eastern state penitentiary

on sunday, eric, juli, adam and i went to eastern state penitentiary.
a little background on it: it's considered to be the world's first true penitentiary; it was the first to use solitary confinement; al capone was held here



we got ready for our audio tour






i think this was death row




al capone's cell




they also have art installations throughout the prison
juxtaposition


purge incomplete
represents the plumbing at the penitentiary, which had running water before the white house




gtmo
represents an actual cell at gtmo


ghost cats
represents the cats that took up residence at the penitentiary

bits of the weekend

eric and i started the weekend off with dinner at good dog. we've been eating really well since we got here, but i can't wait to start cooking again.



falafel for lunch on saturday

we spent most of saturday at this bike thing at moore.



this building is near eric's friends, and it's so cool looking! i googled it, and it used to be the lorraine apartments/the divine lorraine hotel. it was the first hotel in philadelphia to be racially inegrated. supposedly it's going to be turned into condos, but construction is halted at the moment.




sunday, during the day, eric, juli, adam and i went to eastern state penitentiary. i took a lot of photos there, so i am going to make a separate post.

nyc!

yesterday juli & i decided to go to nyc for the day. $20 will get you a roundtrip bus ticket, how awesome is that?

as soon as we stepped of the bus, i spotted zarin fabrics. if you've ever watched real housewives of nyc then you should know who jill zarin is! this made me ridiculously excited.



we then headed to washington square park to wait on rachele and amanda to meet up with us.



juli and i were hot, thirsty and hungry, so we went to blind tiger for some food and beer.


and trevor met us! trevor and i went to high school together for a few years.


juli looking like a space cadet.


after blind tiger we went to another bar, white horse.

juli and amanda

me and rachele! rachele and i have been best friends for over 10 years, and have known each other for probably close to 18 years.



i had been wanting to try this place for a few weeks, and all vegan ice cream shop!


all the ice cream was delicious!



nick, another friend from high school, met up with us later. my junior year i hung out with these peeps all the time. it's gonna be awesome being so close to them again.


amanda used to live in philly, but now lives in brooklyn. i think she should move back to philly.


our crew for the day.

as soon as we got back to philly, juli and i walked over to celebrate wiz's birthday.


and then we left early because i was beat down from a busy day. i can't wait to go back to new york.

we have an apartment

yay! we signed our lease last night. we move into our apartment next week. i am so excited, not that hanging out at the residence inn isn't awesome.



this is the front of our apartment, we're on the second floor.





there are a lot of really good restaurants in the neighborhood. we've been frequenting el camino real for half-price margaritas!



and i am still bored at the hotel. today i decided to braid my hair for braid wednesday. yes, i really am that exciting.



but tomorrow i am going to nyc for the day! it's crazy to think that i am go there any time i want.

hanging out

i'd hate to jinx it since it's not official yet (we still need to actually sign the lease), but we got the apartment! i am so excited that we finally found the perfect place.

until we move in, though, we are staying at a hotel. definitely pros & cons. pros: we were able to go grocery shopping, we were able to finally unpack our bags, & it has a gym! i've missed working out regularly. the only con is the hotel is out of the city & eric is using my car, which means i am stuck at the hotel all day.

i thought i would like being unemployed & hanging out, but when you are stranded in a hotel, it actually sucks, & i wish i was working. i'm sure once we move into the apartment i'll be fine & once i have a job i'll miss doing nothing, but right now i am bored!

we've really just been hanging out with friend's, eating amazing food & complaining about the rain.

i know that when i need gas, the only place i will go is rock n' roll exxon.

right down the street you can buy live poultry and have instant slaughter! (eww)

i've been missing my cats like crazy, but these kitties have kept me happy until kitta & grissom arrive.

and i'm loving the bike lanes. & the flat streets. we haven't been able to ride as much as we'd like because of the rain, but i'm still excited to be in a bike-friendly city!