Giant Rubber Duck and a Bike Ride

Pittsburgh has been hosting a giant rubber duck at the Point. I had been meaning to get down to see it, but as usual, other things always come up. Knowing that it would be leaving this weekend, time was of the essence. Of course, seeing the back of it Friday night added to the intrigue. Rather than trying to find parking, I decided to park and bike in.

Rather than a morning run, the bike ride was my workout. Let's just say that 47 degrees on a bike was colder than ever anticipated. Next time, I will dress a little heavier! I happened to get some great photos in the morning though and it was worth the chill.

I did decide though that the morning crew workouts on the river were probably colder than I was.

When I biked past the casino, there was an event for Susan G Komen. They were all kinds of bras tied onto the railings!

After this I decided to head for the duck! It wasn't a bad ride, but there were SOOO many people. It got to the point it was easier to push the bike so I didn't run into a stroller or a child or a pet! Ironically, I ran into a colleague. His entire family was there to see the duck, so I offered to take their pictures. This worked out well as then they took my picture. Just so you know, I wasn't planning on my picture being taken, so yes, this is a photo of me not showered, without a stitch of makeup. Beware......  :-)

Yeah, this no little rubber ducky. It is massive. I took some other photos from the side as well.

I didn't stick around too long, as I just wanted out of the crowd. Now who do I sound like? It was a nice morning ride though. It always amazes me how I forget how much I like riding until I'm back on my bike. I have to make sure I take advantage of that more often. It sure beat trying to find parking and then paying some outrageous fee downtown. 

City at Night

I met up with some friends for dinner in the city. As usual, I was on time and they were late! I had planned ahead and brought my camera so. I took a walk down by the river. Enjoy some pictures as the sunset!

Yes, that is the back side of the big yellow duck that has been visiting the city!

Bad Blogger

So I think I have broken several rules of blogging. First, I haven't posted for weeks...oops! I swear, I have been busy and quite productive. This leads me to the second broken rule, I havent't been taking pictures showing my progress. I know, I know, how are you suppose to see my progress? Well, at least I have finished result pictures.

Last weekend I decided to put up a shelf in the back of the coat closet. The closet is rather quite deep. To give you some perspective, the coat closet uses all the space underneath the stairs. While I was not running out of space, I have been trying to think long term and realized that I need to start using all my space accordingly. The shelf allowed me to transfer everything out of my one bottom cabinet and into the closet. 

I'm storing my appliances such as the blender, food processor, and so on in there. It provides easy access when I want them, but still out of the way. This allowed me to reorganize the food cabinets. I have one set of cabinets dedicated to baking products and another cabinet dedicated to meal products. 

This means I have another cabinet to fill! This shouldn't come as a surprise, but I already have plans for it. 

I have maybe 6 drinking glasses, so I'm thinking so drinking glasses, some beer steins for guest, and some everyday serving dishes maybe. Where the glasses were stored currently has transitioned into mugs, coffee, and tea. Now the top of my stove is empty again!

This weekend, I painted the bathroom upstairs. This has been on my list since early 2013. I painted it Benjamin Moore's Pirate Cove Peach. Perfect name living here on beach street! For such a tiny space, it took me FOREVER. I spent Friday night wiping down the walls, painting the trim, and repainting the cabinet.

I then slept in longer than I ever anticipated (9:30 - haven't done that in a looonng time!), so I had a later start than I wanted. It seriously took me almost 3 hours to paint. Somehow in my head, I thought it would take an hour. 

Overall, I'm quite happy with it. However, the iradescent light bulbs make it seem more yellowy-orange.

This is a better picture of the color. I have found some shelving ideas via Pinterest and keep fluctuating between what I want to do. I also want to make a different towel rack courtesy of Pinterest again along with a valance. I think these other pieces will help balance out the space and help by adding more white fixtures.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it is October, which means it is fall, which means I spend hours a day on the weekend raking leaves and chestnuts. Seriously, this is no exaggeration, I have already put out 10 bags and the trees have most of their leaves still on them. Lucky me! I will say, raking leaves in short sleeves is nice, but my allergies are brutal the next day. Like knock me on my butt and barely function. When I wake up the next day, I feel like I'm starting a head cold....ugh!! I never use to have this issue, but as I get older, I'm falling apart!