Julie Andrews

Lindsay:

After writing all of these blogs, I'm noticing a pattern...Chris takes me to the best concerts.  A few months before this concert, Chris gave me a Philadelphia Metro listing all of the concerts at the Mann Center for the summer of 2008.  I picked out a bunch, but the one I wanted to go to was the Julie Andrews concert.  By the time Chris was able to get tickets, he had to pay a lot more than he thought he was going to at first.  I thought it was so kind of Chris to get the tickets for me anyway.  He really knew how much I wanted to see this concert.  

When Julie Andrews came out on stage, I was completely star struck.  She and the other performers sang several Rogers and Hammerstein tunes during the first half of the concert.  The second half of the performance was a World Premier of a mini-musical.  Julie Andrews was the narrator and the actors sang songs.  It's amazing to have Julie Andrews tell you a story.  I loved it.  At the end, she sang "My Funny Valentine" and "Edelweiss" which both made me cry.  I was so happy that I got to see her perform, but still a little sad that the songs had to be rearranged for her because she couldn't sing like she used to.  I loved every second of this concert!

Chris:

Hoping to repeat the Itzahak Perlmann magic, I told Lindsay to see if there was any concerts that she wanted to go see this summer.  Naturally, she never looked so after a month or so (and long after all the cheap student tics had sold out) I insisted that she pick one and she chose Julie Andrews.  At least I have heard of this one before...  The timing of the concert turned out to be perfect, falling on the one day of that week when I did not have an orientation event.  I am not the biggest fan of Julie Andrews (what with being under age 50 and male) but the show did turn out to be pretty entertaining and Andrews is in much better shape that I would have imagined.

*Note: I most certainly did check that Metro.  It sat on my desk in Chris' office with big stars and circles around the shows I wanted to see.  :)

Christmas Present #1: Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

Lindsay:

Chris and I got all dolled up to go out on the town for a night of fun.  First, Chris took me to a really nice restaurant that he wanted to go to across the street from the Kimmel Center.  Before we got there, we stopped at CVS for a disposable camera.  Unfortunately, those pictures have never been developed.  After a really nice dinner, we went across the street to the Kimmel Center.  I enjoyed this concert more than any other concert I had ever been to.  There was a phenomenal gospel choir, and when they sang the Hallelujah Chorus after the gospel music, one of the members continued to snap his hand over the choir loft which I thought was pretty amusing.  After the concert, we explored the Kimmel Center.  We discovered a big room with lots of plants and an awesome view of Philadelphia high up above the actual auditorium.  The echo of voices from far below us sounded really cool.  It took about 10 minutes for anyone else to make it up to the garden room with us.  

Chris:

after my final exam, I figured it was time to stop neglecting my girlfriend, so we went out for dinner and the pops.  Soto Varalles restaurant on Broad street was reasonably priced for its lvel of class and had special seatings for Kimmel center patrons so we went there first and had a very nice dinner.  For the concert, we had fantastic seats, front and center on the balcony.  It was a very uplifting and cheerful concert, with a wide range of musical styles and audience participation.  We both had a good time, so this one will probably become a tradition

Restaurant Week: Fall '07

This was a really neat thing that Chris told me about.  We went to La Famiglia which was the only restaurant in participating in restaurant week that had an entree that could be made into a vegetarian dish.  Chris picked me up at my house (I was living in North Philly at the time) and we headed downtown to La Famiglia where we both had meals we really enjoyed.  Afterwards, we walked over to Penn's Landing and walked around for a little while before we went home.  It was really a beautiful night between the delicious dinner and weather down by the water.

Itzhak Perlman does Philadelphia

Lindsay:  I'm not really sure when, but one day, Chris asked me if I wanted to go see a concert at the Mann Center.  For our non-Philadelphian friends, the Mann Center is an outdoor concert venue that the Philadelphia orchestra plays at during the summer.  It's really neat because you can get lawn seats, have a picnic and crack open a bottle of wine all while enjoying a concert.  Chris, not knowing how huge this was, suggested we go see Itzhak Perlman.  ITZHAK PERLMAN?!  Of course!  I explained to Chris that this would be an amazing opportunity because it was unlikely that we would get many more chances to see the virtuoso in concert.  

After the coke incident at the hippie concert with Bryan, we decided not to bring any liquor because we didn't know that we would actually be able to bring it in this time.  I do remember eating stale Dark Chocolate bars on the lawn.  

The last piece on the program was an arrangement of movements from Carmen.  I really liked this piece and I think Chris did too.  He told me that he had seen Carmen when he was in Boston which I thought was very impressive.  A cultured engineer!  The end of the piece was marked by people getting up and leaving because a HUGE thunderstorm came in.  It didn't actually rain until the music ended which was hilarious because all of those people who thought they were going to melt in the rain definitely got soaked on the way to their car.  We listened to the end of the concert and waited under a tent for the storm to pass and laughed at everyone else who was soaked.  I also remember looking at a couple probably in their early sixties who were smooching away under the tent which we also thought was amusing.

