The Pat's Adventure

There is a long standing argument in Philly - which cheese steak is the best? Pat's, Geno's, or Jim's? They equally give me indigestion and make me wish I had never set out to eat one in the first place. However there is one that stands out as the best. Pat's Philly Cheese steak is the choice of this group of culinary wannabes. After completely stuffing ourselves silly at the brunch after the wedding, devouring home cooked goods that could have sustained the entire army at Valley Forge for the winter, we decided a great idea would be to go downtown and get us some Pat's. Some of us had the better sense to share our cheese steaks (ahem, Brian) and some of us did not. It is rumored here at Pat's that the cheese steak line is somewhat reminiscent of the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld. I have always been too nervous to test the theory.

The Home is Where the Heart Is

This is just a little taste of the beauty of the Buchanan home.

Rinners Gets Hitched

The last of the roomies to wed, this was Rin's big day. Rin has been holding out for the love of her life and she found her perfect match in Matt. I do love the weddings. I have only missed one East Coast wedding for my girls from Villanova.

Somehow I managed to not get so many pictures of the bride and groom, but more of everyone else and the rest of the weekend festivities. Sorry, Rin. I must have been so busy laughing at pregnant Kristin who couldn't seem to put a coherent thought together. We had many laughs at her expense. Including a great guffaw at Kristin's story about the bride's new last name - which she apparently thought she had misspelled on the wedding card after I corrected how she was saying it and proceeded to panic over the whole thing. Hours later when inspecting the offending card, she realized that she had not in fact spelled it wrong at all. The whole weekend went like this.

We really enjoyed seeing all the old gang and revisiting some of our favorite places. Besides the obvious - school, apartment buildings, church, Great Harvest Bread, Anthropology - we also were very delighted to spend some time at Rin's parents' house. Over the course of a couple of years Brian and I had the great fortune of spending time with her amazing family. Seven children in total and Rin is the oldest. We were always amused at the ever inviting dinner table. Her parents always made any one who entered their home feel loved. They are the stuff of fairy tales. Our visit Saturday morning was no exception. Not only did we feel welcome and loved, but we also were able to observe those kids from before, now adults in their own right. These children have grown into confident and uniquely gifted adults. What a testament to exceptional parenting.

Can I get a refund?

This weekend we flew into Philly for a quick trip and a wedding. We absolutely could not miss Rin's (Erin's) wedding - the last of my college roommates to marry. Rin grew up right around our alma mater so Brian and I decided to stay with another old roommate at the hotel right by school. We were able to fit in a quick trip to campus to drop a small fortune at the bookstore and grovel at the new nursing building.

My jaw must have been obviously dropped as we walked up to the very impressive Driscoll Hall - the new home for the College of Nursing on Villanova's campus. An old professor I was really hoping didn't recognize me (I was infamous among college professors - probably due to my ADD I realize now) stopped and said she noticed that I was a former student. She recommended that we go on in and take a look around - we would be impressed. I tell you what, we went in, walked around, oohed and ahhed - and frankly, I would like my 120,000 dollars back for a do over. (No pics of the inside - sorry.)

I mean really

Could you have said "no" to this?

Generations

I adore watching my children engage with their grandmothers. We had a weekend of generational togetherness with my mom and grandma visiting. Four generations of Heller/Kidd/Miller women under one roof for three days. We could have taken over the world! Or, I mean, we had a lovely time.

We also journeyed to Houston to see my great aunt and cousins. The three hour drive made my seat sore but it was soul soothing to see them. The kids especially enjoyed playing with a cousin their age and reading the books Aunt Motie (the forever teacher) gave them. Reba showed off her superior reading skills. The only one disappointed was Jacob - he was hoping to see more things "wrecked" from the hurricane. We pointed out as much damage as we could. Though most things had been cleaned up we could still see evidence that a disaster had occurred. It was sobering to drive through neighborhoods with tarps for roofs and piles of carpet and ruined belongings out on the curb for trash pickup. The generator was still sitting in my aunt's backyard and we were grateful for the electricity we had.

By the way, Jenny and I jammed again. This time we planted Grandma next to us in the kitchen so she could be part of the action. While we were jammin' Grandma was reminiscing about Rhubarb (what is that anyway) and her mother jamming. Every so often she would interject with ,"that was six and a half cups of sugar." We all had a good laugh at what we imagined was a collective jamming session. In the end some seriously fabulous Raspberry Jam was concocted (with only one panicked phone call to the jamming diva in Wisconsin).

All the Gourdy Goodness

I love Fall. I love Fall for all it's gourdy goodness. I love how the light is different and shadows play off things. I love the browns and oranges and greens of this season. Here in Texas it's still sometimes 90+ degrees but somehow you can sense there is a change in the air. We enjoy the change as we sit on our deck - now that it's not 110.

I also love Fall for its holidays. I always look forward to Halloween, not for it's spookiness but for the sense of creativity it brings out. We always made our costumes - my first experiences with sewing, and perhaps this is why I enjoy this weird holiday so much. I won awards in high school for my costumes. In fact, I think my senior prediction was that I would someday find a way to make money building costumes out of cardboard boxes.

Thanksgiving is also one of my favorites. I have so many wonderful childhood memories surrounding this holiday. This was one of the least stressful holiday events that I can remember. All we had to do was make pies - and that is one thing we are very good at. In my college years Thanksgiving was spent with friends and then Brian's relatives. Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh, NY/NJ, and North Carolina - who can beat that? I had my first taste of ice hockey, giant parade balloons, and Southern hospitality. Now I look forward to family visiting and the joy of cooking and spending time together with my in-laws (a little home improvement each time isn't bad either).

Welcome, Fall!