Spring is in the Air

The weather in Philly has been amazing.  Ok maybe not super awesome amazing, but it has been nice, well except for yesterday when it rained all day long.  For real though March has been anything but a lion and has been mild and even warm.  It has tricked everything into growing.  

Simon and I spent our Saturday walking all over the city.  It was too nice to stay in.  The sun was out and some crocuses were trying to push their way up between dead leaves and cold soil. 

My great grandmother who was alive while I was young use to say that once the crocuses sprouted it had to snow on them three times before spring would stay around.  I know this is an old wives tale, but I love the idea of using the first spring flowers as a why to predict how close spring is.  

For the Love of Philly: Headhouse Farmers' Market

Growing up in a small town we always got seasonal produce from local farmers.  Some of them are family friends and other times you just find a veggie stand at the side or the road at the corn of a field that would be filled with good things like tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and later in the summer corn.  Living in Philly my options are a lot different from that of my childhood, but this brings me to my new favorite place to visit on Sunday morning, the Headhouse Farmers' Market.  It's the best of both, located between Lombard St. and South St. on 2nd St.

There are tons of vendors to choose from and I love chatting with the farmers about there produce and farms.  Last week I saw radishes, peas, three varieties or turnips, beets, zucchini, squash, apples, tomatoes, strawberries, all sorts of varieties of lettuce.  My market bag is always full when I leave the market.

Along with produce that farmers bring there are a few other vendors that sell there goods.  You can find two farmers to by fresh cage free eggs from. there are too different cheese vendors one is cows milk cheese the other is goat milk cheese (my fave), there are bakers and florists, and a a few plant nurseries too.

The Market opens bright ans early on Sunday morning at 10am and goes to 2pm.  I suggest going early to get the best pick of the produce.

For the Love of Philly: Reading Terminal Market

The Reading Terminal Market is a must when you are in center city.  It is one of my favorite places in center city and even if you don't need any produce, bread, fish, cheese, cupcakes or anything to eat it is a great place to go and experience the atmosphere.

My first stop at the market is always Old City Coffee.  I need my caffeine fix for the morning or afternoon, or really any time of the day.

My next favorite place in Metropolitan Bakery.  Their bread is so yummy, but what I really love is their chocolate croissants.  Every few weeks I meet up with my friend Nicole and we purchase large cups of coffee and wonderful starchy bread and eat, chat and knit.  It involves three of my favorite things and one of my favorite people.   

The terminal is always teaming with activity and there is so much to see and do and eat.  There are countless stalls and all selling a variety of things.

  You can find locally grown and organic goods at the market.

Any kind of cheese you can imagine.

Yummy cupcakes from Flying Monkey. 

Watch pretzels being made by hand. 

Get a sandwich as big as your face.

Buy freshly baked breads.

Brows a variety of honeys.

Did I mention the pretzels.  If you find yourself in the terminal you at least need to have a hand made pretzel. The terminal is a great piece of Philly I love it for the vibe and the food.  It's a great place to visit just to see what's there and happening. 

The Reading Terminal Market

12th and Arch St

Philadelphia Pa

Hours

Monday-Saturday

8am-6pm

Sunday

9am-5pm

For the Love of Philly: PAT or Philly AIDS Thrift

PAT is my favorite thrift store in Philly.  There window display is always fun and kookie, they always have interesting items, and the volunteers are friendly and helpful.  I have a few reasons why I love this store.  First off they are in my neighborhood, a short walk to a wonderful thrift store.  Secondly, now that PAT has moved to it's new store the place is HUGE.  Thirdly, They have a whole room devoted to things that cost $1 (that's where I found that great wool coat).  And finally PAT is a non profit that gives all it's dough to the AIDS Fund who helps distribute the funds to local AIDS organizations.

There are two floors in this local gem of a thrift store and the bottom has kitchen wears, CD's and Movies, and items that are in season.  At Halloween the first floor has a lot of items that would make great costumes.  Right now there are tons of Jackets and sweaters.  The changing rooms and the front counter are also located on the first floor.

 
My favorite is the second floor that's where all the clothes, shoes and books are.  The dollar room is also located on the second floor in the very back.  Past the book section there is a room with a pool table, which Simon longs for every time he comes with me to the thrift store.

I can and have spent hours combing through racks of tees and jeans, or looking for fun things to read.  Every time I go in I come out with something.  If you plan on stopping by make sure you give yourself lots of time to explore.

