{Travel} Toronto

It's been almost two months since we were in Canada, but Toronto is too spectacular to not post about. I'll go ahead and tell you now that this trip was so short that we were barely in the city for 24 hours. {18 hours is my best guess.}

So, it was a brief spectacular.

{Travel} Road Tripping to Lexington & Cincy

To continue the streak of short, cheap value-conscious trips, Husband and I jumped in my beloved 2006 Jetta and drove to Lexington to meet our friend James, who recently moved to Nashville. {Evidently it shall not be referred to as NashVEGAS, which is likened to calling San Francisco, 'Frisco. Oops.} You may remember James from his guest post during Pittsburgh Craft Beer week last year.  Anyway, according to Meetways.com, Covington, KY is the mid-point between these two fine cities. Covington is across the river from Cincinnati, so we called for a road trip.  

Cincy is about 4 and three-quarters hours from Pittsburgh, so we left around 2pm...to get stuck in PGH traffic! Lesson learned.

Husband and James love craft beverages, thus we made a side trip {or a starting point?} of Lexington, Kentucky. We rolled into town around 9pm on Friday night, amidst the rain. Husband and I had just finished listening to Wave, so we were definitely in the mood for a drink.

Off to Toronto!

As the summer semester winds down for husband {mine is ramping up!}, we are planning to use our weekend the best we can.  He'll be studying in the car for his financial accounting final exam, but hey, all eyes will be on our destination:

Shapes of Toronto, print available here.

Starting dark and early on Sunday, we're road tripping to Toronto, Ontario {Canada, y'all}. It's so close to Pittsburgh {< 5 hours, around 300 miles}, and we've been dying to go check it out some weekend. We've cut back on a few things so that we could go this year, what with two graduate school tuitions, moving, mandatory? holiday travel, the usual anniversary hullabaloo, etc.

We scored some good tickets to an unmentioned-until-husband-approves concert on Sunday night, so that'll be the main event. Since it's such a quick trip, I have a few things lined up that we may or may not have time to do - so everything will be shrouded in secrecy until we come back to PGH.

If I don't see y'all before then, have a wonderful weekend! See you guys Tuesday!

{Travel} Chicago 2013, Part 2

Instead of studying for my Six Sigma quiz for Monday, I'm going to talk to you readers about Chicago. Yes, again. However, this will be the last post for this year's Chitown trip - I've run out of photos to upload. It's true.

Day Three

We started our last full day in Chicago with a coffee and a stroll through the Loop's parks. {This seems to be a trend.} One thing I didn't pick up on last time we were there in September was that Chicago certainly loves their planters. Truly. There are pops of gorgeous color all over the city, this time to welcome the warmer months. 

Case in point:

Not a planter but a tree, ok.

 What a glorious way to celebrate the change in the seasons. Unbearable cold, wintriness to bright sunny days with flora perfume in the air.

Future Travel Destinations

We've got the travel bug.
Although, I'm not so sure that's a good bug to have when you're on a budget and in school. So...
That aside: Now that Husband and I are back from our mini vacation in Chicago, we thought it would be a good time to update our 'Future Travel Destinations' list. The list is usually a top ten we morph into a top-whatever-number of cities, combining duplicates. For now, our list just ventures to cities in North America. We love to road trip, so if a city is close, that's a bonus.
Without further chit-chat, here's our combined list {in no certain order}:

1. Chicago: I mean, what more can I say? It's seriously a love affair.

The Gold Coast in Chicago.

2. Boston: A rainy day in Boston is what dreams are made of.  And, I want a dream real, real soon.

Rainy day in Boston, in 2008 on our honeymoon.

3. San Francisco: Visiting this city never gets old. Food. Fun. Family.

Via dar-za-me.blogspot.com

4. Austin: A not-so-secret love of ours. 

Now, on to the cities we both haven't yet visited together {or, haven't spent 'vacation' time in, only traveling-though}:

5. Boulder, Colorado: A city to showcase crazy wonderful art with a natural backdrop. I've been there many moons ago, and I think it's time to go back and explore.

6. Toronto: We'll be visiting Toronto this summer for a concert and our 5th wedding anniversary. It'll be my first time out of the country!

7. Vancouver: The 'west coast' of Canada is calling our names, especially after the Olympics. 

8. San Jose, Costa Rica: The photos from this place are incredible. I can only imagine the food.

9.  Road Town, British Virgin Islands: Husband has been to the Bahamas and other islands in this area, but I've yet to see the sun-washed colors of this island paradise.

10. Jackson, Wyoming: Stuck in the middle of the Grand Tetons. Done.

11. Seattle: Yet another rainy city after my heart. I hear they have coffee, too? Wink.

12. Helena & Butte, Montana: Wide-open, gorgeous spaces. 

13. Mexico City/Oaxaca, Mexico: The food. The tile. The colors. Arguably the best place in the world to eat mole sauce. Hello, lover.

