Posts tagged event
Time to Adjust
Mar 9th
I went to the Home & Garden show this past weekend. I purchased a few things and wished I had purchased a few more. I may go back this weekend. We will see.
While there I filled out a form to try and win tickets to this years Best Restaurants Party. Crossing my fingers! I absolutely loved last years! I can’t afford $100 tickets. Willing to blog for tickets 
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My kitty is missing. We took him in when he was only 6 weeks old. He was hard of hearing and had sinus problems but my children all fell in love with him. They miss him dearly as does the dog, yes the dog and cat played together every day.
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We have a new hamster, a Chinese Dwarf Hamster. I want to name her Wonton but my youngest doesn’t like it.
The kids dad came up with Nugget, my oldest came up with Joey because it looks like a mini kangaroo. Well the youngest doesn’t like any of the names we picked out.
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I am adjusting. To my medication and to my life.
I didn’t post last weeks photography blog. I will guess that I have pics for 2-3 days tops. I will post them soon though this week is looking bleak as well.
I still have 3 posts to write about The Worst Cooks in America. I have notes on the last 3 episodes.
I am forgetting many things lately and allowing some things to get backed up.
But it’s not all bad. I feel better. I feel more normal. In time I think everything will fall into place.
When something worry’s me or I have a pain I don’t go into severe panic mode anymore. I am thankful for that.
There are periods of time that I have spaced out a little, even felt really off, but the more time that goes on the better I feel.
If anything better than before, so thats good.
All in one
Nov 24th
I have been busy. Probably not really the busy your thinking. Sure I have had busy days such as shopping Saturday for myself for once and grocery shopping Sunday. I have been busy being a worn down, pissed off, PITA. Re-doing the living room is wearing on me. It has been torn apart for about two weeks now and it’s barley been touched since we started. We have the TV, love seat and a chair left in that room kinda squashed in the middle so we could work around it. The dining room is full of what was in the dining room and what used to be in the living room. It’s just not getting done and new furniture is going to be delivered early December. I am getting pissed. Things I can’t even talk about online are going on and I am just tired of life getting screwed up. I am tired of not being able to talk about it. I am tired of feeling like “This is my life and it won’t ever get better.”
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One of the problems we did run into is the wiring after pulling the paneling off. Check this beautiful work out………
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I was going up this hill one day last week and it was a beautiful yellow. The tree’s, sidewalks, everything was a blanket of yellow. I wish I had taken a picture that day but didn’t get my camera out in time. I figured the next day it would still be there. Of coarse that night we had a wind storm that took most of the fall leaves off the tree’s. It was still yellow, just no where near as much as the day before. Use your imagination to add more to the picture….
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I didn’t know cats and dogs could get along so well until we put our two together. We have had the cat since he was a kitten and the dog we got this year. They are around the same age, about 15 months old. You should see them play with each other. At first we thought they were hurting each other but they roll all over the floor every morning. Here you can see them sharing a food bowl.
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I went to Light Up Night in Downtown Pittsburgh last Friday.
It was crowded. So crowded you couldn’t really do anything. You could barely walk around.
I managed to get a pic of the tree at the ice rink.
I called some guy an asshole. I apologize to all the children that had to hear me. He still was an asshole.
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I haven’t gone down to see the holiday windows in many years and it was Kaufman’s then. I remember the displays being of Christmas nature. I have some pictures on my phone but am unsuccessful at the moment emailing them to myself to show you. Someone put alot of work into them, they are paper scenes. They are not Christmas or holiday themed at all! Was a huge disappointment.
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There was a shooting right as we were leaving. Police cars just started pouring into town. I knew something had to have happened but didn’t know what until later that night at home. I don’t think I will be taking my children down there for an evening event again. It’s just not worth it. All we did was try to get through the crowd. That’s it. My mom wasn’t thrilled to hear I called some guy an asshole. She warned me that I could get shot.
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We walked to Station Square where we watched fireworks.
Pod Camp Day 2 #pcpgh5
Sep 20th
PodCamp weekend is officially over. I spent the weekend with a couple hundred people I don’t know, some of which I talk to on twitter and read their blog. I’ve been to many events in my life time considering I have volunteered for a few organizations and have even ran some events. I have never learned so much in one weekend nor had such a good time with strangers before.
Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers!
Sunday’s attendance was lower but it left me the ability to talk to people that just the day before had people flocking to talk to them.
My first session was Our Burgh Story Through Blogging by Joe and Betsy.
They went over the phases of their personal blog since 2006 and were a joy to watch interact with each other. I think Joe looks a bit like Justin from Brothers & Sisters 
The next session I attended was Advance your Career with Marketing 2.0 with Nicole Crimaldi.
She gave some great advice to stay on top of industry trends by reading blogs. Make relationships and understand your prospects.
She also shared 8 ways to be great on Linkedin.
1. Complete your profile (in the 1st person)
2. Update it often
3. Groups: join and participate in them
4. Start a group
5. Check status updates
6. Think about keywords
7. Always connect with people you meet in person.
8. Get recommendations.
Lunch yesterday included chicken and of coarse another visit from The Goodie Truck. I got my peanut butter cookie fix and purchased extra. Guess what I am having with my lunch today at work?
My last session was 10 Things I learned on my journey with Girlhack.
The best advice she gave in my opinion was to be passionate. When your passionate you will be authentic. Great advice and that can apply to anything you do in life. Something else that struck with me is her discussion on low blog/video views. We all worry about it at some point and wonder if people really read our blog regularly. Even if you have 20 views consistently to your posts imagine if they were all in one room to hear you speak. You would be thrilled at having those 20. Your always going to want more.
Who did I get to meet yesterday?
Wormy of BitchBurgh! We talked a bit before lunch as well as after lunch out front where she let me take a pic of her. She is really down to earth, funny as hell and easy to talk to. She is someone you wanna hang out and drink with.
I had lunch with YinzerParty gal. Well, I had lunch then she sat down. Some other guy sat down pitching stuff to her. I butted in to give her my business card and tell her that she took my pic at a bar one night last year. That’s all I got in but still cool in my book.
I also got to talk to Hutch of Burghseyeview. Hutch and his son do a webcast together. I talk to his wife on twitter LOL I love watching the two of them have twitter conversations to each other.
To end the day before I went home I found out they had extra Swag Bags. Gotta love goodies.
Until next year, I will see you all on Twitter
Pod Camp Day 1 #pcpgh5
Sep 18th
What a day. It was a long and early day but for once I sat in classrooms and learned useful information. If you have never heard of Pod Camp it is an unconfernce for people interested in social media, blogging, podcasting, stuff like that. I attended a day full of great sessions at Pod Camp Pittsburgh 5 at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. There is another day of sessions tomorrow and they are free! So head down even if you didn’t pre-register. You can also watch the sessions live online at their website. Today’s sessions are up at The Tech Buzz.
We started with the keynote address by Norm & Bill Peduto.
Bill had many videos to share but one stuck with me the rest of the day and had the most impact. I am very interested in social media already. I utilize what I can, when I can. I was amazed by the facts in this video all about Social Media Revolution. Company’s really need to watch it and see the impact social media really plays today.
The first session I attended was 10 Ways to Create Social Media That Matters with Justin Kownacki.
Not only was this session informative he is a really funny guy. He easily engaged the audience with humor. I had to stand in the back, it was hot, and I wasn’t leaving. One of the things he shared with us was that there are 3 reasons to create.
#1 Educate
#2 Entertain
#3 Engage
My next session was Blogging 201: Finding Fodder 52 weeks a Year with Michelle of BurghBaby.com.
I started reading her blog some time ago and came out of lurker world and started commenting here and there and talking to her on twitter. She is incredibly nice and keeps me wondering what her daughter did each day. Her session helped understand that you need to know why you blog. She gave many questions that a blogger should ask themselves such as; how often should you blog? is this topic ok? and should i have ads?
Lunch was provided to us after that session and yay I finally got to eat from The Goodie Truck! I found out about them on Facebook or Twitter one day and thought it was such a neat concept I started following them. They drive to local events and sell homemade treats such as cookies and brownies. Sorry to my lunch mates who I dashed out on to get me something yummy!
