Pat O'Malley, Hungry Pigeon
Philly is going through a baking renaissance, with top talent slinging good bread, excellent pastries, and other delicious things that are essentially an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. The best of the new guard is Pat O'Malley, ex of the pastry department at New York's Balthazar, who now produces murderously rich croissants, sticky buns and apple turnovers at his new restaurant, Hungry Pigeon. 743 South 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, hungrypigeon.com.
El Primo Taqueria
This Mexican joint, tucked at the rear of a well-stocked Hispanic grocery and produce store, is where Mexicans and the few in-the-know gringos hunker down over carne asada, tacos and enchiladas that put to shame most of the Washington Avenue-area offerings. 1719 Markley Street, Norristown, PA 19401, .
Shiao Lan Kung
Everyone thinks the place to go for after-hours culinary kicks is David's Mai Lai Wah in Chinatown, but everyone is wrong: Shiao Lan Kung is now the best game in town. It's open till 3 a.m. on weekends and 2 a.m. during the week and serves fried dumplings, salt-baked shrimp, sweet-and-sour everything and sliced pork in garlic sauce, all of which is so good that you'll swear you dreamed it when you wake up the next morning. 930 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, .
Doc Magrogan's
Lots of bars have buck-a-shuck happy-hour oysters — usually just one or two varieties — but at these local seafood spots during Monday happy hours, there are several types available for a buck and several more varieties for $2. They go down perfectly with the half-priced drafts. (Multiple locations.) 3432 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, docmagrogans.com/philadelphia.
Millennium Skate World
There's nothing more classic than a spin around a roller rink, and there's nowhere better to lace up your skates than at Millennium Skate World, where the rink is huge (it holds 450 skaters), DJs spin tunes, and on Tuesdays, you can skate for as little as $4, including rental. 1900 Carman Street, Camden, NJ 08105, unitedskates.com/public/camden/index.cfm.
The John B. Kelly Pool
This tree-lined, 800,000-gallon Fairmount Park oasis mercifully has eight lanes, so it can accommodate lap swimmers looking to zone out and squealing kids looking to play Marco Polo. You can tell your snobby friends who belong to the Lombard Swim Club that it has pedigree, too: It's named for Grace Kelly's father, who championed its creation. 4231 North Lansdowne Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19131, facebook.com/John-B-Kelly-Pool-158562017548105.
The Fillmore
When we heard that someone was converting a former World War II munitions factory in Fishtown into a 2,500-person music venue, we pictured a drab, soulless cavern (cough, Electric Factory). Thank God we were wrong. The concert hall is sleek, the bars are well staffed (never miss three songs while waiting for a drink again!), and the sight lines are so good, you won't find a bad seat in the house. It's the all-grown-up-yet-totally-cool venue we've been waiting for. 29 East Allen Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, thefillmorephilly.com.
Juliet Hope Wayne
This cool West Philly seamstress will come to your house and teach your kids and their friends how to make stuffed animals, messenger bags and doll outfits. Before her visit, she'll talk through design ideas with the kids, and once she arrives, you can sit back and have a glass of wine: She brings all the fabric, scissors, rulers and real sewing machines, not those silly starter models that don't work. Service areas include Philadelphia, Delaware County and the Main Line. Juliethopewayne@gmail.com. Philadelphia, PA
Frankford Avenue, Fishtown
Thirteenth Street is overpopulated with Jersey imports and Passyunk Avenue is more about the food, so when you want to bar-hop, put on your hipster-deflection shields and hit this corridor, which is dotted with great, unfussy spots like Fishtown Tavern (bring-your-own-vinyl night!), Bottle Bar East (half-priced happy hour drafts!), Johnny Brenda's (great pool table!) and Sancho Pistola's (nachos!). And if Uber is surging through the roof, fear not: The Market-Frankford El stop is here and gets you to City Hall (or Jefferson Station, for you suburbanites) in under eight minutes. Philadelphia, PA 19125,
Spa Terme di Aroma
A chair massage at this Old City spa is quite possibly the best $15 you'll ever spend: Expert hands melt away tension while you zone out for 15 minutes. Call ahead and you can usually score an appointment just a few minutes in advance. 32 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, termediaroma.com.
Dtown Tech
This shop will fix all your portable gadgets (phones, tablets, laptops) with that elusive tech-pro ease, offering services from virus removal to damaged-part replacement. The straight-talking staff does its best to always get your machine and your normal heart rate back to you in 24 hours. 17 East Oakland Avenue, Doylestown, PA 18901, dtowntech.com.
Pristine Hand Carwash Lube & Detail Center
Instead of the usual harsh spinning scrubbers and high-powered sprayers in an automatic tunnel, at Pristine you'll find a team of workers, sponges up, ready to carefully soap away stubborn street grime. How carefully? Just ask the owners of all those fancy Italian sports cars in line with you. 1000 Haddonfield Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, facebook.com/pages/Pristine-Hand-Carwash-Lube-Detail-Center/269314083110116.
November Project
Head to the Art Museum at 6:25 on Wednesday mornings or Franklin Field at the same time on Fridays, and you'll see a fitness flash mob: more than 100 (crazy?) people doing burpees and squats in unison. It's all part of the Facebook-and-Twitter-fueled fitness movement, now in 17 cities, that came to Philly earlier this year. The 40-minute boot-camp-style workouts are open to all and totally free. november-project.com.
Clark Park
On sunny Saturdays, this nine-acre West Philly park turns into a scene from Game of Thrones if Game of Thrones were peopled with kids and propped with foam weapons. The game a make--believe battle royale on the grass is called LARP (Live Action Role Playing), but that's hardly the only amusement you'll find here: There's volleyball; there's frisbee; there's petanque (like bocce, but French). And if you just want to sit in one spot all day (you lazy bastard), there's chess beside the Charles Dickens statue. Game on! 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, friendsofclarkpark.org.
Ame Salon and Spa
Hitting up the "drip bar" is more than just Rihanna's latest obsession. The process fluids mixed with vitamins, taken intravenously seems to have legit health benefits. (We felt an instant boost that lasted all week!) Nurse Michael Anne McAllister spent years working with cancer patients and saw the power of this liquid firsthand, so she started Longevity Aesthetics, a business that treats everyone from those who are sick (cancer, Lyme disease) to your average run-down multi-tasker (i.e., all of us). According to McAllister, benefits include energy, glowing skin, shiny hair and our favorite removal of brain fog. 111 Waynewood Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087, amesalonandspa.com/index.html.