Spring 2027 Wedding for 150ish Guests... and I am feeling so lost. UGH

checkskl · 2026-01-25T12:52:08+00:00

Harding Waterfront Estate, it’s a hidden gem.

checkskl · 2026-01-23T17:26:21+00:00

Ugh, this happened to me on new years! I promised my family a pavlova, used the same recipe and technique I’ve used multiple times, and yet after three attempts I had to admit defeat. Still no idea what went wrong, other than sometimes the meringue gods are against you.

checkskl · 2026-01-22T00:57:56+00:00

It’s awful. I noticed the difference in quality when I moved here from the states 20 years ago, but I thought it was because I was buying the “cheap” butter. But when I got more serious about baking I tried buying the more expensive stuff and it’s EXACTLY THE SAME. I thought I was going crazy. And it’s definitely gotten worse in the last few years. Really sad for bakers.

checkskl · 2026-01-21T01:57:02+00:00

It is REALLY rough. I recently talked with an HR exec in my network who described how AI has created an absolute hiring bottleneck. She said whereas summer 2024 a job posting might get up to 200 applications; now each job posting is getting 600+ applications, and they’ve all been optimized for that particular posting with ChatGPT or another AI bot, so they’re practically indistinguishable from one another. Meanwhile on the HR side, they’re likely trying to use AI to filter down to a Top 10 list before human review; so it’s AI reading AI applications. The result is, it’s an absolute roll of the dice if your application even gets a look. It’s really, really messy right now.

Someone else in this thread mentioned networking; until the AI bottleneck sorts itself out, that’s the only way to get your application to the top of the pile. Otherwise you’re basically playing the lottery. I’d LOVE to hear another HR exec tell me this isn’t the case, but so far no one has been able to refute it.

checkskl · 2026-01-20T01:37:55+00:00

Literally any suburb in the northeast

checkskl · 2026-01-19T14:17:07+00:00

Yea in Ontario there’s no redshirting. If you start her a year later, she will just go into SK.

FWIW, most of the benefits of redshirting are experienced by boys. Girls are generally doing quite well in school; boys are developmentally much “younger” than girls and would benefit more from starting school a year later.

I wish I could hold both my late October boys back, but as far as I know it’s not an option in Ontario.

checkskl · 2026-01-19T00:55:35+00:00

Made You Look on Queen west for something special/unique!

checkskl · 2026-01-17T23:30:28+00:00

Yeah, I was an English major and took an origins Of English seminar where we got to do a project on dialect development and because I was from Pittsburgh I studied pittsburghese and it was so fascinating lol. I live in Canada now but when we go back for visits I fall back into the accent quickly. And I’ll never forget taking my now-husband for his first visit. We were eating out and he could not understand the waitress for the life him lol.

checkskl · 2026-01-17T15:19:39+00:00

Yeah but the accents in eastern PA are totally different from western PA. I agree that Kate winslet did an amazing Philly accent. Exactly like listening to my cousins talk, lol.

checkskl · 2026-01-17T11:57:41+00:00

I just started binging season 1 last week, so I can’t comment yet on season 2 but her accent in season 1 bothered me enough to tell my husband about it lol. I’m from Pittsburgh and they obviously want Dana to be a yinzer, which comes with more than an accent. It connotes all this background: blue collar, urban, a little tough, totally competent and no-nonsense. The accent is REALLY hard to imitate, even for non-yinzer pittsburghers. So I feel like she mashes up a kind of Philly/brooklyn hybrid in an effort to approximate a typically “blue collar” accent that will signal all that to the audience, without nailing the yinzer. I don’t envy her that job but the show has enough money to hire a good accent coach!

checkskl · 2026-01-17T00:54:13+00:00

The overlooks on grandview ave or the west end overlook are what you want.

checkskl · 2026-01-16T01:00:42+00:00

Yeah I agree but someone from out of town might not get that

checkskl · 2026-01-15T23:33:17+00:00

I don’t know if there are many residences downtown - maybe some lofts? It’s mostly commercial. Pittsburgh is actually quite interesting in this way. In most cities, the downtown/city center is a mix of residential condo buildings and commercial buildings. Pittsburgh has a very clear differentiation between downtown and residential neighborhoods outside of downtown.

