School for the Sweet Tooth

Have you ever had the feeling that maybe, just maybe, you've eaten enough cake?

ME NEITHER.

I have now been eating cake every night for around four nights, and though I know you'd like to hear this is part of a revolutionary diet I heard about from Oprah I won't lie. This regime is purely an effort to polish off a cake from the The Restaurant School because under no circumstances shall any cake be put in the bin under my roof. I will finish the beast no matter how my belly protests.

You see, two cakes were bought last week for a 50th birthday for a total cost of around $25. TWO ENORMOUS CAKES!! All thanks to students of the pastry arts. Luckily, other people showed some moderation and the plentiful leftovers are what I'm working on now. I think this work is going pretty well.

I will say, the cake is not terribly beautiful but they do have some more specialty fare if that's what you're looking for. If, however, you need to feed a throng of children or a throng of grown ups for that matter on the cheap but a big cake is what you're looking for I think this is a good spot. The icing was a wee bit sweet but the cake itself was moist and chocolatey and... well, I might just go have a little added taste just to check that it's still that good. The students will also be so kind as to write anything on the cake you'd like, such as "THIS IS MEREDITH'S CAKE DO NOT TOUCH MY CAKE DO YOU HEAR ME!"

Now if anyone else has advice on coping with sugar withdrawl, please kindly forward it to me because my come down is going to be messy.

The Pastry Shop at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College
215.222.4200
Open daily Monday - Saturday 7:30am - 6:00pm
4207 Walnut Street

www.therestaurantschool.com/

Just don't call me baby, baby!

So, this is my first post in... ahem... maybe nine months.... And this week a friend staying with me, who I hadn't seen in a long long time, at one point turned to me with a smirk on his face: "Confess. Where are you hiding the baby?"

OH LOOK HOW I FOOLED YOU!! No, I didn't have a baby (the gut is all croissant fueled) I am just the absolute most devoted person to baby products. Ever. I have extremely sensitive skin and eczema, and due to years of trial and error in testing things to help sooth it one thing was clear: stick to the basics. No posh face creams for me, no creme de la mer or chanel no 5. Baby lotion and eau de moi does fine just thanks.

As you can see from the picture, I turn to baby products for just about all my beauty needs, bar the bikini wax. Here's a quick rundown of some of my choices:

1. Baby wipes. For... everything. Removing makeup. Quick clean up of the sink. Removing deodorant stains. Even wiping my botty. Works for that too.

2. Aveeno Soothing Relief Lotion. I cannot praise this enough. I only need the teeniest bit and it soothes my skin like ambrosia of the gods. If you could buy that at target. I know that Aveeno makes an eczema line too, but as I mentioned above once I found something that works I don't mess with it.

3. J&J Bedtime Cream Wash. I used to hate baths until I realised that they really did relax me and that if I bathed with this stuff it left a yummy moisturising film on me (just like in the ads... damn them) and makes me smell yummy. I don't know if I've been brainwashed by its name, but I really do feel soothed by the smell. After all, it's formulated with NATURALCALM™... You can't argue with science like that.

4. Baby Oil. This used to be my eye makeup remover because I swear it could take of cement and sleeping with any remaining eye makeup never works out well for me as I end up looking like I got elbowed in the eye during the night (which happened once, by the way). But I found that because I wear contact lenses the two things don't compliment each other. I do keep it around though for any time I use waterproof mascara, which may as well be made of cement, it's great to apply before shaving and... massages. But you already knew about that.

5. Baby Cologne. Whoever decided that babies need a cologne is INSANE. I however enjoy the gentle fragrance for myself when I just want to smell fresh. I've got something more adult when it's time to make my move, don't you worry.

6. Cetaphil. Oooh cetaphil how I love you. Above using it generally for cleaning, I also use it as my exfoliator in combination with exfoliator pads from the body shop. This is is a great way for anyone who has a trusted facial cleanser to double task it. Who has enough room for extra lotions in the medicine cabinet anyway?

