Life Lately

I have been out and about in the city lately. Nothing really new to report, but I have been enjoying a camera app on my new iPhone 5S. Basically, it turns the camera in my iPhone to a DSLR camera! Score!! It isn't unusual for me to be snapping pictures when I'm walking on my lunch or meeting up with new friends around the city. Thought maybe I would share a few.

Gardening 101

About two weeks ago, I attended a Gardening 101 seminar. I found it through a Pittsburgh based gardening group. Originally I was going to attend the class in the city, but they provided a second one near where I lived which I thought made more sense to attend. The best part was that it was Free.

The woman who taught the class is a retired Pediatrician. She became involved with gardening as a cheap way to provide food for herself while putting herself through medical school. Since she has retired, she has continued to garden and even has her Master Gardener certification. I guess, that is important to some people, but I honestly could care less.

Her theories and practices come from a guy named Mel Bartholomew who has written several books on Square Foot gardening. With the size of the space I have to work with it, makes sense for me to apply as well. She gave some great tips which I am going to try this year. The Pittsburgh weather in the spring is really wet, and not much sun. Ironically, she said this is why broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower never seem to do well out here in the spring. I instantly identified with it as I have not had any luck. She suggested to buy the seeds and start these plants inside in July and then plant them in the garden in August because they would thrive in our fall weather. Also, she said onion sets will never grow well out here. Instead buy and onion bulb plant to get actual onions. Never heard of them so I will be on the lookout I guess. Finally, rather than planting everything in rows, I'm going to try more of a cluster style planting saving space and adding more seeds every 2 weeks so I have continuous fresh veggies throughout the year. I'm not sure if it will work, but can't hurt to try.

She also discussed our soil, which has been puzzling to me. It is clay basically. She said it is best if we do not turn over our soil. WHAT!! I know, shocker right? Goes against everything I was taught. However, her theory is that as leaves and other plants die and decompose, they fertilize the soil. Since our clay soil is so thick, our plants' roots go out left and right rather than a deep tap root. So this year, no turning over. My back, biceps, and quads are thankful!! She did suggest a soil test and I have known I needed to do it. I am proud to say that my check has already been mailed to Penn State and my soil test kit arrived yesterday!!I will be moving on it quickly as my gardening help arrives at the end of the month and definitely want to have my plan finalized when I have free help. Excited Mom and Dad?!?!  :-)

I asked how to keep squirrels out and she had no advice. I think that will always be my challenge with a chestnut tree in front of the across and an acorn tree out back. I did meet a guy who grows garlic in his garden. Definitely will have to try that!

Spring coming?

So I spent the day yesterday outside working in the yard and enjoying every minute.  Maybe not removing the Blondie bombs, but the yard is safe to walk in! I have the entire back yard cleaned of leaves and 1/3 of the front yard, but now it is 30 some degrees outside and will be that way for days. Really!?!?

I'm hoping these guys will survive! It was great to see some evidence that live does exist in my flower beds!

Since it was colder outside than I wanted to be hanging out in (yes, I know I still run when it 30's out...cut me some slack, it's Sunday people!), I decided to start some seeds for the garden. Go figure, they are mostly flower seeds! Oh well, flowers make me happy! :-)

Jillian Michael's "Maximize Your Life"

I was never a Biggest Loser fan, but sister watches it and LOVES Jillian Michaels. I find this incredibly weird because Susan hates running. To top it off, I can't ever see my sister letting someone like Jillian get in her face the way she does contestants. However, she would take the opportunity to train with her if it ever presented itself. Weird, I know. It was because of Susan's interest that I watched the show some and I do like Jillian. 

Turns out that Jillian is doing a "Maximize Your Life" tour and it came to Pittsburgh last night. I was told about a Groupon and got a ticket for $20! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was interested in hearing what she had to say....it was AWESOME!

Jillian did not share anything that was "new" or "earth-shattering". Rather, I think it was her personal story and the way she conveys her message which was motivating. Now, she did have a few issues with us Pittsburghers putting French fries on everything, including out famous Primanti's, but she never said to deny yourself this. 

So her message, Eat Less, Move More. Duh! She provided some resources to calculate your BMR (how many calories your body burns daily by nothing) to help you figure out where your calories can be. She suggested tracking to get an idea, but not to consume your life with this. I was impressed with her encouraging the audience to understand where our food comes from (grass fed cow vs. beef at store) as well. I was impressed when she said that going all organic is not the answer also. She said that $6 for a container of raspberries is rude and ridiculous. Jillian couples this with exercise and how to get 30 mins of activity where your heart rate is up and burning calories. For some reason, listening to her made this all seem really possible. She even insisted that people have at a minimum 1 day of rest (no exercise), but suggested 2 is optimal. Overall, I thought it was very encouraging. She shared that the results on the Biggest Loser can not be replicated in real life and it shouldn't be attempted.  I found it refreshing to hear someone say that losing one to 2 pounds in a week or two was very realistic depending upon calorie intact and activity level. 

