A Hundred Visions

explore pittsburgh neighborhoods with me

2009-11-15T17:12:00.001-05:00

This blog has served me well, but it's time to say good-bye.

In my new blog, I'm exploring Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods one at a time. Please join me!

ending with halloween

2009-11-07T10:03:00.016-05:00

I'm retiring this blog and starting a new one. Details soon! My last post on this blog is for this year's Halloween.

Every year, my family in Monongahela spends months decorating their property with displays for Halloween. It started small, as something to get trick-or-treaters down to the dead-end part of the street where they live. It's evolved over the years, and this year they set up more than 70 displays! At night, with hundreds of lights, fog machines, and creepy music, it's really something to see.

here kitty kitty

2009-09-15T05:44:00.003-04:00

Osaka Castle Park is filled with stray cats, but they run from me when I call them. I wondered if it was because I wasn't speaking their language, so I asked some Japanese people here at the hotel how I say "here kitty kitty" in Japanese. They looked at me like I was crazy. Then they laughed (politely of course--everyone is exceptionally polite here). Then they said that no one does that here.

Hmmm. Now that I think about it, I realize I was the only person in the park (and there are many early morning exercisers there) calling to the cats. If I was a crazy cat lady back home, I'm sure people really think I'm crazy here!

osaka castle park

2009-09-14T19:35:00.000-04:00

Osaka Castle Park, adjacent to my hotel, is huge and filled with walking paths meandering through pretty gardens. This morning I took a walk through at sunrise. There were a lot of elderly people doing a tai-chi-type dance right in front of the castle, and others praying at shrines and temples. Later in the day I went back and saw more of the park. Here are a few photos; see more on my Flickr page.

i'm in osaka

2009-09-14T04:30:00.000-04:00

Despite the flight being long, it was probably the best flight I ever had because I was in first and business class. I'm spoiled for life. I never knew they treat first class passengers like royalty. I was treated to hot washcloths to wipe my hands; unlimited wine with lunch; really good food; frequent snacks; constant drink refills; a goodie bag with lotion, a toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, and an eye mask; comfy socks and slippers; and seats that recline the whole way. Nice!

I also saw four good movies: Star Trek (I've never seen the TV show, but I enjoyed the movie), Easy Virtue, The Soloist, and the funniest movie I've seen in a long time, The Hangover. I laughed the whole way through--absolutely hilarious!

When I wasn't eating, sippin' on gin and juice, or watching movies, I had a good book to read, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. So, the flight was much better than I expected!

This photo is the view of Osaka Castle from my hotel window. The grounds are adjacent to the hotel. I didn't sleep much on the plane, and with the time difference, I was getting in at about 4 a.m. East Coast time. So I had the strength to only take this photo, and then I crashed into bed immediately.

Of course, I woke up at 1 a.m. wondering when it would be OK to get out of bed and managed to lay there until about 4 a.m. So here I am. I have some things to do for work today, but I hope to see some sights too. The conference starts Wednesday, but our main day of preparation is tomorrow. More later!

the ghost of my old cat

2009-09-08T20:56:00.007-04:00

Last summer when Elsie came to live with us, two very strange things happened in our house over a few weeks. They were definitely caused by a ghost or something supernatural--no doubt! My mom thought maybe it was the ghost of Zephyr, whose ashes sit in an urn on my bedroom dresser. Zephyr was our first cat and was awesome. He was never very happy about other cats that came to live with us. Maybe Zephyr was upset that I brought another cat into the house. Maybe. After those two things happened, nothing happened again...

...Until this morning. I was in the kitchen and heard a crazy loud thud and looked down the hall to see Grubble sailing through the air, over the stair banister, and into the dining room. He hadn't leaped--his body was going sideways. I ran in to see if he was OK. He was, but was very obviously bewildered and slunk around for some time looking up the stairs as if to see what the hell happened. Could the ghost of Zephyr be back, upset now that we have Rasputin? I hope not...I still love Zephyr and think about him often.
Photo, one of my favorites of Zephyr, from Dave.
Blog post title stolen from a new song by Jason Lytle, Ghost of My Old Dog.

trip to vandergrift, ford city, and crooked creek

2009-09-07T20:30:00.000-04:00

After watching Rick Sebak's fantastic new show Right Beside the River on WQED (about places and things beside our rivers), we decided to take a trip 40 miles northeast from Pittsburgh to Vandergrift. Situated on the Kiskiminetas (Kiski) River, Vandergrift had the largest sheet steel mill in the world in the early 20th century. In 1895, Apollo Iron and Steel decided that providing their workers with good housing and a good community would make them more loyal and productive, so they hired the same architect who designed New York City's Central Park, Olmsted, to design a new town called Vandergrift. Today there are still a number of businesses in its business district (our favorite was a magic store), but it was nearly deserted when we were there--likely because everyone was at the Labor Day celebration at a nearby park.After Vandergrift, we decided to check out Crooked Creek Lake Park, a dam, lake, and park built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as one of 16 flood control projects in their Pittsburgh district. This is Tunnelville Beach, which was surprisingly empty for a holiday weekend.
Heading back, we stopped briefly in Ford City. It was a cute little town with a shady public park, a biking trail next to a huge abandoned mill, and this mostly intact Mail Pouch ad painted on the side of a building.

look what i bought at crafts n'at!

2009-09-05T16:12:00.001-04:00

I got lots of very cool handmade stuff from super nice local folks at Crafts N'At, organized by the Pittsburgh Craft Collective. Really, I could have bought something from every single vendor.

Earrings from Rockyn Robyn.Screenprinted tee and screenprinted notebook from Garbella.Framed fabric from The Point Needlecraft and Fabric Arts.Bag from Jilsy Designs.
It occurred to me only after I got home that everything I bought either had birds, flowers, or both!

crafts n'at

2009-09-04T12:39:00.007-04:00

This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Union Project, local folks will be selling their handmade wares at Crafts N'At. Should be awesome! I hope to come home with some cool new stuff and to meet all the nice folks I've talked with on Twitter.

i kept him

2009-09-03T21:22:00.002-04:00

And I love him.

where the love is

2009-09-03T21:12:00.003-04:00

The North Side. That's what I found out last night from a bunch of North Siders who were out at The Park House celebrating someone's (Daniel...?) birthday. They were a lot of fun. Randi (sp?) told me: "If you remember only one thing from tonight, remember this: The North Side is where the love is." I remembered!

D asked me if I wanted to do more Rumple Minze shots tonight. He's so funny.

it's my birthday!

2009-09-02T07:00:00.007-04:00

Today I'm 36!

It sounds old, but I've never been happier. I wouldn't go back to my 20s for anything. I think this is why I'm so happy: [archived, condensed version...too long before!]

1. I don't have children. I prefer my kids to be of the furry, four-legged type. To each her own!

2. My life with Dave is still fun. It's like we're still dating after 10+ years.

3. I'm helping animals. Now I just need to get Dave to agree to let me rescue some goats and chickens and have them as backyard pets, and I'll be good to go.

over the weekend

2009-09-01T12:33:00.001-04:00

Friday we went to see Great Lake Swimmers play a free show at Schenley Plaza in Oakland. It was good--would have been great if it weren't for all the little kids running around. Not a fan of romper-room settings.Saturday we went to the Sprout Fund's Hothouse in Bakery Square....where we had to wait in line for food and drink along with the other 3,000 people there. Ugh. (I wasn't the only one complaining.) By the end of the night, we could go right up and get drinks--but at that point, the only thing left was spiced rum.
Here's me in my dress I bought in San Francisco with Kate.Sunday our families came over to our house to see our new garden. We cooked out, then they sang happy birthday to me. Dave posted a great photo of our nephew Justin here.

hot weekend

2009-08-28T12:45:00.001-04:00

Sprout Fund's Hothouse event is this Saturday. This will be my first time, and I'm dragging Dave with me. I'm looking forward to the event itself and also seeing a lot of friends. Tickets include unlimited food and drinks all through the event, a bunch of bands, and Sprout-supported community-based projects. I planned on wearing my teetering platform heels with my vintage dress I bought with Kate in San Francisco, but a note on the website advises to "wear sensible shoes." The heels are not so sensible, but I can't exactly wear flip-flops with the dress. Time to raid my shoe stash!

driving in rush hour sucks

2009-08-27T12:48:00.001-04:00

This week I went to a friend's house for dinner after work, so I drove in. This is the view of backed-up traffic on Fifth Avenue right before the intersection with Penn Avenue. Driving to and from work in rush hour traffic seems like a particularly awful form of self-torture. Why do people do it? I'm happy I don't. My bus/bike combo commute suits me just fine. The bike ride home is fun, it takes 15 minutes less time than riding the bus home, and I don't have to deal with traffic like this.

can i keep him?

2009-08-25T12:45:00.001-04:00

Rasputin goes to the Animal Rescue League Wednesday night for adoption. You can see that he is extremely attached to me. He came in as a hissing, growling stray, likely with little contact with people. He's such a sweetheart now. I want to keep him so much my heart aches when I think about having to take him in. But...if he's gone from a semi-feral into this sweet lovey-dovey guy, then I guess my job as a foster mom is done...and he needs to go to his permanent home. But it won't be easy to give him up.

north side summer celebration

2009-08-24T20:24:00.003-04:00

I love festivals. We go to the North Side Summer Celebration every year at St. Boniface Church (right beside 279 North). There's standard carnival food mixed in with buttery dough-and-cabbage treats like pierogies and haluski, delicous home-baked desserts that cost next to nothing, games, rides, raffles, slots, and entertainment (Johnny Halo and the Angels...every single year!) More than that, I love the down-home, community feel. This past weekend was perfect weather for the festival. In this photo, you can see Downtown in the distance.

i love/hate the new casino

2009-08-23T10:45:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh's new Rivers Casino opened two weeks ago. It sits on the riverfront on the North Shore, right beside the Carnegie Science Center. The bike trail goes right through the property. The first time I biked past it, I was mesmerized. And the next time I biked past it, I was mesmerized. The first week it opened, I wanted to go there nearly every night. And then...we went there this past week. And gambled. And lost.

