It's official. I'm over the moon excited for the Gilmore Girls return on Netflix! I know that I have hit peak obsession because on a chilly Wednesday morning, I woke up, showered, dressed and got the boys dressed all before 6am just to stand in line for a free cup of coffee with a Luke's coffee sleeve on it...and I don't even like coffee!
On October 5th, Netflix celebrated the Gilmore Girls birthday by hosting pop up Luke's Diners all over the country! Pittsburgh was lucky enough to have two locations! I'm definitely not the only obsessed one!
My sister, Mom, the boys and I all waited in line with a flurry of millennials decked out in flannels and backward caps! It was such a fun atmosphere and so worth the early wake up call for a brief trip to Stars Hollow...and an Instagram-worthy photo, of course!
The Ginger has loved the Pittsburgh Zoo since he was Jack’s age and started going to Zoo Camp every summer. To share that love with Jack we’ve gone to the Zoo as much as possible this summer! My father-in-law gave us a Zoo Pass as a gift and what a gift it has been! The pass gets our little family into the zoo for free and we can bring a guest if both parents are not there. We actually live just a mile or so down the street from the Zoo so we really get there quite often.
For us it’s been great, because when you buy a ticket for the day you feel like you really have to see everything to get your money’s worth. With so many zoo trips this summer we definitely exceeded the worth of the pass but could do it on our terms with many short trips. I used to hate the zoo as a kid because it was always so hot and it felt like we never stopped walking. It’s so nice to run in for a couple hours, let Jack play in the Kids Kingdom, see a few of the animals or walk through the PPG Aquarium then go home for lunch and a nap.
Another perk about the pass is that you are invited to Member’s Only Nights. We got to experience the Zoo in the evening after it closed. It was so much cooler once the sun set a bit and we didn’t have to deal with huge crowds. There were food deals, with cheap hot dogs, boxes of popcorn and drinks.
Jack even got his face painted! There were face painting stations all over and after seeing a few young kids getting it done we thought we’d try it with our 21-month old! He did so great! He sat on my lap and the artist moved so quickly! He became our own little tiger! It was so cute…until we had to wash his face. I’ll leave that photo there for a laugh.
We always have such a blast at the Zoo and I’m so thankful for our membership! Next, I’m looking forward to the Zoo Boo in October!
After being on my summer bucket list for a few years now, I finally made it to the Fridays at the Frick! It was worth the wait! We had so much fun hanging out on the grounds of Henry Clay Frick’s Clayton house.
The Frick Art and Historical Center is a true gem of Pittsburgh. The home is open for tours, but I knew that would be too much for Jack to handle and not worth buying tickets. Luckily, we could enjoy the beautiful space this summer for free with a kid-friendly picnic! Each Friday of the summer the grounds are open and offer yard games for kids, plus food trucks stop by! Next year I hope we can go for the First Fridays at the Frick when there is live music.
I loved the simplicity of the event. It was just come as you are and do what you want. This isn’t a public park (like Frick Park) so I really appreciated that the grounds were open, allowing anyone to enjoy this amazing space. I kept thinking about the history here and who else picnicked on these lawns. However, I am a proud union member so I can’t forget the history of Frick with steel worker unions but I guess time heals!
The lawn games were so much fun, even for a 20-month old! Jack had a blast playing with the hula hoop and running through the ribbon spider web. And our picnic was just idyllic. We felt thrifty while still being surrounded by such decadence! I hope we can make this a yearly summer event!
I’m starting a new series of the some of the cool places that Jack and I go to with my mom group. Ok first off, is it weird I’m in a mom group? It sounds weird. But it’s hard being the first out of my friend group to have a kid and I needed to hang out with other moms! I found the group on Meetup.com and was initially a little worried about meeting people online. But the group I joined, Hip Mamas (eye-roll at the name, I know), has a really good plan in place for accepting new members. There’s a questionnaire to fill out and before you can see the group events with times and locations you attend one intro event so that the group can meet you and be sure you’re not a creeper without a kid. There’s also a small yearly fee for group parties and to maintain the page.
We’ve had a lot of fun so far and have tried out some cool places that I might not have taken Jack to otherwise. I am such a shy person so it’s not been easy to make any close friendships with the moms yet, but it’s still good for both Jack and I to be around other families. This summer we went to an event at the Warhol.
If you didn’t already know, Andy Warhol is from Pittsburgh and we have a whole museum (and a bridge) dedicated to the famous artist. Recently, the museum opened an exhibit geared towards kids. I have taken Jack to the Warhol before,using our Carnegie Museum pass, but it was before this new exhibit and we were excited to see it. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I was overwhelmed with excitement after experiencing it. The kid room had a bunch of stations with toys, mostly from Ikea, around the room. There was a dress-up station, coloring station, block station. Jack did have fun with the other kids in our group. It was actually one of the biggest group events of the summer with at least 10 kids. The staff in the room seemed a bit overwhelmed with all of us.
