Bye-Bye City of Brotherly Love

Day after day, night after night, you've walked the streets of Philadelphia.  You’ve gone to class, your room, a few restaurants, a few more bars; maybe you’ve even stopped in at the library to visit a friend once.  After weeks of walking past signs proclaiming Market, Chestnut, and Walnut streets and seeing the Comcast building looming in the distance, it might be time for a change of scenery.  Sure, you could go home, but if you’re in a 50-mile radius (or from Jersey), you probably could use a bigger change.  

You could head to 30^th Street Station and hop on Amtrak for an obscene amount of money and head to a plethora of places.  You could hope on the NJ Transit or Regional Rail, but they aren’t really going to get you anywhere (unless you’re an expert at those lines which I don’t happen to be).  Then, of course, there’s my way to travel. 

It’s called the Bolt Bus, and it’s cheap.  They pick you up at JFK and N. 30^th Street and can take you to a whole bunch of awesome places!  Want to head to New York, New York, the City that Never Sleeps?  No problem.  How about a little historic trip to Washington, DC?  They can do that too.  Boston? Baltimore? Done and done.  Ticket prices range from anywhere between $1.00 and $15.00.  Just an FYI: the farther in advance you book, the cheaper the ticket.  They also have this awesome rewards program.  If you ride 8 times, you’re eligible for a FREE one-way ticket.  Yet another perk?  FREE WI-FI.  You can sit back, catch up on the all the latest Facebook gossip, and let Bolt's friendly drivers do the rest.

So, if you’re looking to make a quick get-a-way from Philadelphia, go ahead: Bolt.

"Let's Bowl. Let's Bowl. Let's Rock-n-Roll."

You’ve actually finished your homework early (for once).  You decide you want to head out and do something fun to celebrate.  But, what?  The bouncers at all the local bars know your name, so a change of scenery seems to be in order.  It’s then that one of your brilliant friends throws out the idea of heading to a bowling alley.  It’s something different, drinks are still involved, and overall sounds like it could be a great time.  You have some hesitations, however.  But do not fret, my pet.  Honestly, you probably haven’t bowled since some lame birthday party your freshman year of high school, but don’t let lack of skill (or funds) stop you from having what could be an awesome evening.

There are a few local bowling alleys to check out, but none will have the deals and the drinks quite like North Bowl.  Located at 909 N. Second Street, North Bowl is THE hot spot for young college kids looking to score (a strike or a spare, silly).  Any night of the week you can find masses of fellow students flocking to these lanes.  There’s an awesome menu with everything from Eggplant Parm Bites to Portabella Fries and a bar with specialty drinks like the “Pickle Back” (a shot of Jameson followed by a pickle juice chaser…Snooki’s dream come true?). They even have their own bowling leagues (for you avid bowlers out there)! 

With all this, you’d think this one trip alone would break your budget for the week…but you’d be very wrong.  Being open till 2:00 am EVERYDAY, North Bowl has amazingly cheap prices and specials:

Happy Hour Bowling
Monday-Friday 5:00pm-7:00pm
$3.95/person/game $3 Shoe Rentals

Monday-Thursday 7:00pm-1:00am
$4.95/person/game $3 Shoe Rentals
Friday 7:00pm-1:00am
$5.95/person/game $3 Shoe Rentals

Saturday and Sunday
$5.95/game/game $3 Shoe Rentals

Just an FYI, if you are under 21 you can only stay till 9:00 pm (whomp, whomp), but you’d still have an amazing time and capitalize on the deals North Bowl offers. 

So in the words of an excellent Grease 2 song (if you haven’t seen this feat of cinematic genius, please see the link attached), “Come on everybody, gather round. I'm gonna show you how to knock 'em down.  When I'm on the ball, I'm the number one.  And I'm gonna show you how it's done.  Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock-'n-roll.  Hey, come on, let's get this show on the road”...and head to North Bowl!

Hairless without Hair-Raising Prices

Just because the weather has changed and forced your short shorts into hibernation for a few months, does not mean you still shouldn't have silky smooth legs (or any other silky smooth body parts for that matter).   But who wants to spend an extra 20 minutes in the shower shaving?  Not me.  Although, any excuse to stand in the hot water any longer than normal is totally fine by me.  If, however, you’d rather do a once and done and be soft as a baby’s bottom for longer than a day, I’ve got the place you NEED to visit: International Salon.

Located at 1714 Sansom Street, International Salon is one of the most highly recognized and recommended places to get waxed.  So accredited, Allure Magazine named it the #1 place to get waxed in Philadelphia.  But be warned.  If you’re looking for the lounge chairs, glass of juice, soothing music, and friendly employees kind of experience, completely disregard this post and head to one of those glitzy salons in Rittenhouse Square.  If you want a quick, cheap, no frills sort of wax then International Salon is the place to be.

They just make it so easy for you.  You walk in, tell them what you want done, and they do it.  Then you pay and walk out. That’s it. Bing, Bang, Boom, you’re done.  And don’t even worry about the cost.  Eyebrows will set you back only $10 bucks while a Brazilian (if you need more specifics about what exactly this is, Google it) is only $35.  Yes, that’s right, only $35.  That’s half the price (with even better quality) than some other salons in the area.  Better quality for less?  It’s almost unheard of. 

So if you’re looking for a wax whose price won’t make your hair stand on end, head to International Salon.