Strip District World Festival

In just two weeks, the annual Strip District World Festival will begin. Have you attended the festival held in Pittsburgh every year. This event includes music, entertainment, and food from around the world. This event has something for all ages, and it is a must see for every resident of Pittsburgh. You can learn more here.

The Festival

Join us for food, fun and music from around the world as the Strip District World Festival celebrates the cultures of Pittsburgh’s melting pot. In 2013 the top-notch entertainment included everything from reggae, Irish and Italian music to a Chinese lion dance and Bruce Springsteen and Rolling Stones tribute acts. Ethnic food as well as festival favorites ensure that no one goes home hungry. Stay tuned for this year’s entertainment schedule.


Friday September 12 – 6pm-9pm
Saturday September 13 – 12pm-9pm
Sunday September 14 – 12pm-7pm



What to Expect

Great music & entertainment
Ethnic food booths
Games & activities for kids
Sponsor booths and giveaways
Sidewalk sales
Plus much more!

Ditch the Phone, Get an Alarm Clock

Ditch the phone and start using an alarm clock in the morning. Many people use their phones for alarms, but there is evidence that this can hinder your sleep. You can learn more at Apartment Therapy.

For the last three years, I've been using my smartphone as an alarm. It seemed innocuous enough, until I came upon an alarm clock that I found quite cool and decided to try using it instead of my mobile. The results were surprising.


Here are five reasons I'm ditching my smartphone in the bedroom:

When your phone goes to bed with you, you spend your last few minutes before sleep staring at a glowing screen. This is bad for falling asleep. Most sleep doctors will tell you that you should have a full hour screen-free before trying to go to bed. This is partly because the glow is tough on your eyes, but it's also psychological.

Holding your phone first thing in the morning means you're probably going to do more than just turn off the alarm. I often found myself checking emails before I even brushed my teeth. That made my mornings feel rushed every single day, even when the emails weren't that important.

Middle of the night Facebook sessions are never OK. Whenever I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, I had a nearly never ending source of entertainment within arm's reach. If I couldn't fall asleep, I'd pull up the news or a game and soon I'd lose an hour and find myself even more wired than when I woke up.

Bed time should be private time between partners. Too many couples are letting their smart phones get in the way of private time in the bedroom. If you're spending more time Facebooking in bed than cuddling with your partner, it's time to change that habit.

It's not the best alarm clock, anyway. At the end of the day, the really light ringing noise that my phone put out in the morning just wasn't even as loud or effective as the real deal.


Do you allow smart phones in the bedroom? Are you using it as an alarm too? What are the pros and cons from your point of view?

Tomato and Garlic at Phipps

Do you love tomato and garlic? Then, this festival is for you. This Sunday head to Phipps Conservatory with a bag of food, and you receive free admission to this event. This is the tenth year of the festival and includes naturally grown produce from local farms. You can learn more below and check out Living Pittsburgh for more information.



Event: Red, Ripe & Roasted: Tomato & Garlic Festival

Location: The historic front lawn and in the Outdoor Garden at Phipps Conservatory, Oakland

Date: Sunday August 24, 2014

Time: 11 am until 4 pm

Cost: FREE to event & Phipps show w/ bag of food

Description: Join us to celebrate two of western Pennsylvania’s quintessential summer crops! On Aug. 24, our annual tomato and garlic festival, Red, Ripe & Roasted, returns for its tenth year of good food and family fun. Our historic and sustainably managed front lawn will come to life with a farmers’ market highlighting organic and Certified Naturally Grown produce from local farms; a tomato contest; cooking demos and tastings by Café Phipps and other festival participants; and fun activities for kids.

Always a seasonal highlight, Red, Ripe and Roasted is a foodie’s dream-come-true with a focus on fresh, local produce and its many culinary possibilities. Café Phipps will prepare and share a variety of delicious dishes to sample, and a farmers’ market highlighting organic and Certified Naturally Grown produce will give guests an opportunity to buy plenty of tomatoes and garlic to experiment with at home. Beloved garden writer and television/radio host Doug Oster — author of Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil — and food writer Miriam Rubin, author of Tomatoes, will also be in attendance to present some of their favorite recipes and sign copies of their books.