Things I Love About the Casino
1. It's a very quick bike ride from my house, about 15 minutes.
2. The outdoor light poles have speakers that play the casino music.
3. It's a fairly cool, slightly modern design. It puts the Mountaineer and other local rinky-dink casinos to shame.
4. It has beautiful landscaping along the river trail and a nice amphitheater.
5. It has a lot of big windows so you can see the three-story, glowing chandelier and people having fun in the bar.

Things I Hate About the Casino
1. Absolutely no good vegetarian food options. Pre-packaged salads and pizza don't count.
2. The faux exclusivity vibe of the only formal restaurant, Andrew's Steak & Seafood, is annoying. Both D and I and other people I know have been turned away for not having reservations, when nearly half the tables were empty.
3. No bike parking.
4. A confusing, tight parking garage on the inside, a monstrosity from the outside.
5. Tight, deceptive slots. When Dave and I played the nickel slots, we didn't realize it was defaulted to the maximum bet...of $5! We wondered why our money was going so fast. Even the penny slots were defaulted to a minimum bet of 40 cents, so the cheapest good slots to play (you could play some true penny slots, but they were all on cheesy machines) were the quarter slots. Because nickels are usually my high limit, I wasn't happy about that. We quickly lost $30.

Conclusion
The casino has been carefully designed to take my money. I don't like that. But it is still calling me...will I be able to resist its temptations?

best home project: backyard patio & garden

2009-08-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

Redesigning our back patio to include a perennial garden was one of the most rewarding home projects we've done since moving into our house six years ago. (See before pictures here and here.) We frequently use this green, shady, private outdoors space for get-togethers with friends, grilling and eating outside after work, and relaxing with cocktails in the evenings. We recently bought a strand of outdoor string lights from Target that we hung on the underside of our deck. They give a warm glow to the whole backyard, making the space very inviting and pretty. Adding to the glow are the many lightning bugs who visit our garden often. We never had lightning bugs (or bees or butterflies) before planting the garden this year--a nice bonus!

visit to foxburg

2009-08-19T12:05:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we took a drive up to Foxburg, a very cute little town nestled in the hills, right on the Allegheny River, in Clarion County. It took a little over an hour to get there from Pittsburgh. It was a nice drive on a sunny, summer day.

Foxburg has a very small main street but was bustling. With restaurants offering seating right on the river, some antique shops, a chocolate store, and a wine cellar (we bought a bottle of the Foxburg chardonnay--very good!), it's a little tourist destination. Who knew? (I didn't until a Twitter pal clued me in.) There was a lot of new development--a hotel, restaurant, and bridge. Who is investing in Foxburg? I'm nearly positive they're not part of the state's Mainstreets program. A private developer perhaps?On the drive back, we stopped in Butler.

more squiggy

2009-08-18T12:45:00.000-04:00

Didn't see this cute picture of Squiggy when I posted the kitten pictures yesterday. Too cute not to post--Squiggy licking his lips! Squiggy is super, super friendly and affectionate. If I don't immediately pick him up when I come into his room, he tries to climb up my leg. He likes to be as close to my face as possible, and cuddles right under my neck or on my shoulder. He's also a voracious eater--more so than the other kittens. In this picture, he jumped onto my lap after eating. Rasputin, who likes to be the only one on my lap, is getting ready to try to push him off. I just love them all. It will be bittersweet to see them get adopted.

kittens: rasputin, lenny, and squiggy

2009-08-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

I've so enjoyed fostering these loving, affectionate kittens. All little loverboys, they jump onto my shoulders, crawl all over me, nestle into my lap, and give little kitten kisses all over my face. They have lots of love to give. They are available for adoption from the Animal Rescue League. Contact me if interested!

LennySquiggyRasputin

happenings in the burgh

2009-08-14T12:09:00.001-04:00

Whoever says there's nothing to do in Pittsburgh isn't looking very hard. Here are my top picks for the next few weekends.

This Weekend: August 14-16
Bike Fest. There are a bunch of cool bicycle-themed events all weekend, brought to you by Bike Pittsburgh, who works to make Pittsburgh a safe, accessible, and friendly place to bike. We're going to their kick-off fundraising party tonight at The Pittsburgh Opera's offices in the Strip.

Next Weekend: August 19-22
My favorite church/neighborhood festival: North Side Summer Celebration is happening at Holy Wisdom Parish (the church adjacent to 279 North right after the on-ramp from East Ohio Street.) Sure, there are rides and slots and a car cruise, but we go for the homemade pierogies, halushki, other Polish yumminess, and baked goods.

Pogoalooza 6 takes place August 19-21 and features extreme pogo athletes. Fun!

Next Next Weekend: August 28-29
Great Lake Swimmers are playing a free show at Schenley Plaza in Oakland on Friday, August 28.

The Sprout Fund's popular Hothouse benefit event is happening Saturday, August 29 at Walnut Capital’s new Bakery Square development on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East End. There will be music, performances, art, food, and drinks.

wacky stuff at pittsburgh visionary arts festival

2009-08-13T19:37:00.008-04:00

Read about some of my favorite stuff from the festival at The Savvy Grouse, a blog from PA residents about the many awesome things to see and do in PA.

scenes from providence: day three

2009-08-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

Actually, these are scenes from Newport, where we went on Sunday. Newport is about 45 minutes from Providence.

We walked on the Cliff Walk, a famous 3.5 mile trail with the sea on one side and decadent mansions on the other. Loved it!Mansions.Fellow creatures enjoying the coast.Kate created this while we were beachcombing for rocks (our pockets were filled--great finds).
Boats in Newport's harbor.

scenes from providence: day two

2009-08-10T18:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday was hot and sunny—an anomaly in the very rainy summer Providence has had. We started off the day by walking just around the corner to the farmer’s market. I bought fresh raspberries, home-made focaccia from Seven Stars Bakery, and the most amazing caramel from Ocean State Chocolates. I wish I would have bought more caramels. They were so fresh that they melted in my mouth-- completely unequalled with anything you can buy in a store.

A very chic Kate and a very cute Peter walking/biking to the farmer's market.

In the afternoon we went to a bunch of really cool independent boutiques on Hope Street and Wayland Square. I got great stuff, including an awesome necklace from a Providence-based designer at a cool shop called Studio Hop, a pretty summer scarf, a handmade hairpin from local Lucky Bird Studio, a funky card holder from 11:11, and my Ellington bag.

We had lunch at Red Stripe—I had a great salad with fried chevre and really amazing double-fried French fries with a garlic-mayo sauce. So unhealthy, but so delicious.

In addition to the great independent shops and restaurants, what I loved about Providence is the public art everywhere. Because of The Sprout Fund, Pittsburgh has great murals. But we don't do as good a job of incorporating art into underutilized spaces, we don't have a good diversity of public art, and we don't work with local art students enough.

Here, a RISD student created barnacles and tilework in a bus shelter. A surprising place for art, the shelter would have been dim and dreary without the installation.

These were tiles created by young students in a tunnel by the river.

This is Providence's three rivers--yes, they too have three rivers! The pits in the middle of the river (there are 100 of them) are an installation for WaterFire. Waterfire is a sculpture by Providence artist Barnaby Evans installed on all three of Providence's rivers. After shopping, we relaxed back at the house. Kate had gotten a babysitter, so she, Billy, and I went to dinner at a noodle restaurant and then headed into town for WaterFire. The pits are lit at dusk, and then boats with crews of volunteers go through the river until midnight filling the pits with more wood and keeping the fires going. It was really cool! They also had a bunch of food vendors set up and stages with music. There were like a million people there—it was packed.

scenes from providence: day one

2009-08-09T11:41:00.015-04:00

A few weeks ago I spent a fun weekend in Providence visiting Kate, who moved there last fall. With a population of about 175,000, Providence feels bigger than it is. It has a decent-sized Downtown and lots of neighborhood business districts—and it also has three rivers, as well as a bunch of bays and the Atlantic. It was a lot of fun exploring (and shopping and eating in) Providence, seeing some of the Rhode Island coast, and getting caught up with Kate.

Kate and Billy’s Dutch Colonial—I love the slightly spooky, Amityville-Horror-esque style of the roof. It’s big, has tons and tons of storage space and built-ins, but my favorite part of it was the large shady yard filled with huge trees.

On Friday we walked around the Brown and RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) campuses and saw a little bit of Downtown. There were lots of cute, independent shops and restaurants around campus, just 10 minutes away from Kate’s house.

A sculpture beside a RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) Building.

RISD and Brown campuses are in the College Hill neighborhood, just 10 minutes away from Kate’s house. This is College Hill.

Downtown had a lot of cute shops.

We ate lunch at a really good Mediterranean place. I had a fantastic falafel wrap. Friday night we had another awesome meal—this one at Chez Pascal, literally around the corner from Kate’s house. I had herbed baked ricotta with sautéed spinach with a garlic sauce and salad with baked feta along with some really good wine—everything was amazing.

august birthdays

2009-08-09T10:42:00.005-04:00

Happy birthday to our nephews and neice: Justin (turned 8) and Ben and Sarah (turn 19)!

pittsburgh visionary arts festival

2009-08-07T13:05:00.001-04:00

I walked over to the Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival during lunch. It's in Schenley Plaza in Oakland today through Sunday. It's amazing--in my opinion, better than the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Of the 50 or so vendors, only a handful weren't my style. Most everything was fresh, hip, and super cool. There are a number of things I want to buy--Dave and I will be back this weekend to shop!

reassessing my veg diet

2009-08-06T12:13:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I attended a lunch-and-learn seminar with a local chiropractor, Dr. Joshua Sokolowski. He talked about ergonomics and, somewhat surprisingly, nutrition. He said that the majority of the cases he sees are caused by poor nutrition over time, and that many people do know what good nutrition is. I learned:

While many people know that Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oil, walnuts, etc.) are good for you, many don't know that Omega-6 fatty acids (found in factory-farmed meats, farm-raised seafood, dairy, legumes, and grains), when eaten out of proportion with Omega-3 fatty acids, can contribute to long-term diseases like heart disease, cancer, asthma, arthritis, and depression. According to this website, "A healthy diet should consist of roughly 2 - 4 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 - 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, and many researchers believe this imbalance is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States."

