A New Kind of Love

Hey Bloggy Friends!


I'm not usually big on titles, but I garnered one today I will flaunt proudly - uncle! My niece, Kennedi Reese Foster, was born this afternoon in Danville, KY. She is seven pounds, ten ounces, has a head full of dark hair and a little button nose like my sister had. I am bursting out of my skin to be there today, but I must revel in the glory from afar. I have a trip home planned during Spring Break, which is only two weeks away! I am absolutely ecstatic. I've never loved anyone as an "uncle" before. I know my aunts and uncles made a huge difference in my life, and I hope to do the same for her. The picture above is the first photo I have seen of her. Be sure to check back for more. I am so excited! Thanks for sharing this with me.

Love, Uncle Joshie

A Busy Weekend!

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I hope you're having a nice day. I thought I'd stop by to share some of our weekend with you. It's been a busy one, but we had a great time. How was yours? Are you all moved in, Puss? Feeling better, Bill? Mimi, did you find us an air mattress yet? Mammy, how was your weekend cold water douche? Monica, are you about ready to pop? My sister is!

Tonight is the night my sister, Alexandra, goes into the hospital to have her labor induced. She probably won't have the baby tonight, but by this time tomorrow I should be an uncle. I'm so excited. I'm planning a trip home in a few weeks, when I'm on spring break. I can't wait.

So, like I said, our weekend was pretty busy. Friday night our friends Kelly and Ed spent the night with us. They came into the city to see a play, then came to our place when it was over. We didn't do much, except chat and have a few drinks. They were our first guests in our new apartment, so it was nice to see how that worked out. We have been a little concerned, because this place is so much smaller. We think it's going to be quite accommodating, though. That's a relief!

Saturday Alan and I met up with Jude at T-Bar, where we caught up over a pot of Lavender Earl Grey tea. Later in the afternoon we walked over to the theatre I work at to see the current show. There were several things I liked about it, others I did not. For the most part, though, it was well done. My favorite part of the afternoon came when the show ended. The three of us walked towards Rittenhouse Square to have a drink at Parc, a french bistro in the city that overlooks Rittenhouse Square. It was fantastic! We shared a carafe of wine, and a spread of three fabulous cheeses with bread. I felt like I was sitting in a bistro in Paris. I had a wonderful time. We'll have to do that again soon, Jude!

When we parted ways with Jude we met back up with Kelly and Ed who were doing some site-seeing in the city. They were famished, so we took them to a restaurant we've been dying to try called Kanella. Kanella, which means cinnamon in Greek, is a Mediterranean restaurant in Washington Square West. Alan and I weren't very hungry, so we shared an entree. We had a whole dorado fish, which was infused with rosemary and lemon. We loved it. It was so good. Kelly and Ed shared a cornish hen, which they both enjoyed as well. I'm definitely marking this one down in my favorite places book.

Today (Sunday) has been pretty laid back. We did our usual grocery shopping, and browsed around the city for a few other things. It was pretty gloomy out, but the temperatures were very reasonable. It looked like it was going to rain all day, but we didn't see anything but a few sprinkles here and there. Tonight Alan made Rosemary Salmon with Lemon Relish. It was accompanied by a healthy spinach salad and couscous. It was fantastic. We were both so hungry after a day of traipsing around the city.

I hope you've all had a great weekend too. Fill me in on all the happenings! I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Catching Up: My Internship

Greetings Bloggy Friends!

I hope you're having a nice day. What's the weather like where you are? It has been rainy in Philadelphia, but the sky looks promising today. I have a little time before I have to get ready for school, so I thought I'd stop in and do a little more catching up.

