It is no secret that I am a coffee fiend. When I’m lying on my deathbed, feeble, and gray, someone may as well hook me up to an IV that would send espresso into my veins. I’ll be the happiest camper.

My friends and I have been on the hunt for the perfect coffee shop in Philadelphia. Sadly, my only attempts have landed me in Starbucks (ew, The Man) and Saxby’s (which is good, slightly over-priced, and still on campus). Other than these two, I have tried one place that is truly delightful, Mugshots.

I first heard of Mugshots from our dear friend and Messiah Alum, Pete Corning.  He works there. So of course we had to visit him.

Mugshots is located on 21^st and Fairmount, right across the street from the state penitentiary (hence the clever name). The atmosphere is sophisticated, and overall vibe is conducive to getting work done. You can go to do homework, or simply enjoy good coffee and company. It is all fair trade coffee, organic and locally made products. It is a little pricey, but totally worth it. My personal recommendation is the “Iced Mint Chip Latte.” So good! If you want something warm to counteract this rainy weather we’ve been having, I tried a sip of Laura’s “Crème Brule Latte.” Sultry.

Until I find something a little closer to MCPC, and if I can afford it, I might become a regular at Mugshots.

“We live on coffee and flowers.” – Conversation 16 by The National.

Sincerely,

Sarah Hawkins.



This week is ending, and I am not as excited as I should be, mainly because I have a huge Art History test on Monday that I need to be studying for, but that is beside the point. I would like to take this blog post to showcase Philadelphia’s Phabulous Phood options.

This Tuesday for my Messiah class, Andy Coval, the worldviews professor, took his whole class out to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. I have only gone to those Vietnamese/Chinese hybrid places before, so this was a new thing for me. So Tuesday night, we all piled into the 15 passenger Messiah van, and drove to Andy’s house, called St. John’s house. It used to house Catholic nuns, but now Andy lives in it with other men as an intentional community. It was really interesting to look through the house, there was a chapel on one of the floors, a water fountain on another, and the attic still had all of the nun’s old linens. After getting the grand tour, we drove into east Philly and went to Thang Long Noodle.

Walking down the street we were of course haggled and asked random questions by the local natives, but that did not sway our determination to arrive at our destination and eat some delicious noodle soup. The place is really nice inside, and we were warmly welcomed by the employees. Vietnamese restaurants are famous for their Pho soup. I ordered the chicken Pho, and seasoned it with Hoisin sauce and bean sprouts. The soup is basically thin clear noodles, pieces of chicken, greens, all in a delicious broth. It was amazing, and I ate the whole thing, of course. I was a little nervous walking down the street because the area was a somewhat run down, but Thang Long was very nicely decorated and clean. Sometimes the best places to eat are the ones you don’t expect.

Victoria

It is Tuesday morning and I feel like I was hit by a truck. This weekend a group of us Philly kids went up to main campus. Some went to the Relient K concert, others hung out with friends. Victoria and I played in a tournament for Messiah Women’s Ultimate, Mastodon Revolution. Overall, it was a fairly decent weekend.

Although it was good to be in Grantham, I couldn’t help but think of how much I really wanted to be back in Philly. My heart craved the sounds of city, the people, the late night adventures, and the sense of contentment.

I’m discovering that I have been a restless spirit all along, and Philly is the first thing in my recent past to have been able to keep up with me.

I returned to Philly later than everyone else because I had a funeral to attend.  While I was home I put together portfolios to give to different modeling agencies in the area. Although the agencies turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, I’m going to pursue it here in Philly, the land of opportunity. That sounds cheesy, but I really feel that there is something for everyone here.

I love fashion. It’s intuitive and instinctive. Therefore, it should be no surprise that my ultimate dream job is to work for the Style Network in some capacity. It has also been a lifelong goal to become a model. At best I am 5’3”, but anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a tough cookie and I won’t let something as silly as height stop me.

So here I am, a Broadcasting major in the fourth largest city in America. I don’t have to tell you that the media market in Philadelphia is bigger and better than the booming metropolis of sleepy ol’ Grantham (however endearing main campus has become in my eyes). And modeling? Same thing goes. I have a way better chance of being successful in the fashion industry simply by being in Philly. I’m living in a world of art, fashion, and music. It’s everywhere.

Its dream chasin’ season, babe. I’m going to pursue modeling like it’s my boyfriend, and my classes too, I guess haha.

If you are considering coming to Philly next semester, you only have 24 hours left to apply. Bite the bullet. Act on whims. Take a risk and don’t look back. I assure you, you won’t regret it.

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Post Script: (I almost feel guilty putting in such a plug, but whatevs, I have no shame.)

Here is my fashion blog:  http://fashionintransit.tumblr.com/

I keep it with my friend and photographer, Chimene Jackson. Chimene applied for MCPC Spring ’11, so should you! If you are curious about Chimene’s photography (because it’s awesome… why wouldn’t you be?), here is a link to her photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/detailswe4sake

Laura, Jackie, and I went to the 11:15 gathering and were greeted with hugs, handshakes, and awesome worship music. I would have been more than content just singing forever due to the shear energy (and the Spirit) filling the space, forget the packed quarters (even the pastor said that they are going to be moving to two services starting October 3^rd so they don’t break fire code).

The message was about intentional community. We are living and doing life together: the good, the bad, the moments of happiness and the times where you’d rather crawl into a dark place to chill out for awhile. The pastor reminded us that we are to hold one another accountable and that our walk with God is reflected in our walk with one another. This couldn’t be more pertinent to MCPC as there are only 36 of us and we are a community.

Right now I’m hanging out in the office (as this is my job to blog among other things). Best job ever, might I add. I’m listening to Feist. I’ve already had two classes today and have two more later on, one being my MCPC class.

