Philly Chit Chat

It’s that time of year, South Street’s Holiday Window Contest. It’s always hard to choose, so many of them really put in a great effort. The only criteria that South Street has though is include the “official entry” on display in the window. So you might have a great window, but if the official entry is not displayed we do take points off.  OK here are the windows that I felt were outstanding…

Bloomingdale’s, The Outlet Store cut the ribbon today at the The Shops at Liberty Place (1625 Chestnut Street) in Center City, Philadelphia. This is the first Bloomingdale’s Outlet Store in the Philadelphia metro area and the 16th in the country.  The new Outlet Store location will join two full-line Bloomingdale’s stores in Philadelphia at King of Prussia and Willow Grove.

The  22,700 square feet on the second level of Liberty Place, the new
Bloomingdale’s, The Outlet Store will enter the retail space formerly
occupied by Warner Bros. and most recently, Christopher’s Men’s. The
Outlet Store will offer a range
of off-price apparel and accessories, including women’s ready-to-wear,
men’s, children’s and home –giving fashionable and wallet conscious
customers an avenue for purchasing stylish brands at a compelling price.

The outlet sells apparel and accessories, jewelry and footwear for men, women and children.

Chachkies

  Huge bargain – English Laundry Socks $4.98 for 2 Pair

 #Selfie with the Phillies Phanatic

Tea Strainers – They’re a little obsessed with the Titanic  

Last night was Q102’s Jingle Ball 2015 presented by Capital One at Wells Fargo Center on December 9, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pa. The talent began arriving the night before including

The first shot is not from Philly, my sister in Charlotte photograph a neighboring house. Love it.

On November 2, Citrin Cooperman hosted their 2nd annual CEO Evolution, schooling the future C-suite on how to succeed in business. 

 

 The panel concensus was that today’s CEO’s work differently than their predecessors. We live in a 24/7 society, where ceo’s work with a hands on mentality. Jay Shah agrees, recounting his past experience while working at a hotel, where he also lived gaining experience from covering nearly every job needed to be done at the small hotel.  It’s important that managers at his hotel stay on top of the rooms, and customer service. These days you don’t have to be concerned about media reviews, but online reviews from customers.

Co-moderators, Mark S. Carrow, Citrin
Cooperman’s Philadelphia managing partner and noted management author,
and Dr. Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, Risk Management and Decision Processes
Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s
executive director

 Ms. McKeon says that technology is always on, and intrusive, but improves not only the home-life, but provides better client service. The most important skill a a person could have is mastering management.

 

(Red Paw Emergency, MANNA,
Ronald McDonald House and College Settlement).

Each non-profit will win
a $1,000 donation from NRG for participating, and the winning charity’s
house will win them an extra $1,000 donation.

Now onto the FoodPorn of Christmas Village. Did you know this year they have a food court, where you can sit and enjoy the treats you purchase at Christmas Village. It’s outside and with the record warmth we’ve been having lately, it’s the perfect spot to enjoy a bite and the sites with your food.

One of my favorite spots is Pretzelphoria
Pennsylvania-made pretzels with spices ie buffalo wing flavored & jalapeno peppers, and high quality chocolate-covered pretzels

Malt Wine

Here are the prices. When you buy the Malt Wine, you’re actually getting the Christmas Tree Village mug for $2 and not $3 when not getting the wine.

Booth #9 is The Bacon Jams
which also comes with Bacon Carmel Popcorn. I’m going to have to get some of this for mom for Christmas.

Helmut’s Original Austrian Strudel where you’ll find oreo cookies churro and buttered soft pretzels
Booth #67

There’s also an indoor tent with picnic benches to keep warm while you eat

Sweet Bakery – Roasted nuts from all over the world, Chocolate-covered fruits in finest
Belgian chocolate, gingerbread-hearts, magenbrot, advent calendar

Brunkow Cheese  *  Grilled Cheese specialties from Wisconsin
“Have You Accepted Cheeses Into Your Life Yet?”

John & Kiras Chocolate booth 41

Soft Pretzel’s are $3.50

Prices are reasonable for Hot Chocolate, Apple Cider, Coffee, Tea and Soda

At Bacon James they have this Bacon Jam Emergency kit for only $35

I love these Oil/Vinegar bottles

At booth 37 enjoy Wandering Waffle – Delicious Belgian Waffles

Only 19 days left to enjoy Christmas Village.

Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz drove down from NYC Saturday night to perform songs from her latest CD at the Electric Factory.

You’ll recall last time she played Philly, her crew stayed at Hotel Monaco, while she drove back and forth to her Tribeca hotel in Manhattan. This time she stayed at Hotel Palomar with her crew, snapping a photo of her new puppy on one of the Palomar’s yoga mats Sunday morning before flying out on American Airlines to Boston for her Sunday night concert. (I love this review from Michael Cerio, especially this lead sentence: “Unfortunately, we can’t write in rainbows, so it’s impossible to completely capture the spectacle that was Miley Cyrus on Saturday night in Philadelphia.”)

Before ending the Flyers winning streak on Saturday Columbus Blue Jackets’ Nick Foligno stopped by Blue Sole Shoes 1805 Chestnut Street and picked up a pair of shoes. Maybe his teammate Scott Hartnell tipped him off to the place. No sightings of Hartsy Saturday night, but there’s a good chance he was catching up with some of his lady friends. 

