RIP PIG - 6/30/13

Guys. I am sad.



This is the first setback I've had to experience in my 30s. The trade of Tyler Kennedy to the Sharks is upsetting - for me - and maybe only me. I don't know when I came to love Tyler Kennedy so much, but it happened. I've become proud, in a way, that my love of Tyler Kennedy has made the whole "Pig" thing kind of a thing! When I'm at the Consol and Kennedy scores, it's kind of crazy how many people turn and shout "PIGGGGY" at me.

I am kind of devastated! But, I'm trying to rationalize this whole trade. He's at least in the West, so I don't have to deal with it in a conflicted way as much as if he were int he East. And, he didn't end up in the Pens' division. Even better, he didn't end up on the Bruins. That would have been unbearable.

It still sucks, but all good things come to and end. To send him across country to the west, here are are some great Piggy moments to remember.















Sigh. I'm sad to see him go. Good luck in San Jose, TK.

Sweep. :/

Well. That did not go according to plan.

Like at all.

Should I be more upset? Maybe. But, getting completely walloped has the benefit of never getting one's hopes up.

This past week has been a lot of putting things in perspective. It doesn't matter that we lost (I mean, of course it matters a bit and would have been awesome to win!), because I still get to turn 30 next week. I still get to spend next weekend celebrating with friends in all manner of ways. I still get to go on vacation! Right now a week away is exactly what I need. I have been working nonstop since getting back from Australia in November. I love my job. I'm not allowed to go into detail about what I do in a public forum, but it's stressful and sometimes very depressing - but when everything works out it's totally rewarding and extremely awesome. It's hard to really lose sleep over the Penguins when there's a ton of other things to lose sleep about. I guess what I'm saying is that I love hockey, but it can't be everything anymore.

That said: Go Chicago.

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013: No More O Canadas.

Let's get the important business out of the way first.

I have a new playoff t-shirt.

I switched up after the overtime loss. And things are right back on track. I'm very satisfied with the results of my Kennedy t-shirt. Also very relieved that I could put the other one in the laundry basket.

I was fortunate to get to go to all three home games in the Ottawa series. This means I saw Jeff Jimerson sing O Canada three more times this season. Win!

And win and win and win at that! The first game I went to with my dad, and got to see a masterful spanking of the Senators. For the second game, I had both tickets and brought my friend Rob from DC to the game. This is where the crucial purchasing of not one - but two! - Kennedy t-shirts occurred. The second one may be explained at a later date, if all goes according to plan.

The third and fourth games were watched at Nico's. Then it was back to Consol for game five with my dad. This was a fun night. The two seats next to ours are often occupied by two guys named Mike and Ross. My dad and I have grown quite fond of them, as they are just as loud and fun and rambunctious as we are. There was a lot of hooting and hollering. There were a NUMBER of high fives. Just a great night all around.

Crosby Hat Trick

James Neal Hat Trick

The double-OT loss was a bummer. But considering I got to see not one - but two! - in-person hat tricks was pretty awesome. And now, it's time to prepare for an anxiety-ridden couple weeks...

NIGHTMARE SCENARIO. Seriously. 

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013: Found My Pens Playoff T-Shirt

Friends, I have found my Penguins playoffs t-shirt. It smells of Nico's, and because I've been biking around in it, it's starting to... It's not the freshest article of clothing I own right now.

But it has now seen both shut-out games, the amazing Tyler Kennedy breakaway game-winner goal, and two overtime wins. It will not be seeing the wash for hopefully a whiles longer.

This series was...frustrating. I've only really been following hockey and getting excited about it during the last six or seven years. So my hockey commentary is based on very contemporary knowledge of the team and a grip on the rules/logistics/strategies of the game that is way more than loose, but not yet strong. I'm relieved this series is over. The six games against the Islanders were prime examples of why I have come to love hockey and why it is a rollercoaster of emotions that is sometimes unnerving!

The love of it overpowers most often. Especially when I was at the game with my dad on Thursday. Seeing the Kennedy goal live and having my phone buzz out of control and having all the people we know near our seats turn to me and scream "Pig!" Watching Crosby split those dudes - kind of like the statue of Mario right outside the Consol. Giddily waiting for them to announce the stars at the end of the game, even when my dad's normal go-to move is to BOLT to the stairs as soon as the last second ticks down.

And then tonight. When they were down. Tied. Down. Tied! Down... TIED! Overtime. Gah... And then YES. Nico's exploded. We all jumped out of our seats and cheered. We chanted a few rounds of "Let's Go Pens!" Allie and I compared palm-of-hand redness from all of the clapping.

