Birthday Shout-Out: Rick (Miss Pussy!)

Hey Bloggy Friends! I feel terrible today. I totally didn't realize yesterday was the 29th, and the birthday of one of my best friends, Miss Pussy!! I'm notorious for that at times, I've just never been really good with remembering dates. Forgive me Puss! You know I love you, Gurl! I'm a day late, but I couldn't not post a special birthday shout-out to the one and only diva-supreme!

I met Rick about seven years ago when I moved to Louisville to live with my Dad. He lives there still and is working hard as a student at UofL, studying Art. He is a fantastic artist, who just purchased his own studio in downtown Louisville, so that he can begin to create art and hopefully sell it to the general public.

I have learned a lot from Puss. His impeccable style, sense of humor and demeanor towards living is one that I have found to be quite contagious in my own life. We have had some fantastic experiences together, not only there in Louisville but traveling to different fabulous cities throughout the nation. He is one of my few friends who has actually made it out to visit every city I have lived in, since we met, and for that I am very thankful.

I hope you had a great birhday, Puss. I'm so sorry that I didn't come to my senses yesterday and realize what the day was. I'm going to call you now and attempt to grovel for a minute until you forgive me!

Have a great weekend Bloggy Friends! I'm going downtown today to treat myself to a facial!!!

Love you all!

Josh

Last night as I was walking to the train station I strolled through City Hall to see a little holiday celebration going on in the plaza. To my excitement, I was there just in time to see disco legend, Melba Moore, and cast sing a little preview from their upcoming show, Ain't Misbehavin'! I didn't have a lot of space left on my memory card, but I got some footage. I believe Melba Moore is the one in the pink dress. Enjoy, Bloggy Friends!

My Favorite Things: Etsy

Good Thursday, beautiful Bloggy Friends! I am super excited because today is actually my Friday. Did I hear an Amen in the house??? That's right sister!

I don't have a bloggy video today. I'm really going to have to work out a bloggy video making schedule that works well with my new work schedule. It's hard to get off at 5:30, get home at 6-something and go straignt to video editing.. I'd rather eat and watch some tv! So bare with me, my lovely Bloggy Friends!

I do have a new addition to my never-ending Favorite Things list, however, and I wanted to share it with you today. My co-worker, Sarah, introduced me to this neat, new website called ETSY.COM. If you click that link it will take you to a color palette page where you can move your mouse around to a color you are attracted to, and they will show you all the things in their inventory that match that particular shade!! It is great for room decorating, or gifts for friends who adore things in certain colors. I love all the green stuff!

The items for sale on Etsy are unique because they are all handmade by different people across the globe. There really are beautiful items for sale, and you can find great deals. It's perfect for the fast-approaching Christmas season!

Enjoy the website, Bloggy Friends. Let me know if you find it particularly useful.

Love, Josh

*this ad was paid for by friends of etsy.com

Thanksgiving Bonus Footage: Talkin' With Mamaw

Hi Bloggy Friends!

I had a little extra Thanksgiving footage that I just had to share with you. Whenever a holiday comes around one of the first people I call is my grandmother, I call her Mamaw. She is quite a character and I always love chatting with her. She can be so funny on the telephone. When I was in high school my friends would make me call her just so they could hear her talkin' away. We usually like to sing together, especially when Christmas comes around, but this year she just wasn't having any Christmas carols yet. She was being a diva I guess!

I love her so much, she is definitely one thing that I am most thankful for in my life. One of my fondest memories of her was when I was a senior in high school. She grew up on a farm in Lancaster called "The Rice Farm." They didn't grow rice, I guess someone once owned it named Mr. Rice. Anyways, she still goes out to The Rice Farm to take hikes and explore the valleys where she grew up. It is one of her favorite things to do. But, this particular year she took my brother and I out walking with her once each month of that year so that we could see for ourselves the vast changes that took place throughout all the seasons. There were certainly days that she had to drag us out of bed to hike, but we did it and I am enormously glad that I did. She led us down secret passages, sang us songs from her childhood and shared countless stories that she has collected over the years. She knew just when every particular bird would fly in or out for the season - and could even distinguish them by their calls. Those twelve hikes were twelve of the most fantastic days of my life. These are moments that I will cherish in my heart for as long as it beats.

Enjoy my little conversation with Mamaw and the little extra piece of footage I have at the end from the land around The Green Valley Inn. Oh! HERE are some pictures we took that afternoon, too!

I love you, Bloggy Friends!

Josh



Today's song is one of Mamaw's favorites:

Wildwood Flower
The Carter Family
Can The Circle Be Unbroken?: Country Music's First Family

Thanksgiving Exturkeyganza!!!

