Good Friends Host Retirement Dinner

For me? Wow!

We had trouble finding a date when I wasn’t out of town. And-

They both still work full time. They also have lots of activities with their kids as I do (grandkids), too, but finally we coordinated a date. Just yesterday- Sunday. Everything was so welcoming.

Doesn’t matter I will be retired 4 years in June 😀. I thought it was lovely to be entertained royally and then sent home with homemade cookies, decorated so lovingly.

I am fortunate to have such very good friends who cheer me on and celebrate my retirement.

A beautiful table set with China and candles and linens and the dinner was delicious.

P.S. check out my host’s GOT shirt with matching package of Oreos. He was ready to watch the upcoming battle everyone was anticipating.

Thanks for a lovely dinner.❤️

McWalker Yarns in Millvale Celebrates First Anniversary

You might remember my post last April of McWalker Yarns opening in Millvale PA.

Click McWalker Yarns website for class schedules, hours and directions.

Today knitters and friends gathered in the LYS (Local Yarn Shop/Store)  to celebrate the first anniversary.  

 Hospitable, knowledgeable and skilled staff on duty. Owner Amy Walker McCall second from left and Jess, Joanna and Lauren,    Ready to welcome you to McWalker Yarns and assist you in choosing the perfect yarn for the projects you want to create, whether it be knitting, crochet or spinning.

Class schedules, Monthly Knit Alongs and Knitting Community gatherings and events are listed on the website. and on FB page here 

It was a happy celebration with  Chocolate cake and champagne.  Congratulations McWalker Yarns and wishing you many more anniversaries to come. 

 

 

Standing Ovation for Simon Vullo Underiner’s Pipe Organ Senior Recital

This magnificent photo captures the evening perfectly, photographed by guest blogger, Andrew Wagner.

Everyone standing up and applauding heartily for Simon Vullo Underiner’s Senior Recital on the Pipe Organ.   Taken Thursday evening at Holy Spirit Chapel, Duquesne University. The music was magnificent.  Congratulations Simon!

Simon Vullo Underiner looks down from the Pipe Organ balcony as everyone stands and applauds his senior recital. Photographed by Andrew Wagner 
Simon Vullo Underiner with Organ and Sacred Music Professor Dr. Ann Labounsky

Program Pieces  –            Fantasia in F Minor K. 608 I. Allegro Maestoso II, Adante  III. Allegro  by W. A. Mozart
Wacahet auf, rßft uns die Stimme BWV 645  by J. S. Bach
Sonata V for Organ  IAdante  II. Adante con Moto  III. Allegro Maestoso by Felix Mendelsshon- Bartholdy
Arioso (from Six Pieces) by  Joseph Wilcox  Jenkins
L’Ascension   I. The Majesty of Christ    II. Serene Alleluias    III Outbursts of Joy
IV, Prayer of Christ Ascending    by  Olivier Messiaen   

 

 

Man’s Best Friend and Books

The sculpture of the dog with a stack of books on his head has always caught my attention when I drive by the Millvale Community Library.  Tonight Steve  and I walked down Grant Avenue after dinner to see it up close. What an invitation to come inside and find a good book to read.

The artist is Pittsburgh sculptor James Simon and the sculpted dog’s name is Pages.

And how about those magnificent door handles? I know there’s a story there.

Miilvale. Just across the Allegheny River from the city of Pittsburgh. You’ve seen my posts of Panza Gallery, Grant Avenue Bar, McWalker Yarns, Jean-Marc Chatellier Bakery, Tazza D’Oro, bicycle racks and Esthers’s Hobby Shop  -to name a few.

 

Millvale Community Library  213 Grant Avenue   Millvale, Pennsylvania

http://millvalelibrary.org/staff-board/

Spring Hats Evoke Another Era to Me

When I was visiting the family in Ohio for an extended stay, one of the last days I was there we went to Von Maur, a lovely department store in Columbus at the Polaris Mall.

Maura and I saw all the elegant Spring/Easter hats on display.  She tried on a gray one that matched her Ohio State Swim shirt.  A gracious salesperson asked if we needed any help and of course, we did not. But she didn’t seem worried about trying on a hat.

(*see Men’s Hat Posts below the photos)

Growing up, almost all women in church wore hats.

.The Kentucky Derby, the first Saturday in May, is a place to wear a fashionable hat. Or a Derby party as you watch the race on TV.  You see Royal Wedding attendees sporting stylish hats.  I wish I’d looked inside the hats to see where they are made. Do you own a hat and on what occasion do you wear it?

Putting on a hat can change your whole persona, help you feel dressed to the nine.  The epitome of dressing up in style.

“To the nine” is an English idiom meaning “to perfection” or “to the highest degree” or to dress “buoyantly and high class”. In modern English usage, the phrase most commonly appears as “dressed to the nine” or “dressed up to the nine”.

 

*  And not to leave the men out of the hat post.

I posted Meyer the Hatter in New Orleans in 2009 

and the Bleecker Street Hat Shop in NYC post in 2012

 

Look What Steve Bought at Bloomfield Groceria

We were sad when a local neighborhood business on Cedarville Street, Groceria Italiana, closed their doors last summer..

But here’s the good news!

It  has recently reopened as Bloomfield Groceria.  It’s really close to Steve’s work so he picked up this wonderful ravioli and brought it home.

We are thrilled they are in business under new proprietors.

Especially after tonight’s dinner of their delicious Spinach and Cheese Ravioli. I sautéed baby spinach- you can see it peeking out underneath.

And I grated some fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. I asked Steve if he could  to pick up mushroom ravioli for dinner next week.

Here’s an Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article written by Bob Batz, Jr., about the new Bloomfield Groceria  

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/neighborhood/2019/03/25/Bloomfield-Groceria-Italiana-Italian-grocery-store-Cedarville-Little-Italy-opens/stories/201808050006