Our First Weekend of Spring

Hi Bloggy Friends,

I hope you're having a nice day. It couldn't have been a more beautiful weekend here in Philadelphia. Is it as nice where you are? We took advantage of the warm weather and sunshine by strolling to parts of town we haven't ventured to in a while, dining at restaurants where we could sit outside and we began the steps to shaping up our patio for summer.

We're not exactly sure what we'll do with it yet, but I know I want our outdoor space to be a lush oasis where we can escape with a spot of wine or tea or maybe even have dinner. It's a small space but I think we have enough to work with. I know some of you have a gift for gardening, so feel free to lend suggestions about what plants will work best and etc.. We'd like to have vines hanging from the top of the walls that would eventually latch on and grow all over and a small fountain for added ambiance. We need a set of comfortable, yet sleek patio furniture as well. Do you know where we can find something sexy?

Besides getting the house in order we also enjoyed some Philly nightlife. Friday we had dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant, Izumi (1601 E. Passyunk Ave., 215-271-1222), and later met our friends Tim, Rob and Desiree at Voyeur Nightclub (1221 St. James St., 215-735-5772) for cocktails. Today we spent most of the day getting our grocery shopping done. On the way to and from the store me made pit stops at Sweet Freedom (1424 South St., 215-545-1899) for delicious gluten-free treats and Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles (1220 Spruce St., 215-546-9616), where I found a neat $10 antelope sculpture (pictured left). It has a chip in one of the antlers, but I'm going to caulk it and spray paint it lime green or something funky like that. I'm always in the mood to funk something up but Alan thinks I should leave it alone. What do you think?

The springtime weather really gives me the boost I need to start decorating again. I'm looking forward to our first spring/summer in the new home. Do you have any special plans for your home now that winter is being ushered away? I'd love to hear all about it.

Have a great week. I'll chat with you soon. Facebook click HERE.

Love, Josh

P.S. Here are links to the work I did for City Paper this week:

• Queer Bait - My monthly LGBT events column
• Neighborhood Watch - My weekly street fashion post with fellow intern Julia West
• Navigating Open Relationships Class
• Video of a Police Brutality Protest in Center City
• And I make a brief appearance in Molly Eichel's review of the Janelle Monáe show I attended on Thursday night. It was one of the best I've seen.
• And be sure to keep an eye out for City Paper's style issue coming out this week. The editor was gracious enough to let Julia and I contribute with an article about what trends will shape the coming decade. It's the biggest thing I've done for the paper so far. I'm really excited about it. Stay tuned!