My Date’s Stats:
Blog: City Girls World
Age: CGW launched in 2009. Katie started blogging for them as a “Gal about Philly” in 2010.
Likes: Martinis, Sex in the City, brunch, finger tattoos, wasabi.
Dislikes: Girls who bring their boyfriends everywhere, people who can’t deal with women in control of their sexuality, and party-crashing night time SEPTA schedules.
Little Known Fact: Katie studies social work and human sexuality, and actually has her own blog, which she describes as more or less a “sex blog,” (although it’s name, “There’s vodka in my sippy cup but I need to grow up,” perhaps reads a little more like a diary-of-a-party-girl).
Favorite Cheap Date: The Yards Brewery tasting/tour. “My boyfriend and I went here and it was an awesome way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon-HIGHLY recommended.” As for a girls night out: “I’d pick the Center City Cocktail Crawl-I love XIX but haven’t made it to Vintage–maybe this summer with my fellow CGW writers!”
It seems natural that Katie would think of the writers at City Girls World when planning a girls’ night out, since clicking through CGW feels much more like hanging out with a group of really fun women than reading a one-dimensional blog. The articles are frank and conversational, and the columnists continue their stories from week to week so you can stay current on their latest (mis)adventures. There’s Single Girl, Working Girl, Married Girl, and Gals About Town, and they report on everything of interest to the modern urban-”ette”: shopping, dining, grooming, and, of course, relationships. Plus, the blog covers both Philly and Washington, DC, making it a particulary great resource for those straddling both cities, or planning a visit. One of their most unique features is Single Man Spotted, which reassures readers that these rare specimens are not urban legend by spotlighting cute (and single!) guys they meet on the street. This take on meeting men is a breath of fresh air from those who bemoan the apparent lack of eligible bachelors remaining on planet earth. But snark-lovers never fear – the Single Girl chronicles are brutally (and hilariously) honest and make it clear that, yes, a lot of guys still don’t have a clue. But at City Girls World that doesn’t matter, so long as you have your online girlfriends to commiserate with at the end of the day. At least that’s how the CGW crew sees it.
I recently got a window into City Girls World when I met guest writer Katie Butler at POD for a (surprisingly) cheap date of martinis and sushi.
How cheap we talkin’: Martinis are $5 during happy hour from 4-6pm. Sushi train plates range from $2.50-$5.00.
Why this will impress your date: There’s a sushi conveyor belt! Hey, it may be a novelty, but it’s a darn fun one.
The Inside Game: You can’t take cocktails from the lounge to the sushi bar, so this is a good spot for first dates that you’re not sure will last past the first drink. If things are going well, suggest grabbing a bite. If not, it’s still a cool atmosphere to have a cocktail. Especially before or after a visit to the free Institute for Contemporary Art just up the street!
Score Extra Points: By pointing out the “Pods” to your date. Customers can choose and change the color of the lighting in these private, circular booths.
Next date: Happy hour is weekdays 4-6pm. The sushi train is available anytime.
It’s located at 3636 Sansom street in the heart of Penn’s campus, but POD’s space-age interior feels a world away from everything. Awash in a swanky citrus glow, the cavernous space is divided into three main sections: a bar/lounge area, a formal dining room, and a moving sushi bar. The sections are unified by uber-modern fixtures and furniture, white-washed walls, and glowing orbs of light. In fact, the whole place is infused with such a futuristic feel, I would not have been surprised if the hostess had greeted me in a space suit.
I met Katie in the lounge, which is dominated by a brightly lit bar and a sculptural seating arrangement made from what appeared to be some sort of rubberized foam. From the Future. From there we had a panoramic view of the restaurant, which was bustling with a mix of college students, small groups in business suits, and families with teenagers clearly captivated by the ambience. We managed to meet just before the 6pm cut-off for $5 martinis, which you order by color. Katie had “Yellow,” a concoction of Yuza and Passionfruit with Grapefruit bitters. I chose “Blue,” with blueberries, plum vodka, blue Curacao, and Calpico. They arrived in unwieldy, oversized martini glasses and I had difficulty resisting draining the whole sugary delight in one gulp. Katie, obviously a martini expert, had no trouble sipping hers and taking her time.
After finishing our drinks, we moved down to the sushi bar. (More accurately, we were escorted to the sushi bar by the super attentive hosting staff). There, you can sit and wait for the perfect roll to come around on the slowly moving conveyer belt that encircles the sushi chef’s station. You can also watch the expert chefs preparing fantastic rolls for the main dining room, as well as the smaller rolls that appear on the sushi train. The offerings are priced based on the color of the plate, and range from $2.50 for a 3-peice California roll or $3.00 for a Philadelphia or Salmon Avocado roll, up to $6 for more exotic combinations.
The plates are priced by color
Puzzling over what everything was as it drifted by made for a good conversation starter, and playing the waiting game for that delicious looking Eel roll you swore you saw last time around was fun too. Wasabi and ginger were self-serve from wooden boxes placed along the bar, and Katie doled out the green stuff until, impressively, she had almost as much wasabi on her sushi as fish. The overall quality was good, and the sushi was tasty, but the selection from the conveyor belt is still pretty limited, especially in the $2.50-$3.50 range we were sticking with. For that reason, it’s more of a spot to have a light sushi snack over some leisurely conversation, which is exactly what we did.
Over the course of the evening, our conversation ranged from our favorite Philly bars, to her recent move here from the midwest, to what led her to study human sexuality. Like a lot of busy city girls, Katie juggles school, work, and a relationship, while still maintaining friendships, her freelance writing gig, and her own blog. In other words, Katie is exactly the type of woman CGW seeks to connect with: smart and ambitious, but still fun-loving, style conscious, and city savvy. And always up for a good martini, girls night out or not.
LOVE this article!! Had no idea sushi was so cheap (or fun!). Wish I was in Philly
Thanks Christie! City Girls World is a great resource for date ideas too. I liked the article about 10 dates to have on a snow day (of course at the moment I am excited that I won’t be using any of those ideas until next winter…) Come up and visit anytime!