I didn't think Pittsburgh was going to give me blog material today. We went to the Carnegie Museums and while you need about 10 hours to fully get through two of the four, it didn't *inspire* me other than being a very very big impressive museum.
Then we found another shopping center. This place was very different from the Strip so it deserves its own blog. It's called the Southside Works. It's a shopping center with a huge, gorgeous Cheese Cake factory sitting in the middle like a palace. In front of the Cheesecake factory is a little plaza, like a courtyard, to further make the impression of the palace like building being the center of everything. Which I think was a wise choice, I am fully in support of the cheesecake factory getting to place of honor. What can I say, I'm a little too fond of dessert.
There is nothing gritty or cheap about this place. Even the movie theater, while having normal ticket prices, has a nice carpeted grand staircase you go up to get to concessions and the theaters. It's decorated in the Art Deco style, evoking a 1920's feel and again breaking from the feel of it being a chain. Another point for Pittsburgh and their refusal to fill up plazas with chain stores.
The restaurants and stores are more upscale, and the fast food places are hidden up a block, even those are Qudoba and Subway and a neat pita place rather than the typical Wendy's and McDonald's.
One restaurant was McCormick and Shmicks, a very expensive seafood place. There was a large bookstore and little boutique shops, the only one I recognized was a Forever 21, oh, and a New York and Company. It was neat, clean and a lovely place to go for a date night movie and dinner or to just feel trendy. A few blocks up it became a popular night hotspot with a street lined with bar after bar (but nothing down in the dumps, places young people would like to go) and a few more small restaurants.
Unlike the Strip, it was more of a shopping center for well established and very reputable stores rather than unique ethnic and vendors or independent artists. It also upped Blackstone in quality and accessibility, with shops along the street and centered around the courtyard rather than in a huge plaza. This way you could enjoy walkways and sidewalks without everything being clustered around a massive parking lot. I found it much more pleasing to the eye and to getting from store to store.
I don't think I'd be a regular there but for movies, there are 5 dollar Mondays and with a student ID you get a dollar off, so for the cinema and a nice meal out to the Cheesecake Factory, which I very very very highly recommend from repeat experiences, it is absolutely perfect.
A great, great place for a weekend date. Perhaps to spend money saved from shopping at the Strip on a dinner and movie.
Southside Works website: with picture of the courtyard, cheesecake factory and theater to the right on the homepage, check out what I mean!
http://www.southsideworks.com/
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Strip District
Pittsburgh has given me the itch to write. In three days, one of which doesn't count since I didn't even venture into the city, Pittsburgh has reached to my inner writer, grabbed hold and made me love it. So now, in turn I must do the same (whether the reader has an inner writer or not, I want the city to grab something and make you love it).
Today, my father and I ventured down to what is known as the Strip District. Saturday is a huge market day, where in addition to the normal stores and permanent markets, vendors come sell wares and foods on the sidewalk. It's also the day most people come down. So, it's a bustling, lively place on Saturdays.
The strip district has a bit of a gritty feel to it. It's not gross or slummy, but it's not architecturally pretty or historic or like Faneuil Hall in Boston. It has a lot of warehouses that have become large markets, and in between there are smaller specialty shops. But really, how it looks isn't what you'll notice or care about if you're wandering the streets. I say this from experience, I can barely recall how it looked.
What I can recall, is that this is a foody's paradise. A foody (foodie?) in a very loose sense is someone who adores exploring food, is a food snob or loves exotic/eccentric foods. This place has a famous market for fish and meats called Wholey's right when you enter. I saw a girl walk by with a bag full of frozen octopus and passed by a animatronic steer head singing and “talking” to passerby over a cooler full of ribs. Someone has a sense of humor in this place. Also, it's huge. A fun place to explore and looks nothing like a conventional supermarket, with huge tanks of live trout and lobsters and a warehouse feel (but not like Bjs or Sams club, this place is more open, not organized strictly into rows/aisles) it makes for a more interesting and appealing layout.
Though there are a few other large markets like Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. which is a sprawling place with whole shelves dedicated to hot sauces and olive oils.\ All the brands were unrecognizable and sporting interesting names. The variety was stupefying and even somewhat baffling. But nonetheless fun to explore and I suspect fun to try out. It was such a large store it could afford to just find every type of everything it seems. And it's so much more homey (despite the size) than both our grocery stores and the wholesale outlets!
