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!

An Official "Unofficial" Start to Summer: Pirates Beat Kansas City b/w Boyz II Men in the Steel City

A few times this week, I've been walking with someone and felt that wonderful feeling in the air that says "summer is here!" and I've repeated the silent announcement aloud. I've been met, more than once, with the argument of "well, technically it's not summer yet." Yes. I know. I know the technical start date for summer is June 21. But if we take that as an unbreakable rule, my birthday would fall in the spring, and I am a definite and undeniable summer kid. 

Listen. It's summer. Deal with it.

And a great way to kick off the official "unofficial" start to summer? Watching a Pirates game on a cloudless evening and then sticking around afterward for a special performance by Boyz II Men.

Yes. That's right. Boyz II Men. 

No ballpark, no matter where, has as beautiful a view as PNC Park.

My dad and I spent the majority of the game in the standing room section behind homeplate. We actually ended up with a coupe of our hockey game acquaintances, which was a nice surprise. Also a nice surprise was being a section removed from the craft beer stand, where I purchased many Bitter America cans.

I'm so mad that I missed the June 8 t-shirt. Someone make a time machine, please!

The Pirates scored their five runs in a single inning, which was exciting and concentrated and much enjoyed by all. I love Pirate games for the familiarity. No matter how long it's been since my last visit to PNC, it always feels exciting to see the Pierogies race, watch the ridiculous lewdness of the Pirate Parrot, and sit and stare at the skyline (especially during a night game when you get to watch the sunset too) and wonder how somewhere could be so perfect. (Okay, well maybe that last one is just me, but I suspect there are a number of other skyline-admirers/ponderers out there.)

After the game ended, the field was readied for what many believed (myself included, to be honest) was the real entertainment for the night:

Yes. Boyz II Men. My dad and I went back up to our assigned seats and joined two friends of mine for the rest of the night. Boyz II Men played the hits, and, of course, saved Motown Philly for last, so we all went out on a high note of dancing and singing.

Roses were tossed out into the crowd for "I'll Make Love to You."

The next day, I met up with Allie on the South Side for our first softball game. It was a scrimmage. And we (the whole team) was laughably terrible. Which means we should have a good fun time playing ball and drinking beers throughout the summer. Normally our games will be on the North Side, but today's scrimmage was played atop Mt. Washington. I can now check an item off my Pittsburgh to-do list, that I didn't even know existed as a desire until I was right there doing it.

EverythingBetterPGH - Instagram May 2012

So, yeah. Here's the thing. My life feels completely out of control right now. I've had several action-packed weekends and work has somewhat exploded and my brain feels like it is in a million places at once. I take off for DC on bike in...just a little more then FOUR days. Like last year, I feel totally unprepared, but at least I have half the trail already under my belt, so I'm less nervous this go-around. Still though, I need to do the following before Friday night: go to REI for last-minute camping supplies, go to grocery store for initial foodstuffs, get Red all nice and tuned up, and figure out what exactly I'm packing. I know I'm going to leave Pittsburgh (okay, Homestead) by bike and turn up in DC a week later. But I still have no idea how I'm actually going to execute such a plan.

What I'm saying: I don't want to abandon EverythingBetterPGH this week, because I doubt I'll be posting much from the trail (though if I am, find me on twitter or instagram (username: everythingbetterpgh)). So here's a sorry excuse for a post. Some instagram photos I've taken over the past few weeks. Enjoy.

This is Mae. She is a dog. She is a pretty awesome dog. She is owned by Sarah.

Slowly, I am making my way through Fallingwater Rising. It's intimidating, but informatively juicy.

This is a perfect sky, in honor of the perfect weather we had all weekend.

Here I am on the South Side. I am a sucker for powerlines.

You may not be surprised to find out that I am currently working on a PGH puzzle. Here we have the top of the PPG Building.

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

A couple weeks ago, my brother texted me. Here is the conversation we had (with some unnecessary information removed):

Jeff: Musical of the dead tickets for 22 on groupon. May 4th and 5th. Wanna go Saturday?
Allison: What is that exactly?
Jeff: I would assume a musical about zombies.
Allison: Haha ok. Let's go Saturday.
Jeff: My treat.
Allison: Woooooo hooooooo!
Jeff: It's about time right?

Our plans were set: Jeff would pick me up in Bloomfield with my bike. We'd drive to Allentown, where he lives, and hang out at his place before walking down to East Carson for dinner, a musical about zombies, and beverages at assorted places. I don't spend many nights down on the South Side, so I was prepared for a raucous night out with my little brother.

After giving me the tour of his place, we started our descent down Mount Washington. It was so beautiful out and the city looked pretty great popping out from behind the trees during out walk. The farther we walked, the more jealous I got of my brother's oft-taken path to food and beer: two things us Rowlands love. I would come to find out, much much later into the night, that I wouldn't be so jealous of the path back.

My stomach was audibly growling, but our destination was Winghart's. I hadn't been to the South Side location yet, and I was beyond pleased with my experience. Having become a little bit of a regular at the Market Square location, I was worried that the luster that comes along with that designation would be lost in the new place. But, we walked in and Ruth Ann, arguably the family's favorite server, welcomed and took care of us. We watched the lead-up to the Kentucky Derby. Jeff and I picked horses. I picked based on outfit; Jeff picked based on name. And of course, because my brother has some pretty insane dumb luck sometimes, he won. After the race we watched the beginning of Jurassic Park III. I could not have asked for a better environment in which to eat the most delicious burger and fries.

