Lifestyles category, Page 168
Lincoln Avenue Brewery hoping to be ‘Cheers’ of BellevueVideo
Grant Saylor learned to brew beer on his back porch. Now he helps run Lincoln Avenue Brewery in the once-dry borough of Bellevue, where a May 2015 referendum overturned the longtime ban on liquor licenses. “We know it’s a leap of faith to try this business in a once-dry town,”...
Victoria’s Secret hires first transgender model
NEW YORK — Valentina Sampaio has become the first openly transgender model hired by Victoria’s Secret nearly a year after a top company official was pressured to apologize for implying trans women are off brand. Sampaio, a Brazilian, has been posting from behind the scenes of a VS Pink campaign...
French’s rolls out tangy, sweet, neon mustard ice cream
National Mustard Day has already squirted by this year — Aug. 3 — but French’s has brought new reason to celebrate. It’s still summer, and we are still screaming for ice cream, so the mustard manufacturer has obliged — French’s Mustard Ice Cream. And some taste testers give it two...
Headwaters party supports watershed association
The third annual Headwaters Party will raise money to help support the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association’s growing recreation programs, including its new water trail, says Annie Quinn, executive director. Money raised at the 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 10 event at Yinzer Valley Farms, 681 Mulberry Hill Road, Mt. Pleasant,...
From Zen to zany, backyards with style and personality
For some people, backyards aren’t just backyards anymore. “We’re seeing everything from Zen retreats for al fresco yoga to whimsical children’s spaces that go way beyond the typical swing set,” says Jennifer Bringle, editor in chief of Casual Living magazine. More and more, she says, homeowners are putting the same...
Out & About: Westmoreland Walks pops corks at Bella Terra event
Having a glass of wine (or maybe two) at a scenic area winery is a great way to wrap up the work week. Westmoreland Walks Inc. offered that opportunity to about 130 supporters with Pink Corks at the Vineyard, on Aug. 2 at Bella Terra Vineyards near Hunker. The sunset...
Out & About: Gig on Main gets downtown Irwin rocking
For good food and fun, there’s nothing better than a block party — except maybe a two-block party. The annual Gig on Main took over two blocks of Irwin’s major thoroughfare on Aug. 3, and party-lovers of all ages stopped in. A bandstand was set up at the intersection of...
Out & About: STAT Summerfest highlights healing power of horsesVideo
There’s one kind of horsepower that will make your engine run. There’s another kind that can assist in various kinds of healing, personal empowerment and therapy. It was that second kind of power highlighted at the fourth annual Summerfest on Aug. 3 at STAT Ligonier Therapeutic Center in Cook Township....
Out & About: Sweet dogs are special guests at Animal Friends bash
Organizers from Animal Friends of Westmoreland called their latest fundraiser the Dog Days of Summer Cash Bash — a fitting name both for the date and for the personable pooches in attendance. Not only did attendees at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield have a chance to go home with a share...
Restaurants, drivers grapple with challenges from expansion of food-delivery apps
Stephanie Stefan can wait up to 20 minutes for a DoorDash order to be prepared by a restaurant, only to make between $5 and $6, she said. The 50-year-old Jeannette resident has worked as a driver for the popular food delivery app for three weeks. She already has reservations about...
A summer tomato gratin with bright flavor and no mush
A summer tomato gratin should burst with concentrated, bright tomato flavor and contrasting firm texture from the bread, but most recipes lead to mushy results. Not this one. Starting our gratin on the stovetop initiated the break down of the tomatoes, drove off some moisture that would otherwise have sogged...
10 unusual fruits you’ve probably never tried before
You’ve been eating fruit since you were a kid. Strawberries, apples, grapes — you know the usual suspects. But you can go beyond the banana and find a whole new world of sweet, fibrous fruits out there. Because of their known health benefits, fruits are popular around the world. Many...
