Philly Stay-cation

Every now in then when you feel overwhelmed with life and you feel like you a need a change of scenery to regain your peace of mind, but you either don't have the coins or time to plan a real get-way. You need to a stay-cation, whether its a weekend spent at a near by hotel, relaxing or a day or two in a town you never gave yourself time to explore. I recently treated myself to a stay-cation with my friend from way back (kindergarden to be exact) in Philly. Life was coming at me with Mayweather jabs, lol I'm exaggerating but you get the idea. So needless to say I felt the trip was a necessity not to mention I've been wanting to explore the city since the summer.!
     King Of Prussia mall was first on the agenda, now this mall had 3 floors..3 floors. The stores ranged from the Forever 21 "I want to look chic for less" type to your Louis Vuitton "money ain't a thing throw it out like rice" type. I FINALLY got the chance to browse and shop at a store called Lush, they make handmade and often times vegan friendly soap, face mask, and even shampoo that smells OUTSTANDING. I purchased a couple of bathbombs that I can't wait to use. We spent some time at H&M gathering arm full of clothes and trying to convince ourselves that we NEEDED them.We gave Forever 21 a chance to impress us, but sadly nothing really stuck out that was worth buying. The mall closed around 9pm so we didn't have enough time to see all three levels, so we grabbed chic-fil-a and made our way back home.
   Later that night we ended up going to a few bars and one of them was playing some song that was on the YOU GOT SERVED soundtrack (yes.. I'm serious) but the dj came back to reality and played a couple of good songs we could vibe too. Nonetheless, we got a little tipsy and enjoyed watching the sloppy drunks make a fool of themselves.We ended the night with a L.I.T "night cap" that pretty much acted as a sleep aid for me lol. The following morning (more like noon) we made breakfast, watched Lifetime and relaxed for most of the day, we did however go to a Yoga class! I've been telling myself I was going to take a real yoga class (not youtube or DVDs) for the longest and I finally did it.! Afterwards I felt..lighter..a sense of relief.
  On my last day I got the pleasure of seeing Sonia Sanchez speak on her involvement with the black arts movement and watched her perform a few of her best and most recent poems at The Barnes Foundation. Afterwards we ended up at a place called The Belgian Cafe, I had a spinach and bacon Mac and cheese (which was praise dance worthy) and I tried my first oyster, looks can be deceiving because surprisingly it wasn't bad.! This stay-cation was much needed and very much appreciated thanks to my friend for opening up her home, introducing me to the beautiful people she surrounds her self with, and showing me around the city of Brotherly Love.

                                           | Breakfast made by me & my friend |

                                     | spinach mac and cheese from THE BELGIAN CAFE |
                                              yes I'm one of those people who take pics of their food

                                  Left| Ja Jahannes Center| Sonia Sanchez Right| Evie Shockley

                        |  Le Pain Quotidien a cute cafe that served organic food and drinks. Pictured above is a mint lemonade that was good..would've been even better spiked with a Vodka of your choice.|