Grains? Really? Even whole grains? Yep. Dr. Sokolowski said that many people eat way too many grains, and that can actually cause more harm than good.

He also talked a lot about how dairy is just about one of the worst things for us. He explained that humans are not meant to drink breast milk from other animals (something any vegan knows full well), and rattled off a long list of research that proves that dairy essentially wreaks havoc on the health of humans. Here's a site that has research on how dairy is linked to 19 different illnesses, including heart disease and breast cancer. During the seminar, I added my own thoughts that in addition to the illnesses dairy causes, it's just gross to drink breast milk from animals!

The doctor suggested the following diet to help ward off inflammatory diseases and other long-term diseases:

Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Choose grass-fed meat and free-range chicken over factory-farmed meat.
Choose wild-caught seafood over farm-raised seafood.
Limit or eliminate grains and dairy.

It gave me a lot to think about. I'm not vegan. I eat cheese. But my diet is heavily based on grains and legumes like lentils. When I joked that I would have to go home and completely reassess my diet, he said that while it's obviously a personal choice, he strongly suggests that vegetarians incorporate seafood into their diets, which is healthier than grains and legumes.

I've decided to definitely try to eliminate dairy as much as possible. In addition to these health reasons, dairy cows and their offspring have a terrible, awful life; I think even worse than meat cows. My goal is to eat vegan one day a week, then work my way up to two days, and so on until I've significantly limited dairy, if not eliminated it completely.

But eating seafood? And giving up grains and legumes? Each would be very tough, for different reasons. But I'm thinking about it...I'd love to know how other vegetarians feel about this?

deerhunter / dan deacon / no age show

2009-08-04T21:28:00.007-04:00

Last night we went to see a round robin performance by Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, and No Age at Mr. Small's in Millvale. It was amazing! One of the best shows I've ever seen.

First, the space rocked. I'd never been to Mr. Small's, a huge old church converted to a music venue. The music echoed so much and was just so big that I felt it vibrating through my body. The show was sold out, and the bands loved that. "This is every rock band's dream--selling out Pittsburgh on a Monday." Awesome! The space was packed, and the audience was so full of energy and happy to play Dan Deacon's games (clearing out the middle of the floor to let one person dance, and then everyone had to imitate the guy dancing).

All three bands played songs together, and then each took turns playing their own. It was a really, really awesome show, and I'm so glad they came to Pittsburgh--we were one of only seven stops on the tour.

Here's Dan Deacon under his wacky skull lighting setup.

Dan Deacon and Deerhunter (right).

a good week = three new bags

2009-07-31T12:21:00.005-04:00

I'm a bag girl. So is Kate (an entire closet in her house is devoted just to bags and dresses). When I visited her last weekend in Providence (those pictures are coming soon), I told her I was on the hunt for a new bag. If I'm not biking, I need a bag for work that will fit my wallet, makeup bag, a book, shoes, a wrap, and a laptop. It also needs to have compartments for a little notebook, gum, my MP3 player, and phone. So it needs to be really sturdy--ones I've bought from Target have cracked under the pressure of carrying my heavy loads.

Kate took me to a shop called Strada and introduced me to Ellington bags. She bought one last fall and swears by it. She says she hasn't used any other bags since--a pretty strong statement from girls like us who love buying new bags.

I ended up buying this bag in red (admittedly, Kate spied it first and was going to buy it for herself. She graciously let me have it, but then this week bought another one online.)
Doesn't look like much, right? You can't tell in this picture what a smart design it has, including four outer pockets perfect for carrying water bottles, shoes, umbrellas, etc.; two large interior pockets, one with compartments for phone, pens, and a clasp for keys; two additional zipped interior pockets; a very roomy interior; and a zipped pocket that lets you slide it over a luggage handle.

I got to know this bag really well waiting all day in the airport when my flight was delayed, and it was a godsend. It's sturdy, all canvas (so vegan, which is nice), fits my laptop and all my essentials, and the compartments made it easy to find my plane tickets, itinerary, etc. I'll definitely use this bag for travel, but it's quickly becoming my go-to work bag too (easy to find my bus pass and other necessities quickly).

I loved it so much that I just bought another Ellington bag!
This is the same one Kate has. She uses it for work and for going places with her two-year-old son. Like the tote I bought, this has four exterior pockets, lots of compartments, is very roomy inside, and is very sturdy. It's smaller, so I'll use it to whenever I'm out and about and need to carry my camera, a water bottle, a wrap, and other necessities. It will be great for exploring places on day and weekend trips since it fits so much. I can't wait to get it in next week!

In addition to the Ellington bags, I bought a bike messenger bag from REI that I desperately needed. I use an old backpack, which is pretty embarrassing since big backpacks are so ten years ago (which is pretty much when I got it). Dave has the same bag and says it fits nicely and doesn't swing when he's riding, is waterproof, and is roomy enough inside for my laptop, shoes, change of clothes, and everything else I carry to work. I'll pick it up from REI next week.
My idea of a great week: one where I get three new bags!

surprise!

2009-07-29T22:26:00.012-04:00

Because I was visiting Kate last weekend, I missed a joint suprise party for my mom's 65th and sister Chris' 40th birthdays. They each thought it was a surprise party for the other. The theme was a rockin' luau, and everyone lip-synched to a song. Dave took these pictures. I love them. It looks like it was a lot of fun. I'm sorry I missed it, but I'd previously made plans with Kate to visit that weekend.

grubble lounging in the sun

2009-07-28T22:59:00.001-04:00

fun weekend but worst flight ever

2009-07-27T19:27:00.003-04:00

I’m finally home, back from my weekend in Providence and trying not to let the worst flight I’ve ever had taint the fun weekend I had.

My 8:30 p.m. US Airways flight into Philly last night was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight into Pittsburgh. They said the delay was due to weather and therefore not their responsibility and refused to compensate for a hotel, a taxi, food vouchers, or to even give an apology. I could either sleep in the Providence or Philly airport since the next flight I could get was the next morning.

So I stayed in Providence at Kate’s house once again, which I really appreciated—I know how tough it is to have overnight guests when you need to work in the morning, especially with a two-year-old. Thanks very much to Kate for driving me to the airport at 5:30 this morning to catch my 7:10 flight!!!

After not getting on standby for earlier flights, I got the 2 p.m. flight out of Philly and got home at 4-- a 16-hour delay. There were many of us with similar sob stories just trying to get home. In an earlier flight, people who had been booked on the flight got bumped to make room for crew members who missed canceled flights the night before. Of course, those people got compensated, but no such luck for all the rest of us who were supposed to get home last night and waited around in the airport for hours.

Well, at least I'm home. I'm happy to be home. I'll be posting pictures of my fun weekend in Providence with Kate later this week--we explored Providence, ate at really awesome restaurants, bought great stuff at local boutiques, walked on the Rhode Island coast in Newport, and relaxed at her very cool Dutch Colonial with her husband Billy, son Peter, and cats Dewey, Sid, and Bean. (I want to bring Dewey and Bean back to live with me. I think Kate and Billy are cool with that, but Dave won't be.)

off to providence

2009-07-23T06:48:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I leave for Providence, Rhode Island to visit Kate who moved there last fall. I'm looking forward to a long weekend catching up with her, seeing how much her son Peter has grown, seeing her new house, and exploring Providence and possibly other parts of Rhode Island.

I'm steeling myself for lots of ocean--RI is the Ocean State, after all. As some may remember, I have a deep and irrational fear of the ocean after watching Jaws on the big screen when I was four years old. Ocean aside, I can't wait!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

pittsburgh vintage grand prix

2009-07-19T09:14:00.003-04:00

We stopped by the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix yesterday. We'd never been before, but it was pretty cool! It's the nation's largest vintage sports car race and the only one run on city streets. Their website says they get more than 250,000 spectators. The cars were pretty cool...unfortunately, because they were racing, it was hard to get good shots. It continues today.

cool installations, panoramic photos, edgy tees

2009-07-18T10:12:00.010-04:00

Last night's Gallery Crawl may have been the best I've ever attended! The rain towards the beginning didn't keep people away. The galleries were crowded with people, and we ran into a bunch of people we know. Dozen Bake Shop is opening a new location Downtown and were passing out free, fresh, yummy mini-capcakes. Thanks!

At 937 Liberty Avenue, there was really cool photography including some awesome panoramics. I also loved the Cultural Trust posters for various events over the years they had on display. 943 Liberty, which used to be a porno shop, was home to The Cotton Factory for the night. They created new designs specifically for the event. You can get them all and other great tees on their website. They were serving up Pabst Blue Ribbon and made a skull of the used cans...pretty cool.
And the cool tee I got--thanks, Cotton Factory!
The installations at the Wood Street Galleries were really incredible. In this photo, they had a ladder set up and had some sort of white, sticky string blowing out of a machine and onto it, creating a shroud of white on the ladder. It was pretty cool.
This was a similar concept, except the machine spun out hot wax to make a giant circle of green wax.

