New Portfolio website!

It's finally complete! My portfolio website can be found at my new domain here: www.pachickster.com

Let me know what you think! I had a bear of a time trying to get the colors and other details just right.

Portfolio

Hi all~

If you've come here looking for my portfolio at www.pachickster.com, it's not quite ready yet. Keep checking back and in the meantime, you can enjoy my Blog.

Thanks!
Tricia

Tricia's Best of the 'Burgh

This is my unofficial guide to some of my favorite eateries and hangouts in Pittsburgh. So next time you're complaining about how there is nothing to do here...refer to this list. This is a work in progress...so I'll have more to add soon.

I will definitely take other suggestions under consideration for addition...just comment and I'll add it to the list if I deem it worthy. :)

I will make a new post for each neighborhood...when I add to the list, I will add a new post and a link back to the original post.

But first, here are some categories that do not fall under a certain neighborhood:

Best Place to buy Fresh Produce
Neighborhood Farmer's Markets - Check out my buy fresh, buy local blog.

Best Place to Read (for Free!)
Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh - All you need is a card! There are several locations.

Check out:
The Best of East Liberty

Tricia's Best of East Liberty

The BEST OF
My neighborhood
East Liberty
The neighborhood north of Shadyside in between Negley Ave. and Negley Run and East Liberty Boulevards and Stanton and Center/Penn (with a small section hanging out on Black and Chislett in the North West corner). Click here for more information.
Buses that run through East Liberty are:
To/From Downtown via the Strip District: 77 D/F/G from Friendship along Negley and Stanton, 86A/B via Penn Ave
To/From Downtown via Bigelow Boulevard, Baum and Negley: 77 A/B/C
To/From Downtown via Oakland: 71A from Centre along Negley, 71C via Ellsworth and Penn Ave., 500 via 5th Ave and Highland Ave.
To/From Downtown via the Hill District: 81B along Centre, Penn and Lincoln
To/From Downtown via the Busway: EBO, EBA, EBS, LP
To/From the Waterfront via Squirrel Hill and Shadyside: 64A along Negley, Centre and Highland Ave.
To/From Garfield via East Liberty Blvd., Penn and Negley: 89A
To/From Morningside, Stanton Heights and Larimer Ave: 94 A/B/C

Best Theatrical Venue
Kelly-Strayhorn Theater - Formerly the Regent Theater, it is the only movie theater of 7 from East Liberty's past to remain...now renovated into a live theatre venue focusing as a unique cultural and educational resource in the community.

Best Place for Ribs
Steel City House of Ribs - I need to get the exact street address, but it is on Highland Avenue right before Eastminister Presbyterian church across the street from National City. GOOD food, the price is right, and the service friendly.

Best Place for Ethiopian
Abay Ethiopian Cuisine - Pittsburgh's only Ethiopian Restaurant and it's sooo good! The Combo plate for 2 is probably good enough for 3 people.

Best Place for a Drink
Sharp Edge Beer Emporium - Very nice selection of imports, leaning heavy on the Belgians. They also have great burgers. A bit pricey, but you can get selected food for 1/2 price after 10:00 PM.

Best Place to get Groceries
It's a between Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market, but Trader Joe's wins for the price. Also check out the Farmer's Market.

Best Place to get your Groove On
Ava and the Shadow Lounge...I haven't been to Ava yet, but Shadow Lounge is pretty cool. Both places are connected to each other.

Best Place for Pizza
Vento's Pizza - Home Depot came in but this little pizzeria wouldn't budge. There are other good places for pizza, but I picked this one just for the good story. :)

Best Place to Read
Border's Books - 2 HUGE floors full of books, with a Seattle's Best Coffee on the 2nd floor. Also check out the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library system.

Best View
The bell tower in East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Take a tour of the building...it's pretty amazing.

Best Place to go to the Doctor
East Liberty Family Healthcare Center - They will often help you even if you don't have health insurance.

Best Place for Coffee (non-chain)
Union Project Cafe - technically it's in Highland Park, but there's another one I'll highlight there. This Cafe also has a program for training youths aging out of foster care.

