WHATS BEST FOR YOU

Don’t become selfish.

Become harder to 

Manipulate.

Don’t confuse the two.

IN THE HILLS

URBAN TAP

Debbie, Sam, Jodie, Michelle, Alexandra, Cameron, Marissa, Chris and Me.

MY STAY IN THE HYATT

POLITICAL HUMOR

MAKING FRIENDS

ONE DRIVE AT A TIME

I spent last week in Pittsburgh, spending all my free time exploring the city. Yesterday I drove home, taking a detour through Maryland. I wanted to be able to check both Pennsylvania and Maryland off my states to see list. I'm up to 26 states. I'll hit Louisiana in November so that will leave me with 23 left to see, and no I didn't include Michigan since I only stoped at the airport there back in 2013. 

The more states I explore, the more I want to see. I truly have a love affair with the Road Trip! 

MISS MAYBERRY

Blowing Grammy Kisses! Eek beauty!🩷

A DRIVING LESSON

I’m from Phoenix, where for the most part, the grid system roadways are flat and generously spaced. Where parking is abundant even though it’s hot. The first time I drove to Utah I realized that the world is not flat, and that parking is sometimes on an incline or decline. Then I moved to the Midwest where some roads don’t have signs, and may end up in a corn field. But the pace there is slower, and sometimes, I find my inner city girl, missing freeway driving. So off to St. Louis, Nashville or Louisville I go, just to get my rush hour rush. 

But this week I am in Pittsburgh. It’s been on my bucket list since I was a kid. This is where my tribe of immigrants landed when they hopped the pond over a century ago. This week, I have spent hours just driving, seeing the sights, mostly the architecture and the lay of the land. I came at a perfect time of year, its spring, its cool and lovely. So I drive with my windows down, so I can smell the smells and hear the sounds. (Trying to capture, in vain, what my grandmother had been enveloped in so many years ago.) 

As I drove down cobble streets, in slow traffic, I could hear the musical clink of loose cobbles as cars drove past. As I drove through different boroughs here I see all the little communities that were once isolated, but how, with time and a population boom, flow into each other. I could smell the amazing little Italian restaurants far before I ever saw them. 

I have been taking mental pictures as I have driven these streets. They tell so many stories. 

But I also learned that you almost need a driving lesson in “Pittsburgh driving etiquette”. It’s not so much that the streets are narrow, it’s more that there is nowhere to park. These cities were built when walking was the favored mode of transportation. And thus, there is so much walking still done. But the road ways have become the parking lots too. If you drive down a residential street, all the inhabitants have parked along both sides of the street. Making driving on that now narrow street very sketchy. 

On the main streets, four lanes become two, when people stop to grab a slice of pizza or run into that shop. Without warning, someone in front of you will put their blinkers on and hop out of their car, right in front of you. My mind was blown! But I rapidly learned that this is the thing … and everyone just moves over without a fuss. There is an abundance of common courtesy here. Like this snippet I saw in the good news today: 

(I will not be doing the parallel parking thing. No one has enough time or patience to watch me do that thing)

On the highway yesterday I saw another community kindness. I was driving south on one of the many highways, and had just driven out of a tunnel. I could hear the ambulance but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. The bumper to bumper traffic was moving slowly, but it was moving. With in a minute or so I saw the lights on the northbound lane. Traffic was bumper to bumper there too, and they were all preparing to enter the two lane tunnel. Yet all those drivers moved like one body, pulling over (there was no road shoulder) and stopping to make room for this emergency vehicle. I wanted to get out and applaud them all. I was so impressed. 

Coretta Scott King said, “ The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” 

And I agree. I have fallen in love with this city of my forebears. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are always exceptions. I was flipped off and called a “weirdo” by someone that wanted me to make a right on red, even though just about every intersection here says “No Right on Red”. He pulled around me to turn right on red. But I wasn’t phased. I just smiled as I met him at the next red light. 

I♥️Pittsburgh 

P.S. 

After writing that this morning I happened to be driving onto an on-ramp to a bridge, when traffic stopped. The accident was just around the bend, and I could not see it, thank goodness. But emergency vehicles came out of everywhere, even a helicopter. You know it was bad when there was a helicopter. We sat in our spots for about an hour. Then we were all let go to attend to our own business. I couldn’t make out what happened, only some emergency personnel were still working on the spot. Again, maybe we all need a lesson on driving etiquette.

SUCCESS

Seven years ago I posted this on social media. 

Today I can honestly say that the only way to fail is by not trying. 

I may not always come out on top, but I have never failed. 

A POP OF COLOR

In my backyard!

