Mix @ 6

 Make sure to check out this great event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Public Theater.  You can see a great show, taste delicious food, and network with young professionals all for $20.00.  These are all held at the O'Reilly Theater downtown on the Thursday before each show's opening night.

 Mix @ Six is a young professionals event that combines networking with theater. It’s held 6 times each season the Thursday night prior to the Opening Night of each performance. The pre-show party starts at 6 p.m. with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, complimentary Miller products and Starbucks coffee tastings. There are also special offerings from local groups and businesses.

Tickets are only $20, including the show. Full time students (and those 26 years of age and under) are only $15, but must show their ID. A district fee of $.50 will be applied to each ticket. (Normal price is usually around $35-$55  just for the show.)

2012-2013 MIX @ SIX Schedule
Born Yesterday - Thursday, October 4, 2012
Good People - Thursday, November 15, 2012
1776 – Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thurgood – Thursday, March 14, 2013
Clybourne Park - Thursday, April 25, 2013
Other Desert Cities- Thursday, June 6 , 2013

Pittsburgh Public Theater, at the O’Reilly Theater

621 Penn Avenue, Cultural District
Pittsburgh, PA  15222
412-316-1600

For more information see Living Pittsburgh.

Steelers Overcome Adversity

Everyone in the country is rooting for New York and New Jersey to help them overcome the tragedies of Hurricane Sandy.  However, that did not stop the Steelers from playing with all their heart against the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers needed a yard to convert a fourth-and-1 from the New York Giants' 3-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and coach Mike Tomlin decided against a run up the middle for a first down, a pass for a touchdown or even the easy field goal to tie the game in favor of the backward flip to kicker Shaun Suisham.

It didn't work. And Foote was livid.

With the execution, not the call itself.

"I'm more mad we didn't execute it because we've been running that play for about five years now! And in practice, Heath Miller comes off and blocks me every time!" Foote told USA TODAY Sports, though he yelled it for about half of the Steelers' locker room to hear after their 24-20 victory at MetLife Stadium.

"We finally ran it and didn't execute!"

In a more measured tone, Foote then added, "That's football."

Foote's reaction summed up the way the Steelers handled a difficult Sunday that certainly wasn't easy for anyone â?? the away team, the home team or the fans.

The Giants were dealing with the worst problems, of course. Some of their players are still without power and have suffered severe damage to their homes because of Hurricane Sandy. Some of the fans lost their houses but showed up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday hoping their team could provide a reason for them to smile at the end of a long, difficult week.

The Steelers had their own comparatively minor issues.

They had to overcome an extremely questionable call that gave the Giants a 70-yard touchdown return on a fumble that should've been ruled an incompletion. Their defense needed to force a stop after Tomlin's head-scratcher of a call resulted in Suisham's easily being tackled by the Giants' Michael Coe, who didn't rush hard off the edge as the Steelers had hoped.

And all of this came after the Steelers flew in the morning of the game instead of arriving a day early because the hotel they'd booked was without power.

Again, compared to what others have been dealt, it's petty stuff. But as it pertains to what happened between the lines, that was a tough, gritty performance by a team that has for years prided itself on being mentally and physically strong.

"It was one of the craziest things ever," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of the day-of-game travel, "but we might be doing that every week now, I don't know."

Said Foote, "I saw a lot of NFL superstar millionaires sleeping on the floor pregame in the hotel (lobby) with rolled-up shirts as pillows. But, hey, football's football. You put the ball down on the grass, and we'll play."

That's the kind of attitude a championship team needs to have. So when his team shows such a mentality, it's easy to see why Tomlin is encouraged.

"We combated a lot of adversity tonight, and were able to pull it out, particularly with a solid performance in the fourth quarter," Tomlin said, adding this of the failed fake field goal: "They overcame bad coaching sometimes, and that's on me."

But Tomlin's bad coaching might've had some solid reasoning.

You see, the Steelers' defense had just forced a three-and-out that ended with a sack of Eli Manning 
on a third-and-11. On the previous Giants' possession, Pittsburgh had held the Giants to a field goal despite Manning & Co.'s taking over at the Steelers' 33-yard line. Not since Andre Brown's 1-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter had the Giants crossed the goal line.

Tomlin, who was immediately clapping for his defense to get the ball back as soon as Coe tackled Suisham, must've had an inkling his defense would bail him out if his gamble didn't pay off.

"Making that call?" cornerback Ike Taylor said. "Yeah, of course."

Added nose tackle Casey Hampton, "To even do something like that in that situation when you can take the three (points) and tie it up, that lets you know he's got a lot of faith in this defense."