Then, you have the specialty markets. There is one for everything. There is a large Asian market, a Mediterranean food market, and an Italian food market filled with imported goods. Fancy chocolate shops, coffee shops bearing fascinating jams, jellies and breads and huge lists of latte flavors fall on the smaller side of the ethnic food markets which are large considering the specific niche of foods they supply. Other interesting shops include an entire shop devoted to spices, clothing shops, restaurants and the only sign of a chain is the lone McDonalds tucked at the end of the street. As a whole, chain places tend to fall towards an occasional cluster of fast food places, which are few and far between and the necessary grocery stores. But in the neighborhood even those are more HWole foods and Trader Joe's. The city seems to have embraced independent markets, coffee shops, and small businesses.
Another great find was a huge discount grocery store, filled with bizarre odds and ends (but so many the place a jam packed with everything you'd need for basics and then some- just don't go looking for a specific brand or super specific need) for prices my father and I were exclaiming over. It's a poor student's paradise in there, with everything at a extremely low price it's worth the short driver into the heart of the city on a Saturday to do all the weeks shopping in the district. Between this place for staples and the many ethnic food markets, Wholey's for meat and super cheap produce places (I didn't even mention the produce place we found- dad was comparing prices and EVERYTHING was significantly lower than at home. Example: 3 lbs of Gala apples for $3.00 at home it has never gotten below $2.00 per lb!), being on a budget wont be as much of a stretch at all.
Furthermore, it's a great place to grab breakfast or lunch while out shopping for cheap. On the street vedors were selling huge pieces of chicken for $3.00, lobster rolls for $5.00 and fresh made salmon/shrimp dinners with rice and grilled veggies for as low as $6.00.
Furthermore, Dad and I found people to be friendly. We made friends with a guy advertising Wholey's products on the street via a sound system and talking over his lunch break he revealed he OWNs the Wholey's business and it's actually a huge company, way beyond the market we saw (a 100 million dollar enterprise) and he even gave us his card. We began talking to another few guys and one was visiting from Rome!
Also, the city is sports crazed. I hate to say this but it seems to rival and possibly even surpass our beloved Red Sox nation. I have never, ever seen as much black and gold merch being sold. Even in the heart of Boston, there is nothing like the way these people rep their sports teams. It's intimidating to someone not local. I feel as if I scream outsider by not stopping to browse the sports teams products on every corner!
I haven't even started on the residential neighborhoods. Those are a fascinating blog in themselves. But, maybe tomorrow.
Today, my father and I ventured down to what is known as the Strip District. Saturday is a huge market day, where in addition to the normal stores and permanent markets, vendors come sell wares and foods on the sidewalk. It's also the day most people come down. So, it's a bustling, lively place on Saturdays.
The strip district has a bit of a gritty feel to it. It's not gross or slummy, but it's not architecturally pretty or historic or like Faneuil Hall in Boston. It has a lot of warehouses that have become large markets, and in between there are smaller specialty shops. But really, how it looks isn't what you'll notice or care about if you're wandering the streets. I say this from experience, I can barely recall how it looked.
What I can recall, is that this is a foody's paradise. A foody (foodie?) in a very loose sense is someone who adores exploring food, is a food snob or loves exotic/eccentric foods. This place has a famous market for fish and meats called Wholey's right when you enter. I saw a girl walk by with a bag full of frozen octopus and passed by a animatronic steer head singing and “talking” to passerby over a cooler full of ribs. Someone has a sense of humor in this place. Also, it's huge. A fun place to explore and looks nothing like a conventional supermarket, with huge tanks of live trout and lobsters and a warehouse feel (but not like Bjs or Sams club, this place is more open, not organized strictly into rows/aisles) it makes for a more interesting and appealing layout.
Though there are a few other large markets like Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. which is a sprawling place with whole shelves dedicated to hot sauces and olive oils.\ All the brands were unrecognizable and sporting interesting names. The variety was stupefying and even somewhat baffling. But nonetheless fun to explore and I suspect fun to try out. It was such a large store it could afford to just find every type of everything it seems. And it's so much more homey (despite the size) than both our grocery stores and the wholesale outlets!