BAKLAVA

 My mother introduced me to baklava as a child. Definitely one of the best things she ever did for me. In turn I introduced my children to baklava as well. 

All those crispy papery layers of phyllo dough, the perfectly chopped nuts and all that sticky honey.  

It’s heaven! I do not get the opportunity to have it often, living in the little town I love. But when I do get to, like this morning in Pittsburgh, I think it is perfectly fine to have it for breakfast! 

LARGE FOR SURE

This is the largest pizza I have ever seen! It was good!

DELICIOUS

And yes I did eat a slice of 4 layer Lemon Cake!!!

KNOWLEDGE

Knowing what you

cannot do

is more important

than knowing what 

you can do. 

Lucille Ball

CALL GRANDMA

As I drove out of the Liberty Tunnel and viewed down town Pittsburgh, my first thought was, call Grandma! I had a million questions to ask and I wanted to know where to go and what to see. I wanted to walk in here footsteps and see her home town through her eyes. 

My grandma, Mary T Pollaro, moved away from Pittsburgh back in 1954 and has been in heaven the past 34 years. But the need to talk to her has been so overwhelming this week. 

I love traveling on my own, seeing what I want, when I want. But not having someone right there share all the things ( that cool church, all the architecture, that sculpture, the deer in the ghetto, this thing, that thing, ALL THE THINGS) Just someone to share the talking with. Yes, I talk to myself, I am my best friend often. 

I am loving Pittsburgh, but oh I really wish I could call Grandma. 

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

“Be brave and clear. Follow your heart

 and don’t be overly influenced by 

outside factors. 

Be true to yourself.”

Shirley Temple Black

FULL PINK MOON

EARTH DAY

SUNDAY DRIVE

Five states, 8.5 hours, places I have never been, and another check mark in on bucket list. Beautiful!

SHILOHS

Soul Food, friendly atmosphere, great music, pool table, corn hole, old school games, awesome staff and did I mention Soul Food !!! A+

The cook even sings!!!!

TEAM

You don’t have to know everything. You just have to know smart people.

Never underestimate the power of a great team, and don’t be afraid to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

Thank you D D D

A GOOD KID

Nearly a year ago this young man got his drivers license. And he started saving all the money he made at mowing yards. Then he got a job, and he kept saving. Today it all paid off!

He brought his first car over to our house and learned how to take care of a few things from his Papaw.  He is a good kid, I’m so proud of him. 

Eek Noah!

THIS THING … I WANT

LESSON LEARNED

After riding on the back of the bike for several miles, we stopped right across the street from the river. We were going to get some lunch at a little spot just off the Ohio. As I went to get off the bike, my mind was on my biker babe hair do, now resembling dreadlocks rather than the curls I had started the ride with. It didn’t cross my mind to remember to step out from the bike, not just step down. So to my stupidity, the burn on my calf from the scalding pipe was about the size and shape of an egg. And it hurt. 

But the ride back was cool and by the end of the day, the pain had subsided. 

Sunday I was delighted that my leg didn’t hurt at all. I even tested it in the hot tub, no pain!

Last night I watched TV from my spot on our leather sofa. As I got up from my spot, where I was seated with my leg curled up on the leather, I felt the skin of my burn tear from the friction. There was the pain I was hoping not to feel again. Ointment and a big neon yellow bandage were applied to the wound.

As a little girl, I was three actually, I went to give my uncle a kiss goodbye as he was leaving on his bike. That scare was across my three year old tummy. 54 years later, that scar has faded. Let’s see how this one does.

Lesson learned. 

Before the bandage was necessary. Oh well!

NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT

Life is not a spectator sport. 

If you’re going to spend your 

whole life in the grandstand 

just watching what goes on, 

in my opinion,

you are wasting your life. 

Jackie Robinson

MY LITTLE NINJA PRINCESS

DOING DISNEYLAND

♥️

HELLO SPRING

THREAD COUNT

Today I stripped the bed and washed the super comfy flannel sheets so that I can store them for next fall. I truly have learned to love flannel sheets. They are a game changer for chilly nights. 

But I’m looking forward to warmer days and that means no more flannel for my bed. 

So when I remade the bed, I fell in love all over again with my plum colored sheets. The sheets are so buttery soft and decadent. Cotton, for me, is always king and the higher the thread count the happier I am. 

Some things I will thrift on, I believe in frugality. But quality bedding is not a thing to ever skimp on. It’s absolutely okay to pay for wonderful quality bedding! 

That said…. Good Night! 

NEON LIGHTS AND AMAZING MUSIC

Every Friday Night Should Be So Great!!!!

I danced more tonight than I have since I went to the dances at ASU!

Flat Stanley was Awesome, I had a blast!