feeling nutty in 2015

Recently, some friends and I were having a post happy hour drink (yeah) at our local tap room, and the topic of abandoned blogs turned up. Specifically: Kelly's THINGS I'M TRYING and Josh's BALLARD COMMA BACHELOR. (Neither blog has been updated in three years.)

Although I do kind of believe that the "blog" has been fairly/totally eclipsed by other, lighter social media (talking to you, Instagram), I do miss the days of regular blogging. Door Sixteen just made a promise to do a little more posting, and it made me remember how much I always liked reading her blog, and that I liked writing mine.

Fueled by those remembrances (and by a bet I made with the aforementioned pals who have also quit blogging), I'm going to try and put up one post a month. That's doable, yeah?

After that boring introduction: I give you this, my Nutella Class Action Settlement.

Ages ago, I got an email in my junk account (heyo, Hotmail!) that asked if I had bought any Nutella in the past year, and how much. They said they were suing Nutella for false claims of being a "healthy alternative to peanut butter".  Did I want to join the suit?

Duh.

Fast forward like a year and a half or something, and this girl is $7.15 richer. Off to buy more Nutella probably.

bandits

Me and these girls went to the beach (thanks Mom and Dad Brown) and did hot tubs and late late beaches, and early morning beaches with dolphins, played cards and made blender drinks, and saw a few wild ponies at Assateaque, and went to Seacrets (yikes) and, perhaps most importantly, got some olde timey photos taken on the boardwalk.

It cost a million dollars and was (obv) totally worth it.

We also got a whole bus of people to sing Happy Birthday to Kimmy. 28!!!

snackMail

Been a minute since I did a review, and maybe I've never actually done a straight side-by-side. Here we go. It's about getting delicious snacks in the mail!

A little background. I listen to a lot of podcasts (or at least I did until I lost my iPod?), and a lot of them are telling me to try out NatureBox. Then I heard a positive IRL review from a co-worker at the bar. So I decided to take My Brother, My Brother and Me up on their half-price starting offer, and try it out.

I liked it. (Especially for $10). They have lots of good choices, and you get five snacks in the mail, monthly. I thought $20 (the regular, non-promo price) was a little steep though - so I cancelled after my first month. Then they asked why, I said it was too expensive, so they offered me another month at the promo rate. (If they keep that up, I'll stay with them forever, FYI).

It's five good-sized (chapstick for size) bags of healthy-ish snacks. Granola, pretzels, almonds, etc. Yum. (Except the Peanut Butter Nom Noms? Not great. Almost everything else was though.)

THEN I heard about a way cheaper option, called Graze.  Six bucks, and the first one's totes free!? Sign me up. Literally.

I picked my treats, and waited. After a fairly successful experience with Nature Box, I thought Graze would be pretty comparable. Then, this wimpy, tiny box came. (Again, chapstick for size).

Matt checks out the tiny snacks inside. They have weird, fake-out names, like "orange chocolate flapjacks" which means "granola bar", in Graze-talk.

Again, here: tiny snacks. The four little packages below are the whole shipment of Graze. Big old pass.

As much fun as it is to get things in the mail, I'll ultimately end up quitting both probably (unless Nature Box keeps doing their promo price forever, in which case I'm totally totally in for keeps.) 

You can/should do Nature Box though, at least once at the half off price. If I had a regular job I'd have it delivered to my work and it would be totally awesome.  

I'd also especially rec Nature Box if you have a big cat.

Phew. 100 pictures of boxes, sorry. Get at me if you need a discount code or a granola rec.

SEPTApocalypse

I take the train most days, either to and from school or to and from the brewery. So, like, a lot of SEPTA time.

Most days, unless I'm real wrapped up in a podcast or something, I end up thinking apocalyptic thoughts. Not at all like "oh man, I wish the world was ending" and not even scurred, like Melancholia is right around the corner - different.

It's more like, "if something big went down right now, and we all had to live in this subway car for a while (because obviously underground is going to be a safe bet), who will be on what team, and who will be Jack/Locke, where is the best spot to camp out if you know it'll be for a few weeks. How many granola bars are in my backpack?"
I guess I'm a little crazy. This mainly happens on the Orange line. Anyone else?

