Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Positively Pittsburgh Live News 7-23-12


Positively Pittsburgh Live News 7-23-12

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Sets Stage for 2012-2013 Season
with Free “Ballet Under the Stars” Performance at Hartwood Acres


Gather your blankets and picnic chairs, and relax under the stars for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 24th annual open air performance at the Hartwood Acres Middle Road Concert Area on Thursday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m. with pre-performance activities beginning at 5 p.m.

As part of the Allegheny Summer Concert Series, PBT will perform a free evening of mixed repertoire by August Bournonville, George Balanchine and Dwight Rhoden. Prior to the performance, PBT will host a variety of free, family activities and a VIP picnic dinner under the PBT tent.
Read the entire release here

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Free and Almost Free in Pittsburgh
5880 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA"Five Buck Friday! Every Friday through Labor Day from 5pm to 7pm. Join us outside at the grill for seasonal plates that will change weekly. For just $5 you will receive a sample size entree along with a side of your choice. While strolling the store each Friday from 5pm to 7pm, you will have the opportunity to sample our Local items."

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Celebrate & Share Invites You to the  4th  Annual Breakfast at the Rivers Club 
Celebrate the 92nd Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment! Tuesday, August 28, 2012, Rivers Club, Oxford Centre Downtown, Pittsburgh, PA, 7:45 am - 9:30 am. Donation - $45, Honorary Sponsors- $92.00, Table of 10: $450, Founding Sponsors $1,000. Hosted by Bonnie DiCarlo & JoAnn R. Forrester. Make your reservation by calling Bonnie at 412-480-5247 or emailing her at bonnie255@aol.com or call Joanne at 412.440.6969 or email her at selfimagebz@aol.com.

Join us for a special presentation on "What does the Right to Vote Mean to Me?"
Hear our distinguished panel of women talk about what the Right to Vote means to them. Panelists: Georgia Berner, Owner of Berner International, Inc, & Berner Energy, Inc; Christy Uffelman, V. President of Employee & Organization Development, Mascaro Inc.; Kelly L. Enders, Esquire, Caroselli Beachler McTiernan & Conboy; Danielle Howard, Marketing & Sales Agent, Grace Robinson Insurance Agency; Cynthia Shapira, Senior Policy Advisor to County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald.

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JAZZSPACE Resident Artists
Are hittin' the Pittsburgh scene with exciting performances all around the city. Don't miss your opportunity to check out these future jazz masters, starting with Cool Like Dat (The Redux) on July 24. Definitely unique and definitely COOL, this night is inspired by the 90s jazz-hip hop fusion hit. It will feature a collage of some of the hippest young artists in town.

Next, we hope you'll join us at Umoja's African Arts in the Park on Saturday, August 11. Downtown for the second year in a row, this free, eclectic event has something for everyone. Anqwenique will join Joe and his band, KINETIC, for a set of original tunes inspired by jazz, African pop, and African traditional music.

Finally, please SAVE THE DATE for Friday, August 17 for the JAZZSPACE Debut Concert! This will be a fun evening all about the next generation of Jazz in one of the jazziest new venues in town. Keep your eyes peeled for when we announce this location and tickets on sale by email, Facebook, and Twitter. Next week! More details here

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Penny Folino honored among Women in the Restaurant Industry
Penny Folino have been selected as a woman of outstanding leadership in the Restaurant Industry. Penny takes her place among iconic women, including Michelle Li.  Having owned restaurants in China, Michelle headed to the United States to fulfill her dream of owning and franchising pancake restaurants.  Now open for business in San Marino, California, Michelle is currently developing her franchise plan. Michelle is a Featured Leader at The IWLA.
We live in a demanding world!  Women are challenged to balance their lives in and out of the workplace, at home, and in the community.  These challenges require that we establish meaningful resources that provide options without obligation, efficiency with effectiveness, relationships with reliability.

These are the aspirations of The IWLA: to inspire you to continue to pursue personal and professional development, to surpass your own expectations, and to support other women as they strive to do the same.

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NAWBO Awards
As the 2011-2012 NAWBO year comes to a close, it is The Pittsburgh Chapter of NAWBO tradition to recognize the women in our organization and in the Greater Pittsburgh area who have contributed their time, energy and talents to women business owners, to NAWBO and to our community.  We will also recognize our new members and share news on local and national benefits of NAWBO membership..
Please join us for NAWBO's Annual /Awards Celebration.  Reserve the date, Wednesday, August 15th.  We invite you to join us for a special luncheon of celebration of great businesspersons and their friends.  The luncheon will be held at the Grand Concourse, Station Square. Registration and networking start at 1:00 PM.  The cost of the luncheon is $35.00. Read the entire release here.
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9th Annual Mid Summer Tennis Classic
Saturday, July 29
Mike and Dom have been organizing this tournament since 2004 and are now accepting registrations.To enter, go to their website below and click on the tennis ball for an entry form. 

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Baseball Stories from The Pittsburgh Quarterly Team
As we await the continuation of the Pirates' exciting season, we thought you might like to read a few baseball stories until play resumes Friday night.

