our road trip to pittsburgh!

Hello & Happy Monday!

A few weeks ago Pete and I went on a road trip with my brother Dave and his boyfriend Mikey. We wanted to go somewhere new & explore and since Pittsburgh is only about five hours from Toronto we thought it would be fun to go for it.

We all researched some cool places to go and before we knew it we had a seriously jam packed weekend on our hands! We had lots of laughs, good drinks, great food and saw some really awesome stuff. I am sure there are some cool things we didn't quite get to in our weekend in Pittsburgh, but here are six things to do/see while you're there:

1. The Ace Hotel // We spent a lotttt of time at The Ace Hotel during our short time in Pittsburgh. It's a beautiful, bright and unique space and we just fell in love with it. We had dinner there on Friday night (omg, so good), We had coffee there Saturday morning and then we made it back for cocktails and good times on Saturday night! We found a big party in the gymnasium and of course took some Photo Booth photo's.

2. Mattress Factory // What an insanely cool place. The mattress factory was a bunch of big houses with art installations inside. It was honestly amazing. I am not an overly huge fan of museums and galleries but this was one of my favourites. It was REALLY hot, but we spent a good four hours checking it out, and then having lunch at the cafe inside. 

3. Randyland // Where all your weirdest & wildest dreams come true. This was one of the first places I found when doing some research on Pittsburgh. It's basically just a giant house and yard filled with crazy colourful garbage (lol) it was a short walk from mattress factory and a very awesome and photo worthy spot to visit!

4. Andy Warhol Museum // This was our very stop on our weekend adventures! WHAT A COOL PLACE! Andy Warhol was such a amazing, creative artist and I loved learning more about his life and his art. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh so it felt extra special to be there. 

5. Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens // This was on our last stop (and was actually the hottest day ever) but was most definitely worth it. It was actually my first time going to a botanical garden, and if you know me you know one of my favourite things in life are flowers! We saw so many cool plants and flowers and rooms of all different themes. Definitely check it out if you're visiting.

6. The Vandal // I found The Vandal online and thought it seemed like the coolest restaurant in Pittsburgh and I think I was right! We actually tried to go there a few times until we finally made it there on Sunday for brunch. The coffee and food was delicious and it was so cool inside! We all really enjoyed it and think it was worth the wait! 

top 5 things to do in valencia (also, our honeymoon!)

Valencia, I love you!

Oh hey there! It's been a busy Summer and I realized I still haven't blogged about our incredible Honeymoon, so I thought I better share some photo's and tell you all about it.

Pete and I left for our honeymoon the day after our wedding at about 6pm! I highly recommend doing the next day departure - it was so fun! ♥ After planning your wedding and enjoying the most special day of your life, there is nothing better than heading on an adventure with your new husband/wife to explore somewhere new and exciting as your first trip as a married couple.

Our first stop was Valencia, Spain. Pete had suggested it and since he (also) works in travel and knows his stuff, I trusted that this would be a great spot for us to visit. It worked out so perfectly that our first stop on our honeymoon was a gorgeous little beach city. We were really able to just chill out and relax in Valencia. We stayed at two amazing Airbnb's and absolutely loved our places.

We were about a five minute walk from the beach and close to a lot of great little bars and restaurants that were so wonderful. I truly fell in love with Valencia. It is so gorgeous and more of a traditional vibe than Barcelona. They are both really really amazing places to visit (Barcelona post - coming soon!)

Here are 5 lovely things to do in Valencia:

1. Head to the beach! - We were within walking distance to the beach from both places we stayed during our time there. There's a cute little board walk with shops and restaurants as well as little huts on the beach to get drinks and snacks. It's a huuuuuuge, beautiful beach and is very relaxing with lots of room to set up your stuff and feel like you can still stretch out and enjoy yourself.

2. Get Sangria, always (& forever) - In Spain the Sangria flows like water and since we were in full out honeymoon mode we weren't complaining. We had a really funny moment when we asked for a glass of sangria for me and the waiter came over with a giant pitcher! We laughed so hard and then sat in the sunshine and drank it all (obvi) 

3. Spend the afternoon at Jardin de Monforte (flower garden) - Ok honestly this was one of my favourite places I've been in the world. Pete took me to this garden where I literally lost my mind, and took about 200+ photo's. It was absolutely gorgeous, I am talkin' BREATH TAKING! We walked around in there one afternoon and there were only about four other people in there. It was so magical (also FREE to get in) Definitely one of my favourite parts of our honeymoon & best places of all time. You can see tons of photo's of this whimsical garden below.

4. Head to the market & have a coffee! - One of my favourite things to do while travelling is sit outside, while drinking a coffee and people watch. We headed to the market in Valencia which is Mercat Central and walked around (it's like St.Lawrence market in Toronto) we got some fresh strawberries and took it all in. Outside the market there are tons of little vendors and cafes. We sat there for a while drinking fancy coffee and people watching. Literally perfection!

5. Walk around the City of Arts & Sciences - Pete took us on a little adventure there and it was so awesome. It's a big outdoor area with amazing views and buildings. I loved walking through there and checking out some really cool architecture and amazingly unique buildings. We took tons of photo's and spent a good hour or two in this little hood. 

It was hard to choose just some of my favourite photo's because we had so many great ones from our visit to Valencia. It's definitely a really cool and understated part of Spain. If you're planning a trip to Spain at any point you should definitely take a little trip to Valencia as well (it's only about two and a half hours away from Barcelona!)