well, i officially have too much to say

Last spring Matt got a new job, with an office on the 55th floor of the tallest building in Philadelphia, the Comcast Center.  The building houses the company headquarters and some stunning views.  There are 56 floors, so except for a few people on that top floor, Matt's office is one of the highest in the city.  All year he's been bragging about the view and fancy building, so since I had the day off last Friday he invited me to meet him downtown for lunch.

I dubbed it the first annual Take Your Wife to Work Day.  When I told Matt that I'd given the day an official name, he said, "Okay, but just don't cause a ruckus."

Of course.  Because I'm some sort of serial ruckus-causer.

I didn't want to be late so I decided to take a 10:43 train into the city.  And I arrived at the station at 10:00.  That was a very long time to wait in the rain so I went to the Starbucks next door to get an iced coffee for my big day.

The ride into the city was uneventful.  Matt's building is directly above the train station, and there is a staircase that takes you straight up to his lobby so you don't have to go outside.  Of course, I couldn't figure that out, so I walked OUTSIDE, around the block, and eventually had to open Google maps.  To find the tallest building in the city.  I somehow went from being directly below it, to a quarter of a mile away.

I am a suburban girl through and through.

When I made my way to the front desk to check in, I laughed to myself because even though I was so confident I would be on that guest list, I still felt a teeny tiny bit nervous.  It's like the 30 year old version of waiting at the door of a frat party. 

Security took my photo and gave me a badge and guided me to the designated elevator bank.  

Floors 51-56 are the "executive levels" so I was directed to the reception area on the 51st floor.  I hopped in the elevator, which had a TELEVISION IN IT.

My ears popped somewhere around the 43rd floor due to the sudden change in altitude.

I got out of the elevator and am not even kidding you when I say that my jaw dropped.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  Floor to ceiling windows.  I could see a meeting going on in a conference room that was legitimately all glass.  It was like they were meeting in the sky.  I would not be able to concentrate for one second in that setting.  

There were also GLASS STAIRCASES connecting the four floors on the executive levels.

The receptionist called Matt and while I waited I sat down on the beautiful leather furniture and tried to forget that I work in an office with roaches and ancient purple carpet and a metal desk from the 1980s.

Matt took me up to his floor and I got to see his coworkers.  We had met once before, but it was at a Halloween party and I had been dressed like Wilma Flintstone so I'm glad they got to see me in more normal attire.  And then we took a walk around all four corners of his floor so I could get the full 360 view.  It was really incredible.  It was a cloudy day so I can only imagine how pretty it looks with a blue sky.







At this particular window, I took a good hard look at the river.  I tried to orient myself, thought about what I know of the geography of the city, and then said to Matt, "So, our house is that way, right?" as I pointed over to the right.

"No," he said, "We live that way," and turned around and pointed in the COMPLETE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

My navigational skills don't improve with high altitude.



There is a cafe on the 43rd and 44th floors, but it was very crowded at noon because it was half price salad Friday and apparently Matt's has healthy coworkers who love their greens.  So, we took a little walk down to Love Park.



Here is Love Park from Matt's window.  It's that tiny gray concrete oval with the grass on the bottom left.




And here's his window from Love Park.



We went back up to the cafe which was SO FANCY and the food was delicious and it made me super sad that the cafeteria at my office closed a few years ago.  Although it was only one floor and it was located right next to the county morgue.



That's not a joke.

You could grab a slice of pizza and then swing by to see the coroner.

Matt had to finish up a little work so I hung out in the cafe for a bit wondering how much Windex is used in that office each day.  Everywhere you turned was either glass or mirror and there was not a fingerprint to be found.

Meanwhile back at the homestead, I can barely keep up with our three bathroom mirrors.

Here is Matt conducting very official business.  Or checking the weather or his fantasy baseball scores.  IT WAS FRIDAY CAN YOU BLAME HIM?

There is more to this story, but this post has already become obnoxiously long.  So, I am going to do something UNPRECEDENTED and say stay tuned for part 2.  

I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat.

Which I hope is a nice, comfortable seat, as opposed to a desk chair that's from the Eisenhower administration, with only one arm and a backrest that is unfortunately stuck in the extreme recline position due to an irreparably broken lever.

Not that I'd know what that's like or anything.