14. Nashville & Franklin: Now that we have friends living there, we'll be visiting the Nashville & Franklin area hopefully in the next year.

15. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: After reading Margaret Atwood's Surfacing, I knew I wanted to see the eerie fog lifting off the lakes of eastern Canada. What better place to start than N.S., riddled with small bodies of water.

What are your top ten cities you'd like to visit? Why? Convince me!

{Travel} Chicago: Architecture, Art and Steak

We're back!
Chicago was the beautiful, bustling city we remember from our third wedding anniversary {Read Part one, two, three & four}. We fell in love all over again...with Chicago. It's certainly on the 'short list' of places we'd like to end up.

Today I write this post on my day off {flex scheduling is great, y'all}, while the rain pours outside. Sipping on a hot chocolate, too.  However, even with those lovely things, I am still missing my time in Chicago.
We started our vacation the night before, by having dinner at The Porch at Schenley. We shared the fig, arugula and goat cheese pizza {along with calamari and a salad}. Wonderful as usual, especially sitting out on THE PORCH itself, looking out to the garden and carousel. You can read my previous review here and be sure to hone in on those crispy potatoes.

Day One
Husband and I decided to road trip out to Illinois, rather than dealing with the lameness that is Pittsburgh International Airport. It was a great decision, and we saw parts of Ohio and Indiana we'd never seen. We stopped in South Bend for lunch, and took a brief self-guided tour of Notre Dame.

Immediately when we got into Chicago after our 7-hour drive, we stopped at Target to get a few things before going to the hotel. Somehow we can't escape missing putting a crucial item in the luggage.  We were greeted in Target with a nice selection of spirits and wine, which was a breath of fresh air from Pittsburgh grocery stores.
We sailed down State with our loot, and took a few car photos of the buildings. You just can't ignore Chicago's architecture.

{Travel} NYC Part 3

Day three of our anniversary trip started with a 'breakfast' at Laduree, which specializes in French macaroons. This was a must-stop on our Upper East Side list.

{Photo Blink} of the Finger Lakes

I've got dinner in the oven for our first fall dinner party, and am taking a break from tidying up the house to write a {Photo Blink} of our travels in Erie, PA and the Finger Lakes region of NY.  Enjoy!

Stones on the shore of Presque Isle.

Over the Weekend {Again.}

We're back! I surprised Husband with a weekend in the Finger Lakes region of New York state for his birthday.

The view from our B&B near Cayuga Lake.

Per usual, I'll write about our comings and goings when I get some downtime. I hope your week is going well!

{Travel} NYC: Part 2

It's back on you guys - I've written another NYC post! Enjoy.

Day two of our anniversary trip to NYC started with a tiny breakfast {aka coffee}, showering, primping and taking our time. After the previous day, we needed to take a few minutes longer getting ready. We hopped a subway to Chelsea, where Husband had a surprise activity planned.

Surprise! We went on a tour of Chelsea Market!

Weekend Surprises

Husband is the best. Let's just start with that.
Late this last week, he told me not to make plans for Saturday - a surprise was coming. As most of my long-time readers/friends know, he's not too good at keeping a secret. Usually, I know within hours of him making preparations. That being said, Saturday was very much a surprise.

{Travel} NYC: Part I

I know we've been back for about 2 weeks now, but I'm just now getting around to sharing photos of our anniversary trip to NYC.  Don't hate me.

In true {ADOS} style, this post will be photo-driven!

After landing at JFK {never again! It's almost like it's in another state!}, our pre-arranged car took us to our hotel on Central Park South.

Morning view from our hotel room in Midtown.

Lone Photo

Hi there.  Yes, it's true that Husband and I are back from our fabulously wonderful trip to NYC this past week, but, no, I am not here to write a ludicrously long post about our travels.  I'm here to tell you that I'm knee-deep in readings/assignments/projects for my graduate courses, and won't be able to update you lovely readers until later this week {I hope}.
However
I will leave you with a favorite photo from our trip to ponder.  They say pictures are worth at least a thousand words, yes?

Walking in Central Park.

Destination: NYC

And, we're off!

Source: roseandhudson.tumblr.com via Kelly on Pinterest

See you on Wednesday!

Part Two: Weekender Bag

I need to sing Husband's praises - He actually read my blog post about weekender bags, then suggested we go shopping for one after work today!  What a surprise!

{Travel} The Weekender Bag

As Husband and I are starting to collect our wits about us for our upcoming trip to NYC, I've come to realize that I have a luggage dilemma.

Here's the thing: This trip will be for less than a week {surrounding a weekend}, and we're likely going to be doing a lot of walking. These two factors equal a situation where I don't have a ton of items I plan on bringing {this never happens} other than a few outfits, good walking shoes, and maybe a pair of wedges.  Most of my luggage is semi-soft sided, and rolls on wheels. 

It may just be a fascination with the actual piece of zippered perfection, but I'm in need of a Weekender Bag.