And now we're off to face the Senators. I'm nervous. But - also kind of excited to hear one more of Jeff Jimerson's "O Canada" renditions before the year's out.

Filmed in PGH: She's Out of My League

On the list of things that I am a sucker for, romantic comedies may lead the pack. I can appreciate filmmakers like Katherine Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino, but I struggle with their movies because I just don't want to watch them. Sometimes I feel like regular life is stressful enough. I'd much rather pay money for some lighthearted entertainment, and when it comes in the form of a movie like She's Out My League, well that's just fine.

I saw this movie with friends in Boston, pretty soon after it came out. I admit that its "filmed in Pittsburgh" quality was a driving force in getting everyone to agree to see it. A few weeks before it appeared in theaters, I had made the decision to move back to Pittsburgh. I was nearing the beginning of the end of my five years there, and I can remember sitting in the theater seeing my home on the screen and feeling like it was officially within my reach. I just kept thinking: "I'll be there soon."

As I sat down to watch this last weekend, I did so with a pen and a pad of paper. In lieu of a formal review, here are my thoughts:

- Jay Baruchel = Canadian. And, as I was watching the opening scene, I couldn't help but think he could play Tyler Kennedy in the Tyler Kennedy Movie. (Which obviously will happen some day.)

- First Pittsburgh site on screen: the airport. Next we get a sweeping shot of downtown. Then there's a party at the Warhol. I can't help but have fun watching a Filmed in PGH movie and picking out all the places I've been or places I know.

- Hockey! There's a scene of this movie at a Penguins game, in the Igloo. Now that the Pens have been in Consol for a couple seasons, the newness is beginning to feel more like normalness. So to see the Igloo from high above and then from under its retractable shell made me feel a bit of sad nostalgia. In other news. Hockey is back! Hockey is back!

- Patrick Jordan is in this movie. When I saw it in the theater, I didn't know this and because I'm easily excitable I may have shouted "I know him!" 

- One of the dates takes place in Market Square, before its renovation. There's a nice romantic scene where Kirk and Molly have a chat on a bench outside of Primanti's with its neon lights glowing.

- Jack Reacher had its dizzying car chases that geographically made no sense. She's Out of My League threw me for a loop when people entered a party through Brillobox's front door, but the party took place inside of Thunderbird. 

I adore this movie. It's a great story with many funny bits. It's a lovely showcase for my fine city too. Two thumbs up. 10/10 Bridges.

And CONGRATULATIONS on scoring the Pens' first goal of the season!

Go Pig Go.

Happy (Belated!) Birthday, Blog!

Holy crap! The heat has definitely infected my brain, because I totally missed EverythingBetterPGH's birthday! I am not one to forget an anniversary (seriously, I celebrate the weirdest things every year because I can't forget the dates), so I feel kind of bad about this. Sorry, blog.

Let's celebrate!

I can't believe I've been doing this for a year now. It's been a very strange year for me personally. Only a handful of posts were published before my mom passed away, which means this blog exists in the shadow of that life-altering event. This was one of the hardest years of my life. For a long time there, nothing was going right. Every morning I woke up and wondered what horrible thing would happen that day. That's dramatic, I know. But seriously: In the span of a few weeks the following things happened to me: got in a bike accident with another biker and totally messed up my knee, was nearly assaulted (i.e., hit with an umbrella) when someone tried to steal my cellphone at a trolley stop in BETHEL PARK, and was the unfortunate person sitting next to the guy in the theater whose ladyfriend gave him a handy during Crazy Stupid Love.

I digress.

In order to survive the past year, I've had to live with a very "full throttle" attitude toward getting through the day to the next day to the next day until the day when I would stop being sad. I still don't know if I'm there yet, but I'm starting to really appreciate the present, which means I'm starting to slow down a bit. Living in the moment, and all other such sayings.

When I look back at these things I've written about or taken pictures of throughout the past year, I'm so so so glad I made myself keep this blog going. I have this awesome collection of memories now, and I can look at them and realize that through all the sad stuff, there was a heck of a lot of fun. In celebration of EverythingBetterPGH's first birthday, here are ten of those fun moments, ones that I would go back and relive in a heartbeat.

(In no particular order.)