Speaking of which, I'm coming up on my 10 year anni here, and JUST REALIZED THAT THE ORANGE LINE HAS ORANGE SEATS AND THE BLUE LINE HAS BLUE SEATS. Duh, Sue.

here comes the Groom

Impending hot (sheddin') days motivated me to get in touch with my groomer. Then: good news. She's back in town, and doing house calls.

I do it for MLB's benefit, but also for mine. Less cat hair around AND it looks funny. Anyway. If you need a (super) affordable, personable, patient groomer, get at me. I would love to refer you. (She does dogs too, dog people. Bow Wow.)

Next up: look for some revelations about SEPTA, nail polish, and snail mail snack delivery services.

chill out

Today, two things about warmer weather (besides like: "I'm glad to wear dresses with no tights" and "bikes!" and "yards/roofs/bbq's!").

First, this doesn't effect me, but this is kind of funny:

A whole bunch of central air units were stolen from all these schools along Germantown Ave! Including my school. I don't know what the new plan is, but for now, it's putting a fence around the Place That Used To Be an Air Conditioner.

The good (for me) news is, the art studio is in the old(e) mansion part of the building that doesn't have central air, so: window unit will keeping doing for now.

Second: since the dead of winter, I stalked and wanted these clogs.

I finally bought them (tax return present to myself). I treated the leather. And I am now, currently, right this second, wearing them as I type this blog entry. This is the third or fourth time I've worn them - never much further than the coffeeshop or a bar in the neighborhood.

They are the worst.  They are so uncomfortable. I think, "they'll get better!"
They don't. Keeping bad. I read some reviews! They're pretty much like cute blog girls saying, "Boy, are these shoes the cat's pajamas!" and then a couple of them being honest and saying ".....and, you can't wear them if you have to walk anywhere."
Every step is like a small piano hammer is hitting the top of my foot.

That said, they are very cute, and I'll probably keep trying them.

The Swedes don't know everything though.

tag-along

I'm not exactly a person who's hip to the most cutting edge street art, but I do notice it when it's straight staring me in the face in South Philly.

This is my new* favorite tag (tagger?): "Dracula". I think it's so funny and good, in all it's variations.

This one, right outside the house, is also good. I like the fangs, I like the bite marks, I like the top hat, I like the cursive-y, fancy, font.

Is there an easy way to send a love (okay, appreciation) note to a tagger? Move over, ESPO. (Just kidding/as if).

*another favorite, though not as new, is "bagels".

cabbi-hole: I'm back

After a many month hiatus, and several well-natured scoldings by dedicated, abandoned readers, I'm going to try to blog again.

My debut is going to be a thrift store find. I'm spending my M-F up at Settlement Music School (became the permanent art teacher there, since the last time I updated), and because I'm there most days, I'm trying to make my classroom pretty cozy.

On a recent thrift journey with one of my favorite New Yorkers, I picked up this little key cabinet.

Because we're about to get deep into some Warhol, it was a particularly timely find.

Now I just have to find more things that lock and get more keys*. I'm working on it.

If you want to see more of our classroom projects, you can check them out at the far more current and frequently updated puppyjawns.

Things I think you might be able to look forward to in future updates:

• other junk I bought at thrift stores
• weird outfits I'm trying out
• reviews of Apps
• observations about bad shows I'm watching on Netflix (Marriage Bootcamp: Bridezillas)
• stuff about cats
• manicures

So: same old, SAMO. Save the drama for your mama.

*PS: isn't the keychain cute/funny/easy to find in your pocket? Every set of keys for the whole school has a drumstick. I love it.

2K14: bring it.

I love living in Philadelphia on the first day of a new year.

When we first moved here (as fresh faced babies), in 2004, I didn't know what I was getting into. Not as far as Philly (I had an idea of what that was), but more in regards to New Years.



2008, 2009, 2010, we threw some super-great ragers over at Beulah, with champagne fountains, countdowns, confetti cannons, loud music, people kissing, and everything. So fun. (Props to Marilyn and Sarah, each in their own way the best co-hosts).

