Anniversary Loot

Andy and I celebrated three years of marriage last week :)

I was actually away in West Virginia for a week of classes, so this past weekend Andy and I did an overnight in Pittsburgh.

There is this really cool area of the city called "the strip district". (get your minds out of the gutter, it is a cultural district that is a strip of tons and tons of cool stores)

Here are some things we found there.

-Lisano Salsa!!!!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have finally found it!

I have looked EVERYWHERE for it - Rochester, Toronto, Chicago, you name it!

This is a sauce that is vital in making gallo pinto (a typical Costa Rican rice and bean dish).

While I have tried to make gallo pinto since running out of Lisano Salsa, it just doesn't taste the same ... extremely disappointing if you are craving a piece of your heart.

-cinnamon syrup for Andy's coffee (of which he said "this brand is one of the best because it is simply the flavor, not sweetened at all, so it does not distort black coffee")

-sriracha hot sauce (in honor of my wonderful brover who LOVES the stuff...maybe that's how we can lure him to come visit :))

-hot ginger mustard ... a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

-a cute little container of dill weed for 99 cents

-some pepper circles for my empty pepper grinder

-some smoked gouda cheese from Holland (not in photo)

Our cheese ordering story:

Clerk (to Andy): "What can I get for you dear heart?"

A: "I'll have six dollars worth of your smoked gouda"

C (putting the cheese on the scale): "How about 4 and a half dollars worth?"

A: "That works for me!"

C: "That's a dollar and a half sooner before I see you again, dear heart!"

If she wasn't in her sixties, I probably would have thought "back off, he's taken"...

Now I'm sure you are all asking:

-Can we see pictures of what the strip district looks like?

-Or how about photos of the super nice William Penn Omni Hotel?

-Or photos of the Smiling Banana Leaf Thai restaurant we ate dinner at?

-Or the two cute coffee shops we went to?

-Or photos of DeLuca's diner where we ate breakfast (Food Network recommended...had lines OUT THE DOOR when it was 8 degrees outside)

-Or of the two of us since it was our anniversary?

...it is with great regret that I tell you that we never once got our camera out. We were spending to much time adventuring through Pittsburgh to think about permanently capturing the experience.

...I know, it is a disgrace to my family heritage of photo takers.

...for now, just enjoy the photo of the loot (which at least shows we had a good time!)...