Then, you have the specialty markets. There is one for everything. There is a large Asian market, a Mediterranean food market, and an Italian food market filled with imported goods. Fancy chocolate shops, coffee shops bearing fascinating jams, jellies and breads and huge lists of latte flavors fall on the smaller side of the ethnic food markets which are large considering the specific niche of foods they supply. Other interesting shops include an entire shop devoted to spices, clothing shops, restaurants and the only sign of a chain is the lone McDonalds tucked at the end of the street. As a whole, chain places tend to fall towards an occasional cluster of fast food places, which are few and far between and the necessary grocery stores. But in the neighborhood even those are more HWole foods and Trader Joe's. The city seems to have embraced independent markets, coffee shops, and small businesses.
Another great find was a huge discount grocery store, filled with bizarre odds and ends (but so many the place a jam packed with everything you'd need for basics and then some- just don't go looking for a specific brand or super specific need) for prices my father and I were exclaiming over. It's a poor student's paradise in there, with everything at a extremely low price it's worth the short driver into the heart of the city on a Saturday to do all the weeks shopping in the district. Between this place for staples and the many ethnic food markets, Wholey's for meat and super cheap produce places (I didn't even mention the produce place we found- dad was comparing prices and EVERYTHING was significantly lower than at home. Example: 3 lbs of Gala apples for $3.00 at home it has never gotten below $2.00 per lb!), being on a budget wont be as much of a stretch at all.
Furthermore, it's a great place to grab breakfast or lunch while out shopping for cheap. On the street vedors were selling huge pieces of chicken for $3.00, lobster rolls for $5.00 and fresh made salmon/shrimp dinners with rice and grilled veggies for as low as $6.00.
Furthermore, Dad and I found people to be friendly. We made friends with a guy advertising Wholey's products on the street via a sound system and talking over his lunch break he revealed he OWNs the Wholey's business and it's actually a huge company, way beyond the market we saw (a 100 million dollar enterprise) and he even gave us his card. We began talking to another few guys and one was visiting from Rome!
Also, the city is sports crazed. I hate to say this but it seems to rival and possibly even surpass our beloved Red Sox nation. I have never, ever seen as much black and gold merch being sold. Even in the heart of Boston, there is nothing like the way these people rep their sports teams. It's intimidating to someone not local. I feel as if I scream outsider by not stopping to browse the sports teams products on every corner!
I haven't even started on the residential neighborhoods. Those are a fascinating blog in themselves. But, maybe tomorrow.
Friday, June 25, 2010
My new place.
So today something bordering on bizarre happened. Well, in a good way. Not a miracle, but more than just good luck.
So, since Wednesday I have been in Pittsburgh apartment searching. Now, since Chris is coming with me for a host of reasons I am too tired to explain my dad really turned me on to having a second bedroom to use as a study and to have more space since we are a couple who will be learning to live together.
For a while I fought him on it, refusing to consider it because I didn't want to spend the extra money. But more and more it started sounding like a really practical and smart idea. So, still keeping money in mind I started asking about seeing two bedrooms along with one bedrooms. Well, the first one I saw was in nasty condition, with no parking, and electric heat which would drive our bills up considerably. The cabinets and floor were in bad conditions and the bedrooms were tiny.
I was not impressed. More money, less quality. The next day (today) we saw a very very nice one bedroom that was spacious and extremely well kept, included garage parking for an extra monthly fee and the management was fantastic. It seemed like an amazing apartment. If *only* it had two bedrooms! But it was a possibility. After we stumbled upon a small coffee shop next door and went in. On our way out dad spotted a small, unremarkable sign on a business across the street. It was a realty company. He asked if we should pop in and ask what they had. I hesitated, didn't realty catered more to houses? He said they did apartments to. I was still iffy. We had an appointment coming up, and another in the afternoon and even more on Monday.
But he went in and I followed. And we asked. The guy only had stuff left in the run down area of town...or...townhouses. Immediately I dismissed it mentally, I mean, a grad student in a townhouse? We had gotten prices on some out of curiosity and they ran 1,100 + all utilities and up. No way. But he gave us the prices for these and it was much lower, even doable!
