Extra! Extra! Reader All About It!

Hello Bloggy Friends.

I hope you're having an exquisite evening. What a great week this has been! It's been very cold in Philadelphia. We didn't end up getting that warm day the weather men promised on Saturday. We had a great weekend, though. I hope you did too. Friday night we went to see Kate Winslett in "The Reader." It is an amazing movie. We loved it. I definitely recommend you check this one out, whether it be in the theater or on DVD when it's released.

Saturday, instead of going to the Reading Terminal for produce, we decided to go to the Italian Market. For those of you who don't know, the Italian Market is the largest open-air market in the United States - and it's only five or six blocks away from our front door! The produce is top quality, and the prices can't be beat. We walked away with three bags full of produce, and only dropped fifteen bucks. It was amazing- except for the moment when I got involved in a screaming match with one of the grocers because I accidentally stepped behind the counter where he was working. I'm sure it was entertaining for the other shoppers, though! To cool down from the confrontation we stopped into a delicatessen for lunch, where we enjoyed a fabulous Caprese sandwich. For a moment we felt like we were dining on the streets of Rome again. No grumpy, ol' grocer could take that away!

On Saturday we also took Galileo to Pampered Pooch to get his monthly grooming. I've attached some before and after pictures. What do you think of his new do? Saturday night Kelly and Ed came into town to do some site-seeing. We met up with them in Chinatown for dinner at Vietnam Palace. It was good, but the service was lousy. We decided to never go back there again. Can you believe they tried to charge us a $12 corking fee for our bottle of wine! What a rip off, especially when the Zagat lists them as a B.Y.O. Later that night I met up with my friend Tim for karaoke at a restaurant/bar called Elephant and Castle. We had a great time. One of the highlights was when they drew my name out a raffle for a $50 gift certificate to dine there in the future. I love winning things!

This afternoon Jude came by to for a visit. We had tea and chatted about what's been going on in our lives over the past few weeks. I love spending time with Jude, her presence always leaves me feeling inspired! She's a gem. Tonight for dinner Alan tackled a new recipe we found in a quarterly Whole Foods publication. It was Winter Squash Stuffed with Lentil Pilaf. I love winter squash. It was delicious! We've really started to explore new options in the kitchen, and no I don't mean that in a kinky way! We've found some amazing recipes over the past couple of weeks. Salmy Sunday is under a few renovations!

Now the time has come for us to plop down on the couch in our lounge around clothes. I think we're going to watch a lifetime movie we DVR'd last night called "Prayers for Bobby," starring Sigourney Weaver. Have you heard about it? It's about an overly religious mother who gives her teenage son a difficult time for being gay. I don't want to give away anything, but I think the pressure leads him to drastic, unfortunate measures. It's gotten a lot of hype. I look forward to seeing it.

I hope you guys have a great night. Have a great week too! I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Slummin' Around Town

Salutations Bloggy Friends!

Did you have a nice weekend? I hope so. We sure did. After a week of mostly being here alone throughout the week, it was nice to spend quality time with Alan. The winter weather has been fairly mild in Philadelphia this year. It's strange because it seems like cities all around us are having snow and chilly temperatures. It's like we're in an oasis. Maybe a bit of that sunshine we brought from California is still sticking around to keep us warm. I hope it stays this way. Anyway, this what we did all weekend:

Friday night we went to see a movie I've been wanting to see for a while now, "Slumdog Millionaire." It was so good. We've heard so many good things about it, and it has been nominated for several Golden Globes (on tonight), so we just had to check it out for ourselves. It's a very cute, multi-layered movie about a kid, living in the slums of India, who makes it on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." Throughout the process of telling us how he came to be on the show, the viewer is also provided insight into the harsh conditions of the Indian slum life. It's funny, telling and excellently shot. I highly recommend it.

Saturday we did some shopping in Center City. We had a list of several things we needed for the house, so we got some of that accomplished. We stopped into one of my favorite tea bars, Remedy Tea, for a little break from the running around. To stick with the movie theme from the night before, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Minar Palace. I give it three thumbs down. Sorry Minar Palace. After dinner we drove out to the airport to pick up my friend Kelly, who had just arrived from a Christmas trip to San Francisco. Her boyfriend, Ed, met us there as well. Before we took them home we went to Lonestar Steakhouse (Ed's choice) to celebrate his birthday. Alan and I had already eaten, so we just enjoyed a glass of wine and chatted. We had a great time. It's always nice to see Kelly and Ed. Did I mention they are newly engaged? Congratulations guys!

Today we have been up to our same ol' grocery shopping shananigans. We're in that period where we are out of a lot of things at once, so we had a lot to pick up today. We enjoy grocery shopping, though. It's one of my favorite times of the week.

I hope you guys had a nice weekend. What were you up to? What's the weather like where you are? Are you watching the Golden Globes tonight? We are. I'm looking forward to it. Whatever you're doing tonigh, I hope you have a great time at it. Take care. I'll chat with you soon!

