52 weeks of downtown lancaster (week 17):: music friday and root 222 crew

Every third Friday is Music Friday in downtown Lancaster, so last week, we headed to Binn's Park for free salsa lessons, Cuban music, and to watch the Root 222 Crew create a work of art (pretty fantastic, isn't it?). And because food is an integral part of most of our activities, we ate some crepes and drank some lemonade from the Rachel's Cafe and Creperie food truck.







Photos in this post taken with my iPhone and edited with Instagram.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 16 - barnstormers baseball game

What better way to start a long holiday weekend than with a baseball game? Last night, we headed to a Lancaster Barnstormers game (yep, this little town has its own baseball team and a mascot who is apparently a distant relative to the Philly Phanatic - true story, it said so in the programs). We had a relaxing evening watching the game, taking in the sunset, and chowing down on snow cones, cotton candy, and hot dogs. Because everyone knows any food consumed at a ballpark is calorie-free, right? Right.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone!

Photos in this post taken with my iPhone.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: stormy skyline (week 15)

Last night we had some crazy weather blow through town. Thunderstorms, tornado warnings. It's been crazy here. (Although, not as crazy as in other parts of the country, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by the tornadoes elsewhere.) I took these pictures from my third floor studio window (when I probably should have been seeking shelter in my basement), which overlooks the (tiny) downtown skyline.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 14 - hmb designs

This is dangerous, you guys. This adorable shop is way too close to where I live. It's stocked with lots and lots of sparkle, all by artisan jewelry designers, and much of it is handmade. Plus they've got lots of other accessories, like belts and bags, and wine stoppers made with antique pulls and door knobs, and original art by local artists. What don't they have? Those pretty little lampwork earrings in the last picture because I snapped them up during the Art Walk (and immediately wore them). See, I told you. Dangerous.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 13

I'm way behind. I've missed a million weeks. But instead of posting a million weeks' worth of downtown Lancaster this week to catch up, we're just going to pretend I never missed any of those weeks and just pick up where we left off and keep it rolling from there, okay? Okay. So that puts us at week 13, which happened to fall on May's First Friday.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the First Friday idea- shops, galleries, museums, theatres, et al, all stay open late, give out free wine, and sometimes have special deals. Traffic is a mess and restaurants are fully booked, and it's shoulder-to-shoulder in every shop, gallery, museum, theatre, et al, because everyone from the 'burbs comes into town for the night. Usually, I avoid this insanity because I live so close to everything and I can just wander down whenever I feel like it, but it was such a nice night on Friday that one of my good friends and I decided to venture out in the craziness.

We went late, so (thankfully) much of the craziness had died off and we could navigate around pretty easily. And then it appeared the sky was going to open up and pour down on us, so we ducked into Crush Wine Bar to have some wine and cheese. All-in-all, it was a good way to unwind on Friday night after a nutty week at work.

All photos taken with my iPhone.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 12

I'm a little behind here. I'll try to get caught up this week. Pinky promise, okay?

So, I like to eat. You may have noticed from other posts about Lancaster since a lot of them revolve around food. And this post isn't getting any points for being original. Yep, more food.

Over the weekend, we went to Alley Kat, which is one of our favorite places to just grab a quick beer and a bite. Plus their pizza is super yummy (and only $6 if you go there on Monday night, which we did not, so...). But anyway. There you go- pizza and sliders for the rest of the party and a salad for me. I have a standing nightly date with P90X. I don't want to cheat on it with grease in my downtime.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: weeks 9, 10 and 11

Wow. I'm a few weeks behind, no? But with good reason! You may recall that I had a thesis proposal presentation two weeks ago (as mentioned in this post). Good news, guys! I passed! But I didn't have time to breathe because I had to jump right into two midterm projects and midterm exams (good news there, too- A's all around!). And then I got sick. Boo. I'm starting to feel better today, but I spent the past few days feeling dizzy, headache-y, stomach-achy, sore throat-y, and just generally miserable. Yesterday I had mint chocolate chip ice cream for dinner because that was the only thing that sounded decent to me.

But anyway, enough of my excuses- here's three weeks worth of downtown Lancaster:

Week 9: week of March 7-12
We usually get our milk from Central Market. Aren't the jugs it comes in just adorable?


Week 10: Week of March 13-19
Apparently, the Rendezvous Lounge had free bacon in honor of St. Patty's Day. Who knew?


Week 11: Week of March 20-26 (that's this week! Yay, we're caught up!)
I was feeling a little better this morning (although still a little dizzy and achy), so Mr. DU and I ventured a few blocks down the street and around the corner for breakfast at On Orange.





So that's what I've been up to around Lancaster the past few weeks. How have you been?

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 8

One of Lancaster's hidden gems is Cocina Mexicana, which in case you didn't know by the name, is a Mexican restaurant. The guacamole almost makes me forget I'm in PA. And that's a tall order around these parts. Mr. DU and I stopped there today to grab a quick bite and I took this picture of the buildings across the street while we waited for our food. Trust me, we'll be revisiting Cocina Mexicana again in the next 44 weeks. The food itself is far too tasty to skip making an appearance on this blog. But for now, I leave with the vintage record store and Irish Gypsy (and the dress I want in the window- it you squint, you can kind of see it).

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 7

Remember my post about the Zap & Co. fire and the injured owner, Steve Murray? (If you don't, go read it now so this post makes sense.)

Last Sunday, Mr. DU, some friends and I attended a benefit for Steve at The Bulls Head Pub (pictured above). It's not exactly in downtown Lancaster (it's a little town just north, called Lititz), but I thought this was a nice follow up to my previous post.