Wasn't Beulah fun?
Fast forward: If you follow me on Instagram (also "doggieeyes" over there, if you're not) you've either watched or not watched some of my New Years Day round-ups.  Around 2010, I started "believing" in the Mummers in earnest. 

(If you don't know about it, I can't even really explain it. Mix f'real dudes, banjos, drag, liquor, sleeplessness, competitive drive, hometown pride, mardi gras, and umbrellas, always, lawlessness, hints of racism, carnival, bitter cold, and hangovers, silly string, party anthems, and olde timey traditions, elaborate costumes, and you've got an idea. If you really need to know you should try wikipedia or something, but I'm not sure how far that would get you.)  

All this stuff happens on New Years Day. Now that I'm an old person, this means taking it a little easier on New Year's Eve. I can do that!  

It's weird and it's wild. And you need to be in bed by 10:30.

And I'm really glad I've gotten to do it so many times.  This is my TENTH New Years in Philly, and I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow.



Ten more years? Maybe. Maybe not.


In any case: to my friends who venture out for another day of parties after a whole night of parties, to midnight kissees, to mummers, to Mayor Nutter (?), to Holly for brainstorming resolutions with me every year, to Brown who is maybe my best Mummer soldier, to everybody: Happy New Year. I like it. (Maybe some more on Resolutions later.)

field trip

This weekend JB and Ry took me to see my Philly Photo Day billboard. It's up in my old hood (5th and Oxford), near Crane Arts.

The rainbows look better IRL (both "IRL" in my own window, really, and "IRL" on the billboard, as opposed to a photo of a photo, if that makes sense.)

Thankfully, we were able to find an excellent parking spot for observation.

solutions

Some things I have done for my cat:

• paid for him to get awesome haircuts
• got him a kitten
• bought this cool A-frame birdhouse to hang outside his window
• bought suet, suet cage, to try to attract birds to birdhouse, in fact attracting all the fatty squirrels 

and finally

• covering suet in Franks to deter squirrels after reading that they hate spicy
• conceding that squirrels are going to eat it anyway, but really they're just as interesting to watch as birds

photoyolo

I subscribe to photoyolo, this super straightforward/cool photography project where you just get emailed one picture a day.

I get the daily picture sent to my hotmail, so it's not jammin' up my "real" inbox. Most days I open my yolo, some days I don't. It might be a phone pic of a dog doing a thing, or it might be this:

but they're usually worth opening and spending 3 seconds on. The simplicity of the whole project (including the website and their emails) was super appealing to me. You can sign up here if you're interested.

school days

Here's my new school, where I'm long-term subbing 'til March.  It's in a cool old mansion on Germantown Ave. 

New job means: 

• hours of commute a day (which means hours of podcasts a day)
• early bedtimes (a departure from my most recent sleep-in-til-forever lifestyle)
• the general sense of purpose which comes from employment at any level
• clay in the treads of all my shoes, paint in my hair, glue on my sweaters

Edit: working with little kids also means I'm surpassing my daily hug intake.  Brian Neville once told us that a human needs 7+ hugs a day (source?) to feel the best/do the best/etc.  I'm more than there.

Franklin Flea: the good/bad/etc, "some New York thing"

Today we hit the hot new flea market in town, the Franklin Flea, which has filled the "hip flea market" hole that "sneered" at Brooklyn Flea* left.  I have a couple mixed feelings about it, but generally I'd say to try it out.

The good: it's in the old Strawbridges.  So it's a pretty, old, fancy department store, with a few fixtures (like giant chandeliers) in tact and in use.  There's lots of well curated stuff (furniture, housewares, clothes) and a good mix of vintage and handmade.  For instance, I got this "80's Aztec Babydoll dress", which I think fits into my new "wacky art teacher" wardrobe pretty well.

I also got these sour cream glasses which are kind of my holy grail of finds (Philadelphia '76 bicentennial glasses).

Which brings me to the (kind of) bad. Prices were spot on.  Like, not outrageously high or anything, but like exactly market value.  No deals.
The other bad news is that it's still a little small.  Hopefully they'll keep growing and take over some more of Strawbridges, and it'll be a spot you might want to spend a couple hours at.

