【51】They put their hearts into the arts@ Michael’s, Pittsburgh Mills

Over Christmas Pittsburgh Cares board and management generously gave its staff and HandsOn Tech team Amazon gift cards, I used mine to purchase several Chinese canvas paintings so that there would be something Chinese in the house to visually remind me of the identity I shall mindfully preserve. But because of the long distance between China and Pittsburgh and the high shipping cost involved, the vendor only sell paintings without providing frames that should go with them. So after I got the paintings a month later, I knew I needed to find a framing place to get them ready to be hung on the wall.

With a very tight budget, I went to WalMart first only finding out that the size of my paintings is too big for their existing canvas printing frame. But the representative Evelyn was very kind to call her colleagues to find out where I should go next.  So I was kindly referred to the Michael’s, at the Pittsburgh Mills shopping center along Route 28, just 16 miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. It’s there I met Janine and Kathy who would be the two wonderful people making my paintings into art pieces.

Janine, a former New Yorker, moved to Pittsburgh many years ago. She patiently worked with me for about four hours to play different scenarios and work things out bit and bit. When I was frustrated myself, she was the one looking into my eyes and assuring me we will get something work out. Eventually we resized the paintings by cutting some portion out, and decided to put the painting on a foam board through heated steaming process, then picked picture frames that match the painting style. I was much surprised by her tremendous amount of patience. Yet, she just told me that as an artists herself, she wants customers’ pieces got worked on professionally and every piece would become a piece of art that would be appreciated by people….I made sure her manager recognized how great she was working with me.

Few days later, I went to pick up those paintings, Kathy was still finishing up some framing work. So I asked her permission to become an assistant to do some simple work in the shop. She gladly agreed. It was so lovely to help with framing my own pieces and got to chat a little bit to know Kathy more as a person. She has a very global family, she herself draws and specializes in painting on furnitures and has very artistic kids as well. She said painting can really calm a person down and help gain inner peace. I believe that because she looked like a woman who has a space for tranquility. Especially the way she handles tools was so neat and elegant. I was most gracious she was interested in Chinese culture, asked a lot questions about my hometown. That made me feel so welcomed living here.

When I walked out of the store, Janine was just coming to work her shift and recognized me in the parking lot and we exchanged contact information. I mentioned the Divertido store in Lawrenceville and the possibility she might be able to sell her art pieces in the gift shop that supports local artists. It’s very interesting to see how things are connected and work together miraculously. Just like Janine and Kathy worked together to make my Chinese paintings art pieces so beautifully displayed in the house.

Their hearts are at the arts they work with, because arts are also in their hearts! Give a high-80 to Janine and Kathy, these two wonderful artistic women!

Beer winning trivia @ Michael’s, Pittsburgh Mills

1. Michaels Stores, Inc. is an arts and crafts retail chain. It currently operates more than 1040 Michaels Arts and Crafts stores, located in 49 US states and Canada.The corporate headquarters are located in Irving, Texas. The average Michaels store now contains 40,000 different products in 18,200 square feet (1,700 m²) of selling space. The stores sell a selection of arts, crafts, framing, floral, wall décor, bakeware, beads, scrapbooking and seasonal merchandise for hobbyists and do-it-yourself home decorators. Michaels is the largest such chain in the United States. Competitors include Hobby Lobby, Ben Franklin Stores, Jo-Ann Stores, AC Moore and several smaller chains. Canadian competitors include DeSerres.

2. The mall portion of Pittsburgh Mills had its grand opening on July 14th, 2005. The mall is the largest shopping complex in  Western Pennsylvania as well as one of the largest in the state, with approximately 2 million square feet (186,000 m²) of retail space on 200 acres (0.8 km2). King of Prussia Mall near Philadelphia remains the largest mall. Pittsburgh Mills was conceived and originally developed by Simon Property Group, Inc.  which is an American Commercial real estate company, ranked #1 in the US as the largest real estate investment trust. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, The Mills, community/lifestyle centers and international properties.  On December 30, 2006, it was announced that the Mills Corporation sold its stake in Pittsburgh Mills to its partner in the project, Zamias Services, Inc. of Johnstown. Because of this, Pittsburgh Mills is currently the only Mills-branded mall that's neither owned or managed by Simon in the United States.