Read the news article here (I'm quoted!) and see the news video here (I'm in that, too (in the background)!).

By the way, the Bulls Head is a great little place- good atmosphere, awesome beer selection and yummy food. If you ever head up to Lititz, stop by and check it out.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 6

I have summer fever. I have summer fever so bad that I stopped at Carmen & David's Creamery on the way home from running errands last Saturday. Because I needed some icy cold, homemade lemon lavender sorbet despite the 30 degree temperatures.

For those unfamiliar, Carmen & David's is a locally owned, downtown Lancaster ice cream parlor, and they make all of their ice cream from fresh, local ingredients and they keep several flavors on rotation. If you're downtown, definitely stop in. My recommendations: lemon lavender sorbet, strawberry thyme sorbet, mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate peanut butter oreo ice cream.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 5

Chocolate + Beer = Love.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that equation is an absolute truth. I snapped this picture (with the Hipstamtic app, of course) while out with the girls last night at happy hour. That's Iron Hill Brewery's Overload Stout and I am ready to go get a growler and pour its milky, chocolatey goodness over my bowl of Cocoa Krispies (don't judge me!).

Iron Hill is a regional brewery with a downtown Lancaster location, and not only do they have yummy beer, they have pretty tasty food, too (I highly recommend the sweet potato fries- little slice of heaven on a plate, right there).

Speaking of absolute truths, here's another-
Friends + Food = Good times and the best therapy money can't buy.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 4

Bet you thought I forgot. Truthfully? I almost did.


Full disclosure: I really only took this picture because it was 5:30 p.m. and I was excited that it was still daylight outside.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 3

Last Thursday, a raging fire robbed downtown Lancaster of a wonderful treasure. Zap & Co., a famous indie retail landmark, and all of its painstakingly curated stock burned in the flames. Oh, how I loved riffling through the racks there, looking for unique treasures and fashions from every decade since the Roaring Twenties.

But this picture above, that blackened building facade is the only thing, a ghostly shadow, that remains of this former downtown Lancaster icon.

And while we mourn the loss of this shop, we also mourn the suffering of the shop owner, Steve Murray, who was caught in the blaze and remains in the hospital with 3rd degree burns covering 30 percent of his body. This man was a pioneer in developing the indie business culture that exists today in this city. He set up shop in 1973 and helped bring the 300 block of North Queen Street to life.

Look closely at the picture below. That's Steve. Standing in front of his store. In the middle of a huge snow storm that dumped two feet of snow here last winter. The whole city shut down, but there was Steve, at his shop, ready for business. And right next to him is Hilda, the famous Zap & Co mannequin who donned roller skates, big sunglasses and Santa costumes. Both were fixtures along the 300 block of North Queen St., and both are terribly missed.



But where there is sadness, there is community. And there is hope.

This little city of Lancaster is certainly rallying behind Steve and his shop. Twitter and Facebook are buzzing with people's concerns, well wishes and offers to help Steve and his family. His daughter set up the The Steve Murray and Zap & Co. Foundation on Facebook earlier today and there are already over 700 fans.

So let's hope. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for Steve and, if he chooses, a return of Zap & Co. to downtown Lancaster from those dusty ashes.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And it's also to get the word out that there's so much more to Lancaster, Pa. than the Amish, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 2

This one's a bit of a cheat since I actually took it over the holidays. But it's just so pretty, I had to share.

As I already mentioned, over the holidays D (the husband) and I saw The Sound of Music at the Fulton Theatre downtown. I snapped this with my trusty Hipstamatic app just before the show began, which is probably prohibited or something (the snapping not the Hipstamatic app), but I did it anyway. (I am such a hooligan.)

Let me also put it out there that the show was fantastic. If you're ever in Lancaster and you want a little taste of Broadway in the small city, definitely check out the Fulton. For real, they hire actors who have performed extensively on Broadway and off-Broadway. So, what was that about Amish buggies and cow tipping?

52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And it's also to get the word out that there's so much more to Lancaster, Pa. than the Amish, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

Introducing 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster

I've been trying to think of something I could do on a weekly basis that didn't require a ton of thought or time. Not because I'm lazy, but because I want something I can do with some semblance of consistency despite my busy schedule. And because part of my mission with this blog is to spread the word that there's more going on in Lancaster than Amish buggies and outlet shopping. So, I came up with the idea to combine those two goals into this project.

This idea stems from the other creative ideas out there in blogging land. There's an e-book out there in the indie design/handmade blogging world called 52 Weeks of Blogging your Passion. It's a great book and a great project, but not one that I'm ready to take on. Not yet. Not this year.

But there are some other bloggers out there who are starting their own 52 Weeks type of projects and after reading them, I got inspired. Do you need inspiration, too? May I suggest starting here with Brandi and her 52 Colors project. It's a lovely idea and I love that she's combining color and photography (two of my favorite things!). When exposed to those two things in tandem, I turn into the likes of a 2-year-old on the loose in a candy shop - pretty colors, pretty pictures! Can I have some more, please?

So, back to my own project. Whether I take photos with my Canon DSLR, my little point and shoot or my favoritest (yes, favoritest) iPhone app ever, Hipstamatic, I'm ready to document the places, spaces and faces I encounter here in downtown Lancaster, Pa.

Ready? Let's go!

52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster, Week 1
It's snowing here tonight and this is the view of the snowy rooftops from my 3rd floor studio space.