They were just around the corner so we even took a peek at the outside. Not a bad neighborhood, not falling down. They looked sound and sturdy, not new and shiny, but modest brick buildings with a cozy porch, and the one open even had a tree in the yard. It was a one way street and parking seemed easily available. The one up for rent was actually occupied but he had a 4:00 appointment already and agreed to squeak/sneak us in at 3:45! So we made an appointment to view one, with the mind set it must be run down or damaged or old.
Then our next appointment started with a nasty nasty run down sketchy basement apartment, but then we saw another property with a very spacious two bedroom. The place was bright, nice, had a living room, dining area, small second bedroom for an office, but dad kept saying the bedroom seemed too cramped.
It was all that kept us from pulling the trigger on the spot for this place, and I was thinking he was being a bit fussy. But he kept mentioning how tight a fit it would be for a bed, how much we needed a bureau, etc. I didn't think the townhouse could possibly be better but since the appointment was in an hour we kept it and didn't sign.
So, onto the moment of truth (I didn't know that at the time).
We walked in to this place and my eyes shot open. It was spacious, pristine, the walls were smooth and without any show of wear or tear, with nice hardwood floors that were undamaged (and we were looking after one horendous place!), and nice large windows. The living room was big, the dining room was huge! The kitchen was modest, but larger than most, and it came with a basement for storage! The basement was a completely clear large room with hookup for washer/dryer which the current tenants had in place.
Then, upstairs, there were two and a half bedrooms and a bathroom. The two rooms (both bedrooms) were HUGE. Easily BOTH bigger than all the bedrooms we had seen. The bathroom was good. The carpeting was new, nice and thick, soft and positively spotless. (Upstairs was carpeted, downstairs was hardwood).
The “half” bedroom was used as a baby's nursery and would make good storage or even a very small office.
There were new windows, just put in. It was connected to two other units so as far as heating there were only two “cold” or exposed walls. Heating wasn't electric (a big plus) but gas. It felt like a small house. We could NOT find a flaw. It was more spacious than anything we had seen in terms of room sizes, and it was nicer or as a nice as anything else. And it was affordable. Doable.
So today I signed a lease on a cute little two and a half bedroom townhouse. Do I strictly need the space? Well, yes and no. Chris and I are a happy couple, but new to living together, have two floors and a spacious office to seclude myself for schoolwork seems like a near priceless investment. Also, this means I have more than enough space for bringing luxuries like our full sized tall bookcases, both desks, and still having space to MOVE AROUND.
Also, it's lovely having my own place, with washer and dryer in my basement, not having to share. It feels like a home. And I cannot get over the condition.
We were frank with the realtor, we asked what was up. He said the guy who owned these had owned them for 30 years and didn't feel the need to sap every penny he could from them.
He also said he had just put this one up as available, and I mean *just*. The four o clock appt. was the very first he had made. Well, that made us the VERY first to see it. We told him we'd take it. Luckily his four oclock appointment never showed!
The other unit he put up got through a whole two showings before the second person snapped it up on the spot, like we did.
These places are just a FIND. And we just randomly walked in off the street around 12:30, beat out the very first appointment by 15 minutes because he was nice about squishing us in and by 4:00...had ourselves a deal.
What a stroke of LUCK!
The best part, in walking distance is a commercial center with a nice large grocery and then tons of independent eateries, coffee shops, a second string movie theater (shows older movies) and tons of neat little shops! A block over the street my internship is on begins, and it's just a straight shot to the location! Easy to get to or what?
I'm still in disbelief.
So, since Wednesday I have been in Pittsburgh apartment searching. Now, since Chris is coming with me for a host of reasons I am too tired to explain my dad really turned me on to having a second bedroom to use as a study and to have more space since we are a couple who will be learning to live together.
For a while I fought him on it, refusing to consider it because I didn't want to spend the extra money. But more and more it started sounding like a really practical and smart idea. So, still keeping money in mind I started asking about seeing two bedrooms along with one bedrooms. Well, the first one I saw was in nasty condition, with no parking, and electric heat which would drive our bills up considerably. The cabinets and floor were in bad conditions and the bedrooms were tiny.