And then! It was time for ZOMBIE MUSICAL. Because Jeff orded the tickets through Groupon, our tickets came with a copy of the soundtrack, a beer coozy, AND A PONCHO. To wear in the SPLASH ZONE. The show was totally awesome. It was funny, ridiculous, gross, and inappropriate. I spent a lot of time with my jaw-dropped. Big, huge, gigantic thank you to my brother for making this happen. I truly loved it.

Post-zombie musical, the only appropriate thing to do would be drinks at Jekyl and Hyde. I hadn't been to this place in forever, but I used to love to go with my friend J.P. in college. It's a Halloween bar, and I wish it were closer to home, because I'd be there all the time. We drank, and I tried to get Jeff to dance, but he wouldn't. He still a bit of blood splatter from head to toe, so I don't think he was too into the idea of standing out any further. I texted J.P. just to say "Hey! Guess where I am!" and he - not too oddly enough - was just turning onto Carson, so he ended up meeting us for some drinks.

There was talk of Primanti's, but around 1 a.m., we started our way up the hill toward Allentown. The hill was brutal, but, like a T-Rex, I just kept falling forward. Jeff tried unsuccessfully to hitch a ride to the top, but we made it on our own two sets of feet.

I crashed on my brother's couch and woke up with the sun the next morning. I gathered my things and hopped on my bike and very wobbily made it down Arlington to East Carson and then along the trail back to the East End.

The More You Bike, The More You Drink (For Free!)

I've been logging my miles all year for Pedal for Pennies. (I just passed the 1,000-mile mark, and I bought myself a cake to celebrate.) Now, you can log your miles for Team Pittsburgh in the National Bike Challenge. And! What's even better! By logging miles - STARTING TODAY, you can get yourself free beer from Over the Bar on the South Side. Yes, please.

Check out the BikePGH blog post for more information and directions on how to register. I'll definitely be going for all four free beers this summer and encouraging my friends to come and join me.

Too Much of a New Thing: The South Side Soup Contest

I have always been a picky eater. I can't remember being any other way. I try my hardest to eat like an adult, but that often means trying new things, which has always been an oddly terrifying thing for me. So far this year, I've really made an effort to try new foods when they are presented to me.

My first big foray into trying to overcome this strange fear was during Pittsburgh's first-ever Restaurant Week. I went to Habitat with friends Kate and Zack, where my options for dinner were limited, so I couldn't just fall back on the safest option. I had oxtail. It wasn't bad.

My next attempt came at Carrie's 28th Birthday Tea at the Inn on Negley. I ate every bit of every scone, sammich, and sweet that was set in front of me, and enjoyed every bit of everything.

So, with two overall positive experiences under my belt, I ordered tickets to the South Side's Soup Contest.

Let me first say that this was a really great event. After a somewhat negative experience at the overly packed Bakery Square Bake-Off a few weeks ago, the organized and well though-out Soup Contest was really fun. If I were a foodie, I would have loved it, I'm sure. But, I'm still making baby steps toward being a well-rounded eater.

The first soup we tried actually ended up being my absolute favorite of the ones I tried. It was the Charred Tomato Basil with Baby Grilled Cheese Croutons from Local Bar + Kitchen served up at Delanie's Coffee. When we started the day, we were both excited to try new soups and eagerly walked between locations or waited patiently in line. But, after trying MANY new things in a VERY short period of time (including things that I already know I don't like - like bacon or onion), I started to feel a little less eager and a lot less patient (and also kinda like my hands had frozen).

The second soup we tried that day. A Lentil Soup from Stagioni picked up at the Milkshake Factory.

Fortunately Allie started to feel the same, and so we hatched a new plan: buy slices of cheesecake and take them to Big Dog Coffee for nice hot pick-me-ups.

I learned a really valuable lesson, and it's something I'll keep in mind so long as it's 2012 and I'm trying new things: new things in moderation. I was a little ambitious thinking I would be able to stomach so many new things at once. Though I'm glad I tried, because that's a lot more than I ever would have done.

You're Always a Winner, Long as You Have Fun: Games N' At

Being the kid stuck inside the body of a 28-year-old that I am, I love a good arcade. I love pinball. I love skeeball. I love those goofy games of chance. Winning tickets and figuring out what ridiculous crap I can get at the prize counter is probably the best.

One weekend last month, my friends and I hosted several of our friends from college in Pittsburgh for a reunion weekend of sorts. In college, a place we visited semi-regularly was Games N' At on the South Side. What's great about this place is that there is a variety of games, a duck pin bowling alley upstairs, and - probably most importantly it's BYOB.

I tried to challenge my inner Tommy at took on the Kiss pinball machine. I actually fared way better on the Steelers machine.

Sentell battles Mike in dome hockey. Check out the score.

Kate and me, moments before we dominated Pam and Claire in duck pin bowling.

Many summers spent on the Jersey Shore have honed my skeeball talents.

In fact, they were honed so well that I was able to take this cassette tape home with me.