Meat and Potatoes for Buck: An Annual Tradition!

Corndog appetizer... they weren't kidding, this one is for Lyssa.

One of my final weeks in Pittsburgh, before leaving for Palermo, was a busy one to say the least.  I was working long hours, meeting with a variety of different people and trying to get to the bottom of some changes with my PhD training.  It was stressful to say the least.  Of course Thanksgiving was approaching too, which means it’s a time to remember some of the fond times I spent together with Joel.

The photo-worthy feast of meat!

One tradition that Paul and I usually do to celebrate Joel’s life is to take time to enjoy a nice meal at Meat and Potatoes.  Paul was out of town this year and lucky for me my friends offered to take me out for the evening!  I was so excited when they remembered this tradition and offered to join me on this special dinner!  Friends are such a special blessing.

The Ladies: Anna, Alyce, Katie!

Out to Celebrate at Meat and Potatoes!

We enjoyed a lengthy dinner at Meat and Potatoes with a celebratory toast to Uncle Buck.  Oddly enough, the table we were sat at left me staring into the eyes of a head mounted white tail buck the whole dinner.  Coincidence? I think not!

The table behind Josiah was not particularly amused...

The meal was fantastic.  Taylor and Josiah split the “Meat and Potatoes for Two” special that came with bone marrow, a large cut of beef and delicious potato wedges.  It was entertaining to watch them take the meal down.  This was after a round of appetizers!  I ordered the goat burger, which was excellent.  A fine choice for meals, that is for sure!

Taylor... the champion.

Thank you for joining me on this special night – it was such a treat!

Fall Activities with Friends

I like a good catch all post every once and while.  There are plenty of weekend and fun activities that I miss throughout the seasons since I would spend every minute blogging and wouldn't be able to keep up (not that I'm particularly good at keeping up now!).

Fall adventures for eatable treats. 

This Fall Anna, Katie and I got up the urge to go Apple and Pumpkin picking for a weekend festivity.  Anna was nice and pregnant, so we had to keep our activities at the level of clean family fun! We went out to Soergel Orchards in Wexford.  The place was so popular that we were stuck on the highway exit ramp as cars were piling in to Soergel's!  We took the tractor hay wagon down to the action and "picked" our apples out of crates instead of off the trees.  The pumpkins in the patch were looking a little rough - and we had bought so many heavy apples and sweets that there wasn't much room to carry a pumpkin back to the car.  It was a nice adventure out into the burbs - and ended in some amazing Apple Cider and kettle corn. 

Off to the crates of apples!

Anna examining the tractor and apple trees!

After Paul left for Italy, I had a lot of different opportunities to join people for dinner.  One such dinner celebration was for Lori's new job appointment at Jefferson!  She is starting an OB position there and it seems like it's going to be a winner!  We went out to Double Wide Grill and I ordered a plate of Nachos that were twice the size of my face.  Worth it.  It was a nice little celebration!  

Double Wide Nachos... probably for a table and not one person.

Dale and I on Fall walks in Frick Park!

Other adventures included shopping at Ikea with Josiah to buy a bed for the expanding nursery!  It was a Monday which means all you can eat with your receipt.  I included a picture of our trays for your entertainment.  I love Naked Juice, so I loaded up on my favorite flavor: The Green Machine.

Ikea Lunch: Swedish Fish, Cake, Mac'n'Cheese and 12 Naked Juices.

Here's to Fall, and all of the fun that goes with the perfect season!  

Now onto the blustery winter...

Anderson's One Year Anniversary!

I cannot believe how fast a year flew past.  It feels like yesterday we were all sitting around and stuffing envelopes for the wedding invitations. In Paul and Alyce fashion, on our actually anniversary  Paul was on call or post call, and I had to go into lab all day to do some experiments. Classic.

OneYear of Marriage - Cheers!

