A Pittsburgh 4rd of July

On the 4th of July Adam and I went to the Point to go see what was up at the Three Rivers Regatta. We read online that there were going to be dogs! and BMX bikers! and sand sculptures! and boat races! and we thought we should check it out. It was crazy hot out that day, so we weren't really planning on sticking around until the fireworks that night, since we had watched the ones the night before.

We got downtown around noon and had lunch at Meat and Potatoes before heading over to the Point. Adam wanted to see the dog show, but we got there a little early, so we went to the river to watch the boats practicing for the race.

Around 3PM we walked over to watch the dogs do their thing. They were all rescues and adorable!

Just behind the dog show were the guys on the BMX bikes. Those dude sure know how to rock it. I'm pretty sure like half of them were kids too.

It was a hot, but fun day. I'm looking forward to seeing the fireworks next year, hopefully this time without rain!

Father's Day in Cleveland: Part 1

For Father's Day, Adam and I drove out to Cleveland to spend it with my dad. My mom was in NY visiting with family and my dad was going to be alone and we couldn't have that, so off to Cleveland we went.

We had planned the night before to go downtown and check out the Cleveland Wine Festival. The tickets were $29 in advance/$35 at the door and you got "10 wine sample tickets"(i'll explain why this is in quotes later), 2 tickets for a full glass of beer, and a "souvenir wine glass"(ie. a plastic stemless cup). Adam and I had gone to a wine festival in the Berkshires, it was my prize for winning the Tanglewood photo contest in 2011. At that festival they gave us actual glasses imprinted with the wine fest logo, which was totally awesome. I was kind of bummed that the Cleveland one didn't do something similar, considering you pay quite a hefty entrance fee.

Anyway, we started off at the front where there were free mini pulled pork sliders and chicken legs courtesy of Garland Jack's BBQ sauce. I didn't get a pic of the food, but I did get a pic of the wet wipes you pulled from a pig's butt. They were also giving away free t-shirts if you challenged your friend to a sumo match wearing a pig or a cow costume on a giant grill. I also noticed some inflatable chicken legs, which I'm guessing you'd use if you were trying to go all American Gladiator on your friend instead.

We decided to save our beer tickets for after the wine tasting, so we headed into the fenced off wine tasting area next. We didn't really have any game plan other than trying to find a Spanish wine vendor. My dad had just visited the country and wanted to see what was being offered at the fest. We basically walked around and just tried things that sounded good. I mainly stuck with the white wines, occasionally throwing in a mead (mango flavored) or a hard cider (cherry flavored). One vendor I visited was from the Finger Lakes and had a brambleberry wine. To be honest, I was intrigued when he handed me a dark chocolate hershey kiss and told me to eat the kiss then drink the wine for a "delicious chocolate raspberry experience". He was right, it was delicious. We didn't even end up using all our tickets, because most vendors didn't even bother collecting them. I'm guessing they were meant to be a way to keep people from getting totally plastered.

There were a few demonstrations at the fest, including one by Barefoot winery on how to make sangria.

 By 5:30 PM it was getting overcast, wicked hot out, and super busy and we were ready to head out (the fest finished at 7:30 PM). We got in line at the Stella Artois booth to get our free glass of either Stella, Hoegaarden, Leffe beer or Stella hard cider. I got a Stella beer, dad got a Leffe and we just sat and enjoyed the evening for a while. I forgot to mention, we bought Adam a $10 designated driver ticket, which gave him 2 free non-alcoholic drinks. He's not a big drinker and this worked out well for us, we had a DD to drive us home.

On our way out, dad took a photo of Adam and I in front of Lake Erie.

We ended the evening with dinner at the B Spot and a Bruins loss (womp womp). On Sunday we visited Chagrin Falls, OH, so stay tuned for part 2!

Happy Easter!

I hope all my friends are having a very Happy Easter with their families and that you're filling up on delicious home cooked meals. We visited with my parents in Ohio for the weekend and got to have a Polish food extravaganza and we were also able to see some interesting Cleveland Americana, Eggshelland, which I'm going to talk about in this post.

My mom had heard about Eggshelland, an eggshell display in the front yard of a house in Lyndhurst, a few weeks ago and suggested we visit when we come out for Easter. She said that she read that they've been displaying the egg shells for the last 55 years, although she somehow only found out about it this year, and that unfortunately this would be the last one. The husband passed away this past year and the family is showing one final display this Easter.

We headed out, got there around 4PM, and were amazed to see that there was literally a line around the block.

It wasn't bad though, we waited about 10 minutes to get to the display.

I've seen photos from their previous displays and they've had everything from Mickey Mouse, to the Muppets, to birds and they were all incredible. This year was a bit less complex than ones they've done in the past, but rightly so. I'm still amazed at the organizational skills that went into this.

