What I especially like is that they experiment with unusual flavors and flavor combinations - some odd ones I've seen are olive oil (smooth, tastes like olive oil), sassafras (haven't tried it yet), marshmallow (not as sweet as fluff, which is a good thing. I've only seen it twice - I'm dying for them to make it on the same day as they make peanut butter so I can have a fluffer nutter gelato!), and some of the fruit/herb sorbettos. I wouldn't have thought to combine lemon and opal basil, but it is my favorite flavor right now and it'll serve as an inspiration for me to make my own sorbet and see how it turns out.

The only down side is that Capogiro is not cheap, but not many wonderfully delicious things are inexpensive (that's my rationalization, anyway). A small cup runs about $4.50, but it's a true treat, and I appreciate the fact that the owner is up at 4 am making batches and batches of fresh gelato that will be served that very day. It's not an everyday treat, but definitely something to splurge on once in a while. Oh, and they'll give you samples of any flavors you want - take advantage of this! I always try something that I'm considering before I commit to that as one of the flavors in my dish. And if there's a new flavor I've been curious about, I ask to sample that too. It's quite a neat store. If you ever want somebody to go with you to Capogiro, you know where to find me!!!

Now, I'm off to the hotel gym to work off my lemon opal basil from Saturday night...

Mother's Day to now - what have we been doing?

It's been a few weeks since our last post because we've been pretty busy!

Markus, Liz and I ran in the Susan Komen 5k. With his long legs (and even with his bum knee!), Markus raced through the finish line in only 22 minutes. The event was crowded, but it was amazing to see so many people and survivors. They have lots of freebies and food for the runners, too. I was just glad that I finished the race, and I even shaved two minutes off the time I was running the same distance in the gym.

We were back home by 10 am on Mother's Day, and then it was off to see the moms. Poor Markus' mom thought one of her wishes was coming true - she read the note Markus wrote in her card (in essence, she did a great job raising him and now it's his turn to be a good parent) and thought she was finally getting grandbaby #2. Nope, not yet, I was quick to assure her!! After all the teasing that we've done, she probably won't even believe us when we actually are expecting a child! Then we were off for dinner and a pretty tasty strawberry pie with my family. No false grandbaby expectations there, though I think my mom might be warming up to the idea of a new little baby in the family...thanks Miss Loree (one of my mom's dance teachers who graduated with me and Markus had a baby a few weeks ago).

Markus started his first summer session class, something relating to Human Resources and negotiating, on Monday night; it meets twice a week for seven weeks. It's a pretty intense class in terms of homework and reading. He's taking his final Master's course in summer session 2 (insert applause here!), so the summer looks to be full of reading and homework for him. I'm going to brush up on my home improvement skills so that perhaps I can tile a floor, refinish a floor, or install a toilet while he does homework...okay, that's totally unrealistic as a toilet weighs 100 pounds, but I'm hoping to keep the remodeling momentum going to some degree.

On Thursday night, I made my first pork roast which I bought at Esposito's in the Italian Market. Markus commented that it was the best pork he's ever had, and I agreed. I can say that because I really had nothing to do with it - I just roasted it for the right amount of time! It was pre-marinated, so a very easy dish to cook! If you're ever in the vicinity of the Italian Market, you must swing by Esposito's and buy some meat - I promise you won't be disappointed. I bought ground turkey there one day, and they had to go in the back to get it for me because they'd just finished grinding it. That's what I call fresh. They're on South 9th Street at Carpenter or Catharine (can't remember right now).

When the weekend arrived, we spent some time with Luke and Amanda. They were at the beach on Saturday so we went to the Italian Market Festival. Many Italian Market businesses and vendors were selling food, flowers, I'm Italian tee-shirts, and there were a few arts and crafts vendors there. The big highlight was seeing Frankie Avalon on the Sorrento Cheese main stage - the Big Kahuna from Back to the Beach!!!

When Luke and Amanda arrived that evening, we had a Home Movies (cartoon) Season 4 viewing party, along with pizza and mango bellinis. I know, bellinis are a brunch drink, but we were in the mood. After bellinis and two bottles of wine (hey, nobody was driving, just walking), we went to Capogiro. Read my other post from today - I'll post all about Capogiro in that one.

The four of us decided that we're food enablers. As individual couples, we eat healthily. When we're together, Amanda and I sweet talk our guys into getting Capogiro or ice cream or some other naughty dessert, and the boys, well, since they love us they oblige. Nor do they refrain from the treats, either...but we decided to turn a corner this weekend (after our trip to Capogiro, of course) and be healthy food enablers. We'll see how that goes.

On Sunday, I removed the tile floor in the third floor bathroom in preparation for remodeling it. I know, can you believe it? I ripped up a tile floor (I couldn't believe it either)! That night, Markus and I ordered this tile (http://mosaictilesupplies.com/fireside_blend.html) for the floors and this toilet (http://www.performancetoilets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31). The walls will be painted Boston Fern (aka, green). The toilet will arrive tomorrow, but we can't install it until the tile arrives next week. We'll get started on removing the fixtures, spackling the walls, painting, and hopefully installing the new cabinet and vanity over the long holiday weekend.

I traveled to Indy on Monday morning - for the first time in at least five weeks, my plane wasn't canceled or delayed!!! Hurrah! Now that Indiana is on daylight savings time, it stays light here until 8:30 or 9 pm, which is nice but confusing and deceiving to the mind. It's always much later than I think it is! The Indy 500 is on Sunday, so the racing fans are here in full force. I'm glad I'm leaving tomorrow before it gets super crazy in the city!