In any case, worth checking out.


*this whole idea is funny, how people basically boycotted the Brooklyn Flea when it was at the Piazza just because it had the word "Brooklyn" in it.  This article in Philly Magazine is great (in a way), especially because of the one quote:  "I refuse to support anything in Philadelphia that has some New York thing in it's name."

bill-bored

Faithful readers will know I'm a big proponent of Philly Photo Day.

Here's a really good picture I took with my telephone at the opening last night.  (It was impossible).

Well, guess what!  This girl's photo is gonna be on a billboard!  During the month of December, you'll be able to take a field trip to picturesque Kensington, Philadelphia, and see my "work" real big.

Why a picture of curtains and rainbows got picked is kind of mysterious, but I'm pretty stoked anyway*


I'm also excited that they picked another one that is going to be a giant cat.  But more on that later.

gal-chal

I (and a few other people you may know) have embarked on a November challenge that's not about mustaches.  After reading both some suspicious but encouraging blog posts , and some I know I can do better than this guy posts on the topic, I got inspired to try it myself.  A gallon a day, for a month (November).

To be honest, I always drink a fair amount of water, so it wasn't a huge change to shoot for a gallon. At the onset, the hardest part was trying to keep track.  Fancy water is always sold in liters, but at home or at the bar, I'm more likely to have a pint, and how do pints and liters match up, and how many of those are in a gallon!?  I eventually abandoned any ideas of liters, and locked into those 8 pints a day.

See?  A whole shelf of pint glasses, ready to get filled and emptied and refilled.

Coming up on 2 weeks (I started on the Nov 3rd), and I must say: there's some pros and cons.  Well, only one con.  Bathroom trips.  All the time. The pros?

• feeling good about my skin (this may be imaginary)
• drinking water somehow means I'm eating a little less bad food?  I find I have this mentality that I worked so hard to get all this good (water) into my body, it'd be dumb to eat all the hoagies.*
• going out, I'm trying to alternate drinks with pints of water.  That double results in drinking less booze (saving money/making better choices) and way better mornings, because my body is ultra hydrated all the time
• my apartment is, at times, SUPER hot and dry, and I think having so much water in my system is helping me deal with that without having a body freakout

A few friends have jumped on this hydration-train, with various degrees of dedication. While I'm finding that I'm hitting 12(ish) pints (or 1.5gal) a day, that might not be for everyone (A: one liter is a great start, I swear). Anyway. So far? Feeling good. And now I have to go to the bathroom.

I also wrote about this experiment from a...slightly different/probably less appropriate for you angle here.




*this isn't categorically true, and I wouldn't say I've totally made a switch to a healthy diet, but I'm making better decisions sometimes.

Trick

For someone that likes Halloween pretty good, I sure am ill-prepared for some parts of it.

Sorry, kids.

spooks

Thanks, Meesh/Jumi/Dan for hosting Halloween and aren't Poseybooth pictures good?

#phillyphotoday13

Guess what day it is?  Philly Photo Day.

That means (same as last year, and the year before....) take a picture anywhere in Philadelphia, any time today, and send it in.  Philadelphia Photo Arts Center will print it, and it will be in an exhibit up at Crane Arts (I think in November).

(this isn't a picture I'm sending in, but it's an outtake from other blog, standing in for The Picture. I'll take the right picture soon, the day is young.)

This project started a few years ago, and every time I've been to the exhibit, there are a million more pictures than the time before, which is cool.  It's a little like IRL Instagram (so: cats, selfies, skylines, etc) but also a little better.
Get yours in this year.  Then we can go to the show and drink wine and look for our pictures on the wall and dodge people we don't want to see.

(Oh, and bonus big deal: PPAC had a successful Kickstarter for this project, and will be posting 40 Photo Day photos on billboards this year.  That's cool.)

the Diaphone-in

Last week, our pals the Diaphone played upstairs at KFN, with some of our other friends and some strangers.

Aside from an embarrassing trip-up with the door boy, it was all really nice. You can listen to their music here.