My Year in Pittsburgh

Let's Talk About Hawaii!

2009-05-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 started the countdown to Miguel finding a real job. Unfortunately, as with many industries, the job market is slow and we were starting to get a little concerned. I don't know if it is so much that there weren't any available jobs, it's just that Miguel and I had some pretty strict policies on where we would live - no more snow or ice, only coastal living, hopefully warm weather most of the year and good surf for Miguel. The search found us jobs in Florida, Southern California and Hawaii. I gotta tell you, Hawaii was NOT my first choice. I was pretty hesitant about it - it's so far and I am still really not big on flying even though I go back and forth to Cali twice a month. However, that being said, the other jobs were in less than desirable areas of Florida and So Cal. We decided to go to Hawaii for the interview. I was sold the minute I walked out of the airport - WOW! How can you pass up the opportunity to live on a tropical island where the weather is never less than 65 degrees and rarely over 85? Geez people - this is a no brainer!

Anyhow, the interview went well, Miguel liked them and they liked him and so - we are off to Hawaii in August. We'll be living on Oahu - not sure what area yet - that is to be decided hopefully closer to July. Here are some pics from our trip to Hawaii:

This is along the main drag in Waikiki. On the opposite side of the street are shops and restaurants.
This is me stopping to enjoy a little waterfall along the main drag in Waikiki.

Here's Miguel - we were looking to see if there were any surfable waves for him in Waikiki.

I went on a one day bus tour while Miguel was at his interviews - here is Hanauma Bay - on the beach below is where Elvis's movie Blue Hawaii was filmed.

This is the view leaving the entrance to Diamond Head.

It's been a LONG TIME! Here's the recap of January

2009-05-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Well, I realize it's been 5 months since I posted anything and I apologize but I have been traveling so much it's hard to find time to update the blog. Most of you know I'll be moving to Hawaii in August so I'll probably start a new Hawaii blog when I get there so if anyone has any ideas for a great website name, let me know.

Now let's get down to the haps in the Pitts:

January was pretty exciting (if you are a burgher!) as the Steelers won the Super Bowl - I was thankful to actually not be in town that week. I called Miguel that night and I could hear people yelling from the street after they won - yikes! Miguel did get to go to 2 playoff games and here's a pic from the field of the game:

Okay so that was January - I know not all that much to tell unfortunately I can't remember back that far (does that mean I'm getting old?). We did actually find though a place that serves pretty decent Mexican Food in Pittsburgh - it's called Mexico City Tacos and Burritos. Here's some pics of us enjoying our first trip there:

And lastly for January, I have to include the picture of my girlfriends in Pittsburgh - we formed a knitting club - it's been a lot of fun, we only wish we could get together more often. I think this picture might have actually been taken before January - can't remember when our first meeting was.

There is a funny story that goes along with this though and I guess now would be as good a time as any to share it. The night we planned to mee for knitting club it was COLD! I'm talking lots of snow and icy roads. I don't know if I mentioned this before but I live on a little hill and most of the surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhoods are up and down hills. We had our meeting at Julie's house - where I had been before but not in the ice. She lives in a neighborhood that has some VERY steep hills and narrow streets made from cobblestone. I didn't have any other option than to drive there so I decided "geez, if all these other people can do it, so can I!".

I got in my car, drove very slowly and when I got to the bottom of the first steep hill, I was terrified - I looked up and saw there was a stop sign at the top of the hill and I honestly wasn't sure if I had to stop, I'd be able to get my car to keep going without sliding backward. Not only that, another car was heading down just as I was heading up and the streets are not wide enough for 2 cars at once. Luckily, he must have seen either the terror in my eyes or my California license plates and he let me take the right of way. I headed up the hill, eyed the cross street, made just the slightest stop at the sign but kept going up the hill. I made it! Believe me, I was relieved to not have to make a complete stop.

So, you're probably all thinking - great so that's it right? NOPE! I got to the top of the hill and as they say, what goes up, must come down. I now had to head down a steep hill, cobblestone, that had not been well maintained. I literally called Miguel on my cell phone at the top of the hill to find out how I was going to do this, because the street ended at the bottom of the hill and I was going to have to either turn left or right or end up with my front end in someone's living room. He gave me the best advice he could and when I hung up I figured, I have to just go for it. I put the car in first gear and headed down. And SUCCESS! I made it down the hill and safely to Julie's house. Luckily we mapped out a less treacherous route home after knitting club. Anyhow, here is a pic of the group:

Here's the rundown - from left to right: Clarinda, Ami and Julie. Julie is our knitting "guru" and we were at her house enjoying our first lesson.

Let's Go Steelers!

2009-01-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well, those of you that are football fans know that the playoff game was yesterday between the Ravens and the Steelers. Let's just say, this is town loves them some Steelers! Miguel was "lucky" enough to go to the game. I decided that taking pictures of the process of getting ready for the game would be fun - Enjoy!

Step One - out of the shower - on go the under armour pants and wool socks.

Step Two - Add the under armour shirt

Step Three - Yep - you guessed it - Snowboarding pants on top of the under armour - let me just tell you, this California Surfer boy can't take the cold!

Step Four - Top layer number two - the Official UPMC required shirt.

Step Five - third top layer - a North Face vest.

Step 6 - the last top layer - a ski jacket!

And finally - ski gloves! Let me just add that when he got to the game he added a ski cap and a scarf along with multiple hand and foot warmers provided by the team.

