Philadelphia Adventure - The Domus Party

The swankiest place in Philadelphia, the Domus, had their Grand Opening party this evening. Laura and I merited an invite. I can only assume it's because we already live here. I took a few photos and have a few comments to make so let's begin!
Outside, in the courtyard entrance, the usual nice garden area was transformed into a very nice garden area, complete with some very fancy obviously rich people. One of the fanciest things was the Valet parking. At first I thought, "Wow, that's very high class." until I realized there is absolutely nowhere to park around this place. I took my dog Sasha and my daughter on a quick walk before the nuttiness of the party started. Sasha had an encounter with another dog right out front with a lot of barking and chaos. My daughter gleefully yelling "Doggies!" as I tried to struggle with the stroller and the freakishly strong dog. Larry and Kevin two of the concierges quickly took action and helped me get the gang inside. So in other words, I started of my party experience on a high note.
This is Larry. He is crazy good at his job. He knows my name, my apartment number, my kids name and my dogs name. It's good that he is the Face of Domus, because he does it well. And I'm not just saying this because the staff at Domus are now reading my blog...

Pause--I realized this isn't very funny so I'll try to step it up.--Unpause.

I started the party out in the Ice Cream room. Yes you heard me right. The Ice Cream Room. And not just Ice Cream. Super fancy, best Ice Cream ever Ice Cream. The toppings were plentiful and outstanding. I had the solid gold nuggets as a topping.
I then popped into the show room where I was introduced to the massive amounts of alcohol they were offering to the guests. Not being a drinker myself I was happy to see that there was a plenty amount of soda available. The person behind the counter didn't think it was very funny when I asked him which is the best soda to go with fish. Those wine people are kinda snobby.
I then went around the pool area where there was a live band and some dancers gyrating and a whole lot of drunk people swaying to the music. There were a few people doing what I'm sure they would refer to as dancing. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry described Elaine's dancing as "A Dry Heave set to music". There was a lot of that.
I hung out for a minute hoping that someone would drunkenly fall into the pool. That didn't happen unfortunately.
Next, the food. There were two cooks set up in the Barbecue area cooking some food. I didn't get a change to eat any, but I did take some pictures. For all the commoners out there reading my blog, this is the kind of spread the fancy people eat. This picture, I just realized doesn't do it justice. There were people walking around all over the place with trays full of food that I couldn't even begin to guess what it was. At one point a woman offered me "Fish Balls". I'm pretyt sure fish don't have balls, but I didn't want to chance it.
Now, on to the Sushi bar! Sushi is to the super rich that hamburgers are to the commoners. People get very excited about it. The line for the sushi bar was very long with people talking about sushi and money, or money sushi, or power and sushi, or maybe it was money, power and sushi...(now that's a show I would watch). I didn't quite get every conversation. If there was a hamburger bar, I would be all over that, talking about hamburgers with anyone standing near as loud as I feel like, because dang it! I like hamburgers! Alright, Tangent..back on track. There was a police officer sampling the Sushi. I can't make a joke out of it, but I thought it was funny.

Down in the common room the four TV's were on and fancy people milling about.
I may have caught this picture of the TV in the middle of a subliminal message. There was a DJ downstairs blasting some super loud dancy type music. My daughter really enjoyed dancing to it. Over all the party was very fancy and very nice. The staff at the Domus really have done a lot of work to prepare and it went off very well. My only complaint is this. On the invite it said "Fancy Gifts" Here is a picture of the "Fancy Gift". It was some Domus water and mints that we get everyday for free and some Starbucks items from the brand new Starbucks that just went in on the corner. With all the fancy and ritzy people and things and atmosphere I don't consider these fancy. They are nice, don't get me wrong. It's cool to have the Domus bag even. I just was expecting like a Domus money clip, or a new car, or one of those hairless dogs. Now those are fancy. And kind of creepy. Maybe it's good that we got what we did. The Domus mints were replaced with Domus fortune cookies on the desk. I didn't have one, but if they were thinking, the fortunes should have all read something like "You will be moving soon", or "You will find yourself in University City in the near future", or "You will find love on arbor day." That last one was just to throw them off. One of the small but fancy touches was an elevator operator running the elevators all night long. I am assuming again, but I don't think the rich people like to press buttons. Unless it's a buy or sell button on their giant stock money making machines, or the trap door in their offices which I'm sure they all have somewhere.
To wrap it all up. Nice party, well done. It was even quiet enough during the party in our apartment for our kid to stay asleep.
On a side note, Laura and I got a web cam so if anyone wants to chat with us over the net, let me know! Till next time, peace out.

