Purse Twin

Debie and I met up halfway this weekend in Philadelphia. It was a day trip totally on a whim. We each thought the other was planning the itinerary. Whoops! But it turned out to be just right. We both took Megabus from our respective cities, then went and stood in line for cheesesteak and peeked in the window at the Liberty Bell (the line was way too long, ok?). Thus concluded the cultural aspect of our tour, and we marched onwards, partaking in gelato-eating, shopping in Rittenhouse Square and a fun, leisurely dinner at Tria, a fancy but not at all snooty wine bar.

Debie had tweeted about the Philly day trip, and the Philadelphia tourism office dutifully tweeted her back on Monday, asking "How was your trip?"

I said she should write that we spent money and contributed to their economy. Ha.

This is the new purse I bought at South Moon Under in Philadelphia. I love everything at South Moon Under. They do a great job of stocking cute, affordable items. Back to the purse - look at those black and white stripes, and poppy colors. It was the only one like it in the store. How could I not take it home with me? My problem is that I am always drawn to crazy things like this, and then everything I own is crazy and I have no white t-shirts.

So I got the purse on Saturday and wore it for the first time on Tuesday. Guess what I saw in the Metro today?

I know this purse was mass-produced in China, but still, small world. This girl actually exited at the same stop as me. Maybe she is my doppelganger. Or evil twin. Sorry for taking photos of you on the Metro, evil twin. But I think I'm going to win the "Who Wore It Better" contest. Though I might wear it with jhorts too.

Tunes Tuesday: Lollapalooza Edition

The third and final day of the 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza - we were there, wallowing in the mud with 90,000 other music fans. Right before my personal favorite Arctic Monkeys took the stage, the sky opened up with a thunderstorm that was downright Biblical. We were more prepared than most. As soon as the drizzle started, I scrambled to poke a hole in the top of a Hefty garbage bag - the engineer's raincoat. You know what? Combined with an umbrella, it did the job. The girls who had on crop tops and rompers without fancy trashbag raincoats looked pretty miserable.

You gotta love the setlist Arctic Monkeys picked out when they finally took the stage after the rain: Brianstorm, She's Thunderstorms, and Crying Lightning. Who knew they had so many weather-related songs?

Joe's photo of the rainbow during Arctic Monkeys' set

But by then, our great spot in front of the stage had turned into an island in the muck. Flip flops and broken sandals were stuck in the mud, abandoned by their owners. What a mess. These pictures are an accurate depiction of conditions.

We thought the storm was behind us, but the clouds darkened, and just as Dangermau5 Deadmau5 took the stage it started pouring again. Instead of scrambling for an umbrella, the crowd started sprinting toward the stage and dancing in the rain. I thought poor Dangermau5 Deadmau5 might get electrocuted. Luckily not. Instead, it was a great Lollapalooza moment and that's why I've chosen this homemade video as this week's Tunes Tuesday. I was not as brave about iPhone video shooting in the rain.

PS - The Joy Formidable rocked really hard, go see them if you get the chance!

L.A. Vacay, Continued

Here are some pictures taken with my iPhone. Despite June Gloom, we had a great time!

Everything seems more colorful on the West Coast. I love how even a blah gray concrete wall can be jazzed up with some painted flowers. (Your taste may vary).

The Getty Center is absolutely gorgeous and worth a trip to Los Angeles.

Look how steep that driveway is! Good thing it doesn't snow there. I made Debie do all the driving on this trip, poor thing. I even made her drive on Mulholland Drive, which was a terrible, terrible idea. It was all hairpin turns with no guardrails, and I pictured our rented Suzuki sailing off the edge. Motorcycles and bikes kept passing us, even on the left, and the road seemed to go on forever.

That drive took 5 years off my life, not sure how many it took off Debie's life. Possibly more. She stayed cool, calm and collected, with just a tad bit of screaming. She may never listen to an idea of mine again, though.

Fun street art and graffiti. The underwear-clad, tattooed hipster in the above photo looks bashful. Maybe it's a depiction of one of those dreams where you go to class and later realize you forgot to put on pants?

We met up with my friend and study abroad travel buddy Emily - so wonderful to see her again! Here she is with fancy sunglasses and a mustache, via Scoutmob's iPhone mustache app. It looks quite nice on her!

Emily was kind enough to give us her take on LA and what we should eat. That's pretty much all we did on this trip. Time well spent.

Fish tacos.

Note to self: Don't order something if you don't know what it is. I just liked the name, Michelada. This goblet was the size of a beta fish bowl, and was way too spicy. You win this round, Michelada!

