Have you been waiting in anticipation to figure out WHERE I could have possibly gone after being in Hershey all week? No, I didn’t think so, either, so we’ll just let it out.
Obviously I had to go back to the ‘burgh!
As soon as I found out I was going to be a mere 4-hour drive from my first home-away-from-home, I told everyone I could think of to make sure that they’d be around. I even convinced Erin to fly in from chilly New Hampshire!
We were really happy to be reunited.
After finding her roaming around on campus and completely freaking out about being back, we remembered that we had a last-minute Friday Night Dinner to throw together. Off to Giant Eagle!
Erin works for Lindt at the moment, so we joke about our career rivalry sometimes, but I think I still got her trained…
Hershey love in Giant Eagle
Our next stop was to our friend Wes’s new place to 1. see what the hell everyone has been up to, and 2. make some delicious things! Apparently, Texas has worn off on me more than I thought it would because we chose to make my new favorite: fried pickles.
And, I mean, if you have a bunch of pickle juice left over, might as well do some pickle juice shots, right? The Midwest boys were troopers and humored my request for something Southern.
Look at that concentration.
We went bar hopping in the neighborhood of Bloomfield for the rest of the night, which was a first for me. With so many nooks and crannies, Pittsburgh neighborhoods leave a lot to be explored! I think I could have lived there for 8 years and still had things left to discover. (There’s my aside for why everyone should visit Pittsburgh at least once.)
The rest of the weekend was spent strolling through campus, eating our way through Pittsburgh’s quirky food offerings, and catching up with whoever we could find.
Pittsburgh popcorn: MUST have
My go-to for anything Mediterranean. The place I got both of my tattoos is just left of this picture’s frame!
Rain in Shadyside calls for a stop at Steel Cactus for happy hour.
Unsurprisingly, our happy “hour” turned into a happy marathon.
I found an Abi!
It was strange enjoying the city from such a different perspective. Erin and I stayed with our friend, Nick, in South Side, so we didn’t have our own cozy apartment to go back to whenever we wanted. It was nice that we didn’t have to worry about classes or homework, but that meant that we also didn’t really have any purpose to be in Oakland, which was the center of our Universe for 4 years. That pushed us to try a lot of new places, which I hadn’t expected! It’s just an odd sensation feeling slightly out of place in a city where you belonged and called home.
The last activity before having to fly back to San Antone was to meet up with my friend, Alexis, to plan our trip to Peru and Chile!
Trip planning over coffee and baked goods has to be one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Bold coffee fuels bold ideas.
We hit a point in our brainstorming when we kind of decided we would just wing it and do what we felt like once we got there, which is RIGHT when a girl sitting at a table behind us turned around to ask, “are you planning a trip to Peru? I travelled through there for 6 weeks. Do you want some suggestions?” LIFE SAVER! I love when strangers come out of nowhere and are awesome people.
After all that excitement, I had to grab Erin and head back to the airport. It felt like the weekend had flown by and we didn’t get everywhere we wanted to, but I was so appreciative of being able to get a different view on “my city” and spending time with some of my favorite people without any distractions. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my short time as an “adult”, it’s that mini trips will save your sanity!
Speaking of, next on the blog brag list is quite a bit more than just a mini trip. Back to South America we go!
– Alexa
If you actually listen to me, and go to Pittsburgh, here’s where I ate and drank my face off on this last trip that I’d definitely recommend:
– Pittsburgh Popcorn
– Steel Cactus
– Franktuary
– Espresso a Mano
– Big Dog Coffee
it's about argen-time! 
Alexa, what is the name and location of your Mediterranean go-to? Other than Gyros, I couldn’t read the sign. We just returned from moving Maddy in to an apartment on Atwood, and she took us to Mad Mex, which we loved, and Shady Grove, and we tried out the Spice Island Tea House as well. Mike and I will be traveling back to assist several times this year, so any food ideas are welcome! Paulanne
It’s called Kebab Factory, and it’s right on Oakland Ave! Smack in the middle of campus. Maddy showed me a picture from Mad Mex. I was so jealous!
http://www.pittkebabfactory.com/
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