Also in the house is baby powder, of course great for stinky shoes but also super at getting out grease stains. Baby shampoo is good for pink eye, and also make up removal if you're brave enough to lather up your eye. And you may have read in the paper lately that Pedialyte is more effective that Gatorade for the sporty types looking for rehydration.

So before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, maybe just ditch the baby. It'll only be hogging the good stuff.

Get Crafty for Christmas

I just found out something that has made my day. Nay. Made my whole Holiday season.

I am going to be here for the craft/art sale at the Standard Tap this year.

I am leaving on a trip to Paris this Saturday and will be gone until the week before Christmas when shopping opportunities are going to be slim. Why not buy all my presents in Paris, you ask? Because I’m not made of money, that’s why. I’m praying there will be fun little places to buy unusual and unexpected goodies for my loved ones, but I’m not willing to bank on it. This is why I am giddy in the knowledge that I will be able to squeeze in a trip up to the Standard Tap on Saturday before I jet off.

Last year I went up there, my first time wandering up to NoLibs without the intent to booze, the week before Christmas in the hopes that the arty types of Philadelphia would be there to help me get unusual gifts. And sure enough, I got something for everyone there. I finished up with a few other things down the road at P.A.D, but got all shopping done in two hours flat.

I like buying gifts from local people because not only to you give something beautiful and didn’t come from a catalog, but you can actually give their business card too and tell people a little bit about the artist.

I will warn you that you must pay cash, so come with your wallet fat. Mind you, nothing there is going to break the bank so don’t fret too much. I am also glad that things are inexpensive enough that should I find something else on my travels, I won’t have gone over budget.

So head up to the Standard Tap on Saturday from 11am – 3pm and should you sneak in a beer while your there it’ll only help you feel more jolly for the holidays.

Standard Tap, 901 N 2nd Street, (215) 238-0630, www.standardtap.com/
Standard Craft Sale, December 9th, 11 am to 3 pm

Organization for the Flibbertyjibbet

A few years ago I was given a Palm Pilot as a present. This was my dream: more gadgetry in the hopes of making my organized. Woot! The only thing I failed to take in to consideration is that I am really a true lover of pen and paper. I can’t stop myself from writing lists of Christmas presents to buy and music I’ve heard and all sorts of stupid things that I actually like to keep and look back on. It was my habit of sitting down and writing pointless nothings that got me hooked on Molekine notebooks.

I like Molekines for a number of reasons. They are well constructed, with nice elastic to hold it together so that all the other crap I slip into it doesn’t get lost. There is a little pocket at the back in which I keep more odds and ends. The covers are hardy – my mum’s puppy chewed a corner and it didn’t make much of a dent.

This year, to add to all my notebooks, I bought the Moleskine year planner at the AIA Bookstore. It’s a soft cover so it’s not too heavy for your purse and is handily organized to have the days on one side of the page and the other side just a page for notes and scribbles. If you’re the type that can’t keep their pen still while on the phone making appointments, this is the organizer for you. You must, however, buy the planner early if you think it's your thing because they sell out. And they do not reappear. I made the mistake last year of trying to find one on something like January 2nd and was sorely disappointed.

I’ve also bought their Paris city notebook for my upcoming trip with my sister. I want to customize my sister’s before I give it to her to make it a little more special and also to make sure that we hit all the good patisseries. See how the Moleskine’s make you think straight?!

Moleskine, www.moleskine.it/eng/default.htm
AIA Bookstore, 117 S 17th Street, (215) 569-3188, www.aiabookstore.com
Check out the Moleskine tags on flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/tags/moleskine/clusters

Two Thumbs Up

In my new neighborhood I have an abundance of places to look for movies, which is nice because I far prefer to rent a movie that try to watch any of the crap on tv. The only problem is, I never know what I want to rent. I don't go with a title or actor or even a genre in mind when I walk in there. Because of this, the majority of rental places are a little overwhelming for me. Last night when I went in, and even had someone else to help me make up my mind, I reckon it took no less than 45 minutes to choose something and it was a bad choice.

