Rambling

Our trip to visit Pittsburgh, primarily to see U. Pitt was very...helpful. We left on Thursday night after Sarah and Carlton moved into our place with their adorable little Chaz (a havanese) to watch Tessa for the weekend. After getting the pups a little calmed down, we headed out at around 9:30ish.

We arrived in Pittsburgh around 1:15am to the Wyndham hotel walking distance to the campus. It looked a little dingey, and the hotel wasn't much better, but I just assumed it was because just about anything looks dingey at 1:15am when you're exhausted. We checked in and I wish I had taken pictures of our room, although pictures can't really explain to you the smell that was in the air. It smelled like the entire hotel had been washed with old lady, musty soap. Yummy. The lighting in the hotel was something that made me think the hotel room could be rented by the hour - it was dark even with every light on. Ian announced as we were laying down about to fall asleep that he would only be changing his clothes in the bathroom for fear it would end up on the internet.

Okay okay, it wasn't THAT bad in the end. The hotel just seemed worse because of the time we checked in.

Anyways - we woke up early on Friday morning, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, then made our way to the law school to sit in on a class - Constitutional Law. I loved the idea of walking around the city so easily. It was very nice not to have to drive everywhere. Lowlights about the school: it's run down. The building itself is in need of some updates and we sat in the back of the class and were straining to hear the professor. They didn't really have anything that they were raving about - like some schools rave about their new and improved library or facilities, etc. Also, a few red flags came up when talking with some people from the school. The majority of those who graduate stay in the Pittsburgh area, that the top 25% of the school have more options in terms of where they go from there. It worried me and didn't make me feel like this was the best legal education I could get.

We visited Squirrel Hills and Shadyside, two areas of Pittsburgh that are very cute neighborhoods. While these areas certainly had a charm about them, I didn't fall in love with the city. I couldn't see myself there - it was very cold, very dark, and wasn't a place I would've felt comfortable walking home at night after staying at school late to study. I felt that the charm Pittsburgh did possess wasn't something that would have lasted for our three years there. We did have a great time visiting and liked certain things about it. But since our primary reason to move there is for me to get a legal education, and it doesn't seem to be the best education I can get, I think we have ruled it out as a possibility.

That was our weekend:) We are heading out on our big road trip tomorrow night. I went to the grocery store to stock up on snacks for the car ride. We will drive to NC tomorrow night, spend the night, then continue down to Miami on Thursday. Friday, there are information sessions all day at U. Miami and Saturday we'll visit neighborhoods for housing. Then we'll head halfway home, spend the night, then finish the trip on Sunday. Ahhh - I'm exhausted just typing that out - I can hardly imagine how exhausted I'll be on Sunday when we arrive home!

Oh - on our way home from Pittsburgh we stopped at the Prime Outlets in Hagerstown. I bout a few new pairs of shoes and some clothing from Old Navy and Banana Republic. I found a pair of cute white ballet flats from Aldo for $40 that I wanted, then realized I can possibly where them for the wedding! I'm all about comfort - that and I can't wear heels because my ankle is still hurting soooo comfy white ballet flats sound about right!

Tonight, we are packing and then finalizing our guest list, then sending it off for our invitations to be finished! I got a call last week and my wedding dress has arrived!

One thing I can't wait for is to be in warm weather in 48 hours!