real housewife of Highland Park

This post was supposed to have gone up on Sat April 9th....but I got a little distracted with labor & delivery and whatnot.  However, since I love to share good things about Pittsburgh, I didn't want to let it (and all of my fun museum photos) go to waste.  So, I post it now....
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I've turned over a new leaf! Optimism! Fun! Take advantage of the city while I can! Enjoy the time off! (I was forced to turn this leaf by family and friends in attempts to get me to stop crying over my lack of cervical dilation and any sign of labor).  So, what does a real housewife of Highland Park do while waiting to birth a baby?  A review:

Attend the opera.  Turandot was majestically performed by the Pittsburgh Opera.  It was soaring, and I managed to wear a skirt and keep my little kitten heels from cutting off the circulation in my feet for the entire show.  classy.  You know this number:

Host a dinner party!  Like all Real Housewives, one has to entertain.  We made brown-sugar-soy salmon with grilled peppers and onions, and peppers stuffed with quinoa, raisins and spicy swiss chard for friends and family.  

 

my new favorite flower, decorating our dinner party table, and helping me fake that its Spring

Watch the garden grow.  We started our cucumbers, sunflowers, basil, scallions, carrots, jalapenos, lettuce, and sugar snap peas in little pots indoors.  And my how they've grown!  We will have a bigger better garden this year than last.  I actually can't take much credit for this one- as with last year, it is Reggie's masterpiece.  But I cannot deny that we are good at growing things from seeds (too much? sorry.)

sunflowers starting

cukes and sunflowers

sunflowers

Blossom as a baketress

Nothing says housewife like quality time spent aproned in the kitchen.  I made 6 loaves of honey whole wheat bread, and followed up with 16 dinner rolls (8 pull apart and 8 clover leafed)- I had the ingredients all out on the counter and just couldn't stop.  I also made vanilla cookies for my obstetrician office (bribing for a good labor??)  Unfortunately, 6 hours standing in the kitchen is not a good idea for someone now prone to lower extremity edema.  My calves and ankles were thigh sized- no joke.  That is a whole different kind of real housewife.  Not cute. 

Git some culture!
An afternoon in the rain at the Phipp's Conservatory
remnants of the 2006 Chihuly exhibit:

love this windmill, so Dutch!

The sculpture in the center is in constant motion. The theme of the spring flower show was wind

this little flower reminds me of something from a Dr. Seuss book.

always my favorite flower, the hydrangea

This room was all white hydrangeas. It smelled incredible!

pink hydrangeas and sailboats. The fountain in the middle changed colors.

butterfly room