If you watched the game and were watching closely, you may have caught a glimpse of my hubby on the sidelines. It was when the clock was at 1:20 left in the fourth quarter - he was all bundled up in the orange jacket, a black scarf around his next and part of his face and his ski cap. We tivo'd it so we got to see it in slo-mo, pretty cool, huh?

He took some pics at the game also - I'll post those in another post.

It's COLD!

2009-01-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't have any pictures to post for November/December because my digital cam wasn't working. BUT, I will try to be better about pics for the rest of our stay in Pitt. I was in Los Angeles last week and it was 82 degrees. I flew into Pitt on Friday - landing in the evening at a chilly 1 degree - yep you read that right - IT WAS ONE DEGREE! I parked at the airport when I left (one week ago) and found that my car was not only covered in snow but that an enormous CHUNK of ice was stuck to my windshield. It took me a good 20 minutes to warm up the car and scrape away at the chunk! I was in tears literally because my fingers were FROZEN! Yes I had gloves (I do live in Pittsburgh - I am a little prepared), however, leather doesn't really cut it in ONE DEGREE WEATHER!

Today it is a little warmer - I think it's about 20 degrees today. The city is gearing up for the Steelers vs Ravens game today. A number of the businesses are closing early today so that everyone can watch - all I have to say is: "What the F is that all about????" Those of us that couldn't care less about Football are gonna be bored! I'm just hopeful that Costco is still going to be open and I'll have my run of the store because all the Pittsburghers will be at home watching football, drinking too much beer and eating WAY TOO MANY NACHOS!

Miguel will be at the game today with the medical team. He was there last weekend as well and although it's super exciting - he's gonna freeze!

Here are some pics of the snow today:

This is the view from the side of the driveway down the hill. I'm not sure how many inches we got overnight but it let up this morning a bit. Miguel was outside shoveling snow for over an hour! I was wondering what he was doing cause the weather didn't seem like it was going to get better but he said it wasn't going to snow anymore. My reply was: "OK weatherman!" Needless to say, an hour later it was snowing again and it really hasn't let up yet! It's not really sticking though so all his efforts were not in vain.

This is how our kitties stay warm in the house. There is a heating vent right underneath this cabinet. They used to wedge themselves under the cabinet to stay warm, when they first started doing this, we couldn't find them then we saw their little legs sticking out from underneath. Miguel had the great idea to empty out the bottom cabinet and put their beds in them - now they stay warm and comfy!

Miguel in Action

2009-01-18T11:37:00.001-08:00

One Sunday afternoon, Miguel had to cover the Carnegie Mellon Football game that was being televised on ESPN. I was able to go with him and it was a gorgeous day outside (still in the Fall). I got some great pictures of the fall colors:

Here are some pictures of the game - Miguel is on the sidelines in the red shirt:

There was an injury so Miguel had to go onto the field and assess the situation. The player ended up being fine.

Fall in Pittsburgh

2009-01-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Fall was something I was really looking forward to - partially because the hot, humid weather in the summer was unbearable and partially because I love the fall colors and seeing the beautiful trees, of which Pittsburgh has many. I signed Miguel and I up for what was called a "Fall Foliage Cruise". It was about a 6 hour cruise along the Monongaheela and Ohio Rivers where the foliage is supposed to be really amazing. The first problem was, it was super cold the morning we left and we couldn't even go out of the deck to see most of the foliage but luckily it warmed up a little later and we did get some good pics. The second problem was - we were stuck on this cruise ship for 6 hours with nothing to do but watch really bad entertainment and play bingo - yikes it was torturous! Anyhow, I learned my lesson - better to either have your own boat to enjoy the sites or just go on a driving tour.

Despite the not-so-fun cruise, the foliage was very amazing - here are some pics:

This is the top of the boat - there was plenty of space on the top deck to sit and enjoy the scenery but as you can see, not too many people wanted to brave the cold!

A marina along the Ohio River.
Some of the trees along the riverside.

More riverside views.

Panthers Football Game (Pitt vs Rutgers)

2009-01-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, one of the "perks" of Miguel's program is we get to go to sporting event occasionally. The best so far has been the Panther's football games - we get to sit in a box which is quite luxurious so if you are not a full on football fan (like me), you at least are comfy, warm or cool depending on outdoor conditions and have a fully stocked fridge with sodas, beer and water.

I am the first to admit I know nothing about football and generally am not interested in the sport but seeing this game was the first time I had ever been on the verge of tears at a sporting event. Basically this is how it went down - in the middle of the game (I can't remember the exact period/quarter/whatever) but the quarterback was injured pretty seriously. We saw him go down and expected in no time he'd be back up. Well, that wasn't the case, the trainers went out to the field to see what was going on and when they realized it was more serious, they called the MD's on the field. When a few minutes had passed, the entire U Pitt football team came together, knelt down on one knee and faced the injured player. It was unbelievable! A few more minutes passed and then the Rutgers team followed suit. I seriously thought I was going to break out sobbing but I had to compose myself in front of Miguel's coworkers. Eventually, they brought out a stretcher to remove the player from the field but not one of the other players got up off their knee:

After the player was put on the stretcher, and being wheeled off the field, the entire stadium went crazy, clapping and "cheering". This was an incredible experience that I will never forget.

October 2008 Halloween

2009-01-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I got lucky in October and my replacement at my job in Beverly Hills quit. So I was asked to travel to our Bev Hills office to work - yippee! I spent Halloween with Christine & Jesse - my neighbors from Playa del Rey. We had spent the previous 2 Halloweens with them and we always had pumpkin carving contests so that's what we did this time too! Here are our pumpkins:

Sorry for the poor photography - I took better pics with my camera phone but wasn't able to download them. Needless to say, we had a good time - the only thing missing was Miguel but he judged our pumpkin carving contest from Pittsburgh (I won but he didn't know which one was mine beforehand so no bias!)