After lunch I attended Friend Me? No, Friend You! – Creating Real Relationships with the internet with Justin Burdett
He talked about listening to people out there before blogging and figure out who your trying to reach. Who is that one person you want to impress the most.
Then I went to Living Out Loud: Real Life Effects of Living Online by BitchBurgh
The room was packed. So packed there was no where to sit, the room just wasn’t set up for more people than there were chairs for. I went into the overflow room to watch the live feed and the audio wasn’t working well. It got so bad that everyone left, including me. It is unfortunate I missed out on it. I love reading their blog. From what I was there for they talked about expecting your readers not to always agree with you and pissing off your loved ones, which they have. I write a blog where I do a bit of bitching so I really wanted to hear this session.
I wound up going to another room for that session since the audio wasn’t working.
I went to Memo From Your Blog’s Legal Department by Cris Hoel who is a lawyer. He had some great info! He shared many things to be careful about sharing and copyrights.
Things he said to stay away from:
1. Accusing someone of criminal conduct.
2. Accuse someone of loathsome and communicable disease.
3. Direct effect on someones livelyhood. It could affect ability to earn a living.
4. Don’t accuse a female of being un chased or a male he is impotent. However you can accuse a male of being un chased or a female impotent LOL
A website he gave that has good information is the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The last session I attended was SWF Seeks… The Birth of a Blog: How I evolved from Lurker to Creator by Tara of Stylish White Female.
She talked about how she started on the internet on ICQ and the like, gave up Myspace and got to where she is today. She talked about how our online converstations are very real and finding your social voice. She was very informative.
My one big issue was I didn’t socialize much in person. I shook Chachi’s hand on his way out a door. I talk to him via Twitter and read his blog. I also met a few people at lunch that I had a good conversation with. Part was I was into the presentations I was there for, the other is I am shy. I mean hundreds of people where there I had never met. I talk to many on Twitter through the week but I couldn’t just go up and say hi to them. Ugh, WTF. Once I know someone I don’t shut up, but I just can’t seem to always be that outgoing person around so many new people. I also had made business cards. I failed at giving them out. I probably only gave out 5 of them the entire day.
I still had a great day and learned a lot. It was organized better than most events I have attended and the Twitter was going insane with Pod Camp talk. My Twitter friends who don’t live here or weren’t there were probably annoyed. My feed was full of Pod Camp. You can find all the Pod Camp talk with the hash tag #pcpgh5. People tweeted about the sessions they were in, some one liners the presenter had said they thought were great. They also had a live feed of the Twitter hash tag in one of the rooms. Thank you Pod Camp Pittsburgh!
Now I have to decide if I can handle another day and what sessions I will attend if I go
Best Restaurants Party
May 25th
First, I would like to thank Pittsburgh Magazine. I won two tickets to The Best Restaurants Event last night in a contest they held. I had never been to an event like that before. I went over my sisters house early to try on dresses and get ready considering I am not a dressy person. I assumed it was a very dressy affair and I think for the most part it was. There were a few people in jeans and tennis shoes and one girl in boots and fish nets. They sure made me wish I had dressed down at first as the heels were killing my feet. In the end I don’t think it was a jeans event and what I was wearing was more appropriate no matter how much I wished I wore something else.
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When we first walked into the room it was pretty overwhelming at how many different booths there were to go to. I had no idea ahead of time what to expect. There were people everywhere in line at the various booths to sample all the wonderful food.
It didn’t occur to me until halfway through my evening to keep track of where I was taking pics from. Thank you to my sister for suggesting it!
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In the very first line I realized Chris Fennimore was in front of me. I have been watching him on WQED for years and was excited just to be in the same room.
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On to the food. I am not a raw fish person at all so I avoided anything of that nature. Unfortunately there were many of them. Raw salmon, tuna, and sushi of all kinds. I just can’t stomach it and that isn’t a place I wanted to get sick in. I am sure everyone there appreciates that. I also stayed away from the alcohol with one exception. I tried a drink from Mad Mex that had an enormous amount of alcohol in it but good. If I wanted to keep eating I couldn’t keep drinking. They had various wine’s and I noticed Penn Brewery was there.
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Desert first? Sure, why not. These little yummy treats came from the Sweethouse Bake Shop in Mars, PA. I tried the Brownies with cream in them and they were yummylicious.
