Pittsburgh blowing up on the big screen!

First Zack & Miri Make a Porno, then My Bloody Valentine and now Adventureland.  I feel like my hometown is becoming famous!!

Now, I won't kid myself, I realize one of the main reasons movies have been filmed in Pittsburgh lately is probably because it's significantly cheaper than filming in New York, but still... there's no better city to deserve some on-screen action.

I just saw Adventureland today, and the more I think about it, the more I realize I liked it.  Set in 1987, the movie follows a nerdy post-grad kid that comes home to Pittsburgh for the summer and is stuck working at Adventureland, the local amusement park.  It reminded me of an 80's version of Almost Famous or Dazed & Confused.  The movie was funny, especially when Bill Hader and Kristen Wiigs' characters chimed in, but the movie flowed with mostly an understated humor.  Ultimately, it's a sweet coming-of-age story about a kid that grows up more in one summer at a dead-end job than he did all four years at his respectable college.

The whole movie basically took place in Kennywood, the real Adventureland in Pittsburgh.  I loved pointing out all the rides and seeing the park on the big screen.  Although, just an FYI, the movie makes the park look really run down, but in reality, it's not run down at all.  Kennywood has been around forever, but the film purposely doesn't show any of the new additions to the park or the modern roller coasters there.  Fun Fact: I read that they decided to shoot at Kennywood instead of a list of other theme parks around the country because Kennywood isn't commercialized and they didn't have to cover up a bunch of advertisements and corporate sponsors for filming.

Growing up, Kennywood was the place to be seen.  Every school district in Pittsburgh is given a "Kennywood Day," a weekday where there is no school and you're able to purchase discounted tickets to spend the day at the park.  It was of utmost importance to look cute on Kennywood Day.  Ohhh the shopping trips I would take and the hours I would spend perfecting my outfit to make sure I looked good in case I ran into any boys from school. All the girls basically looked like little hoochie-mamas on Kennywood Day.  No dress-code policy there! haha

The characters felt very authentic and the film kept true to Pittsburgh-- the homes they showed looked like homes near my neighborhood and there were plenty of landscape shots that reminded me of home.  The house parties and aimless driving over tons of yellow bridges brought back memories of high school as well.  I also liked the random glimpses of Pittsburgh pride, like the guy playing the shooting gallery game with the Lambert jersey on.  (Zack & Miri was really good with that, too.)  Fun Fact #2: The directors for both Adventureland and Zack & Miri have personal ties to Pittsburgh.  Kevin Smith (Zack & Miri) had a girlfriend from Pittsburgh and always loved the city and told himself he'd like to film there someday and Greg Mottola (Adventureland) got his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

My advice-- go see it.  

Pittsburgh being in the movies isn't new, though.  Throughout the years, lots of popular movies have been filmed in my hometown.  Here are a few to jog your memory of the Steel City on the Silver Screen:

- Wonder Boys

- Dogma

- Inspector Gadget

- Milk Money

- Groundhog Day

- The Silence of the Lambs

- Flashdance

- The Deer Hunter

Bring It On?

Interesting debate to chew on: Is cheerleading a sport?   

At the beginning of this year, the topic of high school cheerleading made it all the way to the State Supreme Court and onto the pages of ESPN online.  It's actually a really interesting case... 

As a cheerleader all throughout middle school, high school and beyond into college (Go Indians...Go Red Storm!), I get super pumped when cheerleading makes it into the headlines. Heck, I get excited when I come across cheerleading competitions on TV, but when regular folk and sports-talking guys are mentioning spirit fingers, I get all warm, fuzzy and proud inside.

The case: Varsity cheerleader, Brittany Noffke from Holmen High School in western Wisconsin decided to sue a male teammate who was her designated "spotter" (for you non-cheerleaders, it means exactly what you think it means), and failed to catch her when she fell backwards out of a stunt.  She ended up with a serious head injury.  

Seriously, cheerleading can be dangerous, y'all!

