It's Labor Day, and Olive and I are home alone with Rob happily at the zoo, and I'm reflecting on the great weekend we spent with our friend, Ben. On Friday afternoon, he navigated us over to the Strip District, a few blocks resembling (to me) the bustling markets of New York City: crowded, dirty, and a little bit trashy (in our case, vendors hawking Steelers memorabilia), with the exception of Prestogeorge, a little oasis in the midst of all the hubbub. Ben had told me about this place before, as it had served as the inspiration for his wedding gift to us: a handbuilt crate of an assortment of jarred, loose teas that he'd selected from this shop. Inside, the walls were hidden behind shelves and racks of glass jars filled with a dizzying variety of loose teas and coffees. Customers were invited to open and sniff the teas, but it was the job of a wiry, big-haired and mustachioed man to pour out the teas of our choice into white paper bags and weigh out the contents. We left with bags of lychee, green tangerine, yerba mate, darjeeling, sleep tight (a blend of chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, and valerian), and pink champagne white tea, eagerly anticipating a late night of tea consumption.
For dinner, Ben delivered on his promise to take us to Nicky's Thai Kitchen, a little gem across the Allegheny River in the suburb of Verona. Rob and Ben both got the pad thai, while I tried the pumpkin curry, which was spicy, full of asian pumpkin chunks, and delicious. We returned home, tucked Olive into bed, and descended upon the teas. We sampled all of them, and it was an unwise move, indeed, for me to drink the lychee tea, a black variety. Despite ending with a glass of the sleep tight, the potency of the first cup of black tea had me awake, my heart racing like a mouse's, for many hours after we went to bed. I was still awake when the first light of dawn began to tint the sky, which, I learned this morning when Olive first awoke (after a nine-hour stretch, I might add), is around six o'clock. Yikes. Needless to say, I've maintained a safe distance from the offending tea, fearing that even a morning cup will stand between me and my precious sleep at night. Ben left with his sleep tight, so Olive and I may be making a trip back to the Strip District for a bag of our own.
On Saturday, Ben and I left a sleeping Rob and Olive to grab breakfast foods at the farmers' market and Trader Joe's. While we prepared our meal, a Verizon worker busied himself installing our internet and phone service. Later, Ben showed us around Schenley Park, near Carnegie Mellon University where Kellie and her husband, Mike, went. It was a brisk, windy afternoon, a display of flirtation from autumn, my favorite season of all.
That evening, we went to Mt. Washington, the little hilltop village that overlooks downtown Pittsburgh. It really is a very pretty city, beautiful architecture on many of the skyscrapers, bridges over the three rivers as far as the eye can see, and trees everywhere. We watched the sun set, then headed back home because we'd exceeded Olive's bedtime and our tea beckoned. 
On Sunday morning, Rob had to rise early for his internship, and he was missed during brunch when Ben, Olive and I met up with Ben's friends, Lacey and Brad, at a nearby cafe, Quiet Storm. The menu was one of the most appealing I'd ever seen, everything tempting. Ben got the Low Country Grits while I, though oatmeal is a breakfast staple of mine always, got the muesli - cold oats soaked in almond milk and filled with sliced bananas, pineapple, chopped pecans and soy yogurt. Olive enjoyed the attention she got from Brad, who seemed to be contemplating making off with her when he had to leave early for work. Soon afterwards, Ben had to depart, as well, but not before we went to Razzy Fresh, a new frozen yogurt joint in Squirrel Hill. The plain yogurt was just like it should be - tart - and even more delicious when fresh fruit was added. Kind of bummed that we won't see him for over a month. That's rotten business when we'd grown accustomed to seeing him at least once a week. We certainly got a good tour of the city while he was here, though, and now we know just where to go to satisfy our tea, Thai, yogurt, park, and brunch needs.
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