Babysitting Carl

I'm sooo sad the Phillies lost.

Can I has kong toy?

Sarah and I are dog sitting 8 month old Boston Terrier puppy Carl for about a week. Carl likes eating bottles caps, chicken bones and cigarette butts off the street. He also loves chewing on your hands but other than that he is pretty awesome and pretty sweet. We have already made progress with teaching him to shake hands in just two days. Carl came to us during the Septa strike (Philadelphia's public transportation strike) so we've had to leave him at home in his pen while we go to work (because it's too far for him to walk to Sarah's office.) but his parents are actors and never home so we think we're doing pretty good with him.

Work party. Mobile Upload

Trying to figure out how to blog from my phone once again.
This was a Philly themed work event that we had last week.
Yes those are pretzels and Phillies bobbleheads

Mummer's Parade

I partook of many a Mummer's festivity this year with Eleanor, Eleanor's visiting friend Jackie and Sarah. For those of you that don't know what a Mummer is, there's really no way to explain it other than to come to Philly for New Years. This year I did my first visit to 2nd Street where Mummer's return to their clubhouses after hours of partying, parading and heavy drinking. This basically puts Mardi Gras in New Orleans to shame (minus the boobs because it's January and absolutely freezing). Enjoy my flickr album of the best of the Mummer's Day Parade for a taste of Philly. 

Tired of looking at Jessica

Basically I get sick of looking at Jessica's posts. We need some fresh blood in this blog. There should be a lot going on with the Holidays and everything. Well my exciting news is that I bought a piano for my house. I got it off a guy on craigslist for $75. A Betsy Ross Spinet uprigt by Lester with a custom chair. Sounds like a steal right. Try moving a 500 pound piano and then you'll realize why people practically give them away. Anyways, I love it and am practicing every day, getting Bach stuck in my head and trying to remember how to read music. It is really invigorating.

Officially a homeowner

As of 5:00 p.m. on June 23rd I became a permanent Philadelphia resident because I now pay property tax. My closing finally went through. I still have mixedfeelings about it. There was so much paper flying around and so many numbers going around that I still haven't quite figured out what happened. A lot of emotions involved as well, which I think I had done a pretty good job of staying calm about other than the frustrations of renting the apartment. I do know that I got a pretty sweet deal and a pretty sweet house. I had a good team of people helping me out that offered a lot of encouragement, council, advice, support and help and want to thank them all very much for making it happen.
Come to Philly! Now there's more to see than just the Liberty Bell (though most people never really go see that anyways) Oh yeah....anyone know how to fix a refrigerator?

7 Things I've Learned This Month

Though nothing is set in stone yet. It looks like my grants will go through and I will close sometime next week. The more exciting part is that today I found a tenant for my apartment. After almost 2 full months of showing it to complete strangers everyday a sophomore Uarts student and her dad came and saw the apartment and put a deposit down for her and a roommate.

The beginning of the story starts off with postings on Craigslist and tours starting as early as May 6th. Let me just mention that this apartment is awesome. The location is amazing and the rent is very very reasonable for the location, size and amenities. I am really going to miss it. But for some reason no one wanted to take it, even when I opened the move in date to be anywhere from July1 - August 1.

There was this crazy girl who put down a deposit and was going to sublet to a roommate she was going to find on Craigslist to try to make money off them. I allowed her to come into my apartment 4-5 times to show potential roommates and even offered water and food. In the end she backed out because she decided she wanted a dog. The landlord wouldn't give her the deposit back until I found a new tenant to secure the lease. This put me in an even tighter spot. She then filed a complaint about the landlord to the attorney general and better business bureau and was calling me everyday to see if I found another tenant. How stupid and annoying can you get?

Well, finally it's resolved - sort of. I still have to pay all of July's rent which I'm just chalking up as an additional closing cost. In total I received 235 emails about my apartment responded to 95% of the once and 75% of that 95% a second or third time for follow up. There is still follow between some people that needs to be taken. Also bear in mind that mind that my landlord does not use email.
In conclusion here is what I learned:
1) Craigslist is amazing............but a total pain in the ass.
2) People that use craigslist are usually retarded..................or someone you already know.
3) I will never become a realtor.......................because it's a total pain in the ass.
4) No matter how good it get's there is always something better out there...............or at least you think so.
5) Not everyone is willing to walk 3 blocks to do laundry................in fact I am the only person I know that is willing to walk 3 blocks to do laundry.
6) Not everyone shops at IKEA! It was very surprising that people asked me how I got furniture up the stairs and I would say I bought it at IKEA took the box upstairs and put it together and that's the same way I'll get it out idiot.
7) Hire movers......I still might not take my own advice on this one but in the distant future when I do move again no matter how much stuff I have I will hire mover. The headache of moving can only be topped by the physical pain of carrying boxes and furniture up and down 3 flights of stairs about 400 times.

No House for Me.....yet!

Booooooh. My mortgage paperwork has been delayed. Though very frustrated because it's going on 11 weeks since I put an offer in, I'm learning that mortgage delays are not uncommon. As my Realtor says, mortgage processors take 48 hour lunch breaks and I am also applying for a city and state home buyers grants, and we all know that city and state employees don't exactly hustle. Luckily my lawyer has already paid for himself by solving a title discrepancy and no one has rented my apartment (another headache on it's own) so I don't have to worry about having to find a transition home. I still hope to close by July1 and have my first BBQ on the 4th. Wish you all could come.

I've been blogging it up!

Well I guess my first post will be to let you all know that I've been blogging it up for a while. Last summer I started freelance writing for a blog called uwishunu (you wish you knew). It is a blog sponsored through the tourism board that is supposed to be about what insiders know and do in Philadelphia. I've contributed about 35 posts now on things I know (jazz and beer) to things I'm new to (modern dance and cheese). Check out my articles and book yourself a trip to Philly.