Inside sound

HEY. I finally got a bunch of film developed from the past couple of weeks, and they turned out nicely for the most part.
On another note, I've been so incredibly sad. Everyone has left for college and I still have 1.5 weeks to go... I made a sad playlist on my ipod (consisting of Elliott Smith, Coconut Records, Blonde Redhead, El Perro Del Mar, and Mirah) and cried in the car. I came to the realization that more times than not inside I feel like how Blonde Redhead sounds.Here are my boos Katie and Dylan being friends.
I've went to Artisans Cafe with these girls (Zoe and Charlotte) many, many times last week.
Charlotte and I shared a blueberry muffin.
Zoe got a milk mustache!
We watched Brad perform at Steel City.
Julia gave us all funny pens because she was leaving... Here's Charlotte with her cow.
A fly landed on Charlotte's leg.
I gave Charlotte a cigar box full of candies from Shrivers as a late birthday present. Of course a pink bow.
My kitty Thumper is fat but fierce.And a bonus photo! This is one left over from my Martha's Vineyard batch. It was taken on the way home when I was completely frustrated with my stupid tires.

Goodnight!

Bon Voyage, Chester Springs

Now, since I've done a tribute to Philadelphia, the place of my birth, I must now do one about my place of childhood. I couldn't leave out poor Chester Springs, Phoenixville, and Kimberton, could I? Here we go, my five favorite places!

Chester Springs Library
1685-A Art School Road
Chester Springs, PA 19425
The smallest/cutest library in existence. My early teen years were littered with bike rides to this wondrous land of escapes. It was an easy way to get far from the house and still only be a mile away. Oh, there's also the ruins of a hospital from the Civil War behind it.

Steel City Coffeehouse
203 Bridge Street
Phoenixville, PA
Steel City has always been my cure for boredom. There's usually something interesting going on, whether it's open mic night or there's just boy drama between a friend and the barista. It's always packed with wackos.

Artisans Gallery And Cafe
236 Bridge Street
Phoenixville, PA
Artisans is definitely the calmer alternative to Steel City. It has great food, beautiful pastries, ice cream, local art on the walls, and all the coffee is served out of handmade mugs. It has a light, friendly, very nonthreatening atmosphere.

Kimberton CSA
415 W. Seven Stars rd.
Phoenixville, PA 19460
The CSA (community supported agriculture) has been part of my life since we moved to the suburbs. Going and picking up our share of the vegetables has always been a Tuesday after school ritual. I love how each season brings a new treat; right now it's peaches, raspberries, and zucchini.

Goodwill Store And Donation Center
700 Nutt Rd.
Phoenixville, PA 19460
This is probably the best Goodwill I've ever been to. It's quite large and has an expansive array of random things. I always find lots of dresses, shoes and teacups there. I also bought a small leather suitcase that I love very much.

And, again, of course my favorite places in these areas are my friends houses, but they don't count.

Philadelphia, farewell

This post is a tribute to my beautiful city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. I will miss you fountains and their welcoming waters, your cheese steaks which I can never taste, your giant $2 ice creams, your community of knitters, and even your sometimes foul stench. William Penn, will you watch over me even when I'm gone?

So, as a tribute to this wonderful city, I'll list some of my favorite places nestled in the corners of it's streets.

The Night Kitchen
7725 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118
Ok, so the Night Kitchen isn't centered directly in the midst of things, but it's still technically in Philadelphia. Actually, I love its location, because it makes it all the easier to walk to after sleepover nights with Katie. Going to the Night Kitchen in the morning after a sleepover has become a bit of a tradition for the two of us. They have the most amazingly delicate cakes and pastries, but my favorite will always be the cinnamon bun.

Washington Square
Locust and 6th Sts.
Philadelphia, PA
I always think of knitting club whenever I go here. I've had many an adventure in this park! All of them great (Policeman: A lil' hookah action ya got going there?). I prefer it to the hipper alternative, Rittenhouse Square. It's not quite as full of hipsters, bike punks, and douche bags.

Sophie's Yarns
739 S. 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
My friend Jamie works here! It is loaded with high-quality yarn, creative patterns, and smiling faces. Ever have any question or problem with your knitting? You can just waltz right in and ask for help, free of charge! It's such a friendly place.