Some other highlights about PAT:
-They have different color tags that are discounted every week.  There is at 25%, 50% and 75% tag.  The Volunteers post the colors on all of the walls around the shop.
-Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month the Mazzoni Center comes with their mobile testing center and offers free HIV testing from 12pm-5pm
-Check their website, because sometimes there are special sales.  For example this month on the 17th
everything that is green, has green in it or is snake skin print will be 50% off.
-They offer gift cards.
-They take debit and credit cards

Philly AIDS Thrift

710 S. 5th St

Philadelphia PA

Store Hours:

Mon-Thurs: 11am-8pm

Fri & Sat: 11am-9pm

Sunday: 11am-7pm

Fall Mural

This is or was one of my favorite murals in my neighborhood.  Sadly it is now covered up with a big ugly house that sticks out like a sore thumb among all the brownstones surrounding it.  I will miss seeing this beautiful mural everyday when I walk to work.

For the Love of Philly: Chapter House

Front Room of Chapterhouse

This is by far my favorite coffee house in Philadelphia.  One of the reasons we moved to Bella Vista was because we would be closer to Chapterhouse.  Ok, maybe that wasn't really the reason, but it was a great perk to moving to this neighborhood.

This gem of a coffee shop is located off of South Street on 9th.  It is practically on the corner of 9th and Bainbridge.  Don't be lured into the Starbucks on the corner of 9th and South when just a short walk down the same block you can go to Chapterhouse.  The building is beautiful and the front of the cafe is floor to ceiling windows which let in a ton of natural light and at night you can't miss this coffee spot, and sometimes I feel like a moth drawn to the flame in the promise of caffeine.

Chapterhouse has a huge selections of beverages from drip coffee, to specialty drinks, to a great selection of teas.  They also make smoothies and Italian sodas.  My favorites are the soy latte with hazelnut, and their hot chocolate.  On top of great coffee they have locally baked treats like cupcakes and croissants.  They also have light lunch fare, wraps and sandwiches are delivered daily from Cafe Ole in Old City.

Not only is this a great hang out with delicious beverages they also are a gallery with the art rotating every two months.  A poetry slam is held every first Saturday in the room downstairs, and the South Philly Knitters meet here during the winter months every Thursday.

Chapterhouse

620 South 9th St

Philadelphia PA

Hours

Mon-Sun 

7am-10pm

For The Love Of Philly: Nangellini

Photo by Adam's Nanny

 When you walk into Nangellini you are welcomed by the warmth of color.  The shop is bursting with it, if you were ever able to be inside of a rainbow I imagine that this is how it would look.  From the art on the walls to the color of Nancy's hair vibrancy rules in this shop.

Nangellini is my LYS.  I'm a bit biased when it comes to this store as I use to work here and it is two blocks from my apartment.  Located on South street between 9th and 8th street this store not only has wonderful yarn and all the knitting accessories one may need but you can also find fiber for spinning and felting along with finished items.  The Finished Items are mostly the work of the owner Nancy.  She is a free form fiber artist, with vibrant pink and sometimes purple or blue hair.  Nancy is a self proclaimed hat addict and by looking in the front of the shop you can see the evidence of her love of knitting and crocheting hats.  She also knits beautiful lace mandalas as wall hangings that are hung through out her shop.  

Nangellini

 Nangellini specializes in unique yarn.  This means Nancy stocks luxury fibers, trendy, anything with sparkle, recycled sari silks, banana fiber, and tons of other fabulous yarn.  She stocks one of my favorite company's yarn Mirasol.  If you are looking for a unique gift for a knitter of someone who thinks outside of the box you should check out this fab shop on South St.

You can check out Nangellini online or on Facebook.

 Nangellini

832 South St

Philadelphia Pa 19147

215-413-5001

Hours
Monday: by Appointment Only
Tuesday: 11am-9pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 11am-6pm

Friday: 11am-8pm
Saturday: 12pm-7pm
Sunday: 12pm-6pm

Classes
Nancy offers classes for Knitting and crochet.
Classes are scheduled with Nancy based on availability.
Call to schedule a class with Nancy.

