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!

Happy Anniversary, Pittsburgh.

I'm a borderline hoarder. I'm nowhere near close to being featured on the bizarre reality television show, but I do have a hard time throwing things away. As a writer, this often means I find old writings tucked away in journals and on my hard drive. I've more than likely forgotten about them, so it's always delightful(/terrifying) to read and remember. Fortunately I came across a wholly delightful thing I wrote right after moving back, two years ago today. In celebration of two years back home, here is what I had to say about being back in early July 2010. I had thoughts of doing a Pittsburgh blog even then, but I wasn't ready yet to really put anything in motion. I'm glad I've finally found a good use for it.

Count Yellow Highway Lines

The move is…OVER. After an exhausting day of loading up a truck, the longest drive from Boston to Pittsburgh ever, and three solid days of nothing but furious unpacking and organizing and arranging - it's done. I'm situated and set-up. I tied up the loose-ends I had in Boston. I'm back in Bloomfield and am starting to realize that this is…for real. This is my life now: walking out my door onto Gross Street and being able to see the Cathedral of Learning jutting out of the treetops as I walk toward Liberty Ave. It's still a little weird, but I'm sure that will subside in time. Still can't believe that my time in Boston is actually over. I never thought I'd miss it, but there are people there who made my world go 'round and I'll miss them terribly.

Three days after moving back, I spent the Fourth of July on the roof of the Children's Hospital parking garage. We watched the fireworks downtown from afar, but sparklers were handed out and the way I felt standing on that roof is indescribable.

But. Again: this is my life now.

My goal was to have my place completely unpacked and set-up before I went back to Boston for a couple days to take care of a few things (like quitting my job and tossing everything from the old place into the garbage), so I spent my first 72 hours in Pittsburgh mostly inside the walls of this new apartment figuring out where to put all this stuff I've accumulated. I was able to do it all, which ended up being a relief when I got back here last night and realized I didn't have to do a thing to feel at home.

One of my favorite songs is "Left and Leaving" by The Weakerthans. I listened to it as I drove out of Pittsburgh seven years ago. I kept listening to it throughout my time in Boston; it was a siren song calling me back home. The lyrics always feeling a little too close for comfort.

This morning I woke up early and took my bike out for the first time in weeks. It felt great to ride it again after having been so busy packing and being in transit and busy unpacking. I wanted to ride through the Allegheny Cemetery, but when I got there, the gate was still closed (around 7:30 a.m. - thought it was 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.?). So I went to Plan B: Let's see if I can relearn some streets!

When I biked across the bridge that leads from the Carnegie Museum to Phipps and Flagstaff Hill, I caught a glimpse of perfect puffs of smoke from the Cloud Factory and I think that's when it finally hit me that I'm home.

I'm home!

Biking through South Oakland, I went past the Castle and Zack's old apartment. Two places where the younger Allison started many nights of misadventures and ended many nights of misadventures. In five years, I hope I can go back to Boston and feel as happy riding a bike past Great Scott or down Egremont Road. For now, I'm ready to make a new crop of memories here in Pittsburgh.

Happy Anniversary, Pittsburgh. I'm still so excited to be here.

Happy Valentine's Day: 14 Things I Love (re: Pittsburgh)

With just about four hours to go until Valentine's Day is over, and the really awesome holiday begins (check back tomorrow!), I thought I'd share 14 things I love about Pittsburgh, or have loved throughout the past year.

1. I love this man who lives on Penn Ave. I hope he stays there forever, but, if not, I'll enjoy him for as long as I can.

2. I love everything about this quote. It's a child describing how watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood makes him feel.

3. I love how many different views of Pittsburgh there are, and how many I've been able to see since I've been back.

4. I love all the color. All of it.

5. I love my creative friends, without whom I would be lost.

6. I love that in this mural in East Liberty that there are crazy-looking wolves running around unleashed! East Liberty is scary! (Not really, but in this version, look out!)

7. I love Panther Hollow. Such a good place when you need to get away.

8. I love that we have a dino in our airport. For real, this makes me excited every time I come home.

9. I absolutely love that this photo exists.

10. I love how worn the stairs in the Carnegie Library in Oakland are. So much use by so many generations of Pittsburgh.

11. I love this quilt. Simply amazing.

12. I love the Bloomfield Halloween Parade. And I loved that this kid broke a board in front of where I was standing this year. How many days till Bloomfield Halloween Parade 2012??

13. I've really loved spending time with my dad.

14. And I loved saying goodbye to 2011, and saying hello to 2012 by taking a quick dip in the Mon, bright and early on New Year's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day.