In one of the galleries we ran into John Morris, who used to run the Digging Pitt Gallery in Lawrenceville. We got to talking about how awesome Pittsburgh is, and John said something that I think is really spot on. He said Pittsburgh isn't a ready-made city. It doesn't offer a canned, pre-packaged, easy experience. Instead, you have to seek out the unique, the interesting, the authentic--the very things that make Pittsburgh so cool. I think this is why so many of us Pittsburgh cheerleaders love the city--there's just so much to continually discover, and we all love exploring it.

We also talked about the furries who were in town for their annual convention over the July 4 weekend and how much we hope they continue to come to Pittsburgh. John posted some awesome pictures of them enjoying drinks at Tonic on his blog. By the way, his blog is a great way to keep updated on the arts scene in Pittsburgh.

braddock youth gardening project

2009-07-16T20:00:00.013-04:00

We stopped in Braddock last weekend, and I was really impressed with their youth urban farming initiative.

This was probably a big vacant lot and is now a community garden pretty enough that we couldn't help but stop the car, get out, and walk around. Great idea--they used an old billboard frame at the entrance to the garden as a sign: Braddock Green Youth Organic Urban Family Initiative Community.
Paving stones that made up the walkway had messages from the kids involved. Great way to get kids personally invested in the project.
Another part of the garden, with colorfully painted benches inviting the community in.

In Lawrenceville, I went to a school and talked about our anti-litter program, why litter was bad, and why they should help to keep the streets cleaned. The kids were jumping around in their seats and could have cared less what I said. This idea is much more effective--get kids to paint a garbage can and decorate it using their own words. They'll likely be personally engaged in the message to respect the park and not litter. It's working--there wasn't a scrap of litter around.

july birthdays & playing in the park

2009-07-14T20:58:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my Mom's and cousin Emma's birthdays, and today's my Aunt Jo Ann's. Happy Birthday! Here's Mom, Emma, and Olivia (who shares my birthday) at Emma's 1-year birthday party on Sunday at Cedar Creek Park.

Cousin Sarah, niece Katharine, me, cousin Olivia, and Aunt Jo Ann swinging.

Dave jumping off the swings.
Playing on the seesaw.

whirlwind tour of pittsburgh

2009-07-12T09:01:00.016-04:00

We had a lot of fun this weekend with Tim, Dave's good college friend and best man at our wedding, and his wife Jean, who live in Portland, Oregon.

On Friday we went on a fun biking tour. Starting from our house in the North Side, near the Heinz factory and lofts, we went on the river trail to 31st Street Bridge, crossed to the Strip District, then biked up through Polish Hill. We took Melwood Ave. to Oakland and stopped at the Cathedral of Learning. This is the chapel on the Cathedral lawn and a view inside the Cathedral.

We got lunch at Uncle Sam's Subs in Oakland and ate under the canopy at Schenley Plaza. We saw the remaining wall from Forbes Field, then biked into Schenley Park where we picked up the Eliza Furnace Trail (the jail trail) on the other side of the railroad tracks. We took that four miles to the Point. I had to stop and take a picture of this For Rent sign in one of the jail cells!

Here's Tim, Dave, and Jean at the Point.

Next we biked over the Ft. Duquesne Bridge to see the Steelers and PNC Park Stadiums. (Tim is a big sports fan, and Tim, Jean, and Dave are all architects.)We took the river trail back home, but first stopping to see my favorite little building in Pittsburgh, behind the Alcoa building, designed by architect Frederick John Osterling.

It ended up taking four hours, but was a nice way to see a lot of the city. After we showered and relaxed for a little bit, we drove them through the Mexican War Streets and Allegheny West neighborhoods in the North Side and to the Children's Museum (Jean wanted to see it because it's a green building), then walked Downtown for a tour of architecture and historical landmarks. This is a shot of the cemetery beside Trinity Cathedral on Sixth Ave., which contains some of the oldest graves in Pittsburgh.

Here's a detail of a facade of a building on Wood Street designed by Osterling, the same architect who did the little building above.

After the walking tour we went back to the Cultural District and had drinks and dinner at Six Penn. Their Strawberry Basil Mojito is fabulous, and we had delicious food and great wine (Jean picked it--a Sauvignon Blanc from Kunde Estates).

We were all up late on Friday night (the guys were up late, but I woke up in the middle of the night and Grubble wasn't sleeping with me, so I panicked thinking he got out of the house and made Dave walk around the block at 4 a.m. looking for him...turns out he was sleeping with Tim and Jean on the third floor), so we had a late breakfast at DeLuca's in the Strip.

After that, we drove them through some of the neighborhoods to see interesting architecture, cool business districts, and new development projects. We went through Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Penn Avenue (we stopped in the Pittsburgh Glass Center, another green building that Jean wanted to see), Friendship, and Bloomfield.

We ran out of time and didn't get to visit the Warhol Museum (a big bummer), but overall they saw a lot of the city in a short time, and it was fun for us to show them around. We love playing tour guide!

neighborhoods are the essence of pittsburgh

2009-07-09T12:27:00.010-04:00

1. Recently a coworker said that the two biggest draws for out-of-towners are Fallingwater and the Warhol Museum. And, in fact, friends visiting from Portland, OR this weekend are at Fallingwater today and want to go to the Warhol Museum tomorrow.

2. A post on Darcey's blog about restaurant options in San Francisco made the Pittsburgh cheerleader in me come out in full force and remind her and Rachna that there are a variety of restaurant options here. I said that on Craig Street alone, there are two Indian restaurants (both with awesome lunch buffets), Thai, Middle Eastern, Italian, French (crepes), American sandwiches and wraps, Chinese, and raw food/vegan all in just a few blocks.

These two things led me to this post as a reminder to everyone about Pittsburgh's 88 (or 90, depending on who you talk to) neighborhoods. Pittsburgh's greatest asset is its neighborhoods, each with its own unique flavor and character. Before I ever started promoting neighborhoods as my last job, I loved exploring them. Sure, everyone knows the Strip District is the open-air market district and that Bloomfield is Pittsburgh's Little Italy (right?), but how many people know about all the many city steps all over the city that are fascinating to explore? Or that in the Spring Hill neighborhood there's a cemetery that has views of the city that rival Mt. Washington's? Or the fascinating architecture in Lawrenceville, like the old Stable Building, Engine House, and Ice House? Or about Penn Avenue's resurgence as an arts district? Or Friendship's residential streets lined with old, stately, beautiful Victorian-era mansions?

Many visitors coming to Pittsburgh choose only to go to its most well-known destinations. Great, fine. Absolutely go to the Warhol Museum! But visitors lose out when they don't explore the neighborhoods. Yes, we are taking our friends to the Warhol (for a beer-tasting event!) but we're also going to explore the nearby Mexican War Streets and Allegheny West, which have some of the most beautiful residential streets in the city.

OR, visitors to Pittsburgh will choose very "safe" activities, like going to Station Square or Shadyside where there are known chain restaurants and public parking lots. Nothing against either of those--they have their place in the city too--but the result can be a very packaged and sterile experience that lacks the authenticity that makes Pittsburgh so great.

So, here is my plea. If you live here and haven't explored Pittsburgh's neighborhoods, what are you waiting for? If you need guidance, check out the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Tours website, which has suggested itineraries for touring seven really awesome neighborhoods. (Rachna, check out the food tour!) If you have out-of-towners visiting, don't just give them sterile experiences they can have in any city. Take them into the neighborhoods, and they'll be wowed.

The neighborhoods are the essence of Pittsburgh. Please support them!

Photo from the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Tours site of Who Knew? Retro-Mod Decor shop in Lawrenceville.

mountain biking in the laurel highlands

2009-07-06T12:30:00.000-04:00

This weekend we went biking on my favorite trails in the Roaring Run Natural Area in the Laurel Highlands. It was about an 11-mile, two-hour ride, and it wiped me out. Some of the sections--rocky, steep singletrack on the sides of steep hills--were tougher than I remembered. But overall it was fun, fun, fun.

Rolling singletrack through fern-filled forest on the McKenna trail. Pretty!

Memorial marker where three people died in 1896. Creepy!Cemetery in the middle of the woods. Also creepy!
Foundation of an old school.

ya gotta regatta

2009-07-04T09:32:00.022-04:00

Scenes from the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta yesterday...

Bad food on the Roberte Clemente Bridge. It was cool (nice!), and storm clouds threatened all day.
The PA State Police gave simulations on a car rollover with dummies, first with seatbelts and then without. The unbelted dummies got jacked up--wow, who'd have thunk? Frisbee dog show! This guy rescues all his dogs and trains them. Love that he makes sure the audience knows that. The "Pittsburgh style" beer garden certainly isn't like the beer gardens in Prague!
Pro mountain bike stunt guy Mike Steidley doing cool tricks.Motocross stunt show.And the big highlight: Nik Wallenda walks 1,000 feet across and 200 feet above the Allegheny River using nothing but his balancing pole. The huge crowd let out a collective gasp when it started raining. Luckily the rain lasted only a minute, and Nik made it across. Cheers to Nik!!!

pittsburgh events this weekend

2009-07-02T13:22:00.003-04:00

So much is going on this holiday weekend! Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.

Tonight:
Bicycle Film Festival starts at the Warhol Museum.

Friday:
Three Rivers Regatta starts. This year some guy is going to walk on a tightrope across the Allegheny River!

Unblurred on Penn Avenue has some cool things on the agenda: glass art, and new stuff from Tweek Clothing (somehow I missed that this opened!), and all galleries open until about 11 or so.

Saturday:
4th of July events at Point State Park. I always have the best place to watch the fireworks: my roof!

