Mmmmmm, Brains?

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I hope you had a great weekend. Here's what we were up to:

Friday night Alan and I had drinks at Warsaw Cafe before heading to see a play written by our friend Alex Dremann, called Zombie Aesthete. It was one of three short plays in a series about zombies called Mmmmmm, Brains! It's not something we would have typically went to see, but since our friend wrote it we thought we'd go show some support. I'm not surprised that I enjoyed his play, but I am a little shocked that I enjoyed the others. It was a really neat, spontaneous thing to do on a Friday night. Great job Alex!


Saturday we totally vegged out in front of the TV until around 3 o'clock. At that point we got dressed to get out for some dinner. We went to a nothing-to-brag-about Thai restaurant called Tamarind. It wasn't the worst food I've ever eaten, but I doubt I'll ever go back. The weird thing is, we went once before and really enjoyed it. Maybe it was an off night. The good thing is that it was very inexpensive.

After dinner we went to a bar in Old City called National Mechanics, where our friend Janette was having a birthday get together. We had drinks, met some new people and hit up a few other bars in the area. We had a great time. Happy Birthday Janette!

Today we did the us(ual). We got our groceries, played with the puppies at home and made our salmon. Today's menu was salmon with rosemary and lemon, dill-ified new potatoes and steamed brussel sprouts. Delicious. After dinner the weather was so nice, we decided to take a stroll around the city. I actually wore shorts! It was great. We walked over to Society Hill, then to Queen's Village where we had a healthy dessert at Essene Market.

It's been a great weekend. I'm sorry to see it end. I have a full week at school ahead of me. I'm sure that's what it's going to be looking like between now and the end of the semester in May. It'll be so nice to reach that summer break!

I've attached some pictures of the weekend below. I hope you guys had a great weekend. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Here is Alan at the so-so Thai restaurant, Tamarind.


This is me with the birthday girl, Janette. We work together at PTC.


This is me first thing Sunday morning with all the animals on me!


Doris and I.

A Mid-Week Blog

Hey Bloggy Friends!

Look at me, on my A-game. I'm writing a blog in the middle of the week!

I hope you guys are doing well. Things are still busy around here. I started back to work this week, because a new show opened. It's Edward Albee's, "At Home At The Zoo." I'm anxious to see it. Albee is a world famous playwright. You may know him as the author of the classic, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" The movie, starring Elizabeth Taylor, is one of my favorites. This show adds a prequel to a play he wrote in called "Zoo Story." Should be a good one!

School is going well. I had the realization last night that the semester will be ending in just over a month. It's exhilirating to know it will be over soon, but also scary, because there is so much to do in such a short period of time. I look forward to the challenge!

Doris is doing very well. I was lying on the couch with her and Galileo this morning before school. It was so funny to watch them play around with one another. I'm so happy to know that he has a playmate now. He seems so much more content, and is filling the big brother role like a champ.

One of the main reasons I wanted to stop by today was to share a video from Bloggy Friend Bill. It was actually released several weeks ago, but I haven't had a chance to post it. I always say this, but this is my newest favorite. He just keeps gettin' better. Unfortunately, he's announced that he won't be making videos again, because of YouTube's new music copyrighting laws. Both of us have had several videos taken away. It's a shame. Anyway, the new video is below. I hope you enjoy!

Have a great night. I'll chat with you guys over the weekend.

Love, Josh

I Needed This One!

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I hope you guys had a great weekend. We did. I'll tell you one thing, I really needed this one! The week after spring break was one of the busiest ones I've had so far this semester. Many of my teachers had assignments for us over the break, which I didn't have a split second to do while I was back home. I had to spend most of my week trying to rush to finish things before they were due. I'm happy to say I was successful, but once the weekend rolled around I breathed a sigh of relief that must have been heard in Pakistan.

Friday night I started the weekend off right by having (too many) drinks with a few friends. I hit up a few different night spots in Center City, but I was home and in bed before midnight. I told you i was sleepy!

Saturday afternoon was spent strolling around the area, relaxing in a coffee shop and napping on our couch until dinner. It was all pretty chill, but I must say, the latter part of our evening was fantastic. I just so happened to experience my single most favorite dining-out experience in Philadelphia so far. We went to a restaurant called Horizons, located in Queens Village. I've been wanting to check it out for a long time, because it is one of the only strictly vegan restaurants in town. It was a little pricey, but worth every penny. Both of our entrees were extraordinary. I had the Catalan Tempeh dish, which was fantastic, but Alan had the best plate of the night. He had the Pacific Rim Grilled Tofu, which I swear to you tasted so much like fish that even I was floored. I don't see how they do it. The consistency, the flavor, the texture, everything was spot on. I love this place so much. I can't wait to go back to try some of the other dishes. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Later that evening we kept it classy by heading to Target to purchase an electronic kitty liter box! We're such divas.

