A Very Phipps Christmas: The Winter Flower Show

It's quite arguable that Phipps is one of the most beautiful places in all of Pittsburgh. In December, there's no question: it IS the most beautiful place. It's sparkly and quiet and a good place to get lost for a little while on a rainy winter evening. And that's exactly what I did. Got lost. Here are some pictures from my excursion. Happy Christmas! (Hope it was equally as sparkly as a night in the gardens.)

Chihuly Glass: As if Phipps wasn't beautiful enough.

Candlelit paths throughout the gardens.

The train set was great. Except for one very minor detail.

MY FRIEND ANDY WENT TO PHIPPS AND SAW A DINOSAUR ON SKIES CHASING A PERSON DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. What. The. Hell. Where is my dinosaur?!

Again: Where is the dinosaur I was promised?

The biggest Christmas tree I've seen this year. By far.

And this is what it looks like when you shake your camera and take a picture of some lights.

Windows on Liberty Avenue

I had fifteen minutes to kill while I waited for my last order of garlic pepper chicken from Thai Cuisine for the next TWO MONTHS (they are renovating, not closing, thank goodness). So I walked up and down Liberty looking in windows. Here are three windows that made me chuckle.

"SOME SEE THE 25 cent wall. I found your heelie Size 13 I'll be here Tuesday."
AWESOME

I don't know if this little guys lives in this storefront, or if he just hangs out there, but he is 100% adorable.

Hey Nail Salon, I feel the same. Starting to accept Christmas, but not willing to let go of Halloween just yet. (Case in point: I got a tree, but decorated it with zombies, monsters, and dinosaurs.)

It's the Most Wonderful (eh...) Time of the Year: Dreaming of a Pittsburgh Christmas

To be brutally honest: I really dislike Christmas. We've never jived. This month stresses me out. My mom loved it. Loved it to what may have been an obsessivetory (made that up!) degree. But, this will be a Christmas without her thousands of decorations (though my dad will likely get most of them up around the house) and the (dreaded) blasting of Christmas music starting on Christmas Eve and not ceasing until I'm halfway down Boxer Drive, the ringing still buzzing in my ears.

Maybe in an effort to receive a torch that would have been passed to me eventually. Or maybe in an effort to stop being such a grinch or scrooge. I'm giving Christmas a fair shake this year. Yesterday at Whole Foods I almost bought a small tree (then I remembered on a bike and laughed at the thought of transporting that home).

So, I'm dreaming of a Pittsburgh Christmas. One that makes me feel all warm and gushy instead of annoyed and grumpy.

My mom collected Santas. We have a whole cabinet full of them at the house. So, I thought I'd just jump right into the Christmas spirit and check out the "Spirits of Giving from Around the World" exhibit at the PPG Wintergarden.

(It was slightly overwhelming. Christmas chaos is not something I will ever get used to.)

This is the Latin America Santa. He carries a chicken and a maraca. Okay!

While we were walking around the Wintergarden, I realized I should have been taking notes about which Santa was which. But I didn't. So excuse my poor explanations. This Santa just looked like a nice guy! With a charming little scrunchy face.

This Santa is blue. He looks friggin' chilly. I think he's from Russia.

This one's got a nice pipe, but that's not enough to job my memory about where he comes from.

But this is Italy! Because it's the lady singing! She looks a little ghastly here, huh?

In all seriousness, I think this guy's name was STARMAN. Winner of the best name of this exhibit goes to...STARMAN. (Duh.)

Middle Eastern Santa.

Haiti Santa.

And here is the most adorable Santa hailing from Poland.

I believe this Santa represents the delegation from the Netherlands. Look at all those wood-carved toys and things! Gotta be the Netherlands.

From Norway. This man looks just as cold as the Russian!

Yeah, no idea. Man, I really would have failed this had it been an actual test of knowledge.

So, there you have it. My first foray into attempting to enjoy Christmas.

(This is going to be a long month. Halloween is just SO MUCH BETTER.)