Philly F*cked

Recently, my Civilian Medals were chosen as a finalists in the NICHE Magazine awards. Over 2,000 entries were received and only 4 finalists in each category. My category was fine jewelry. The awards ceremony was held in Philadelphia in February. As it happened, I flew out to Philly the day after the huge blizzards hit the Northeastern side of the US. My Dad flew out for the ceremony, just one night, and my friend Ian flew from Ohio to spend the weekend with me; well, he was supposed to fly from Ohio but 4 canceled flights later he ended up flying to Baltimore and taking a car with some random New Yorkers into Philly to meet me at the airport when I arrived, event free, from SF. We decided to walk around South Philly in the freezing cold and go on a hunt for famous cheestakes and beer. Both sent us on an adventure; I never knew how hard it was to get beer after 11 in Philadelphia. We ended up walking a collective 20 blocks that night and when we got back to the hotel, our belly's were full and our fingertips falling off from the cold. At the hotel, we had a dance party in the bathroom because it was so big (videos on the way, courtesy of Ian Brown). So, I didn't end up winning the NICHE award in my category and decided to get drunk with Ian instead. While my Dad lay asleep in my hotel, we walked to Ian's to enjoy the rest of our coveted 6 pack from the first night. With all that snow in the city, I was like a little kid. I came across one that I wanted to conquer. My skirt ripped and I had to walk back to my hotel later with my behind exposed, my face flushed and my tail between my legs (through the rip in my skirt, of course.) Although the snow kicked my butt (a number of times; I forgot to mention my fall on the ice. I went completely vertical in the air before coming down...HARD) and I didn't win the award, I had a great time with Ian, people saw my art and I went home with a huge smile.