I mentioned before that I began an internship at WRTI, a listener-supported radio station here in Philadelphia. I've been there for three weeks now, and I'm enjoying it. I was a little intimidated the first day I walked in, though. When I entered the news room for the first time, there was a paper lying on the desk with my name on it. It was basically a story I had to research, write, and find an interview for - and my deadline was in three hours! I felt a little like I was being tossed in with the wolves, but I went at it full speed ahead. What else could I do? With the help of some of the anchors/reporters, I found my way through it. Now I don't worry so much. I go in, get my story and do what I can to find a good soundbite for the sixty second package. The story is then aired the following day. I have a chance to practice my interviewing skills by talking to a variety of people, on a variety of topics. It's exciting. I know I am gaining a wealth of experience by being here. I appreciate the opportunity so much. If I have to be honest, though, I don't think it's what I want to do when I graduate. The format is a little too "newsy" for me. There is no room for opinion. It's a very dry, straight-forward script. That's just not my cup of tea, but it is good to have the experience.

I go in on Monday and Friday mornings, for three hours at a time. My day usually starts out by calling around to authorities who can provide relevant comments on the stories I am given. I've called the Mayor's office, company executives, congress people, and even the Governor's office. I record the interview, find the best soundbite (also called an "actuality") and write a script around it. In the business, this kind of package is called a "wrap." The actuality is surrounded by text, kind of like a veggie wrap. Get it? I'm really starting to feel like I know what it will feel like to be out of school and out on the job. It's promising!

I hope you all have a great day. Thanks for sharing this time with me.

Love, Josh

Catching Up: A Party

Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you're having a great Tuesday. It's sunny and beautiful in Philadelphia. I love it. Spring can't get here soon enough!

Since I've been a little lax about posting lately, I thought I'd use a few days this week to catch you up on some fun things we've been up to lately. I didn't even bother posting anything the weekend before last, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. I can't remember what most of it consisted of actually, but on Sunday we did attend a party hosted by one of Alan's bosses at GSK. We were there to celebrate the Chinese New Year, but since the group is so diverse, the broad theme was aptly "multi-cultural." The hostess asked everyone to contribute something edible from their perspective cultures. This of course created a delicious, multifarious food spread that was that was quite impressive.

There were sweet and savory delights from India, several parts of Asia and of course from right here in the good ol' USA. There was even a bowl of nuts that prompted guests to "grab a handful in celebration of the Jewish New Year of the Trees." I'm still not sure what that's all about, but I grabbed a handful anyway! Alan and I thought about what we could bring to represent the South. We thought about bringing ingredients for mint juleps, a bucket of KFC or even a colorful ambrosia salad, but we just didn't have time to get that creative. We lamely settled on a bottle of wine, which wasn't even Boone's Creek or Sutter Home. His boss, Marty, is from the hills of North Carolina, so she represented with a nice, warm bowl of cheese grits - yum! I never actually ate grits growing up, though. Did any of my other southern brothers and sisters?

We had a great time. The party was located way out in the suburbs, but it was nice to get out of the city for a change. The weather was so lovely, we each wore short sleeves. We don't spend a lot of time with his co-workers, but they are all very kind. It's different from his lab in San Francisco, because most of the people he works with now are married with kids, or even grandchildren. Most of them live in the suburbs too, which isn't conducive to a lot of time downtown. It's always nice when we can get together, though. I totally enjoy their company.

HERE is a link to a few pictures taken by his lab mate Guanglei, a name I learned does not mean "happy new year" in Chinese.

I hope you all have a great day. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Valentine's Weekend.

Hi Bloggy Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's weekend, whether you were snuggled up with the one you love or out with the girls/guys. I'm sorry I have been bloggily neglectful lately. It's been a very busy semester so far, but I won't bore you with all those details. I plan on keeping things a little more up-to-date from here on out, so I hope you'll continue to stop by from time to time.

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. It was so nice to have a relaxing weekend together. We spent all of Saturday carousing around the city. We went to the Italian Market, had lunch at Essene Market, and had coffee at a hip cafe on South street. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Philadelphia, and we had such a nice time. We decided to make Valentines dinner at home. From prior experience, we've learned that holidays are not the best times to get out to dinner in the city. Not only are there set menus, but they also rush you out the door to make room for the next set of suckers willing to shell out too much money for a nice, Valentine's Day meal. We couldn't have found anything better than what Alan made anyway. We chose a recipe from our Ina Garten cook book, Prosciutto Roasted Halibut with Autumn Vegetables. It was SO good. He is becoming quite the angel in the kitchen. The Halibut was so succulent and delicious. We were floored. Of course we accompanied our meal with several glasses of wine, and a fresh spinach salad. For appetizer we had a triple creme cheese on multi-seed bread. It was all just too good to be true. Thank God for taste buds.