Why Not? Biking Pittsburgh at Night with Flock of Cycles

Paddling Pittsburgh: Kayaking the Allegheny and the Ohio

Kennywood's Open (For Terror and Fun)

PGH's Best Night of the Year: The Bloomfield Halloween Parade

Halloween Miracle #2: STEELERS BEAT THE PATRIOTS

The Only Fear You Have to Overcome is Getting the Nerve to Do It

Malkamania: Penguins 8, Tampa Bay 1

Winter Camping Feels Like Spring to Me

Sitting in the Splash Zone: A Saturday Night on the South Side

My Idea of Vacation: The GAP and C&O - Days 3 & 4

Tonight, at midnight, I'm going to go see The Dark Knight Rises. I promised myself I would keep this blog going until I could write a post about seeing the movie that I watched being filmed on my streets.

I can't wait to write that post. And so many more after that.

Thank you for reading!

Pens Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: v. Flyers, Game 6

And, that's it. Pens are down and out. At least they showed some signs of life before falling to Philadelphia. Oh well.

We watched at the bar in the Shadyside Mad Mex. Allie had been talking about margaritas all weekend, so it was time to have a margarita (or two, c'mon - by the third period we needed them). The other games all felt a little special, but this one felt so lackluster. There wasn't a spark or a hopefulness in the atmosphere. All that happened was we ended up kind of drunk by 3 p.m. on Sunday.

So we went and visited our friend who works at the Quiet Storm. He said he made the best milkshakes there, and we had to experience them for ourselves.

Allie's (on the left) was a peanut butter-chocolate shake and mine was vanilla/green tea/honey. They were the perfect cure for our hockey blues. (Though tequila and ice cream... that was a little questionable judgment.)

There's been a lot of stuff going on lately - most all of it has been really good. Besides this freak snowstorm we may be getting tonight (I'll be so mad if I can't ride to work tomorrow), things are looking up. April is nearly over (which is really unbelievable). Here's to another week of adventures and everyday stuff before May arrives.

Pens Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: v. Flyers, Game 5

This series against the Flyers has been so unlike anything else going on in the playoffs, that I had forgotten what normal, tense, edge-of-your seat hockey playoff games are like. So, just by glancing at the 3-2 final score (in favor of the Pens!), you should be able to tell that this was not a massacre or ass-beating like the previous four games had been. And I definitely felt that difference in the last ten minutes of the game.

Funny, last game I spent the final ten minutes rationalizing with myself that there was no possible way the Flyers could score seven goals to get into the double-digits in the final half-period. This game, my restless leg syndrome (self-diagnosed) was out of control. I was torn between watching and not watching. I was having an anxiety attack, but I was also having a lot of fun.

Early into Friday's sunset on Corey's balcony.

Friday was a beyond beautiful day in Pittsburgh. It was in the mid-to-upper 70s. The sun was out. Everything (after 5:30 p.m.) was wonderful. We listened to the first period of the game while sitting on Corey's third-floor balcony on the front of the building where we both live. The sun was setting, Corey was grilling, and we were following along with Mike Lange as our guide.

While we were up there, a couple of my favorite neighborhood familiars walked by beneath us. One family who lives up the street with several little kids and a dad who is often seen running behind them while they learn to ride bikes up and down the sidewalks. The other is the blind man who I hear tapping his cane at least once a day walking down Gross. I love these comforts of home. I wonder sometimes if my neighbors see me leave with my bike every morning for work and think: "oh, there's that neighbor girl who rides that bike everywhere..."

Sun setting over Friendship Park.

For the second and third periods, we walked down Gross to Liberty and crossed the street and entered Lou's open door. We set up camp, got a few pitchers, and had a blast until we all started watching nervously as the Pens held onto their 3-2 lead in a third period where the Flyers looked beyond determined to take the game at least into overtime. (Game-winning goal scored by the best lil Piggy on the planet: KENNEDY!!)

Lou's might quickly become my go-to favorite local bar.

After the game, Allie and I walked to Brillobox on a slight adrenaline high resulting from a mix of excitement over the win and ire for a certain Sixers-wearing clown in the corner of Lou's who basically thought we were the dumbest. Sadly for him, we are not. But, everyone's entitled to their own opinions on those things. We were trying to catch the Delicious Pastries/Triggers show upstairs, but it was sold out. We hung out at the bar with friends having drinks and laughs. And then, you know, Gus Van Sant walked in and sat a couple stools down from us.

It was an odd night, with many performances of the "Margarita Dance" enjoyed. The Pens gave themselves another opportunity to prove they are better than the stinky Flyers. And they gave us another opportunity to plop down on another stool in another bar where they hopefully will chant and hoot and holler as loud and as well as the crowd did at Lou's.

Pens Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: v. Flyers, Game 3

Eeeeeeeek.