Hello Bloggy Friends!!! It's great to see you guys back after the long, holiday weekend. We had such a terrific time on Thanksgiving. I must say, that this is probably one of my favorite Thanksgivings since I left home. This is also the very first Thanksgiving Alan and I spent together. It was great.

Thanks to Bloggy Friend Bill, we found out about a Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant called The Valley Green Inn. Let me tell you, it was the perfect place to spend the holiday. The weather was out of this world gorgeous and the food was double delicious!! The Green Valley Inn is nestled in the Wissahickon Valley of Fairmount Park, so the scenery was breathtaking. The colorful trees were shedding their leaves, the creek was flowing gently and there was a constant hum of happy people milling about the grounds. After we cleaned our plates we took advantage of the park area, hiking along trails and crossing cobblestone bridges - not to mention stopping to bust a move every now and then!!!

I have so much to be thankful for, Bloggy Friends, and I spent every minute of Thanksgiving day reflecting on that. I hope you did the same, because I know you are all very blessed and grateful as well.

I guess I should take this opportunity to say thanks to all of you who stop by to see my blog everyday and thank those of you who write your own blogs, providing me the perfect diversion from a hectic day! It's always nice to stop and smell the bloggy friends!

Have a great day and I'll see you soon!

Love, Josh

Musical Theater..... Wednesday...

Good morning, Bloggy Friends! I originally recorded this piece to call it Musical Theater Thursday, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'll be too busy stuffing my grill to post bloggy videos. It's a little something different that I thought I'd try to spice things up a little!!! Cha-Cha-Cha!!

The music comes from this music textbook I got a year or so ago while taking a voice class at City College. It has been lying around, so I thought I would put it to use and learn a few new songs! Singing is one of my favorite things in the world, so I hope you enjoy!

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving, Bloggy Friends. I'm not sure what we will be doing tomorrow, but on Friday I will be having dinner with Alan's aunt and uncle who live here in Philly. This will be the first time I have met anyone in his family, so I am a little nervous. I have intentions of getting footage for a bloggy video, without freaking them out of course. We'll see what happens!

What are you guys doing for the holidays? Traveling? Having friends over? Singing Christmas carols? Gonna brave the crowds on BLACK FRIDAY? I'd love to know!

Have a great rest of the day. I'll see you after the long break. Have a great one!!!

Love, Josh

Bloggin' & Eatin' & Shoppin" and Other Total Randomness!

Hi Bloggy Friends!! One down, and two to go till Thanksgiving!! I hope everyone has exciting, delicious plans for the holidays. I'll be here in Philadelphia with Alan if anyone wants to come have tofurkey with us!

So, lately we have been frequenting the aisles of various stores in the city. Whether it be Target, Loews, Bed, Bath & Beyond or IKEA, we have definitely spent our share of time(and not too mention too much mula). In San Francisco we didn't live near stores like this, so I have to admit, it is fun to have these options once again. I believe, though, that I am ready to shop in more adventurous places, like antique stores, thrift stores and maybe even junk yards, for any other unique pieces of goodness we may find and like.

Anyway, todays Bloggy video touches slightly on our recent shopping escapades and a few other random bits of fun.

I also feature a restaurant that I loved in the video, and I forgot to include the information about it - so here it is:

GIWA
1608 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 557-9830

This is the best place I have eaten at so far in Philadelphia. It is a delicious, authentic Korean restaurant that serves all kinds of tasty veggie dishes. They even have kimchi, which I admore in all its spicy-ness! It's nothing fancy, we ate at a counter, paid very little and enjoyed it a whole lot!

I would also like to thank everyone for thier suggestions on painting my wall. I appreciate the feedback SOOOO MUCH. I'll defnitely let you know when the time comes to make a final decision.

One more side note. You guys should definitely check out my friend Casey's blog. He just returned from a trip to Buenos Aires and has a lot of exciting stories to tell, and even a few bloggy videos, too. I love it so much and I think you will too. You can find his page HERE, or by clicking his name in my favorite links to the right.

Ok, enough blabbing. Have a blessed day, Bloggy Friends!

Love, Josh

The Return of the Bloggy Video!

Bloggy videos killed the radio star!

Have a great beginning to a short week, Bloggy Friends!

Thanksgiving, here I come!!!!

Birthday Shout-Out!: First Cousin, Austin

Hey Bloggy Friends!! Well, my dry spell has ended, the phone guy just came out to hook our phones up for DSL!!! It sure took long enough. It's hard to imagine the days when we lived without things like internets and cell phones, how did we make it? Just fine, that's how we did it!

