Happy Anniversary and more Pittsburgh firsts...

This month has been busy and it's not even over yet!  We've had a lot of Pittsburgh firsts this month.  Craig and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary on the 15th.  I know everybody says it, but I can't believe it's been that long.  We went up to the top of Mount Washington and had a fabulous dinner at Altius.  Here was the view from our table:

We started with delicious cocktails and their charcuterie.

 We each got to choose what type of bread we wanted and the assorted toppings were fantastic.  Craig had the Chanterelle Ravioli and I had the scallop special.  We finished with a beautiful dessert.  We had a great experience.  The server was wonderful and we would definitely recommend them for a special occasion. 

I'm so lucky that I've spent most of my life with this man.  We have been blessed with a wonderful family and wonderful friends.

We've also attended our first Pitt football game.  Our nephew, Steven, plays for the University of Virginia.  We had a great time with his parents, Curtis & Kim.  Kim's brothers and their families also came up for the game.   We had dinner at Jerome Bettis' Grille and Jerome was there hanging out in the back. 

UVA held their pregame tailgate party on a Gateway Clipper ship.  That was a first for us too.

Although UVA came up short, it was a good game and a fun time!

One of our favorite places in Pittsburgh is the Phipps Conservatory.  The fall flower show is now open and as always, the show is beautiful.  Here are a few shots from the show.

We have enjoyed breakfast at Bartram House Bakery.  They have great everyday items and daily specials along with beautiful bakery items.  We tried the cranberry walnuts pancakes and they were delicious.

Fall in Pittsburgh is at its peak and the leaves are gorgeous.  We are looking forward to seeing all the kids and their costumes on Halloween.  Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Another year...

It's so hard to believe we've been here over 2 years now!  We haven't done too many new things to the house this past year, but we do have a wonderful new driveway!

 This was our ribbon cutting ceremony on Christmas morning:

I had my fill of fighting for a parking spot, shuffling the cars around on street cleaning day and my car was side-swiped only a couple of months after we moved in.  And no, the person did not stop.  So after searching Angie's List and talking to friends and neighbors I called 4 contractors.  Three showed up and took a look and only one, Mike Isbir of Isbir Construction, followed through and did a fantastic job.  He did everything he said and when he said he would.  It was awesome and I highly recommend him and his crew.

The tulips we worked hard at getting planted turned out gorgeous!

Our wonderful neighbors, Andrew and Abbie, shared their beautiful peonies with us too.

We have 2 more additions to our family this past year too!

Melissa joined our family on 12-13-14.  We had a wonderful time celebrating their new life together.  (And if you're keeping track, yes that was the second wedding of the year for us!  See the previous post on details of our daughter's wedding in June 2014).  Our second addition was this summer on 7-26-15.

This is our first grandchild, Kieran James!  He is healthy and perfect in every way.  I'm not at all biased.

We've had a great time experiencing Pittsburgh and all it has to offer.  We've hung out with Mister Rogers at the Heinz History Center.

We've had a few cold ones at the VooDoo Brewery over in Homestead.  It's in the old Homestead Fire Department and it's such a cool atmosphere.

We've visited Phipps Conservatory to see their Christmas displays, Spring Flower show and Fall Flower show.  It's a perfect way to spend the afternoon and have lunch in their award winning cafe.

We've participated in the Greenfield Glide 5k and other area races too.

We attended the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in Schenley Park and visited with my friend Bill and his beautiful car, Frederick.

We were actually melting in this picture.  It was one of the hottest days of the year.
We attended the First Fridays at Frick and listened to some great music.

We also enjoyed going to Mellon Park and listening to the different musicians at Bach, Beethoven and Brunch on Sunday mornings this past summer.  You can take a picnic brunch and beverages (yes, Mimosas are permitted!) and have a picnic while having free entertainment.  It's a great thing for families too.

We met this guy at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

We've enjoyed eating at many of the area restaurants too!  We love trying new ones whenever we get a chance.  We've gone everywhere from downtown, over to Lawrenceville, over to the South Side.  One of the hidden gems we have here is the Frick cafe.  The food is wonderful and the Frick Museum is gorgeous.

Sadly, there was a fire in our next door neighbor's beautiful home.  The firefighters did a fantastic job getting it out quickly but lots of damage was done.

We've heard all kinds of rumors regarding what's going to become of this grand home.  It's still sitting empty and deteriorating more every day.  It makes us very sad.

It's hard to believe it's fall already.  Here is my autumn urn interpretation.

Here are last year's Christmas urns.  I think they turned out so great!

We're having a great time exploring Pittsburgh and learning about all it has to offer.  I'm going to post all the new things we are experiencing here in the events that we attend and the restaurants we try.  So stay tuned and we'll keep you updated!