NY and Philly: List

1. My grandfather calls dessert "tie down."

2. It's hard not to look like a tourist in Chinatown.

3. The first thing I ate in Philly was a Philly cheesesteak. You can't go to Philly without getting a Philly cheesesteak.

4. Snow!

5. I had a crush on my cousin when I was 6. He was 13. I wrote him a letter declaring my affections. I didn't know any better. I finally saw him again. As I hugged him, I couldn't help but think of my smitten 6-year-old heart.

6. Pete and Repeat were on top of the Empire State Building. Pete fell off, who was left? (Repeat.) Pete and Repeat were on top of the Empire State Building. Pete fell off, who was left? (Repeat.) Pete and Repeat . . . okay. I was on top of the Empire State Building. I got a great view, but thankfully, didn't fall off like Pete.

7. A Moroccan friend I met at a church in Spain met up with me in NY. She told me the story of her conversion, and I sat, ashamed of my tears in the middle of Starbucks, ashamed that I dare to complain.

8. As I beheld the golden statue in the Rockefeller Plaza, I looked around for Mr. Donaghy, Liz Lemon and Kenneth the Page, but couldn't find them.

9. When I was in Central Park, I expected some kind of serendipitous meeting with the man of my dreams while he was walking his dog, but . . . that didn't pan out either.

10. I was so enthralled with a stringed instrument a man was playing at Grand Central Station. It was mesmerizing. I didn't want to go away. I bought his CD and discovered that it was a dulcimer.

11. We went to Wall Street, hoping to get glimpses of moneyed businessmen on their way home from work. Er, not so much. We forgot it was Saturday.

12. All of my little 2nd cousins are ridiculously cute. It gives me hope for the attractiveness of my future progeny.

13. Times Square at night. What else needs to be said?

14. Walking on the Brooklyn Bridge = awesome view. Walking on the Brooklyn Bridge in the snow = c-c-c-c-old!

15. I would have run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and shouted "Adrian!" once I got to the top, but they were covered in snow.

Of course, there's much, much more. But how about a selection of pictures?