Zoey

I’ve spent approximately 6,030 days living in Philadelphia and this was the first day I ever logged my whereabouts in this city. Even with 6,030 days under my belt, this city never feels old. There’s still so many new people, foods, alleyways, running routes, street vendors, dogs, smells, idiotic drivers, local coffee joints, etc. Even the blue vs red SEPTA bus video game they play on the Phillies jumbotron never gets old. I like it here.

Saturday, August 17th, 2024

7:50 am: I was promptly awoken by a small wiener dog (Lemon) standing on my chest. When Lemon says it’s time to wake up, there’s no chance I can convince her to sleep more. It’s fine- we both know we have a packed day. My partner, Cal, is away in CA, and that means we’re on a mission to get shit done today. 

8:00 am: Lemon insisted that we needed to survey the neighborhood (aka go for a walk). We ran into Angus the Scottish Terrier and our neighbor Steve. We say hi and head back home.

8:50 am: After 50 minutes of chugging electrolytes, I’m ready to go. I have a 6 mile run ahead of me. I’m feeling pretty confident with my new sunglasses, however the forecast says it’s about to rain and my hip flexor still hurts from a previous run.

9:00 am: I meet Emily, who works with me at Penn. I make it clear again that I am a slow runner and we are going to take this light and easy. Right as we start, it starts raining.

9:40 am: We get to the half way point- Cavanaugh’s River Deck. Enough said.

10:20 am: Fuck! We are done! Keeping it light and easy did not help with the absolute hell that we endured during the last two miles. Oh, and we are sopping wet. 11:20 pace for 6 miles. Not my best, but content given the conditions.

10:40 am: Pull up to the new café that took over the old OCF coffee place (fuck OCF). I have no idea what it’s called, but my severe need for hydration caused me to order three drinks at once.

11:30 am: Showered, stretched, and rehydrated, I am ready to go. Lemon and I split (but like 10/90) an egg and cheese on an english muffin. I spend the next hour scrubbing the first floor of my house. Chappell Roan is on blast. Pink Pony Club and Red Wine Supernova are my favorites.

1:00 pm: Lemon’s had it with me. She is demanding a walk. I realized that I have to dispute a charge with the plant vendor at the Rittenhouse Farmer’s Market. I take advantage of this potential win-win, even though my legs are not feeling too hot post-run.

1:25 pm: Dispute was easily taken care of. I even had a speech prepared to get my money back. Was not needed. The guy couldn’t even figure out how to refund to my card, so I walk away with $54 cash. Hell yeah! Lemon and I huddle…what should we spend this newly acquired cash on. It’s cash anyway. It’s not even real money.

2:00 pm: After being stopped multiple times to ask if Lemon is a puppy (she’s 1.5 years old) and/or if she can be pet (yes, but she’s a little shy/she’ll growl at you if you’re under the age of 12), we walk away with peaches and a pint of ice cream from Milk Jawn.

2:05 pm: I spoke too soon. The ceasefire organization reels me in by saying they just want to pet Lemon. Then they sneakily start their speech. I stand there and smile. I’m anti-gun for sure, but I can’t afford $1 a day for 4 months. Not even with my (now) $34.

2:30 pm: We are home. After taking a few minutes to do further research on the word “demure,” I am off to the races. Time to scrub the second floor of my house. Brat is now blasting. Talk talk and I think about it all the time are my favorites.  

3:30 pm: You thought I was done? Nope. I move my car to right in front of my house and plug in the vacuum right at the front door. I scrub the inside of my car for the next hour. Now this is satisfying.

4:30 pm: You thought I was done again? Nope, again. This time to Trader Joe’s. I had the intention of buying just a few things. That never goes well.

5:30 pm: Score. The parking spot I left from is still open. I whip my car into the spot with one hand on the wheel, the other full of Scandinavian Swimmers. I unload groceries, walk Lemon, and change.

6:00 pm: I grab my keys, wallet and phone. I get back into the car. I drive through the on and off rain to old city to meet partner’s parents for dinner.

6:15 pm: I head up to their apartment to say hi to their doodle, Bunny, and cat, Birdie. And we are off!

6:30 pm: We arrive at Spasso Italian Grill.

6:45 pm: Waiter does not appreciate us asking for more bread. We don’t care. I’m pretty close with my partner’s parents. We laugh. We take a video for Cal, who’s not there.

7:20 pm: Pretty solid dinner. The check arrives.

7:21 pm: My partner’s dad, David, spontaneously suggests going next door to the Ritz theater to catch the Deadpool & Wolverine movie. The last Marvel movie I saw was the Spiderman where the three Peter Parkers from different universes meet up. However, I’m intrigued. I say yes. My partner’s mom, Beth, is not interested. David and I go see a movie.

9:45 pm: That was fucking hilarious. But I don’t understand any of the past Marvel references/timelines. I didn’t even know Wolverine was dead. I also didn’t even know Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool. The last I knew, Ironman died in Endgame. But again, I’m intrigued. I start looking up the chronological order of every Marvel movie on our way out.

10:15 pm: I’m home. Lemon is demanding a fourth walk. We do a quick one around the block and admire the view. We play fetch inside until she’s tired.

10:50 pm: I realize I bought too many peaches for one person. Oops.

11:15 pm: I’m in bed looking at Cal’s location. They are out to dinner, so I don’t facetime them. But I do see that my friend Julia is at Frankie Bradley’s. Again, I’m intrigued, but not passionate.

11:30 pm: With my legs pulsating and over 1,000 active calories burned (according to my Apple Watch), I text Cal goodnight and fall asleep. Good day.

Zoey is a pharmacology PhD student at UPenn. When she’s not trying to kill cancer cells with bitter chemical compounds, she’s either attempting to grow vegetables in her small concrete backyard, swimming in the Marian Anderson community pool, driving her elderly neighbor to the craft beer store, walking her 7 lb wiener dog with her partner or running at an embarrassingly slow place along the Schuylkill River Trail. Zoey is a Roxborough native and now lives in Graduate Hospital. She has spent ~6000 days living in Philly (adjusted for vacations, etc.). Her favorite Philadelphia delicacies are Center City Soft Pretzel Company and the purple frozen mojito at PHS beer garden. Being a Philadelphian is a big part of Zoey’s identity and she proudly flaunts her SEPTA subway map shoulder tattoo. She will most likely never live elsewhere.