And why not? In their five victories, the Steelers have given up a total of 10 points in the fourth quarter. In their three consecutive wins, they've given up only a field goal in the final period.

They outscored the Giants, who tied an NFL record with seven fourth-quarter comebacks in their Super Bowl season last year, 14-0 in the fourth quarter on Sunday.

"They're one of the best teams in the fourth quarter, and we were probably one of the worst teams in the fourth quarter (early in) the year," linebacker LaMarr Woodley said, referring to the combined 40 points allowed in the fourth quarters of the losses to the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans. "We weren't doing a great job closing out games and playing against one of the best fourth-quarter teams, we answered today."

A bad decision by Tomlin? Overcome. Adversity? Overcome. A 1-2 start? Overcome.
Now, here they come. The Steelers are title contenders once again.

"We're just getting back to playing sound football, we're getting back to closing in the fourth quarter," Taylor said. "The games we lost, we didn't find a way to finish, but we did today."

For more information see News Press.
Grandview Pointe

Steelers Fans Are Everywhere

Do you want to show the love of your team through interior decorating?  Here are some great tips and tricks on how to make a Steeler room in your home.  Keep reading to learn about what paint, furniture, and accessories to use to make your NFL room really stand out.

1.  Design your walls black and gold. Paint the walls of a bright room black with a gold stripe or paint a black stripe flanked in gold, resembling the letters on the white team jerseys, in an existing white painted room. Run a horizontal black stripe around the ceiling as a border and line it in gold.

2.Pick black furniture with gold accents. Attach a 52-inch black television to the wall -- after all, you want to see every nuance in the game -- and place a black shelf below for the electronics. Position a black leather sofa across from the TV with a couple of black leather club chairs with gold accents. Add a gold-veined mirrored coffee table in front of the sofa and between the club chairs for snacks held in Steeler fan bowls.

3. Bring in black and gold fabric. Go to the local craft store for Steeler material and make your own no-sew curtains or drape floor-length black curtains over the rod and tie them back with gold tassels. Buy throw pillows and a blanket sporting the Steeler logo or go for a black fabric trimmed with gold accent fringe for the pillows and blanket.

4. Hang artwork and photographs on the walls. Pick artwork where the predominant color in the painting is black or gold. Pick black frames for sepia photographs, as they have a goldish tinge to the picture, or place black and white photographs into a gold metallic frame. Frame a couple of pictures of Big Ben, the team and the cheerleaders and group them together on the wall.

5.Accessorize the room. Place a clock on the shelf with a couple of black marble sculptural pieces, such as a pyramid or a square box. Place black and gold tissue paper flowers into a black vase or metallic gold urn and set on a black bookshelf. Stand a collection of gold chargers on the shelf against the wall, with black glass plates and beer steins or wine glasses in front.

For more information see E How.

Time to Fall Back!

Do not show up an hour early for work on Monday.  This Saturday night to Sunday make sure to set your clocks back an hour for fall back time.  Enjoy your extra hour of sleep this weekend.

It's time once again for the annual ritual of resetting our clocks for a return to standard time. In fall, we turn daylight saving* time off, which means moving clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 4, 2012. This return to "normal" time (Pacific Standard Time) moves sunset back an hour with the corresponding effect of an earlier sunrise.

Unless you plan on being awake and functional at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, set your clocks back one hour before retiring on Saturday night. You'll then be on time for Sunday activities and refreshed from getting an extra hour of sleep. 

For more information see About.com
Grandview Pointe

Trick or Treat Safety Tips

Halloween is a fun holiday for all ages.  Make sure to go over these Trick or Treat tips with your family before you head out door to door on Wednesday.  For more information see Halloween.

Pittsburgh Charity Tennis Match

Check out this great event held in Pittsburgh for various AIDS charities around the world.  This event included celebrities, sports icons, and a few local favorites.  They event has raised more than 10 million dollars since it's start more than 20 years ago.

Across all levels of sports, athletes play for championships, respect or admiration.

Tuesday at Petersen Events Center, a group of tennis icons, along with some notable friends, played for a cause.

As a part of the Mylan World Team Tennis' Smash Hits, tennis legend Billie Jean King and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elton John, among others, took to the court as part of an effort to raise money to help combat AIDS.

While the annual event is new to the Pittsburgh area, the match Tuesday marked its 20th anniversary, a span that has seen it raise more than $10.5 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and various 
 AIDS charities, including the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force. The match and VIP auction Tuesday raised roughly $1 million, the highest total in the event's history.

The event leaves behind an indelible impact in each city it visits, something that makes it even more rewarding for those involved.
"
We try to go to as many different cities as possible and leave the money that we raised for that night," John said. "It's very important because if people are going to turn out and give money to see us play tennis, then it's only right that some of the money stays in the community."