Living with Children: Model emotional control for your kids
As I crisscross the country in public speaker mode, I poll people in various demographic categories. I ask how they were raised, what their parents were like, how their parents disciplined, how they raised their own kids, their perceptions of how their kids are raising their grandkids and so on....
Supporting a partner veering off course
Hi Carolyn: My partner completed an undergraduate degree but struggled to find a career in that industry. Under pressure from family, they followed and struggled through a career path they hated for two years before deciding to go back to college to complete another undergraduate in something they thought they...
Travel tip: Gettysburg Rocks festival helps kids with cancer
If Gettysburg has a soundtrack, it’s a fife, drum and banjo, right? Not during Gettysburg Rocks, scheduled for Aug. 9-11. Held in February and August, the semiannual music festival features about 150 bands playing a variety of music genres at 20 area venues. Founded in 2014, the event benefits Four...
3 generations inspire annual Festa Italiana di Vandergrift
Vince Putignano watched his father Andrew’s face during the performance of the Italian national anthem at a festival in Pittsburgh’s Strip District many years ago. “The pride my dad saw that day when he looked at my grandfather during that song inspired my father to start an Italian festival in...
Need information on safe cosmetics? Here are some resources
When Ovie Marshall, an esthetician at The Spa at Aestique in Hempfield, decided to use natural beauty and skin care products, she says she found valuable information in Stacy Malkan’s 2007 book, “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.” The book asserts that (as of...
Overcome these 4 nagging zucchini problems
There’s a joke among gardeners who grow zucchini. During good years, we tease about leaving a few baseball bat-sized zucchini on the neighbor’s stoop and doing the old ding-dong-dash just to get rid of them. But, the truth is that it always seems to be feast or famine when it...
Troy Hill, East Liberty latest in East End Brewing’s neighborhood beer collection
Next up on East End Brewing’s neighborhood beer list: Troy Hill and East Liberty. The neighborhoods were chosen by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and are part of the “YOU ARE HERE” beer series by East End Brewing Co. and announced via Instagram. View this post on Instagram Our YOU ARE...
It’s International Beer Day — raise a glass to celebrate
As if a Friday in the middle of summer couldn’t get any better … today is International Beer Day. Take these “calendar days” for what you will … but we are behind any day dedicated to a brew or two. According to our friends at daysoftheyear.com: “Originally started in Santa...
Cooking demos, garlic, Ligonier Country Market highlights
Ligonier Country Market will be particularly fragrant on Aug. 3, as visitors learn all about garlic and enjoy cooking demonstrations featuring vendors’ products. Owner Philip Faranda of Faranda Farm in Hollsopple, Somerset County, will attend the market with information about its 10th annual Laurel Highlands Garlic Festival, or what it...
Minivan sales keep falling, but experts say they’ll live on
DETROIT — They were the suburban vehicle of choice in the 1990s and early 2000s, but ever since, minivans appeared to be riding the slow lane to extinction. The soccer moms who once made the boxy people-haulers ubiquitous have shunned them for car-based SUVs with three rows of seats. Many...
Locally made skin-care products and cosmetics find their niche
“You are what you eat” has long been a folksy tenet of good health. Increasingly, people are coming around to the notion that you also are what you put on your body in the form of skin-care and beauty products. Ovie Marshall, a medical and laser esthetician at The Spa...
Whistling Winds Flower Farm boasts bouquets and banquetsVideo
Since 2000, Monica Puskar and her husband, Stan Puskar, have operated a “hobby farm” in Mt. Pleasant Township. “We did church events, had festivals; both of our kids’ weddings were here,” Monica Puskar says of her rural home. But the idea of a cut-flower business and hosting other events persisted....
Creativity, functionality both matter in playroom decor
Go bold. Stay practical. Think long-term. These are among the tips offered by interior decorators for creating a fresh, fun — even inspiring — playroom for kids. Foster creativity “I love bold choices in a playroom,” says Mel Bean, a designer in Tulsa, Okla. In one client’s theater room, for...
