Somewhere New: Pittsburgh, PA

For the month of February, I decided to visit my cousin Tess and her family up in Pittsburgh (thanks again!). I was greeted with these smiling faces.




All silliness aside, I had a lovely couple of days wandering around the city, checking out vegan restaurants and lounging around with my family and their adorably obnoxious pups. While the sky in Pittsburgh is not always clear and sunny, all the healthy pops of yellow that Tess designed into her patterns, paint and accent pieces were a nice reminder of how uplifting color can be since I tend towards the brown, black and grays so often found in cityscapes.




I also really loved the architecture of the houses in Mt. Lebanon. This house was a great example of how unique they were.

Of course there is a grittier side to Pittsburgh and of course this happened to be my favorite part. I went to E Carson street on two different occasions during my stay. I was drawn to the vintage shops, the food and the city feel it gives off. Check out places like Yo Rita and Double Wide Grill for food and then work off those seitan wings with a Jiva class at Breathe. Breathe has such an amazing space. The ceilings are pressed tin and must be at least 15 feet high but I'd wager more. The room is so big it feels like a ballroom rather than a yoga studio but the well placed lighting and the wide open windows make it feel just as relaxing as a more intimate space.






One place I highly recommend for vintage shopping is Highway Robbery. Kate, the owner of this cute little vintage boutique is super personable and I loved the style of her shop as well as the well chosen (and just as importantly - well priced) pieces she has. She also has an etsy store, so if you can't get into town check that out. She helped me gracefully move into the long skirt world by bolstering my courage enough to buy a really cute high waisted and deep pocketed (yes!) long fall skirt.



On my last night in town we rode the Duquesne Incline and got a beautiful view of the city below. It's $2.50 to ride it one way and you had best bring exact change or the grumpy man will roll his eyes at you and say "Yup..exact change," and then go back to reading his book.






On my list to see next time. The Heinz History Center because I love ketchup, the Warhol Museum and a whole slew of great food options like:Brillobox for a vegan gyro, Oh Yeah! Ice Cream & Coffee for a vegan waffle and ice cream (we did TRY but they were closed for some unexplained reason) Franktuary (more because its a church that sells hotdogs and I love its name, not so much because I like vegan hot dogs) and Spak Brothers for a vegan version of that strange Pittsburgh sammy.