That was kinda brutal. And embarrassing. Let's not talk about it. I watched with friends at my apartment. There were chips, cookies, pretzels, and Pizza Hut.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening. So, for a pick-us-up treat, Corey, Carrie and I rode our bikes to Walnut Street for a delicious helping of gelato from Mercurio's. Afterward, I wanted to get some more miles in, so I rode through to Oakland and went across the Panther Hollow Bridge. That's one of my favorite places at sunset, so it was nice to catch one to to wrap up the week.


I stopped at the corner of Dawson and the Boulevard - my ol' stomping grounds - and caught a glimpse of that beautiful skyline. So we lost another. There's always the possibility of turning it around?

Pens Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: v. Flyers, Game 2

Well. That was certainly not how anyone (in Pittsburgh) wanted things to go. But, I guess that's hockey. Now we're down 0-2 in the series and there's undoubtedly a lot of nervous anxiety going on inside all Pens fans. My friend Rob reminded me that we went down 0-2 in a couple series the year we won the Cup; so this is not over yet.

Even though the game got more miserably depressing as the periods went on, I still had a blast. I was able to spring myself from work an hour early by skipping lunch. This gave me time to head to Shale's across from the Consol to meet up with one of my hockey-family buds named Matt. We had delicious Molsons on the back deck; it was a gorgeous evening for outdoor drinking. Eventually Matt's friends and my dad got to the bar for a couple before heading over the arena. Matt and I met a couple farmers who had come from Butler County for the night. The boys kept sending me inside for beers because I am a girl, and in a bar before a Penguins game full of bro-dudes, that is how you get beer quickest.

1. Back deck @ Shale's; 2. This dino is named "Dark Horse" after James Neal and it is pretty awesome; 3. In PGH, we put our churches to work...

One of my favorite things about games at the Consol is the sense of family we've created for ourselves. My dad knows most all of the ushers there by now, but last night a new guy named "Norm" was watching over our section. Norm looked to be in his late 60s, early 70s. He looked like a grandpa. My dad has a very particular way of singing the National Anthem when Jeff Jimerson is the game's opening act. He's loud and kind of obnoxious in a way, but he is sincere and earnest in his efforts, so it ends up being really endearing. Norm, through the boisterous applause after the Anthem was over turned to my dad, shook his hand, and said that was one of the best renditions of the Anthem that he's ever heard. My heart melted.

I hope Norm liked us as much as we liked him. He must have, because at one point me, my dad, Matt, two of my dad's CMU fraternity brothers, and Ron were all crowded behind the two seats in my dad's possession. We were having a blast.

1. Taken from inside the Consol - we live in a beautiful city; 2. Crazy crowd explosion during the Pens' entry onto the ice; 3. THE RARE PAUL MARTIN GOAL!

The last exciting moment of the night was a goal by TYLER KENNEDY.........KENNEDY! By this point, most everyone who frequents the area around the top of Section 227 knows about my obsession with the little pig man. So, when he scored a go-ahead goal, everyone in the vicinity went NUTS. Tommy, the beer vendor who seriously loves my dad and me, came RUNNING over to us with cans of Labatt and shouting my name and Kennedy's name over and over. He gave us those beers to celebrate; what a good guy.

1. When things were still going good; 2. For whatever reason, I always look like a maniac in the photos I take with Iceburgh; 3. Toward the end of the game when sadness was growing and my hiccups were ceaseless...

So. We lost. Yikes. Well, at least it was a super fun night spent with people I don't get to see all the time. Next game is tomorrow, and I think I'm having people over (woo! go NHL on NBC!). For now, it's time to fill the gaping hole in my stomach with pizza from Big Jim's.

Oh! And if you like those photos, you can follow me on Instagram, which I'm currently obsessed it. Communicating through photos?! Yes. Please.

everythingbetterpgh on Instagram

Pens Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: v. Flyers, Game 1

Well, that was a heartbreaker. For real. I was hoping to start off this series with a really exciting and good entry about how awesome it was to watch the Pens take Game 1 against the Flyers while enjoying cheap beers and cheaper pizza boats at The Rock Room. Instead, we got one period of awesome hockey and two periods and a handful of minutes of overtime witnessing a terrifying comeback. Ugh. Regardess of the loss, I am happy to be embarking on a new project. I don't have cable, so all of the game that are NOT on NBC, I have to figure out a place to watch them. I've turned my problem into a project. For the entirety of the Pens playoff games (of which there will hopefully be many games), I will try to watch the games in different settings each time. (Sometimes I'll even be there!)

