this jawn's for you

Rhoda and Steve Powers' newest mural, Philadelphia

We are moving on Monday and I'm in mourning. The end of an era! The end of our east coast life! (As far as I know...) Philadelphia has been our favorite city we've lived in so far (sorry DC—but at least you win the jackpot on providing the best friends we've ever made). We only got two years in Philly (minus four months of intern/school-related travel) and it was just not enough time to get to do everything we wanted to. Some of the things I'm going to miss about the City of Brotherly Love:

The accent. The Philly accent is so weird and incomprehensible at times but it's so awesome. I now know to say we're going "down the shore" rather than going "to the beach." I felt like I finally arrived when I heard a high school age kid say to his friend "you left your jawn right there" AND I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANT.

Pizza. Joe Beddia told Robbie that Philly is at the end of the "pizza belt" and so we just aren't lacking in good pizza around here and in the immediate vicinity (NYC, duh). I love the pizza here. I even love room-temperature tomato pie. Some of my faves, in no particular order—Pizza Brain, Pizzeria Stella, Pizzeria Beddia, Pizzeria Vetri, Capofitto. Thank you for all the carbs you've given me, Philly.

Hoagies (not sandwiches). I'm gonna miss a good hoagie.

Guys who ride dirt bikes and ATVs through the city. Really I guess if I'm ever feeling nostalgic I can watch Creed again.

98.1 WOGL. If you're from Los Angeles you have a certain expectation that the radio is good everywhere you go (it's not) but I became really committed to the radio here, especially my two favorite oldies/classic rock stations. It seems much more authentic to listen to Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Hall and Oates out here and I'm going to miss that sense of superiority. On 98.1 they do a vacation a day giveaway to the Caribbean and I listen to the radio SO much that I really should have started entering the contest a long time ago and I probably would have had a good chance of winning, like Uncle Frank. You live, you learn.

Trees and green everything. Leaving the East Coast when it's showing off the most is tough, but at least the weather is absolutely perfect and we aren't feeling bitter about seasons.

Proximity to everywhere else. Transatlantic flights are cheaper, states are smaller and easier to road trip through. You'll be out driving through Pennsylvania and depending on the direction you're going all of a sudden you're in Delaware and then five minutes later you're in Maryland! Or you're in New Jersey just after crossing a river. I didn't get that kind of exposure to other states until I was like twelve. California's just so... big.

Art everywhere. On Instagram I've professed my love of the Mural Arts Program many, many times. There are sculptures in every neighborhood and park and mosaic murals all over South Philly. It's a great place to feel inspired.

The ambience. I don't know how else to describe this. Philly has a distinct culture that you can feel just walking around. With all due respect to mumbo sauce and go-go, I never felt this way in DC because the federal government has such a huge presence that overshadows any local culture. Philly just has a really great vibe and a lot of people who have had family here for generations. Plus, it's super old. Even the ghetto parts of Philly are somewhat charming because the houses aren't just run down—they're historic and run down! I believe this is what people mean when they tell me "I just love Philadelphia/DC! There's just so much history!"

Walking! Argh, I'm going to miss walking. We walk everywhere because most times it's too inconvenient to drive our car. People talk to you all the time because everyone is always out walking. We don't have a driveway here so we have to find parking anywhere in our neighborhood (which was also the case in DC), and street parking can get pretty scarce here, especially when you're cruising around on a Friday night after 7 pm. I often take my guru Stephanie Soper's advice and envision a parking spot in front of my house and most times it works! Thanks to seven years of street parking, I am an amazing parallel parker now. Let me park your car for you—I'm a parking magician.

The terrible drivers and potholes. Just kidding! I won't miss that.

I know I'm missing a lot of things in my love letter to Philly but I think you get the idea. Obviously California has something to offer for everything I'll miss (abundant Mexican food rather than abundant pizza, 90s/00s rap instead of classic rock, perfect weather year round instead of just four months of the year, better drivers and a driveway, etc.) but I'm just going through the stages of grief right now before we get into the swing of things in our new Best Coast life. I love you, Philly.