3. It consists of two components. Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills and Village at Pittsburgh Mills. The Galleria is a 1,100,000-square-foot (100,000 m2) indoor component of the complex which is divided into five themed neighborhoods corresponding to various Pittsburgh landmarks and cultural icons. One lap around the entire mall is about 1 mile in length, making it a popular spot for mall walkers. ( not moon walker). It features a contemporary superstore concept with a limited supermarket, clothing, electronics, and automobile departments. It also has over 150 shops, services, attractions, and eateries, including a large food court. Two children's play areas are also located within the center, located in the cut-through corridor near the food court. The village includes several big-box stores as well as many popular restaurants, and a hotel. Michael’s is in this strip.The Village contains a total of 925,000 square feet (85,900 m2) of store space and over 30 retailers.

ID @ Malls, Pittsburgh

How many major malls are there in Pittsburgh region? What are their names? Such as Ross Park Mall, Monroeville Mall, and ?????

【50】Those Lunches @ Porch, Oakland

Years ago, glimpsed through a book a friend recommended, titled “Don’t eat lunch alone”. It’s not that hard to understand this concept/practice in China because of the food table-centered culture we have. But I am kinda excited to learn that having lunch with friends, colleagues, or business partners seems to be a genuinely valued thing by somebody in Pittsburgh as well. It made me feel even closer to the people here.

Mike actually is the muse who made me think of this aspect much more in depth because of his position. In the past four months we have worked together on the China-focused regional marketing initiative, I have observed that he builds his team over lunch, shares his vision with business partners over lunch, makes introductions to connect other people over lunch,.... and he even have business dinners occasionally with Chinese to talk things through. What’s really unusual is that he always pays the bill for everyone, which is not that much commonly practiced here than back in my home country.  

I have the fortune to be part of those lunches with Mike and felt very special. Because also of the project we were working on, I want to remember those conversations over those lunches.  The first time I actually misunderstood the word Porch as Torch, I thought it might be a good sign that our lunches at the Porch Restaurant would serve as a Torch in some kind to move forward our efforts in forming this regional marketing plan to bring Pittsburgh more visible for a Chinese audience and beyond.

Dr. Suzanne Laurich-McIntyre from CMU is actually the first person who introduced me to the Porch in Oakland. She treated me a lunch there after my graduation to celebrate. She was kind and encouraging and let me share many stories and hopes as if I just throw a hat over the fence and now I have to work hard to cross the fence to get the hat. That lunch was a good experience and Suzi is much missed and within my thoughts during those lunches happened there later.  

….I haven’t gotten chance to really talk about Proch yet but the length of the article seems to have reached my ideal limits. However, this little “digression” seems to be the reason why I want to talk about the lunch experience to begin with. This would be a perfect manifestation of a Chinese saying, “The wine doesn’t make you drunk, but the people you drink with actually do.” With the same token, it is not the Porch restaurant makes those lunch experience special but the reason why I was there and those companies I had while there do.

Beer winning trivia @ Porch

1. Porch restaurant, often referred as “Porch at Schenley” or simply “Porch”, is part of Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, a portfolio of foodservice concepts focused on personalized dining and winner of the National Restaurant Association’s 2011 Restaurant Neighbor Award for community service. In addition to The Porch, its restaurant division includes Eat'n Park Restaurants and Six Penn Kitchen. Its contract foodservice division includes Parkhurst Dining Services, a provider of contract dining services to businesses, higher education institutions and cultural centers; and Cura Hospitality; which enhances life around great food through contract dining and management services for regional hospitals and senior living facilities. Eat’n Park is also home to SmileyCookie.com, the online gourmet cookie delivery company.

2. Porch is a casual eating spot, no reservation is needed. It has a pick up window. The service styles of lunch and dinner are different at Porch. During lunch you grab a menu and place an order, find a seat, then take a cup of fancy water yourself, the waiter would deliver the meal. In the evenings, the service is more fullsome and patrons are more sit-back and relaxed and let the willing staff do most part of the work. The produces the restaurant uses are all from local partners. Chef Kevin would even grow some produces on the rooftop during growing seasons.

ID@Porch

When did Porch first open in Oakland neighborhood?