Kites, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

As many of you might recall, NYC lost a couple of its really good ones this past Spring. I pretty much started a countdown to Kristen and/or Alyssa's return the second their planes took off.

So when Alyssa told me a couple months ago that she: A. got a great new job (wee!), and B. wanted one of her first big splurges to be a trip back to the City, well, let's just say there was much skipping and squealing down Third Avenue that day. And the best part? She was coming in for the weekend of Megan's Half Marathon in Philly! This clearly meant only one thing, two syllables:

Road. Trip.

By the time our double decker bus rolled out of Penn Station at 9:15 the Saturday morning before last, Meg had an entourage of 8 of us girls. We were ready for a touristy-and-fun-filled trip to the City of Brotherly Love, armed with Pumpkin Spice Starbucks and maybe just a bit too much luggage for an overnight trip. As we flipped through our NY Mag's, Glamour's, and In Style Weddings' (ok, I guess that was just Amy...) we tallied up our collective goals for the trip:

• Carbing up with Megan Cheering Megan on, obviously!
• Pictures. Lots. Of. Pictures.
• The Liberty Bell (more specifically, "Kiting" it with Tracey and/or Amy, my fellow Thetas on the trip. Kidding. But not.)
• Reid Rosenthal (See him? Hug him? Marry him? All of the above him?)
• Running up the Rocky steps, even though I'm pretty sure none of us have seen any of the movies... meh.
• Philly Cheesesteaks? For sure. Cheez Whiz? Undecided.
• Avoiding any and all people dressed in costumes
• Brunchy brunch brunch

I'm happy to report that in our 29 or so hours in Philadelphia, we successfully checked just about everything off our lists, and then some. These photos can't possibly do all of the giggles and delicious calories justice, but here's a peek at one of the best weekends ever:

Oh, well hello there, Reid. Thanks for welcoming us to Philly... Alyssa and I will now fight for your affections.

Despite our best efforts, we hadn't been wandering historical Philly for more than 20 minutes when we ran into our first Costume Situation. Sorry Meg. We tried.

Oh yes. Yes, we did. Theta Love.

I really do love history.

"Hey guys. Give me your best Patriotic Pose..."

I may or may not have Googled "Chick-fil-A, Philadelphia" within 10 minutes of checking-in to our hotel... NYC doesn't know what it's missing.

Cheers to Meg! Sure, she may have been in bed at this point, but it's the thought that counts.

Check out those pink (Meg) and blue (Stephanie) shorts go!

The Cheering Section

Theta Love for Megan! (p.s. two Kites in one trip?! Oh, I'm a happy girl.)

Meow (Video to come... Get excited.)

xoxo