A Peek Into My Activism

This week has been a positive one, with great opportunities and even some poetry writing. I probably definitely do not take enough time in this space to blog about my feminist/activist life, and that is worth changing in my mind, being a women's studies major and all. So here's a look into the two really inspiring events I participated in as part of my school's Peer Education team. And then I'll share some pictures from First Friday on a lighter note.

On the left, is a picture of one of our participants in Temple University's Walk A Mile In Her Shoes. If you haven't heard of it or seen it before, it's a walk in heels for men to show their support in ending violence against women. We had all but a handful of the football players participate, as well as members of the Greek organizations, and many more men from around campus. Seeing this crowd of big, college men walking down campus in heels and with signs that say "Don't be that guy" or "These hands aren't for hurting" was great. On the right, is a picture from The Clothesline Project, which is done nationwide as well. The Clothesline is a living arts project where survivors of sexual and other types of assault are given an opportunity to decorate t-shirts as a therapeutic experience. It is beyond words how great of an opportunity this event is for survivors to feel strong, to empower other survivors, and to spread awareness of this experience that is all too common on college campuses. 

The gang spent last night in Olde City, which is in Center City East, for First Friday. I hadn't been to this one in particular before, so I was excited, especially because the weather is finally warming up. We explored some galleries and stores that weren't in our price range. Then we ended up finding a group of fellow friends in the alley and it was a very good time. Hanging around fellow creatives is always pleasant.

Broke the Spring with Museums and Family

Last week was spring break, which was of course not long enough. I tried to get all of the relaxation time I could while in the comfort of my own home - because there's something particularly serene about my old bedroom, especially when my mom gets me flowers for International Women's Day to welcome me home.

On my first day home, I went to my uncle's deployment ceremony with my parents which provoked some sad feelings but he'll be okay. Then on Sunday, my parents plus my brother came back to the city with me to take in a Temple basketball game and check out some fun places in Center City. Traffic was hectic and stressful but we survived and ate a lovely meal at The Continental.

I was so happy to be home for my little brother's birthday and especially excited to be the one making his birthday cake. I miss my brother when I'm away at school so I try to spend time with him whenever I'm home -even if he's sort of a reluctant teenager at this point in life.

I checked in with my lovely friend, Ms. Bury who unfortunately was cursed with a case of mono. But was a trooper and went out for grilled muffins & photography in the park. Don't let the sun deceive you - the weather in York this past week was not pleasant.

How could I not mention the resourceful things I did with my favorite partner? We went biking on the rail trail, which ended poorly with windburn and chilly legs. But we happened upon the Industrial and Agricultural Museum. This museum is a tiny, hidden gem of York county - especially when you're as dorky about local history as Sam and I. The sun came out and it got a little warmer for strolling around York along with a bowl of gelato from the Indian restaurant. Otherwise, it was just a lazy night for movies and cuddles.

On our rainy Saturday we took a little day trip to Gettysburg to check out Civil War battlefields and play Battleship in a quaint coffee shop called The Ugly Mug. Plus we had THE BEST ice cream at York Street Treat on our way home...and we eat a lot of ice cream. 

Goodbyes were hard, as usual. Especially when Sam took me to the train station and some tears fell on my train ride back to the city. But here I am, in my dorm, been sick and going to classes all week. Hopefully the sun and the warmth come to stay soon.

Smiles, Morgen

Italian Goodies & Little Brother Time

I've just finished up all of my assignments that are due before Thanksgiving break, and have even gotten a head start on things due by the end of the semester. The next five days will be full of anticipation because I'm ready to be home with my dogs and family, plus I haven't seen Sam in more than a month! I had the lovely opportunity to have my little brother come spend the day with me again, while my parents were elsewhere in the city.

We explored Italian Market, which is in the southern part of Philly. Our family is mostly German by blood relation, but a significant portion of our family is Italian through marriage, so I like to think of us as socialized Italians. So many funny things happened to us that were soooo Italian; we stopped to help an old lady with her garden, dealt with a blunt but dear cashier woman, and had a man in the pastry shop tell us the best place to get cheese and to "tell them Dave sent you and they'll take care of you." It's charming areas like this that force me to fall in love with the city all over again.  