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I have eaten at a Japanese Steakhouse before but had yet to make a trip to Nakama in the Southside. They had a few tables with different items. I believe one was Sushi. I ate the item below minus the portion of meat on one side of the plate that I asked them to leave off. What I did try was very good. I wish I had asked what it was.
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One table looked like a marshmallow haven by (The) Common Plea Restaurant. I heard them mention that one of them had a kick of cayenne in it. I am not sure exactly what they were but they were yummy dipped in chocolate.
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Cross Keys Inn had potato pancakes. They topped them with creme and salmon. I had one, hold the salmon. I love potato pancakes and this one sure was good.
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A place I heard about before, I thought from someone on Twitter but I am now thinking it was on a WQED show. Regardless I have wanted to try it ever since. Franktuary in Downtown. I tried a Veggie frank that looked like a regular hot dog, taste wasn’t too bad. I also tried Locavore which is organic, grass-fed and made locally. I am trying to eat better and buying more organic but sometimes I am having a hard time liking the food. This frank was outstanding!
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Another place I adored was Wooden Angel from Beaver.
Why, oh why do they have to be so far away? I watch alot of food tv and see chefs make Risotto all the time but have never eaten it. This restaurant had pork and bacon on risotto and it was divine! I was so close to licking my plate or asking for another. I definitely want to make a trip here for dinner sometime soon.
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Ok. Yo Rita in Southside was there with some drink concoction. They managed to get me to try it by not telling me what it was but encouraging me to drink it first. I never found out what it was called nor what was in it. I don’t think I want to know. I’ll be nice and just say I didn’t finish it. Sorry.
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I found another yummylicious dessert from Gullifty’s in Squirrel Hill. It was an apple cake with cheesecake in the middle and drizzled with caramel. First off, OMG yummy! Second. I have an apple cake recipe that tastes so much like theirs it just might be the same recipe. I got the recipe when I was in 7th or 8th grade in home ec class.
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Jac’s Cafe in White Oak had two different kinds of soup. I love wedding soup and it is difficult to find good wedding soup so I choose that. Other than a need for some parmesan cheese it was pretty good.
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Dinette in East Liberty had a good Rice Pudding. They use local, seasonal and organic ingredients in their foods.
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The Claddagh Irish Pub in Southside Works is somewhere I have been wanting to try. They had an Artichoke and Spinach dip that was very good.
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The last dish I will comment on was from the Square Cafe from Braddock Ave. This was a cheddar and chorizo biscuit. It was pretty good but I have to admit I had to ask my sister was chorizo was. I think after many of the spicy foods I did try and bold flavors I can say I expected more flavor from it, although it was a good last food to stuff into myself before going home.
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I am not sure when I can wear my jeans again after all I ate. My sister kept asking me, “Do you think you can eat more?” As small as I am I said Yes LOL I do want to mention that some of the restaurants portions were probably a bit too large. I expected a tasting. It is very difficult to taste everything with such big portions and I didn’t like to waste, especially if I didn’t like it. I did see a Twitter message from Pittsburgh Magazine this morning that leftover food was being donated.
I’m not sure how much was left over though as many booths had to close down before 8pm as they were out of food.
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Here is a picture of my sister and I sitting on the floor. We could barely walk at this point. I wanted to throw the heels in the garbage and kept dreaming of walking back to the car barefoot. I did walk back to the car barefoot. I didn’t even make it down the escalator before taking them off. Thats my sister on the left and me on the right. Stupid glare in my glasses.
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We did get to take the June issue of Pittsburgh Magazine home as well as a glass with the event name on it. I feel bad for the many people still in the room who wouldn’t get a glass because some greedy people were taking up to 4 glasses each. I’ve already read my issue of the magazine from front to back. I think I may subscribe again. There was a year I started receiving it out of the blue. No one would fess up to sending it to me so I chalked it up that they used a recipe I submitted years ago as they used to give a subscription if they used it in something.
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I had a great time and want to thank Pittsburgh Magazine again for the tickets! I hope to attend again.
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To end this very long blog here are some pictures of some of the other booths I didn’t write about.
