the city of brotherly love

One of my dearest friends got married last weekend to her long-time boyfriend.  The wedding was in Philadelphia where they've lived for the past six years or so.  I've visited them there a few times over the years during trips back to NY.  But I had never gotten to take Adam along and thoroughly explore the historic city.  We were fortunate to have amazing weather the whole time we were there and the fall there is just awesome.  The colorful trees and falling leaves against the historic buildings and cobblestone streets is about as charming as it gets.

Our travel day was Adam's birthday.  He was a trooper about spending the majority of his day cooped up on an airplane.  He was rewarded handsomely with dinner that night at a cute little Italian restaurant called Porcini culminating with his most favorite dessert, tiramisu.  He probably could have done without the waiters singing, dimmed lights and candle that left all eyes in the restaurant on him.  But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!

Here we are all cleaned up and heading to the wedding.

The wedding had a lovely fall theme with orange gerbera daisies, pine cones and candles adorning the tables.

There were many of my oldest and dearest friends from the Portland era of my life in attendance.  This is my friend Berit, whom I met my freshman year at KU, and her husband.  Berit is one of my best friends in the world and the whole reason I ended up on the west coast.  It was great spending time with them.

The bride and groom both glowed with happiness and love.  They are currently honeymooning in Jamaica.  Wish I were there!

The highlight of the night for this preggy girl was the announcement that the bride and groom were cutting the cake!  Shortly after, I sent my husband to look for a piece of cake for me, but he soon came back to report that the cake was just sitting there, with no one preparing it for cutting or serving.  Most other guests were not concerned, but I certainly was!  So I sent my husband back on a mission to get that cake cut!  He did not disappoint me. . .and here is the fine young lad who hand delivered two pieces of cake just for me.  I only ate one piece.

Oh what a happy girl a piece of cake makes!

Once the cake kicked in, I was ready to dance.  And dance I did, belly and all.

The final day, we had several hours before our flight and decided to take in some of the history and culture of the city.  First stop, the Liberty Bell.  You know how many times they rang the Liberty Bell before it cracked?  One!  One measly time.

Next we visited Elfreth's Alley, popularly known as "our nation's oldest residential street".

It was a darling little street with pumpkins on every stoop and sleeping cats in the windows.  Crazy to think people still reside in these historic houses built in the early 18th century.

Wandering around this quaint Old Town area, we stumbled upon many random anomalies which we couldn't resist.

Historic figures were everywhere. . .

And we did our best to blend in.

Overall, a fantastic voyage filled with friends, food and fun.  Three of my favorite things!

hollywood nights

so it's true.  i do get moments of the full Hollywood experience from time to time.  last night was no exception.  we hosted a party at the Burton Snowboards store in LA to kick of the winter season and Shaun White was onsite to sign autographs and mingle with fans.  needless to say, his fans came out in droves to meet the Olympic gold medal superstar, lining up down the block several hours before we even opened the doors with everything from his notorious Wheaties box to snowboards to get signed.  but a few of his biggest fans were notorious in their own right.  the littlest Beckhams of soccer great David Beckham and uber "spicey" Victoria Beckham stopped by the store to meet Mr. White in person, skateboard around and get a couple of snowboards signed.  Becks looked on, snapping photos and looking every bit the proud papa.  we had to shut the store door for the few minutes they were there to ensure everyone's safety, but outside, the paparazzi crowded the windows trying to capture photos. 

and i stood by watching it all unfold.  with a full belly.