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.

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 4

Well. OK! That was a lot different than the first three games! It was hard to be positive at the beginning of this game, but sitting there at the bar at the Map Room in Regent Square, something happened. It was like I instinctively knew they couldn't lose. Because if they did, they were done. And then it's just an incredibly long (and likely losing (sorry!)) season of Pirates baseball. So, they had to win. They HAD to win.

And they did.


Allie and I made friends with the guy sitting to my left. His name was Mike, and he was an interesting and awesome Pittsburgh character to talk to. He'd done some time in Boston too, and lived in a couple other cities I've visited to on my North American travels. He lives in Regent Square now, flips houses around the city and suburbs, and seems to really love being back. We gushed about how good it felt to be home finally.

With every goal the Pens scored, our little corner of the bar became more and more involved in each other's conversations. We were enjoying the company of mostly strangers. We were high-fiving and cracking jokes. Mike bought us a round of beers. I might never run into him again, but for the duration of the hockey game, we were total buds.

I rode my bike home from Regent Square overcome with that "love of Pittsburgh" feeling I get sometimes.

Let's go Pens.

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...