Adventures with Hillari

My pal, Hillari Snelson (Anderson) (see her picture at the temple from Oct 07) made the treacherous treck from upstate NY to visit me this weekend. She said she was bringing homemade bread- so I said, "Yes, I'd love for you to come!" And, it was delicious. It was so great to see a familiar face and to catch up. We tasted a little Philly food wherever we went and walked all over to see the sights. We found the "Naked Chocolate Cafe" where they serve hot chocolate European style- thick and packed with cocoa. Here are some of the other sights...

The Liberty Bell, up close and personal, with legendary crack. I went through that whole visitor's center and skipped the explanation of how it got cracked!

Inside Independence Hall- the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was much smaller than I thought it would be. I didn't get a very good picture, but in the middle of the room, there was a desk facing the tables in this picture with a large wood chair. The chair was the actual chair that George Washington sat in during the time when the declaration was written and debated. At the top of the chair is a carved half sun. Benjamin Franklin (I think) said that he wasn't sure if the half sun meant the sun was rising or setting on the birth of our nation- but it turns out that it was the sunrise of a great country. Our tourguide was excellent- I always get all choked up when hearing about the ideals of the founding fathers and their sacrifices to make our country great.

Commodore Barry is known as the father of the US Navy. A member of today's Navy, Hillari is thinking of taking the Navy a whole new direction. Behind the statue is the back side of Independence Hall.

Bingo chips, chess, Sorry, dominoes, and Monopoly pieces are scattered through this plaza and is appropriately titled, "Your Move".

The Thinker by Rodin. His pose of thoughtful consideration contrasts with the hustle of city life.

Work, Rittenhouse Square, Civil War museum

Row houses in the Rittenhouse square area. We found tons of cute restaurants and shops. I'm going to have to exercise a lot to eat my way around Philly as I would like.

While in Philadelphia, I joined the Union army. It is not for sissies- that rifle weighed a ton!

Melissa, my roommate and co-fellow, with "Old Baldy", General Meade's horse. Yes, it really is Old Baldy's head! (Eew!) But, he was a very good horse, surviving 5 battles, including being hit by a 12 # shell and getting right back into action. General Meade was a Philadelphian, known for being the commanding general at Gettysburg.

The lobby at "The Ben" (short for The Benjamin Franklin building). The entrance to my work is straight ahead. The building is older and ornate- a popular place for weddings and special occasions.

Philly, Christmas

(I got my pictures all out of order- I still need to learn how to do this!) This is my workgroup celebrating at Emory's at Silver Lake (from bottom left- Linda, me, Hilary, Stephanie, Christy, and Kimberly.

"The museum" Sparsely decorated, this is my new home in Philly. Its wood floors and high ceilings remind me of a museum- hence the name. We have few windows- we face into a courtyard, but not much light makes its way down to the 4th floor of an 8 story building. My room has a cut out at the top to let in some natural light, but no sound privacy for jamming out without disturbing my roommate. (It would be very disturbing.) Overall, the apartment is amazingly nice- complete with security guard at the entrance. There is a gym on the second floor and pool tables on the 3rd floor.
So far, my urban experience fits every preconcieved notion I have of the urban experience. I know there are beautiful areas of town and interesting things to see- but, I haven't seen it yet! My work is a few blocks away, and I already cut the "commute" as close as possible. But, I am excited about all that I will learn and experience. It will probably consume most of my time here just to get all the reading assignments done!

The traditional outing to Fazarri's for the Shotsy pizza made of German sausage, sauerkraut, and mustard sauce. Yum! (clockwise from left corner- James, Grammy, Poppy, Suzanna, Heidi, Laurel, and Jonathan)









Suzers looking extra cute in her new hat. What a face!














Laurel went right to work decorating her princess crowns.












James was very happy with his new horsey- Diamond.












Grammy and Poppy created a treasure chest of goodies, complete with clues and a map- making Christmas extra special.
















Christmas mayhem! At least the sun was shining when we started to open presents! (no pre-dawn unwrapping)











I couldn't resist taking a picture of this Christmas decoration headed back to Santa's toy shop for repairs.



















Torrey and I at the Seattle Center before Christmas- we had a fun time looking for creative shots. Torrey also had fun with photoshop- one picture made me look like I could have been the fourth chipmunk!