Philadelphia

I took a short vacation to Philadelphia recently to visit one of my best friends and it was a much-needed break from work! There's something about the East Coast that I just love so much. It's nice to get away to a bigger city that's not as daunting as New York, but still has so much to do. We walked at least 6 or 7 miles every day (10 miles one of the days) and it's so cool to be able to just walk everywhere!

Day 1:

I got there late on Friday night but on Saturday we got up and went right to the March for Our Lives. I've missed out on a lot of big marches and rallies because of work so it was amazing to be part of something for once. The sheer amount of people was incredible and being able to hear students speak was so moving. I can't imagine being a student of a teacher in these times, and seeing everyone come together for this cause was powerful.

After that, we headed to lunch at Dizengoff, which was an insanely good hummus place! I've been daydreaming about that chicken hummus ever since and want to try to recreate it at home. We also enjoyed a coffee that morning from La Colombe, which is big over there and super good! Most of the rest of the day was spent just walking around and exploring.

My favorite part of Philadelphia is the mix of historical stuff. The fact that some of the houses were built in 1797 blows my mind! I think it's such a beautiful place and I love the charm of all the old houses.

We had a mellow dinner in and then headed for an attempted night out! We went to a bar called The Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company, which was an actual speakeasy back in the day! I live for stuff like that. It was super trendy and I didn't mind spending $15 on my cocktail because it was really good! We decided to just head home after that and I think I got a cannoli from Carlo's Bakery (I'm a huge Cake Boss fan) that night.

Day 2:

We started our day with an absolutely delicious brunch from The Butcher Bar, which was not only super cute inside, but also super tasty! We got a mimosa pitcher which was a little too good and I got a breakfast skillet (totally my jam). From there, we did a little shopping and then walked around town to this coffee shop that we kept calling "science coffee" because it called itself a coffee lab.

We finished up what we wanted to do in town and then spontaneously decided to drive up to Princeton! It's only about an hour away and it's a cute little area. As soon as we got there, we spotted Milk and Cookies which served, you guessed it, cookies! It was an adorable little shop. We popped around a couple of shops and then walked around the campus a bit and I fell in love with it! It's a beautiful campus and I decided I need to get smart enough to return to school there someday. We had another mellow night at home!

Day 3:

This day was jam-packed! We started at the Magic Gardens, which were absolutely magical! It's basically a spot to walk around that's covered in mosaics and found object art by this guy that has been doing it since the 1960s! The whole neighborhood is covered in his mural art down little alleyways. It's a super cool place to walk around and a dreamy photo op!

This photo cracks me up because we look like we're dressed for totally different seasons and super East Coast gal versus West Coast gal. Really though, I had Alexa's accessories piled on me because I was taking pictures of her and she didn't want her jacket and scarf on.

From there we went to Dotti's Donuts to grab some really good donuts for the road. I opted for Maple Pecan and Vanilla Pistachio and god damn they were good!

We hopped in the car and headed to Amish country! What a funny experience that was. As we got there, it did feel a little weird to totally gawk at peoples' way of life, but it was a cool experience and I learned a bit. We did a tour, bought some jams (which TSA later confiscated) and made friends with Mr. Ed the horse. I don't think I ever need to go back, but it was interesting!

After that, we decided to be ridiculous and extend our Zipcar so we could go shopping at Primark! I've been eyeing them for so long wishing they were in CA and when I realized one of their locations was on the way home I got so excited! I could have spent so much money there but luckily my suitcase wouldn't let me. We ended our night with Shake Shack!

Day 4:

This was sadly my last day! We started with matcha lattes (how have I never had one?!) and then headed to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. I love indoor markets like that! We did some more shopping because why not! And then just a really mellow end to the trip and I took off to come home!

It's so nice to be able to go take quick trips to visit friends or just go places with friends and I'm so happy to be at a point where I can do that. Can't wait for the next adventure!