I was not impressed. More money, less quality. The next day (today) we saw a very very nice one bedroom that was spacious and extremely well kept, included garage parking for an extra monthly fee and the management was fantastic. It seemed like an amazing apartment. If *only* it had two bedrooms! But it was a possibility. After we stumbled upon a small coffee shop next door and went in. On our way out dad spotted a small, unremarkable sign on a business across the street. It was a realty company. He asked if we should pop in and ask what they had. I hesitated, didn't realty catered more to houses? He said they did apartments to. I was still iffy. We had an appointment coming up, and another in the afternoon and even more on Monday.
But he went in and I followed. And we asked. The guy only had stuff left in the run down area of town...or...townhouses. Immediately I dismissed it mentally, I mean, a grad student in a townhouse? We had gotten prices on some out of curiosity and they ran 1,100 + all utilities and up. No way. But he gave us the prices for these and it was much lower, even doable!
They were just around the corner so we even took a peek at the outside. Not a bad neighborhood, not falling down. They looked sound and sturdy, not new and shiny, but modest brick buildings with a cozy porch, and the one open even had a tree in the yard. It was a one way street and parking seemed easily available. The one up for rent was actually occupied but he had a 4:00 appointment already and agreed to squeak/sneak us in at 3:45! So we made an appointment to view one, with the mind set it must be run down or damaged or old.
Then our next appointment started with a nasty nasty run down sketchy basement apartment, but then we saw another property with a very spacious two bedroom. The place was bright, nice, had a living room, dining area, small second bedroom for an office, but dad kept saying the bedroom seemed too cramped.
It was all that kept us from pulling the trigger on the spot for this place, and I was thinking he was being a bit fussy. But he kept mentioning how tight a fit it would be for a bed, how much we needed a bureau, etc. I didn't think the townhouse could possibly be better but since the appointment was in an hour we kept it and didn't sign.
So, onto the moment of truth (I didn't know that at the time).
We walked in to this place and my eyes shot open. It was spacious, pristine, the walls were smooth and without any show of wear or tear, with nice hardwood floors that were undamaged (and we were looking after one horendous place!), and nice large windows. The living room was big, the dining room was huge! The kitchen was modest, but larger than most, and it came with a basement for storage! The basement was a completely clear large room with hookup for washer/dryer which the current tenants had in place.
Then, upstairs, there were two and a half bedrooms and a bathroom. The two rooms (both bedrooms) were HUGE. Easily BOTH bigger than all the bedrooms we had seen. The bathroom was good. The carpeting was new, nice and thick, soft and positively spotless. (Upstairs was carpeted, downstairs was hardwood).
The “half” bedroom was used as a baby's nursery and would make good storage or even a very small office.
There were new windows, just put in. It was connected to two other units so as far as heating there were only two “cold” or exposed walls. Heating wasn't electric (a big plus) but gas. It felt like a small house. We could NOT find a flaw. It was more spacious than anything we had seen in terms of room sizes, and it was nicer or as a nice as anything else. And it was affordable. Doable.
So today I signed a lease on a cute little two and a half bedroom townhouse. Do I strictly need the space? Well, yes and no. Chris and I are a happy couple, but new to living together, have two floors and a spacious office to seclude myself for schoolwork seems like a near priceless investment. Also, this means I have more than enough space for bringing luxuries like our full sized tall bookcases, both desks, and still having space to MOVE AROUND.
Also, it's lovely having my own place, with washer and dryer in my basement, not having to share. It feels like a home. And I cannot get over the condition.
We were frank with the realtor, we asked what was up. He said the guy who owned these had owned them for 30 years and didn't feel the need to sap every penny he could from them.
He also said he had just put this one up as available, and I mean *just*. The four o clock appt. was the very first he had made. Well, that made us the VERY first to see it. We told him we'd take it. Luckily his four oclock appointment never showed!
The other unit he put up got through a whole two showings before the second person snapped it up on the spot, like we did.
These places are just a FIND. And we just randomly walked in off the street around 12:30, beat out the very first appointment by 15 minutes because he was nice about squishing us in and by 4:00...had ourselves a deal.
What a stroke of LUCK!
The best part, in walking distance is a commercial center with a nice large grocery and then tons of independent eateries, coffee shops, a second string movie theater (shows older movies) and tons of neat little shops! A block over the street my internship is on begins, and it's just a straight shot to the location! Easy to get to or what?
I'm still in disbelief.
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