Author Archives: Mandy

Pittsburgh Tweet Up #2

For this month’s Tweet Up, we have joined forces with the Mattress Factory. Jeffrey Inscho has been instrumental in planning a Social Media Meet Up in conjunction with the opening reception for the MF‘s newest exhibit, PREDRIVE: After Technology. In order to become part of this event you will need to register here. Join us on Friday the 14th. from 8-10 pm to enjoy free beer, wine and apps as well as great art and good conversation. If you want more information check out Pittsburgh’s Tweet Up page and if you aren’t already following the Mattress Factory on Twitter, you can find them here: @MattressFactory.  Cheers!

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Pizza and Other Pittsburgh Lunch-time Offerings

I work downtown and one of my favorite parts of the job is deciding where to have lunch every day! My co-workers and I started keeping tabs of all the great eateries in Pittsburgh last year and have hit up quite a few of them since then. I’ll admit, most of my favorites are places that offer pizza… because I am simply obsessed. Our latest lunch-time outing was to Piccolo Forno in Lawrenceville. We had been there a few times before but this time I was due for pizza. I love the atmosphere of Piccolo Forno, it is bright and airy throughout with brick walls, high ceilings and modern lighting. It isn’t very big, which I like… it gives you the feeling you are in a huge city and you are just thankful you get to be a tiny part of it! The staff is super friendly and you can watch them making your pizza in the fire oven right in front of you. It can be a place to go for a quite, relaxing lunch or somewhere to hang out with friends after work. You can even bring your own bottles of wine. How great is that? This trip, I ordered a pizza and I am not ashamed to admit I ate the WHOLE thing (don’t judge). I can’t wait until I get a craving for pizza again, or tiarmasu or panninis or a great salad (need I go on?) because I’ll be right back at Piccolo Forno enjoying every second of my meal. Stop by Butler Street and take a seat. Then be sure to let me know how you liked it… also, I’d like to know if I’m the only one who finishes an entire pizza BY MYSELF!

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Fall fun in Mt. Lebanon

I spent last weekend exploring Mt. Lebanon and wanted to share my new-found love of this neighborhood! We had a late dinner at Little Tokyo, a fabulous Japanese restaurant right on Washington Road. Because my friend lives literally right beside LT we were able to take a walk and check out the shops that were bursting with energy on a beautiful Saturday night while we waited for our order. We caught an art show at a gallery and went back in time at Rollier’s Hardware Store. After enjoying some of the best sushi I’ve ever had… we called it a night. But my time in Mt. Lebo was not over. In the morning, we woke early and trekked down Washington Rd. to Pamela’s for breakfast. We sat at one of their many outdoor tables and enjoyed the people and fall foliage. Just a few more reasons to love Pittsburgh and it’s surrounding neighborhoods!

PGH Exeeding My Expectations Yet Again

What a week to be in Pittsburgh. Last Wednesday, I participated in Pittsburgh’s first Tweet Up, which was beyond awesome. Rarely do things exceed my expectations, but I have been in a state of awe since I stepped foot in Belle Notte on Wednesday evening. My colleagues and I experienced by far the best pizza ever in the strip and will be partaking again this Wednesday. Needless to say, I am a bit antsy just thinking about the dough that is the perfect balance of thick and crispy, thanks to cooking it right on the stone and the shredded, yes shredded pepperoni. The place exuded an air of your down-home pizza joint and I pictured myself frequenting it with family and friends, having long conversations and laughing over the delicious aroma.

Ok enough of this, it is making me hungry, and onto my next praise of Pittsburgh. The fireworks on Saturday night were a definite example of just how awesome Pittsburgh really is. It was exhilarating to see fellow burgh’rs atop Mt. Washington cheering together in celebration of the Iron City. As if delicious local pizza and large firework displays weren’t enough…

I was utterly impressed by a coffee shop just this morning. 21st Street Coffee in the strip made my day in many ways. I loved the combination of the hot mocha and cool whipped cream almost as much as the combination of my hot drink and the cool, crisp morning we experienced. The staff was friendly, even at 7 a.m. and the raspberry pecan muffin was a perfect accompaniment to my coffee. As I drove to the office I thought to myself, how could one city offer so many wonderful places and things to do… and it took me all of 2 seconds to answer myself simply, “Because its Pittsburgh, that’s why!”

Pittsburgh's First TweetUP

Hello to all my fellow Pittsburgh enthusiasts. My name is Mandy McFadden and I’m going to be sharing my side of the Steel City with you every week! My first task is to inform you about Pittsburgh’s first TweetUP. I guess I should start with explaining exactly what Twitter is. Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows users to chat with followers using 140 characters or less. The “tweets” can include links and you can “retweet” messages to ensure proper exposure.

Now that you know WHAT Twitter is… let me tell you what value it has. I work for an interactive marketing agency in the strip and we use it for our biz to notify contacts of recent job postings, new hires, new account and site launches. We are also beginning to use it for our clients, which are mostly higher ed, tourism and non-profit. Those clients have tons of ways to reach out to their audience via Twitter, like open houses at colleges, special travel packages and charity event reminders. Twitter has accumulated quite a following and Pittsburgh is a huge part of that following. IheartPGH twitters, PGH Tech Council twitters, Pittsburgh Post Gazette twitters… need I go on?

So back to the TweetUP. We decided it was high time for all the Pittsburgh Twitter(-ers?) to meet in person to discuss on a casual front, topics related to social media, technology etc… This will be a true meeting of the minds! All skill sets are welcome and topic suggestions can be sent to @m0remandee or @hmaust via Twitter. The minds will be meeting on Wednesday, October 1st from 7-9 at the Firehouse Lounge in the strip. You can visit our NING page here and become a part of the Pittsburgh TweetUP group. There we can share photos, info and more. I hope to see all of you Pittsburgh twits there! (HA!)