Check out my previous adventures on the West Coast here (namely driving a lawn mower-sized vehicle in San Francisco traffic).

June Gloom/LA Casting Call

I went to L.A. for the first time and forgot my camera. Doh! I brought plenty of other stuff - mainly shorts and tank tops and summery things for sunny California. Turns out I didn't need those at all as Debie and I arrived in the midst of "June Gloom."

This concept was unfamiliar to me. When we got off the plane it was cold and grey and not at all as what I imagined when I booked the plane ticket for a West Coast getaway. "Oh, June Gloom," at least 5 people remarked to us in the first thirty minute. As if that explained everything.

June Gloom, duhhhh. June Gloom!

What is this June Gloom? Is that why my plane ticket was so cheap? I should've known!

Anyhow, I had to rely on the iPhone for impromptu photos, like these snapshots that I took from the rental car window as we drove down the street.

Here is a line of dozens of people wearing costumes of every different cliche. I see a Mexican poncho, a clown, a guy with one of those Chinese hats on, but no Bumblebee Man. Who else can you spot?

Farm Wedding

Here is my another foray into a fashion-blogger-esque outfit post [cowers, ducks].

The occasion? Joe's friend's wedding held at a dairy farm in Indiana. This little sheer jacket is one of my prized possessions. My mom and I found it while cleaning out her grandparents' farmhouse in upstate New York. It was hanging in the closet next to a bearskin coat. Looks pretty 30's to me. The front is pleated with crystal buttons and the back is completely sheer.

This is the only dress I have that matches with such a dainty jacket. It's Charlotte Russe circa high school. I crossed my fingers when I tried it on and it still fits, phew! I guess the jacket could work with any floral dress but it matches this one so well. Any other ideas on how to wear it?

I tried to take a picture of my new shoes, but it was the most unattractive picture ever. My ankles looked like ham hocks. Here's the shoe:

DV by Dolce Vita, Toni

They are so comfortable and they have fun tassles. Recommend!

The wedding was held in a spruced-up barn, with white paper globes and white lights for decoration. It was a nice effect for what seemed like the nicest couple ever, not to mention one of the smartest. They are both in medical school. Smarties!

It was hotter than Hades though. Why can't old barns be air conditioned? Luckily it poured outside later in the evening and that cooled the temperature by about 20 degrees.

Motorcycles on Ice Weekend

This happened way back in January, but the sheer amount of photos I took put me off from writing about it. I am feeling invigorated, so let's go through the rundown of my trip to Norfolk to visit my some of my bestest friends Emily, Andy, Lauren and their dog Jasper.

I'll put a cute puppy photo first to up page views.

Emily and Andy live right near the water, but alas, it was too freezing that weekend to walk on the beach. Note to self - cape does not cut it in any winter weather, even in the south.

Digging this Mod tsunami warning sign, Norfolk!

Part of the weekend was devoted to making prototype whoopie pies for Lauren's fledgling business. I don't have to tell you that they were delicious. We even made logos and packaging mock-ups. Jasper stole one off the table, but he was nice enough to bring it back untouched.

We also jammed out a little (well, I played a maraca shaped like an orange). Here is Emily on guitar, Andy on mandolin and Lauren on accordion, working under the name "Family Band."

The big event of the weekend was checking out something at the Hampton Coliseum called Motorcycles on Ice. Who knew? The motorcycles had no brakes, just spikes on their tires to race around a small ice rink. We settled in to our seats (I was the only one in the arena wearing a cape, I noted), and the smell of exhaust wafted from backstage. The very first race, one minute in, a motorcycle driver immediately crashed into the wall and lay crumpled under the bike, not moving. "Paramedics to the ice," the announcer intoned.

Not a good introduction to motorcycles on ice. I was beginning to feel like a Roman at the original coliseum. Luckily, he was OK.

And the show continued. And boy, did it continue. I think I saw every vehicle short of a car race on ice. ATVs, golf carts, even Vespas. I'm good on the ice motorsport front for awhile.

Here's the children's division. Yes, really.

But then something peculiar happened. There was a female racer with a bright pink ATV riding in some of the races. I didn't notice her at first, but then I realized she wasn't just beating the men, she was schooling them. Crowd favorite for sure. She made it to the finals and in an out of body moment, I realized that I had risen to my feet and was cheering, screaming at the top of my lungs almost involuntarily, for her to win it all. Against all odds, I had gotten into ice ATV racing.

Here is "First Lady of ICE" Mandy Brodil with her daughter at the award ceremony.