Sunday:
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts YART sale. A bunch of different art will be on sale (at yard sale prices), but I'm intrigued with the "unusual finds" promised in the PG article.

no cherries this year

2009-06-30T20:31:00.004-04:00

Last year our cherry tree produced something like 10 gallons of juicy, sweet, dark red cherries. We gave them away to everyone we knew because there were too many to eat. And then, tragically, a tree trimmer guy "topped off" instead of "shaped up" the tree, leaving it butchered and ugly. I was devastated and thought it wouldn't come back. But it has! Here it is now--full and pretty, albeit with 15 feet of height taken off. But as a result of last year's butchering, we didn't get any cherries this year. We'll see what happens next year!

how my garden grows

2009-06-29T19:54:00.008-04:00

It's been a month since I planted my perennial garden, and it's grown like crazy. Some things got a lot bigger than I thought they would. Others didn't get so big. So I think it looks a little shaggy, a little not-quite-pulled-together. I think I have to readjust and move stuff around, but I'm not sure how yet. Still, it's green, shady, and private. The cats and I love it!

kitty sweethearts

2009-06-28T21:25:00.005-04:00

Grubbleand Little Ma'am (reformed feral and outside cat who claims me as her person)are long-time sweethearts.

dogwood in bloom

2009-06-27T16:33:00.003-04:00

My new Kousa Dogwood bloomed, but just at the very top and not many blooms. The blooms are pretty and have already lasted about a month though. I'm hoping the whole tree blooms next year.

purple fountain grass

2009-06-25T19:31:00.003-04:00

On the deck: purple fountain glass with flower spikes and creeping jenny.

and here's keeya

2009-06-25T19:28:00.003-04:00

I can't get a good picture of my fourth foster Keeya--she's always moving. She's very gentle and affectionate--might be good with kids. She adores being petted. When I'm not petting her, she's happy to lay at my feet. She's smart too. She's nursing a cold but will be ready for adoption in a few weeks.

meet the new kitties: lolly, rascal & bernie

2009-06-23T19:08:00.014-04:00

The Animal Rescue League is completely full, so I'm fostering some sick kitties for them. They'll be ready for adoption in just a few weeks.

Lolly was brought in as a stray with four kittens. Sadly, all of them died. She is extremely affectionate and loves to be petted. She also loves to play and "talks" to the string when she plays with it. She's awesome!Rascal is a beautiful buff-colored kitten (not sure of sex but likely male) with blue eyes. He is full of piss and vinegar! He runs around playing like a nut and gives funny kitten growls at the other cats and even his toys. He purrs when you snuggle him and pet him though. Bernie has already taken over my heart! He's an adolescent kitten, maybe 10 to 12 weeks, extremely skinny and in his very cute awkward stage--all legs, tail, and ears! He's a playful kitten, but he's also a loverboy. As soon as I come into his room, he jumps up on my lap, puts his paws on my shoulder, and give me hugs and kisses. I am in love.

Keeya is a beautiful gray and white girl. She's also very affectionate and extremely gentle. She is camera shy, so her photo isn't available yet, but she's a beauty, a total purr machine, and intelligent.

If you've thought about getting a pet, please consider adopting, especially now when the shelters are full of cats and kittens. These four are all a delight, but there are many more wonderful cats and dogs that need homes.

june birthdays

2009-06-22T20:27:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday to...

Darcey! I've now been friends with Darcey for 22 years, since freshman year in high school. Check out her blog.

Harrison! My nephew turned 11. Here he's dressed up in Dave's Devo costume. Harrison is a lot like me: loves cats and very silly.

first day of bus-bike combo commute

2009-06-22T13:30:00.001-04:00

My parking permit at work was approved, but I canceled it. Following my resolution to take my bike on the bus in the morning and bike home after work, I started today after getting a new helmet and a tune-up from Dave.

Dave and I also did a test run on Saturday--biking from our house to my office in Oakland and back. I have to admit that the trip up Polish Hill wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! The return trip down through Polish Hill was pretty fun.

The hardest parts of my first day--figuring out how to use the bus bike racks and the bike racks in our garage--are over. Now I'm looking forward to a fun ride home!

Have you considered biking or taking public transportation even one day of the week? Visit Bike Pittsburgh's site to learn about their Car-Free Fridays program.

my favorite prague picture

2009-06-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

Nun going into the Church of Sts Peter and Paul in Vysehrad. And that concludes my Prague pictures!

smichov

2009-06-16T23:25:00.000-04:00

On our last night in Prague, we walked through Smichov, the neighborhood along the riverfront south of Mala Strana. At that point, I was a little tired of taking pictures of buildings...this is the result.On the way back to our apartment after dinner in Smichov: the Nove Mesto riverfront and Prague Castle at dusk.

vysehrad

2009-06-15T23:42:00.000-04:00

Still have some more Prague pictures to post. These are from a walk to Vysehrad, promoted in our guidebook as "Prague's other castle." It had a really cool neogothic cathedral, a late 19th century cemetery, a walkway around the castle wall with sweeping views of the city, and a big green park. The guidebook described the park as being full of women pushing baby carriages and couples canoodling, and that was true! There were also some young guys throwing around (mostly incorrectly) a football. The best part: few tourists. We walked back to our place through Nove Mesto (New Town).

The view of Vysehrad from the Nove Mesto riverfront.
Church of Sts Peter and Paul.
In the park.
In the cemetery.
View of Prague Castle from the Vysehrad castle wall.
View from the Vysehrad castle wall.
In Nove Mesto.

happy to be home

2009-06-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

I'm home from Prague! It feels so, so good to be back to the house that I love so much, to be greeted by Grubble running down the stairs making his little "irk?"-ing noises, and to see what's thrived (spiderswort, lamb's ear, and purple coneflower) and died (tickweed, ghost fern) in the garden. After the cats all came down and sniffed my suitcase for a few minutes, we all went outside so I could see the garden. The weeds! How did all those weeds grow in two weeks? Five minutes after I got home after 14 hours of travel and being away for two weeks, I was weeding the garden.

Dave had cleaned the house, which I was delighted about since it's so nice to come home to a clean house. This morning it was nice that the sun didn't rise at 4:30/5 like it did in Prague (because of the latitude difference.) And in general I was just happy to be back in Pittsburgh, which was in the news a lot while I was gone with the #1 Most Livable City rating by The Economist and the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup. However, I agree 100% with this opinion piece in the Post-Gazette about balancing all the recent accolades Pittsburgh's been getting with the need to continue to "seek the inspired leadership" and change the "political shenanigans of a one-party town."

Today, we walked over to the Arts Festival--it was the last day. The Gay Pride Festival and a Pirates game were also going on, so Downtown was packed! It was hot and sunny, which felt nice because it's been cool in Prague. Happy to be home.

A giant squid was part of the exhibit in gallery at 937 Liberty Ave.
Robot by Toby Atticus Fraley, from Washington PA. He had a booth in the artists' marketplace, and we bought a really cool clock with a honey bear dressed up as a bird. Sounds strange, but it's cool. I really like his stuff in general--check it out. At Point State Park for the Arts Festival.
Clouds over Downtown.

prague photos from the better photographer

2009-06-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

I've been too busy to post more photos, but Dave has posted some really nice ones on his Flickr page. Check them out!

hradcany and mala strana

2009-06-07T16:16:00.000-04:00

Hradcany is the residential area west of Prague Castle. Here are some more shots around Prague Castle and then in Hradcany.

The castle gate.
View of the castle from the Royal Gardens.In the Royal Gardens.Views from the castle steps.Cubist houses in the Hradcany neighborhood.Mala Strana is the baroque disrict on the hillside in between the castle and the river. It's filled with narrow, winding, cobblestone backstreets that were fun to explore.In Southern Mala Strana is the John Lennon wall, which has been filled with graffitti since the night Czech youths painted images on it the night Lennon was murdered in 1980. Now it's the only place in Prague where graffitti is tolerated; in fact, I overheard a tour guide saying to a group, "If you've brought a can of spray paint, feel free to come back and add to the wall."

vinohrady

2009-06-06T21:43:00.000-04:00

As pretty as Prague is, I can't stand the floods of tourists around the biggest attractions (mainly Old Town Square and Charles Bridge), so it was nice to escape the crowds and explore the Vinohrady neighborhood. The streets are lined with huge, beautiful old townhomes. The only people out were those walking their dogs (most without leashes...dogs here are extremely well behaved) and pushing baby carriages.

From our apartment in Old Town, we went through busy New Town and Wenceslas Square.Vinohrady neighborhood.The tower toward the back is Prague's tallest landmark, the TV Tower. Ten giant baby sculptures (by local artist David Cerny) are crawling on it. Here are some more shots.
A park high on a hill in the neighborhood had nice views of the city...and a giant beer garden. Beer is everywhere here...can you imagine if there were bars in city parks back home? I don't think that would be such a good thing. Best to keep those 40s hidden in paper bags;)In addition to the grand townhouses, the neighborhood also had big villas.I think this church was in Peace Square, and I think the second picture is in between Vinohrady and New Town.We also had lunch at a really good Indian restaurant in Vinohrady. The food here has been a little scary. Typical food here is pork knuckle. We ate (really bad) pizza and salads the first two nights, so we were delighted with Indian. On the third night we found an awesome vegetarian restaurant just a minute from our apartment and ate there twice. Dave isn't a vegetarian by any means, but even he was grossed out with the thought of pork knuckle.

kutna hora

2009-06-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

Kutna Hora is a small town of 20,000 40 miles east of Prague. We took a bus there--not easy finding the station or figuring out how to get a ticket once we got there, but it was well worth the effort.This is the statue-lined bridge going to St. Barbara's Cathedral.View of the Kutna Hora valley from the bridge.
St. Barbara's Cathedral.

prague castle quarter

2009-06-04T13:00:00.000-04:00

Charles Bridge, connecting Old Town and the Castle Quarter, is lined with statues.The view of the castle from Charles Bridge.Walking up from Charles Bridge to the castle.
The view of the city going up the steps to the castle.Prague Castle Quarter is really a little town itself. We haven't toured the castle itself yet (and not sure if we will.) All these pictures are in the Castle Quarter. These next few are of St. Vitus Cathedral.Basilica of St. George.A little house in Golden Lane, which used to house goldsmiths and now houses overpriced gift shops (a shame.)Castle guards.In the vineyard behind the castle with views out over the city.In the Castle Courtyard.Strahov Monastery (not in the Castle Quarter, but just up the hill.)