We celebrated a few weeks later with some Steelers Tickets that Paul scored off of Craigslist.  Little did we know that the Steelers were going to tank this season so the prices had fallen since Paul bought them - oh well, you win some you loose some!

It was a fun Monday night game and it was Breast Cancer awareness month, so the terrible towels they handed out where bright pink.  We cheered on the Steelers and JJ Watt from the Texans and I tried to stay awake while watching Paul's fantasy football team win by 2-3 points. 

Heinz Field! 

I cannot believe it's been a year - and I guess that's a good sign. We're excited as the next year ahead will surely bring more exciting adventures!  

Beth, Jon and Shnick in Pittsburgh!

Couch snuggle for the Badgers game: Jon, Beth, Snick (Dale) and Paul

I guess the moral of the story is - when the Brewers come to Pittsburgh, the locals flood the town!  Not only were we fortunate to have Mark and Lisa join us in Pittsburgh, but Beth and Jon Gosa, and Shnick also made the trip out to watch a few Brewers games! It was also their Birthday weekend, so it was a perfect excuse for a road trip. They stayed downtown right on the point which means it was extra convenient for the games, but a little crazy when it comes to traffic!  

Happy Birthday with a Kosher Blueberry Pudding Cake!

The Pittsburgh Incline!

Saturday morning, it was time to put on a feast at our house, so I whipped up some breakfast including cinnamon french toast, breakfast sausage from Maplewood Meats and a bunch of other tasty goodies.  After we watched the Wisconsin game, I thought it was only appropriate to run them around town for a bit and show them the sights.  We first went to Mount Washington.  I felt like the staff there was going to start to recognize me since I had been there so many times recently.  Then we went to the Church Brew for a bite to eat.  I always forget that the Church Brew is a fine Pittsburgh Tourist attraction.  Shnick and Gosa loved it, and bought a little baby keg for a souvenir.  They even went up to the alter in a sort of ceremonial fashion for their new pride and joys. 

The Church Brew Works

Taking their new family additions up to the altar! 

Outside the Church Brew!

Later that night we met up with them at Fat Heads to show them another Pittsburgh staple. I think they enjoyed the massive selection of burgers and the pretty nice selection of drinks as well.  Sunday was a travel day back to Wisconsin for everyone that weekend, so they took an Uber back to their hotel and camped out for the evening. 

We were so fortunate to have so many visitors that weekend, and it is always a treat to display some of the city's finest attractions.  Hopefully the string of visitors will continue!

You cannot go wrong with Fat Heads!

Mark and Lisa in Pittsburgh!

The University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning!

We were so excited to welcome Mark and Lisa as our guests in Pittsburgh!  This was going to be one of the first times visiting the Burgh for both Mark and Lisa!  Better yet, they were recently engaged and Lisa got to show me the new bling in person - nice work Mark!!

Lisa and Mark and Hofbrauhaus with their German portions!

After work, I stole the car from Paul and ran out to the airport to pick them up.  Of course, in proper Pittsburgh fashion I hit a significant amount of traffic both on my way to and my way back from the airport.  They were able to avoid the ride on the 28X, so it was almost an even exchange.

From there, we freshened up at the house and they unpacked their clothes for the weekend before heading down to South Side.  It didn't take me a long time to bring them to some of Pittsburgh's finest attractions - and our first stop was Hofbrauhaus!  We got a table and shortly after we sat down, Matt, Lori and Claudia caught up with us for a quick drink and some appetizers.  We hadn't eaten yet, so Mark and Lisa ordered up some classic German food, and they brought Lisa the biggest fish sandwich I had ever seen!  After the dinner we went up to the Incline to see the city lights at night - I love Pittsburgh at night - breathtaking!!

The view from the Incline at night - spectacular!

Friday Paul was sleeping from a call shift and after I got back from work, we saddled up again and went downtown to the Pirates game.  It was the perfect weekend for Mark and Lisa to catch a game because the Pirates were playing our Wisconsin Brewers.  Unfortunately, the Brewers were terrible, as always and they lost, but the walk downtown was sure beautiful!

