Taste of Philly

This week was restaurant week in Philadelphia so we got to try out a few different restaurants. Our first night we went to Valanni, a mediterranean/latin tapas restaurant. It was fabulous! The baked brie we got was the best I've ever tasted. It had pears and cherries in it, and was the perfect consistency. Alex said that while he was eating it he was having fireworks going off in his head (those of you who've seen Ratatouille will know what he's talking about).

We also ate at Jake's, a restaurant close to our home that "unofficially" participates in restaurant week. And last night we hit the City Tavern with Natalie, Marc, MaryAnn and Sam. The atmosphere is kind of fun because everyone is dressed in period clothing, and we had a man come around and speak with us a little and then he sang us a song. I have to say that the company was the best part about the evening, though.

I'm excited to say that I will be starting my new job on Monday! I'll be working at SAP, a business software company that's headquartered in Germany. I'll be at the Americas headquarters in the global HR department. It's funny because I was having such a hard time pinning down exactly what it was I wanted to do, and then when this job appeared I knew it was perfect for me. I get to do the global aspect (which is what I loved the most about my job at the Church), the HR aspect, and I will be doing it at a well-known, respected company. The other great thing about the company is that they are all about social responsibility, and they're building a LEED certified campus (which basically means that everything will be environmentally friendly).

My official title is Global Mobility Process Advisor, and I'll be working on relocations of employees all around the world. I'm excited because I get to work on VISAs, taxes, logistics, and everything in between when it comes to relocating somebody. Wish me luck!

Philly MOA

As of today we are officially members of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (you know, where Rocky ran up the stairs). We get free admission to the museum for a year, and free admission to various events they have - all for a small donation, of course. It's nice to be supporting the arts now that we're out of school. We almost feel like contributing members of society! Anyway, I guess every Friday night they showcase a local jazz band at the MOA, so Alex is pretty excited about that.

We went to the Washington DC Temple for a Stake temple trip last weekend. The DC temple is the largest temple in the world, and there's a big visitors center which is nice to take new members to. After the session we were starving, so we headed into Silver Spring and ate at a Chinese restaurant. It was fun to be in Maryland, and I was telling Alex stories of my time living there with Dan and Ashley. We found a farmer's market on the side of the road near the temple and stopped to buy some tomatoes and peaches. I love that there are farmer's markets everywhere out here!

We decided to stop in Baltimore on the way back to Philly and drove around trying to find a German bakery that Alex read about on the internet. Amazingly we found it - Alex's directions were that it was on a street that started with a B and it was a diagonal road...Anyway, we bought a peach cake and a schmearkase, which apparently translates to cottage cheese in German, but it was more like a cheesecake. They were both great, but the schmearkase was amazing!

One entry at a time

Well, I'm averaging about one post a month here. Let's see if I can start to do a little better. I'm sitting here chatting with a friend back in Utah while Alex plays the Wii. Ahh, the life of "responsible adults."

Alex and I have been doing a vegetarian week. We ran out of meat, and then just never bought any more, so that resulted in us being vegetarian. It's actually been kind of fun. We've had some great meals like vegetable lasagna, black bean and corn stew, and tofu thai curry. Alex actually told me last night that he's decided he's not vegetarian, he's Mormon (i.e. eat meat sparingly...). We're going on 8 days and counting.

On Labor day we went to an arts and crafts show in Lancaster. Alex actually saw a few ceramicists that he was impressed by. I loved looking at the photography and getting ideas for how I can improve my own photography. In the end we commented on how nice it will be when we have a lot of money and can afford to buy things that we find at arts and crafts shows. There are some amazingly talented people out there and it's nice to appreciate their work.

Restaurant Week is coming up in Philly, and we're pretty excited. We haven't had a chance to try very many restaurants downtown, so this will be an adventure. I'm thinking of making a reservation for every night. We'll see if I actually do! There's nothing like trying good food at discounted prices...