Weekend Getaway

I've just returned from a weekend with J&J in Pittsburgh. I've been several times, but this was the first time I was able to explore the city in depth. My legs are achy and my skin a tad sunburned, but I have to give the city full marks. It has the same "old" city, blue collar feel as Cleveland, but it's less ghetto, less snowy, and much better looking with all those rivers and bridges. Except for their lack of an NBA team (and the difficulty of finding parking ANYWHERE), I'm hard-pressed to come up with any complaints.

The first thing to note is this was the Phillies/Pirates rivalry weekend, and even though I have no affiliation to either team (unless you count that pack of Phillies baseball cards I had when I was a kid), it was fun to be there to see the Pirates win in the bottom of the 12th on Friday night. Saturday brought, among other things, my introduction to the most fabulous little donut shop on the planet, a walk through the strip district (mostly food and clothes), a ride up and down the "incline" to see the view of the city, but the day was mostly ruled by the Pittsburgh Arts Festival.

I wasn't prepared for how many fun vendors I would find, particularly in the jewelry arena. I'm pretty much single-sourced when it comes to my jewelry (well, a source for fine and a source for the odd/antique style I like), but I've now more than doubled my list of suppliers. How there are so many talented people out there, I'll never know. I also discovered a charming if not somewhat random letter press company (KES, I think you would love them) as well as one who was matting and framing words customers selected from hundreds of choices of nature and city-inspired pictures of letters. If that doesn't make any sense, maybe this will clarify:



Also worth mentioning, because it is a must whenever I am near one, is the obligatory trip to IKEA. I never have any must-haves in mind when I go, but that's why I like going. Because I love walking around and placing in my blue and yellow bag whatever strikes my fancy. And the assembled rooms and ensembles is a genius marketing move, because if I see something I like, I must have it. All of it. Case in point: I passed a fully-made bed in the bedding area, and it was so delightful that I said to J, "If all those things were just sitting here, I would buy them." As it was, we ran around for a few minutes gathering the sheets, the pillows, the additional decorative pillows, and the duvet cover (I had also managed to spot a matching lamp on the floor above), and so even though I had no intention of buying new bedding (nor did I even need it), it was one of those refreshingly impulsive purchases that makes you feel (I can't believe I'm about to say this about merely buying something at IKEA) like you're living.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip in fabulous company, and I've got some fabulous spoils to show for it.




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