Seriously, Winter?

Seriously, winter?

Waking up this morning and finding this was a cruel way to start my day. When I went to bed, no snow had fallen. When I woke up, I knew I'd be busing it downtown today. And then I watched, all day long, as the sun came out and the snow all melted away. I could've biked home. Instead, I was back on the bus, staring out the window and dreaming of not being on the bus. 

This better have been the last of it. I know this isn't the last time I'll ever deal with winter. But right now I am really ready to be done with it for a while. I am looking forward to that really hot, sweaty day of summer right now.

I made my art debut last Friday!

I am slowly taking over more and more of my mom's hobbies and traits. But always with my own slight twist. Felt really strange to see things I made hanging in such a proper way. As proper as things get during an Unblurred, that is, but I don't need anything more proper than that.

After Roboto we checked out Ava for a drink while we waited for our table at BRGR.

I got the alcoholic milkshake I'd been dreaming of all week, and I got to enjoy it in the company of some mighty awesome folks. 

One final bit of housekeeping for the night: I HIT MY PEDAL FOR PENNIES FUNDRAISING GOAL! 

I'm turning 30 in a few months. I am so excited for it. One of the things I'm enjoying most about getting a bit older is being more cognizant of how important my friends and family are in my life. Thank you so much to everyone who donated to Pedal for Pennies. Thank you to everyone who takes the minutes out of their day to drop into my world for a bit. It really does mean a lot. 

Keeping it Local in Lawrenceville on a Saturday Night

I've been in self-imposed isolation for the past week and a half due to my lovely poison ivy legs. But, with the weather being fortunately cooler, I dragged myself out to get some grub at the first Pittsburgh Food Truck Roundup on Saturday night. We walked down toward the empty lot where the trucks were set up, and walked right to the back of a line. We weren't sure what line we were in. I don't think anyone knew what line anyone was in. It was very British of us all to be standing there in a queue, not really sure of what might be at the end of it. Eventually, I ended up with cheddar potato pierogies from the Pittsburgh Pierogi Truck and some honey lavender ice cream from the Dozen dessert truck. 

We hurried down Butler toward 39th just in time for my first visit to the Arsenal Cider House. This has been on my Pittsburgh to-do list for a while now, and I went with some seasoned veterans (Steph and her boyfriend Derek) who already had empty growlers ready to be filled. We sampled four different ciders (and here I thought they only had one cider at a time!) and picked two (one that was peach-like and one that was sour cherry) to take back to their house.

Steph and I sat in her backyard in Lawrenceville listening to LCD Soundsystem and drinking some pretty great cider until my legs started itch and I needed to make my way back to the comfort of the couch where calamine lotion and bags of ice were easily accessible.

I'm nearly out of the woods with this whole poison ivy nightmare. I've been able to bike more the past few days and spend more time outside without feeling like I need to scratch off the top layer of my skin. There's so much good stuff coming up with PedalPGH and Bikefest in the next two weeks that I would hate to miss.

"LIVE" Blogging Sebak: Things That Aren't There Anymore

((I was recently approached by a producer at WQED to do an on-camera interview for a special they are airing about Rick Sebak in the fall, celebrating his 25 years with the station. The interview took place last week, but the special won't air until the fall. Hopefully I don't land completely on the cutting room floor. To even be in this thing for a minute or two will be such an honor, and something of a dream for a Pittsburgh-loving kid like me. It'll surely be a surreal moment to catch myself on WQED now and then for years to come.))

It's currently Sunday afternoon. It's a little rainy and kinda cool. Most people are off with their moms today, but I'm here, keeping myself company with a little black cat curled up in my lap and a new Rick Sebak DVD to watch. I've decided to "live" blog it, or write this post as it goes a long. Enjoy...Things That Aren't There Anymore:

- This starts out in South Park at the Allegheny County Fair, and Sebak notes that he lived only a mile away, off of 88. He doesn't say it outwardly, but he lived in Bethel Park. Where I spent the first eighteen years of my life.

- South Park had the THIRD drive-in in the world?! Speaking of watching movies outside: Movies in the Park 2012!

- Pittsburgh word! "Nickelodeon" I am so proud right now!

- "The perfect movie generation. We believed everything we saw."

- Isaly's s something I always heard my mom talk about, but never got to experience for myself. And now that I'm watching this, I am so upset I never did.

- KLONDIKES. I might need to get some of those to share with friends tonight.

- Chipped ham. Oh, to relocate to New England and realize that not everyone in the world gets their deli meat chipped. That was a strange moment for me. "Thank God for the man that invented the chipper." Adorable.

- We're back on the county fair. Is there still a county fair? I don't think there is, which is a shame because I always had fun at the Topsfield Fair in Boston.

- ROLLING. PIN. THROWING. COMPETITION. Ok. New idea: We have our own East End Pittsburgh Fair. We can definitely come up with some excellent competitions of our own. Proximity Brick anyone?!

- "At one time there was more rollercoaster track in Western Pennsylvania than any other place in the world." (Sometimes I learn things about Pittsburgh and go, yup - that's where I must get it from.)

- I don't think I can think of a sadder thing than this man explaining where everything in Westview Park used to be where there is now a strip mall with a Kmart and a Dunkin Donuts.

- Burlesque clubs and nightclubs. Here. We. Go. Pittsburgh at its finest.

[[Ruh....roh.... Something terrible happened to this DVD. Moment for technical difficulty...]]

[[OK. We are back!]]

- I want to appreciate baseball more. I really do. But I can't watch it and enjoy it. I have to play it. And that is why I'm joining a softball team this summer.

- Bill Mazeroski :)

- Watching this footage of people on the last day of Forbes Field is incredibly sad. And I'm not ashamed to say I'm tearing up.

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.