This is why I miss my old neighborhood movie place - Beaux Arts Video. It's a little hole in the wall that is pretty much the total opposite of Blockbuster. The new releases are intermixed with indie titles that you've probably heard a lot about but forgot you were ever interested in. The employee pics are honest and are a mixture of critically aclaimed film noir stuff (that I'm never going to touch) and movies you loved in your childhood and forgot existed (I snap them up right away.)

I will say that they don't have many of the popular releases, which can be a pain when you've set your heart on something. The flip side of that is there are so many good movies around that people don't bother even looking at because we're programmed to head zombie-like for Vince Vaughn's head. Beaux Arts has them all, and their super friendly staff will more than happily recommend something to you.

My favorite thing is they have a little gumball machine with chocolate in it so that when you've been staring blankly at the wall for too long you can recover your sugar levels, focus for long enough to pick your movie and get home to Vince and a glass of vino.

Beaux Arts Video, 1000 Spruce Street, (215) 923 1714

For a Little Girl About Philly

I love love love giving presents. I get particular joy out of Christmas by spending time looking around for the gift that will be just right for everyone in my family. But last week I faced a new challenge in the gift giving department- the Christening gift.

Here I was rather stumped. Finding a present that is rather significant for someone who can’t tell you what they want…. Dilemma… First I started by looking for the traditional present- the silver rattle, the little cup. I found luck with the piggy bank. I love this unusual piggy and it even comes with money ALREADY IN IT! It’s an absolute bargain at $28 so I was all set. Until the godfather, my boyfriend, went and got the very traditional piggy bank from Tiffany’s (at my suggestion. DAMN ME!)

So the search went on. The Children’s Boutique offers not only a wide range of gifts at a wide range of prices, the people there are also extremely attentive. And not in that nagging, you’d-better-buy-something way. The BF had actually originally settled on something they retailed: an adorable stepstool with a little compartment for kiddies to hide things, carved from wood and hand painted. It costs a reasonable $75, if my memory serves me, but for me that was a little high. I ended up getting a super cuddly baby blanket and a weird toy that was all hand wrapped and ribboned to perfection.

Had I really bought what I wanted it would have been an engraved Christmas ornament. Ornaments have always been one of my favorite gifts to give, and a little bell (on sale right now) with the name and birthdate would have been exactly what I wanted. I have heard a lot of good things about Things Remembered, so learn from my mistakes and, when you know what you really want to give, plan ahead and just order it already.

Tiffany & Co., 1414 Walnut St., www.tiffany.com

Children's Boutique, 1702 Walnut St., www.echildrensboutique.com,

Things Remembered, www.thingsremembered.com/

Try it. You might like it.

I went to a show last night and I’m not sure why but just how wonderful it was surprised me. It was the Joanna Newsom show at the Sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church, and there probably isn’t much of a better place to see her in Philly. The small audience was deadly silent and spilled out to seating in the aisles and in front of the stage. I was right at the back but still close enough that my $15 standing room ticket now seems ridiculously cheap. So thank you R5.

She was accompanied by four other people to play her new highly orchestrated album in its entirety. I couldn’t really get over her stamina to play her harp for these seven minute long songs and singing along while hardly taking a breath. You may be able to tell from my glowing adoration here that I am now a Joanna groupie type and seeing her live has given me a greater appreciation of her albums.

Sadly, her tour is now moving south and then across to the west coast. And then to England where she’ll play with full symphony orchestras, which I would now KILL to see. Her voice is a bit of an acquired taste so this album really isn’t for everyone. So maybe give her a bit of a looksee and tell me that you’re not a little big enamored now. And then buy her new album and get all swept away.

