Philadelphia

It's more like the city of sisterly love for me - I took the past weekend to visit Philly and 3 of my wonderful friends from all different stages of life. L & I have known each other since I was born (she had a couple of miserable years before I came along, but let's just skip over that). Emily lived with me in Spain, and Amy & I shared a house with 9 other 'mates in college. I've been to Philadelphia before, so no need for a lot of site-seeing. It was the perfect weekend to my friends in different areas of the city - cute Jenkintown, happenin' south Philly, and quaint west Philly.

If there was ever a city that is filled with hipsters - it's Philly. Skinny jeans, short messy haircuts, flat boots, indie music, retro chic, bicycle riders, organic produce, 'found' decor, and general angst fill the city soul. Public transit is the way to go, Goodwill is the only place to shop. Local coffee shops and even tea shops are the hotspots. Everyone is busy, few are helpful. People from Philly love Philly.

At one point, Amy & I started counting the number of girls who looked like they were copping Anthropologie's style - we stopped because it was every single girl we passed. So I started thinking: what exactly is hipster? And why is it such a big deal? I know my own association with the word (see above description of Philadelphians) - but what does it actually mean? Merriam-Webster says a hipster is: a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns (as in jazz or fashion). So there we have it - Philadelphia is filled with unusually aware and interested people.

I'm not sure agree with this definition, because if a whole crowd of people are doing thing X, then thing X is no longer indie or even unusual. I'm pretty sure thing X is now a trend. It is a trend to be hipster. there, I said it. No disrespect to Philly, which I am growing to love, but it's true.

This post has been brought to you by the letters P, E, A, and L. (guess what they stand for? it's way easy)

Greece is the word...

...it's the word that you heard Becky & me say about 100 times this past weekend. We're working on planning our second international excursion together - and we've decided on Greece. Surrounded by the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea, eclipsed in the ancient philosophers, and filled with the mysterious mythological folklore - it's a country I have wanted to visit for a long time. Not only did the foundations of the world come from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, not only was the art there inspirational for centuries of artists, sculptors, and actors, but so many of the biblical apostles traveled through Greece... You could spend an entire vacation just visiting the sites where Paul traveled. Our tour advisor Chris told me, "The beauty of Greece is that you're never more than an hour away from the beach." I think this is going to be a good vacation.

Becky teases me because I know more about ancient Greece & Rome than I do about America, but these societies laid the framework for the western world. What philosopher do you know who has not studied Plato? What artist do you know who hasn't studied the Discus Thrower? and has anybody missed the Olympics for the past few centuries? Drama, art, music, storytelling, and let's not forget those amazing greek specialty foods - spanakopita, baklava, and feta cheese baby.

So, who has been to Greece out there and wants to send me some recommendations? We're looking for places to stay, favorite things to eat, tour ideas, beaches, adventure-filled activities - anything! As we say around the office, gracias antemano!