Paul and I cheering on the Brew Crew in the Pirates Stadium, as they lost.

Downtown Pittsburgh and the iconic yellow bridges!

Saturday consists of College football for the Anderson boys and Mark and Lisa got the chance to do some shopping in Squirrel Hill and enjoy the little community I love to walk around in.  Its a great walk and has plenty of coffee and food to go around.  From there, we had the opportunity to meet up with some more Wisconsinites that happened to be in town for the Brewers game.  Oddly enough, my car stopped working, so we tried our hand with an Uber cab - and it worked perfectly much to our surprise.  It was the perfect night for a trip to Fat Heads, even if we had to get creative with transportation. Burgers, Burgers and more burgers! I ordered the triple bypass this time and Mark and Lisa got cheeseburgers that were bound to be delicious!

Yeah - that's an egg on my cardiac burger...

Sunday it was an early morning Super Shuttle to the airport and they had to head home - a weekend that went by much too quickly!  We hope you can come and visit again!!  I'm sure the Brewers will be back in town next year - and hopefully this time they'll win!

Eli Young Band and Pittsburgh Rib Fest

Paul and I at Rib Fest! Can someone say baked beans?

Every year there's a Rib Festival in Pittsburgh with free concerts, music and a lot of barbecue! This year they were sponsoring a concert by Eli Young Band!  Naturally, I had to go - a free concert by a great band - there was really no question.  I was also fortunate enjoy to convince Matt and Lori to join us for the evening.  

Just the beginning, a whole bowl for sauce.

Paul and I thought we were getting real creative by parking downtown instead of over by Heinz field - so we took the train to the stadium.  Once we arrived, the smell of BBQ filled the air.  It was like a fair without the chaos of the terrifying rides. 

Paul and the feast! All the ribs, cashed!

I got a pulled pork sandwich with a hefty side of sauce, while Paul tore into a rack of ribs.  He waited in line at a popular stand for a while until he got close to the front and they ran out of ribs. HAH, just Paul's luck, really.  We sat down and feasted on the ribs while watching Matt slam an ice cream sundae - which is of course what everyone gets at rib fest haha!

It was a nice little outing and hopefully they'll bring by a few more country acts next year so we have another excuse to enjoy BBQ!

Eli Young Band! Keep on Dreamin' even if it breaks your heart!

Good tunes.

Du Fang's Going Away Party

Du goes to Pirmanti Brother's for the first time!

Du joined our lab while I was doing my MS2 year.  I came back to lab with many of the new techniques up and running thanks to her mad skills and efficiency!  She was working on a similar project as I was, so we were always having a good time joking about the pesky mice and big experiments that were going on.  

Unfortunately for us, she had to return to China after her visiting fellowship was up.  Her husband was already back, so she was handling a job in lab, a new baby and life in general like a professional - without ever saying  peep!

Du making Percoll!

To celebrate her time in the lab, we threw a party at my house to have an All American BBQ.  We played washers, grilled corn, burgers and brats.  Paul was the grill master and cooked everything to perfection.  Dale was bound and determined to get a cob of corn and thought he won the lottery when he finally stole one and took off into the yard.  We finished the meal with Prantl's almond torte - a Pittsburgh staple.  

It was a great time, and we already miss having Du in the lab!

McGeachy Lab (Missing Deepika)

Outings with Matt and Lori!

As a result of joining a relatively small lab, we all have to be friends or we wouldn't survive.  But believe it or not, we're all friends by choice and spend a fair amount of time outside of lab together.  Matt works in our lab and when I met his wife Lori, we instantly connected.  Probably because we both were brought up in small towns where everyone knows your name, your parents, and the year you graduated! 

We grab dinner together every now and then and we promised that we would try to make the most out of this short summer despite Lori's work schedule and my feelings that I should be working on research with every spare minute.  One night we met at Spaghetti Warehouse in the Strip District.  Paul got some fancy deal on gift cards (as always) and we decided to see what they had to feast on.

