Q went to PT school in Philly, but I'd never been there (even in my many years as a Pennsylvanian!), so we made it the second leg of our trip. We actually used airbnb.com to book a place, and it turned out to be really great. We were going to take the train, but since Q knew his way around, we decided to drive so he could show me the sights and reminisce about his time there.
We got into Philly early afternoon on Tuesday and headed straight to the Terminal Market for lunch (I loved it there!). We had to get up our strength--and courage--for the next leg of our trip, our tattoos! This was my 4th tattoo, but only Q's first. Of course, he is a strong man and he did awesome, but even I'm still a little nervous before getting a new tattoo, especially in a new place. But we'd done some research and chose a place on South Street, which was also really cool. We went in and showed the guy the designs, and he sent us nearby to get a coffee (The Bean...also really great!) while he worked them up. We had our drinks and used the bathroom, played on the iPad until it was time to go back. Q went first, and I went second. Mine took a lot longer because it was more detailed and it hurt more than any of my other tats, but it was worth it!
(I'm posting the pic of my tattoo, but not Q's...it's at his discretion. Just ask him to see it. ;)
After tattoos, we went back to our room and rested a bit, then got dressed up for dinner, which we'd be anticipating (it's the only real "plan" we made for our adventure), a fancy vegan dinner at Philly's
Vedge. And oh my goodness, it surpassed our highest expectations. We loved every dish--and in case you're wondering, we had (if you don't care, skip ahead to the photos! ha.):
-the full board appetizer (housemade pickles with rye points and smoked mustard, mixed olives, and peel and eat piri piri beans with fried garlic)
-drinks: Riesling for Q, a kyoto sour (junmai sake, grapefruit, cucumber, agave, lemon) for me
-gold beets, smoked tofu, avocado, capers, cucumber dill sauce, pumpernickel
-onion soup, pho broth, pickled shiitake, scallion, cilantro, sambal toast
-crispy cauliflower with black vinegar and kimchee mayo
-spring peas with pea tendrils (and something else, but it's not on the veggie menu this week!)
-roasted maitake mushroom, creamy turnips, truffle, black kale jus
-steak-spiced seared tofu, hedgehog mushrooms, kabocha, madeira, walnut picada
and the best part, DESSERT!
me: cheesecake w/ meyer lemon marmalade, clementine juice, blood orange supremes (pictured below!)
Q: chocolate beignets (it was a Mardi Gras special!)
EVERYTHING was vegan...how amazing is that? I am hungry just reliving this menu! :)
Here is what I wore out to our dinner...I purchased this dress at
my favorite consignment (it's new, since they carry some boutique items), since I've wanted a novelty animal print piece for a while. It was perfect and left a lot of arm to show off my tattoo (and keep it from getting rubbed! ow!).
Outfit Details: horseprint dress-via Current Boutique, tights-random, key necklace-upcycled vintage, booties-BC
Two of the most awesome thing ever: my handsome husband and the vegan cheesecake at Vedge
It was a short, but wonderful trip, and we were, of course, excited to get back to Aurora and see my family again for a short visit. I didn't want the week to end (Q took the whole week off for my birthday, another extravagant gift!). But now, it's Wednesday and I think we're back into a groove.
Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes, and for reading! My 30th year has been pretty great so far.
xo,
Amanda