Today we hit up Iovine's Produce Market and Whole Foods for our weekly grocery shopping. We got out early, so the stores weren't nearly as busy as usual. We like that. Alan took the dogs to the park earlier, while I stayed at home working on the bloggy video I am presenting below. For dinner we had Atlantic Charr infused with Rosemary and Lemon. Our sides were dill new potatoes and marinated asparagus. It was simple and delicious. I love my Sugar.

Doris has been doing very well in her first week with us. She's catching on to the potty training very well. We still have to keep a stern eye on her, but she's starting to equate pottying outside with "treat," which is always a good sign. She's an adorable little fur ball of joy (my english teacher would call that a cliche).



I hope you guys have a great week. I keep meaning to force myself to blog more, but things have been very busy at school. One of the worst parts about not having time to blog, is not having time to read all of yours. Things will be back on bloggy track one of these days. I know many of you have so many exciting things going on lately. I can't wait to do some catching up! I hope you enjoy my video below. Have a great night. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

It's a Doris (sun)Day!

Hey Bloggy Friends!

We made it back from our trip to Kentucky this morning around 5 a.m. We decided to make the trip in one shot, instead of stopping halfway like we usually do. We both wanted to wake up at home this morning, and have the whole day to relax before starting back to our work/school week.

I had a fabulous Spring Break. I was just sitting here thinking of all we packed into one short week. We spent a few days in Nashville, hung out with friends in Louisville, stayed with our families in Lancaster and Knoxville, I met my perfect little niece, attended the wedding of my first cousin Chelsea and the biggest surprise was bringing home a new puppy!

Yes that's right, somewhere along the way we ended up with a new puppy. We have named her Doris. She is a three-month old Yorkie, and she weighs a little over a pound and a half. My brother's friend Jessica breeds them, and last week one of her customers returned this puppy to her because they were not ready for the responsibility. When we first saw her she showed signs of severe neglect. She must have been starved, because she was nothing but fur and bones. We took her for a check-up and everything checked out nicely. She just needs food, and most of all a loving home. We decided to take her in, because Jessica couldn't care for her, and didn't feel like looking for another owner.

We know it will be a lot of work to train a puppy all over again, but this time we're armed with a little more experience. Over the past few months we've tossed around the idea of getting another dog. We felt Galileo would be much better off if he had a companion to keep him company. We never feel like we give him all the attention he requires. Doris is perfect for that. It's so cute to see them play with one another. She's so much feistier than he ever was. She's about a quarter his size, but she's got a bark that's three times bigger! We're already in love.

The cats haven't really taken to her yet. They mostly stand back and stare at her, like they did when we brought Galileo home. We'll see how that progresses. The picture I put up before was a little misleading. For a moment we thought we'd name her Rachel (Jackson), to continue the first lady theme, but we like Doris better. I had a great aunt named Doris who was also very skinny - so it just fits. I've posted a few pictures.

I plan on making a little video of our trip when I find the time. Most of my teachers found it necessary to keep us working over spring break, so I also have a ton of assignments to polish up before I turn them in. I can't believe we're already past the halfway point at school.

On another *note*, I actually made it into the final 10 in the singing competition I auditioned for last week. Now we will go through another round before they narrow it down to three for the final competition. I'm racking my brain for a good song. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm excited!

Tonight we're just chillin'. We're going to make an easy, no-nonsense dinner and have a gin and tonic or two. I'm really glad to be home.

I hope you guys had a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by to meet Ms. Doris!

Love, Josh

P.S. Click the links in the second paragraph for photos of our trip.

Spring Break Hiatus!

Hey Bloggy Friend!

I've been very quiet over the past week, but I have good reason - I'm on Spring Break! Alan and I drove to Kentucky (via Nashville) last Friday. I don't have reliable Internet here in the beautiful, Bluegrass State, so I haven't had the chance to do much blogging. When we return I'll have pictures, and maybe even a video or two of our trip. We're having a great time. There are lots of exciting things going on. I even have a little surprise for you. I won't tell you what it is, but I'll give you a little hint:


Can you guess? (Don't say anything, Rick!) Who is that lovely woman in the picture? and why is she significant to the surprise we have in store? Find out when we return at the beginning of next week!!

