6 posts tagged “pittsburgh”
Tonight is the finals for Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, I've admitted before I love it, so stop laughing. It's also Monday Night Football with the Steelers, which is broadcast locally on our ABC affiliate so the finals have been pre-empted. AND because there's been lightning, the teams haven't even done their warm ups yet, so the game has been delayed. So--there's no game to show AND we still don't get to see DWTS. If Steeler football wasn't a religion in this household (and if my girl Sabrina was actually in the finals) you'd better believe I'd be much more miffed than I am now. Right now, I am just laughing my arse off at the irony.
Go Mel & Maks!
If you have roughly 100 minutes to spare and really want to be inspired, I cannot recommend highly enough this recent talk at CMU by Randy Pausch. I was literally blown away. His achievement in connecting art and technology is simply outstanding. Thanks for the inspiration!
I was lucky to get a second tour of the new Spreadshirt production facility here in Greensburg, this time for the offical "Grand Opening." It was neat to be included in the list of invitees which included a very giddy Congressman Tim Murphy who confided that he used to play in a rock band that was a little folksy, a little bluegrassy, and definitely influenced by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young when asked if he was "a t-shirt guy." My first visit was, I believe, literally the first week they had moved to this location, so things were a little threadbare (no pun intended!) so it was great seeing the place alive today and full of fantastic tshirts. I hadn't really thought about it in this way before, but it was brought up that the internet has actually revolutionized manufacturing, and innovative companies like Spreadshirt are bringing jobs back to traditional manufacturing areas like Pittsburgh. Considering Pittsburgh is also a great mecca for tech and art, this is such a match made in heaven. Given the kind of operation Spreadshirt is, they could have literally been located anywhere globally (and I do believe they also have production facilities in both Germany & Poland) so we are definitely lucky to have them here.
(Can you find me in this picture? I'm standing between Spreadshirt Global CEO Janna Eggers and US Congressman Tim Murphy with the blue cardigan hoodie and the disproportionally large bag that I will never admit is actually a diaper bag. Nope.)
Do you buy products made locally? Is there anything made in your area that you love?
At one point, I would have said Heinz Ketchup, but I think it's actually made in Canada now and just distrubuted locally, which kinda makes one wonder what they're actually doing at the Heinz plant over on the North Side. So for now, I will stick with Fortune's Coffee which is roasted locally.
If you could open a restaurant, any kind you want, what would it look like and what's on the menu?
Submitted by A is for Amy.
You know, I actually brought up this topic of conversation with my husband yesterday during dinner, lol. After we make our first million, I want to buy a Mongolian BBQ franchise. Seriously. The main thing I hate living in my particular piece of suburbia is that there isn't a damn thing to eat here.
Short of that, I'd beg Kim's son to reopen Kim's Coffee Shop (Vietnamese cuisine) which I know wouldn't be the same without his mother (who died of cancer last year) there, but I hate the fact that I'll never be able to eat there again.
Where do you do your online shopping?
People who know me know that I do 9/10th of all of my shopping online! When you have 2 children under the age of 3 and are stuck out in the 'burbs, the "brown truck" is a godsend!
Favourites include a mixture of both local and large shopping portals:
Fortunes Coffee --we're actually friendly with the owners, and used to hit the physical store in Pittsburgh's Strip District bi-weekly, but these days, we make it to the brick and mortar maybe 3x a year
Pennsylvania Macaroni Company--another local business from the Strip that we don't make it to nearly as often as we'd like since we moved.
Amazon--among other things, we order diapers online Although if I am in the mood to buy a box full of bargain hardbacks or hard-to-find tomes by Michael Ondaatje, I go to Powells. The online store is great, although nothing compares to hitting the physical space when in Portland. Highly recommended!
Smith & Hawken--this place is dangerous for my pocketbook; we get everything from gardening tools, to porch furniture, to plants & bulbs, to Christmas ornaments and gifts here. If you know me in real life, this is probably where I bought your present.
Everything Coffee & Tea--we still buy our coffee locally, but since Fortune's doesn't carry my favourite cocoa, we get it here.
Gymboree--probably where I spend the most money online. It all started innocently enough with Abbey's first halloween costume. And then they started sending me gymbucks. They have slowly sucked all of the money from my account since. This place will probably put me in rehab someday.
Zappos--because who doesn't love shoes?
Honourable mentions go to chains like Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Crate & Barrel, JJill, Hanna Andersen, Penzeys, etc. I think it's safe to say I buy pretty much everything online. If we had a local milk/egg man and if Whole Foods delivered, I think it's safe to say that we would rarely have a reason to leave the house! Probably part of the reason why I want to move back to Pittsburgh proper. There's something to be said for wandering through Shadyside or Squirrel HIll, or spending an afternoon at the Waterfront.