This year was a memorial to her late husband (that's his portrait in eggshells you see there), such a sweet thing!

Amazing that they've been doing this for 55 years and used 21,000 eggs in this display!!

The eggshells were painted by the husband by hand and lacquered to keep them preserved for the next year.

Here's Adam and I at Eggshelland.

They've had this bunny out every year.

Inside the garage they were selling off the eggs, a documentary DVD about them and a few other things. They also had this peg board full of the news articles about their displays over the years.

It was a really cool thing to see, I wish we had known about it before this year, I definitely would have loved to see what amazing things they created in the past. They're keeping the display up until April 5th, so if you're in the Cleveland area and looking for something to do this is it!

I'll hopefully be back with an update from my Disney trip soon. So stay tuned for that!

A Cleveland Christmas

A week before Christmas, Adam and I drove out to visit my parents in Cleveland. We weren't going to be able to see them for the actual day, so we decided to celebrate early.

As soon as we got there Adam's BFF Pearl came over to hang out with him.

We weren't at their house long before we decided to go out to dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company and visit the West Side Market. Ready for an almost all black and white photo post? OK, let's go!

We walked through the market on our way to the brewery to check out the place. We've all heard really amazing things about it and the different vendors there. I had no idea that there would be so many! We ended up buying some yummy cannolis - good stuff.

We didn't spend too much time at the market, because we wanted to put our name in at the restaurant.

I was actually surprised how big the Great Lakes Brewing Company was. There were 3 floors, it was really spread out, and there was a lot of seating. I guess I'm just used to the small breweries around here. It was pretty packed though - I think we waited about 45 minutes to get a table.

They had a ton of great brews available. I'm not a fan of the Christmas Ale (their seasonal pick), so I ended up choosing the Dortmunder Gold.

Downstairs, there was a whole other bar. This place was pretty cool, you could tell the building was really old by all little details that were in this room.

Here's me and my friend Dortmunder.

After dinner, we headed back to the house and had our Christmas present exchange. This year my parents gave me a new sewing machine. Totally pumped about this, since I've been using my mom's from the 1980's that has some... uhh... issues. Adam got a new pea coat. We win!

Here's another gratuitous cat shot to finish off the post! Ollie is so stinking handsome.

A Trip to Phipps

One afternoon I decided I had enough of writing (sometimes you just need a mental break) and I decided to head over and check out the holiday display at Phipps Conservatory.

I actually became a member in September, when I had gone twice in one week (once by myself and once with my family who was visiting) and I was really excited to see their holiday decorations this time around. As you walk up the stairs into the Palm Court, you see this pretty fireplace display complete with little Christmas trees.

Last time I was there, a docent told me to keep to the right when walking through the conservatory to keep me from getting lost. Still a good tip! Back in September, this room was filled with lots of greenery and tropical plants. This time it was all dressed up for the holidays with this fun door display and loads of poinsettias. I really liked the different wreaths on the doors. Gives me some ideas for next year! :)

Little potted plants - such a great idea for a wreath!

At the end of this room, there was this gorgeous wreath. I loved that it was mostly greenery, but the sweet little white flowers really made it pop and look amazing.

There were so many lady slippers in bloom in the orchid room!

In the South Conservatory there was a large train and village display that represented the opening of the Phipps Conservatory and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

I loved this little house with the snow covered roof. According to the sign in the photo below, the Worlds Fair that year was lit by a Pittsburgh based company, Westinghouse. It also mentioned that the tropical plants that were on display at the fair were transported to the Phipps Conservatory when it closed.

How cool is this little replica of the Phipps? The details are so incredible! 

As I worked my way up and around checking out all the little details, I found a train passing by and a horse drawn buggy in the center of a miniature town.

There was a little Ferris Wheel to represent the original one seen at the Chicago World's Fair (I saw this guy's twin at the Carnegie Museum of Art's tree display).

The building in the center of this photo was a miniature version of the Horticulture Exhibit hall, which held all kinds of large tropical plants at the fair.

After I felt like I had seen everything at the train display, I walked around some other rooms and found some cute details. I liked the little squirrels trimming the tree with oranges and the pretty kissing ball hanging from a light.

The Sunken Garden was also made up for the holidays with poinsettias galore.

Poinsettias seemed to be a theme in most of the rooms, including the Broderie Room. I loved the pops of red in the green shrubbery.

The East Room had snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and an adorable little family of bears (with bowties) down by the water.

I wasn't able to get a good photo of the large Christmas tree in the center of the Victoria Room. I think the lighting that day was just not cooperative. Here's a shot of it taken with my iPhone. I loved the reflection in the water.

A few days later, I went back after a brief snowfall to take some photos of the building at night. Look how pretty it is all lit up!

I wish I was able to go at night to see the Winter Light display in the Outdoor Garden, but it just didn't happen this trip. Hopefully next year!