How's that for a teaser? We've been learning all about those in my broadcasting classes.

Have a great weekend. I'll chat with you soon!

Love, Josh

A Good Weekend - No Doubt About It!

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I hope you've all had a nice weekend. It sounds like some of you may have had a pretty rough week. Let's all send our good thoughts toward Rick. He had a car accident this week. He is doing fine, thankfully, but I know car wrecks are very unnerving. I love you, Girl!

We've had a very relaxing weekend. It was nice, considering last weekend was so busy. Friday night we didn't do much but hang out at home. We watched "Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie. I'm not usually a fan of her movies, but I'm glad I gave this one a try. It was very good.

Saturday was a lot of fun. It was a cold day, but we toughed it out so we could get outdoors. We were headed in the direction of Old City when we decided to stop at a cafe on 10th and Pine for coffee. While inside we learned there were auditions going on that afternoon for a black, gay singing competition. How could I pass that up? The judges had already shown up before I finished my espresso, so they welcomed me in to audition. I sang "Yesterday" by the Beatles, and "Coal Miner's Daughter," by Loretta Lynn. I am proud of my performance. They will be selecting ten finalists from the audition, who will perform once again for the judges. After that they will narrow it down to three who will sing for the top prize in late April. I'm supposed to hear something from them in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted. I'm not really looking to move forward, but the audition was definitely a rewarding experience in itself.

After that bit of a detour we continued on to Old City, where we planned to look for two ottomans. We didn't end up finding anything, but we did stop by this lovely cheese shop called Old City Cheese Shop. How's that for an original name? We tried a few cheeses, and finally settled on a triple-crème named Delice de Bourgone. It was so good. On our way home we stopped at Whole Foods for a whole grain baguette, so we could try a little before we headed out to dinner.

For dinner we tried a new restaurant called Effie's. Effie's is a family owned, Greek B.Y.O. I walked by on Pine the other day. I love Greek food, and it had a charming look that reminded me of restaurants we saw in Europe. Our meal was very good. For an appetizer we tried a sampler platter of hummus, baba ganoush, and tzatziki (a greek yogurt dip). For my entree I decided on one of the specials, salmon cooked with navy bean puree, tomatoes and asparagus. It was great. Alan had baby lamb chops. He really enjoyed his too. The service was a little awkward at times, but that was made up for when they treated us with two cups of Greek coffee on the house! We were wired, but it was delicious! After dinner we walked back to Old City to finally see "Doubt." I've been wanting to see this film forever, but for some reason the show times never agreed with us until now. It's a great movie. I know I'm going to sound dreadfully cliché when I say this, but how could any movie go wrong when you have both Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in it? They really are phenomenal. The movie itself seemed a little off-balanced at the end, but it definitely leaves you thinking, or maybe even a little DOUBTful that you understood the real meaning of the film at all. I think you have to look a little past the basic storyline, and try to see that there's an underlying power struggle going on between the men of the church and the women, or at least one woman. It's a good example of how too much pride can lead you too far down the wrong path, even if you're a nun! Check it out.

Wow. This is getting a little long. I'm going to try and wrap Sunday up as quickly as I can. We had a great day, despite the fact that it actually snowed again. I'm so ready for the warm weather. On our way to get produce at the Reading Terminal we passed a used furniture store called Uhuru. We always walk passed on the weekends to see what new things they may have received, but there's usually nothing to write home about. Today, however, there was a gorgeous desk there that we both fell in love with. We've been using a desk Alan has had since he was in college (that I despise), but have casually been looking for a replacement for a while now - and it didn't take us a second to know this one was it. It was everything we've been looking for and then some. It's an antique, tiger-oak desk from the early 1900's. It has a top that folds down, several unique drawers and compartments, and even two neat magazine racks built into each side. We love it so much. After a little bargaining with the sales lady we decided to take it home. We spent much of our late afternoon rearranging the office/guest room with our new addition. I didn't waste a split second taking that other desk apart and pushing it out the door!

For dinner Alan made tilapia roasted with cherry tomatoes, rosemary and olive oil. On the side he served steamed green beans, and a hearty helping of garlic, dill mashed potatoes. Yum! I hope you all have a great night. I'm going to post some new pictures of my niece, Kennedi Reese, in the coming days. Stop by and oogle over how cute she is! I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Joshua