Today I want to send a special shout-out to my cousin, Austin, who just celebrated his 12th birthday. He lives in my hometown of Lancaster, KY. He is in the sixth grade at Garrard Middle School, loves sports and plays in a garage band with some of his friends in town. He is the second to youngest cousin on my Mom's side of the family. I wish I could have been there to help them celebrate. I heard that when he found out the family was coming over for a party he left a note for everyone that said "Don't forget presents. P.S. Be Generous!" That's what I'm talkin' about!!!

He's a fun kid and I can't wait to see him when I go home for Christmas. Happy Birthday, Cuz!!!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be back next week with some fresh bloggy videos. Stay tuned!!!!

Love, Josh

Short & Sweet: Playboy Bunny In The Family!

Hey Bloggy Friends! Did you know that I have a playboy model in my family?!?!

Well, sort of my family. My ex-step-sister, Destiny, just revealed to us that she will be appearing in the latest issue of the "Girls Next Door" series of Playboy! I think it's really awesome, but her mother, who lives in a small towm in Indiana, is a little less than thrilled.

She is 20 years old and is currently enrolled in the theater program at Ball State in Indiana. She is quite a talented actress and I expect to see her name in the big lights one day! She has assured us that she doesn't want to take the route as a playboy bunny, but is doing it for the exposure she could earn through it. I say go for it, sister! The issue is on news stands now.

Here are some links to some of the /sexy/scandalous pictures she has taken recently!

Playboy.com

Myspace Picture Page

Love you all!

Josh

Short & Sweet: Bloggy Video Hiatus!

Hey Bloggy Friends! So, this weekend Alan and I officially moved into our new place. I'm so excited to be there. It is actually taking a minute to adjust to all the extra room we have, but I can already tell I will be feeling at home in no time.

Lately we have been hitting the stores trying to round up all the essentials we need for moving in. Since we are moving from a tiny studio, we hardly have enough to fill the place. We aren't going to get everything all at once, but slowly acquire things that we want/need.

At the top of our list was a bedroom & living room suite. We spent about two days roaming the city, going from store to store trying to price compare and stuff like that. We can both be a bit indecisive at times, so that didn't help the situation tremendously. We finally did make a choice, though, and are soooo excited about what we got. I can't wait to show you in an upcoming bloggy video!

Speaking of bloggy videos. We are not able to get our internet connected at home until later this week, which means I will not have access to uploading videos and pictures - hence the "Bloggy Video Hiatus" title. This kind of sucks, but what can I do bloggy friends!?!?! I will have internet access at work, though, so I will be checking mail and maybe updating the blog with written posts as the week progresses. So don't forget about me!

I hope you guys are having a great week so far. It is a bit rainy here in Philadelphia today. Be good and I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Joshy Friend

Funky Fitness: Let's Get Physical!

Time-Warp Tuesday: My Hometown

Hey Bloggy Friends! Time-Warp Tuesday has officially returned!!!

Last spring I took a trip back to my hometown of Lancaster, Kentucky. It was a beautiful time to be there with all the new leaves and flowers sprouting up everywhere. It felt great to catch up with my family and friends. I don't really foresee myself living in Lancaster again, but it will always be what I call "home." I cherish the young years that I spent there, and wouldn't trade it back for all the money in the world.

Noteworthy: Can you notice how my voice deepens by a few octaves when I am speaking with my family? Pretty strange!

Warning: There is definitely some permage going on in this video - watch at your own risk!

Have a great day!

Love, Josh

Gettin' Things Done: My Hood!

Hey Bloggy Friends! I hope you guys had an awesome weekend. We were very busy, as we shopped all around the city for some apartment essentials before we move in next weekend. It was quite a success! We purchased some great new items for our home and I can't wait until it all gets set up!

For those of you interested, I found this short video about Manayunk on Youtube today and thought I would put it up for you to see. Manayunk, as some of you know, is the neighborhood we are moving into. It is a cute, trendy, rather quaint neighborhood just outside of Center City Philadelphia. I'm excited to get to know it better and become an official Manayunker!

Have a great Monday, Bloggy Friends. Talk to ya soon!

Love, Josh

Gettin' Things Done: Movin' & Shakin'!

Happy Friday, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you've had a great week and have an awesome weekend planned. My good friend Casey, and his beau, Hal, are in Argentina this week! I'm sure they're having a blast.

Well, the movers arrived and brought our stuff from San Francisco into our new place! It was an exciting day, until we realized that we hardly have enough to fill the place! I guess we should have realized, since we are moving from a tiny studio into a three bedroom house. It's going to take a while to fill it up, but that will be the fun part! Little by little we will get it together - starting with more important things like a bed and couch.

Today's bloggy video shows the fun events of that afternoon and I give you a little tour of the place, as promised. I'm really excited to move in!!

Have a great weekend, Bloggy Friends. See ya next week!

Love, Josh