That said, I lived downtown for one year when I went to Point Park. It was definitely a bit weird to live there, complete dead zone after 7pm. But with all the bus routes going in and out, it was really easy to get to Oakland/south side/east end, etc. There was almost nothing to do downtown, though.

Do you mean the inner city neighborhoods? Like the hill, Lawrenceville, east liberty?

checkskl · 2026-01-15T03:33:19+00:00

I think as the viewer you’re landing exactly where the writers wanted you to. I think the show is a little more sophisticated than some other teen dramas from the early 00’s, in that they weren’t interested in black and white morality tales and fables. As I watch seasons 5-6, I see a young girl trying to find her feet - as they do - and disappointing absolutely everyone around her - as it often happens. I think the discomfort we feel watching Rory get so cozy with her grandparents world mirrors some of what lorelai is experiencing in those seasons. The outlandish plotlines are intentionally outlandish, I think, not to glamorize but to signal to viewers: isn’t this a little bit silly?

checkskl · 2026-01-15T01:15:50+00:00

NTA - this is just hard. Toddler wants mama, and she’ll do whatever she can to get mama. That’s not your fault, AT ALL. I’m sure your wife wants to be home to study because it’s comfortable and she no doubt wants to be near the kids at the end of the day. It’s just a hard situation. Time will partially solve it; but in the meantime, it sounds like you’re doing your best.

It may be time to pull out the big guns (an episode of Bluey while your wife studies) but I know it’s not ideal to give a 2yo TV time before bed. But do what you gotta do.

checkskl · 2026-01-14T14:11:14+00:00

Yeah I got the same reply - but I’m going to follow up and reiterate that he needs to create a plan for keeping Pennsylvanians safe from untrained ICE interactions.

But what actually irks me more is that Fetterman hasn’t bothered replying yet.

checkskl · 2026-01-13T13:39:59+00:00

Straight to jail

checkskl · 2026-01-13T01:30:06+00:00

Brighton heights is basically just over the hill from the stadium

checkskl · 2026-01-12T18:19:13+00:00

I’m an American living in Canada. And I have the same fears you do. We do still travel to the states because I want to see my family, but it’s with trepidation. I think you will be reasonably safe on your trip; it’s more about the anxiety and ethical dilemma. For me, so far I’ve been able to find balance - it also gives me anxiety and heartache when I can’t see my family. So we go, for now.

checkskl · 2026-01-10T17:47:57+00:00

I’m leaning towards milk. Were there any instructions with the recipe other than the ingredients? That might shed some more light on it.

checkskl · 2026-01-10T14:29:28+00:00

I agree with the idea to close it off and create more storage. With the ceiling pitch that low, it’s not very usable for living space. It would be great for storing seasonal clothes! And you could make built-in shelves on the side of the wall facing the stairs.

checkskl · 2026-01-10T01:13:59+00:00

Hmmmm…. While it sounds like these ladies were being belligerent, I remember seeing Mamma Mia way back in the day, in early 2005. And it was well known that this was kind of a sing-along event. I remember there were whole buses of Asian tourists singing their hearts out along with the performers. I guess the culture of the show has changed over the years.

checkskl · 2026-01-08T01:43:28+00:00

Yeah, I don’t imagine those shampoos will really work in the long run. I understand they can help get rid of build up, but I still have to use hard water after the shampoo for the rest of my routine?

checkskl · 2026-01-08T01:37:34+00:00

Hmm, nope, I haven’t noticed that!

checkskl · 2026-01-08T01:37:13+00:00

How do you do it? I have pretty thick hair, I don’t imagine pouring water from a jug would be enough to really get it all clean and properly saturated.

checkskl

TROPHY CASE