Dad & Dawn's Trip to Philly

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was jam-packed and fabulous. My Dad and Dawn came to Philadelphia on Friday and stayed with us until Monday. We had such a great time. This was their first time in Philadelphia, and they were really impressed with what it had to offer.

We started the weekend off right, when they arrived Friday, by going to see our current show at The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Happiness Lecture. They both loved it so much. My Dad said he hasn't laughed that much in a long time. I was so happy they enjoyed it. Afterwards we walked West on Lombard to an awesomely authentic Italian restaurant called Bistro La Baia. I can honestly say this was the best Italian meal I have had in the U.S., ever! It was a small, quaint place and they treated us like we were a guest in their home. It was fantastic. Let's go there when you come and visit, Bloggy Friends.

On Saturday we kicked off the afternoon with brunch at Le Bus on Main Street in Manayunk. Later we went to the Philadelphia Art Museum to check out the Modern/Contemporary Art section, and the Europen Art from 1100 to 1850. I am so impressed with this museum, you guys. It is definitely a world class, state of the art venue. I attached a few pics of some of my favorite pieces in my photo gallery HERE. I am so happy to have it so near. Let's go there when you come visit, too.

Saturday night, after tooling around the Historical District, we ate at what is now one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia, Farmicia. Farmicia is a fabulous restaurant in Old City that serves local, organic foods. It was so delicious. We had such a great time that we sat there for two hours at least, eating, chatting and sipping wine. Bloggy Friends, can we go there.... Oh, you know the rest..

We designated Sunday as a shopping day. Dawn wanted to check out Ikea, because there isn't one near her in Kentucky. We spent hours there, and each of us ended up with a cartload of goodies to take home with us. Shopping at Ikea is always an exhausting experience - but well worth the time spent. That evening we took Dad and Dawn to get a Philly Cheese Steak (they had to have one). We found out about a great place just around the corner from where we live, and they loved it. After dinner we walked along Kelly Drive, and looked at the city all lit up before returning home to bed.

I enjoyed myself so much. It was so good to have my dad here over Father's Day weekend. I believe this is the first Father's Day we have spent together in like 8 years at least. I'm not big on made up holidays, but it was still a nice thought. My Dad is so great, and Dawn is a ton of fun. I hope they decide to come back and visit us again soon! I love you both so much.

Enjoy my slideshow below. You can also click HERE for my Flickr album. You will find more pictures there, and they're in color! I'll also put a video together of our trip soon.

Have a great day. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic day. Welcome home Mimi!!

Love, Joshie

A Dream Come True!

Hey Bloggy Friends!

One of the highlights of Rick's visit this week was going to see Hillary Clinton at a rally on Tuesday. She spoke to a crowd of thousands at Temple University in a forum she refers to as "Solutions For America." Seeing Hillary was a dream come true for both Rick and I. When she came out of the curtain and I saw her with my own eyes, I teared up. After months of thinking of her, following her campaign and talking about her I felt so emotional, baby.

The diverse crowd was so pumped up and she was very energetic herself. She spoke mainly about the things she would do when she becomes President - like universalizing healthcare, bringing the troops home, boosting the economy and creating new jobs - in Philadelphia particularly.

It was such an exciting night that I will not likely forget. Pennsylvania is a huge state for Hillary. I imagine you will be hearing a lot about us in the news over the next month. I am so glad that the race has made it thus far so that I can go in that ballot box and put a huge checkmark next to Hillary's name!

I hope you guys are having a great week. It has been so fun having Rick here. We've been doing a lot, so stay tuned to another video or two of his visit.

I love you all, Bloggy Friends - enjoy the video! and if you want to watch more of her speech than the small amount of clips I pulled for this video - you can watch it HERE

Talk to ya'll soon!

Josh

Nicole's Visit, Side A

Happy Wednesday, Bloggy Friends! I hope you're having a good one. This week seems to be rolling by pretty quickly. I guess that could be a good or bad thing!

As I told you before, we had a visitor this weekend. My friend Nicole flew in from San Francisco to stay with us over the long weekend. It was really fun for me to show her around the city, since I was in a way showing myself around too. There are a lot of things in Philly that are still really new to me, so exploring Center City on Saturday kind of helped me to fall even more in love with Philadelphia. It is so beautiful down there, with so much to see and do. I was shocked at the amount of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and stores that lined the streets. It was so lively and exciting. I didn't know there was so much life here. I guess living in Manayunk in the dead of winter has put somewhat of a hindrance on my exploration time. All in good time my dearies, all in good time!

Enjoy today's bloggy video which features the first part of Nicole's visit. In it we spend our day in Center City checking out some of the historical buildings (which were closed), having some dinner - and of course shaking a leg!

Have a great day!

Love, Josh

Do I Hear A Diva in the House?

Hi, Bloggy Friends! I'm so glad that it's Friday and the weekend is nearly upon us.

I have such an exciting/diva-filled weekend ahead! Tonight I am going to the Keswick Theater to see a benefit concert to honor legendary Gospel diva, Sister Rosetta Tharpe! This concert is a Gospel inspired evening featuring the legendary quartet The Dixie Hummingbirds, Willa Ward (of the Famous Ward Sisters), Marie Knight and The Queen of American Folk Music herself - Odetta! I am a huge fan of Black Gospel music, so I am super excited to go tonight. I'll try to get some footage to share with all of you next week!

..and if that isn't enough diva in one sitting - on Sunday I am going to the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City to see none other than Miss Diana Ross!!!! Now, I'm sure you'll all agree, Diana is one of THE divas - and I can't believe I'm actually going to see her!! Once again, I'll try to get some footage of her in all her glory! I have a feeling security may be pretty tight when she's in the building, though.

I am very proud of myself today because I actually sat down and finished reading "Roots" by Alex Haley. Some of you may know that I have been reading this bad boy for a long time now. I am a pretty fast reader, but I don't allow myself to sit down and read very consistently. So over the months I have been reading a chapter here, a chapter there, until today I finally wrapped it up. I feel it is quite an accomplishment. Now I am all set to receive the DVD's of the television mini-series from Netflix any day now. Can't wait!

Another eventful occurrence transpired this afternoon. I reached my 3000 viewer to my blog!! It was very exciting for me and I just want to thank everyone for reading. I hope you know that you all bring a little more sunshine into my life!

I hope you have an awesome weekend as well. Enjoy today's video!

I love you all,

Josh