Curious to see what my new condo looks like?  Come watch the video below!  It is a bit long (12 minutes), so to make it easier to view I’m putting down some time marks so you may skip around.  If I tag a Xangan, that means I mentioned that person during the video.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think of my new place.

Time Marks

:07 Why I had to move
:21 @toadywonders
:32 Kitchen
1:00 @NimbustheDragon
1:46 Kermit the Frog
1:56 Cooking with Coolio (thanks @Endless21Echos )
2:25 Living room
3:26 My fishes
3:44 My AMAZING view
4:36 Tennis corner
4:52 Bedroom
5:15 Hawaiian girl
5:33 My office
6:47 Bookshelf
7:00 Xangans book
7:11 @wyrdkismet
7:27 @VaneDave
7:45 My bed
8:26 Mini fridge
9:24 @snapeful
9:32 @secade
9:43 Closet
10:11 Bathroom
10:45 Snoopy
10:53 New towel!
11:12 Final thoughts

Now you all know your way around my place if you decide to stalk and rob me.  If you do though, don’t be shocked when you encounter me with this.

On Saturday, I had to travel to Philadelphia to make a guest appearance at a work event.  Since I was going to be there anyway, I decided to make it a one day personal trip as well.  My girl has never been and has also never had cheesesteak at all (gasp!), so I was excited to bring her along.

First stop was Chinatown.  We ate at a Sichuan place called E Mei, which I thought was pretty good.  However the girl, being from Sichuan Province, was not impressed.  Hey, I tried!

We did some thrifty shopping after that.  During my browsing, I came upon this shining gem:

After a quick tour of Reading Terminal Market, we walked several blocks over to the famous South Street where we met up with a couple Xangans, Kathy @HollywoodFever91 and Agatha @UnopenedSuitcases

We did some light snacking, since the girl and I were saving our bellies for cheesesteak later on.  However, when I came upon a store that was selling cheesesteak cookies I just had to try it out!

These sodas were pretty tasty, on the other hand.  I have never seen these brands before, so perhaps it’s a Philly thing?  Let me know if you seen them anywhere else.

Of course, no Philly trip would be complete without checking out the famous Liberty Bell:

After a short trip to Franklin Square (where we shall do mini-golf next time for sure, Agatha!), I was finally off to the work event that was the cause of this whole trip to begin with.

We had to leave the event early though to go grab some authentic Philly cheesesteak at Dalessandro’s.  We share a Philly cheesesteak and a chicken version of a Philly cheesesteak (cheesechicken?), both delicious!  Admittedly, I still prefer the greasy goodness of the traditional cheesesteak.

Oh, there was another reason why I was looking forward to coming here.  I finally met with the mother of Xanga (as I like to call her), the wonderful Beth @SeedSower!

We were only able to hang out briefly since I had to drive 3 hours back home, but I enjoyed the time chatting with her and wish we could continue.  She was definitely one of my top Xangans left I really wanted to meet, so I’m glad it worked out.

Before we parted, she kindly gifted me a bunch of her amazing cards she made.  Aren’t they awesome?  Thanks Beth!

Overall, I enjoyed Philly a lot more than I expected.  I forgot how much there really is in the City of Brotherly Love, so I look forward to the next time I can visit when I’m not so in a hurry.  The bench below speaks the truth:

P.S. Sorry for being MIA this past month!  Moving and work really kept me busier than I thought.  I will blog more, I will blog more, I will blog more…