Tonight a nice group gathered at The Rock Room in Polish Hill. Allie and I had planned to go there tonight anyway for the 50 cent pizza boats, so that Game 1 was also tonight? Great coincidence. We set up a couple of tables in the back room and watched most of the game on a really crappy big screen TV. Alas, it was not to be. The Flyers with a comeback in overtime. My goodness. This series might stress me out way way way too much.

Making the boats!

Let's Go Pens!

I'm already anticipating Friday to be a very messy night. I'll be going to the game with my dad, but several of my hockey friends have already been texting me for meet-ups before the game. I cant help it. It's playoff hockey time! There is no other time of the year when my heart beats this fast. There is no other time of year when I count down the minutes to gametime. I am excited, not disheartened. I never thought we'd sweep them anyways.

Until Friday...

EvBetPGH Tweets March 2012: Fires & Fireworks

Hey, guys. Sometimes I have thoughts about or photos of Pittsburgh that I want to send out into the world. I believe the kids are calling them "tweets." (Though my mom, she always asked me if I was "twitting," which honestly was very odd sounding!) You can follow the EvBetPGH twitter, if you're brave enough to sign up for a direct line into my Pittsburgh-obsessed brain.

Here are a few of my March 2012 spontaneous ramblings and photos:

(This was during the Pittsburgh Power game. More on that in the coming days.)

Le Magnifique: Pittsburgh's Newest Statue

Unveiled a few weeks ago now, the Mario Lemieux statue outside of the Consol Energy Center is our city's newest tribute to a Pittsburgh hero. There's a lot of debate about the statue itself, whether it should've been just Mario instead of Mario breaking through two of the Islanders defenders in 1988. Either way, it's good to have something on the ground in Pittsburgh that will remind us all of Mario's love for our city. I remember being in Boston at work and watching a clip of Mario's speech made before a raucous crowd at the Igloo, telling the fans that the Penguins were staying put in Pittsburgh. Where they belonged.

The day the statue was unveiled, I walked up to the Consol during my lunchbreak. It was the first of a string of beautiful late winter/early spring days. Fittingly, the temperature was a lovely 66 degrees.

Here are a few shots of the statue.

Mario, and the deconstructed shell of the arena where he made so much magic happen.

Mario, and the shiny new beautiful building that will house the Penguins for many years (and hopefully many Cup wins!) to come.

Malkamania: Penguins 8, Tampa Bay 1

On Saturday, I joined my dad at the Consol Energy Center for an afternoon Pens game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. My dad has season tickets to the Pens; right in the very last row of Section 227. We love it - a great view, we can stand the whole time, and direct access to the upper concourse. It's the kind of place where a small community can form, and that is exactly what has happened. We don't just stand there alone during the game. We have "hockey friends" come and go throughout the game. Sometimes they stay for just the intermission. Other times they join us for whole periods; in some cases they've stayed for entire games. Our beer guy - the same beer vendor who has been selling my dad beer at Steelers and Pens games since my dad was MY AGE - knows us by name, calls at us from halfway around the arena, and has even once given me a beer on credit and another time left his case with me while he ran a quick errand. I've learned a lot about hockey from listening to my dad talk to these "hockey friends," to the point where I can even hang in there a little myself in those conversations. This is all to say that going to Pens games frequently because of these season tickets, has made a hockey game less of an event, and more of a gathering for me.

But every now and then you see an explosively awesome game. And it is once again an event. That's what Saturday's game was like. Explosively awesome. It wasn't dramatic or suspenseful; the Pens were never in the hole against Carolina and the final score was 8-1. Malkin scored three goals - A HAT TRICK! - in stunning displays of hockey ability. Staal got a short-hander and a power play goal. This was a fun game to watch, and I'm really glad that on one of the only crappy winter days we've had in this city, I was up there in the last row of the arena, cheering with my dad and our "hockey friends."

Awesome Sign: Hat Trick!

Awesome Building; Sad Sight: The deconstruction of the Igloo.
(We sat in the last row of that building, too.)

The Twelve Days of a Pittsburgh Christmas: Tickets to Pens and Pins

On the eleventh day of a Pittsburgh Christmas, I'd love a ticket to Pens and Pins, the Pittsburgh Penguins Charity Bowling Event.

I don't even know if this is a thing that is happening in 2012, but if it is, I can't think of a more fun combination of things. Plus, this would be my chance to meet my favorite Penguin, Tyler Kennedy (aka, PIGGY).

Happy Holidays from Tyler Kennedy.........
TYLER KENNEDY!