Architecture
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Piazza Pod Park Opens in Philly’s Northern Liberties, BEBOT Towers Over Fun-for-All Hot Spot
Piazza Pod Park in Northern Liberties is officially open. Robot Bebot looms large. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Remember when the now infamous Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot Gritty arrived on the scene in late 2018? Gritty, he of the bugged-out eyes and shaggy orange fur recently made room for the new kid on the block-one Bebot, an imposing but welcoming robot from Burning Man that towers over the Post Brothers’ latest creative use of community space (dubbed Piazza Pod Park) in Northern Liberties. The Mod Pod. I remember that television show. Tee. At 33 feet high and weighing in at 13,000 pounds, Bebot’s jolly wave greeted the public on June 8th’s grand…
- Architecture, Art, California, Comedy, Culture, Dessert, Drink, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Restaurants, Travel
Views and Chews for Days with Hilton San Francisco Union Square in California
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler Driving into San Francisco, California during a picture perfect summer day was breathtaking. And a little confusing when I reached a toll for the Golden Gate Bridge ($4) and never carry any cash on me. Part of the allure of California and the West is the no toll roads unlike the opposite every two mile tolls it seems on the East Coast. And of course they don’t take credit cards so the lady waved me by and told me to expect something in the mail and to fight it… welcome to San Fran! (Update: It’s all done electronically now and the toll without FasTrak is…
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Four Seasons Hosts Sneak Peak Party at BOK Building to Celebrate Comcast Plans in Philadelphia, PA
Greens and white candlelight … nature’s simple and perfect analogous match to bacon and eggs. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” –Dom Pérignon, monk and cellar master attributed to the discovery of champagne, upon first tasting it. As in Dom’s quote above, I found myself not only “tasting the stars” but doing so beneath them, when the Four Seasons Hotel celebrated its impending 2019 installation atop the Comcast Center by hosting a rooftop, invite-only Pop Down event at South Philly’s BOK building. According to Peter Nowlan, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the hotel, “Four Seasons Pop Down brings the Four Seasons experience…
- Architecture, Beach, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Restaurants, Suburbs, Travel, Weddings
Philadelphia’s Bellevue Hotel Hosts Historic Hotels of America Reception
The event’s venue is the only Philadelphia hotel on the National Register of Historical Places and was awarded the distinction in 1977. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Philadelphia’s iconic Bellevue Hotel (also included on the Historic Hotels of America registry) hosted 14 other such accommodations winners from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for what was billed as a Philadelphia and Media Marketplace Luncheon. How does a single location, specifically the Bellevue’s 12th floor’s conservatory, fit ’em all in? Simple: these 15 lodging gems located across the country sent their very best representatives along with the necessary items to create alluring table scapes filled with theme-related décor, pamphlets and other…
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Lisbon, Portugal is the ‘Bestest’ Hip, Hilly, Coastal Capital City in Europe
Story, photos by Kelly Kusumoto My most recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal was my fourth in three years and, by far, the bestest. I guess before I go on, I should let you in on an inside joke. While attending college, I met a classmate from Lisbon. In our very first class, we hit it off and have been close ever since. We even started an indie game development company together, which is why I have been frequenting Lisbon so much. He loves his country and is proud of all its accomplishments. Jokingly, any time he brags about something Portuguese, he always tells me how they love to go big…
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Bizet’s Opera ‘Carmen’ Seduces Crowds at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music
There’s no missing exactly who and what have arrived. Vive le stage drop! “Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame.” – Georges Bizet, Carmen, Act I Story, photos by Sharon Kozden – cast photos provided by Steven Pisano for Opera Philadelphia How is it possible I’ve lived so long without attending an opera? My only awareness of opera came when Glenn Close’s bunny-boiler character in “Fatal Attraction” was obsessed with “Madame Butterfly.” Then there was the ‘Til Tuesday “Voices Carry” video, where Aimee Mann won’t hush-hush at another operatic-looking performance. Yep: my vast store of knowledge in all things opera is formidable, I know. I just always…
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Relax and Enjoy Slow, Southern Style in Clarksville, Tennessee
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler (unless otherwise noted) Nashville, Tennessee gets all the fame. They also have that horrible reality show knock off of The Kardashians, The Cavallari’s which is like the Southern version of scripted, dramatic nonsense. But if you look about an hour Northwest of Nashville, there’s a slow, Southern style oasis that offers a much more relaxing experience. Rolling green hills, trees and nature abounds in this surprisingly funky little city full of hipsters and impressive growing gastronomy. It’s the perfect place to escape to – and yet close enough to Nashville to get your fix if you really need it. Small enough that it’s walkable, but…
- Architecture, Beauty, Charity, Culture, Dance, Drink, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Fashion, Food, Latest News, Music, Nature, Style
Deco on the Delaware: Picnic in Roaring 20’s Fashion at Glen Foerd Mansion in Philadelphia, PA
Picture-perfect and pastoral picnic. I love her and that’s the beginning and end of everything. – F. Scott Fitzgerald Story, photos by Sharon Kozden When finding out about 20’s themed party at the Glen Foerd estate and mansion along the Delaware River, and that the event’s theme was “Deco on the Delaware,” my first thought was, “What to wear?” An English major, my thoughts quickly turned “all things Gatsby,” specifically the two flawed characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. I’d read somewhere that F. Scott- and Zelda Fitzgerald were known as the Jazz Age’s “Golden Couple”. I located the perfect flapper dress at Phoenixville-based LuLu Boutique & Gifterie. It was…
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Philadelphia’s 2018 Flower Show Just Adds Water
“Flowers rewrite soil, water and sunshine into petal’d poetry – Terri Guillemets Story, photos by Sharon Kozden There’s just something so wrong about attending the Philadelphia Flower Show on March 2nd, while the single most bad-ass storm of winter, 2018 had its ‘old man’ expressing rage like rarely before. A 30-year resident of Philadelphia stated it was the worst he’d seen in his entire time there. And that’s all I’m going to say about it because, let’s face it, we none of us want to recall its downright meanness. We’d much rather enter the Pennsylvania Convention Center and meander about, while waxing hopeful about spring being eminent. Agreed? Seems this…
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Visit the Eccentric Fonthill Castle Built Out of Cement and Trash in Bucks County, PA
Story by Cassie Hepler, photos courtesy of Fonthill Castle Fonthill, also known as Fonthill Castle, was the home of the American archeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Upon his death in 1930, the eccentric Mercer left his concrete “Castle for the New World” in trust as a museum of decorative tiles and prints. There is also the adjacent Mercer Museum where they still make tiles to this day. While you are not normally allowed to take photographs inside, we were invited on a Bucks Country press trip (along with fellow fitness retreats Ketanga Fitness), and were allowed to shoot and poke around more than usual. Once you start…