We also have Tasty Treat Tuesday, which is the best thing ever. That takes me up to about 10-ish so who knows what the rest of the night will bring.

Here are a few links ya’ll should check out:

Epiphany Fellowship: http://www.epiphanyfellowship.org/ It is the church we checked out on Sunday. If you are interested in attending, starting October 3rd they will be having two services, one at 10am and the other at 11:45am. Until then, there is one service and it begins at 11:15.

Freaks and Geeks: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193676/ This has become a new tradition of my roomies and I. We crank out a few episodes before calling it a night. The best.

“My Moon My Man” by Feist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltYq-jalYm0 I’m currently listening to this song on repeat, not to mention the entire album, The Reminder. If you are into female singer-songwriters, I shouldn’t even have to tell you that this album is a staple.

Anyway! Here is to the ever present word in Messiah College’s dictionary, “Community!”… oh and to good music.  Hope you are indulging in both.

-          Sarah Hawkins

Hello World! I am the second blogger to be gracing this space. My name is Victoria; I am a junior studio art major, and very excited to be here in the city of Philadelphia! So this weekend was a lot of fun, my first real weekend in the city, since last weekend I was in Grantham. Friday night started out casual, with Chinese take-out from Temple Star around the corner, and watching Mean Girls with my roommates. Basically, the perfect girls’ night in.

Saturday morning I attended a Messianic Synagogue, Beth Yeshua. I am a Messianic Jew so finding a synagogue to go to on Saturdays is very important to me. Luckily I already had some connections at Temple. I love the fusion of Judaism and Christianity. Services keep the Jewish traditions, like Jewish dancing and reading from the Torah, but still preach that Jesus is the Messiah.

After I got back there was a trip to South Street to see the Magic Gardens. I have only passed by this place, never have I gone inside. The Magic Gardens are mosaics of found objects, mostly broken glass, mirrors, and a lot of bicycle wheels, surprisingly enough. Anyway, it was beautiful, and perfect for spontaneous or should I say not-so-spontaneous (I made sure to wear a cute outfit) photo shoots with my roommates. After the gardens, Meg generously treated the group to some Dairy Queen. I felt some apprehension accepting this gift seeing as I have worked at Carvel, DQ’s sworn enemy, for the past two summers. To justify this I convinced myself I was just doing some research on the competition. After that my roommates and I spent the rest of the day exploring South Street and Center City. Notable stops included Retrospective, a really cute thrift store in which I fell in love with a pair of brown Steve Madden pumps but had to let them go. Guys, quit reading for a sentence or two as this might bore you. Ladies- you know the feeling of getting emotionally attached to an article of clothing or a pair of shoes. It’s beautiful, fits perfectly, it looks great on you, and you start making potential outfits with the rest of your wardrobe in your head. This pair of shoes was one of those items. Unfortunately, they were $24 and I could not justify that purchase. So I left the store with my heart broken, but this falling in love with clothes seems to be a daily occurrence with me.  Okay boys, you can tune in again.

Another landmark of the day was visiting Love Park. I have been to Love Park several times, and it always disappoints me more each time I go. Is it just me or are the letters actually getting smaller? The way people talk it up I always imagined huge letters towering over the fountain, but they really aren’t that great. Of course, this did not stop my roommates and me from taking the quintessential picture in front of it with our disposable camera. Saturday ended with delicious pizza from Maxi’s. Maxi’s is on Temple’s campus and makes the best pizza. I got a slice of bruschetta and a slice of cheese steak, and they both were sooooo good.

Okay, on to Sunday. I decided to sleep in since I didn’t get to on Saturday, but my roommates went to Epiphany church. Hopefully, Sarah can fill you in on that experience, but to quote Jackie Burke, “I’m done searching for my church.” After hours of homework, a group of us went to Circle of Hope church for their evening service. The place was small and loaded with hipsters. Their claim to fame is that both The Psalters and MeWithoutYou attend. Despite being a thirty minute walk, the experience was well worth it. Worship was great and had many songs in different languages. It is always interesting to realize that I can still worship the Lord even in a language that is not my own. The message was about Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and how it is a metaphor for the life of Christ and how the title is a reference to Jacob’s dream in which he sees an actual stairway to heaven. Obviously, the preacher was a Led Zeppelin fan as he kept making references that went over my head.

Phew, this was a long weekend. Until next time Philly! Stay Phresh.

Last night Victoria, Laura, Jackie, Dan, and I got “stoopid,” as we eagerly awaited the delivery of our very first batch of Insomnia Cookies. We sat there on the steps of 2026 with mugs for our milk, and our stomachs growling in anticipation. As our hipster cookie deliverer rode up to us on his Schwinn bike, cheers left our bodies instinctively. Easily, every night I have been here in Philly has been, well… phantastic.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous to come here though. Although I knew I would love the cultural aspects of the city (namely people, art, music, and things to do at ridiculous hours of the night…) I couldn’t picture myself actually living in Philly. To say I was wrong is a huge understatement. My major required a semester at MCPC and I’m hoping to stay for spring.

My pre-MCPC anxiousness could be boiled down to consistently being in transit, and yet that is what I like most about Philly.

The city is just too alive to subject itself to the settled, complacent way of life. “Brotherly love,” sounds cliché and trite, but in all fairness, it couldn’t be more true. The energy is raw, even primal at times, but baby… it’s real. Whether it’s you and your roommates falling asleep to “Sprawl II” by Arcade Fire meshing with the city sounds below or sitting quietly in a comfortable silence on the subway next to a stranger, we are all here. We are all going somewhere.

-          Sarah Hawkins

Post Script: Here in Philly, my favorite poem has finally come to life…

In a Station of a Metro by Ezra Pound

These apparitions of faces in the crowd

Petals on a wet, black bow.