Chris:  This was a pretty good concert, as far as classical music goes.  I had been meaning to go to the mann center for some time, and this seemed like a good opportunity.  I will admit that I had never heard of Itzahk Pearlmeann before, but he was certainly a fantastic musician, and I had a good time.  I am not a fan of leaving things early that I paid for, so I wanted to stay till the end of the concert rain or shine.  The timeing was perfect and the skys opened up about 30sec after the end of the show.  Now picture 1000's of people running around this ampitheater looking for shelter (most of them elderly)  and in the corner of my eye, I spot a empty catering tent.  we stood there and watched a lot of people get soaked.  I hope someone helped Pearlmann get to his car...

Hangin' with Ben...the bridge.

Lindsay:  Chris and I did a lot of walking around Philly in the early part of the summer of 2007.  We went to a really good Irish restaurant in Old City for lunch one Saturday afternoon, and then we hopped back in the car to cruise around the city.  We decided to walk over the Ben Franklin Bridge and there was a perfect parking spot right in front of the mint which is right next to the bridge.  I really enjoyed it and we even took a few pictures!  If Chris looks a little queasy, it's because he was.  Later that night, we made pizza together.  It was a lot of fun!

Chris:  CC was still the only part of philly that I was comfortable with, so we spent a lot of time hanging around there (I was also working full time at Hanehmann that summer).  I am somewhat scared of heights but The view was amazing from the bridge, and it was a perfect day, so I am glad that we went.

Our first date in Philly as a couple...

Lindsay:  I drove to Philadelphia on a Saturday night for our first sleepover.  We drove into Center City and ate at Cosi's.  Then we walked around the city and took our very first picture together in Love Park!    The next day, Chris took me to Manayunk for the first time.  It was so hot out that we decided we would go back to my house in New Jersey to go swimming.  We went swimming with my sister and visited Randi's house for her brother's birthday.  The picture that's here is our very first one together.

Chris:  A good time...I was still used to living in CC, so I figured we should go hang out there and philly didnt disapoint.  we took a bunch of pics fooling around on the giant game pieces by city hall, but unfortunately they did not come out very well.

"You could call me your 'male acquaintance'..."

Lindsay:  Chris finished the first year of his master's degree on Friday, June 1st.  I thought it would be really nice to see Chris on Saturday before I went to Randi's junior prom, so I offered to drive to the city to make him a nice breakfast.  After our breakfast (challah french toast with strawberries and bananas), we took a walk in Fairmount Park.  We were walking and I said, "I guess I had better start calling you my boyfriend."  He suggested that I could call him his "male acquaintance," but I figured that made him sound too much like...well...not a boyfriend.  He had to push me out of his apartment because he didn't want me to be late for Randi's prom.  I thought it was pretty funny that Chris realized so early on that I had some time management problems to work out.  

Chris:  After my final Neuro exam, it was nice that lindsay came into the city to make me breakfast.  (I had been out drinking the evening before, and was completely unmotivated to do much for myself)  I felt bad because after the great breakfast, I talked her into going on a nature walk on  the wissahickon trail, but lindsay got a huge blister and had to hobble home.  I could see at this point that lindsay really liked me, and I was starting to really like her.

The First Date!

Lindsay:  Chris drove for about an hour to meet me.  I was living in New Jersey with my parents at the time and my mother didn't want me to go to Philadelphia to meet any strange men.  We met at Leonardo's which is an Italian restaurant about 5 minutes from my house.  Chris got lost on the way there and I was so worried that I was going to get stood up as I waited for him in the entryway to the restaurant.  He called me to say that he was on his way but something bizarre happened with the phone call and I never actually got to talk to him before he got to the restaurant.  He definitely earned major points for calling to say that he was going to be late and paying for dinner.  We finished dinner, hung around Barnes and Noble, and then went to the beach with my friend, Randi.  I didn't really think he liked me too much, but we started talking about things we both wanted in life and it seemed like we wanted a lot of the same things.  Even more points...Chris made sure he IMed me when he got home so that I knew he got home safely. 

Chris:  After class I drove out to the restaurant in NJ to meet Lindsay.  all and all it was a pretty boring date, but for random people met on the internet, this is ok.  I also met her best friend and hung around her town, all of which seemed pretty normal.  Unlike most people I have met off the the internet, lindsay was pretty much as advertised.  It was definately worth a second look.

How We Met: The internet phase.

How Rochester Boy and Jersey Girl met...

Lindsay:   I was still in my first year at Virginia Tech when I first started talking to Chris.  I knew that I was transferring to Temple University in the Fall and wanted to meet new people and had nothing against meeting perspective love interests.  Chris, "Blindchimpanzee" came up as someone who was single in Philadelphia.  I really liked what I heard from his profile, so  I added "blindchimpanzee" to my buddy list on AIM  and chatted with him when I saw him come online.  He wasn't too happy that I was still at Virginia Tech and thought it was silly that I was studying music at a "tech" school, but I explained to him that I was going to be moving to Philadelphia in the fall to study music at Temple.  We talked a few times before I moved back to New Jersey in the middle of April.  We talked one day after I came home while I was still sad about what had happened at VT, and he asked me out on a date.  I was actually surprised that he wanted to go out because we hadn't talked all that much.  We decided that we would meet for dinner in New Jersey on Friday, May 4th.

Chris:  She pretty much said it all.  I was a bored grad student and a friend from college had told me about the site OK cupid, so I had been trying it for a few months.  After a few false starts, I started chatting with lindsay after she IMed me.  She seemed pretty cool, so I said that if she came back to the Philly area, I would try to meet her.