Big Sis' Visit

Recently my older sister came for an overnight in the city. I was excited to host her because it feels like its been awhile since just my sisters spent the weekend in Philly. I love having the opportunity to show them this place that I love so much and experience new things with them.We quickly filled up our time with fun plans to eat, pamper ourselves, and spend money.
We started our morning with some breakfast at home. Then we went to the nail salon for pedicures and manicures, picking out fresh spring colors. On the way home we grabbed some pizza from Lorenzo's, known for having the biggest and best slices in the city. I was surprised Big Sis agreed to this food choice because we have different food preferences, hopefully she wasn't just trying to please me :)

We walked a few blocks to find a place to sit and finally settled in St. Peter's Church's cemetery. It may sound a little creepy but we grew up across the street from a cemetery so its extremely ordinary for us to spend time around graves. While other kids ran around their neighborhoods, we learned to ride our bikes, spent time with friends, and played around the cemetery. I also want to point out that we weren't the only ones taking a rest there, others were reading or hanging out with their dogs. Its an extremely peaceful place - especially in the middle of the city.

After our rest we had chosen to go to Something Borrowed at an old movie theater in Rittenhouse. It was a beautifully warm, May afternoon so we enjoyed the walk there. Its an old, sticky floored theater that gives you a chance to save a little cash on the ticket. This is the second time we've been there together, hopefully the next time she comes to the city and we see a film I will take her to The Ritz instead. But it was the perfect little place to see this matinee. We both had read the book Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin a few years back and loved it. So we were excited to see it turn into a film and watch it together. The film was fun, romantic, humorous, and had a little good vs. evil - all rolled up into a chick flick!

My favorite part was their choreographed dance to Push It. I don't know about you but this was one of my favorite things to do in middle school. Good old fashioned girly fun -

After this Big Sis and I stopped at Parc for a glass of wine alongside the park, to prepare ourselves for a few hours of shopping. First stop: Anthropolgie. I had to take a few pictures inside the store because the building it just so beautiful. Not only does the company do a wonderful job of decorating this place, they chose a historic building off the square and kept the charm alive. There is a spiral staircase that goes through four floors of beautiful Anthro merchandise.

Dinner that night was at Mercato, an Italian inspired BYOB. On the way we stopped at Garces Trading Company to buy a bottle of Prosecco. It's also a BYOB restaurant that has its very own classy wine store inside. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control board regulates the sale of wine in our lovely state, so you are forced to buy your alcohol (beer is sold separately) at "state stores" that lack any bit of ambiance. On this night, it was a welcomed change to browse a real wine shop.
This was my first time at Mercato and it was a pleasant surprise. The dining room is tiny (would be cozy on a winter night) so we chose a seat outside.The staff was friendly, the food delicious, and our sidewalk table was wonderful. Although if you sit inside on a nice day you can also can enjoy the outdoors because the front windows open up fully to the street.

We ended our day with a generous sampling of ice cream and collapsed on the couch. Riley wasn't involved much in our plans so he was happy to cuddle up when we got home. Goodnight!