gingerbread houses

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

Christmas at Longwood

Lindsay: A word to the wise: Never go to Longwood Gardens in December without a winter jacket.  I loved this trip, but oh man, did I freeze.  Chris and I went to Longwood Gardens to check out their Christmas display.  We walked around in the brightly lit gardens for hours in the dark. The display was really cool because there were so many Christmas lights.  There is a very famous organ at Longwood Gardens, and the man who plays it ever year at Christmas time played and the audience sang Christmas carols.  I loved this so much.  We also saw an ice skating show which was kind of corny, but still fun to watch.

On the way home, Chris and I tried to stop for dinner at a Japanese restaurant, but everything on the menu looked absolutely disgusting so we left.  It was pretty funny.  I know, we're classy.  I remember stopping at Target because I wanted to get a frame for a present I made Christopher. It was a collage with a whole bunch of ticket stubs and maps from places we had been.  I can't tell you if we actually found something to eat on the way home, but I'm entirely sure that we did not starve.  This was a great trip and I hope we do it again.

Vermont trip

Smashing Looking Pumpkins

Lindsay:  To be honest, I don't remember too much about this one.  Christopher, Jenny, and I were digging the insides out of our pumpkins at the kitchen table at my house.  My sister and Christopher wound up chucking hunks of pumpkin at each other, and Christopher was yelled at by my mother for hitting the freshly painted wall with pumpkin that missed my sister.  We also baked the pumpkin seeds.  I'm sure Chris will have more to say about this one!

late season Baseball

phillies v mets

orioles v yankees

college day on the parkway

Museums

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.

161st and River Avenue never seemed so far away...

Lindsay: About a month into having mono, I somehow convinced my mother that I would be well enough to go to a Yankee game in mid-August.  I went on Ebay one evening and found 2 seats in the bleachers whose price couldn't be beat.  After some begging, my mother agreed to purchase the tickets for me on her account.  

Chris and I took the train to the city, and then hopped on the subway for the 130 block ride north to THE Stadium.  For some reason, I completely forgot that I would have to battle several flights of stairs before actually making it above ground.  It took me a long time to get up those stairs.  I did about five at a time and then stopped because I was still very dizzy and pretty sick.  Oops.

We got to the game, and it was the sunniest 3 hours of my entire life.  The sun set right in our faces from the hours of 4-7 as the Yankees played against the Detroit Tigers.  It wasn't the most exciting game, but the Yankees did win. 

The best part about this trip was a vendor working in the bleachers who I will never forget.  He was homosexual and had probably been smoking cigarettes since his fourth birthday.  In a voice that I can almost reproduce, he shouted "LEMON ICE!!!" throughout the bleachers.  The bleacher creatures thought this was hilarious, and a few people made fun of him.  Lemon Ice Man heard them and yelled at them...calling them FOOLS.  It was hilarious.

Afterward, we took the subway from the Bronx back to Midtown Manhattan.  We had some dinner and fooled around at the Virgin Records store.  I picked up a Green Day and a Lil' John and the East Side Boys album for dirt cheap, and Chris tried out a new look and even met Spongebob!

Lindsays great disease