The event is entering its third decade of existence, but its roots go back much further, particularly with the relationship that exists between King and John.
I
n 1974, King was one of the co-founders of World Team Tennis, a groundbreaking coed professional tennis league. Around the same time, King and John developed a strong friendship that continues today, part of which was based around a shared love of tennis. Even one of John's hit songs, "
 Philadelphia Freedom," was named in honor of the WTT team on which King played.

For the two of them, using tennis as a way to support a cause only made sense.

"I've been a big tennis fan for a long time -- I love to watch it, I love to play it and it gives me a chance to go on court and watch my idols play close up," John said.

There were many idols to watch Tuesday. There was Martina Navratilova, who John dubbed 
"probably the greatest women's tennis player of all time," as well as Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, the husband-and-wife duo that, combined, owns 30 Grand Slam titles.

Additionally, there were former standouts such as Andy Roddick and Mark Knowles, both of whom retired after the recent U.S. Open.

"It's good to see him out and staying connected to the game," Agassi said of Roddick. "It doesn't surprise me. He still shows that he cares."

For King, it was a chance to return to Pittsburgh, a city for which she expressed admiration dating to her days playing against the WTT's short-lived Pittsburgh Triangles.

"I loved it when I played here," King said. "The fans would be great and obnoxious -- I loved it. I like it when they are totally into it. There are great fans here in Pittsburgh."

Even with the atmosphere of goodwill and charity that surrounded the event, there was an irrepressible competitive streak from some players, particularly the event's most prominent participant.

"I don't see the point in doing anything in half measures," John said. "When I was a drug addict, I did as many drugs as possible. I'm competitive -- in my career, in life because I'm driven and want the best and I still want the best."

For those involved, though, tennis still remains the backdrop, especially for John. After spending years not getting involved in fighting AIDS, something for which John expressed great lament, his life changed when he met Ryan White, an Indiana boy who died of the disease.

John became good friends of White and his family, and developed an admiration of White for his perseverance and dignity. For John, White prompted him to act, get involved and become a better person, noting that White has "been my inspiration ever since."

Although he still regrets the years that he spent away from activism and charity, John is thankful that, along with his good friends and idols like King, he is able to make an impact while playing the game he loves in the process.

"I kept asking myself 'Where was I?' I was absent, so I had to make up for lost time," John said. "I'm still ashamed of my actions from before, but I'm trying to make that right now. When you get a second chance in life, don't waste it."

Read more at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Thursday Nights in Downtown

 Thursday nights in downtown can include dinner, movies, and entertainment for an affordable price.  Here is a great Thursday evening plan that won't cost more than 25 dollars a person.  This plan includes a movie, dinner, and a comedy show with drinks.

Once again, we are here to show you that Downtown Pittsburgh doesn’t have to be an expensive place to play. Here’s how TWO people can enjoy an entire evening Downtown every Thursday for around $40 to $50 including parking and tips. That’s just $20-$25 per person, and this gets you A LOT!

If you’re not already Downtown, you can park your car in one of the local garages after 4 pm for only $5.00. The closest to your destinations will be the Theatre Square Garage, the one at 9th Street and Penn Avenue, or the one at 9th Street and Liberty Avenue.

The first thing to do, now that you’re in the Penn-Liberty Historic District, is to head straight to the Harris Theater. On Thursdays, you can catch a movie for just 5 bucks for KQV-AM’s  5:30 Thursday. Think of it as a special “after-work matinee”.

If you didn’t have time to grab a bite before the movie, by now you’re probably famished! Well, you’re in luck, because at the corner of 9th Street and Liberty Avenue, you’ll find Sammy’s. Sammy’s is famous for their Corned Beef Special. The sandwich is HUGE: a beyond-healthy portion of corned beef topped with the traditional Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and cole slaw on rye, served with a pickle, for $5.99.

When you’re done eating, stroll on over to the Cabaret at Theater Square for their Pittsburgh Improv Jam! For only $3.00 you can enjoy improv comics from all over the ‘Burgh, or even participate if you dare! Late night happy hour begins at 9:00 at The Backstage Bar with $2.50 craft brews and $3.50 select wines, so grab a drink before you head in to have a seat. The comedy show starts at 9:30.

The complete total for your hours-long excursion? $40 to $50 for two people, including parking, movie, food, live comedy, a couple adult beverages, and tips! Enjoy!

Better yet, don’t worry about driving or parking – take the bus! There’s more routes than we can mention that put you right in the heart of the Cultural District.  Use Port Authority’s Trip Planner to get a quick, customized route. Getting there couldn’t be easier! 

For more information check out Living Pittsburgh.