Renovating a Kitchen in Pittsburgh – Who We Used

When we started renovating our kitchen, we knew we wanted to support as many Pittsburgh businesses as we could over more conventional big box retailors.

Although many of the products we installed in our kitchen were, of course, not locally made, this one purchasing decision at least allowed us to help keep some of what ended up being a rather expensive remodel local.

So in this one, we thought we'd share who we used, what we thought, and more to help others who are looking to renovate a kitchen in Pittsburgh like we did!

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9 Things We Wished Pittsburgh Had from Food Boats to Transit

Over the past several years exploring Pittsburgh, we have started to get a good understanding of some of the best things the city and metro area has to offer. But on the flip side, we have also seen many of the area's issues, and are more than happy to admit there are several aspects in which the city is lacking (cough, metro system, cough cough).

As such, we thought it'd be fun to put together a list of some of the ideas we wish the city would have. 

But for this list, we wanted to keep things a bit light-hearted and fun as opposed to tackling some of the very real and serious problems our city faces. So many of the ideas below are pie-in-the-sky, likely never going to happen ideas, and none of them include a zipline from Mount Washington to the North Shore!

To put it bluntly, we did not let things like practicality, cost, or feasibility stop us in many of the below, and this list should mostly be considered what we would do if we had (a few) billion dollars, no concern for ROI, and free reign to make it all happen.

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Learning Gardening Online With Phipps Conservatory Classes

Phipps Conservatory has recently launched online classes where you can learn about a wide variety of gardening and horticulture topics all from the comfort of your own home. We recently attended a seed starting class where we learned tons of helpful tips specific to starting seeds in Pittsburgh, left with a great slide deck of information, and benefited from a helpful Q&A session at the end of class.

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Our Working Theory as to Why Driving in Pittsburgh is Awful

We will be the first to admit that driving in Pittsburgh is not the best. While our rush hours are nothing compared to other major cities in the country, there is something about Pittsburgh that makes driving here more difficult than it should be.

It would be easy for us for simply blame this on the tunnels, bridges (446 at last count), and potholes and be done with it. This is certainly a factor, of course, but our working theory goes just a bit beyond that as well.

So, why do we think driving here is not the best? We have two styles of drivers, and they are conflicting when on the road together.

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10 Specialty Stores for Shopping Outside of the Strip

When it comes to boutique shopping in Pittsburgh, it is really easy for us to simply direct you to the Strip District and (almost) call it a day. This neighborhood has so many specialty stores that you can find a great number of products all within a ~10-block shopping district.

That being said, leaving the shopping discussion to purely the Strip District would be doing you a disservice as there are many other boutique and specialty stores in the Pittsburgh area. 

In this one, we wanted to share a few of our favorites all with one thing in common- none of these are located in the Strip District. So if you're looking for a store to go deep into a particular style or item, these are a few great places to start!

Note: We know that there are way more than the following in the metro area. As with everything on this site, we will add more great stores as we visit them!

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How to Travel Pittsburgh to New York – Bus, Amtrak, and More

Are you looking to travel from Pittsburgh to New York? Well, you're in luck- there are actually a number of options available beyond just flying.

Whether you're looking to take Trailways, Amtrak, drive, or even fly, there are a number of travel options for you!

As we've taken more or less every transportation option in our travels from Pittsburgh to NYC, we wanted to break down the options in detail in this one.

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Things to Consider When Buying Pittsburgh Real Estate

Looking at Pittsburgh real estate is fun, isn't it?

Okay, we know it isn't. In fact, buying a house in Pittsburgh can be downright awful in terms of finding a location, price, and condition that matches your budget- all while being able to negotiate a deal in the hot marketplace.

In this one we wanted to share some of our thoughts after our house buying experience in hopes that it may help others moving looking to do the same!

Note: Our experiences noted below are based on us buying a house within Pittsburgh's city limits only. Those who live in a different city and/or different county may have different rules and rates to keep in mind. For specific questions, please speak to licensed Pittsburgh real estate agent.

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19 Photos of Pittsburgh’s Frozen Rivers to Make You Feel Cold

Pittsburgh and the northeastern United States started 2018 off with a bang, experiencing near record low temperatures followed by a rare bomb cyclone.

With temperatures between zero and ten degrees (before wind chill!) for many days in a row, Pittsburgh's iconic three rivers started to freeze over.

We took several trips out into the tundra known as Pittsburgh when this happened to capture some shots of the frozen wonderland. These 19 photos are some of our favorites.

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5 Pittsburgh Christmas Ornaments Perfect for Gifting

Whether you're a Pittsburgh sports fanatic, a Pitt Panther, a lifelong Yinzer, or are new to the city but have fallen in love with it, there's a Christmas ornament out there for you.

We've been looking for the best Pittsburgh Christmas ornaments, and we're here to help you with your holiday shopping with a list of some of our favorites found on Etsy!

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6 Great Garden Centers and Nurseries in Pittsburgh

If you're looking to beautify your home's outdoor space but want to shop somewhere more unique than just a big box store, Pittsburgh has plenty of local garden centers with much more interesting offerings. We've been busy checking them out to find the best- here are some of our favorites we've been to so far and the types of things you'll find at each.

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