Tracy

Philadelphia Adventure - The Fire Alarm

It's 3 am as I write this blog entry and I am wide awake. We discovered something new at Philadelphia's most exclusive living resort the Domus. The in room fire alarms volume control has been set to ludicrous. At about 2:30 in the morning (which is about "The Middle of the Night" Greenwich Normal People Standard Time) our apartment became unlivable as the fire alarm, which is conveniently placed at the head of our bed, began to blare what I will now, and for the rest of my life refer to as my least favorite, most painful sound. I cannot relay how loud and high pitched the blaring alarm actually was. I'm certain everyone within a twelve block radius was under the impression that we were under attack from aliens using a new undiscovered sound wave weapon that makes peoples ears catch on fire. Every time the alarm would sound my ear drums would threaten to burst and my eyes would start to pop out of my head. Laura asked me why there wasn't a strobe light in the room for the deaf people. My response is because I'm sure the deaf people could hear that alarm. Or at least they wake up and notice that their eyeballs keep popping out of their heads and will run down the stair seeking help. My main distress at this insanely loud sound is that while it did alert us, it actually rendered our minds useless. We couldn't figure out what to do at first so we did the only rational thing, zip around each room as fast as we could while asking the other person what to do. Needless to say this whole mess really freaked out our dog. My daughter actually slept through the first few minutes of the alarm. She probably awoke when she realized that she was now hearing the worst song ever.
We finally came too enough to think that maybe we should leave the building. So we strapped our kid to Laura, I grabbed the Dog and we joined the stream of the tired but wealthy as we exited the building. First we were informed that there was no fire. Some kind person decided to yank the fire alarm. Second I noticed that the wealthy in pajama and without the time in the morning to get ready look just like us commoners. I don't know what I really expected to be different, I just thought maybe their pj's would be made of gold or something.
The Fire department arrived and shortly let us back into the building. We were able to get the kiddo back off to sleep by some miracle. Then, the alarm went off again. Laura said "Now that's just mean." which I agree, but I was thinking a whole lot more cuss words.
It is now 9 in the morning. Everyone is dressed and ready for the day...except me. I ended up staying up with my daughter who I guess only needs a few hours of sleep a night. I finally drifted off to sleep in time for the construction workers to show up at 6 am driving the worlds loudest truck up and down the alley outside our window. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Tracy

Philadelphia Adventure - Independence Hall Trip

We took a trip to Independence hall on Saturday. Unfortunately we made it there late in the day and couldn't get tickets. We are planning on trying again on a weekday when it's not so crowded. It's a bit funny because it's on Chestnut street at about 6th street. We are also on Chestnut street at 34th street. Kinda cool. Any how, here is my thoughts on the week.

We see these banners around the "Historic" district everywhere. I personally feel that it's representing the good State of Philadelphia Flipping me the bird with one hand and on the phone with the other as if to say "Take a hike youz!" If you'll look closer you can see that the woman in the photo actually has two fingers up representing the number two for some reason. Unfortunately this is also the British version of flipping the bird, which I suppose is appropriate because that's what our Founding Fathers were doing in essence with the Declaration of Independence or the Ultimate Bird Flip.

This is a pretty cool monument. It says "Abraham Lincoln stood here when he raised the flag on Independence hall February 22nd 1861". I felt a sense of wonder as I stood there also looking up at the flag. I thought "Wow, the great emancipator, the greatest President of our great country, the 5 dollar bill guy stood here on this very spot. I could sure go for a Cheese Steak."
This is a picture of my now favorite statue in the world. It is of a man dressed in a colonial type costume pointing at the giant building straight across for some strange reason. The reason it's my favorite statue is because the only descriptive wording the single word "Barry" on the pedestal. It makes me think, who is this Barry? Why does he get a statue? What the heck is he pointing at? I don't think I've seen a statue before that has risen more questions then this one.

Then there is the great statue of George Washington standing outside the Independence Hall. I really don't have much to say about this one. It was neat. And the picture Laura took of it turned out nice.

We also managed to sneak a view of the Liberty Bell from outside the building it rests in. This made me exclaim, "Look, it's that thing! How neat!" It was all very exciting to be there on the site where some of the greatest men of our country stood together and united as one to declare independence for all. I wonder what this place must have looked like back then, before the skyscrapers and construction sites. I also wonder how much of it was original. Were the cobblestone streets we were walking on the same ones that George Washington walked down as he sent text messages to Martha on his cell phone? (L1b3rty r0x! - 1776!).

It was nice to see some of the history that this city has to offer. I can't wait to see more of it. Thanks for reading. Until Next time.

Tracy

Philadelphia Update (The Domus)

Howdy all. It's been a good weekend here in Philadelphia. I took a few pictures of the city and the Domus and thought I'd share. Let's get started shall we? Remeber folks, you can click the picture for a larger view!

This is a picture of an old church. In the background is the Sheraton in Center City we stayed in for a few days. We got to know the downtown area pretty well on our daily "Ohmygosh, we don't have a place to live" walks.
These are some pictures of downtown. Laura took these, and they turned out pretty nice.




We are finaly feeling settled here in Philly. It's a bit odd still to look around our apartment and see all our stuff set up in it. I've just become so used to seeing everything in our house in Elk Grove. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.