Love, Joshua

Our Thanksgiving Plans

Happy Wednesday, Bloggy Friends!

I'm sure you are all excited to wrap up your early week, and rush off to your perspective holiday gatherings. I've been looking forward to this week for a while now. Not only am I so relieved to have a few days away from school, but I am so excited to spend time with good friends over the next few days. In a few hours Alan, Galileo and I are leaving for a fabulous over-nighter in D.C. Two of our dear Bloggy Friends, Bill and Gary, have been gracious enough to invite us to their home. I am so excited to see them both, and to check out some of this delicious, Julia Child-inspired food we've heard so much about! It sounds like Bill has quite a spread planned. I can't wait to spend time with them both.

Friday we are getting together with Alan's aunt Jude and Uncle Lou. We had Thanksgiving dinner with them last year as well, so I'm hoping we have a little tradition brewing. I cherish every minute I can spend with the two of them, and it's not just because they always feed us well! Mmmm....

As if that wasn't enough eating, we're getting together with our friends, Kelly and Ed, on Sunday. We're going to have brunch at the Valley Green Inn in the Wissahickon Valley. Alan and I went there last year for Thanksgiving, and it was FANTASTIC. We're looking forward to going back. I think Kelly and Ed will love it.

So, that's our itinerary for the 2008 Thanksgiving season. It's a busy one, but I'm so jazzed about it. We may be running from here to there, but I plan on taking it easy, eating well, and having a few too many merry cocktails.

Let's not lose sight of what Thanksgiving is all about - reflecting on the things we are most thankful for. I have so many things to give thanks about - Alan, my pets, my family, my friends (you), our health, our able-bodiness, my job, my ability to do well in school, our beautiful new apartment and the love that completely surrounds our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Bloggy Friends, for stopping by today. Thank you for sharing my life with me, and letting me know how much you care. You could never know how much your presence means to me. I love you all!

Have a wonderful, safe holiday season. Let me know what you guys are up to.

Love, Josh

Weekend Update

Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you have all had a great weekend. Ours has been pretty eventful. The weekends mean SO much more to me, now that I am back in school. Lately, by the end of the week, I am completely spent. I haven't fully adapted to spending five, full days on campus. It's not that I have to wake up any earlier than before, but the constant "on the go" mentality can be pretty exhausting. Can I get a "preach it, sister?" Anyways, the full week didn't keep us from getting out to have a fabulous weekend with friends.

Friday night, after a cat-nap, Alan and I wend to Old City to meet our friends Kaushik and Kaushiki for dinner at Cuba Libre. We have known Kaushik since we lived in San Francisco. He and Alan were in the same lab at UCSF. We met Kaushiki not long after we moved to Philadelphia. They were recently married in India, where both of their families live. The pictures I saw of the traditional, highly ornamental ceremony are the most beautiful wedding pictures I have ever seen. Besides the fact that they are a ravishingly stunning couple, the setting of their ceremony was breath-taking. It lasted several days and they followed every Indian tradition, step by step. It is fascinating to hear them talk about the things they went through. I believe I must have spent three-quarters of the evening asking them questions! If you are interested, you can click HERE to check out some pictures.

After dinner we headed down the street to a bar, whose name escapes me. We had a few drinks and spent an hour or so dancing. it was a lot of fun. I haven't been out dancing since I went to Montreal a few months back. It was so great to spend some time with them. Kaushiki actually lives in Columbus, OH at the moment. She is in grad school there, and hopes to transfer to a school in Philadelphia within the next year. I hope everything goes well in that transition. Not only would it be a lot easier for her and Kaushik, but I'd love to have her near. She's a ton of fun!

Saturday Alan and I spent the afternoon in Manayunk. We talked politics over cappuccino's at La Colombeand browsed some local stores for knick-knacks. The weather was great. We really enjoyed ourselves.

In the evening we drove to Wilmington to spend some time with our friends Kelly and Ed. Kelly's birthday is coming up, so we celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and cupcakes. After dinner we went out in search of a karaoke bar, but what we found was so sketchy we decided to call it quits all-together! It's always a pleasure to spend time with Kelly and Ed. They are doing really well in Wilmington. If you'll remember, they recently moved there from the bay area. I look forward to having them visit Philadephia in the near future. Click HERE for pictures of our evening together.

Today is the day we are taking it easy. We had to venture out for groceries in the early part of the afternoon, but now we are laying back, sipping wine and trying to keep the pets from killing one another. Galileo just won't leave those girls alone! I think I just heard Alan open the oven, which means we'll be enjoying our traditional salmy Sunday soon. It's a good thing, because my stomach just started to rumble! I have a few quick things to do in preparation for my coming school week, but other than that I'm free as a bird for the remainder of the evening.

I hope your Sunday is exactly what you hoped it would be and I hope your week brings a flood of smiles and good fortune. I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Joshua