Catching Up

2008-11-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hello All! Well, I'm very sorry I haven't updated the blog sooner - lots going on really. After getting back from New York, we didn't do too many things worth reporting on the blog - most of our energy was spent trying to find a way out of living in the house we rented - for one thing, I broke out in hives (daily and they still continue!) which made us think there is something in the house I am allergic to, although the docs don't think that is the case. The other issue we have is an animal living in the bottom level of the house. I hear it rustling around under the floor and crawling in the walls. We've tried to trap it but it stays up in the ceiling and doesn't seem to fall for our trap. We have no idea what it is but suspect either a possum, ground hog or racoon. Needless to say, we are still living in the house - we signed a lease and so far that has legal precedent.

Moving on, fall was gorgeous and I have pictures I will share but my old laptop died and so I am without the pics for the time being. As soon as I have access, I'll share them. We've done a few things this month, attended a few Pitt football games, went on a Fall Foliage Cruise and as usual, braved some new Pittsburgh dining establishments - to be honest, we still haven't found a place worth going back to - do the people here not have tastebuds?!!!!

Okay, well, I'll write more later when I can post some pics for everyone! I miss California but luckily I am getting to travel back and forth for work for the time being - it has been my saving grace - warm weather, good friends and good food!

New York - the end

2008-09-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

This should be my last post on the NYC trip. The next day we actually got up a little bit earlier and went out for NY bagels at Ess-a-Bagel. The place was packed but we managed to be patients and make it through the crowd. The bagels were freshly made and they had all these wonderful flavored cream cheeses. I got a pumperknickel bagel with raisin walnut cream cheese and Heidi has a whole grain bagel with apple cinnamon cream cheese. Yummy! After that we went shoe shopping (I bought a new dress to wear to the theater and had to find some shoes to wear with it), then we went to the nail salon, I got a pedi and Heidi got a mani.

That night we planned our "big night out". We had reservations at Lupa, Mario Battali's restaurant in New York (one of many) and then tickets to see Avenue Q on broadway. Lupa was amazing - the food, wine and atmosphere lived up to my expectations - thanks to Heidi who did the research on where we should go. Here's us at dinner:

Paul & Heidi - don't they made a cute couple?!

After dinner we went to the show, Avenue Q. I really didn't know much about it before going except that there were puppets involved and they had one a Tony award or two since opening. This show was amazing! We were all cracking up - I highly recommend it to anyone planning to visit New York and the less I tell you about it the better. If you have an issue with bad language or sexual references, you shouldn't go and see this but remember - there are puppets - how offensive could it really be?!

My last day in New York, Heidi had to work so I decided I would go to St. Patrick's cathedral for Sunday mass. This cathedral is absolutely beautiful although the tourists continue to come in and out during the service which was a little distracting but overall I enjoyed the service.

After church, I stopped in Grand Central station for lunch - they have a large food court and some nicer restaurants. I opted for Indian food - not bad. I met Heidi at her work later in the afternoon and we went through a street fair that was going on along with a little bit of store shopping. They had a Lululemon that was having it's opening weekend - unfortunately we don't have one in Pittsburgh but I got a new pair of "fancy" pants as Miguel refers to them as - basically expensive exercise pants but so worth the price. After our shopping excursion we met up with Paul and another one of Heidi's friends as Serendipity. One of my favorite movies is Serendipity and they feature the restaurant in the movie. They are most famous for their Frozen Hot Chocolate which has been featured on Oprah but they have other very enormous and delicious desserts. We all ordered something and here they are - quite a finish to my NY trip!

At the top was Paul's choice, I know there was chocolate cake at the bottom with I believe, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. The middle selection was shared by Heidi and her friend - it was a special of the day and I can't remember the exact ingredients - some kind of pie on the bottom with ice cream and fresh fruit. Mine is at the bottom, a piece of pecan pie topped with butter pecan ice cream and drizzled with caramel - absolutely decadent and worth the full belly ache I got after consuming most (not all) of it!

Well, that was my trip - filled with shopping, dining and entertainment! Thanks to my good friend, Heidi, for hosting my trip! There will be more to come I'm sure - I hope to get to New York around Christmas time - gotta see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular!

New York (continued)

2008-09-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, so on we go! I left off in Central Park but I wasn't done yet. We spent most of the afternoon there and after watching THOTH perform we kept walking up through Strawberry Fields. A tribute to John Lennon:

There was a guy in the park that had decorated the "Imagine" mural with rose petals - apparently he had a little too much time on his hands!

Further into the park we came accross some beautiful views:

Overall, a beautiful afternoon in Central Park - I'd love to have spent more time there but there will be future trips. We did an enormous amount of walking that day so of course, we were ready for a BIG dinner! Come on, you didn't think I'd go this long on my blog without talking about food, did you????

Our evening meal was decided to be BBQ! Let me just tell you, Pittsburgh does NOT know barbecue! I have looked online at various places in town here and none of them has what I consider personally, to be true barbecue and that is BEEF RIBS! Don't give me those puny baby back or spare ribs - I want something I can sink my teeth into! So, New York did me justice! We went to Blue Smoke BBQ which was AWESOME! Also, I had the GREAT pleasure of meeting Heidi's boyfriend, Paul, who I must thank immensely as he treated us to dinner that evening - what a gentleman! We started off with a cocktail at the bar while waiting for our table - the restaurant was packed! Once we got to our table we perused the menu. Here's what we got:

The coveted beef ribs take the forefront with a mixture of BBQ meats in the rear (pork ribs, chicken and something else - can't remember cause all I wanted was my beef!)