Let's move onto our apartment complex The Ever so Fancy Domus. Let me start off by saying, this is the most beautiful place I have ever lived. When we walk down the street toward the building you can see a pretty spectacular view of the city skyline. These pictures don't do it justice.
The first thing you notice when walking out side is that you can see the air. It is so humid here, which I hear is good for my skin. When people say that it leads me to believe that sweat is supposed to be good for my skin. Let's just say my armpits have never been so soft! When you're outside, the wet air clings to you like some kind of clinging airy wet sky thing.

Inside the Domus you'll notice isn't humid at all. This is because they crank the air conditioner to sub zero tempatures. This is because all the rich people who live here feel insulted when they have to sweat their own sweat. (There is a giant imported french water machine in the gym that sprays the elite people as they work out so they don't have to actually sweat that salty stinky stuff.)
This is a picture of the loby. Every time I've been down there Bill Clinton has been on the TV. I'm thinking that it's stuck on the Bill Clinton channel.
There is a beatiful common room when you walk past the security desk.
They have four TV's hooked up and running at once. I don't quite undertand the purpose behind this. Most of the time at least two, but mostly three of the TV's are all playing the same show. The only thing I can think of is that the Rich can't stand to watch a TV that may be being watched by someone else. With options for which one to watch it's a way for them to feel better. They only have a 33% chance that someone else is watching the same TV they are. At least that's the best I can figure. That or it's for ADD people who can't decide which direction they want to be looking.
There is a refriderator in the common room that Laura refers to as the "Magic Fridge". At certain times of the day it is filled with bottled water and sodas. I must not have said the magic words right for this picture because the fridge was empty. The interesting thing for me is to find out that the super rich actualy drink the same type of commoner soda as I do. I just assumed they had some sort of solid gold Coke bottles.

This is a picture of the "Card Room". I don't know what kind of "Cards" are played in here but I assume it's the kind you always see in the old James Bond movies. There are several other rooms like this but they are conference rooms. There are always some fancy people in there with nice laptops working on making millions of dollars.
This is the pool table. I was a bit surprised to find that it didn't have the green felt look like in the movies. I think that it's made from imported camel fur. Side Note - that guy on the stool is always there. I think he must be Domus version of Norm from Cheers.

This is a picture of the frame in the elevator making note of the "Social" events. I had to take a picture of this because I didn't realy believe it myself. For instance, it looks like I missed the Massage Party yesterday.

This post has gone on too long and I am tired of typing. I will post again soon with pictures of the interior of our apartment when I decide to clean it up a bit. Till next time.

Tracy

Philadelphia Adventure Update 9/05

For all our adoring fans, here is my update on our Philadelphia Adventure. We checked out of the Sheraton for good this morning and into our new apartment. Wow, what a nice place. For those of you who haven't seen the web site for where we're living now, you can check it out here DomusPa.com. Our apartment is called "Ia" on the site. Yes, you did see correctly...we are paying a TON of money to live here. Let me explain why for a moment.
Philadelphia is just like you see in the movies. There are two types of people here. We have the type that work in the fancy high rise buildings, and the type behind those buildings taking a dump. It's not a city for your average Joe, like I consider myself. A few of the more "Rustic" parts of town have me thinking back to my Mission days, and not in a good way (Think 'Nam flashbacks "Johny!!!!"). We found the area the rich people live. They are the high rise condos that cost millions of dollars for a studio apartment. The are secured by a team of surly looking "you better not be talking directly to me" type of door men who keep the vagrants from peeing on the red carpets. We don't have the millions of dollars it takes to move in there so we opted for the next best thing. The fortress from the people who want to stab me, The Domus.
Of course we don't exactly have the money for this place either, but Laura and I talked a good show for the background check and I did a few tap dance maneuvers with some tricky flourishes and ended it all with my best Jazz Hands. Then they decided after talking to my Dad (with his Thurston Howl type accent) that we must be from the upper crust, and they let us in. To which we reply...suckers! But seriously..it is a bit pricey. We will be going heavy into debt this year, so I guess live it up! I plan on taking every bit of "perks" that this place offers. For instance, I had three of the free sodas they offer downstairs as well as a hand full of cookies. Plus, I played a round of pool...for no real reason except I could.
Right now I am typing this Blog entry while sitting on the rooftop cafe area overlooking this fine city, enjoying the brisk wind, the lights from the city, the smell of urine in the air, and the people calling each other "A-Holes" while zipping around at 400 miles per hour in their death mobiles blaring their horns and gesturing crudely. I think I figured out why I have never heard anyone say "Aw, Philly." in a fond tone. I had better close my laptop. While I have been writing this there has been an Urban Camper trying to convince me to "Toss" him a couple of bucks. My tactic has been to pretend I am deaf and now I am getting a speech on why I think I am better then he is. So long my Friends. Until Next Time.

Tracy

P.S. The "Rocky" statue really freaks my dog out. Weird. I think she is afraid of effigies of fictional characters.