Penn Brewery is celebrating their 25th birthday with an 80’s bash. Bring back your big hair and rewind your wardrobe to celebrate with Penn Brewery.
Here is a fun fact about the place from the Penn Brewery Wikipedia page – the brew pub opened in 1989 and Sophie Masloff tapped the first keg.
I know we tend to post about Pittsburgh events, but I hope that we can do more posting about businesses, organizations and people here in Pittsburgh too. This is a cool update about a Pittsburgh company that has been quietly working to become a very green business.
Earlier this year – you may have remembered that we moved IheartPGH website hosting to pair Networks. First of all pair Networks is kind enough to support IheartPGH by donating website hosting (and in the interest of transparency I am working with them on another blogging project – sneak peek here). We are also excited to use pair Networks for website hosting because they are, and have been, located in Pittsburgh for the past 15 years and pair Networks is one of the greenest website hosting companies around.
So in an effort to continue their green work – pair Networks has just announced that they are partnering with Leilani Munter, aka Carbon Free Girl. Munter has been named one of the top ten female drivers in the world by Sports Illustrated. Every time Leilani races, she adopts an acre of rain forest to offset her carbon footprint. Leilani holds a degree in biology from the University of California in San Diego.
A little more about pair Networks:
Here is what pair Networks says about being green:
A 100-percent carbon neutral company, pair Networks (http://www.pair.com) makes environmental conservancy a central commitment, with workplace policies that encourage Earth-friendly commutes and many other sustainable practices.
I can attest to the fact that pair Networks is serious about being green – Carbon neutral is just the beginning – everything about their office is approached with a mindset of conservation – there are no disposable coffee cups or forks at the pair Networks headquarters. pair Network is also an enthusiastic support of many Pittsburgh organizations like BikePGH, Gasp and Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
A few weeks ago I was sitting at my desk putting together a list of things to do – or trying to put together a list of things to do in Pittsburgh for the weekend. It was right after Christmas and there was no Steelers game that weekend so it was a little challenging. There is always something to do in Pittsburgh but we try our hardest to write about NEW things to do in town and that can occasionally be a challenge. Just as I was about to pack up the lap top for the night (geek speak for throwing in the towel) I received an email from a friendly fellow… one of the founders of Wawadoo.
Wawadoo, as they explained, is a recommendation engine for events. Think Pandora radio but art gallery openings, drink specials, and music shows. That’s Wawadoo. They explain the system
Image by cynthiacloskey via Flickr
like this: Just login and you’ll see a list of events. Then, each time you vote “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on an event the system will recommend things to do that match your interests and tastes.
After meeting with the founders I am excited to share their story because it is good news for Pittsburgh too and I think Wawadoo could be pretty cool too. I had incorrectly assumed that one of the founders was here in Pittsburgh to attend CMU or Pitt. But nope these 2 guys packed up their lives and moved to town to bring Wawadoo to the Alphalab incubator (the photo to the right is of the Alpha lab office space on Carson St.). Yep – they left texas behind to come north to Pittsburgh to start their new business.
I hope that you will help them test out the new site as a beta user – just sign up here. The beta version of the site will be launching soon and you can be one of the first to check out this new event recommendation engine and always have an answer to the question – what would you like to do.
Just enter your email and they’ll send you an invitation as soon as their little fingers can hurriedly create the site.
Click here to sign up for Wawadoo.
And if you want to be really help you can take their beta survey here.
Who wouldn’t want to win two free tickets to a Steelers game? Luckily for us, Pittsburgh shopping institution Larrimor’s is giving away two tickets to the December 12th Steelers vs. Bengals game. All you have to do to enter is visit Larrimor’s on Facebook, become a fan, and leave a comment on their wall saying which Steeler you think desperately needs a fashion makeover! So far the most popular responses are Big Ben, and up until yesterday, Jeff Reed (even though he’s not an official Steeler anymore, he could still use some style help).
You have until midnight on Sunday, December 5th to enter and the winner will be announced via Facebook on December 6th. If you win, we’d be happy to be your date!
Yinz Asked:
“As I’m getting older, it’s getting harder and harder to find things to do to celebrate my birthday with friends. I’ll be 32 the last week of June and I have a mix of friends with a range of ages and interests. I’d like to share my day with a lot of my friends, but I have no idea what we could all do together. Any suggestions on where we could go or what we could do?” – JK
We Answered:
Celebrating a birthday is a great excuse to organize a group and take advantage of some of the great things going on about town in the summer. Here are some ideas:
1) The annual Citiparks’ “Dollar Bank Cinema in the Park” is a great option for groups of different ages and interests. Choose from Flagstaff Hill, Riverview Park, Grandview Park in Mt. Washington, Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville, Brookline Memorial Park, East Liberty or West End/Elliott Overlook. Tell your friends to grab a blanket, and have a potluck picnic dinner (don’t forget your birthday cake!). Flagstaff Hill alone has “Julie and Julia” and “Where the Wild Things Are” both playing at the end of June. It runs Sundays and Wednesdays throughout the summer. This option is casual and inexpensive and it takes advantage of a fun Pittsburgh summer tradition.
For details go the CitiPark’s website, http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/parks/, or call 412-422-6426.
2) Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation has free walking tours on Fridays and Saturdays. Why not gather your group and tour around, ending at a great restaurant? For a small fee, you can also tailor walking tours to your likes/dislikes and get a customized tour. See Pittsburgh from a new perspective: do the “Downtown Pittsburgh” walking tour and hit one of the many large restaurants at Station Square for a celebratory meal.
For reservations and more information call Mary Lu Denny at 412-471-5808 or check out the website at http://www.phlf.org/phlf-tours-events/
3) Golden Triangle Bike Rental, located downtown on the Eliza Furnace trail, has group tours/rentals. This locally owned/operated business will customize a tour for your party. You can even stop for dinner, or a drink, all the while sightseeing the city from the bike trails. They will work with what sounds fun to you.
Call 412-600-0675 or http://bikepittsburgh.com/guided-tours-and-groups
As you get tired of the usual birthday party ideas, think outside of the box. Try a group event that gets you out of the house, a gathering where you can learn something and get some fresh air. If people have diverse interests, there will surely be something in these ideas for everyone, and the shared experience will bring the gang together. Most importantly, find something that YOU enjoy and have a great birthday!
