May days!

We kept pretty busy in May! Pittsburgh had a lot of events pop up, like the Popcity 5th anniversary party that my friend Daniel alerted us to. It was in one of the empty floors in the Bakery Square Google building and it was pretty neat! Unfortunately the food ran out relatively early but the people, drinks, giant Pittsburgh gigapan and poprock table decorations were super fun. Also, the cakes were delicious!


Peter and I entertained the idea of buying a fancy condo across the street – and toured a few that were really awesome – but ultimately decided to stay put. Alternatively, we made limoncello and fragole cello (think strawberries) to feel distinguished. The process was way simpler than I had thought – just shave a bunch of lemons (use the juice for homemade lemonade, which is awesome) or clean a bunch of strawberries, let them sit in vodka for a while, and then strain and add simple syrup. The strawberries were done earlier and the transformation was pretty wild. They let go of their color and flavor and sucked up all the booze, turning into really high-octane zombie berries. Quite good in mixed drinks, though! And, of course, especially lovely when on a bear coaster. =)


Speaking of new additions to the household – Peter finally decided he needed a real desk, so it was off to IKEA! He now has the same chair as I do and also has his own drawer to store stuff (key factor). I think it looks pretty nice! Juuuust pictured off to the left is our new AC unit; our complaints about a dripping unit finally got some results in the form of a brand-new unit that’s much shorter than the old one. So they basically just sawed off a foot of housing and now it’s much less intrusive, pretty handy. Oh yeah, and I finally took a picture of our photo hanging job – after a month I still love it!


Other big news this month was that my aunt Flash is finally moving out of her old dusty apartment into a fantastic, sunny one – with an elevator! Woo hoo! I flew out to help her and the trip was a blast. The new place is such an improvement, it’s fantastic. We did a lot of heavy moving – repositioning the new fridge, organizing boxes, building shelving units, cleaning – and I think it really helped the place come together. It only had the first wave of boxes, though, so we’ll see how it looks in a few weeks. I did treat myself to a massage in the airport to make sure all those muscles were where they should be, but it was surely worth it.


We also did some serious eating, of course, hitting a record four new places over the weekend. I loved Leña, which is right across the street now – so many vegetarian options that were delicious. My favorite was, surprisingly, the chickpeas – the cilantro/sauce coating was awesome. We also hit the Bar on Fifth, a new fancy lounge. They had great cocktails, fun food and most importantly fluffy chairs. Sitting, sipping, and watching people walk by was the perfect way to cap off a busy day of box-slinging.


I have high hopes for June! It's shaping up to be quite an exciting summer. While I can't promise not to procrastinate forever and then backdate a bunch of entries (whoooops), I do promise fun things!

Parental visit

We went to see Sam Beam and his beard - I mean, his band, Iron and Wine - at the Carnegie Library. Cute venue, weird concert. Instead of the quiet folk songs we were expecting, they had basically taken the lyrics and set them to some mean smooth jazz with melodies only reminiscent of the songs we wanted to hear. I appreciated the addition of a brass and winds section and the musicians were excellent, but it was a pretty stark departure from the original content and I'm not sure we would have bought tickets if we'd known. But it was an interesting outing anyway!


That same weekend (same day, in fact) my folks came to visit. Dad was pumped to go to the NRA convention downtown on Friday and ended up hauling back 22 pounds (no joke – we weighed it) of reading material and goodies. Meanwhile, mom and I made kataifi, a traditional greek dessert that’s kind of like fluffy baklava. It was complicated but hilarious and ended up quite well if I do say so myself. We also tried butter (tasty but non-spreadable in stick form unless you melt it first) versus mayo (spreadable! Lazy!) on our grilled cheese and I am happy to report that both work. Less effort for a grilled cheese is always good science.


Mom and I also went to Phipps to see the orchids, butterflies, and a chipmunk (probably not an intended part of the exhibit, but funny). Eventually we got my dad, introduced my parents to happy hour at the department, and hit Avenue B for dinner. Yum. Then everyone finally got to see the King’s Speech! Thank you, redbox.


On Saturday I would have been negligent if I hadn’t taken them around the Strip District. Mom had fun at Penzey’s, dad got hungry by waiting in front of a gyro truck, we said hi to the animatronic displays at Wholey’s and then went to Lidia’s for brunch! I’d already been the previous weekend with SWE, but it was such an array of food (and fancy!) that I thought they’d enjoy it too. Although we did make the same mistake as I did the previous weekend and went to the Public Market after eating, too stuffed to try any of the samples…but it was fun! When we got back to Right By Nature, where we’d parked, we found out they were closing that day, which was totally bizarre and without warning. But we helped clear out some space for them by buying food at a severe discount… =)


The Carnegie Science Center was the next stop, mostly because submarines are cool and after working the science fairs and other volunteering gigs I had a few free entry vouchers (which is good, because otherwise it’s kind of expensive to take adults there..). I also wanted to show dad their super elaborate model train setup, which I love. We lucked out and were there for their fruit flambé demo too. I was getting kind of antsy to head over to the Gateway Clipper boat tour (thanks, Groupon!) but really the science center is a pretty awesome place. Eventually we made it onto the water to hear a little bit of tourguide-like history. It was overcast and Peter took a nap, but overall it went well – although I suppose I’m glad I didn’t pay full price.


Dad and I had a totally ridiculous Pep Boys run afterwards, for some striker bolts for the car door and just a FEW car covers…then we had some leftovers and went to see Lewis Black downtown, which was really fun. Pretty awesome contrast between that and the NRA convention…hehe.

More leftovers for breakfast on Sunday! I also got my parents up to speed with pictures of the past couple months. Then we visited the Pittsburgh Glass Center for their spring sale and mom and I got some necklaces, which was nice. As a final act of tourism we hit the Greek Fest for some gyros and loukoumades and other pastries, hooray! And of course dad did what he does best and finished fixing the striker bolts on my car before they left. I certainly kept them busy – and was ready to nap afterwards! A very fun weekend with them.