After dinner we made our way over to the beautiful Kimmel Center to see Rufus and Martha Wainwright in concert. The show was spectacular. This was our first time at the Kimmel Center. It is an absolutely stunning facility. We had a marvelous time. Rufus was great. This is one in only a handful of "white people" concerts I've been to, and I must say it deserves a place in my top five live show moments. He was great. If you get a chance to see him, you won't be disappointed. Quality.


After the show we came home to enjoy a couple of dark chocolate truffles Alan made for Valentines day. I'm telling you, his culinary skills are becoming out of control! They were delicious.


It was definitely a Valentine's Day for the memory books. HERE is a link to the album of other Valentine's Day pictures. I hope you all had a great weekend too. Feel free to share your 2009 Valentine's experience. I'd love to hear what you had going on. I plan on posting a few blogs in the coming week to catch you up on some things we've been doing lately, so be sure to stop by to check that out. This semester is SUPER busy, but I'm starting to get it under control.

Have a great week. I'll chat with you guys real soon.

Love, Josh

Something New From Bloggy Friend Bill!

Good afternoon Bloggy Friends!

I hope you're having a nice day. My week is rolling along quite nicely. We had some pretty bad weather over the course of the week. It snowed pretty heavily Tuesday night, but Wednesday's sunshine helped melt a lot of it away. It was definitely our biggest snow of the season. It's nothing compared to what they've been facing in Kentucky. There are still people without electricity! Let's hope it clears up soon.

I'm about to leave for school, but I wanted to leave you with a little something before I go. Bloggy Friend Bill has made a new video, it's the second part to his glamorous WWII epic on style. He's been working on it for quite a while now, and it shows. It's very, very well made. I hope you enjoy the music and the lovely images. I know I did. Great job, Bill

Have a nice day. I'll chat with you soon!

Love, Josh

Busy, Busy Beaver.

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I hope you've all had a marvelous weekend. Ours was really nice. We've been so busy around here lately. I guess you can tell, given my sparse blogging over the past week. That may be how it will remain for the next few months, or at least until I find a groove in my hectic, new schedule.

In this past week I completed my first week of classes, started back to work at PTC and accepted an internship position at WRTI, a classical/jazz/news radio station here in Philadelphia. I'm really excited about it. I'm not sure what my duties will be exactly, but I've been told I will accompany a reporter, helping him gather interviews and sound clips for on-air news packages. It will be an excellent opportunity for me. To add to my already crazy schedule, we also begin our radio show, "Fabulously Focused," next week. Now you know why I haven't had time to blog! I'm still here, though, and will make my presence known as much as I can. I hope you will too!

I won't get into too many details about our weekend, because it was pretty laid back for the most part. It wouldn't be a very entertaining story. The highlights included a visit with Jude and Lou, coffee and carousing in Queen's Village and of course a day of completing chores. It was so beautiful in Philadelphia today. I'm not positive, but the temperatures must have reached the low 60's. We walked out this afternoon in full winter gear, only to find that we didn't need any of those extra layers! I could have stayed out all day. I had to take my camera out this afternoon to gather some shots for my design class. I'll share it with you when I'm finished. I'm going to do a photo essay on Iovine's Produce Market in the Reading Terminal. I'm excited about this class because I will finally get a chance to learn PhotoShop!

Now we are cozily cooped up in our apartment. Alan is preparing our dinner. He's trying a new recipe, Bengali Style Fish. We found it in a thai-curry recipe book we picked up last week. We're both huge fans of curry. I can't wait to try it out!

Everything else is going very well. I'm just trying to stay focused on my studies. It's going to be a very busy semester, even with all the extra stuff aside. You should see my list of books to read, papers to write and projects to work on. I'll definitely be kept on my toes over the next few months - like a ballerina!

Have a great night. I'll chat with ya'll soon.

Love, Josh