old town prague

2009-06-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

This is Prague: ornate building after ornate building after ornate building after...(you probably get the drift) with some good grubbiness mixed in. This is all around Old Town.And a sneak peek to the next photo post: Prague Castle.

hello from prague

2009-06-02T01:50:00.000-04:00

Dave and I took separate flights to Prague, which kinda sucked because a.) flying alone, especially a really long flight, is no fun and b.) we weren't sure how to find each other once we got in. But we did, and we're here! We rented a one-bedroom apartment in a building called the House of the Golden Alphabet right in Old Town. The building dates back to the 13th century and has painted ceilings. Here's the inside:Here's the outside--it's the second yellow building with a souvenir shop on the ground floor.This is our street, Jiltska.
We are less than a five-minute walk to two main attractions: Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge, which connects Old Town and Prague Castle. Following are some pictures of Old Town Square.Last night when we got in we went to a grocery store that made the sketchy North Side Giant Eagle look like Whole Foods. Bottles had dust on them, it was very unclean, and the selection was slim (though we really couldn't tell what we were buying anyway since it was all in Czech). Dave bought milk and the next morning discovered it was completely sour and lumpy. Yuck! Dave also wanted to buy better toilet paper than what was in our apartment. We wondered why it had a strawberry pattern on it until Dave realized: it is strawberry scented. Yes, strawberry scented.

We dragged our fruity asses all over Prague today, probably covering at least 10 miles. Now I'm exhausted. Yesterday we slept when we shouldn't have and didn't sleep when we should have, so our internal time is all screwy. I took about 300 pictures but don't have time to go through them all now.

Prague definitely has a Soviet feel. It's a little rough in parts, but it's really beautiful overall. Tomorrow we're headed to a little Czech town outside of the city, so I'll try to post more pix tomorrow night.

grubble will miss me

2009-06-01T01:45:00.000-04:00

Whenever I pull out the suitcase, Grubble knows I'll be leaving. Here he jumped into my suitcase--look at that face! He's like, "Please don't leave me." Aww, I'll miss him. And Elsie and Orla too.

puppies, kittens, and see you in Prague

2009-05-29T15:45:00.000-04:00

The Animal Rescue League desperately needs foster homes! Foster homes are critical for providing pets with temporary homes until a place becomes available for them at the shelter. That means that fosters help save lives because they prevent having to euthanize pets when space at the shelter isn't available. They currently about 275 cats in foster with over 40 different people, but it just isn’t enough. Already in May, they've taken in 519 cats. Unbelievable! If you are unable to adopt a pet, please consider fostering--the application is here. There are plenty of puppies and kittens that need foster homes, as well as adults--wouldn't you like to have a puppy or kitten in your life, even just for a short while? :)

I leave tomorrow for Prague! First for vacation, then for work. Please check back to this blog starting Sunday--I'll be posting photos of our travels around the Czech Republic.

please help keep state parks open!

2009-05-28T15:52:00.000-04:00

An article in today's Post-Gazette said that state budget cuts Republicans are proposing could mean that 50 state parks will close by July 1. "If 35 to 40 parks were closed, the DCNR estimated that approximately 3 million park visitors would be affected and visitor spending in local communities would be reduced by almost $58 million."

The state's parks are not only a huge draw for tourism, but are microcosms of the natural beauty that make PA so wonderful. I was heartbroken to see some of my favorites--Linn Runn and Laurel Summit--on the list. Closing them would mean abandoning our natural treasures!

Please help make sure this doesn't happen by sending an email to Governor Rendell. If you are unsure what to write, feel free to use the following message. Let's make sure our state parks don't close!!!

Please do not force DCNR to close PA state parks by accepting the proposed Republican budget cuts! Our parks are natural and important treasures, representing the best of PA’s scenic beauty and giving residents valuable recreational opportunities. The wilderness and recreation areas in the parks are vital not only to PA residents but also to tourism in our state. It would be a huge detriment to this state's tourism economy to close our beautiful parks. Please oppose the GOP budget plan and protect our parks!

the case for biking to work

2009-05-27T15:49:00.000-04:00

Recently I saw a PBS show called Blueprint America about the problems with this country's infrastructure. Today we face not only issues like bridges falling down, but issues that affect our quality of life: suburban sprawl, which has led in PA and elsewhere to the decline of small towns and neighborhoods, traffic jams that not only are maddening but lead to pollution and unsafe streets, and poor public transportation.

The show that I saw, Road to the Future, profiled a couple living in Portland, OR, where a large percentage of residents bike to work. The couple lived in the city and biked everywhere with their two young children. They said they rarely go anywhere they can't bike to.

It made me feel guilty for applying for a parking permit. While it takes me less than 15 minutes to drive to work, it takes me a half hour via bus in the morning (not bad), but between 40 and 45 minutes for the afternoon commute.

One of the (many) reasons both Dave and I like city living is that we have so much more free time because of quick commutes. Dave bikes to work most days and walks when the weather is too icy or rainy to bike. He's never once driven his car to work in the five years he's worked Downtown! His bike commute takes him 10 minutes each way. Compare that to commuters who live in the suburbs and have an hour commute each way (which is very common where I work). If you take out two weeks vacation, it comes to 500 hours, or roughly 20 full days, of people's lives every single year that they spend driving to work. And that doesn't take into consideration the costs they spend on gas, car maintenance, and parking; the congestion they contribute to; and the greenhouse gas emissions they contribute, which is fouling up our entire planet. It makes perfect sense to us to live in the city where we don't have to drive to work and can walk most places. (And for those who say they won't live in the city because of city taxes, obviously they pay more for car gas, maintenance, and parking than the tax increase.)

Given this, it's hard to stomach a 40-minute commute when I live 15 minutes away. But I hate the idea of driving to work and contributing to congestion and pollution. SO, I'm saying it here, publicly, so I can't back out of it: I'm going to start biking home from work. My morning commute is up through Polish Hill, so I'd have to shower in my building before work because I'll be sweaty from the ride (and, furthermore, I seriously doubt that I'd be able to make it up the hill without stopping and pushing). Luckily, my bus, the 54C, has a bike rack, so I can put my bike on the rack and ride the bus in the morning, then ride my bike home after work, which is all downhill and should be pretty quick.

This is a huge step for me because I've never been comfortable biking on roads. I like mountain biking on trails, but even then I'm pretty uncoordinated and fall and hurt myself a lot. But I'm going to start! The Port Authority has some instructional guides on how their Rack and Roll program works. I'm going to start as soon as I'm back from Prague in two weeks. Wish me luck!

Oh, and if this has inspired you, please consider taking mass transit, biking, or walking to work! Watch that Road to the Future documentary I linked to above, seriously. And here's a link to Bike Pittsburgh, who advocates biking to work.

Image taken by Dave, who not only commutes via bike to work, but also takes hour-long bike rides every day after work, as well as multi-hour rides on weekends, all over the city.

i love my garden!

2009-05-26T00:23:00.000-04:00

Over the past month we've planted a bunch of perennials in the square we cut out of the concrete patio. Here are the before pictures. Here's what it looks like now!We got the rocks from a demolished house on the side of Route 28 instead of paying $11 per rock from Home Depot. I spend every evening I can after work outside, and Dave and I eat dinner most nights at the little bistro table, which is completely private and secluded from our neighbors. I love this space! I'll post more pictures as the plants grow in. Here's a list of what I planted:

Grey Creeping Thyme
Spiderswort
Lamb's Ears
Elijah Blue Fescue Grass
Blue Oat Grass
Geranium
Coneflower
Moss Saxifrage
Sea Thrift
Mountain Bluet
Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox
Columbine
Meadow Sage (Purple Salvia)
Stratosphere White
Artemisia Silver Mound
Ghost Fern
Fountain Grass
Tickweed
Jacob's Ladder
Miscanthus Morning Light Grass

enon!

2009-05-24T13:10:00.000-04:00

Enon played a great show last night at The Smiling Moose in the South Side. They lamented to us about the ridiculous liquor control in Pennsylvania. "We just want to go to Trader Joe's and buy alcohol!" Yes, we share their pain. Abolish the PLCB! The show was a lot of fun--thanks, Enon, for coming to see us in Pittsburgh. If you haven't heard them, check out High Society, my favorite album.

After the show, we experienced Carson Street crazinesss. Driving down Carson Street at 1:45 a.m. is definitely an experience. The streets were filled with falling-down-drunk people. Guys were doing somersaults on the sidewalks, girls were walking barefoot in the middle of the street holding their heels in their hands, people were passed out on residents' front stoops, people ran up to our car to give us high fives through the window, and, perhaps the oddest thing, some guys clucked like chickens at us through the car window.

road trip: ebensburg, altoona, & hollidaysburg

2009-05-24T12:45:00.000-04:00

This is the first long weekend in, well, forever, that we haven't gone away. But we're leaving next weekend for vacation and have so much to do that we opted for a quick little day trip to central PA instead of a weekend away. We stopped in Ebensburg (not much there), Altoona (fairly big for a small town, with a lot of murals), and Hollidaysburg (which is definitely the cutest of the three). It was a longer drive than we thought. And it was hot!