Knitting Circles:
Tuesday at 6-9pm

Sunday at 3-6pm
*$5 to participate or free with purchase of $5 or more*
Receive 10% off yarn purchases during the circle 

Back in Action: Italian Market Festival

Philly is in full bloom! This past weekend was the Italian Market Festival. A weekend to celebrate the Italian Market, there is lot of food, and venders lining the market and the city closes off 9th Street from Fitzwater to Federal for the festival . Living near the market is a noisy few days, but you have to love a street fair.

Walking down the street there is a kettle corn stall just to the right. Gotta love the kettle corn. Antea went with us and she was saving herself for a pork sandwich from Espositos. Every establishment that makes or sells some kind of food stuff is out on the street peddling their wares. There were sausages and beer, meat balls and gravy (in South Philly gravy means red sauce, I was freaked out the first time I ever heard someone say macaroni and gravy), cannoli, peperoni, mozzarella, pizza, and chocolate dipped bananas to name just some of the food you could eat. There was also live music. It's loud and crowded and wonderfully Philly.



This is my favorite shop in the market. The "One Stop Accordion Shop" Liberty Bellows. The Accordion is in my top five favorite instruments. I love that this shop even exists and that I get to walk by it on my way to go to the market.

This was a contest to win a car if you could guess how much pasta was in the trunk, but we joked that they just wanted to show you how much pasta this car could hold. My guess, a lot of pasta.

This guy was hand rolling cigars outside in the market. he was also smoking a cigar while he did it. Go you cigar rolling duded! I'm not one for smoking, but it was interesting to watch him.

And finally I love it when people miss-use quotation marks.


Oh, what is this you may say. This isn't the Italian Market. No this is my cardigan, look at that button band, all it need now is some buttons.

Hot in the City

Happy first of the month!
I welcome September every year with the hope of cooler days and chill evenings, but I tend to be sadly disappointed by heat wave that we always seem to have in Philly.
I want to wear my boots and sweaters and my new skinny jeans.
That's right I have succumbed to the trend and am ok with my decision to wear skinny jeans. I happen to like the way my bum looks in my new skinny jeans.
(and the apt is too hot to do anything in)

So, please heat wave leave, I am ready for the fall.

Hot Hot Hot

It is sweltering here in the city of brotherly love and my tiny 2nd floor apartment feels like a sauna. I think it's a good day to go sit in the coffee shop down the street and drink italian soda.
Off to do just that!

Brunch

I go to brunch with one of my friends almost weekly and we have a few places we frequent, but yesterday we went to Sabrina's on 9th and christian. When it's nice out they put tables outside so, we sat in the shade enjoying the not so hot yet weather. I had the Blue Cheese Fritata and it was amazing, it had spinach mushrooms and bacon in it and a good helping on blue cheese all melty on the top. It came with potatoes and they were crisp on the outside and sateed with onions. I highly reconmend this spot to anyone looking for yummy food at great prices. My brunch was $8.99 and I had a ton of food on my plate.

Supposedly on weekends they are packed so go knowing you will have to wait for a table or go on a weekday. We went on Monday and didn't have to wait at all.

Chocolate

Last night Antea and I found ourselves at a chocolate bar and desert lounge in Bella Vista. We were on the look out for gelato and found it at Golosa. We were sat at a small table and handed menus that had tasty treats like hot chococlate (real hot chocolate, the thick melted 70% chocolate kind), red velevet cake, and of course gelato. Antea order a cold chocolate drink (think drinking chocolate only cool) it was a high percentage of chocolate and hade spices such as cloves and nutmeg mixed in. I did get a taste of what she ordered and it was delicous.

I ordered what we had originaly been looking for gelato, the flavors to pick from were of course chocolate, but others were more ineresting like honey with rosemary and burnt sugar. I decided on two flavors Chocolate (of course!) and thia coconut. They were delicous! The chocolte was thick and creamy, rich and dark and was like eating chilled chocolate froasting. The thia coconut flavor was lighter and sweet. Paired together they were amazing.

Golosa is located at 806 south 6th street in Bella Vista. The menu is a bit pricey, but totally worth every penny! It's a chocolate lovers heaven.

Day Off!

Mondays are my day off no matter if I'm at my day job or working on a show. Today I hung out with my friend Antea who took me a cafe in Philly called Ants Pants. I had a wonderful mocha and crossant breakfast sandwich. They make their own chocolate syrup!