 Goodbye 500 degrees, hello Snap Custom Pizza not to be confused with Snap Kitchen
I’ve been told that 500 degrees will pop up again sometime in the future, 2016

 Snap Kitchen is your go-to resource when you don’t want to sacrifice health, convenience, or taste. It’s the perfectly portioned, nutritionally balanced, grab-and-go meal and they have specialty meals like Paleo, Vegetarian, Dairy-Free etc. Michael Klein over at Philly.com has the scoop.

 

Sorry to hear that the Philly Daily News has ended the Philly Gossip Column; I imagine social media killed it as most times tidbits have been shared online, especially if it’s a celebrity, before the ink is dried on the paper.  I’ve been a huge fan of the column all the way back to Stu Bykofsky, when I think the column was self titled, another fav back then was columnist Harriet Lessy‘s Buzz column at the Daily News (now she heads her own PR company called Buzz Communications) or Joe Logan, at the Inquirer writing about media, and of course Michael Klein, where I contributed photos for 4 years (PS this is the longest run on sentence that would make MK cringe, he was a good mentor to me except for my grammar), then mighty Dan Gross took over Stu’s column, and in 2007 he helped acquire the online “Philly Gossip” URL. How do I know that, cause it was offered to me at the same time, but I didn’t want my blog to be only about gossip. Then Molly Eichel took over and last year she moved to the Inquirer to do features, and  

Jenny DeHuff took over Philly Gossip. It’s sad to see it end. During the past few years my photos have been featured in the column a few times a month, and you’d be surprised or not surprised at how often I contributed to the column over the years. I’m a fan of gossip/tidbit columns, and despite my own successful blogs, and SM platforms, sometimes I saw a story bigger than my outlets, sometimes I was placing something that happened at a client event, sometimes I saw something that everyone else missed, often I had enough stories that I could divide them to many outlets, and it was just exciting to share with others the fun that went on with Philly. That being said, I’ll miss you Philly Gossip, I know the newspapers will do a great job among all their columnists to spread the good news and tidbits of people, places and parties. I plan to continue with my ChitChatter column that I do, and there’s always Twitter, FB and Instagram which I’ve embraced to disseminate this info too. Here’s today’s Chit Chatter column.

 Alex Holley, Fox 29, is participating in Kenny and Faatimah Gamble Present: An Evening of Style and Grace ~ A Universal Fashion Show at the University of the Arts tonight. The event benefits their foundation ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ and ‘From Boys to Men’ Character Building and Social Etiquette Program for Young Men and Women. Earlier this week Alex headed over to Designer Bela Shehu NINObrand showroom, with fashion stylist, Ian Michael Crumm, to pick out the perfect dress for the fashion show. Alex tried on several beautiful outfits, and chose a few to wear. She’ll do the big reveal tonight on her instagram.  
Next up for Ian Michael Crum and Alex Holley, finding the right dress for her to wear to the Academy Ball on January 23.  Our readers will vote on which dress she should wear so stay tuned.

 Bloomingdale’s Outlet opens next Friday at 9:30AM at the Shops of Liberty Place. Plus stop by to check out the Christmas Tree which was lit Monday night. Tonight if you’re around the Rittenhouse Tree will be lit, it’s in a new spot so update your holiday photos too. The City Hall Tree will be lit, and the East Passyunk Tree will be lit.

 Congrats to Robert Kitchenoff of Weinstein Kitchenoff & Asher who was elected president of the Jewish National Fund’sPhiladelphia board of directors.  With him is Michael Boni, the outgoing president of the Jewish National Fund’sPhiladelphia board of directors. Fun fact, both these guys were once my bosses’ when we all worked at Kohn Swift & Graf in the ’90s. PS If you look at the KS&G website you’ll see Philly photos I took.

OMG only a few weeks until the The Academy of Music 159th Anniversary Concert & Ball is January 23 with special guest Martin Short! A little over a month ago was the Young Friends Monster Ball at the Ritz. Occasionally this entries slip through the cracks, ie if any of my outlets get behind, or I get behind they linger until #TBT which is today.

Co-chairs for the Young Friends of the Academy of Music: Cory Siegfried and Katie Gagnon with Lexie Norcross, publisher of the Philadelphia Voice, sponsor of the Monster Ball.

  Members and supporters of The Young Friends of the Academy of
Music gathered at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Center City, Philadelpha on
Thursday, October 30, 2015 for its 5th annual Monsters Ball.

Guests
wearing fabulous masks enjoyed wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres during the
event. The Young Friends of Academy of Music brings together dynamic
young adults with a love for music and an interest in exploring arts and
culture.

 

Haniyyah Sharpe-Brown and Syreeta Martin, Sincerely Syreeta blogger

Billy Rossi, Claire Allamby, senior director, Academy of Music Restoration Fund , Danielle Rossi and Carl Caldas

Hot on the social scene of late Maggie Munthali, has been a long time concierge at the Union League

Ian M Crumm (ready to graduate and with a big announcement coming soon.) and Lynsie Solomon , vice co-chair for the Young Friends of Academy Ball