First is an outstanding profile on the hottest player in the majors—Andrew McCutchen—written by the late Bruce Keidan: Eye on the ball.

Second, and appropos of the All-Star break, here's a story containing interviews of Major League greats on their recollections of Pittsburgh. It's a fascinating historical piece from many of the game's biggest names, recalling Pittsburgh through the years. Read: Pittsburgh's claim to fame.

Finally, if you want a better understanding of Pittsburgh's prominence in the old Negro Leagues, read the Golden Quill winner, The black diamond and see how "tricky baseball" dominated the Hill District's Pittsburgh Crawfords, while the Homestead Grays represented the city's black establishment. 

We wish you a wonderful summer and let's go Bucs!

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Roving Pittsburgher Report

Bigelow Grille
One Bigelow Square Pittsburgh, PA 15219, 412-281-5013

I had lunch at the Bigelow Grill in the Doubletree by Hilton Downtown to close the deal to do the gala for Hug-A-Thon Pittsburgh Day on September 6, 2012. I had the Organic Chopped Salad: romaine, avocados, swiss cheese, tomato, cucumbers, bacon, egg, corn, scallion, bell peppers, salmon, with house Balsamic vinaigrette.

Perogies for starters, cheddar cheese loaded with butter, not heart healthy and definitely holds up over all of the Pittsburgh ethnic church kitchens. For dessert we took home tins of famous Doubletree chocolate chip and nut fresh cookies. I had to give them away to my accountant and his eighty two year old mother because just one tasted like an instant coronary, as did the perogies.  But at least I would have died happy.

Will the Three Sisters find happiness?
Chekhov's Three Sisters, translated with a distinctly American flair by Paul Schmidt, directed by Harriet Power. Pittsburgh Irish Classical Theatre. Jo Ann Forrester’s review started with “Chekov’s “Three Sisters” makes me happy divorce is now an acceptable way of resolving crappy marriages made in haste in youth and repented in leisure in old age."  Review link to come

Billy Price Concert Market Square, Friday, July 20, 2012
The feeling of impending rain and the wet seats from the downpour that had just ended did not daunt the spirits of Billy Price Fans as he belted out his unique brand of soul. The scene would remind you of a piazza in Italy with all of the restaurants opened onto Market Square Bar and Grille, the Diamond Market,  La Gondola Pizzeria, Mo’s Southwest Bar and Grill and Nola Café.  We chose Nola Café, the epitome of outdoor dining in Market Square.

NOLA on the Square
24 Market Sqaure, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, 412-471-9100The drinks were “healthy” and reasonable and the Gumbo and Oyster Stew were both outstanding. The Oyster Stew featuring artichoke hearts, sherry and huge plump oysters was a meal in itself and so was the Creole Gumbo. This is direct from their website: “NOLA ON THE SQUARE, a New Orleans Jazz Brasserie located on beautifully renovated Market Square. A breathtaking transformation of the storied 1902 Landmark Tavern, a Nouveau Creole menu by Executive Chef Andrew Hebson, Bourbon Street cocktails, live jazz and blues music at least twice a week all contribute to that Big Easy vibe.” For once, I could not have said it better.


George Takai, Zulu, sighting in Market Square
Just when I though it couldn’t get any better, soul, great food, congenial environment, my partner in crime discovered George Takai walking into Nola’s. Billy Price, Creole food and George Takai in one night. That was probably more than this cardiac patient should experience in one night.

To see Techno Granny’s  star struck Star Trek fan moment click here.

And then George Takai, Zulu, sat downWhat a treat!




Grandview Saloon Regained its Name
1212 Grandview Ave. Mt. Washington, Pittsburgh, PA 15211, 412-431-1400
Still wonderful dining in the open air with a view of Pittsburgh. The food is wonderful and we could hear the concert in Station Square from on top of the Mountain.  Pittsburgh really is an amazing city.  My friend had a pulled pork sandwich that he said was “almost as good as his daughter in law’s.”  I had an amazing Greek Peasant salad with artichoke hearts, mixed greens and Greek herbed potatoes. It was both fresh and huge.

Serendipity
Two PPG Place, First Floor, Market Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, 412-325-1122
Serendipity "Accessories to express yourself.” Serendipity has been in the Pittsburgh downtown area for nine years. They carry awesome fashion accessories like designer hats. We met Kim Coppola, and her personality is as bubbly and facilitating as her accessories. I found two big beautiful large brim hats-- Big Brim Sunhat 50+ UPF Protection, malleable great for travel, that means it folds without destroying it, and completely packable. I am going back for a powder blue hat with a huge purple voile flower and a red one.  Also, the jewelry looks like it should be hundreds of dollars instead of $40.00 to $50.00 for big bold green agate necklaces.  What a find for accessories!

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This was reported as a reproduction of PositvelyPittsburghLive news done by Joanne Quinn-Smith. (c) Joanne Quinn-Smith and PositivelyPittsburghLive(TM) 2012 All rights reserved.


Tara Darazio is a Positively Pittsburgh Live reporter, an independent copywriter, blogger, article writer, and social media strategist. If you are in need of writing assistance, or need help with your social media efforts connect with Tara on LinkedIn here.

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