Big Girl Sleepover

This past weekend, my mom, Aunt Jess, and little cousin Anna Belle came to visit me in Philly! They arrived at my apartment on Saturday morning. After decking ourselves out a bit in St. Patty's garb, we hopped on the Trolley, then the subway, and took it to Old City. We ate lunch at City Tavern which is a restaurant in an old brick house  and the servers dress in Colonial outfits. It feels as though you were invited into Benjamin Franklin's house for dinner (or lunch). The food was delicious and it was fun feeling as though we were living in that era.

Belle and her delicious Butter Ball

Unfortunately the weather that day was not on our side. It was cold, windy, raining, and sometimes even sleeting! What happened to the glorious weather from the weekend before when I wasn't wearing a coat?! But it didn't stop me from enjoying time with my family. I showed them a few of my favorite shops on the 13th street Corridor, then Anna Belle and I decided that it was time for dessert. I had never been to Max Brenner before, but boy was I impressed! Anna Belle got a Strawberry Mess which had strawberries, brownies, ice cream, sprinkles, and A LOT of whipped cream. Mom and I decided on the European Fondue which came with strawberries, bananas, brownie bites, cookie bites, marsh mellows, a candle to roast the marsh mellows on, and melted toffee and dark & milk chocolate. Oh goodness were we in heaven! Mom and I especially liked roasting the marsh mellows and Anna Belle liked playing in her mess!

In front of Independence Hall

Excited her mess has arrived!

About to destroy the Mess

Anna Belle and Me enjoying our Chocolate!

The amazing Fondue!

After we were all filled up on chocolate, we walked along Walnut Street and went into a few stores. Belle's favorite store was Lush where she bought an egg shaped, hot pink, bath fizzer and got a Swedish Fish Soap Sample! We were going to go to the ComedySportz improv show which was going to start in an hour and we knew we needed a little something to eat to tide us over. We had all been craving nachos all day for some reason and Qdoba seemed like the quickest and best solution. Except for the fact that the Erin Express was happening that day, so all the St. Patty's partying, school bus riding, green wearing, drunks all thought that Qdoba was a good idea, too. Woops. After all of Qdoba sang Happy Birthday to one guy, he asked if it was anyone else's birthday. My reflexes made me point to my little cousin and say "Her! It's her birthday!" So then all of Qdoba began singing Happy Birthday to my little Anna Belle. Needless to say, she was not pleased and she sat there with her arms folded, red faced, and staring daggers at me. As we were leaving, the guy told my aunt that he'd like to buy Anna Belle a milkshake for her birthday and that he was serious. My aunt told him no, that Belle had had enough sweets for the day. So then his table decided to start chanting "An-Na Belle! An-Na Belle!" So as much as Belle hated all of us for about the next 30 minutes, we all still can't stop laughing about Anna Belle's first Erin Express experience. Ha!

Pooped out at West Elm

After those shenanigans, we made our way to the Improv show, which I was so excited to introduce Belle to. The show was, of course, hilarious, and I had the honor of being one of the judges! When the show was over, we made our way back to my apartment where Mom and Aunt Jess drove to their hotel and left my little Anna Belle with me for the night! Yes!! Our first Big Girl Sleepover! We immediately changed into our pajamas, I made a big bowl of popcorn, and dusted off Dream Phone. Yes Dream Phone. The best game of the 90s and my childhood and that still very much works and is still the best. game. ever. I taught Belle how to play and we played a few games trying to figure out who likes us. Belle was disappointed with who liked us. "Ugh. He is not cute enough to be kissable." Umm okay you big girl! She actually didn't find any of them attractive ("His hair is weird"), but we still had a blast playing the game. Sidenote: I will always find Steve and Matt to be hotties. I wonder where all those dream phone boys are now? If they only knew that 26 year old girls are still "calling" them to see if they like them (me.)

After the game, she decided she wanted to shower in my big awesome shower. I really do have a great shower! She used her Swedish Fish soap and smelled delicious! I set up a movie in my room and we snuggled into bed together. We fell asleep about 30 minutes into the movie. At one point I woke up and her head was on my shoulder with her arm flung over me. My big girl is still my sweet little baby I fell in love with from the moment my aunt had her over 10 years ago.

The next morning, I made us tea, she showed me some gymnastics videos, then we got ready and met our moms a few blocks away at a cafe for brunch. It was a wonderful weekend and I will never forget our first Big Girl Sleepover in the City!

The Storm: A Radio Play

 A few weeks ago I received an email from Miss Loretta Lucy, the director of Expecting Isabel. She said she was doing a radio play reading, but the young actress in it had to unfortunately drop out. She asked if I would be interested in doing the show and she would let the director know. I was definitely interested as 1) I haven't been able to audition for anything the past few months because I've been pretty busy and this would be a small time commitment and 2) I had never done a play reading before, let alone a radio show - sound effects included!

So I started rehearsing with the cast and put on my best dramatic, southern accent. The play was held in the director's living room and his wonderful wife set out drinks and appetizers for the audience. On our first night, about 15 people came, mainly friends and family, which was the perfect size. The last two shows however, the Philly Fun Savers went into effect, and boy, do those things work! We had about 35 people show up for each performance! The audience seemed to really enjoy our quirky little show and I loved working with the cast!