The sweet potato fries were amazing and served with a maple dipping sauce - scrumptious!

Some baked beans and collards to finish off the meal and get our veggies in!And a not-so-flattering picture of me diggin in!!!

That finished off our evening. We returned to Heidi's house after that for some wine and conversation.

New York - continued

2008-09-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Okay so where did we leave off???? I think it was at ice cream right?

Well, after a rest and a little time to build up an appetite, we ventured out for some sushi and finished off our night with dessert at - you guessed it - The Dessert Truck!

We shared this extremely delicious Milk Chocolate Mousse with a peanut butter cream center topped with caramel popcorn! If you are interested in The Dessert Truck, you can visit their website at http://www.desserttruck.com/.

After our dessert experience we walked the city to burn off all those kcals and hit the sack! Heidi's kitties kept me company during the night - here they are:

Oscar is on top and Felix is on the bottom - aren't they too cute?!

The next day we were up to our old tricks again - sleeping in and lounging around in the morning and finally getting out of the house around 2 or 3 o'clock which was just fine because the weather was so extremely hot and humid, it was almost unbearable outside. We started off the day with lunch - it was finally time to have a New York Hot Dog. We went to Papaya King which is supposed to be one of the best places in NY. They specialize in dogs with all kinds of toppings but also in fresh fruit shakes.

After lunch, we ventured over to Central Park as this is one of the places I have never gotten to see on any of my previous trips to New York and it was a beautiful day for it. We walked quite a bit and stopped and shopped at some of the street vendors outside the park. I got a pretty cool pair of sunglasses and a purse - what's better than some good deals in NY?!

This was our first stop in the park - I think it was called the boat pond or something like that - there were some people with remote control boats in the water. It was beautiful - we sat and rested for a while there.

We continued to walk through the park - this is a little tunnel that was a great kodak moment.

This is the Bethesda Fountain.

Near the Fountain we came accross this performer - at first we thought this must be a joke but he ended up being really good. He performed his own "opera" playing what appeared to be 3 different parts. He had an amazing voice but we couldn't understand what language he was speaking - apparently after doing a little research on him, I found out it is a language that he "made up himself". Interesting.... You can see video clips of him if you go to youtube.com and search for THOTH - that's his name.

More to come later - I still have 2 more days left of material!

New York Trip September 2008

2008-09-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it took me a while but I am finally getting around to posting all the wonderful details of my trip to New York. I'll try to keep the dialogue brief cause I've got LOTS of pics - mostly of food of course! I went to New York to visit my dear friend, Heidi! Here she is:

We had a list of plans and things I wanted to do while I was in New York so when I arrived on Wednesday night, we made our plans for the following days. My flight was delayed almost 2 hours into JFK so what was going to be a night out to dinner and maybe a little walking became a very tired, couple of girls looking for some food in the city at 10 o'clock at night. We managed to find a saloon open close by Heidi's place and satisfied our hunger and did a lot of catching up. I saw an issue of New York Magazine on Heidi's coffee table later that night, the cover story: Cheap Eats in New York. And there you have it: our first day of plans in New York! The plan was to get up and walk the city while trying the best, delectable foods in New York - little bits for small prices while walking off all the calories - what could be better?!

Well, the best laid plans as they say. We ended up not even getting out of our pj's until noon the next day and didn't hit the streets until about 2:30 but we stuck to our guns. Our first stop in Chinatown for some dumplings:

YUM!

We split all this for just about $5.00 and we weren't the only ones craving one of the city's best dumplings:

Next stop - a great fish taco - I needed by Mexican fix since we have NO GOOD MEXICAN food in Pittsburgh. These fish tacos were amazing! We each had one and a nice, cold beer - it was smoldering hot and humid outside that day and by the time we got to the tacos it was almost 4 o'clock!

Heidi eating her taco:

Me enjoying mine!

Almost on overload after this, we settled for the next course of dessert! There is this phenomenon in New York of "gourmet" food trucks parked in various spaces throughout the city. We found one that sold artisan, gourmet ice cream and it was worth the trip!

It was pistachio for me and a mix of strawberry and vanilla for Heidi. After that we threw in the towel and went home for a rest before setting out on the town for the evening.

Wine Tasting in Pennsylvania

2008-09-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday we felt the need to get out of the city and adventure a little bit more. There are suprisingly a number of wineries in Pennsylvania although they are spread out - not clustered in one area. We chose one that wasn't too far way - about 10 miles outside of the city. It was called La Casa Narcisi. It is run by and Italian family that makes wine in the Italian style - no preservatives. They have family members in Italy that also make wine. They make a number of reds, including cabernet sauvignon and syrah - both of which were good but their Sangiovese and Chancellor were awesome! We bought bottles of both of those along with a sweet white wine called Vignoles - which is just a little less sweet than ice wine but they don't get the prolonged freeze on the grapes here so they can't call it ice wine. They had a beautiful patio and large open space where you can picnic and play bacchi ball. We brought a picnic and enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weather and beautiful scenery. Here are our pics:

This is the entrance to the winery. That's Miguel walking up to the entrance.

These are some pictures of the grapevines lining the front of the winery - not their only vineyard obviously but I think just a little taste for visitors to see and get that Kodak moment.