So, what do you think?  Can you sue a teammate for not catching you?  The question at hand for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court was if cheerleading was a contact sport or not.  If they decided that yes, cheering should be lumped with football and other contact sports, high schools and teammates would not be held accountable when someone gets hurt (including Brittany's teammate).  In other words, join the squad at your own risk.  But, is cheerleading really at the same level as football with injuries and danger?  And should there be no consequence for dropping a teammate??

In the greater sense of the question, it's hard for me to deem cheerleading a "sport."  I typically only associate games as sports, i.e. an athletic event with rules and a clear winner and loser at the end.  Soccer games, baseball games, etc.  The main and original purpose of cheerleading is to support the players in those aforementioned games.  Even when we show off our amazing abilities in competitions, there is still no clear cut winner/loser.  A panel of judges grades each team on their fancy footwork and the "wow factor" of their performance.... how does that fit?  In my world of sports, a team can play a dirty and messy game and still win.

But then there are the Olympics.  They just throw a huge wrench in my idea of sports.  Figure skating, gymnastics, diving... the winners for each are determined by judges and they are all absolutely considered sports.  What is the definition of a sport anyway?  Dictionary.com defines a sport as "physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."  By that definition, cheerleading qualifies for sport status.  But, contact sport status??  There is no risk in the actual "leading of cheers."  When a team begins engaging in stunts and gymnastics, though, it gets more serious. In fact, tons of squads across the country do not allow their cheerleaders to stunt or tumble for the specific reason that those activites are dangerous.  

And voila, with that last statement, I think I have my answer. 

Cheerleading that incorporates stunting and gymnastics is a contact sport, and schools and teammates cannot be held monetarily liable if someone gets hurt.  The nature of the sport is dangerous and you should know that going in.  Tossing people high into the air, balancing a person on human hands (at least) six feet in the air and forcefully springing your body into the air unnaturally can potentially cause injuries, just as sacking a quarterback can potentially cause injuries.  And yes, if your teammate drops you, he should be reprimanded, but not in the courtroom and not to pay for your medical bills.  No one forced you to cheerlead and no one forced you to be the girl in the air.  We all make mistakes and injuries happen in cheerleading.

Do you agree with me?  Check out the full story from ESPN Rise online.

PS - the Wisconsin Supreme Court felt the same way I did.  On January 27, 2009 cheerleading was made an official contact sport, at least in the eyes of Wisconsin.

Expensive Bag Heaven

Last week I met with a fashion writer from Paper Magazine and she complimented me on my Botkier (spent way too much money on it when I didn't have any) Chrystie bag.  

Let me repeat: a woman who has made a career out of deciding what fashions and brands are cool enough to be written about in your favorite mags told meee that she liked my bag. Like, we literally had elevator chat about it.

Not that I blame her.  My Chrystie bag is super pretty.  It's made of soft black leather with a diagonal snakeskin sectional pocket on the front. Plus, it's surprisingly sturdy and huge inside.

Needless to say, my expensive purchase has now been completely validated. :)

It was my Christmas gift to myself and I did buy it from Gilt Groupe, so I didn't pay retail, thank goodness.  Most of the time those "sample sale" sites just clog up my inbox and I don't allow myself to look... but sometimes you can really get some good steals.

Here are a few I like:

- Gilt Groupe

- Haute Look

- Shop It to Me

- Ideeli

Check 'em out and achieve your very own bag/shoe/designer clothing nirvana.  It's no secret that it feels that much better when you get it on sale!  As in, there's not near as much guilt, haha.

Sidenote: if you need an invite to any of the above sample sale sites, no worries-- leave me a comment and I'll hook you up. 

Reem Acra love

                    

Now that red carpet season is over and wedding season is beginning... I want to talk dresses.

Not to sound weird, but I know the designer I want my wedding gown to be.  I'm eons away from getting hitched, but I'm certainly in love with Reem Acra.

