EvBetPGH Instagram: February 2013

We've passed the halfway-through-February point! We're less than a month away from Daylight Savings! It's continually staying lighter later! Sure, out my window Gross Street may have a coating of snow right now, meaning getting groceries today may take walking instead of biking (considerably more annoying of a task when it takes three times as long to walk). But! We're nearing the end of the long, gray, dark tunnel of winter in Pittsburgh. Soon more outdoor adventures will happen. Soon long bike rides will be possible. Soon leisurely walks of discovery will return.

The older I get, the grumpier I get about winter. I'm okay with that. This year I've enjoyed a bit of a hibernation, which causes fewer posts here, but more time daydreaming about all the awesome things to come in 2013 when it doesn't hurt to be outside. [NOTE: I love hot weather, so summer does not really bother me much.]

In lieu of anything actually happening of PGH-related note in my life the past couple weeks, here's a smattering of the things I found myself doing in the first half of February. 

Working on my first PGH Filmmakers assignment! More to come from this later. The pictures and negatives are currently in the teacher's hands for grading. Grading! Getting learned is weird!

This is a legitimate t-shirt you could purchase. At the Army-Navy store on Liberty downtown. I am doing everything in my power to keep this from ending up in my dresser drawer, but I can't promise anything.

Tyler Kennedy was my Valentine. I'm okay with that.

PHIL COLLINS DAY HAPPENED! There are few days during the year when I wake up feeling pointedly excited. Phil Collins Day is one of them. I celebrated with friends who love me enough to indulge my weird obsession. For them, I am grateful.

When things in my life just make sense: dinos in the Land of Confusion video, something watched countless times during my youth. 

On Saturday a bunch of us caravanned out to Greensburg where we helped one friend's parents move. I have never moved a whole house before! Only ever apartments. It was an exhausting and fun day. It made the excitement about potential homebuying in the not-too-distant future return to my brain in full force. 

Love Stinks! And Inks! Making Valentines at Commonwealth Press

Screen printing and letterpress are two means of making things that I've always been fascinated by and have admired, but I had never given either a go with my own two hands. When I saw a tweet from Commonwealth Press announcing their Love Stinks Valentines card printing party, I was immediately interested. After trying to find a buddy to sign up with me, I decided to buy a ticket regardless of whether or not anyone came with me. This is 2012! I'm trying new things and if I have to try them alone, well, that is something I'm going to try and do.

Cards sitting out to dry in the Commonwealth Press warehouse.

I arrived and was greeted almost immediately by Dan, owner of Commonwealth Press. We talked for a bit while waiting for the fashionably late and he answered my questions about his shop/store and screen printing. Though I felt a little nervous and anxious having shown up without a pal, Dan was really welcoming - as were the guys and gals stationed around the warehouse to help with screen printing and letterpress. After the initial nerves subsided, I was bouncing from station to station chatting and creating. Because I am an excellent journalist/blogger, I took a couple very fuzzy photos of the warehouse.

Dan (in red plaid), owner of Commonwealth Press, and Lisa (also in red plaid, but with hat), owner of Sapling Press.

I had a blast learning how to use the screen printing and letterpress stuff. I got to drink some beer, have a few cookies, and make a ton of awesome Valentines (that I still haven't given out, so - friends - expect me to use these throughout the year for your birthdays). Here are some of my favorites that I am proud to have made with my own two hands:

(Kate, Zack, and Mullen: those are your Christmas presents in the background. Just FYI.)

When I left, I said goodbye to Dan and thanked him for hosting a fun and creative night like this. I also hinted at wanting a similar party for Halloween. Not enough people are giving each other Halloween cards, and that is a problem we really should fix.