The toughest part of the exhibit is being so close to the real Andy Warhol work hung on the walls. They were all put at kid level, but anytime the kids went near the walls the staff would tell us to keep them at least 2 feet back. That’s a bit tough with a 20-month old (as you can see above)! The exhibit is a neat idea and I hope the Warhol continues to try to be more kid-friendly, but this wasn’t a total win in my book. The big thing that Jack loves in the Warhol, though, is the silver cloud room. We could have spent all day in there. Same with the other kids, from the youngest in a stroller to the 7-year-olds.
Before we left we grabbed a snack from the cafe. Is it weird I completely love museum cafes? They always have the best food! I mean look at that sugar cookie shaped like Andy! Anyways, we did have fun, despite a little worry about ruining priceless artwork.
This past summer, my sister and I started a new Instagram account together,@HousesOfPittsburgh. We’ve always admired the cool houses in our hometown of Pittsburgh, so one day while walking around the city we just started taking pictures of every cool house we saw and decided to start a gallery. A lot of cities have their own Insta pages (@HousesOfChicagoHouses Of London, etc etc etc) and we thought it was about time for Pittsburgh! And who better to do it than us?!
It’s been a blast to explore new parts of the city that I might not have ventured to otherwise. And the best part is that we made it really interactive, starting our own hashtag (#HousesOfPGH) so that others can share their favorite houses in the ‘Burgh. I really love seeing all the photos that people are sharing and admire how people take care of their beautiful, historic homes!
There are just so many benefits to having this little account for me. It’s very motivational to get out there in the city, especially when it’s too hot or I’m tired and don’t feel like doing anything, I can remind myself that I need a few new photos! Also, I love showing off Pittsburgh. It hasn’t always had the best reputation for being pretty city, but it is seriously drop. dead. gorgeous. now! I’ve been so inspired by the @SteelCityGrammers and wanted to be an additional source of pride for our beautiful city! And it’s a good reminder of Pittsburgh for my sister while she’s living in Chicago, post-grad. There’s also a very personal reason for maintaining this account…it’s motivation to become debt free so that I can manage to buy my own house in Pittsburgh. I really want to own a home and make it mine, but I can’t do that realistically with the debt I have. I need to look at this account every day for the next 18 months (while living with my parents) to encourage me to pay down debt and save, save, save so that I can enjoy a beautiful home of my own with my little family.
We are so lucky to live in such a diverse city with neighborhoods full of different cultures and nationalities. This weekend we explored Bloomfield on the East Side of Pittsburgh for it’s annual Little Italy Days. It’s a great street festival along Liberty Avenue full of Italian foods, music and games.
We watched a round of the Bocce Ball tournament and made plans to learn one day! We ate Italian Ice, which Jack thoroughly enjoyed. And we even sat down for an Elvis impersonator concert. The best part of the day was riding the little train that traveled the length of the festival street and back again. I love showing off my city to this little boy, hopefully instilling in him a love for Pittsburgh even stronger than mine!
Kennywood is a summer tradition for PIttsburghers. The Ginger and I took Jack for his first visit this year and he loved it! True Pittsburgher!
Kennywood is an amusement park that opened in 1898. It has so much history and so many memories for me and my family and I was thrilled to show it off to Jack! We did all of our favorites, stopped by Cowboy Joe to say hi, ate corndogs and Potato Patch Fries and rode as many rides as we could handle!
We spent much of the day in Kiddie Land where he rode almost everything! He didn’t want to get off the rides so he rode a few rides more than once! But he had so much fun and never stopped smiling!
To end the day we rode the Carousel. It was always the last ride my family would go on when we had Kennywood Days. Even my grandparents would ride! I’m so happy we carried on this little tradition with Jack! I’m so looking forward to the many years of Kennywood trips with this little guy!
One of my favorite parts about living in the city this summer has been the ease of riding our bikes. I started riding to work several days a week and it’s a completely different commute experience.
But my favorite rides are with the family. We have a little seat for Jack on the front of my bike and he LOVES it! He’s all about the wind in his face and pointing out he river and the passing boats. We’ve been taking a great route from Lawrenceville, crossing the 40th Street Bridge to the Millvale Riverfront Park and riding the trail next to the Allegheny River. Then we get to the North Shore, loop around at Heinz Field and turn back for home, stopping for photos, of course!
I really cherish these moments with my family.When we go on these rides I feel like am the parent I want to be. I don’t always do the things I imagined I would when I became a parent. More often than I ever planned Jack is watching Daniel Tiger on TV or on the iPad, he’ll sometimes have crackers and peanut butter for dinner when he refuses everything else, and I sometimes go days without storytime. I feel bad for these things, but that’s life sometimes. I can’t be the perfect parent that I have in my mind and I’m learning the balance. But when we ride our bikes I’m exactly who I want to be, bringing this great experience to my kid. I hope he remembers these trips fondly when he’s older. I love that we’re taking advantage of our city, getting exercise and having fun all together minus screens.