This was our last minute picnic that I put together before we left - sandwiches with salami, provolone and turkey breast on french baguette with aioli. Some mediterranean style hummus with carrots and pita chips. A sundried tomato and pesto cheese torte with crackers and finally some medjool dates stuffed with blue cheese. It doesn't look like much in the tupperware containers but it was yummy! Oh and I forgot one other thing - mango slices wrapped in prosciutto.

This is a shot of the grounds at the winery - it is a large open space outlined by some beautiful trees. They have an amphitheater and have concerts on Saturdays. We were told that was the day to come back. Also, they told us they have a Port they will be bottling that should be ready in about 3-4 weeks - we already have it on our calendar to go back and try it.

Hope you all enjoyed your long Labor Day Weekend! I'm going to New York this week to visit a friend so I'll take lots of pics to share with you!

Weekend Outings in Pennsylvania

2008-09-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Friday, I was on my own to adventure. I had some errands to run so I went over to the Waterfront shopping center. I discovered that they had a little bridge that goes down to the shore of the Monongaheela River with a trail that follows alongside the river.

This is a view from the bridge to the Waterfront Shopping center.

This is a view from the bridge walking toward the river trail.

This is part of the trail - it's lovely and shaded - lined with trees.

Here is a view of The Mon (that's what they call it in Pittsburgh) through the trees.

On Saturday, Miguel had a scrimmage to go to so I was alone for the afternoon and decided to go and see Mamma Mia - the sing along version! It was great - the only thing that would have made it better was if I was in California seeing it with some of my best girlfriends (you know who you are!) Saturday night we ventured out in Southside looking for yet another restaurant to be disappointed by. Luckily we found a restaurant that wasn't terribly disappointing but our waitress was on another planet so that made it a little iffy. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of the food but next time. I seem to only be inspired to take pictures when the food is really good - this one wasn't worthy. It was Italian food - which is supposed to be great here but again, not impressed. Here is pic of Miguel sitting at the table.

My exercise bike - YEAH!

2008-09-01T16:23:00.001-07:00

Well, it came down to buying a piece of exercise equipment for myself so that I could keep up with my regular routine (and not be totally depressed that I have to spend an entire year in Pittsburgh)! As some of you know, I LOVE spinning and had actually hoped to get a spinning certification when I came out here so I could teach but unfortunately, there just aren't enough places to teach spinning around here. Anyhow, Miguel and I discussed the exercise issue and he agreed that I might benefit from having something in the house to use for exercise. So, I got on ebay and started searching for a spinning bike. I was determined to get a Johnny G spinning bike - the gold standard, new bikes retail from $500 to $1500 depending on which model you get. Okay - I got off track again. So I go on ebay and search for a Johnny G Spinning bike and low and behold I find one - an Elite Spinner which retails for $1000 + 250 for shipping. It was closeby - in Bethesda, MD about a 2+ hour drive. So I start bidding. I was sitting by my computer for the last 60 minutes of the bidding just to make sure I got it - Miguel thought I was going to have a heart attack I was so excited - needless to say - I WON!!! Yippee! I drove to Bethesda that same week to pick it up and have been using it regularly ever since. The story gets even better because I used to go to YAS in Venice Beach for spinning classes - they have their own method of teaching and my favorite teacher, Tom, used the BEST music for his classes. I was able to get his email address and he emailed me a few of his playlists for the classes - it's awesome! I ride my spinning bike look out the window at the Pittsburgh skyline and envision myself riding back to CA - it's totally therapeutic! Here is a picture of my bike:

Head Over Heels

2008-08-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

We were invited to attend a Gala event called Head Over Heels to benefit concussion research and the UPMC Department of Orthopedic Surgery. It was black tie event but we went a little more casual than that - not many of the fellows can afford tuxes and formal gowns for their dates so it seemed okay. I wanted to take more pictures but it didn't seem like the most appropriate thing to do. I did get a couple though. Freddy Fu, the head of Miguel's program, was one of the honored guests.

This is us at the table, a little later in the night, after dinner. They gave out these feather boas with flashing lights in them and black sunglasses to all the men. The other picture is just what the inside of the ballroom looked like.

Just a couple more shots of us sitting at the table. They gave out these great chocolate high heel shoes with candy flowers in them for party favors - yummy! Overall it was a really fun night and I finally had the opportunity to meet some girls to hang out with - working from home makes it difficult to make new friends.

Strangest thing I've seen in Pitt - oops I mean the Burgh since moving here

2008-08-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Okay - so I realize we have some very, shall we say, interesting sights in Los Angeles but this sighting in Pittsburgh took the cake as far as I'm concerned. So here's the scene, Miguel and I are in the Prius on our way home from brunch driving through a neighborhood we weren't familiar with. Just an aside, GPS is a very interesting technology but sometimes you just wonder - "Where the heck is she taking us????" - which is what we were thinking at the time.

Anyhow, so here we are driving up this street and ahead of us I can see something in the road - I asked Miguel what it is and he says "I think it's a peacock." "A Peacock?!" I exclaim -not believing it possible. As we get closer we think this is one ugly peacock - and alas we exclaim in unison "Its a TURKEY!".

So that's him (or her as I can't tell the difference) - not a bad picture considering it was taken through the window of the car!

Okay, so enough about turkeys. Not much has been happening lately - we are both back to our normal work schedules so adventures are few recently. Miguel did find himself a local coffee shop to frequent called Crazy Mocha. Unlike CA, there isn't a Starbucks on every corner here - instead there is a little dive bar on every corner and I am not kidding about that - these Pittsburghers love their suds! Here is a pic of Miguel at the shop on a Sunday morning and yes their logo is a goat drinking coffee - nothing crazier than that right?

