Feasting in Philly

Most of you know that I wanted to eat a Philly cheesesteak while I was in town. Well, Yvonne and I had the best cheesesteak ever at a little place called Campo's. A hospitality greeter at Independence Hall recommended the place and he told us a big secret--Campo's has the best cannolis in town. We hoofed it over there and had a feast. We split the cheesesteak, provolone & mushrooms, and added cole slaw and potato salad to the mix, along with a refreshing local microbrew! We finished off the meal with a cannoli. Aside from the tender steak, the fresh roll is what made this cheesesteak so delicious. Thank you to the greeter for telling us about the cannoli. It didn't appear on the menu. It's only sold to those that ask for it!

Day in Philly

Yvonne and I started off our day with the good old standby, Starbucks! We went to the one in Yardley, which had a very quaint little downtown. After our fix, we went into the city. We missed out on the daily tickets to go inside the main building of Independence Hall, but we were able to see the Liberty Bell and tour quite a few buildings surrounding Independence Hall.




Independence Hall

first Supreme Court

first U.S. Senate

ink well used during signing of Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution

Wedding

Congratulations to Brian & Betsy! They were married this past weekend in Yardley, PA. I flew into Baltimore on Saturday morning and drove with Yvonne to celebrate their big day with family. We had a fun time. Kudos to Joy for hooking us all up with the Bay Breeze. That is quite a tasty little drink.

Tribe VS Twins

Kudos to Mike for scoring 4 club seat tickets to last Tuesday's Indians game! After eating like hogs in the clubhouse, we went to our seats (it was seriously the 5th inning by the time we finish grubbing). Once in our seats, we ate cotton candy, peanuts and ice cream. It was pure gluttony. The Indians won 1-0. Go Tribe.

No Copper

This image is incredible. I was driving home from Dave's Fresh Supermarket and couldn't believe what I saw spray painted on this vacant home. That's right "No Copper". It is really sad how many beautiful, old homes are be vandalized in Cleveland to salvage copper from them.

Hosta Garden

Due to the shade of our front yard, I decided to plant a hosta garden along the neighbor's driveway. Larry was splitting hostas so I picked up 9 at yesterday's Grand River hike. I came home and worked all evening on planting them and weeding the front flower beds. Muffin was a huge help in the garden, as usual.

Thanks Larry!

Flag Day

In honor of Flag Day, Juliano and I hung an American flag in our yard. Since the drill was out, I had him hang a beautiful dragonfly hook for a hanging basket. Thank you to Mike for the hook and Peggy for the petunia!

Hi to Jacks

Here's a few pictures of Michelle's new kitty, Jacks. She adopted him a few months ago. This is Michelle's first experience with a long haired cat. Life will never be the same around the Baran household with Jacks around.

Belt

Who needs bullets when you could have the shot belt?

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a wonderful birthday. I took the day off work! And Juliano and I went to see Sex and the City-it was fabulous. Afterwards, we picked up my Mom and had dinner at King Wah. Followed by ice cream cake at my Mom's.

Shout Out

Happy Birthday to my sister Yvonne. She's celebrating her xx birthday today! Hugs and Kisses.

Me & Yvonne circa 1971

Day at the Zoo

Last Sunday, Theresa and I took her great niece Iree to the Zoo. It was a fun day, but we were beat after about an hour of pushing a stroller and carrying Iree! The Butterfly Magic exhibit is open and we saw quite a few butterflies, including some that were just emerging. Yes, we took the infamous baby wearing adult sunglasses picture.

Memorial Day

Muffin is loving our new back porch. I stepped away for a moment today and lost my chair!

Porch is Ready for Summer

A few weeks ago, we had a new roof installed on our back, upstairs porch. This weekend we installed carpet and it's ready for the summer. I enjoy sitting on the new lounger, watching the birds. I have a feeling we'll be out here a lot.


Our backyard from porch

Curtains

On out trip to Charlotte in February, I purchased fabric for curtains in the living room. Thank you to Joy for spotting this beautiful, silk fabric. I finished the curtains on the door and side windows. I still need to work on the big window.

Migration at Magee

I spent today at Magee Marsh watching warblers. It was a great day, despite the cooler temperatures. We saw many fabulous birds. As always, I was unprepared and had to borrow a hat and jacket to make it through the afternoon! Thank you to Judy for providing a yummy lunch! All bird photos are courtesy of Carl Johnson.






Black and White Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

At the feeder

Luis's feeder featured White-crowned Sparrows while we were visiting them last week.

Lucer

Lucy was chillin' like a villain for her daily belly rub.

Chicago Style

We've been traveling to Chicago for nearly 20 years and never ate classic, Chicago-style pizza. Last night, we finally had it and it was delicious.