Local Love: Day-To-Night Boyfriend Jeans and Our Fav Spot in Chinatown

Our move from Denver to Philadelphia was pretty heart-breaking.  I mean YES, it was our (Mike’s) decision, nobody was forcing us (Mike)* to move, but still. We left so many good friends behind.  But I’ll never forget our first foray into Philly.  We took the train and somehow ended up in Chinatown.  It was agonizingly hot, so humid you could see the air, the streets were teeming with strange smells, people were everywhere, and the looks on my little guys’ faces were priceless. 

*kidding, kidding.  Nobody forces this chick to do anything.

We may as well have moved to the moon.  

But it was at that moment, that exact moment in all of the heat and smells and chaos that I knew we’d be OK.  Life is such a grand adventure, you know?  Sometimes I need a little discomfort to help me remember that. 

So Philly’s Chinatown has a special place in my heart.  The boys’ too.  Not only does it contain their favorite restaruant in the city, but more often than not, when we wander on down these streets, we’re greeted with sights like this:

I have no idea why or what was going on.  We were simply headed to lunch when BAM: Dragons.  Which, you know, is pretty cool for a random afternoon in March.

Once the parade finished crossing, we headed over to Raines and Pax’s favorite restaurant.

I am not kidding.  This, out of all of the (many, many) restaurants we’ve taken them to (we play it pretty fast-and-loose with “child-friendly dining”)…this one is their fav. And, thanks to the hand drawn noodles and seriously flavorful, fresh-tasting broth, Mike and I love it, too.  

Raines, on cold days will often ask, “Mom, when can we go back to that best-ever place?  With the long, long, looooooooooooong noodles?”

And I, such a small-town, Midwestern girl at heart, get such a kick out of seeing my boys learn how to use chopsticks.  (I know you New Yorkers are probably all, ‘whatevs.  My kids mastered chopsticks at 2.’)

If you are in the area, Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House is totally worth a trip.  The promise of shrimp dumplings (always fried, thankyouverymuch) and sliced beef noodle soup garnished with fresh spinach and cilantro lures us out of the burbs even on a cold, rainy day. (We usually get chopped chicken noodle bowls for the kids – basically a big pile of noodles in a broth, with the chicken on the side.)

And BTW I wore two sweaters.  TWO.  Because it’s been that kind of Spring so far. And OMG I’M STILL IN MITTENS!  MITTENS, I TELL YOU! [shakes fist at sky]

 wearing:

oversized sweater: I couldn’t find anything similar (#nobodycares), but I think modern candidates for sweater layering would be this cropped, striped sweater (20% off with code FANDF), this crochet one, or even J.Crew’s reversible merino short-sleeve sweater (order a size bigger for solid pooch-hiding). 

hat: ASOS…similar

scarf: old…try Kenneth Cole’s, 60% off ($50 once you add it to your cart)

jeans: JBrand Aiden Boyfriend jeans

boots: Steve Madden…similar (I wear these so much I’m thinking about getting the stone as well)

bag: ancient Marc Jacob’s…similar

To go out that night, I ditched one of the sweaters and did an accessory swap.  Casual, but much better than my so-round-I’m-cute (#yes?) daytime look. 

wearing:

sweater: ancient one from J.Crew factory – I bought it to nurse in, eons ago.  Sob!  I wish it were this one, though.

belt: Target!

jeans: JBrand Aiden Boyfriend jeans

heels: Pixie Market (thanks to this article)

bag: ancient Marc Jacob’s…similar

xo,

S