Brunch on Sunday the 10th

2008-08-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday was probably one of the best days I've had here so far. I made reservations at Lidia's Italy in the Strip District for brunch. I think I mentioned that in one of my previous blogs but basically she is about the only "Celebrity Chef" that I know of so far that has a restaurant in Pittsburgh. The brunch was fantastic!

Basically, you start off with your choice of a mimose or bloody mary - here is Miguel and I imbibing in our morning cocktails.

Next, they bring you a basket of marvelous, baked on the premises, breads and pastries along with fruit infused butters - there was some slices of rosemary bread, some chocolate chip and walnut scones, a sugar donut twist and a cinnamon crumb muffin - YUM!

The next thing you are offered is a buffet of fresh Italian salads and sliced meats along with some marinated vegetables and different varieties of olives. It may not look great in the picture but everything was delicious! The salads were mostly made with beans of all varieties and had wonderful vinegar based dressings.

Once you have had your fill of that, it is time for your main course. You can order off the menu or choose to have their house featured pastas of the day. The pastas are brought to your table just off the stove in a pan and then served on your plate - there are 3 varieties and it is all you can eat. If you order one of the entrees, you are served just a single plate. Not that that's bad, cause we couldn't eat more than one serving of anything - too much food but so yummy! Here are the pastas - I wish I could remember at this point what each of them featured but that was a week ago. I know the ravioli was a gorgonzola cheese and maybe mushroom and one of the pastas was made with sauteed squash but all the pastas are also made on the premises.

Lastly, you are welcomed to enjoy the dessert bar which features Italian cheesecake, tiramisu, a chocolate ganache tart and some Italian cookies - sorry I forgot to take pictures of the desserts.

Here is one last picture of the inside of the restaurant - they had these really beautiful and interesting "chandeliers" which looked like they were made of some type of handblown glass.

So that was our Sunday morning, after this amazing meal we were so tired we took naps. Later that night we went to a dinner at a country club sponsored by one of the surgeons at UPMC. It was a welcome dinner for the new sports fellows. The country club was gorgeous and the surrounding landscape absolutely beautiful. We had a very nice time and I got to meet the other fellows and their wives along with some of the staff from UPMC.

Unfortunately that night everything went downhill when we got home. I have no idea why it happened but I broke out in hives from head to toe! I was itching all night long from about 11 p.m. until 3 in the morning. Luckily Miguel had some claritin that I took along with some benadryl and finally it subsided. The worst part is, I had it almost everyday this week - seems as soon as the claritin and benadryl wore off - about every night at 6 p.m., it set in again. Miguel thinks I'm allergic to something but I haven't ever had allergies. Other's have told me it's nerves but honestly I'm not stressed or anxious. Yeah - I don't love Pittsburgh but believe me, I know there are worse places I could be. I can find the beauty in Pennsylvania for a year. Anyhow, last night I seemed to be "rash" free so I'm hoping it was a fluke and everything will be fine from now on.

I'll continue to keep you all posted on what's happening in the 'Burgh. Hope everyone is well and happy!

New Adventures in the 'Burgh (better than calling it the Pitts right?)

2008-08-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we did a few new things that were kinda fun - not California fun by any means - but fun nonetheless. Our first big adventure - and my biggest accomplishment thus far - was getting Miguel to agree to go for a walk in the morning across the Hot Metal Bridge. I know you all saw my pictures from that a few posts ago but here is one of Miguel on the bridge - the sun wasn't in full force just yet but it was a gorgeous morning.Saturday night, rather than stay home and watch more cable, we ventured to Station Square, supposedly a "hot spot" on the South Side. Picture the scene of Third Street Promenade or Universal City Walk in LA and then decrease the size by 3 and take away all the interesting shops - now you know what Station Square is like. Oh yes and about all you are left with is some chain type restaurants (the obligatory Hard Rock Cafe), a fountain that WISHES it could rival the one at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas and some Mom & Pop gift shops - believe me in Pittsburgh you are never more than 10 feet away from a store selling Steelers paraphernalia.

This is the fountain I was talking about - the water "supposedly" moves along to the music. And when I say music, I'm not talking about good music, we are talking about the likes of Shania Twain and Keith Urban - YIKES! Plus the water only moves up and down not side to side like the Bellagio.

Let me back up a little bit, when we got to Station Square, our intention was to take a one hour tour boat ride, but as luck would have it, they had closed down for the night. However, they did have a pretty neat little area to walk down that gave a little history of Pittsburgh and a great view of the city from the shore of the river.

The other thing that was pretty funny was that right near the dock, there are schools of carp and the beg for food! Whenever they see "tourists", they come up close to the dock and open their mouths up to the surface of the water. It was a little bit dark so we didn't get great pictures of them but I tried so here is what I can share with you.

These are pictures of the walkway to the Clipper Fleet with the timeline painted along the walls.

Okay - so I think I have exhausted the room for this post so I'm going to continue with a new post for our outings on Sunday.