If you're in the area, I recommend you stop by Isgro's on 10th and Christian and buy any pastry (I love the chocolate chip canolis, but that's just me). Also, Sarcone's Deli on 9th and Fitzwater makes some great sandwiches (I did the Sinatra - proscuitto, spinach, fresh mozz), with the hard ass but affectionate Philly attitude and a real homey feeling. After you've filled up, take a walk through the Italian Market area with all the chocolate, cheese, and produce shops. Just please don't go to Pat's or Geno's. There's a perfect South Philly Saturday for you!

Rockabilly, Rittenhouse and Ritz Theatres

After a very college weekend last weekend for Halloween, I had a very city weekend to make up for it. There are certain things about living in Philadelphia that I would hate to leave.

Free music and good food are two of those things. I went to my first Free at Noon, which is a concert put on by WXPN, our local radio station. I invited Rachel to come with me and she agreed without even asking what kind of music it would be. Its good she didn't know ahead of time, because she probably would have said no if she'd known JD McPherson did throwback rockabilly R&B type music. It was an amazing show - he sounded exactly like he does in recording and the stage presence was to die for! Then it was off to Center City for the entire afternoon. We all know I love Underdogs, and as much as I hate to go without Sam since he loves it too, I went anyway before we sat and watched birds and shopped. 

I drank a lot of tea and almost finished two papers that are do in the next few weeks on Saturday, so I rewarded myself by taking me out on a date. If you ever forget about yourself, it's a great move because you'll always be grateful to yourself for taking you out. I went through all the works, did my makeup and dressed up. It's a great self-care step.

My date of choice was a panini at the Noshery and a movie in Old City. I had been waiting to see Perks of Being a Wallflower but I couldn't wait anymore! The movie was beautiful. It broke my heart about three times over, but I was okay with it. Some of the cool parts about going to a movie alone include getting to sit wherever you want and crying without any shame. I walked through the lit up streets of Old City in a romantic haze when I left the theater.

After a fulfilling weekend, it's back to the grind. Except the grind includes ABC Family movies and coffee since I got ahead yesterday. Hope everyone else had a nice weekend, if not, do something for you today, because you deserve it.

Smiles, Morgen.

Falling leaves , puppy dog tails and denim jackets

I got out of the city again because someone asked me to work. I wasn't totally sold on going back home for the second weekend in a row, since it always takes me a bit to get back into my groove into the city when I go back and forth. My dog, as well as my parents, seemed happy to have me back and I enjoyed seeing the leaves and relaxing.

I was barely home long enough to eat spoonfuls of Nutella and grab my denim jacket to bring back to school. York was very pretty in the autumn sun but I got back on the train on Sunday morning to meet my friend for brunch. We went to this adorable little cafe in south Philly called Ants Pants Cafe. I had a sandwich with eggs, ham, tomato, avocado and brie. Delicious! I would recommend it as a treat, because it's a little pricey but even the coffee was a memorable aspect. I'm also happy to have my denim jacket, now it feels like fall.

    

Brother in the city of brotherly love.

Last week was pretty low key as far as my school work went. However it got pretty lonely here, which tends to happen following a visit from Sam. It's not only that I miss him, which I do a lot, but it's also that having a loved one here helps fill in the emptiness. The white concrete block walls and hard linoleum floors feel less harsh with love filling in the cracks.

So it was very nice this weekend to get a visit from my little brother, Chris. I haven't blogged about my little brother much before, but him and I are really close and have always sort of been each other's support since we were really little. Since life at our house is hectic right now and I haven't been there to help, the poor guy has kind of been a little stressed in all the new adjustments. 

After he got off the train, we grabbed some food truck food in West Philly. I got some Carribean soul food and he got a cheese steak  I was excited to get the chance to show him around the city - take him on the subway for the first time, his first train ride, his first cheese steak and his first concert. I reluctantly took him to my school's homecoming concert, which was Big Sean. I'm not much of a rap music fan but I know Chris has been wanting to go to a concert since forever and my parents haven't quite found the time.

Pumpkin frozen yogurt and planning a future

The weekend was spent mostly with my lovely roommate, and getting some good time to think about what I'm doing with my life. Friday afternoon was spent in Rittenhouse Square with pumpkin frozen yogurt. Can I just say how excited I am for everything to be pumpkin flavored for the next few months, I love it! I wandered around the West Philly/University City area for most of the day on Saturday, spending some quality time with myself and eating Indian food.

I finally did some hemming and started a scarf that Sam picked out the colors for, which I worked on all day yesterday while watching Twin Peaks after my homework was done.

