Roller Babies...

Here's another great video!

so so wonderful!!!

I can watch this video over and over again. The sheer joy on the faces of the guests is so great. So much fun!! What a wonderful way to start your wedding.

a dude with major design edge!

I've been following this dude named Steve Hamm on facebook for a while now. He lives in California, and this guy has Crazy Talent! He's a great designer with a big edge. Because he not only designs it, he also builds it! His kitchens are awesome! Take at look at these photos of some of his work...

Are you kidding me? How cool is that!?!

This kitchen is awesome!

Steve also does the rest of the house as well. He's launching his new website in a couple weeks. I'm sure we'll be able to see a lot more of his work then. He's a really cool dude, and he's got major skills, so I wanted to share it with all of you. Like myself, he even designed his own motorcycle! Check out this award winning ride!

angelo:HOME is growing!!!

Angelo Surmelis, "The Design Geek", is launching several more "awesome awesome" pieces of his new furniture collection exclusively at Overstock.com on August 10th!

Check these out...

a slice of nostalgia pie...

One of the greatest things about going home, is returning to the favorite places you grew up with. Today, I met my two wonderful and beautiful step sisters Kim and Ashley for lunch at a place called Pica's. This restaurant is a local institution! We literally grew up in this place. After every school football game, track meet, birthday dinners, or on any given week night you could find our family there. I even worked as a "busboy" there when I was 16 years old. On your break you could order a free small pizza or a cheesesteak, and I usually took the pizza over the cheesesteak. Imagine that!

They're famous for their "up-side-down" square pizza. OK, well not completely up-side-down. The sauce is just on top of the cheese, and it's soooo delicious!!! Basically, just about everyone who has grown up in the southwest suburbs of Philadelphia (and a bit beyond), knows all about this place. We're talking four generations of local, loyal, and hungry patrons have indulged in these pizzas, as well as many of their other "home style" Italian dishes. A few other places in the area have tried to copy the recipe, but none can truly compete. You must have the whole Pica's experience. The atmosphere, the people, and the "decor" all absolutely factor into the taste.

Pica's history goes all the way back to 1941! It started out as "Frank's Pizzeria" on 62nd and Race street in Philly. In the beginning, there was just Frank Pica Sr., a friend, a brick oven, a take-out counter, and a couple of tables. Oh, and if you check the photo below, apparently one cat as well. There was also a second floor for more formal dining, and no man was allowed to go upstairs without being accompanied by a lady. In the 1950's, Frank Pica Sr., and his son Frank Jr., moved the business to it's current location in Upper Darby on West Chester Pike. And, it's still going strong today!

Kim and Ashley, it was so great to see you both! Lunch (of course) was great. Today's Pica's pizza tasted just like it always has. OK, some will argue that the various oven changes over the years has dimmed the awesomeness. But I have to say, I don't notice anything different. It was just as delicious, wonderful, yummy, and mmm mmm mmmmmm as always! It was so great to go back there. A big thanks to the Pica family for keeping the tradition alive and well! It's always such a wonderful slice of home! :-)

So if I haven't yet completely conveyed how awesome this pizza is...listen to this! My son is now 5 years old. He ate there a couple of times when he was 3 years old. He's been in Italy for the last month eating the most wonderful food on EARTH! The other day, (just prior to eating panzerotti fritti), he asked his mother if we were going to Pica's when they get here!

P.s. After a 3-way wrestling match, the pizza in the photo above came home with me! :-)

Manayunk...

Manayunk from Robert Petril on Vimeo.

Rock'n the pit at Nickelback...

Rock'n the pit at Nickelback... from Robert Petril on Vimeo.

I had a Rock'n time at the Nickelback concert last night!!! I met up with my old friend DJ/Producer Ivan Lopez from Philly's VIP Entertainment. It was great to see him again, and we had a blast! Thanks again for the tickets Donna C :-) I shot some video with my Sony Ericsson T700 camera phone, and this phone takes crazy good videos! However, I had to compress the file so the quality of the edited video is not as good as the original. But you can catch a glimpse of how cool it was. Anyway, later that night, Ivan and I met some other peeps at a club in south Philly. When we were leaving it was pouring rain! I ran from the club to my car, and my phone popped out of my pocket and into a 5" deep puddle of water! We were running around under a complete cloud gusher! After searching the parking lot for a while, my man Ivan found it in the street!! After sitting in water for at least 10 minutes, the phone was STILL ON!!!

down on Main Street...

Since I've been back in the States, I've been rediscovering Manayunk. I've been spending a lot of my free time there. It's a great place to be inspired about design, and lifestyle. There's just something in the air there. It's a great place to people watch, eat, drink, and shop. So many cool sidewalk cafes and dining experiences. Besides home furnishings destinations, there's a lot of cool little boutiques along this street. My favorite thing to do, is grab my laptop and head to Saxbys for a cappucino. I've become a regular fixture there. They asked me to take out the trash the other day...lol..jk. Each time I'm in that neighborhood, I like to snap a photo or two. I will go back soon and take some really good shots. But for now, here's some photos that I've taken so far...

