Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts

10.16.2012

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!

7.15.2012

{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!

3.31.2012

Sewickley Saturday

This afternoon, I'm doing my usual weekend ritual of blogging while doing laundry at my favorite laundromat in Shadyside. While waiting on my clothes to get sloshy-fresh, I'll recount my day stay-cation with Husband from now two weekends ago in Sewickley. {I promise, this will be the last Sewickley post for a while.}
We began our stay-cation to Sewickley by driving over the 40th Street Bridge across the Allegheny River, then veered out towards our destination. It was a foggy morning, which is somewhat typical in PGH during transitional weather times.
We arrived in Sewickley at 9:30AM, full of coffee and ready for the day. Our first stop was the Sewickley Spa, where I'd arranged for both Husband and I to have a de-knotting neck and back treatment. This is the most popular treatment, and that's surely because it's a great relief for those that work at a computer all day.  
The spa is in a covered house on Beaver Street, one of the main drags in the small town of Sewickley. This is typical for many other small businesses in the area. 
Adorable, yes?
I snapped a quick photo of Husband and I before we went in for our treatment. 
Inside, the house was outfitted with serene decorations/colors. I was cavalier enough to take a few photos while changing into my robe in the bathroom. {I didn't want to be that person.}

After our glorious de-knotting massage treatment, we decompressed in the waiting area. We had our choice of hot tea, lemon water, trail mix, little cakes, and tarts. Of course, we HAD to sample them all.
Husband's declaration of manhood.
We sat there for a good half hour, and weren't disturbed at all. Lovely.
As we were leaving, we noticed a small water feature in the front of the house, complete with little goldfish.
Now that the relaxation was over, it was time to get down to business. We walked up Beaver Street, and enjoyed the "small town-ness" of it all.
We stopped at The Sewickley Cafe for an early lunch {read the review here}, and began shopping in the boutiques and shops afterwards. Evidently, Sewickley was having a soup crawl, and many of the shop owners were participating. {So, WHY did we go PAY for lunch?!?}
Our first stop was in House 15143, which featured a soup from Vivo Kitchen {another restaurant on my wish list}.
A word about the shop - it's incredible. It was a reflection of what we're hoping to achieve in our guest room*, colors and all. Grey and yellow are my "thing" right now. And chevron, it seems.
House 15143 is trendy without being vapid. Sometimes home decor can be just "what's hot" rather than useful. Case-in-point. 

Husband enjoyed the wall of candles, before we moved on. {If you saw my elated post on Facebook, I'll discuss that pillow later!}
We walked along the main streets of Sewickley, and I captured a few photos as we dodged the hungry soup-crawlers.




Inside another home decor shop on Beaver St.
The small town charm was almost too much to take.
Jewelry corner in Threadz Boutique. Look at that chair!
We stopped into Village Candy, and gaped at their selection of bottled drinks. 
Husband, without doubt, chose a Dublin Dr Pepper {May it rest in peace}. 
He's happy about it.
I went for a new-to-me drink - Cheerwine. Unfortunately, there's no wine in the ingredient list, and it tastes strangely like Cherry Coke, but I drink it happily. I can't even imagine how good an ice cream float would be with this stuff.

Then, we decided to get a good look at the non-commercial areas of Sewickley by taking a car tour. With the windows down. The breeze blowing and the sun shining, it was a glorious drive. The houses were insane. If you're looking for that small-town, babyville, this is it! It would be perfect to raise a family there. {Don't get any ideas.}

We ended the day with a dinner of wine and light bites at The Naked Grape Enoteca {You can read my review here}. 
What a delightful day! It was nice to escape the city for a day and enjoy Sewickley. Where should we explore next?

*Note: We're renting this house in Lawrenceville with an extra bedroom + bathroom {guest suite!} for when folks from Texas come visit this summer. It was a mad dash to finish it, what with our first guest coming in mid-April. Look out for a post on the finished suite!

10.19.2011

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. 

10.16.2011

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!

10.14.2011

Chicago! Part 2

Day two started with a bit of a setback. I had arranged for a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home, studio and surrounding homes in Oak Park for what I thought was 8:30am. Turns out, the tour was actually for 10:30am. So, we woke up early, grabbed coffee and rode the L (train) out to Oak Park/Harlem. We were 3 stops away before realizing this. We ended up riding the train for an hour. But it was nice to chat over coffee and see the sights of the green line.

Once we got back, we walked past Millennium Park, and explored Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain. Now, I'm not one for fountains, but this one was spectacular.

Statue outside of the Art Institute of Chicago

Southern-most point of Grant Park

Husband and I in front of Buckingham Fountain

Buckingham Fountain
After spending the morning by the fountain, we rode the L back to Oak Park. We viewed the surrounding neighborhood homes Frank Lloyd Wright designed first, then finished with a tour of his home and octagonal studio. This is a must-do in Chicago!
Home designed by Wright

Frank Thomas House (My favorite home on the tour)

Gorgeous art glass
 We headed back into the city after the tours were over, and shopped for a while on North Michigan Avenue, or the Magnificent Mile. Coming from Dallas, which could be considered one of the best shopping destinations in the South, it was somewhat of a letdown. We didn't encounter any stores that we didn't' have here at home. Not that I need a dress from Escada.

As we walked, I noticed a building that really stood out to me. And in an architectural city like Chicago, that's something. I stopped to read the plaque.
Plaque on the Carbide and Carbon Building
 Evidently, this 'champagne bottle' of a building was built by one of the main characters in the book I was reading at the time. How timely! :)
Carbide and Carbon Building

Carbine and Carbon Building
 For dinner we took it easy and had a burger and a Chicago area beer. Then we went on a City Lights cruise of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. What a windy trip!

The architecture was highlighted by (no pun intended) the lights. Gorgeous!
View from Lake Michigan on the City Lights cruise