A chilly night in Philadelphia.



At least 1,000 people filled the Piazza in Northern Liberties to watch the Phillies clench the 2009 National League title on the huge Jumbotron TV. We grabbed our lawn chairs and headed out to celebrate the excitement of watching the game there. I left at the 7th inning to head into the city. I walked around on Broad Street, hearing the screams of excitement resonating throughout the streets as people watched at the nearby bars. Philly cops were wearing riot helmets, mounted police officers waited on their horses, lamp posts were greased on Broad Street, and some newspaper boxes were removed. When the Phillies won, people filled the streets…celebrating every way they knew how. Of course, it was nothing like last year when the Phillies won the World Series, but people were happy and that’s what this city needs. Now the Phillies are off to the 2009 World Series! Go Phillies!!












These gardens are located on both sides of the historical McIlvaine House here in Philadelphia.





Today my adventures landed me at the Curtis Center here in Philadelphia. The building was historically the home of the Curtis Publishing Company, which was well known for publishing Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, among others. But little did I know that the interior of this building is so grand. The offices in the building lie on the outer edges of every floor and the huge court on the main floor has a cathedral ceiling that extends up to the skylit roof. Obviously, it’s had some remodeling, but it’s still pretty magnificent. I was overwhelmed with the interior that I forgot to take a photo of the exterior. Next time.

Little did I know that also within the Curtis Building resides a huge Tiffany mosaic piece entitled “Dream Garden.” It was designed by artist Maxfield Parrish and executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios in 1916. it measures 15 x 49 feet. It uses over 100,000 pieces of favrile glass that were each hand-fired in each of the 260 colors. I’ve lived in Philadelphia for about 14 years and had no idea that this was even here. It is huge and amazing and I highly recommend checking it out if you live or visit Philadelphia. Read more about the piece here. The Curtis Building is on the corner of 6th & Walnut. The entrance with the Tiffany piece is on 6th Street.

I purchased a new camera yesterday: the Canon 5D markII. It only seemed right to take it for a test drive. A friend and I ended up at the Philadelphia Zoo.





My cousin and my grandpa arrived in Philly on Sunday morning. We went on a boat ride on the Delaware River on the Spirit of Philadelphia. I had always been curious about this boat, but it’s even cheesier than I ever imagined it to be. Picture wedding dance party with cheese dance songs on a cruise and that would be it. Nevertheless, the food was good and we saw as much of the Delaware River as you really could see. I mean, let’s face it: there isn’t much. We celebrated Heather’s birthday!



In the evening, we went to a Phillies game. It was the first MLB baseball game for my cousin, the first one that my grandpa had been to in a while, and it’s the first time that I got to go to a Phillies game and sit in the 6th row! We were right by third base and it was awesome! Our tickets were expensive, but we had a good time. And since it was my cousin’s birthday, someone came to the seat to bring her a card and the whole section around us sang happy birthday to her while having confetti thrown on her. It was nothing short of awesome!






None of us really slept well, but we were troopers and woke up early enough to catch a ride on one of those Big Bus tours around the city. The tour is great if you have a good seat, but I don’t recommend sitting in the back. We had stopped off at City Hall to take a trip to the tower, which is something that I hadn’t done in years. The weather was perfect for a great view of the city. We finished off the day with a lunch at Sabrina’s.

I was surprised with the amount of energy that my grandpa had while he was here. I was pooped afterwards, but he really kept up the competition for us! We all had a great time!
You can license and download this photo on iStockphoto.