Five on Friday

 

It's Friyay!!!!   I am linking up with  A. Liz  and  Co. for another week of Five on Friday.

 

1.  This past weekend my grandparents came and visited DFH and I in Pittsburgh.   We had a great weekend.  I showed them some of my favorite sights, we took in the views from Mt. Washington, tried a few new restaurants  ( Cafe I.O. in Mt. Lebanon is delicious if you are local), tasted beer at the Spoonwood Brewery and biked 17 miles on the Heritage Trail around the city ( pretty impressive for a couple in their 80's).      We had the best time and only wish we lived closer to them.

 

 

 

2.  Love Locks of Pittsburgh.

 

 

  Have you ever heard of the Love Lock bridge in Paris?  It is a bridge where lovers/friends/families from around the world have attached locks to the bridge symbolizing their love for one another.  ( See picture below)

 

 

Well, Pittsburgh has started their own LoveLock bridge on the Roberto Clemente bridge downtown.   It is in the early stages, but each time I am downtown I notice more locks have been added. 

 

 

 

 So while my grandparents, DFH, and I were on our bike ride we added our own love locks to the bridge. 

 

 

I love that a little piece of us will be attached to the city.

 

3.  I am really impressed with J. Crew right now, I have about 100 things on my wish list from both the store and factory.    On the top of my list are these crossbody bags that have monogram options.  (  You know my love of monogrammed bags) and I love that they both come in a ton of different colors. 

 

 

VIA

VIA

 

 

4.  Winter Boot Help Needed!!!    Each morning and evening I walk to and from the T- station ( the train) from my house to work and back regardless of the weather.  Last year in the winter I wore my Hunter rain boots with the flannel sock liners on my walk to work, but on really cold snowy days my feet were icicles.    For the past year I have been searching for a pair of winter boots that are waterproof and will keep my feet warm on 10 degree days, easy to get on and off, and also don't look completely ridiculous with my dressier wool work coat, but I haven't found anything.  I would love any suggestions!

 

 

 

 

5. Peach Tea Monograms 

Back in August I won this Peach Tea Monograms mason jar from the lovely  Alexandra Bee Blog and have gotten so much use out of it.  It is the perfect size and the lid and straw make it easy for travel.  It is my go-to cup when bringing a drink while running errands.   Plus how fabulous is the pineapple monogram decal ?!  

 

 

 

 

 

     Check out their Etsy site, they have so many cute items and monogram decals which would make the perfect gifts. 

  

  Enjoy your weekend. 

2 Years.

   Today marks our two year wedding anniversary!!!

 Sometimes it feels like we have been married forever ( we have been dating for almost 10 years) and other times it feels like our wedding day was yesterday, but I do wish I could do that day all over again.  It really was one of the best. days. ever. 

 

  We celebrated on Saturday with a date night downtown. We started off with drinks and apps at The Commoner and then dinner at Butcher and the Rye which is famous for its whiskeys and meats. 

   How cool is their bar?!  I love the vintage library ladder. We shared a few small plates and everything was incredible. I highly suggest the pig's wing if you are local.  

 We ended the night at Andy's in the Fairmont hotel for some wine and snapped the only picture of us we took all night. 

 

Clearly we were having too much fun.

 

 

     Tonight we are celebrating with lobster and champagne...my favorite.

                                               Cheers to many, many, many, more happy years DFH!

Where I Have Been...

 Surprise, Surprise I fell off the blogging wagon again.  At least I'm consistent.  Don't worry my loyal followers you haven't missed too much in the exciting lives of myself and DFH.  We have been too busy traveling, hosting guests, and attending events to do anything else productive, so there hasn't been much cooking, crafting or renovating to blog about.  I will share some of our adventures from the past 1.5 months.

        In August LES and I traveled to DC to visit our friend AWG who is one of my sorority sisters.  We explored the Eastern Market, Georgetown, and the waterfront and ate and drank way too much. 

Labor Day weekend we attended our friend's Kasey and Jeremy's wedding.  The reception was held in a photography studio in the South Side of Pittsburgh.  The studio had a pemanent photo booth ( my favorite thing ever) and a whole room of props.  I was in photo booth heaven and pretty much stayed there the whole night.  There was even a live stream of the booth in the reception so you could watch everyone. 

Also, all specialty drinks should have Rock Candy sticks.  

We ended the summer with perfect weather and a Sunday Funday with some of our favorite people.

The following weekend we flew to NY for my cousin's wedding.  I took so many pictues I will do a full post about that weekend soon. 

DFH and I with the bride and groom

We celebrated Baby S. and ALV at a super fun shower ( more to come on this too)

My sister JLP and her fiancée visited and we took them to Meat and Potatoes for brunch ( best Bloody Mary bar in Pittsburgh) 

We did some tastings at the Pittsburgh Winery

 

and we were total tourists on Mt. Washington

 

DFH's parents came into town and we cheered on the Pirates

 

We then went to more baseball games....

 

...and more weddings. 

 

Regardless of the weather we had the best time celebrating Gwynne and James

And I am sure you know where we spent most of our time at the reception....

 

 

Hope you all have an awesome weekend.  Monday marks our 2 year Wedding Anniversary so we have some plans to celebrate over the weekend.  

Long Beach Island

      This is a way overdue post I drafted in the summer, but just realized I never posted it. Ohh well, let's pretend it's still beach weather.  

    Back in July we spent a few days on Long Beach Island with my family.  It was the first time this summer we made it to the ocean and I don't think I realized how badly I needed a break from work and real life until we go there.  

              After a summer of daily rainstorms, it was so nice to be greeted by this gorgeous sunset.  

 

 

On Friday DFH and I got in some morning exercise on the paddle boards. This was DFH's first time on the paddle board and in typical DFH fashion he thought he was going to be a rock star at paddle boarding due to his stellar snowboard and skateboard skills... But after some balance struggles. and falling in the water that chip came off his shoulder.  

Friday afternoon was a perfect beach day and I was excited to use our monogram beer holders that I got for my birthday a few months ago. 

The weekend was a mini family reunion with my family, my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle.  

               

 The original crew.  

      JLP and I rocking sea creature attire. 

 

On Saturday DFH and I biked down to the lighthouse with my Dad.  Why is bike riding always so much better at the beach? 

Saturday afternoon was another excellent beach day with huge waves, day beers, a good book and twinning with JLP. 

 

Saturday night we took about 1000 pictures and enjoyed a seafood feast. 

 

    How funny is the picture below?! 

 

      The whole fam damily ( minus a few)

 

I forgot how delicious raw oysters and clams tasted. Picture perfect. 

 

The boil. 

 

On Sunday we took the boat out to a local restaurant The Dutchman for lunch.

 

We came back to the house and did some crabbing.  My uncle had the magic touch and caught this big guy who we cooked and smothered in Old Bay.

 

 

We ended our trip just the way we started it with a vibrant sunset.  

Until next year LBI!