Looking West

Looking East

Sunset after a passing shower. It was so beautiful that evening.

The Bernard Katz Glass shop is amazing. There are some gorgeous pieces in the window! Check these out...

The giant cup of cappucino is calling my name, so I'll return with some more very soon!

All the best,

- robert

a lot of philly, and a little french press...

An amazing day in philly. The weather was so perfect! 78 degrees and sunny with no humidity. Beautiful..beautiful!!! A great day to head into center city philly, so off to Rittenhouse Square I went...


Today was about meeting old and new friends. Jeannine Loro Kelly invited me to have lunch at Raw Cafe on the mezzanine level at Boyds. Cool place! It's operated by The Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge on Sansom Street, so the food was delicious! Jeannine also invited another friend of her's named Donna Coghlan. She's a very cool person and an amazingly talented Sales and Event Planner in Philadelphia. It was so great to meet her. And, she just got engaged! Donna congratulations again, and that ring...Wow!

Donna & Jeannine

We had such a great time together along with a really nice meal. the "Lunchboxes" at Raw are really great! They're a delicious and fun lunch. And with these two beautiful women on either side of me, how could I go wrong! After lunch, Jeannine sadly had to return to her office, so Donna and I walked through the park over to Rouge on the square for coffee. Did I mention how beautiful the weather was today!?!

Everywhere along the way we kept bumping into people that Donna knows. She's for sure wired into the "philly scene". I was just lucky enough to be seen with her, and get to meet some of her friends. She also kept blinding people as she walked with that rock on her finger...lol!


Rouge is such a cool place! The decor is totally decadant! It's for sure the see-and-be-seen place to have coffee, cocktails, amazing food, and network with philly's who's-who. They have a french press coffee that was absolutely delicious...Mmmmm!!! Their burger was voted 4th in the country, in the "20 burgers you must eat before you die" survey. I have to go back for that one. Of course Donna also knows the bartender Melissa, and she's an absolute doll! I loved meeting her. I got to meet so many cool peeps today!

Melissa

I also met Donna's friends Sallye Hershman and James Junger. Sallye is another high powered Event Planner from Atlantic City, and she also happens to be a wonderful artist! I saw some of her beautiful jewlery. James is a realestate agent in Stone Harbor, and he too is a talented artist. He taught me the secret for turning copper into a cool shade of purple. They're both so creative. I had the greatest time getting to know them. It was really a wonderful afternoon.

Jim, Donna, and Sallye

The coolest peeps, great food, awesome coffee, blue skies, sunshine, and clean fresh air. I so love Philadelphia in the summer!

more Dwelling in philly...

Today was an absolutely beautiful day! It was a special day too because I went back to Manayunk to meet my former partner Dave and his wife Judy for lunch. I haven't seen them for a couple of years, and It was so great to catch up with them. I love reliving all the funny moments we shared working together! And, we laughed a lot! Dave was the guy who gave me my biggest break in the furniture business. We made a really big business happen together. We've made sure we kept in touch over the years, and I will always be grateful for what this wonderful man did for me and my career!

Of course after lunch, being in Manayunk I had the opportunity to go back to Dwelling Home and take some photos this time. I could seriously live in this place!

It's completely full of treasures. Some of the coolest pieces I've seen anywhere. Check out these Persian inspired lighting fixtures. They are absolutely amazing!

They also have a wonderful collection of hard-to-find antique doors. The owner finds them all over the world, and they each have some interesting story behind them. They are so cool!!! I can imagine so many possibilities for these.




Everywhere you turn there's another really unique piece. The eye candy for the home is endless. Here's a few more photos I took in there today...enjoy!





Yo!..Jacki O! Thanks for giving me the fantastic tour!

Dwelling Home
4050 Main Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215-487-7400

more on philly cheesesteaks...

"cheesesteak wit"

In an earlier post I gave a shout out to Dalessandros Steaks. It's truly one of my favorites in Philadelphia. Every philadelphian has their own favorites. While I'm here I want to take full advantage of mine, and make the rounds to my favorite places. Some new discoveries would be cool too. Always on the top of the list for me is Jim's Steaks on the corner of 4th and South St's.




I love this place! The cheesesteak here is tied for first place in my book. The aroma drifts for a block down South St. Lines around the block can form sometimes. The exterior facade and interior of Jim's is so cool. A real downtown Philly feeling. Check out the ceiling!



If you're lucky enough to get a stool along the counter, you look at all the photos and notes from celebrities, musicians, sports stars, and some of Hollywood's biggest stars covering the walls. Jim's has been serving cheesesteaks and hoagies in Philadelphia for over 70 years! I just found out that the 4th & South location is not the original. A friend promises to take me to the original Jim's Steaks in West Philly soon. I let you know how it is...