a quick trip to philadelphia with ferring pharmaceuticals to #talkabouttrying with a group of women who have all struggled with infertility!

sunday early morning i had to opportunity to fly out of dayton and head to philadelphia for a quick trip sponsored by ferring pharmaceuticals and y’all, i had the best time!! while i can’t share all of the details just yet, i wanted to do a quick recap of my first trip to philly!

when working on my travel arrangements i asked for the earliest flight possible so i could have time to walk around and do some sightseeing. i flew out at 8am and made it to the kimpton hotel by 10am, dropped my luggage and then headed back out to walk around. city life is a far cry from our 20 acres we live on now, but it didn’t take me long to get back into the city living mindset.
fun fact: i lived in chicago {wrigleyville!} with a girlfriend for a few months in college and i worked at the lincoln park zoo after my sister moved there!

my cell service was fairly spotty so i was thankful for the map the hotel gave me with highlighted hole in the wall specialties to check out! other than looking like a complete tourist with my map at every corner, i had such a fun time visiting all the local hot spots! i had to have walked 15 miles… at least it felt like it! 😉

i started out in rittenhouse and walked all over stopping in coffee shops and little restaurants along the way! holy moly…the most GORGEOUS anthropologie drew me in and was so cute with all the details. i stopped and enjoyed my coffee in rittenhouse square, a cute little park filled with dogs and locals walking around.
i made my way to the parkway museums district then back to rittenhouse to head down chestnut street for some shopping and sightseeing. washington square district was up next and primarily just buildings and a hospital. historic waterfront district was the final destination before hitting the delaware river and while i’m not exactly the history buff {that’s putting it mildly} it was pretty incredible to see the liberty bell and read about the history in this space. i made sure to stop by all of the big ones…independence hall, congress hall, franklin’s grave, national constitution center and more. it truly was an amazing experience i was grateful to have.

on recommendation from the sweetest gal i’ve had the pleasure of working with for the last few years, i made my way down to old city and stopped to get some macaroons from ICI Macarons before heading to elfreth’s alley! it did notdisappoint with the most adorable townhouses and charm… i made sure to make a fool of myself and ask a complete stranger to snap some pics of me 😉 don’t worry… it was just as awkward as it looks!
i piddled around and walked a bit through chinatown in the convention center district before heading back to the hotel via walnut street. the high end shopping is on this street and while i didn’t really stop into any stores it was fun to walk by on my way back to the hotel!

it was an incredibly relaxing night in after that and i tucked myself into bed with my laptop by 6pm, ordered room service and a movie and i’m pretty sure i was asleep by 9pm!

monday was a full day of work starting at 9am and i had the absolute pleasure of putting some beautiful faces to names i’ve only known by email over the last few years! if you’ve been around for any length of time, you know my heart in this space has been centered around raising awareness for infertility and sharing our journey in hopes of encouraging other families like ours on their way to parenthood. i’ve had the honor of working with ferring pharmaceuticals a handful of times over the last few years and the more i have gotten to know the heart behind this company the more excited i am to move forward and see what’s ahead! you can see multiple posts i’ve collaborated with them on HERE and HERE and while i can’t share details yet on specifics of our meetings, i can say i’m SO EXCITED to share what’s coming soon!!

i met an amazing group of 5 women who were brought together by infertility and while we all could agree that we wished none of us truly had to be a part of this club, it was powerful and encouraging to hear everyone’s stories and work together to make sure women around the world were being supported.
y’all, there’s some big stuff comin!

after our full day of meetings, we toasted to each other and the success of the day, then headed out to a delicious dinner at parc…a french restaurant that sits right on rittenhouse square!

around 11pm i called it quits and fell face first into my bed for an incredible nights sleep…ready to see my babes.

tuesday morning i quickly packed up my stuff and headed to the airport for a quick flight home to see those precious souls i’ve missed so much!

the biggest most heartfelt thank you to ferring pharmaceuticals for sponsorship of this trip and your heart for the fertility warriors of this world.