In regards to Jack’s bike seat, we love it! I did a lot of research on which seat to buy and for me I felt more comfortable with Jack in front where I can see him. I have no trouble with balance, but I’m careful getting on and off my bike. He’s getting taller and we already bought a bike trailer off of a family friend for the future. But for right now our little seat for him is great. While on a ride once we had someone comment on how unsafe the front seat is, but families abroadhave been doing this for years and years. I feel safe in my ability to ride my bike and Jack’s temperament in sitting still in the seat.
I am still getting the hang of this whole parenting gig, and I don’t believe I have much advice to give with complete confidence, except for this: buy a museum pass.
This past January, I bought a family pass (which is really just two adults because Jack is young enough to get in for free) and it has been a lifesaver. On days where I know if I spend one more minute in the house I’ll explode then I can take him to any of the four museums in our area that are included in my membership (the Carnegie Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, Science Center and the Warhol).
At first I worried that, at 14-months, Jack would be too young, but I haven’t found that to be true at all. He always enjoys our trips, but even if he does get fussy, I don’t feel bad that we might leave after 20-minutes because I didn’t have to pay $15 to get in for the whole day. In the number of times since January that we’ve used the pass, the membership has already paid for itself. And I am in NO way being paid to say this, I just really love my museum pass and felt like sharing!
For the most part we’ll spend about 3-hours in the museum. I usually bring the stroller, but sometimes it’s easy to just carry him in the Ergo. His favorite is the Science Center and I’m sure it will remain that way as he gets older. It’s nice to watch him interact with everything and explore. I’m really looking forward to getting a pass every year and introducing Jack to all the culture and learning that is housed in these places.
This is the pass that I have in Pittsburgh, and it does work at over 300 places outside of city.
The beginning of June is my favorite time of year in Pittsburgh for many reasons but most importantly for…the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The city is so full of life and to me it truly means that summer is here!
For 10 days the city hosts #TRAF with free music performances in Point State Park and a huge artist market. The music is always amazing! In the past we’ve seen The Black Keys, Glen Hansard, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes!
For years the Ginger and I would watch families at the Point and talk about how fun it will be to have a little one running around, having a blast at the festival. This year we finally got to stop talking about it and actually live it! We took Jack down four times! We saw Jake Bugg, Jeff Tweedy, Trampled by Turtles, and Kaiser Chiefs. I think Jack had a lot of fun looking around at all the people and listening to the music. We walked around with the Ergo 360, which was so much easier than maneuvering a stroller through the crowds, laid out blankets on the grass, and ate so much food while listening to the sounds of summer in the city!
I’m slowly figuring out our new “normal”, fitting our old life into this new life with a baby. It’s certainly taking time to make it all work and I suspect it will keep changing, but no matter what I know that I need to be sure I’m giving myself some time to just be with friends. As much as I want to spend every minute with Jack, I need to have some baby-free time, outside of work.
Last week my friends invited me out to a Corks and Canvas event at Kiln N Time in Lawrenceville. I’ve heard all about these painting nights on Instagram and Facebook, and I was eager to go to one myself!
I was a bit intimidated about painting, but it turned out to be so easy and fun! Our instructor explained the painting step by step and we just followed along, attempting our own works of art. I know it’s a bit cheesy having a Pittsburgh version of Van Gogh but I really love it and the Ginger said he’d hang it in his office at work!
It was so relaxing to have a glass of Sweet Red wine, hang out with friends and pretend that I can paint. I can’t wait to go back again. Next time I’m taking my mom and sister! It also inspired me to start a Pinterest craft night. Hopefully once a month my friends and I will work on a craft that we’ve pinned.
With the spend freeze in full effect, the Ginger and I have only attended a couple Pirate games this season. The two we went to during the regular season were with free tickets, once for a work event and once with friends! How lucky is that?
But our luck continued and we scored amazing seats during the post season (seriously Pirates in the post season!) from our friend who works for the team. I really wanted to get the Ginger tickets and was so thrilled to get them for a really reasonable price, especially when they were hard to come by! We had so much fun and saw a winning game! Being in PNC Park for a play-off game is something I never thought I would experience. It was unlike any other game I’ve ever been to. I can’t wait to for more from the Pirates next year! Let’s Go Bucs!
Outdoor concerts are the best…make them free and it’s the perfect night. I really want to make the most of this summer on a budget! Although I’ve failed to be frugal many times so far, in the area of concerts, we’ve done pretty well!
The Three Rivers Arts Festival is held yearly at the beginning of June in Pittsburgh, celebrating artists, musicians and fried foods. While I did partake in a funnel cake and lemonade, that’s where my spending stopped. I traveled to Downtown Pittsburgh for a total of five nights for the 10-day long festival! The free concerts where amazing. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were the big draw as the opener, with thousands of people in the crowd, but it slowed down after that. The Ginger and I got to relax in our beach chairs in Point State Park and listen to Cello Fury, Lisa Hannigan, and our favorite, Glen Hansard! Glen Hansard, who we’ve paid to see twice in the past, played for over two hours! Not only did we have the best time out with friends, but we didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything by not spending money.