Matt and Lori!

Well, it was a feast to say the least!!  We each got the family platter with three different kinds of pasta, sausage, and bread.  It was a lot of food for an extremely reasonable price.  It was comical how much food each of us ended up with.  After dinner we took a walk around the strip and sat around to catch up on the latest news from our lives - mostly consumed by work.  It was a blast.  

Paul and I by our Warehouse Feast!

Two other memorable events included the weekend of the Toby Keith Concert followed up the next day by a rafting trip out in Johnstown.  It was a random, but awesome combination.  The Toby Keith concert was amazing.  I know all of his music but never had the opportunity to see him live.  Lori was right, he is amazing live!!  He totally gets the crowd going - it's one big party!!  After nursing our wounds from the concert and swearing off my cheap cowboy boots, we got up the next morning and I cooked a nice college breakfast full of eggs, dipping bread and venison breakfast sausage from a cast iron pan.  Really hit the spot, that's for sure.  

We also had a chance to go to Pirmanti's after work one day!

From there, we loaded up and went out to Johnstown with my plus one - obviously Ilinca! It was hilarious to try to get down this extremely low river.  We were dragging and walking the whole way.  But interestingly, we did see a few deer along the side of the trail and were able to sneak in a few rays of sunlight before calling it a day.  We also saw some snorkelers who were desperately trying to find a  wedding ring amongst the muck. They did not look like they were enjoying themselves.

Tubing down a very shallow river with slippy rocks!

Speaking of sun - I also was able to join Lori for one day by the pool - but we didn't get that much sun, it was quickly chilled by doing the ice bucket challenge and then challenging the life guard to do the same.  Needless to say, many adventures were had with these two this summer and I look forward to the new adventures to come!

Pittsburgh Summer Time

Bari and Nancy summer backyard BBQ - Dale goes to Jersey.

Pittsburgh in the summer can only mean, Pirates Games!  I had the opportunity to join Josiah and the gang for a few Pirates games at PNC Park.  I love the brewers, but there's something special about PNC being right on the water.  You can walk along the shoreline and see all the tied up yachts and walk across the bridge at night before the game starts and watch the fireworks go off as the people funnel out of the stadium.  

The game where someone else with the exact same outfit as me stole stuff, haha!

Find the Cow.  We found it.

In addition to Pirates, the summer is full of BBQs, moving parties and much productivity in the lab and life.  I love the early rising sun because I can run in the park at 6AM and not think twice about how dark it is in the woods.  It's such a great time of year!  Dale I am sure also enjoys the summer because it means he gets numerous walks and extra attention.  We even took it upon ourselves to find him a little watering hole so he could romp around in the insanely dirty water/mud.  Frick Park is such a treat in the summer and we are spoiled to have it right in our backyard!

Dale and I on our early morning summer runs!

Dale learning how to play in the park on his first birthday!

We even got Paul to join us for a Pirates game!

PNC at night - the skyline is worth it!

I also had the chance to join Anna, Humberto, and Ceci for a Dave Matthews Concert.  This was way out of my league and I was so excited to join them.  We went fairly early and managed to get some excellent lawn seats - probably because we weren't tailgating in the parking lot for 4 hours before the concert - haha. I never had the chance to go to a DMB concert, but all I could think about was Lyssa and Jeanne in their attempts to get o the concert in college and getting lost in the woods as accidental trespassers.  A classic beans and Lyss story really.   We all had a great time trying to jam to the music and getting lost in the flow of the music haha!  Then we left a little early like the old people we are - hehe!

Humberto, Anna and Ceci at DMB!

GREAT seats!

The DMB ladies - such a fun unexpected adventure!

It real was an excellent summer - although always hard to find the perfect balance between work and play.  Maybe next summer will be more play and less work - one can only hope!