Old City Restaurant Week

Didn’t see anything at University City Dining Days that whetted your appetite?  Good news: it’s Old City Restaurant Week too!  Between now and Sunday, almost 30 restaurants are offering lunch and/or dinner specials, so grab a friend and try out a new place.

How about The Victoria Freehouse?  Crab on toast, fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding… it doesn’t get more British than this!

The Union Jack Ballet Flat by Butterfly Twist are faux leather ballet flats with spirit (and flexibility) to spare.  Look how bendy they are!  I love that in a flat—I can’t stand the ones with no give.  How are you supposed to walk in those?  But anyway, these will add a bit of British flair to any outfit, and they can be yours for $46 from Signals.

Prefer seafood?  How about Dinardo’s Famous Seafood?  Buffalo shrimp, salmon rollatini… and dessert too, of course!

Holy fish scales, Batman!  The Catch of the Day by Charlotte Olympia are fish-tastic, aren’t they?  Light green nappa leather, cutout scales, Swarovski eyes (and eyelashes!), and a slingback finished with a tail!  Love.  The heel is six inches and the platform is 1.5 inches—find them at the Charlotte Olympia website for $618.

Or spend some time in the beautiful old building that is National Mechanics, and enjoy some manchego salad, rosemary-roasted pork osso bucco, and ginger crème brûlée:

The Orion by Hades is very reminiscent of the décor in National Mechanics—and are just super cool, let’s be honest here.  Look at these things!  A spiny heel.  Chain mail up the front.  Zigzags up the sides.  Spikes on the platform.  These are cool eight ways to Sunday.  Be brave!  Make a statement!  Yours for $203 from Blue Banana.

Hungry now?  Good!  Get over to Old City and get eating!

Philly Beer Week

It’s Philly Beer Week!  Hooray!  So much to do, so much to do…beer gardens, block parties, a luau, even a carnival!  So no matter how you take your beer, there’s an event for you this week.  Let’s see, what to order?  Here are some suggestions from local breweries:

Kilty Pleasure Scotch Ale by Philadelphia Brewing exhibits a subtle aroma of vanilla and boasts a rich six-malt body tempered by heather and hops.  Mmmmm.

The Preppy-03X by Funtasma is a kilty pleasure, all right!  The beautiful red plaid outer is very similar to that on the beer label, but this is topped with a black patent leather bow at the peep toe.  The heel is four inches, and an inch-high platform finishes the shoe.  Yours for $47 from Overstock.

In Troegs’ constant evolution as a brewery, they’ve developed an undying drive to meld the organic and the mechanical.  Perpetual IPA utilizes their hopback and dry-hopping to engineer a bold Imperial Pale Ale.  It features Bravo, Chinook and Mt. Hood hops in the boil, Mt. Hood and Nugget hops in the hopback, and is further dry-hopped with Citra and Cascade hops.

The organic and the mechanical meet in the Morgana by Hades—fur and machine.  It’s sort of steampunk-fabulous, isn’t it?  Four buckles at crazy angles up the sides, a beautiful metal-worked heel (five inches tall), tufts of brown fur all over… everywhere you look it’s something different.  Find them at Greater Medical for $163.

  

One of my favorites—Lancaster Milk Stout!  As one of few surviving examples the traditional English Sweet Stout, they are pleased to offer a dark ale bursting with roasted barley dryness, mellowed by addition with off non-fermentable lactose sugar, providing a minimal sweetness.

Moooo!  The Cow Print Pony Hair Slipper is just that: a smoking slipper in pony fabric, printed like cow hide.  It’s trimmed in black around the foot opening, and you can’t see it in this photo but there’s a stripe of red trim up the back of the ankle too, for a pop of color.  Yours for $340 from Del Toro.

 Cheers to all!  Happy Beer Week!

Narberth Dickens Festival

This weekend is one of my favorite local festivals: the Narberth Dickens Festival!  It’s just all too cute: wandering carolers in Victorian dress, hot toddies in vintagey mugs, street vendors, horse and carriage rides, all sorts of activities…and of course, the characters from Dickens’ classic story wandering the streets, ready to warn you that you’ve been living your life in a dissolute way or what have you.

If you’re truly feeling in the spirit, here are some Victorian-esque shoes you might want to wear!  This one is the most authentic:

So authentic, in fact, that you’ll need a button hook in order to get them on!  Just like old times.  The Victorian Button Boots by Tavistock are made of calfskin, with two-inch French heels and calf sizes in two options (11 or 14.2 inches around).  Yours for $195 from American Duchess Historical Footwear—and while you’re there, look around!  If you’re a history nerd like me, you may geek out a bit.  (Why oh why are the red Kensington 18^th Century Leather Shoes out of stock?!)

But if the button hook seems a bit much, just stick with laces:

This pretty brown pair of Calf High Victorian Boots by Pleaser have the same look for much less work.  (But still come work.  That’s a lot of laces.)  Also available in black or white; your choice for $44 from HowCool.

These bronze beauties are the Victoriana Knee High Boot from Hades.  A quilted upper, a line of buttons, a flamed buckle, silver trim, and a 2.5-inch French heel make this boot special.  And there’s a zipper on the inside—even easier than laces! Find them at Twisted Skyn for $165.

Okay, this last pair isn’t entirely historically accurate.  But it’s a little badass:

The Victorian Fur Boots by Fendi have the same silhouette of a classic Victorian boot (buttons and all) but they also have a line of fur and feathers!  So fun!  The outer is made of color-blocked brown, black, and white leather, and they have a squared off toe and a four-inch heel.  On sale for $868 from Shop.com!

Just make sure that whichever pair you choose, you can chase the book characters around Narberth.  (Actually, that signature scavenger hunt might only be for kids.  Screw that.  I want Bob Cratchit’s signature!  Bob!  Come back!)

Sales this weekend:

Bakers: Up to half off all boots
Bare Feet Shoes: 15% off $50, 20% off $75, and 30% off $100
Bus Stop Boutique: Party next Thursday from 6-9 PM!  Cocktails, 10% off, free gift wrapping on all purchases!

Macy's: 20-50% off select styles, plus 20% off with code GIFT
Steve Madden: 20% off $75 with code BUYMORE20; 25% off $100 with code BUYMORE25