Events
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Foodie and Mizzou Fan’s Guide to Exploring Columbia, Missouri
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler It was bound to happen someday… the dreaded almost spending an overnight at the airport debacle. In my over almost 30 years of flying on airplanes, I had the worst and slimiest experience ever though American Airlines. I had a very slim window to make a layover and when I got an email the night before asking if I wanted to get paid (up to $700!) to switch my flight date and times, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. Then at the gate at Phoenix airport, they pushed back the flight time a half hour making it near impossible. More than…
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PNC’s ‘LumiNature’ Winter Light Show Illuminates Philadelphia Zoo
“You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.” ~ Oprah Winfrey Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Watts up, Philadelphia Zoo? A hellota (it’s a word, according to Urban Dictionary!) twinkling and sparkling that runs until Saturday, January 6 is watts up! Know this: If you’re planning to check out PNC’s return of LumiNature, a wintertime light show featuring more than a million lights across 16 illuminated zones, it is presented “with timed entrance tickets available every half hour from 5:00pm to 8:00pm with the experience closing at 9:00pm or 10:00pm depending on visit date. Pre-purchase your timed…
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Stay and Play on North Mountain with Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort
Photo, story by Cassie Hepler (unless noted otherwise) Just 10 minutes from my house in North Phoenix sits Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort, nestled back onto North Mountain and tucked away where no one would know just how massive this place truly is… 450 acres of desert! Now that I’m dealing with an elderly cat, I have to constantly think about giving her medication every 8-10 hours and with this staycation it was easy to swing home, dose her and leave again (even if she left me a how she feels about me being gone present on the door mat). Built in 1982, the Spanish Mediterranean architecture is flanked by…
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Philadelphia Flower Show’s The Garden Electric Shines at Pennsylvania Convention Center
The 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show returned to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the first time since 2020. “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” — Luther Burbank Story, photos by Sharon Kozden It was 72 degrees in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania today! That declarative statement warrants an exclamation point because I’m writing on a November day. I’ll take it. Not a cold-weather fan. The temperate temp has perfectly set the scene for my scribbling, as I’m recapping the 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show on the eve of the 2024 Show theme’s announcement. The Philadelphia Flower Show a.k.a. “America’s oldest and finest exhibit…
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Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation Centennial Art Ball was Stunning
“Nude with Coral Necklace” by Amedeo Modigliani, 1917. “Modigliani Morning” her external motor, brash, she was more New York than Paris, but then, Rome was inside her speaking words passionately like Modigliani — LadyLabyrinth Story, photos by Sharon Kozden On Friday, October 20th, the Barnes Foundation will present its 2023 Art Ball, an annual event that more than lives up to its billing as the art party in Philadelphia. This I know because I’ve twice been fortunate to attend, hosted on assignment for ExplorewithCassie. Most recently I made the scene in 2022, when the Barnes Foundation marked both their centennial and a ten-year anniversary on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Last year, a…
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Really Get to Know Your Destination Like a Local
Image from Pexels – CC0 License As an outsider, you’re never exactly going to see any of the places you visit exactly as a local does. You’ll always have a slightly different perspective, even if you decide to live there for a while. But just because you can’t go back in time and choose to grow up there, it doesn’t mean you can’t try to experience it like a local. You can get close to seeing things how the locals do, even if you’ll never have the exact same experience as them. And there are some fun ways you can open up your world to see it from their perspective.…
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Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania’s 2022 Conference
Penn Square is pictured on an early Sunday morning from my room at the Lancaster Marriott Hotel. so much depends upon a cooling device affixed to myfather in the operating roomtheatre (With apologies to William Carlos Williams) Story, photos by Sharon Kozden On an otherwise ordinary weekend in 2012, my father walked a short distance on a treadmill before failing miserably his cardiac stress test. He was subsequently hospitalized and scheduled for double-bypass surgery on Monday with a cardiothoracic surgeon who shared his Polish ancestry. That weekend, however, Dr. Ray Singer (of Jewish descent) was the attending surgeon. I remember sitting in a sterile hospital room with my dad—he of…
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Pennsylvania SPCA Gives Something to Bark About at 10th Annual Bark & Whine Gala
Beautiful gala program design befits a decade’s worth of honoring advocacy. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “… Home … and further joy will be surely there: Supper waiting full of the taste of bone. You throw up your nose again, and sniff, and stare For the rapture known Of the quick wild gorge of food and the still lie-down While your people talk above you in the light.” Of candles, and your dreams will merge and drown Into the bed-delicious hours of night.” — From “Dog” by Harold Monro Reading the above excerpt from Harold Monro’s poem brings me closer to understanding a dog’s life. The power of the written…
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Escape to a Slice of Heaven in Catalina Island, California
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler (unless otherwise noted), I’ve officially dubbed Santa Catalina Island California’s mini Hawaii, minus the natives and hefty price tag. It has that same laid back, relaxing yet magical vibe. Situated 22 miles southwest from Los Angeles, CA, it feels like another world away as it is only accessible by boat. Our transportation choice was the Catalina Express, which offers three ports to choose from: San Pedro, Long Beach and Dana Point. Long Beach was closest for me driving in the day before from Phoenix but others are just as well. With up to 30 departures a day, it’s a no brainer to take this vessel…
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Philadelphia’s Christmas Pop-up Bar Tinsel Amps Up Watts, Tech and Decor
Tinsel’s swirly signage hangs from the Midtown Village building’s gingerbread-house exterior. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Tinsel is another word to describe anything as being cool or amazing (You are so Tinsel).” — Urban Dictionary Christmas, 2022 is a wrap. Time to recycle-toss the tree and pack-up those fragile ornaments until next year’s production. And speaking of productions, check out this account of my own ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas adventure! On the evening of November 21st, I made the scene at Tinsel, the wildly popular Christmas Pop-up bar owned and operated by Teddy Sourias of Craft Concepts Group, where Sourias and Kory Aversa of Aversa PR & Events were…