A quick weekend getaway to PA

It was a crazy summer. I made two trips to New York City for work (albeit fun work) in May, spent a grueling six weeks designing the second volume of 804ork, helped launch three new brands, and mentored a dozen or so small businesses and entrepreneurs through the Thrive program. Needless to say, there wasn't time for much else. So, mid-week last week Matt and I decided to book a last-minute getaway to one of my favorite cities—Pittsburgh, PA.

Matt had never been to Pittsburgh, so I wanted to make sure it lived up to my hype. Granted, most of my logic for why this city is so great is because I was born there—but it has a lot of other things going for it too. Here are the highlights from our road trip. 

Hotel Monaco, Pittsburgh—an instagrammer's dream. (Seriously, though, I cannot recommend this place enough. It took us forever to even leave the hotel.)

The Warhol Museum is a mandatory stop. Added bonus that it was just a quick walk across the Warhol bridge from our hotel, and it took us right past this building: #57 on Heinz Street. Some people didn't find that as amusing as I did. 

Normally when I’m in Pittsburgh, I’m with family, so I don’t even really know where I am half of the time. I figured while we had the time, we should explore something new—so I dug up Design*Sponge’s article and we headed toward’s Lawrenceville to check out some shops and walk around. The vibe around here is awesome—lots of small shops, restaurants, bars, and apparently a lot of bowling references that I found endlessly entertaining. Later when I told my Dad that we hung out in Lawrenceville and ate dinner there his response was something to the effect of “you went where?” so I guess it’s a historically questionable area. Like Church Hill. I approve.

Since there’s no real direct route out in or out of Pennsylvania no matter how hard you try, we decided to take a detour and say hi to good old Falling Water on the way home. We didn’t take the legit tour because that would have required planning and patience, so instead we hiked around on our own and fantasized about what it would be like to wake up to that view every day. Not too shabby.