Happy new year!

A new year has begun! 2009 is in the past, 2010 is the present and the future. Hopefully it's a good year filled with good health and happiness.

The New Year's Eve weekend was pretty good. My sister Jessica came down from Easton to hang out with Ileana and me for the night. Jess picked me up and we drove out to West Philly to meet up with Ileana and her roommate Jess. Ileana warmed up some dinner that she had cooked earlier in the evening: yellow rice with shrimp and vegetables. It was really good, although it would've been better if it had been warmed up more. The highlight was the sangria that Ileana made from a recipe that she got online; she used a bottle of malbec and mixed in a bunch of fruit. It was really good.

After that, the four of us walked the block and a half or so to a house party on 45th and Locust. Even though we didn't get there until around 10pm, people were still showing up around that time. We milled around for a while, chatting it up with a few people and eating some of the appetizers laid out on a table in the dining room. Mostly I just talked with Ileana, while Jess talked with this guy John who sorta looked like the actor Ryan Reynolds. Finally midnight approached, so everyone gathered in the living room, where a smaller television was set-up to watch the ball drop. At a few minutes before midnight, John and I psyched everyone out by shouting out a countdown "ten, nine, eight..."; everyone's surprise reaction at being caught off-guard was pretty funny. Finally midnight struck and I realized that there may not have been any couples there at all, which Jess told me later, made her happy. We all toasted small plastic cups of champagne and the new year began!

The next morning, Ileana and I cooked eggs with green pepper and onions for ourselves, with english muffins on the side. Then Jess and I drove back to my place so that I could clean-up my apartment while Jess went out to do reading at Cosi in the afternoon. Later, I walked over to meet her, and then Ileana took a bus to come meet us there too. From there, the three of us walked back to Jess's car and we drove to have a late lunch / early dinner at Bar Ferdinand in Northern Liberties. Because there was a happy hour special when we got there, we were able to have two carafes of sangria. And we all split 8 tapas and 2 bowls of soup. Overall the food was delicious; nothing like empanadas to hit the spot. After dinner, Jess drove us out to West Philly so that Ileana could pick-up her passport (to use as ID for the night), then dropped us off at Drinker's in Center City so that we could hang-out with my friend Mike and his girlfriend Christine. Before that, though, Ileana and I ran in to buy tickets for the movie Avatar, playing later that night. Ileana and I split a pitcher of Bud Light at Drinker's, while chatting with Mike and Christine, and then booked it just in time to catch a cab out to the Bridge at 40th and Walnut. The movie Avatar was awesome. Upon the advice of Ethan (who texted me earlier that day for new year's), we decided to pay the extra money to watch it in 3-D; so worth it! The special effects were amazing and the visual picture was just beautiful. Ileana and I really related to the storyline, especially as it paralleled the Conquest of the Americas, a topic that we had spoken a lot of while I read the book "Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo Galeano, which I had just finished reading a few days earlier. The only bummer was having to wait for 20 minutes on the corner of 40th and Chestnut for a bus back to Center City on a night when it was freezing cold and windy. Despite the cold weather, though, we were both buzzing from the after-effects of watching Avatar.

Saturday, we took our time getting the day started. We finally made it out in the mid-afternoon to take a walk to a coffee shop. We tried going first to Good Karma, but every table was taken, so we kept walking until we got to La Va Cafe, on 21st and South Streets. We got a table there and sipped our coffee while reading: she with Song of Solomon (by Toni Morrison) and me with Revolutionary Suicide (by Huey P. Newton). From there we stopped back at my place to pick-up a Trader Joe's gift card, which my mom had given to me for Christmas, and we went food-shopping together. We had a lunch of California rolls and crackers with Iberico cheese and salami. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching television, including some college football, which I tried to explain to Ileana. Later in the evening we cooked some organic spaghetti with spinach mixed into the red sauce, and then Ileana left to go home to get ready for the night. Although I was feeling pretty tired, I had promised Ileana that we would go out dancing. So when she texted to say that she was in a cab on her way down to the Walnut Room, I left my place and walked over there. There was a pretty decent crowd there and I took a few minutes to ease in to the atmosphere by drinking a couple PBR's and feeling the music, which was mostly 90's to more recent hip-hop. Ileana was dancing pretty much right from the get-go, and eventually I started dancing too. After a little while, I had gotten into it. Towards the end of the night, the dj played a merengue song, and I could see that Ileana was impressed that my dancing skills (at least when it comes to merengue) were better than I had let on. Even though I was tired throughout much of the night, the music energized me just enough and we had a really fun night dancing together.

