This is my super serious academic face and 1/4 of my poster.

I'm back, baby!

If you haven't checked in recently, I spent the latter half of my week at an academic conference on child development where I got to present some of my lab's recent research. This was my first time attending a conference, not to mention my first time presenting a poster, and it was equal parts awesome and exhausting. I attended sessions about social identity and academic achievement, how to re-assess the data from the Head Start Impact Study, and how housing status and neighborhood composition affect childhood health. Needless to say, I got my justice-oriented social scientist nerding on.

The number of poster sessions and symposia was astounding (this was a particularly big conference, clocking in at 30,000 people attending over three days), and after a while my brain stopped absorbing new information and my inner introvert was clamoring for some peace and quiet. I ended up bailing on the last day of presentations, preferring to spend it in the city doing some solo exploring.

Source: Wikipedia

Of all the things I saw—including Benjamin Franklin's snow-covered grave, the charming Elfreth's Alley, and the Liberty Bell from a distance—my favorite was undoubtedly the Reading Terminal Market. Before you ask, no, there isn't much reading material here (there supposedly is a small bookstore, but I couldn't find it in all the hubbub). It's an enormous, extremely Amish indoor marketplace that slings every type of prepared food and other edible good you can possibly imagine. No, really, look. I had to exercise significant self-control to not give myself a stomach ache, though this ice cream and these doughnuts sorely tempted me. The market also introduced me to the most delicious fudge ever. My boyfriend can vouch for me here.

Some other trip highlights:

Finding a MOON TREE.

Meeting this little sweetie at a local animal shelter.