Philadelphia

I went to a conference in Philly last week to present a seminar on my dissertation research. This was my first time away from Blake overnight, and it was for THREE nights. Luckily, I did just fine, and so did he. =) The trip was wonderful. Before flying out of DFW, I met up with Jamie and friends for breakfast. Good times. =)


At the conference, I was able to reconnect with my Mizzou buddies (I sure miss you guys!). Here is a quick shot of a few of us in the hotel, then most of my pictures were taken in the evenings during dinner or going out with the crew. We did slip away for a bit on one afternoon for an educational field trip to see a bit of the city. Never been there before! So much fun. The whole time, I kept telling me friends..."oh my gosh! That's from National Treasure! Do you remember when he went up into the bell tower and climbed down on the roof to get the glasses in the brick wall?? That's the roof!!" And I would proceed to take a picture of the roof. Yeah, I was the only one to appreciate that movie that day. =)


One night for dinner, Michele and I went to Morimoto's restaurant (Iron Chef Morimoto, if any of you are Food Network fans like me). =) It was such a WONDERFUL experience. The food, the decor, even the bathroom was cool. And yep, I took pictures.


Do you see the blue divider thing throughout the tables?? That changed colors every 5 minutes or so...red, green, blue. Very cool! It felt like we were underwater.

Our food. The first one is Michele's plate of mostly sashimi (tastey, but I have a hard time eating raw fish like this). The second picture was my food. Mmmmm. SOOOO good. I even tried something new...eel. Its the little guy wrapped in a belt on the right. Surprisingly, very good.

The bathrooms... =) No handles on the doors.

During our field trip afternoon, we grabbed an afternoon snack at the original Philly cheesesteak spots. There are two of them, right across the street from each other (Pat's and Geno's). We decided to split sandwiches from both places, and then make our conclusion as to which one was better (we're researchers, this was a totally cool experiment for us). =) Our vote was unanimous--Pat's won!

The liberty bell (with Independence Hall in the background). Then the bell tower where the National Treasure guy climbed up to get out on the roof. =) Is it sad that movies are my reference for historical things?
The Picasso exhibit at the National Art Museum. We are standing at the top of the stairs where Rocky famously ran up and then jumped around once we got to the top. And yes, we reinacted it. Of course.

A beautiful view of the city.

Then this weekend my Mom was here to visit and made me my favorite cake as a belated birthday celebration! (notice we already tested it out on the backside before the celebration...it was too good to wait). =) Thanks Mom!!!!!