Come with a bag of fresh produce to donate to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, or purchase some fresh fruit and veggies onsite, and receive free admission to the festival and to Summer Flower Show andButterfly Forest during event hours. Don’t miss this great event for a great cause!

Visit Phipps Conservatory website for more details.

New Lasagna For Dinner

Are you looking for something new to try for dinner? We have a great recipe for you that will go over great with friends and family. You can find more great recipes at The Kitchn.

Cheesy All-Vegetable Lasagna
Serves 8 to 10

1 onion, diced small
1 (8-ounce) package baby bella mushrooms, diced small
1 small (12-ounce) eggplant, diced small
1 small zucchini or yellow squash, diced small
1 red bell pepper, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
6-ounce package baby spinach
3 cups tomato sauce (or one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes)
15 dry lasagna noodles (regular noodles, not no-boil)
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until the onions are sweated and are just starting to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and most of that liquid has evaporated, 5 to 8 minutes more. Add the eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper, and cook until all are softened, another 3 to 5 minutes.

Clear a little space in the middle of the pan. Add another teaspoon of olive oil, the garlic, salt, and spices. Stir the garlic until it is fragrant and just starting to turn golden, about 30 seconds, then stir it into the vegetables. Scatter the spinach over the vegetables and stir until it is wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the skillet of vegetables from the heat.

Spread a few spoonfuls of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Lay 5 of the lasagna noodles over top, breaking them if needed to create a single layer. Spread 1 cup of the ricotta over the noodles, then half of the vegetables, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, and 1 cup of the mozzarella. Arrange another 5 noodles over the top, followed 1 cup of ricotta, the remaining vegetables, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, and 1 cup of the mozzarella. Top this with a final layer of 5 noodles and the remaining sauce. 

Dot the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of ricotta. (Reserve the remaining mozzarella for the end of cooking.)

Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Check to make sure the noodles are done by poking the lasagna with a knife; the knife should slide easily through all the layers. If it doesn't, cover and cook for another 15 minutes. When the noodles are done, sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella over the top of the casserole and bake, uncovered, until the mozzarella has melted, another 10 to 15 minutes.

Turn on the broiler and place an oven rack 6 inches below the heating element. Broil the lasagna until the mozzarella is browned and bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. 

Leftovers will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer.

First Home Game of the Season

Will you be attending the first home game of the season this weekend?  The Steelers take on the Bills and a new team is not the only thing new at Heinz Field.   There are many new amenities that fans will get to enjoy this season.  You can learn more here.



A new scoreboard, wifi, and new hamburger choices highlight the list of new features.


It’s not going to take Steelers fans long to notice what is new at Heinz Field for 2014, as the bright new scoreboard in the Northwest corner of the stadium is a beacon for diehard fans and hard for anyone to miss.

The Steelers installed the 35-foot by 73-foot high-definition scoreboard this offseason and it will thoroughly enhance the game day experience for fans, showing game highlights, statistics and scores from around the league, and visible to those who can’t easily see the scoreboard in the South Plaza.

The Heinz Field grass field looked lush and green, ready for football, and will be re-

sod midway through the 2014 season and after the WPIAL Championship games.

But that isn’t all that’s new this year, and fans will be able to enjoy all of it when the Steelers host the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Aug. 16 for their first home game of the year.

Additions to the Heinz Field food menu always get fan’s taste buds going and this year they will be able to enjoy incredible burgers on a stick and gourmet artesian sausages in the clubs and concourses, my favorite the carved turkey and pasta-stuffed meatballs in the clubs all prepared by Aramark and Burgatory sliders and milkshakes in the suites.

The highlight of the new menu is Aramark’s Emperor (Chuck Noll) Gourmet Burger on the main concourse, named for the legendary Steelers’ coach that passed away this offseason. And it got rave reviews from those who tasted it during the “What’s New at Heinz Field” tour on Tuesday. Fans will also be able to enjoy personal pan pizzas from Fox’s Pizza on the main concourse and the D-Line Burger in the club, and you might want to bring a defensive lineman along with you to finish it.

