Yeah Phillies!

What a fun time to be living in Philadelphia:)

Congratulations Phillies!

Pumpkin Paradise

I don't know why these-gourd squashes are so popular. They're heavy, they rot, and they are so passe post Halloween. In fact, I don't know a single self-professing pumpkin farmer--have you ever heard of a Pumpkaneer? Nonetheless, the Pumpkin/Gourd/Candycorn season is short so we enjoy it while we can. In lieu of more exiting news, here's us buying into these manufactured holidays:

This is us Buying Pumpkins...


And this is us Painting Pumpkins...


And yes, we are now proud owners of two painted pumpkins.

Brooks and Dunn's "Only in America" in 2Pac Country

T& I are suckers for political theater. On perhaps the most beautiful day of the fall, we canned our afternoon bike trip through Valley Forge for a jaunt to one of the most dangerous areas in Philadelphia. Why? Presidential politics of course. Through the kaleidoscope of an election-year fall, a beaten-down inner-city corner in West Philadelphia seems sunnier and happier than the foliage and fauns of General Washington's lush encampment--or for that matter, the rather dull McCain events (no offense John).

In West Philly, the enthusiasm runs rampant. A mix of bicycling, white, UPenn types blend in with Philly's African-American community on 52nd and Locust. A cottage industry of “Barack-the-Vote” paraphernalia dominates the scene. For obvious reasons, T & I decide to skip the Obama rally towel, the Obama cat bandanna, and the Obama meets 2Pac XXL. Our sloganeering consists of those little red, nonpartisan "I voted stickers". The whole setting reminds me of an early Pentecostal meeting--with all its inter-class and inter-race exuberance. By the time the evangelist reaches the stage, it’s a bit of a letdown. BHO begins his standard pie-in-the sky stump speech with a riff on preexisting conditions here, some middle-class tax cut promises there, and an amusing spiel on turning off TVs and fathering over there.

Most interestingly, the usual partisan attacks at McCain are there but the boos are muted. When Obama stops to praise McCain for reining in his rhetoric over the past day people cheer. Now I've been to a fair share of Bush and McCain extravaganzas. And to be fair the energy is almost equivalent--or at least the decibel level of the music, but the energy at these events is mostly directed at the political foe. On 52nd and Locust nobody seemed to care about McCain/Palin--not a single vehement "McSame" or "No Country for Old Men" T-Shirt was to be found. As BHO leaves, the über-country song, “Only in America” is blaring in the streets of West Philly.

Michigan in the Fall

Luau Tent

This weekend my family headed to Michigan for a wedding. It was a beautiful time of year to be there with all of the leaves starting to change. My parents rented a beautiful cottage a block off of Lake Michigan and close to all of the weekend activities. The wedding weekend started with a sunset luau/rehearsal dinner in a tent on the beautiful sand of Lake Michigan. Saturday we had free time to explore the small towns and sand dunes in the area before the evening wedding at the International Friendship Gardens.


Hiking the Dunes


McLaren/Brandenburgs at the Wedding

The wedding was beautiful and followed by delicious food and dancing. After a brunch the next morning, for all who came to this destination wedding, Ben and I headed out for our 10 hour drive home but not before visiting one of Ben's college roommates who lives in Michigan. It was a great weekend to see old friends and family.


Friends since preschool! (Toni and Susan with their husbands)


College Roommates (Justin and Ben with their wives)