Joanna Newsom, http://www.dragcity.com/bands/newsom.html

R5 Productions, www.r5productions.com/shows.html

Just don't forget to breath...

I am reluctant to share the following thing with you, as I want to keep it all to myself. I don’t want people to start going to this and then I can’t get in and then because of my big mouth I can’t do my favorite thing anymore.

But, for the greater good and because I am SO NICE, I will let you in on this.

It’s my pilates teacher. Elizabeth. She is so great that she is like Madonna or Cher or Britney and no longer needs a last name. (Plus they don’t put it on the schedules so I don’t know it.) She is my instructor at 12th Street Gym and she also teachers at the ever wonderful Lithe Pilates in NoLibs.

If you’ve ever taken pilates you will know that you can do it one of two ways: (a) you flop around on the floor and think it’s crazy easy and don’t understand why you’re there or (b) you concentrate on what the teacher says and you’re surprisingly beat up by the end of the session. What makes Elizabeth so special is that not only does she manage to squeeze in a TON of exhausting moves into the hour but also she has the care to really teach. She walks around adjusting the moves, she’ll stop the class to give the tips that make you actually do the moves right, and all sorts of things which help you on the way to getting those yummy pilates abs.

Plus, she’s just bloody nice. When I’m forcing myself to sit in a mirrored room with a bunch of dancers in lycra and attempt to move like them, it’s nice to have an instructor that lets you feel less like the elephant in the room.

12th Street Gym, 204 S 12th Street, (215) 985-4092, www.12streetgym.com/

Lithe Pilates, Liberties Walk, (215) 928-1663, www.lithemethod.com/

Say Cheeeeeeese

This particular recommendation would perhaps normally fall under the heading of "shopping" but I think this camera shop offers so much more that I'm hijacking over to the "adventures" category.

I'm a bit of a secret photography nut. Secret because recently I've been spending more time researching stuff than actually taking any pictures. To further my research, I recently headed out to Photo Louge (aka CBOP for those who have known it over the years) to check out the recent camera of my fantasy: the holga with polaroid backing. Never heard of it? Well, don't worry. You probably don't want it. I'm just insane and think that if I owned this camera then I would soon be on my way to becoming the next Annie Leibowitz. Sadly, Photo Lounge did not carry it. The man who helped me was able to tell me that it's unlikely that I'll find the holgaroid, as it's called (though it sounds more like a bum problem to me), in Philadelphia. But he was able to recommend two New York retailers that might be able to help me.

I then proceded to talk to him for about 45 minutes about other cameras that caught my eye. I have rarely talked to any sales person who was more interested in what he was talking about and less pushy about making an actual sale. Ever. And because of this, after a little more research, I am actually going to go buy my new camera there when I was once just going to head off to Best Buy and guiltily hand more money over to a big chain.

Photo Lounge also produces beautiful prints because they hire people who actually care about photography and know what they're doing instead of just feeding your film into a big box and handing over a pack of crappy looking pictures. You can also load your digital photos online for printing so even if you're as lazy as me about getting them on paper you have no excuse any more.

So if you need advice about your next camera purchase (which you probably do more than you think) or want beautiful prints to add to your albums, please think about heading to Photo Lounge. You'll get the best service around and keep a local store in business.

Photo Lounge CBOP, www.myphotolounge.com, 1909 Chestnut St, (267) 322 6651

I'll take the psychic and half a sandwich please.

Have your lunch breaks become all about lunch? Do you just run out to Cosi and grab a soup or sandwich and run back to your desk to check emails again? Have you become bored of the same routine? Then try our new Visit A Psychic During Your Lunch Hour And Have Something To Talk About For Days To Come plan!