More will be added as I discover them!

2nd Community Meeting for East Liberty

If you live in the area, please come! And encourage other residents to get involved as well. Information is listed below:

Pittsburgh is taking notice of East Liberty and its recent developments, and this is not happening by chance. Please help us keep the momentum going and pass the word on!

On Tuesday September 18 from 6 to 8 pm, East Liberty will hold its second Community Meeting of the summer at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. East Liberty began its discussion of an updated Community Plan in late 2003 and early 2004 with the formation of Task Forces focused on key neighborhood issues. This past June, the community reconvened to begin action planning. This community meeting will lay the framework for up-coming developments by reinvigorating the community Task Forces. We need the your support to make these Task Forces the diverse, powerful representations of East Liberty that are necessary for this new plan to be a success.

These Task Forces will address eight areas that have been highlighted by community stakeholders for their importance to the continued progress of East Liberty.

The Task Forces to be convened are:

- Safe Neighborhoods – The members of this team will explore realistic, sustainable approaches to East Liberty’s issues with drugs, violence and crime.

- Workforce – This team will work to ensure that the residents of the neighborhood will benefit from the up-and-coming economic and business developments through local, quality employment.

- Youth Engagement – This Task Force will explore and highlight positive scholastic and extra-curricular options for our youth.

- Healthy Community Members – This group will strategize ways to help the community to learn about, understand and embrace the importance of healthy, constructive lifestyles and habits.

- Housing – This team will find ways to ensure that existing and planned housing provide a high quality of life for everyone in the neighborhood.

- Parks and Recreation – This Task Force will explore strategies to ensure that East Liberty will have clean, healthy and green places for all ages to enjoy.

- Commercial Core Planning – This Task Force will underscore the importance of approaching current and future commercial development in a thoughtful, strategic manner to ensure the best outcome for those who live, work and play in East Liberty.

- Small Business – This team will investigate strategies to support the growth and vitality of small businesses which are integral to preserving the culture of East Liberty.


East Liberty is rapidly changing and it is the community’s responsibility to shape the neighborhood’s future. All community members and stakeholders are invited to attend.

For more information about the Community Meeting or Task Forces or to get involved, contact Emily Nordquist at 412.361.8061 or emily.nordquist@eastliberty.org.

Goin' to Ottawa!

My friend Maria is getting married in Ottawa this weekend. I'm so excited...this will be my first time in Canada. We are camping for two nights in Gatineau Park near Phillipe Lake. Then we'll be staying in a hostel our final night.

Expect lots of cool photos when I return. :)

The Freedom to Love

In looking at boundaries, we cannot escape one main point: responsibility. Our boundaries basically define our sense of responsibility for us. They tell us what our lives consist of and what we are responsible for. We must own our body, feelings, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, choices, desires, and limits.

If we were to stop there, behind carefully guarded fences, we would live a very safe, but very unbiblical existence. This would fall short of love, the goal of life. The biblical concept of love involves loving and laying down our life for others. However, it is impossible to give away what we do not have, and boundaries are our way of “having” the self that we can then choose to give away.

Owning our own lives is the essence of freedom, and there is no love without freedom. Freedom realizes oneself, and love motivates us to give that self to others. When we give before we are free and truly own ourselves, we have fallen short of servanthood and into slavery. Realize what you own, and then share yourself with others. This is to fulfill the law of Christ.

I read this from a great book called Changes That Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud. (cheesy title I know, but this is one of the only books that makes sense to me in terms of blending psychology and faith) This passage about "Seperating from Others" really speaks to me at this point in my life. The idea of first having freedom and then giving yourself away in love is a refreshing way to think about my sense of self and how I relate to others. I'm sure I don't have to have it ALL together in order to start giving to others, but at this point, I feel like I need to do some serious soul-searching and responsibility-building. Then I can give myself fully and not half-assed.

I'm sure it's a balance that's hard to achieve...I hope I can be at peace with where I'm at and take comfort that I don't need to try so hard...I just need to give it up to God and things will work out the way they need to.