I think that catches us up now. Oh, our one cracked window was replaced (windows are totally done now) and our roofer patched our (hopefully) last leak and replaced the rain spout that we had to cut open in the rain a few weeks ago.

My final note is about Camper. For those of you following her health saga (bladder infection, followed by fever/vomiting), she had another vomiting and slight fever bout early last week. We made another trip to the vet, had x-rays done (which showed nothing abnormal), paid a lot of money, and went home. She slowly rebounded, started eating again, but had an awful hacking/retching bout each time she ate. I was a nervous wreck, convinced she had some chest obstruction, so I pretty much stalked her for a few days. Yes, I even stalked her when she went to use the litter box. She made faces like I've never seen, and upon her exit, I realized that her problem was constipation...almost immediately after that, her energy returned, her appetite improved, and the hacking has all but stopped. We've been brushing her every day in case a hairball was causing her some trouble. I'm just glad she seems to be healthy again. The one good thing to come out of all of this? She's lost 1.5 pounds (just in time for summer and bikinis)! She's starting to look like a fit little kitty again, and she's even taken to perching on our shoulders again (she hadn't done that since her younger, thinner days). We've taken some photos, so we'll post them soon. On that happy note, I bid you all adieu. Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

I love BBC Radio

So, I've been criticized for my short posts. Some have called them "limited, terse," and maybe even "empty." Ha. In an attempt to appeal to the bookworms and advanced readers of the blogosphere, I have decided to spend a few sentences talking about how much I enjoyed listening to Radio 1's coverage of their free music festival this past weekend. The event, hosted in Dundee, Scotland http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=dundee,+scotland&om=1 . But how did we listen to something overseas? http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=Channel&cid=1121444083985 The beauty of Sirius' broadcast is that they delay by 5 hours, which synchronizes the GMT show with EST. Anyway, I enjoyed it and especially enjoyed Pete Tong's essential selection which he apparently played live from some club called London - http://www.london-nightclub.com/

No I'm not really an anglophile. It's easy to assume that. Honestly, I just like the format of the station, the chatty friendliness of the on-air personalities, and the fact that they do not have bombastic promotional commercial breaks every 10 seconds. Maybe it's the understatedness that I appreciate.

In case you want to check it out and you don't have Sirius, you can listen live or to any show from the past 7 days here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/listen/

I recommend:
The Essential Selection
Annie Mac
Colin and Edith
and I guess the Chris Moyles Show

Their little player lets you jump ahead by 5 or 15 minutes, which is nice. Oh, and bitrates go as high as 128k. BBC are on top of the US market and host mirror streaming servers out of NYC which seem to only be a few hops away with average 14ms latency. Amazing!

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 10.99.99.1
2 20 ms 16 ms 15 ms er1.nyc1.speakeasy.net [66.92.53.1]
3 14 ms 13 ms 13 ms 220.ge-0-1-0.cr2.nyc1.speakeasy.net [69.17.83.201]
4 14 ms 14 ms 13 ms rt0-fe2-1.thny.bbc.co.uk [198.32.160.24]
5 14 ms 15 ms 14 ms rmclip1.thny.bbc.co.uk [212.58.240.195]

OK. I'm done.

Oh, Royksopp are amazing. Trust me.

Saturday 5/13

"Pollen"

"Links"

last weekend 5/6

Important phone call

Special Shirt

Airborn in Rittenhouse Square

I have a garden!

Yes, that's right - I did some planting this weekend. The courtyard gardener told me about a nursery in Cherry Hill, NJ, so we trekked over there early Saturday morning. I spent the next few hours planting the window boxes, and since our roof deck is so private, I decided to wear my bathing suit. What I didn't think about was sunburn, but boy did I get one. I had the chills that night and my back and shoulders were sore for days. Provided I wear some sunscreen, I'm looking forward to working on my tan up on the roof deck while working from home! Markus painted the deck while I worked on the patio garden. The patio garden picture is above, and the newly painted roof deck and window boxes with flowers are below. I'll have to take more close-ups of the window boxes because they look pretty nice!

I took photos on the day of planting, since everything was at its best (meaning I haven't killed anything yet!). If my tomato plant does well this year (and I think it should, since it'll get lots of sun), I'm going to plant lots of veggies next year. I've read that cucumbers do well in pots, and I've had success with peppers, too. I guess I got used to the yummy tomatoes from my parents' garden and want to replicate it.

It's been fairly quiet for us lately, thankfully. The last roof repair will be done next week, and a replacement for our one window that was shattered upon arrival will be replaced next week. It's nice to finally have some peace and quiet and enjoy our surroundings. We went to the Rittenhouse Festival last Saturday and the Equality Forum's OutFest on Sunday. Both were a good time, and the weather couldn't have been better.

This week we're gearing up for the Komen 5k (if you'd like to donate, you can go to www.phillyraceforthecure.org and search for either one of us), which is Sunday, and then we're off to celebrate with our mothers. We're excited to be hosting Liz and her friend, Kira, on Saturday night. They're running in the Komen 5k, too. Wish us luck!

Oh, the one other update is about Camper. Some of you knew that she was in the cat hospital last week. She was vomiting and had a fever; well, she stayed for two days until her fever was gone and they sent her home. Her blood work came back normal, so her diagnosis was "fever of unknown origin"...She's back to her old self, meowing, chirping, eating, and just being lovable! Samba stayed healthy the whole time, fortunately. I'm so glad my kitties are both home and healthy!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

cinco de mayo

Eating turkey burgers and drinking Guinness (boys) and white wine (girls) is the only way we roll on Cinco de Mayo!!!

Have a happy and safe holiday, America!