That’s right. In a moment of inspiration, Megan decided that the best thing to do in the middle of the work day is go out and have the future foretold by a stranger so I happily skipped along with her. Oddly, the first one wasn’t home (hello? Did you not psychically know we were coming?!). And if the next one was too expensive to get anything but a palm reading done, but I guess that’s what you get for visiting a psychic with a Rittenhouse address…

Megan had both her palms read and I only one, as I am willing to save pennies even when it involves knowing my future, which might come in handy (no pun intended). Afterwards Megan was a little cross that she got around the same amount of information that I did for half the palm supply, but if you’ve ever seen my granny hands you’d know there’s a lot that’s going on there in the many wrinkles. The biggest insights we were given were that Megan will live to 91, which she’s dreading, and I will have two children, which is... ok… Really the best thing about it was a great change from the normal lunch hour but you don’t have to be psychic to know that variety is the spice of life.

Lolita Had a Little Goat

I am always on the hunt for new little boutique food places, so in the months leading up to the opening of the Grocery Market + Cafe I was as excited as a deli addict waiting for their next fix of hard-to-find cheeses. And when that blessed day came I was most pleased. Grocery has a great little set up, with one part dedicated to serving unusual sandwiches, both cold and grilled, soups, smoothies and other impressive lunch type items. This is the side you would call the "Cafe". The "Market" section is the perfect place to grab yourself a treat, find some special bits and bobs for a dinner party or get a lovely gift for the foodie in your life. With the shelves lined from everything from cookbooks to homemade frozen cookie dough and a selection of pre-cooked dishes it's hard to walk out empty handed.

My latest purchase there was for my first contribution to the Cupcake Showdown. They have a menu of five types and I grabbed a couple that looked chocolatey and icingy and caramelly all at the same time - The Little Lolita. What I failed to do was read the full description of what the Little Lolita had tempted me with: chocolate-ancho cake, goat's milk caramel, cream cheese frosting and chile toffee peanuts. As much as the cupcake was overall very well made and the ingredients thoughtful, I just couldn't get away from the goaty taste left from the caramel. My mother felt otherwise, so perhaps it was just my immature palate sabotaging me. I may just be better suited to the Plain Jane: madagascar bourbon vanilla cake, vanilla bean frosting and vanilla dots. Whatever your choice, it certainly won't be average.

And so to the scoring:

Appearance- 9; Cakiness- 9; Icing- 3; Sweetness- 6; Freshness- 10; Overall flavor combination yumminess- 4

Total: 41

Grocery Market + Cafe, 101-105 S 13th Street, (215) 922-5252

The Wheels on the Bus

Ah. The sweet smell of a Greyhound bus. Who doesn’t love a trip that takes twice as long as it should while creepy men take a good gander at your bum while you try to sleep the tedious hours away?

Let’s face it- there’s little that’s fun about taking a Greyhound anywhere. I was forced to take one this past Sunday on my way back from my Mother’s home as it is the only way to get back to Philadelphia from where she lives. I will say one good thing about the bus though: IT IS CHEAP! In the summer, I was faced with getting an Amtrak to New York that would be delayed by two hours because, newsflash, the heat effects the tracks. This is a trip that would cost a minimum of $130 there and back. So along comes the Greyhound with its odd upholstery, that funky bus smell, the pack of crazies, and off you go for a grand total of $24!!! That leaves me around $100 to spend on shoes or sushi or that amazing thing that happens in New York that makes money magically disappear.

So, as long as you face the fact that the sitting on the bus part of the Greyhound trip is going to suck, you will most certainly be glad that once you get off not only are you rid of your travel mates but your wallet is still heavy in your purse.

P.S. Yes, that is me in the picture. Don't you like my jaunty toga-dress thing!

http://www.greyhound.com

In which I use "going all Martha Stewart on its ass"

Not too long ago I moved to a new apartment and am now in the stage of having a new place that I hate the most: the Why Doesn’t This Look Like Home Yet stage. You know how it is when you have put all the big things in place and most of the knickknacks where you think you want them but you just haven’t lived there yet. I need everything to settle.