I first saw a Reem Acra dress in a random OK! Magazine last year as a dress they were predicting some celeb to get married in (Ashlee Simpson perhaps?).  I was getting a pedicure and I was transfixed by how gorg this dress was.  Having no pen or paper around while in a pedicure chair, I actually whipped out my cell phone and texted myself a note so I wouldn't forget the name of the designer.

The dress was strapless, and the bodice looked a tad like a Herve Leger bondage dress with slight jeweled detailing to accentuate the criss-crossing silk sections.  At the waist, the "bondage" ended in a thin silk belt, and the dress flowed down to the floor in a light and airy A-line shape.  B-e-a-utiful.

Months later, as award season began, I was constantly reminded why I need to purchase a Reem Acra dress for my next red carpet event (aka my wedding, because that will probably be the only "red carpet" event in my life, hahaha).  It seemed like every dress I liked on the red carpet circuit was a Reem Acra: Oliva Wilde, Rumer Willis and Eva Longoria at the Golden Globes.  Kate Beckinsale at the Grammys.  Even Jill Biden wore Reem Acra for the Inauguration Ball.

Reem Acra dresses are just so flattering and feminine.  The bodice holds everything up and perfectly contrasts with the pretty and graceful (and forgiving) A-line skirt.  

So, the dress is done.  Guess I just need to find the man, ha.

www.reemacra.com

Reem Acra Salon

14 E. 60th St. New York

212-308-8760

The Great Magical Wave-Maker

Beach-worthy hair waves in the dead of winter... what was previously thought impossible is now quite doable with the Remington Emi Style System Dryer with Airwave attachment.

I fell in love with the idea of the Airwave attachment through Beauty Blogging Junkie, but actually decided to buy the contraption when I saw the price.  At only $30(!) and full of rave reviews from all the beauty blogs, I figured it was worth a try.  I needed a new blow dryer anyway.

An ionic ceramic blow dryer, the Remington Emi is good for hair and leaves a healthy shine, but in addition to being a quality blow dryer, it comes with fancy attachments!  That's where the real fun lies.  There are two attachments: a Concentrator attachment that helps smooth and de-frizz hair, and, the really cool one - an Airwave attachment that acts as a mini wind tunnel and corkscrews your hair while drying for a unique mermaid look.  

I lovesss it!  This summer, I really got into the "au naturel" look and let my hair air dry into its natural loose waves everyday.  I became super accustomed to this easy hair routine and got a rude awakening when cold weather set in.  I either froze trying to let my hair air dry, or was unhappy with the results when I tried to enhance my waves with a dryer.  Then, voila, the Emi came into my life.

For loose, beachy waves, here is what I recommend.  Comb a detangle spray/lotion through wet hair and for about 3-5 minutes, blow dry hair with or without the Concentrator attachment (less time for short or fine hair). Next, attach the Airwave and slowly feed in 1-2 inch sections of hair and run the Airwave up and down the length.  After you finish half of your head, you should have a bunch of twisted, pretty dreadlocks.  Spray the section lightly with aerosol hairspray and then do the same to the other side.  Run your fingers through hair and loosen up and separate all the twists, then run larger chunks of hair through the Airwave until hair is just about dry.  Flip your head over and give it another once-over with aerosol hairspray and you're done.  Hair will be dry and have pretty, bouncy waves, too!

You gotta give this one a try.  Drugstore.com

PS - it's even on sale now!  Go on and shop guilt-free ;)

SIXBURGH!!

Well, it's been a week since the Pittsburgh Steelers' sixth Superbowl win in Tampa, and I am just beginning to come off of my high.  What a game... what a team... what an awesome way to make history and put the city of Pittsburgh on the map.