This fall weather makes me feel a little more serious, like I need to be figuring something out and I need to have a plan. So I'm sure within the next few weeks I'll try to over-think it and plan my life out, which will undoubtedly change by next year. For now, I've come into my own as a Women's Studies major who is interested in gaining experience in sex-positive sex education. I'm hoping to start looking for internships soon. It's comforting to atleast have an idea to cling to as far as what I want to do.

Smiles, have a good week!
Morgen

A weekend of free thrills.

It's come to my attention that I actually live here now - like I eat my cereal and sleep here, but I also have to shop and make friends here. I really enjoyed my classes this week and it's pleasant to spend my week engrossed in my studies. The weekend was a lovely break to come back to my sense of self, as usual. On Friday night, we went out for First Friday and attended a gallery where one of the Tyler School Of Art Professors was showing. Following the gallery, we wandered through Chinatown but ended up at Jimmy Johns back on campus for a late night dinner. 

Saturday started off with an intense track work out and a heavy breakfast. I then found myself back in Rittenhouse square, where there was a cute little farmers market set up and I had a few minutes to work on a reading assignment. I took a detour through a residential block of southern Philadelphia and saw these beautiful homes on my way to picking up Rachel. One of my favorite past times in the city, is just walking through neighborhoods like this and imagining how it would be to live there.

After picking up my lovely friend from work, we walked a lot of blocks because the eastbound subway was down to get to this free concert featuring Maps & Atlases, Frank Turner and Yo La Tengo. Within a half hour of being at Penn's Landing, the rain started coming down. Rachel and I waited under the umbrella for the bands to start. The rain did not stop at all that night till almost 11:00. So Rachel went back early but I stuck it out and did not regret my decision to stay! The bands were amazing and it was my first concert alone which was a liberating experience.

Here I am at the end of it, catching up on sleep, readings and sunshine. It's a beautiful day out today. Hope everyone else's weekend was equally enjoyable.

Smiles, Morgen.

The boy & big city.

The first week of classes finished up on a very good note. All of my classes have been a great experience so far. I love that just about all my classes are things I am passionate about, especially my women's studies and human sexuality. I celebrated the weekend with a visit from the boy, but he got here quite late on Friday, so I got to spend some time relaxing on the empty campus while everyone was at the football game.

We spent some time catching up with his friends, ate at an adorable gelato place and exploring the city that has become my temporary home. It's always pleasant to get out of North Philly and see the more picturesque, older parts of Philly. Additionally, some green space in Rittenhouse is a nice break from the concrete. Now I'm winding down, doing some reading and listening to Voxtrot.I'll try to do an outfit post or something during the week this week.

Have a lovely week everyone, smiles,
Morgen

Dwindling Weekends (Part Three) plus a Monday!

The weekend itself was pretty low key. We celebrated Sam's graduation and his brothers with a party thrown at his house. The most eventful part of this was when the boys played jazz for about twenty minutes at a time. I adore watching Sam perform and play his guitar because he is so happy to do it. Some of our couple friends showed up later in the party and we all ate and had some laughs since we hadn't all been together for a few weeks. After the party we went to watch fireworks at the park, where the boys decided to take their shirts off and we all sang "When My Time Comes" by Dawes at a borderline disturbing volume.

Thanks to Sam's parent's we got to go to Philly for the day and see Good Old War perform at Union Transfer as his birthday gift. It was a new experience to travel together but we made quite the pair since we are both so into planning things down to a tee. We spent the afternoon in South Philly, walking through the neighborhoods of older town houses and grabbing a malt on South Street. After working up an appetite from walking for a few hours, we headed into Center City and Rittenhouse Square. The hot dogs we got from Underdogs on 17th street were fantastic, especially because they were accompanied by great tunes and friendly staff! I will definitely be making this a regular stop whenever I'm in this area. To regain some strength and rest up before the show, we got coffee and pastries from a French bakery and sat around in Rittenhouse park for a few hours of people watching, reading and talking about dogs. We made our way north for the concert before the doors even opened. Good Old War had a great DJ spinning oldies tunes and a pleasantly surprising funky folk band opening for them.  Of course, Good Old War was awesome especially because Sam sang along to every song, since they're his favorite band. We had to leave early to catch our train home, but it was okay because the day was perfect. I'm looking forward to having memories with Sam in Philly, so when I go to school it will feel a little more like home.
Smiles, Morgen.