Pittsburgh!

I recently had the honor of serving as a bridesmaid in my dear friend Kelsey's wedding.  She got hitched in Pittsburgh, so Adam and I decided to make a mini-vacation out of our trip.  

We had been to Pittsburgh a few years ago to visit my friend.  It was actually right after we lost our baby. While the last thing I wanted to do was travel during that time, I'm so happy we decided to go.  Being around my sweet friend helped me in more ways than she'll ever know.

Luckily, this trip was filled with far more happiness.  My friend got married at the National Aviary.  It was such a unique venue!  There is a gorgeous garden on the grounds, which was where the ceremony took place.  

  

And all of the exhibits were open during the reception, which added to the fun.  Who doesn't want to visit penguins during a wedding reception?  (On a side note, I think Adam and I might have had one too many Rose-Marry-Me cocktails.)

In addition to participating in all the wedding festivities, we also managed to enjoy lots of delicious food around Pittsburgh.  My favorite meal was our donut breakfast from Peace, Love & Little Donuts.  They were downright delightful!  

Craft beers are a big deal in Pittsburgh.  While I'm not a beer fan, Adam was more than happy to try out some craft beers.  We enjoyed Penn Brewery so much that we went back a second time.  Adam also tried out some beer from Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh and reported it to be tasty.  The atmosphere was fun and included a live accordionist.

Adam discovered a cute little coffee shop located near the place we were staying.  He enjoyed the coffee while I enjoyed some iced tea.  It was located in an old building that had lots of charm.      

      

I promise we did more than just drink.  We ate a lot too.  :)  We stopped by Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room to enjoy some brick oven pizza.  We went with a prosciutto and asparagus pizza, which was super delicious.

We didn't want to go hungry, so we also made sure to try out a couple ice cream joints.  Millie's Homemade Ice Cream was our first stop.  It was good, but didn't hit the top of our favorite ice cream ever list. 

While we were standing in line for Millie's, Adam asked someone if the ice cream was worth standing in line for.  They said it was good, but that we should try out Antney's Ice Cream if we really wanted to be wowed.  It happened to be located on our way to the airport, so we stopped by on our way out of town. Boy, was I happy we did!  It was delicious!   

To work off some of the delicious food and beverages we consumed, we decided to hit up Kennywood. Kennywood is an amusement park, which was tons of fun!  There were quite a few roller coasters, two of which were built in the 1920s and still operate today!  I must admit, I was a bit nervous getting on the roller coasters after reading the placards stating when they were built.  Luckily, they lasted another day and provided Adam and I lots of fun.  We had big smiles plastered on our faces all day long.  

We also hit up the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden.  I loved this place!  

The plants and flowers were gorgeous!  There were different rooms with different themes and climates. I highly recommend this place if you love gardens or flowers.  

One of my favorite parts was the butterfly garden.  There were hundreds of butterflies fluttering around! I pretty much felt like a Disney princess.

Adam and I had a wonderful time in Pittsburgh!  It's definitely worth a visit if you've never been before!