Ebensburg
Altoona
We take our DeLorme Altas & Gazetteer everywhere. It shows a lot of back roads, parks, historical sites, etc. Perfect for little road trips--we have one for PA, WV, and Maine from our trip last year.

new music for the weekend

2009-05-22T00:54:00.000-04:00

This week I subscribed to a great free music site: lala. You can listen to any song or album for free once, so it's a great way to check out new music. They also give you 50 free song credits when you join, so you can add 50 songs to your account that you can play as much as you want. You can also, of course, buy songs. Here are some of my favorite new tracks:

Young Adult Friction by The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Moth's Wings by Passion Pit

Stillness is the Move by Dirty Projectors

Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear (weird--I heard this via lala on Pitchfork.com, but it's not showing up when I log into lala, so here it is on myspace.)

You can also play full albums for free on Pitchfork's album reviews page. Looking forward to listening to the new Deerhunter and Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) albums.

Happy new music finding!

so tempted. but i won't. except for one thing.

2009-05-20T15:57:00.000-04:00

Arrrgh. My fingers are itching to write about local politics, particularly yesterday's primary. Beyond that, I'm itching to start an anonymous blog to inform the 95% of city residents who are absolutely clueless how city government really operates in this city. I'd argue that only those who have dealt with the city directly really know. (I was in community development, so I know.) It pains me to read blogs and hear buzz from the ignorant city masses and not be able to say to them, "Look, here's how things really work. It's ugly, maddening, and sickening."

But...I won't. Engaging in politics only breeds negativity (my experience, anyway) and, aside from that, no one would ever hire me if I became known as a whistle-blower.

Except...except...OK, I just have to say that the local bloggers have no clue about the Ceoffe versus Banahasky fight for district judge. NO. CLUE. Tony has done SO much for his community. He's intelligent, a hard worker, and fights hard for what he believes in. He's made a huge impact in alleviating crime in Lawrenceville, and district judge is a great and well-deserved next step for him. YAY, Tony!

And while I'm talking politics...the election results on last night's news were the third story down. The top story was that Najeh Davenport's car was stolen. Davenport is the ex-Steeler who broke into a female dorm at Barry University in 2002 and took a crap in her laundry basket while she slept...which is why he's known locally as The Defecator. Yep, that's Pittsburgh for you.

OK, that's it. No more politics on this blog!

mitsy--please help spread the word!

2009-05-18T22:13:00.000-04:00

Mitsy, who I'm fostering for the Animal Rescue League, desperately needs to find a forever home by the end of the month. She needs a home without children or other cats, with someone who will be patient with her as she adjusts to her new surroundings. I think she'd be a wonderful companion for seniors living alone. She is talkative, enjoys being around people, and has good house manners with impeccable litter box habits. Please help pass the word around to anyone who may be interested. Her ad in the local paper is here.

banjos, piergoies, biker rally & lake arthur

2009-05-18T00:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Ambridge Nationality Days mainly for pierogies (delicious, as was the haluski), but I was delighted to find an even better treat: the Pittsburgh Banjo Club. They practice every Tuesday in the North Side, and I'd seen them before thanks to Pam D. and Amy C. but it was fun to see them again.

Today we took a drive on a sunny afternoon up 79 to Ellwood City, where a biker rally was going on (we didn't fit in very well), then on to New Castle and Moraine State Park.

walk around town

2009-05-15T00:38:00.000-04:00

Nice walk after work: across the 16th Street Bridge, through Downtown to Market Square, across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, and then back on the river trail. Love that I can walk to so many places from my house.

white for summer

2009-05-13T23:40:00.000-04:00

The only time I've worn a white dress was for my wedding, and even then it was off-white. But all I'm seeing online are pretty white outfits for the summer, like the following shots from Lucky's Sexy Summer Street Style. So I'm on a mission to find a white dress that's both sweet and sexy, that I can dress up or dress down. And a white scarf is a must-have too.

pierogie season starts this weekend

2009-05-13T00:12:00.000-04:00

The season for summer church and nationality festivals, all of which seem to feature home-made Polish and Slovak food, starts this weekend with Ambridge Nationality Days. There will be over 100 vendors, crafts booths, ethnic entertainment, and the Pierogie Challenge, which seeks to find the best pierogies in Ambridge. I love festivals, small towns, and pierogies, so I can't wait!

Photo from Ambridge Nationality Days website.

palindrome curb appeal

2009-05-11T23:43:00.000-04:00

Our house hasn't had house numbers since we moved in--all we've had are decals on our mailbox. So last year Dave and I looked at every possible website we could find for house numbers. The numbers I liked best were the Neutra numbers from Design Within Reach, originally designed by architect Richard Neutra for mid-century buildings he designed. But at $50 a pop, we just couldn't stomach spending $150+ on house numbers. So we did nothing.

Recently, while at Home Depot, we found numbers very similar to the Neutra numbers, complete with the floating aspect that gives them a shadow. And they were $5 a number! Dave installed them this weekend. Here they are in the daylight and at night underneath our outside light. And yes, I love that our house number is a palindrome :)

vegan shoes at pavement

2009-05-10T16:00:00.000-04:00

I wanted comfortable but also cool shoes to wear for both work and sightseeing in Prague, so yesterday I headed to the store with the coolest shoes in Pittsburgh, Pavement in Lawrenceville. Last year I bought my first pair of J-41s from Pavement--made of recycled rubber and other materials from the Jeep company, they're 100% vegan and so comfortable that I wore them everywhere.

I left Pavement with three new pairs of J-41s! Two are funky but comfy heels I can wear for work (one is pictured here), and the other are a different version of the J-41s I bought last year--perfect for walking a lot and sightseeing. And they were all on sale, so I got three pairs for what it would have cost me to get two pairs from Zappos.I hadn't seen Alissa, the owner, since I left Lawrenceville last summer, so it was good to catch up with her. She said three new restaurants are coming to Lawrenceville soon, right in her area of Lower Lawrenceville: Sufak's is becoming a Mexican cantina, an asian fusion restaurant is opening up (finally--they were supposed to open back when I worked there), and a coffee shop is going in just a few doors down. Exciting!

Pavement also has a lot of really cute clothes and accessories. If you want really cute and funky shoes and clothes that no one else has, be sure to check out Pavement--definitely my all-time favorite shoe store! (Note that their website is down right now, but they're at 3629 Butler Street; 412-621-6400.)

new york magazine says come to pgh!

2009-05-08T15:10:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh's arts scene is in New York Magazine's travel section as a suggested weekend escape. I have to admit that seeing things like this (of course Lawrenceville is mentioned!) makes me miss my old job. Even now, I can't help but shout this out here, on Twitter, etc. I guess promoting Pittsburgh is in my blood!

Earlier this week, my friend Pam D., who I worked with in Lawrenceville, was in town and organized a fun happy hour with an equally fun group of ladies. It was wonderful seeing Pam (she had me in stitches all night) and it was good to talk to others from Lawrenceville. They told me I'm missed :( I miss them too! I once told Pam I loved how she described the job on her LinkedIn account: The toughest job I've ever loved. True 'dat!

Just one more thing about the article though--I love how they give a nod to Pittsburghese though they didn't get it quite right...yinzers come in all ages! "The Pittsburgh accent and unique turns of phrase are derived from early Scotch-Irish immigrants and still used by older residents, known as “yinzers.”"

hard to believe this happens

2009-05-08T00:03:00.000-04:00

This week I watched an episode on PBS's Frontline called Sex Slaves about sex trafficking. The documentary was filmed in Eastern Europe (women from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and Hungary were trafficked into Istanbul, Turkey) but this practice is a multimillion dollar global industry.

It can start with women answering classified ads for waitresses, maids, and other legitimate jobs but, more often, someone who knows the women will tell them they can make money in another country. The documentary followed a trafficker named Olga who promised women domestic jobs in Instabul for $200 weekly pay. Some of the women did in fact get the legitimate jobs they were promised. Olga took others across the border, met up with men who paid for the women (in one instance $1,000), and told the women to go with the men, that they'd be fine. The women were then taken to an apartment (in one story, 22 girls lived in a three-bedroom apartment) and beaten and raped by the traffickers before being told they needed to work as prostitutes in order to pay off their debt. The women were raped 24 hours a day by customers, often between 10 and 25 men a night. They were also beaten regularly, at least once a day. After some time of this, the women were often sold to other traffickers, making it impossible for them to repay their debt.

That this is a common practice that happens regularly today is both frightening and heartbreaking. But, what's even worse, is that there's so little help or even empathy for these women. When traffickers are caught and charged, they often serve no jail time. Olga, the trafficker that the Frontline producers filmed trafficking women three years ago when the documentary first aired, was never arrested and is still living in Moldova.

Still feeling a little sick to my stomach thinking of this, I logged on to the local news today to see two back-to-back headlines: one about a puppy found killed and burned and another about a cat killed with an arrow. Sex trafficking and animal abuse are two different issues, I know, but underlying both is depravity, cruelty, and evil that is hard to imagine existing in so many people today.

But, it does.

Image from PBS's website.

simple fruit salad

2009-05-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

Years ago my friend Jill made this fruit salad for a summer dinner at her house. I've been making it ever since. The ingredients couldn't be more simple--watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes--but it keeps for a week in the fridge and is delicious and refreshing.

joey's trees

2009-05-02T14:56:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to the opening reception for Tree, a photo exhibit by Joey Kennedy at the office of Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest on Penn Avenue that was part of the monthly Unblurred art crawl. Joey's photos were amazing--and of course, I loved the tree focus! The space was cool too. The wood floors were made by a local woodworker. Here's what their site says: "Our new office floor was made by John Metzler, a local Pittsburgh woodworker at Urban Tree Forge right in Highland Park. John gives new life to trees that have been removed in the City of Pittsburgh, turning them into furniture, sculpture, flooring, and other functional wood products. Friends is proud to feature completely local flooring and to put salvaged wood to use." Also in their office was a cool sculpture made from a tree, and what I think were teeny baby seedling trees. Their site has lots of good tips and resources for tree care, so check it out. Joey's photos will be on display through the end of August, so stop by to see them if you're in the neighborhood.

i think dandelions are pretty

2009-04-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

up close with falcons

2009-04-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

Last week I walked over to campus to see falcons as part of CMU's Earth Day activities. The owner has 13 and told me that he hunts with them, so they fly free and return to him. (I didn't ask him to expand on the hunting part.) He also said he had to stop doing so many education sessions with young kids because they get really grossed out when they see the falcons eating dead animals. Yeah, I can understand that.

my new tree

2009-04-27T23:48:00.000-04:00

We bought and planted a tree this weekend! While I had decided on a Flowering Dogwood, I fell in love with another tree at Home Depot--a Kousa Dogwood, cousin to the Flowering Dogwood. I just couldn't resist this eight-foot, nicely shaped beauty. One of the reasons I wanted a Flowering Dogwood was because it's native to this region; the Kousa is native to Japan, Korea, and China. But the Kousa is more pest and disease resistant and gets taller, both plusses. It has a later and longer bloom period and is more upright than sprawling. Just two days after being planted, tiny green leaves are beginning to break out of the little buds. I'm excited to see if it flowers this year!