In the meantime I’m going all Martha Stewart on its ass and buying flowers to make me feel like the domestic goddess I’m failing to be. I don’t know what it is about having flowers around but just looking at them makes me think that if I wandered into the next room there would probably be a roaring fire there with a big dog, a snuggly sofa and the smell of cookies. It doesn’t matter that there’s a secret pile of laundry in the corner, as long as I’ve got them on my nightstand I feel like I’ve got the place put together.

I’ve found one the best places to get flowers is the Million Farm florist on Rittenhouse. Their prices are pretty reasonable and the blooms last well. I’m a personal fan of getting spray roses with some kind of green to fill it out. Spray roses are not just elegant, but they’re relatively inexpensive and, best of all, they dry beautifully so you can keep little posies of them around for long-lasting cheeriness.

Now if I could just convince a certain someone to buy flowers for me, then I’m sure the feng shui would be completely set straight.

Million Farm Florist, 119 S 19th St, (215) 564-3390

Wonderful Wellies

You may have noticed something recently. The weather. It is often wet. Yes, Autumn is really working its magic with those horrid downpours that have the potential to completely ruin your day.

That is until you own a pair of Wellington boots. Rain boots. Rubber waders. Whatever you want to call them they are my absolute mood saver on a rainy day. My feet are always dry, I can wear my nasty but snuggle christmas socks underneath AND I can splish around in puddles feeling totally invincible. I will say that I'm in the lucky circumstance that I can wear them at work all day, plodding around as if I were a jolly fisherman. But even if I couldn't I'm sure I'd invest in a pair to wear to and from the office and on wet weekends.

It used to be fairly hard to find a nice pair of wellies. In England we grew up with the conservative hunter green variety that we used for stomping around in muddy fields. They were even a required item in my school uniform. Having recently turned into somewhat of a fashion item, they can be found in all your high street retailers in fun colors and different lengths and, most importantly, a range of prices. At Urban Outfitters they have a rain boot for about $20, J Crew have a gorgeous yellow pair on sale for around $50, Banana Republic has posh tweed ones for around $70,and, if you're going super posh, Burberry have rain boots starting at $130 up to a dizzying $250. In any case, they can be found in any number of retailers at the moment from Target to Coach at a price to fit your wet weather budget. I myself am keen on getting the Veuve Clicquot bright, sunflower yellow pair so I can walk down the street like a beacon of defiance against the rain. I’m very subtle, moi.

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Yes, it's Stalker of the Sidewalk, aka Style on the Street time! My latest Philly stylee lady I think I approached when she wasn't too keen on being snapped by some stranger at the end of the day. But HOW COULD I RESIST:

This is Andrea, who confessed she had put a little more time putting her outfit together that day and I'll confess she did a very good job. Once again, a girl all about the details:

We all know we should match our shoes to our handbags and our hat to our gloves (???!!) but on a warm Autumn day what better than to match a little blue bow on your (Steve Madden) shoes to your pretty baby blue sweater.

Well done Andrea. Well done indeed.

C is for Craigslist Cat

I decided about a year ago that it was about time I got a pet. A pet that would love me and snuggle me and be excited when I got home and came when I called it.

So I got a cat…

I found my little kitten on Craigslist. You know, the site you visit to find a new apartment, or concert tickets, or garage sales. Or, if you’re me, an animal. I found that finding the right pet on Craigslist is not an easy business. You have to be patient to find what you want because, well, it's Craigslist and there are some crazy people on there. Also, it’s often unclear where people are getting these animals, and it seems to be especially risky with dogs who may come from puppy mills. Luckily (for me at least) I found kittens with a woman who had to give them up after taking in an allergy-prone friend who was in Hurricane Katrina. And I think there are a lot of honest people on there whose cat or dog may have unexpectedly had a litter or whose life circumstances have no longer made it possible to keep their pet.