Old City Coffee
221 Church Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Old City Coffee is one of my favorite coffee shops of all time. It's small, cute, unpretentious, and in the most perfect of locations. Walking down the street you would never know it was there. It's down a tiny cobblestone side street-- like a oasis in the middle of the big city. Most importantly, it has great coffee and cute baristas!

Philadelphia Aids Thrift
Philadelphia AIDS Thrift
514 Bainbridge St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
What a great place! It's cheap, cheap, cheap and there are always the most interesting thingamabobs and nick nacks to be found in its corners. It's always a nice surprise to find a piece of intricately patterned fabric, an old faded postcard, or a delicate teacup when you weren't expecting it.

But, of course, my favorite places in the city are my friends houses. That goes without saying.

Martha's heaven

Martha's Vineyard! What a place! It's one of the most beautiful spots I've ever been to in my lifetime. Here are some pictures from heaven.Raphie standing in front of one of the famous gingerbread houses.
Here's me pretending to own my favorite one.
We bought a feast at Cronig's and ate it at the beach.
Our salad, wine, and watermelon feast!
The water was heavenly!
President Obama was due at the Tisbury fair two days after we spent the day there.
We ate up a gigantic bowl of fries at the fair.Raphie and I ordered friend zucchini, friend clams, and clam chowder at The Bite in Menemsha.
Me drinking beer on the beach. Windy windy.
Alpacas at the fair! They have pretty punk rock haircuts.

There was a bus painted all over with Alice In Wonderland characters!Raphie's cousin Cassius had many video games.
There's nothing nicer!
We took Raphie's mom's nice hat with us.
Another feast! Fried zucchini, avocado and tomato dip and wine.

Wearin' a spiderman hat.

I hope that you can catch even a glimpse of Martha's Vineyard's beauty from these photos! Have a nice Tuesday!

Up in the sky

So, I bought ALL of the four items that I posted from Mod Cloth earlier this week. I can't wait until they come!

A couple weekends ago, I went to Ocean City, NJ with my mom, my sister, and her friend Vivian. I met up with my cousin and her friend, and we took the boardwalk by storm.
My mom's favorite ride is the Ferris Wheel, so of course it had to be our first ride.
Here's me cheesing on the ride.
Here are me and my cousin Kyra posing up in the sky.
Of course we had to take a peek in our favorite candy store, Shrivers. Kyra liked the saltwater taffy man.
I accumulated an arms full of candy for Charlotte's birthday. I ended up fitting it all into a cigar box and sticking a bow on top. The candy apple was for me-- my favorite.

Goodbye #1

Goodbye Stephen and Kelsey!
All of my friends are leaving for college this week! It's so sad!
Here are pictures from the goodbye party Julia threw for Stephen and Kelsey. Stephen is going off to University of Boulder and Kelsey is going to live in Florida and then to SCAD.
SOSO SAD!I put a sign on my wine bottle so that no one would take it... I probably shouldn't have made it that harsh. I also made that cake, vanilla with blueberry filling. It said "Goodbye." on the top.
Erina came all the way from New Jersey to see Kelsey off!
Olivier is from Lyon, France! He was Zoe's exchange.
Zoe is incredibly beautiful! I'm going to miss her so much! She leaves for Paris this week.
Erina and Raphie making a silly face.
Laura and Kelsey, the honorary guest. I'm having trouble living without her.
The empty beers.
Here's a beer can tower!

Pan Dulce

It's taken 4 hours, but my pan dulce are done. I had to let them rise TWICE for 3 hours total. Good thing they're delicious! Bread with just the right amount of sweet and beautiful.Rising, the first time.Cooling!Being displayed!

I didn't have bread flour, so I used regular AP flour. The dough was stickier and rose more with the AP flour, but they still turned out really nicely. Just a bit harder to work with.

I found the recipe originally on Tastespotting. It's the most amazing website with the most delightful food photography. It is seriously my bible (and my home page...)

Morning has broken

Yesterday I made cupcakes for my dear friend Zoe! They were a sort of belated birthday present. We took pictures of them outside while her dog Bailey eyed them fondly.
She devoted a blog post to them.
Here are some pictures of my last lovely morning home alone. It was the perfect day...I had coffee, mango lemonade, short stories, cigarettes and sunshine.Here's my favorite buddy, Bee Bee, being a curious cat.

At this moment I'm baking Pan Dulce. It's taking forever, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait. I'll post pictures when they're done.