The end of the presentation focused on self. What are the things that hold people back from achieving this: fear, shame, depression, etc. She told personal stories of struggles and how she succeeded in overcoming them. She never berated anyone. In fact, she said that everyone has a different body type and are going to retain weight in different spots no matter what they do and she encouraged everyone to come to terms with it and accept it. 

I seriously could keep writing, because she touched on so many areas, but I won't give away the entire presentation. It was such a good evening out and a refreshing reminder that life is short, do what makes you happy, and live a healthy life. The past is in the past, you can't change it. Wake up in the morning and focus on what you can start changing today to be happy and healthy. Pretty good message!!

Selfies and St. Patrick's Day

Nothing much of interest has been happening lately, or so I think, but I did get some visitors over the weekend. Susan, Mike, Blondie, and Izzybella (new nickname) came to visit. After being a complete monster in the morning Saturday and truly living up to the name IzzyMonster, she became a much happier baby. Probably being a little under the weather didn't help her either.

Since the city was celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a big parade (Pittsburgh's St. Patty's parade is the 3rd largest in the country), we decided to take it easy and visit some local businesses in parts of the city. Izzybella was really good and when it was time to feed her, we went to the Industry Public House. This bar/restaurant is known for their different twist on bourbons and whiskeys so I knew Mike would enjoy it. This is where I taught Izzybella to take some selfies! So for your viewing pleasure, enjoy!

Now the favorite one had to be this one!

I think she is starting to get the idea of how to do this!!

Nightstand Wars

When you come and stay at my house, you get to stay in my guest bedroom. I happen to think it is a nice room (I know, I'm biased!). But, here is some proof.

Now, no one complains about these accommodations, EXCEPT my sister. Without fail, every time she stays here, she will comment about a lack of a nightstand on the one side of the bed. Now, to help you understand, I have stayed at her house 4 times in the past nine years. First time, I had to keep watching for the cat from hell to pee on my bed and belongings. Who am I kidding, that is every visit. I also believe I slept on an air mattress on the floor. Second time, the cat from hell peed on the papason chair cushion (Pier One chair). So, I slept on a foam mattress pad on the floor. Third time, I brought along an inflatable air mattress. Fourth time, bed, but no nightstand, or at least no room on it! And yes, she complains!!

I do have to give her credit, to remedy the situation, she had a nightstand/end table they no longer needed and thought I should take for my guest bedroom. After measuring the space to ensure it would fit, I brought it with me in December. It was an ugly brownish orange color and all the other furniture was white, so it wasn't going in the guest room without some rehabbing. 

I had started to sand it by hand and quickly learned what a horrific task that was going to be. I quickly added a sander to my Christmas list and waited/hoped to find one under my tree at Christmas. Sure enough, Santa left me one. Since there is a possible visit from my sister in a few weeks, I knew I had better get busy. Could you imagine if she had to stay here without a nightstand after giving me one? Yeah, wouldn't go so well for me!!

I sanded it down, wiped it down with mineral spirits, and primed it twice with some primer I had on hand. Rather than painting with a stark white, I used a creamy white paint that I had on hand too. Looking back, I probably should have used a paint with higher gloss, but I didn't have to pay for this, so it's good. Also, due to the two coats of primer, only one coat of white paint was needed.

The hardware was some weird gold color, so I used some liquid deglosser and spray painted the hardware a satin nickel. At the time, placing the hardware on styrofoam to spray paint so it wouldn't fall over was a good idea. Not so much when the paint mixed with the styrofoam. What a smell!!

Once it dried, I put it back on the night stand and was really happy with it. I had my Great Aunt Ruth's lamp in a closet waiting for a safe place to use and decided the guest room was perfect. And, I didn't have to spend any money! Overall, I think this looks good and now this room is complete!

I thought about decorating the nightstand more, but knowing a mom and infant will be staying there, I decided against it! Let's face it, every gidget, gadget, and gizmo known to man kind will be invading soon, so less is more!

Frozen Over

It has to get very cold for the 3 rivers to freeze over. Lucky us in the burgh that we have gotten to see this happen several times this winter. Normally, they don't freeze all the way across, but the lovely polar vortex has changed that a little this year. So, in order to share these sights, I bundled up and walked part way across the bridge to take some photos to share.