Week Two - Not much new

2008-08-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

The week started off a little adventurous. I convinced Miguel to accompany me to the Strip District downtown. The strip district of Pittsburgh is known for its ethnic markets, fresh fish and meat markets and all kinds of restaurants and bars. Here is a link to the history of the Strip District for anyone interested: http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/thestrip/thestrip.html. Upon arriving (we got an early start) at 9 a.m., we stopped at Pamela's P&G Diner. This diner was described to us by one of Miguel's fellow fellows (ha-ha) as the best breakfast in Pittsburgh and boy it did not disappoint! They make these crepe style pancakes stuffed with all kinds of fruits and nuts and of course topped with whipped cream. Pair that with a tall, cold glass of milk, an egg and some sausage and you just about have to roll yourself out! We luckily got there at the right time and were able to be seated right away - 15 minutes more and we would have been standing outside in the sun for sometime. Here is a sample picture of the French toast they serve (I got this one off the internet, unfortunately couldn't find a pic of the pancakes).

By the way, I had fully intended to take my own pictures but unfortunately my batteries in my digital camera died and I was left pictureless. But, rest assured, it will not be my last trip to the Strip District and I promise you all some pics the next time. As a matter of fact, I just made reservations for brunch tomorrow at Lidia's Italy - a restaurant in the strip district owned by Lidia Bastianich, who has a cooking show on TV and has about 13 Italian cookbooks available. I'll let you all know how it is and promise to take pictures.

This week was my first week back to work and it was 4 ten hour days working from home. I actually enjoyed it - the time went fast but boy was my butt killing me by the end of the day! What was great is that I don't have to commute and because of this, we have had home cooked meals everyday. I've been making great use of my crockpot since it is so hot here and to turn on the oven at night is just ridiculous! So far our menu has consisted of Pork Chile Verde, Greek Feta Chicken breasts, Short Ribs with a balsalmic zinfandel sauce and lasagna. Tonight I am preparing meatloaf in the crock.

One of the things I have discovered about Pittsburgh is that the food really isn't very good. The restaurants are all the same on the South Side - meat, meat, fried, fried, beer, beer all in GINORMOUS proportions! We went to the only Mexican restaurant here on Thursday night and I can honestly say it is unlikely I'll be going back - it was by far not what I am used to! Needless to say, cooking at home has come in handy and both Miguel and I have actually lost weight and it definitely isn't cause we're working out! The other thing I discovered about Pittsburgh is that the gyms here SUCK! I haven't found one that I love but thanks to my phenomenal trainer, Harry Grant, back in California, he has helped me over the phone develop weight training programs that suit the lack of equipment available here. It's worked cause I've been sore for 2 days!

Anyhow, that is the update for this week - Apologies for no pics but I'll have some later!

Pittsburgh Paula

Our First week in Pitt

2008-08-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

We finally have settled into Pittsburgh. All of our furniture was delivered on Wednesday which was an adventure. The doorways are so small that we had to take the door off the hinges and the feet off some of the furniture to fit it into the house. The movers brought all of our things in an 18-wheeler and if you know anything about Pittsburgh, you know the streets are narrow and often times steep. The truck barely fit on the street in front of the house which also has a bus line that runs along it. A traffic cop came by and warned them to make it snappy. We had to direct traffic, as we live on a hill with a curve, so people coming up had a hard time seeing the people coming down. It was an interesting but successful day. Spent most of Wed/Thurs/Fri unpacking. Miguel started work so he wasn't around much during the day.

Saturday morning, I decided it was time to explore my 'hood a little bit. Pittsburgh has 3 rivers that run through it and meet in the middle. The river running by our house is called the Monongahela and there are a number of bridges that cross it - the one closest to us is called the Hot Metal Bridge and it has a walking path. There is also a great biking/walking/running trail that runs along the river. So, I decided to walk across the bridge. I must say living in California, I never would have opted to walk across any bridge due to my fear of an earthquake happening while I was on it - silly I know but that's me!

Anyhow, it was a beautiful morning - sunny with a slight breeze and the walk was very nice - here are the pictures I took to share with you.

Okay so I was alone and had to take pictures of myself but here I am starting up the bridge - it was about 8:30 a.m.

This is the view looking toward the east - not much on that side - the west view is where the city is.
This is the East View from the bridge where you can see downtown - the tallest building you see in the middle is a UPMC facility.

This is the view walking back over the bridge - the large eagle ahead is the American Eagle Outfitters headquarters which is located on the southside.

This is a steel tree outside the American Eagle building.

This is the path along the river - once you come off the bridge, you can pick up the path and go about 10 miles round trip. The path goes right by the UPMC Sports clinic and the Steeler practice fields.

This is the UPMC Sports Clinic where Miguel will be working regularly but he'll still have to travel to some games and things along with other clinics.

Well, that's it for now. Today we may venture over to the Strip District so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to show you all later!

Paula

Miguel's new Prius!

2008-08-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to include this story in my other blogs but it's pretty good (probably more entertaining for me but I'll share anyway). Miguel sold his truck in LA before we left and wanted to buy a Prius. He called a number of dealers and was told over and over again that there was a six month waiting list. However, some dealers (very few) will keep one or two on the lot and mark up the price so you end up paying more but he didn't want to do that either. So, he made a list of all the Toyota dealers in the Columbus, Ohio area and as we got closer we were going to call and see if anyone had one on the lot since Columbus is only about 3 hours outside of Pittsburgh. Well, the night we stayed in Dayton, Miguel made calls to all but 2 dealers and no one had any. We had pretty much given up hope but the next morning, while Miguel was driving, I called the last 2 dealers. The last call I made, I spoke to the sales guy and he said they actually had one on the lot that morning. It was a fully loaded model, silver and it was ordered by a former employee who backed out of the purchase. I told him we wanted to buy it and we would be there in 1 hour.