Sunday was a very lazy day. We got up at 11:30am, only to migrate to the couch for breakfast and then a nap that lasted until around 2pm. After getting up and having lunch, we finally went out later in the afternoon for a coffee at La Colombe. I did a little more reading in my book, while Ileana read from Citypaper and Philadelphia Weekly. We went back to my place so I could drop-off my stuff before going to church, while Ileana stayed behind and did some reading. When I got back from church, we cooked a dinner of pollo asado (pre-seasoned courtesy of Trader Joe's), white rice with coconut milk, and black beans. It was a good dinner, enjoyed while watching episodes of Lost, season five. Our Lost marathon lasted until past midnight. And so, our long New Year's weekend finally came to an end.

And so now, it's back to the grind. In this new year, I'd like to do a much better job of getting to work on-time, getting to the gym more regularly, and keeping in touch with my friends more, all things that sound easy, but I find ways to make difficult. That being said, I wish you the very best in 2010!

NoLibs

For those who aren't in the know, the term "NoLibs" refers to Northern Liberties, a section of the city located roughly in the northeastern part of Center City. NoLibs is bounded by Spring Garden Street to the south, Girard Avenue to the north, Front Street to the east, and 6th Street to the west.

Last night, after hitting up the gym for a quick leg work-out, I headed out to catch the trolley at 19th and Market Streets, then transferred to the EL at 15th Street to head eastbound up to the Spring Garden stop. I was going to meet some friends at a highly-acclaimed restaurant up that way, Bar Ferdinand, which I've been meaning to hit up for a while.

Once I got there, I realized that I really should've gotten off at the Girard stop of the EL, since Bar Ferdinand is located just a couple blocks south of Girard. But the text message that I'd gotten earlier told me that I should get off at Spring Garden; oh well, it allowed me a pleasant walking tour of NoLibs' de facto main street: 2nd Street, along which are lots of bars, restaurants, and local threads shops. Second Street there really embodies the spirit of Northern Liberties: upscale alternative urban counterculture, i.e., hipster. (By the way, please read urbandictionary's definition of "hipster" HERE, hilarious shit and so on-point!).

Bar Ferdinand was definitely very hip, nice decor, quite upscale, a lot of good-looking people. I found my friends sitting at a long table directly in front of a mosaic mural with the Black Osborne Bull of Spain (El Toro Negro; the unofficial national symbol of Spain) right in the smack-dab center of the mural; it was really nice. Since the restaurant only serves tapas -- and I ate just one (mejillones con chorizo) -- I had to stop at Rustica Pizza back on 2nd Street, closer to Fairmount, to get 3 slices of pizza to completely fill me up.

After hanging out at Lisa's for a little while -- so everyone could have a breather before going out for the night and so I could finish up my pizza -- Claire and I decided to leave to catch the EL back to Center City. After having drank a very refreshing cup of Pepsi with my pizza, though, I was determined to find another cup of Pepsi: and not merely a plastic bottle of it, but another fountain drink of Pepsi. Wow! Well, that was a long and harrowing journey that eventually led to Drinker's, where I gave up and just ordered a cola, hoping that it would be Pepsi. I asked the bartender if it was Coca-Cola or Pepsi, and to my surprise he said that it was neither, but was instead a local, Philadelphia-produced cola. After doing a quite cursory search on Google (as if you need a link to Google, right) to find out the name of this local cola, I couldn't find anything. If you know what it's called, then please let me know!

Anyway, back to today. In just a little bit, I'm heading out again to once more catch the EL. This time I'm taking the line to the eastbound (northern) terminus: Frankford Transportation Center. Mike is picking me up there and we're gonna get some eats up that way before heading back down to Center City for a couple drinks. That story to be filled out tomorrow, so check back in y'all.

Flip-Flops

This afternoon, after work, I went to Urban Outfitters (which, incidentally, began in 1970 as a store called "The Free People's Store" right here in Philadelphia) on Walnut Street to take advantage of their sale of flip-flops: 2 pairs for $10. Considering that I've been needing to pick-up flip-flops, this turned out to be a great opportunity. I got a brown pair and a blue pair.

Afterward, in the spirit of getting some stuff that I need, I walked a block down Walnut to City Sports. I've really been in need of some athletic shorts to play basketball and work-out at the gym. I was in luck. I picked up a pair of navy blue Nike basketball shorts.

After that, I walked over to Rittenhouse Square to sit down on a bench and enjoy the really beautiful weather (mostly sunny; 88 F / 31 C). Of course, on a warm and sunny Friday evening, the park was packed with people hanging out and walking through. It was the kind of scene that really makes me happy and proud to live in the city, and so close to the park itself. After sitting and enjoying the scene for a little while, I decide to call Paul to talk to him about, among other things, our trip. We both agreed that we have some planning to do. And Paul suggested that at some point while we're over there we should rent motorcycles and just go riding through the countryside to see where we end up. I told him that I love that idea, that's what it's all about!

Well, in a little while here, I'm heading off to Northern Liberties to meet some friends. I'll let'cha know how that all pans out.