“Every year we sit down and look at items we eat every day and think how can we make it in the stadium and get it to the guests the way it would be on your dining room table,” said Aramark Executive Chef John DiMartini. “We’re trying to make this fun food, different ways to do things, fun novelty ideas. Once the season is over we start talking about ideas for the next year.”


While fans are enjoying the latest culinary delights they can follow the Steelers on the mobile app, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram thanks to Wifi that is now available in the FedEx Great Hall and West Main Concourse. Clubs and suites also have free Wifi, and customer service reps will be stationed throughout Heinz Field to deal with issues.

Another feature this season is the Bud Light Deck, located under the Northwest Scoreboard. The deck is a private area and tickets will be distributed by Bud Light through retail activations, customer events, contests and promotions.

Heinz Field will also host the Joe Greene jersey retirement on Sunday, Nov. 2 when the Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens.

Other highlights for 2014 include:
- The Steeline Drum Line will entertain fans from the field level this season.
- Digital menu boards have been added to the club level, in both the East and West Clubs, to enhance the ordering process.

Carload Sale at Idewild

Do you want to go to a few amusement parks this summer?  You can gather your friends in a car and head to Idewild for their August Carload sale.  Keep reading and check out Living Pittsburgh for more details!


One of the best discount opportunities of the season! Bring from 3 to 8 people to Idlewild in whatever vehicle you drive, and get everyone in for $99.99 when you present a coupon available at participating Giant Eagle locations.(Must redeem coupon at entrance gate for discount). SAVE AN ADDITIONAL $4.00 per car when you present your Giant Eagle Advantage Card with your coupon. Carload days are: August 11-15 and 18-20, 2014 That’s a savings of $211.93 off of 8 regular $38.99* admissions. All guests must be present and in same vehicle at time of coupon redemption.

*Plus Amusement Tax.

Add Storage In Your Home

It does not matter how big your apartment is, everyone can always use a little more storage. Squeezing storage out of small spaces is something Apartment Therapy is great at teaching renters about.. Keep reading this blog, and check out Apartment Therapy to learn how to gain storage in any kind of apartment.

One of the biggest challenges of small space living is... where does all the stuff go? If you feel like you've maxed out all your storage but you still have things that need a home, this post is for you. Here are ten often-overlooked spots where you can squeeze a little extra storage out of a small space.

Above: Hang a set of wall-mounted shelves above a radiator. Spotted on VT Wonen.

The space above your door is the perfect place to mount a shelf to store books and other sundries, as spotted in the New York home of Ashlina Kaposta of The Decorista.

→ Small Space Storage Solution: Look Above the Door

What about above the bed? If you mount the shelf high enough, you won't have to worry about bumping your head when you wake up. Photo from Share Design.

→ More Space-Saving Solutions for Small Bedrooms

Use the space above your kitchen cabinets to store cookbooks, as in John's Sunlit Studio (from out 2013 Small Cool Contest).

Or try this: put baskets above the cabinets for lesser-used kitchen items, as in this home from Better Homes & Gardens.

Mount the lid of a mason jar under the bottom of your cabinets. Then use the jar to store little things that you want to be in easy reach. Spotted on House to Home.

→ More Smart Solutions for Small Kitchens

Make the most of the space in your home with a long, low console that goes under a window. Spotted on My World Apart.

→ Small Space Secrets: Swap Your Bookcases for Wall Mounted Shelving

Park a catch-all basket under a console table, as spotted in Jessica & Scott's East Coast Nest.

Another place to squeeze out a little extra storage is the back of the door to your medicine cabinet. These stick on pods are great for organizing makeup, or, if your medicine cabinet is made of metal, you can add magnets to the smaller things you use the most (lipstick, mascara, etc) and attach them to the inside of the door.

→ 10 Small Space Storage Solutions for the Bathroom

And don't forget about the inside of your cabinet doors. You can hang small hooks there for things like measuring spoons that you use often and want to be in easy reach. 'Baking Pantry in a Cabinet' DIY from Jenny Steffens.