Okay, so we arrive at the dealership and there is like a mad rush to sell this car - all the salespeople are calling potential buyers - people waiting for this car. One sales guy (not ours), even tells us as we walk in the door that he has a buyer for the car arriving in 15 minutes and if we didn't get the paperwork filled out before him, he was going to sell the car to them. Talk about pressure! Well, Miguel looked at the car and basically told the guy to get the paperwork going cause he was definitely gonna buy this car. One of the best parts was, the guy who sold us the car had only been working there for about 6 months and the other sales guy that pressured us was their top sales guy - 8 years of experience. Even while we were filling out paperwork, we heard other salespeople calling potential buyers just in case our credit didn't go through or something - absolutely crazy!

Well, we won! Here is a picture of Miguel with his new Prius in our driveway.

Finally in Pittsburgh but definitely not settled!

2008-07-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well, this is our 3rd day in Pittsburgh - takes some getting used to. California, it is not! It's hot but not unbearable and the humidity hasn't been bad. The people out here drive crazy! If anyone thought California was bad - this is worse! The streets are super narrow and lots of one way streets make it confusing to get around. Our house is interesting - built on the side of a hill on the downslope so you enter through the kitchen into the living room and then down the stairs to the bedrooms. None of the floors are even - they slope, dip, etc but it seems to be status quo with most of the homes around here along with the streets - it's an old city not built to modern expectations. The house does have a lot of room which is nice and the landlord is great - very nice and willing to help make the house comfortable for his "California" residents. We needed more air conditioning and today are having 3 installed!

There are a lot of stairs and my knees are having a hard time getting used to it but I try to limit my trips up and down - I make piles by the stairway of things that need to either go upstairs or downstairs and then don't make the trip unless I absolutley have to - it seems to be working out so far.

We are getting familiar with some of the restaurants around here since we didn't have a working refrigerator until yesterday and still don't have any of our kitchen stuff or furniture. We found a good pizza place down the street but they don't use fresh mushrooms here - only canned - YUCK! I haven't had my Pittsburgh Sandwich yet - just too hot to even think about eating some of the foods here -it's not easy to find healthy options. However, I did have a Cheesesteak at Miguel's request - I supposedly ordered it the original way with Cheez Whiz (all my dietitian friends are cringing right now!) and grilled onions.

For this pic, Miguel put all the food in front of me - rest assured I didn't eat all of that - the heat really plays a role in your appetite - with all the crap we've eaten, I have managed to lose a little weight - portion control!

I've investigated the gyms and it is a sorry sight! I can't believe how expensive they are and they have so little equipment. Today my plan is to join up and try to get back in the swing of things with my workouts - it's gonna be tough because sleeping on an air mattress is taking it's toll on my back!

Well, that's about it for now - as soon as our furniture arrives, I'll have the opportunity to download some pictures.

Almost there!

2008-07-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

When we left Colorado Tuesday morning, we forgot to get gas and when we were almost on empty in Utah (with nothing in site), we thought for sure we'd be stuck on the side of the road in the 100 degree weather. Here are some of the views we saw that day - beautiful mountains!

Luckily there was an exit marked with a gas station and after driving down a dirt road, happened upon the only gas station in what was probably a town with a population of 50 (if that!). Talk about stressful! Then to top it off, we stayed in an Econo Lodge Tuesday night and our cat, Maddie, managed to wedge herself up and into the box spring of the hotel bed. Miguel was able to lift up the bed while I chased her out - not fun!

This is Kansas (I think) - it rained almost the entire day on the road). I made Miguel drive cause I wasn't comfortable in the rain.

We stopped for breaks along the way to give the cats water and a little leg room - this was Other Kitty's favorite resting spot - not in the carrier but on top of it!

He also liked to climb up on the dashboard and see what was going on outside.

Wednesday we made it to Kansas City, MO and met up with Miguel's friend, Jamie from San Diego. It's been about 8 years since we've seen him - last time was when we drove back from the NIH after Miguel finished his year of research. It was great visiting with him and his wife, Sara.

Tonight we have settled into Dayton, OH and probably had our first decent meal at a little locally run Italian restaurant. The people here are super nice so I hope that Pennsylvania will be more of the same. We should arrive tomorrow afternoon in Pittsburgh to see our new digs! I'll let you all know how it goes!

Paula

First day on the road

2008-07-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

Wow - What a day! We left LA around 9 a.m. and hit the road. The cats were exceptionally good and this made the drive much less stressful. We made it to Utah today - crossed a lot of dessert through CA, NV and AZ - Utah was a nice change of scenery but there was some amazing landscape we saw today. Took some pics but won't be able to post them right away.

The only snafoo we had was hitting a bird on the highway which then got lodged in the grill of the Element - yuck! Luckily I didn't have to see it but when we stopped for dinner we asked for some disposable plastic gloves from the kitchen so Miguel could do a little "surgery" on the bird/car. Tomorrow we hope to make it to Denver, CO but that's about 500+ miles from where we are so it may be too big a goal for the day. I'll keep you all posted!

Paula

Documenting a Year in the Life

2008-07-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow starts our journey to Pittsburgh for the next year.

The movers come by tomorrow and then it's an air mattress for us for the next couple of weeks.

We plan to leave Monday morning on our drive across country. We expect it will take about 4-5 days and we are hoping the cats will not get too stressed out.

We are excited about our new opportunity and I already have a list of all the places I want to see and things I want to do while I'm there. I created this blog so I could share this with you - I'll post pictures when I can but sometimes just my thoughts.

Looking forward to my year in the Pitts!