The real reason for going is that Ants Pants is a Australian cafe and they have wonderful Aussie items such as Tim Tams and Violet Crumble. You can also sample Vegemite if you dare! This being said My boyfriend Simon is Australian and is always looking out for his favorite Aussie treats, and I am sure he will want to go to this cafe as soon an I mention that they serve Vegemite. I did buy him a Violet Crumble as that is one of his favorite candy bars, a close second after the Cadbury Picnic bar.

Date Night

Last night Simon and I went out on a date. Something we haven't done in ages. We went to one of our favorite spots in Philly the Nodding Head. Not only is this a pub with great fries, but it is also a microbrewery and brews all there own beer. This is really why it is my favorite bar, it's fries are the second reason why.

This amazing bar is on 15th and Sansom, and is in a way hard to find as it is an upstairs bar. There is a giant sign above the bar, but only a small door and a staircase make up the entrence. Which is why on my first time going there I walked past it completely. the atmosphere reminds me much of the pubs I visited when I was in England.

The beer is great and the selection is always changing. Their grog a dark chocolaty beer is my favorite, while Simon enjoys their 60 Shillings which is smooth and malty. In the Spring and Summer we both like thier Monkey Knife Fight which is a white ale brewed with lemon grass and ginger. On par with there beer is their food, I've already mentioned the fries (which they serve with a spicy mayonais dipping sauce), but there burgers and sandwiches are delicious. I love the Muffeletta made with Pesto and olive tapinade. The also have wonderful Mussels which you can get steamed in a varriate of ways.

All in all I love this bar.

L'Aube

I have gotten my sewing machine and couldn't be happier. All I want to do now is sew! I went up to my favorite fabric store today to get my supplise I needed for my spring items, and it was closed. There website says that they are opened 7 days a week, so I was very sad and a little cold having walked 10 blocks to get there.

My friend Antea and I went together, and on our way there we stopped at a new french cafe called L'Aube. It is really cute and has organic fair trade coffee at great prices. It's located on 15th and South St. It has a great atmosphere and the owner is super friendly. They also have crepes, one of my faves as well as ones filled with neuttella, my super fav. If you are in the area deffinatly hit up that spot.

Well I am off to sew for a bit!

December's Aftermath

I'm so tired. I felt like I ran a marathon yesterday.
Today I slept in and I did get to go to the yarn shop in the town over from mine. I bought some more teal silk and some yellow and orange wool for a scarf. I've been trying to break out of my blue green circle, but I love that color family so much. I though a bright rock melon orange would look nice and go with most of my teal items in my closet.

I'd love to post some pics of my new yarn or even a gift or two that I got, but sadly that will have to wait till I am back in my apartment in the city of brotherly love. I also got two proto-types finished for Blue Betty's spring line. It's a lace mesh scarf knit up in banana silk, and I ordered samples of the bamboo I want to use in the colors I'm interested in. Over all I felt that I've been decently productive this month, but I need to get my butt in gear. I want all my proto-types done in January. Time to get my butt in gear.

Not to spread myself too thin I also got a lighting design gig for a production of one acts in Febuary. I figured that the small chunk of change that i make doing that i can split between my savings and Blue Betty and order supplise for the spring line.

Tomorrow Simon and I are on the road to Philly. I'm working all week Sunday to Sunday, at least my pay check will look nice this week.

Home Sweet Home

Simon and I drove through 6 hours of rain, actually Simon drove and I rode, and napped and knit. Mostly I napped. But we're home in our tiny apartment. I missed our place with our drafty windows and tiny rooms.

Also all my yarn is here!

No luck with black friday for my etsy shop. I am hoping for something tomorrow!
Free Shipping till December 5th!

Posting in the AM

My day hasn't even started, but my day isn't ending till 11:30pm tonight, so I thought that I'd post be fore work. I found this photo in my blog folder. This statue is in this tiny park on the corner or Chestnut and 5th. I use to walk through it on my way to the theatre this fall.

I'm still Hookin' .

Check it out!

I met this awesome fiber artist today namd Lisa. She spins yarn out of recycled sweaters. Take a look at her site, it links to her etsy shop. Her Fibers are amazing and she was super cool.

Her Site
http://re-yarn.com/

Her Etsy
sexysheep.etsy.com

Another

Another one! I'm back on the scarves. This one is a hand dyded cotton linen blend with some nylon ladder yarn running through. I worked this scarf lengthwise and striped the hand dyed and the ladder yarn. I used huge needles US 17, not my 35's, but pretty beefy. This one came out super long.