I don’t know if everyone has a good experience finding a pet on Craigslist. All I know is that yesterday my Pepé le Pew sat on my chest all night snuggling with me. And then bopped me in the face so I knew who was boss.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pet/

Birthday Girl

Our first Style on the Street girl :
This is Lekha, the fist unfortunate person to be accosted in the street. It was her birthday today (happy birthday Lekha, tell me if I spelled your name right...) so I was glad to be the person to be the freak parade especially for the occassion.

I saw her walking down the street from quite a way back because of all the bold, bright colors she's wearing. It's not exactly a conventional mix, but that's exactly why I just loved the whole outfit. What you can't see in the picture above is this:

Anyone who can coordinate their earings and purse that well, thus turning her accessories into successories (HA! Look what funniness I did there!) is going straight on this site. Not to mention, her wearing an H&M dress has totally proven that I'm psychic. Kind of.

Massage Mecca

Like most girls, I like being pampered. But when I pamper myself it is typically the budget version. Going for a weekend in New York involves a bus trip and sleeping on someone’s couch. Waxing starts by heating the wax on the stove. And when I treat myself to a massage, it’s no different.

The first time I visited the Massage Arts Center was for the shiatsu clinic, where you’re in a room with two or three other people all receiving massages. You’re fully clothed and it’s a bargain at $35. This was a great introduction for me as it was nothing too intense and I liked the concept of the massage actually treating ailments with pressure points and magical plinky music.

On my second visit I went for the more forceful, private and slightly more expensive ($50) Swedish massage. I have to say that this was not as therapeutic as I had anticipated, but this is considering that in my imagination I would be pummeled into relaxed submission. To be truthful, it was no $150 spa massage, but it was still a glorious hour to myself with someone paying attention to only me. ME ME ME! I also decided to invest in their “gold card”, costing $45, which gives me 25% off student massages and various other discounts. Being offered a card that gives my budget indulgence a discount advantage too has made the Massage Arts Center my new pampering Mecca.

Massage Arts Center of Philadelphia, 714 Market Street, (267) 321-0200, www.massagearts.com/

Remedy Tea Bar

I grew up in England where a cup of tea is pretty much the glue that holds the country together. It fixes anything; tough day at work? Cuppa tea. Can’t find the remote? Cuppa tea. Arm fallen off? Cuppa tea. But it just doesn’t taste the same here. I can’t tell you why, but even tea I’ve brought back just doesn’t taste quite right. And so, for the longest time I boycotted the Remedy Tea Bar. I would have nothing to do with their Dirty Chai lattes, or their Cosmopolitan Mar”tea”nis or even their Black Tea Remedies, which you’d think from the name would really could mend a fallen off arm in a snap.

But my boycott was swiftly lifted once I was dragged in and handed a Cool Green Blended tea. It’s a scary looking beverage, I’ll admit, as it looks distinctly like a radioactive frappacino. But it is DELICIOUS. It’s like blended, creamy health. And all the creaminess only comes from skim milk so you don’t even have to pretend it’s good for you.

It was my fave drink of the summer and I can tell the rest of their menu will get me through the cold winter months. And with their slogan, “serving the hot and the cool”, how can I resist? Remedy Tea Bar, you have changed my tea drinking ways.

Remedy Tea Bar, 1628 Sansom Street, www.remedytea.com

Meredith

I'm Meredith, though that's not my first name. I keep my first name semi-secret for all the CIA missions I go on. I grew up all around the world after being recruited as a secret service agent as an infant and sent off to Europe to spy on their playgrounds.

I moved to Philly at the beginning of 2005 to investigate the Eagles, mummer strutting and extensive research on soft pretzels. I'll be using my crazy CIA skills to discover all that makes up daily life in Philly and pass on what I find out here, as well as making sure all the most wanted fashions I actually see on people on the street are posted here for all to admire. So if you see some crazy lady stalking down the street, tapping people on the shoulder and shouting "Where did you get those shoes? H&M? I LOVE YOU!", that's me.