Springtime in Philadelphia

I went to my first professional conference (go librarians!) in Philadelphia (my first time in Philly) last week and had a wonderful time. I was a little anxious about being out of my element at a conference for a profession that I don't fully call my own yet, but all in all, I had a great time. It helped that my hotel room was spacious with a beautiful view, that mouth-watering food could be found around every corner, and that spring was blooming in the city.

This was the view of Broad Street from my hotel room:

 [Lucky me got a corner room!]

When I wasn't mingling with librarians, I spent a lot of time at the Reading Terminal Market, which was (much to my delight) right across the street from the convention center. I wish something like Reading existed in San Diego! There were so many delicious treats--flowers, candies, cheese steaks, pretzels (oh the pretzels--I've never had such a good pretzel!), cupcakes, vegetables, meat, jams and jellies, coffee--loved it all. Did I mention the pretzels?

The Market is indoors and has rows (or "avenues") of vendors, like this one:

I was particularly lured in by the sweets: 

 [CANDY AND CHOCOLATES! Where do I even start??]

 

These sticky buns at Beiler's Bakery were also incredible--sticky and sweet and made right in front of us.

And the flowers were beautiful! While I was there, the east coast was having a heat wave while San Diego was rainy and frigid. Craziness.

 

 

And finally, I cheated. I didn't actually eat a cheese steak, but instead had this roast pork sandwich from DiNic's, complete with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe. YUM.

To work off a fraction of the food I just showed you, I ran from my hotel all the way up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a la Rocky Balboa.

 

[Watch out half marathon! I'm comin' for you!]

I did a good amount of career soul searching while I was there, but was happy to have had breaks to eat, smell the flowers, and pump my fists up the steps of the museum.

Philadelphia, what a wonderful city.

Hi, Remember Me?

[I got a haircut with more fringe and bangs.]

[The amazing Abbie sent me these awesome running socks! I felt so loved opening the package. Thank you Abbie! Abbie's also got a great business cooking, Girl Friday Events+Design, soon to come here.]

 [The boy promises a trip to this tree house to commemorate being together for 10 years. I hope it happens! You can drool over its magical splendor here.]

While you're looking at the photos, you should play this song:
[The lovely Priscilla Ahn]

 [I'm thinking about doing this to our bedroom wall. Our bedroom is BORING. It's got nothing on the walls and looks depressingly sparse. This would either make me dizzy or really happy.]

In other news that don't have pretty pictures attached to them...

I am 93 DAYS away from graduation!!! The boy and I already booked a place in Seattle and are now looking into spending some extra time in Vancouver. I'm excited!

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Next week, I'm attending my first professional conference in Philadelphia, so I'll be surrounded by librarians. It's going to be eye-opening and a good start to my career.

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Training for the half-marathon is hard, but I'm getting there. It was really hot on Sunday when I did my run, and I got too tired and *sniffle* walked. I hope for a better week of training!

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I'm almost done with a huge work project that has taken 4 years. I'm so close to being finished, and I'm not sure I'm going to believe it's done when it really is. A celebration is definitely in need when it happens.