If yinz didn't know already, I grew up in Pittsburgh.  I've been living here in New York for a little over six years now, but my love for the Steelers hasn't faded, in fact, it's grown.  If you're ever sick of your hometown, I know the remedy.... move.  It's freeing to get to know a new city, and slowly, you begin to appreciate/miss the quirky trademarks of home and develop a newfound pride in where you came from.  You turn up the TV when the news mentions something about it, your ears perk up when you hear someone nearby talking about it, or in my case, you feel the need to become BFFs  and buy shots for anyone wearing a Steelers jersey in the bar...

When the Steelers made it to the Superbowl three years ago, I bought an inconvenient and slightly disastrous flight home (looking at an outdated schedule and taking the PATH to Newark Airport with only 45 minutes til takeoff to miss the flight at the gate by 5 minutes... and then sitting in the airport for 6 more hours with only a freaking $8 food voucher, grrrrrr), and when the Super Steelers made it once again this year, I knew there was no place I'd rather be.

It was a perfect weekend; the city truly comes alive when our Steelers do well.  I spent my Saturday afternoon in the Strip.  It's the spot to get your not-so-official Steelers gear from the street vendors and your breads, meats, cheeses and chocolate from the mom and pop delis and bakeries along the way.  A stop for lunch at the original Primanti's location with a line out the door and a group of crazed middle aged women decked out in Steeler gear doing cheers made the day complete.

On Sunday, I did not leave my house.  The whole day was spent preparing nervously for the game.  Many Iron City beers were consumed, the Superbowl spreads and dips were made and I changed three times into different Steeler shirts, unsure which was best to wear at game time.  I decided on my old Bettis jersey... lucky #36.  Worked for me in Superbowl XL and worked for me the past two playoff games.  Everyone in the whole city was wearing Steeler apparel, even the dogs.  With amazing foresight, I bought my german shepherds, Renner and Luna personalized Steeler doggie jerseys for Christmas.

What an awesome game.  From the moment of kickoff, my phone was buzzing with texts from literally everyone I knew in New York.  In the first 5 minutes of play, when we almost got our first touchdown, we thought we might have an easy game (ha).  When James Harrison intercepted the ball and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown at the half time mark, we were amazed, elated and pumped to power through the next half.

Halftime... the Boss delivered a great show.  I'm loving this reversion to old school rock stars like last year's Tom Petty and now Bruce.  I may have been born forty-some years too late.

The third quarter began and was finished before we knew it.  Then came the fourth quarter and a severe blow to our confidence in the Steel Curtain.  Two touchdown passes from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald gave the Cardinals their first lead in the game by a mere three points, with only a little over two minutes left in the game.  My mom and I held hands, no joke, and the house went silent.  

We prayed for a miracle, and a miraculous play was exactly what we got.  Ben moved the ball down the field pass by pass to the 6 yard line.  After an incomplete pass to Santonio Holmes in the end zone, Ben threw again on second down to Santonio on the opposite side of the end zone.  It worked.  It worked!!  It was a heavenly catch, a magical catch by Holmes, toes dragging in the end zone, arms outstretched and grabbing the ball out of the air.  And that was it.  With 35 seconds left in the game, we ripped the Cardinals brief lead away from them and took home history.

I stayed in Pittsburgh til Wednesday so I wouldn't miss the victory parade.  What a show.  The city was packed by 9:30am, and we started drinking 16oz. IC Lights in Primanti's by 10.  The streets filled up so we took to the parking garage to get a bird's eye view.  Even the top level of the garage was filled with fans.  We watched each Chevy truck drive by and screamed and waved our Terrible Towels with everyone else.  We saw Jeff Reed (knowing him right away by his bleached mutton chops), James Harrison with the Vince Lombardi trophy and Santonio Holmes, proudly showing off his MVP trophy.  And, highlight of the day, we saw Troy Polamalu crowdsurf into the fans below us.  Too raw (sorry, that's my brother's phrase).  And in an interesting twist, he was wearing Uggs, hahaha.

I love, love my team.  I will become a New Yorker in very other way, and I will like the Giants and love the Yankees, but I will always love my Steelers more.  I have pride in Sixburgh. :)

Fresh Air, Old Memories

Warning: This post may not hold any interest if you did not attend St. John's University.

