Days 4 & 5- Philly and Shiloh!

(Had no internet access yesterday so I couldn’t post my Philly blog! So here are two blogs in one! BAM!) 


 Steps, Pets and Pizza.


Philly was gorgeous, sunny, and full of artwork, people and animals! We met up with Andrea, Annie’s BFF from elementary school who showed us around and took us to an amazing Brunch spot called Honey’s where I ordered the most gigantic platter of County Fried Steak, Green Bean Casserole and Potato Latkes. It was a  delicious beast, but I dealt with it accordingly ;) 


Then we went thrifting in a wild store where there was a strange altercation between a homeless man trying to return a shirt for $25 and a very polite clerk who gracefully declined his attempt. It was weird. However, Annie and I both found fun outfits for the Nerd Party, so all was well. After that, we grabbed some cold afternoon beverages at an adorable cafe called Rocket Cat, and headed over to the house where the show was happening. Brooke and Gal invited us in and showed us to our SUITE of a room, and on the way we met Cash their very excitable puppy, Maya the very large kitty and Charlie the playboy cat. We made instant pet friends and had a great time setting up and chatting with our hosts. Dan Collins came out and played a beautiful first set that I was able to sit in on for a couple songs. During my set, I noticed that our show attendees were a bit underdressed for the costume theme, so we had a spontaneous dress up contest, and there was a tie between Andrea and Najwa, who both made very convincing declarations of their alter ego superhero powers! 


After the show, we ate pizza and took a little trip down the street to a very loud bar where some of Andrea’s High School friends were bartending. This meant that we got free drinks and, upon Andreas persistent pleas to the DJ, we got to hear some fun 90’s dance music. The night ended after we all got sleepy and so we headed back, but on our way out I had a very odd interchange with a fellow who, after I introduced myself to him, asked me “What were your parents thinking??”. WOW! Apparently, some Philly boys be BOLD and RUDE.


In the morning, we had coffee and scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar and kale, care of Brooke and Gal. Before leaving town, we checked out the Magic Gardens, this amazing huge scale mosaic art installation/structure that one really just has to see to believe. It was magnificent, utterly other worldly, and totally unique to any art experience I have ever witnessed before. Scroll down for a video of me playing a song there. 


Then we got tarts and road snacks from Whole Foods and ran back to our car in the rain. And drove to Shiloh, NJ.



To Grandmother’s House We Go!


We spent our day off with my Grandmother in Shiloh, New Jersey. We watched old home movies, listened to her stories about being a young girl in England during World War 2, and we ate like queens or dinner. She made us baked Mac and Cheese with Stewed Tomatoes and Trifle for dessert! We slept like babes and had a lovely long morning before leaving for Westminster