a few weekends ago, craig and i enjoyed a fantastic weekend in philly. philadelphia holds a special place in our hearts -- we've made many fantastic memories there, including getting married there one year ago this november 5th. we had an outrageous dinner at tinto (our fave philly eatery) on friday night, breakfast at marathon grill (which gets most of its food from an urban farm!) on saturday, enjoyed dinner at vedge (an awesome vegan restaurant) saturday night, and then after dinner at vedge, we went to this totally off-the-charts speakeasy-style bar called hop sing laundromat. we felt totally "in-the-know" going there, because there's no sign or even number outside. you have to buzz in and then "pass" a series of questions before being let inside. the interior had 15 foot ceilings and was illuminated almost entirely by candlelight -- even the chandeliers were lit by candles. (i would have taken pictures, but during our "debriefing" we learned picture taking was not allowed!) and, we got to try the infamous cocktail that recently was crowned "best of philly" by philadelphia magazine. it contained only 2 ingredients -- 15 year old aged rum and grape juice. and when i say grape juice, i mean fresh pressed (right in front of you) grape juice -- no welch's here! if you go, keep in mind that there' s a dress code -- we saw a couple get turned away as we were leaving because they weren't dressed up enough.

as usual, we had a fantastic time in philly -- our all-time favorite city!