Yesterday I needed fresh air, so I went for a long walk - the in 20 degree weather no less.  It felt good to be numbingly cold.

I wandered through my neighborhood and around the frozen pond down the street (where do the turtles go when the pond freezes over?), over to Jamaica Estates (Starbucks/Barnes & Noble stop), and then made the return trip.  I passed college friends' old apartments and remembered the fun we had in them and cut through St. John's campus and saw the changes and remembered the way it looked all those times I trudged through the snow to class.  It all seems so long ago already.  Specific moments flew back like a stream of consciousness. 

Walking past the house on 168th Place (the atrocity next door is finally built - complete in pink sandstone and adorned with large stars, ha), I remembered sitting helpless on the stoop one morning after I'd lost my cell phone and my dignity and needed to apologize, but couldn't wake anyone up to answer the door for me (What was I thinking?  What college kid would be up at 9:30am on a Saturday??).  And then the time I locked my keys in my car and we made a mad dash on the bike (complete with me on the pegs... hilarious in hindsight), whizzing past high school kids on 164th St. at 8 in the morning to find the spare keys in my apartment before alternate side parking came into effect at 8:30 (oh the guilt of making you race around with me to find them...I felt ridiculous standing on those pegs, and heavy, haha, you shouldn't stand on pegs past age 9).  At least we made it in time!

Now on Homelawn, I walked past another group of friends' house and thought of that awesome summer post-college, right after you guys moved in there and none of us realized life was going to change that much after we got degrees (kind of a bummer that it actually did).

As I approached campus, I remembered the moment I first set foot on campus (Is this what college is supposed to feel like?  Is this the right school for me?  Will I fit in...be homesick?). Oh and now the Great Lawn... ultimate frisbee on those sunny days and our ill-fated bake sale (that included some delicious melted chocolate pudding pie and lots of help from friends). Passing the church, I remembered when it was first built, and RCIA classes, and racing back every Tuesday/Thursday afterwards for lunch with everyone at Montgoris.  Remember when the St. Vincent Stairs didn't exist??  Now that was ridiculous (...cutting through 2 or 3 buildings just to get to the other side of campus... no sense).  Good ol' Montgoris - group dinners, morning-after brunches, stealing lunch trays for sled riding (and eating the same meal, the only one I could stomach, everyday... deli sandwich and cucumbers with ranch dressing).  Oh man, and then I saw Donovan Hall.  I looked up and saw all of our bedroom windows... the smoker's rock outside is gone now (God, I wish I was a freshman again).  Oh and that back fence that we'd hop to cut the corner on the way to Traditions... lots of cuts, ripped jeans and bumps from doing that every week, ha.  

Leaving campus, I remembered that dumpster/cafeteria stench and the air conditioner "rain" by Gate 6 (now that's actually just really disgusting, haha), and waiting on the curb for cabs to Bogarts  or - gag - DNA, hahaha.  That scary ROTC building with the barbed wire is now the Public Safety office (sans barbed wire, thank god).  Ohhhh those mundane nights of scanning IDs for Public Safety to make minimum wage.  Sgt. Anna!  She scared me and looked so tough.  Always thought she was a lesbian, but learned later she was preggers, so who knows. 

Then, I found myself en route to Traditions... We never wore appropriate outerwear, thinking it took away from our "hot" outfits for the bar.  Therefore, we froze our butts off during the walk and would borderline run and pretend we weren't cold.  "It's summer and we're wearing bikinis!!"  "It's so warm - all I'm wearing are shorts... and a top hat!"  Haha, don't ask.  There were so many walks (and stumbles) to and from that bar.

Funny how "fresh air" can bring back so many old thoughts and memories.  And that was only one side of Union Turnpike.  If I had gone to the other side, I would've passed two more old apartments and tripled the memories.

I guess it was a nostalgic day.