{Travel} New York!

Each year, Husband and I take a short trip to celebrate our anniversary.  Our first year we headed to El Dorado Lake outside of Wichita, Kansas, to camp out under the stars.  The next year Husband completely surprised me and took me on a trip to San Antonio, to spend our anniversary on the Riverwalk.  Our third anniversary was in the windy city, Chicago, which I recounted in not one but many posts {1, 2, 3 & 4}.
Those are some of my favorite vacations and certainly some of my most cherished memories.
This year, our minds were just about made up for us shortly after we moved to PA - We're taking a trip to see The City: New York!  It's such a short distance now that we're not in Texas, and we couldn't pass up visiting NYC for our first real trip outside of our new home.

via http://www.theflyper.com

If you've visited at ANY point in your life, please comment with your favorite moments.  Even walking down a particular street to see something out of the ordinary.  Even a tiny hole-in-the wall restaurant with amazing food.  Even the touristy stuff.  I want it all!

Camping Near Morraine State Park

I'm finally getting around to posting about our adventures in camping...from last weekend! We had a great time camping near Morraine State Park {not inside the park because of rules} at Rose Point Park, which is just a 10-minute dive away from the state park {And one of the few places open for camping in April*}.

Near the entrance to Rose Point is a close bridge, made of metal and concrete. We stopped to look at the architecture of it and take photos of it's gorgeous rust.

Check out more photos after the jump!

Chicago! Parts 3 & 4

This will be my final post on Chicago. Don't jump for joy...or cry. 

I hope you've enjoyed reliving the trip with me.

Day three started with a photo.

This one.

 Today was going to be our "finish the City Pass" day. We'd done a little lollygagging, and now it was time to get serious. We walked to the Shedd Aquarium first, but after we grabbed our daily dose of coffee. :)

The biggest lobster you've ever seen. He was at least 1.5 feet long.

Afterwards, we headed next door to the Field Museum. What a HUGE museum. 

We were only able to see about 40% of it, because of time constraints. 

Yes, that's a life-size whale.

 As we walked back to the hotel to get changed for that evening, we stopped and bought some gourmet popcorn. There's quite a few popcorn stands and shops in Chicago. 

Yet another reason to absolutely love Chicago.

That night we dressed up for dinner.

At Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse

We had to have the three. 

There are three notably Chicago foods.  Deep dish pizza (check), hot dogs (soon to be checked), and steak. We chose to have our big, nice, schmantzy dinner at Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse. Soon after we were seated, the waitress welcomed us with this platter of goodness. 

Lobster and various cuts of beef.

 Michael and I ordered the top cut (on the plate), the Chicago Cut. When in Rome, right? 

He ordered his peppercorn-crusted. I opted for a small pat of butter.

Michael's Peppercorn-Crusted Chicago Cut Steak

 We ended the night by strolling through the Gold Coast, window shopping and holding hands like an old married couple. (But full of delicious steak.)

Day four began with grabbing coffee and heading to the Lincoln Park area to visit the Chicago History Museum. For some reason, this museum wasn't listed in our fabulous guidebook on the top things to do in Chicago. Considering this was my first visit to Chicago, I think the city's history museum is a must-see.

Michael at the Chicago History Museum

We worked up an appetite exploring the CHM, so we were ready for lunch. 

Public transit time! 

(Note: I LOVE public transit. I'm pretty sure that's not normal. It must be because of the lack of legit public transit options here in DFW. Yes, we have DART and TRE, but it's not the same as the L!)

Waiting for the bus

 We caught the bus to Wrigleyville, and stopped at The Wiener's Circle. 

We ordered two types of hotdogs, completing our Chicago three. 

The Wiener's Circle

Unfortunately, my hotdog photos didn't turn out. 

We all know what a Chicago dog looks like though, right? I would hope you do.

We grabbed another bus and headed to Wrigley Field, intending on having a tour. However, since they were super pricey tours, we opted for taking tons of photos outside. I'll only subject you to two.

Michael outside of Wrigley Field

Me outside of Wrigley Field

We caught the L back to Downtown, and packed up our stuff to head to the airport. 

What a fabulous vacation! As I've recounted the details to friends, I keep saying it's a perfect city for whatever you're looking for. Romance. Foodie finds. Family fun. Shopping. In whatever form you like to have fun, Chicago has it. For as much as we did on this anniversary trip, we weren't able to do it all. Definitely in my top 5 vacations EVER.

 I would go back in a heartbeat. 

Dining Out in Chicago

Michael and I ate at Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse for our big anniversary dinner on the third night we were in Chicago. It was delicious, and I'll talk about the food in my next Chicago post. 

For now, let's talk about my outfit.

Purse: Michael Kors | Bracelet: Carolina Herrera

Jacket: Nordstrom Rack

Dress: H&M | Belt: Target

Tights: Target | Shoes: Michael Kors

It was a windy, cool evening. Perfection!