Of course, now we have a big square of dirt with only the tree planted, so it seems lonely. Next step--deciding what to plant around it.

art, music, waterfalls & a nice walk in the woods

2009-04-27T00:52:00.000-04:00

Black Moth Super Rainbow playing outside on the lawn at CMU. Great night for a show!
Art All Night in Lawrenceville.Along Ferncliff Trail at Ohiopyle.

lots of good stuff this weekend

2009-04-24T15:14:00.000-04:00

So excited for this weekend! Here's what's on tap:

Black Moth Super Rainbow at CMU (CFA Lawn), starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.

12th Annual Art All Night in Lawrenceville, starts at 6 p.m. Saturday and goes all night long until 2 p.m. on Sunday. Last year they had some 1,000 artists exhibiting and 10,000 visitors. I met someone at one point who lives in New Jersey but comes to Pittsburgh every single year just for this! Dave will be putting in a piece, and I'm going to try to as well. The best part of this year's event? I don't have to volunteer as part of my job and don't have to deal with irritants like having our brand stolen for the t-shirt design :)

80-degree temps. Oh, yeah! My sandals and mini-skirts have been waiting through the long winter to come out, so this is their chance! We're going to buy and plant our tree and also want to check out an abandoned whiskey distillery that Dave found out about (yes, trespassing through abandoned and crumbling buildings is fun for us).

Enjoy the nice weekend!

battling the monster root

2009-04-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

Friday I had off and spent the sunny afternoon in the back yard shoveling gravel and attempting to dig out the roots from the tree we had cut down. I'd gone to Target in the morning and bought a small weeding tool that I thought I could use to get the root out. But the more I dug, the better I was able to see what a giant root the tree had. The tree had been planted in the very back corner of the yard, and its massive root system had nowhere to go except for right under the patio.

Dave thought he could get it out with an ax. (At Home Depot, he wanted to buy lime and lots of plastic sheeting in addition to the ax to make it look like we were planning a murder.) After a few hours of vigorous ax swinging, Dave's hands and arms felt like jelly but the biggest parts of the root were out. We now have a hole for a tree!

my favorite part of spring is here

2009-04-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

My ferns are coming up!

cmu spring carnival

2009-04-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend is CMU's Spring Carnival. On Thursday I walked over to campus to check out the buggy design competition. It always amazes me that a.) students build these things every year and b.) students fit into these things every year. Buggies are aerodynamic vehicles powered only by gravity and human pushers, able to reach speeds up to 35 miles per hour. One person gets in the buggy to steer and another person pushes the buggy during the Sweepstakes races held at Carnival. It's been a tradition at CMU since 1920.

Booth is another Carnival tradition. Student organizations build multi-story, interactive structures for competition. This year's theme was Epic Adventures. Booth themes included Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jack and the Beanstalk, Where the Wild Things Are, and my favorite, The Goonies. They were all pretty cool. It was too dark to take pictures, unfortunately, but here are some from the midway.

After checking out the booths, trying to get Dave to ride a ride (he said no), and eating bad carnival food, we headed over to the campus lawn to see The New Pornographers. We met up with Mel, a good friend I met at my very first job out of school. It was great to see her! We had a great view from the side--this is the band clapping to their last song, a rendition of ELO's Don't Bring Me Down.

Carnival continues through today, the 18th, so check it out if you can.

backyard project coming along

2009-04-15T15:04:00.000-04:00

In part two of the backyard project, Dan the landscaper came last week to install a wood fence in the back and remove part of our concrete patio.

I found this photo from 2005 of the raised back bed that we tore out that was shaded by the tree that had to be cut down. How shady and pretty it was.

Here's a photo after we removed the fence that Dave built and after we took apart the raised bed. You can see how the back left portion of the patio was being uprooted by the tree. Dan praised Dave's work on the fence he built--we're going to try to use it in another part of the back.And here's the root of the problem--literally!Here's what it looks like now--with the back fence and back quarter of the patio removed. We decided to only put a wood fence in back because in summer the sides of the chain link fence are completely covered with ivy, so we only really need a screening fence in the back.Yes, that is Grubble sniffing around the rocks. He loves to roll around in the gravel.
Next step: remove the gravel, dig a hole, and plant a tree!

easter in the mon valley

2009-04-14T00:27:00.000-04:00

I missed my sister's birthday when I was in CA so made a rainbow cake for her for Easter using the idea from here and here. I was wary of making it with diet pop like the recipe calls for. But even though it was full of completely unhealthy chemicals, it was a huge hit! It was dense but very moist and yummy, and the rainbowing came out nicely. After dinner at my mom's in the Valley, we took the more leisurely route back to Pgh on Route 837 through all the mill towns. McKeesport is kinda scary, even on Easter Sunday. (And that should say something coming from someone who has a high tolerance for scary neighborhoods.) But it was still a nice, sunny, relaxing ride home.

Emma did not like this idea!

Posing under the magnolia tree: Bill, Katharine, Mom, Harrison, Kathy.

Aunt JoAnn, David, Nicole, and baby Emma.
And us. McKeesport.

spring in the backyard

2009-04-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

The cats and I enjoyed the sun yesterday. I know I'm biased, but I think Grubble is the most handsome cat. He's my guy! (And this is a sneak peek at my new fence! I'll post more pix next week.)
Elsie is just getting used to the outside and is still a little nervous.
Perennials are springing up, and my cherry tree blossoms are changing to new leaves. Still too cool to sit out for long on the deck, but it's almost time for dinners made on the charcoal grill, relaxing on the deck with a book after work, and drinking cocktails on warm evenings. Even my orchid is happy it's spring--here he's peeking out from the kitchen window to enjoy the sun :)

picture props

2009-04-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

If you haven't visited Dave's flickr site recently, have a look! He's posted some good stuff recently--these are two of my favorites.

pgh for life?

2009-04-09T15:39:00.000-04:00

In San Francisco, Kate and I talked with the owner of a boutique who was exploring new cities. She loves SF but, like many people there, can't afford to buy her own place. She read an article on Pittsburgh in a magazine, and thought it would be nice to live somewhere where the real estate is so affordable that you have extra income; in her words "I'd like to be able to afford a house and have money to do other things other than just stay in the house!"

Yes, this is the big reason (though not the only one) why we're still here in Pittsburgh. It is nice to visit San Francisco and dream of living there, but house prices are ridiculous. My house would easily go for well over $1 million in SF (I searched on Realtor for similar size houses, and looks like the going rate is between $2 and $3 million). So the fact that we were able to buy such a great house for so little--with a mortgage payment easily affordable even if one of us loses our jobs--makes Pittsburgh so attractive. The result is that you can live pretty large on not a huge salary.

And yet. Every time I visit a new place, I want to move there. I think I would be happy living just about anywhere (except Baltimore, DC, Florida, Texas, the South, the Southwest, or the Midwest) but I really want to live in Norway! You know what socialized healthcare policies get you in Norway? A year's paid maternity leave, a free car if you have trouble getting around on public transportation, and a government paid two-week tropical vacation if you feel a little ill, just to name a few perks. Sure the taxes are higher, but people are pretty happy in Norway. Watch this video about Norway from Michael Moore's Sicko movie and you'll see why!

Just this week I asked Dave if he wanted to move to Norway. After reminding me that it's dark and terribly cold for a good portion of the year, he said he really has no desire to move. And truth is, neither do I. After the fantasies of living somewhere else die down, I'm pretty happy here in the Burgh. And not just because of the cost of living--it's a beautiful city with so much to offer and to do. After living here most of my life, I still find new places to explore and enjoy. I will still dream of Norway though...

5 things that make me purr: 04.07.09

2009-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

1. My Girls by Animal Collective. 2. Lamps that look like robots.

3. My new coat that I got in North Beach, San Francisco.

4. The Comcast Town ad campaign--what a feel-good, fun, creative campaign for something as boring as cable.

5. Creative re-use of garbage and other random things as planters (the below are big tin cans painted with rust resistant paint).

teeny road trip through route 65 river towns

2009-04-05T11:58:00.000-04:00

Dave's going to buy a new bike, so he wanted to check out a bike shop in Ambridge (named after the American Bridge Company), about 19 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. We spent the sunny afternoon yesterday driving up Route 65 to Ambridge, then on to Rochester, New Brighton, Beaver Falls, and Monaca. It was a nice day for a drive.

Parts of 65 are pretty, even in early spring, with big trees and beautiful houses along stretches of the road. There's a hint of green on the hillsides, spring flowers coming up in yards, and pretty blossoms on trees.

Ambridge.

Beaver River, muddy from all the rain this week.

Rochester Bridge.

Beaver Falls.

Windblown me with my new bug-eye sunglasses and shorter, darker hair (couldn't stand how my hair looked in pix from CA--too long and brassy!)