Skip to main content

A couple of shout-outs

A number of blogs I read include posts about must-haves, recommendations, and favorite things. Unfortunately, there are very few material things that I absolutely love, and on top of that I have almost no brand loyalty, save for Heinz ketchup because I am a Pittsburgher (I refuse to buy another ketchup for fear I would like that more). I am also a big fan of Kohl's, having shopped there regularly since 1999, but I think the quality has gone slightly downhill. Not so far down that I will stop shopping there, mind you; I hate the mall and love that I can buy most of what I need for myself, my family, and gift-giving in general at Kohl's.

But this post is not about those large companies, but rather about two friends who have put their different talents to business. Let me tell you a little about them.

A former coworker started HappyJack Bakery just last month. Lynnette bakes out of her house and sells her goodies at the Whitehall Farmer's Market at Caste Village in the South Hills on Mondays from 3 to 7. I have eaten her baked goods many, many times. In fact, if I had to pick one of the most difficult things about being laid off, it would be no longer being able to partake in all that yummy goodness. She makes the best apple pies and really yummy cookies (she is a great cook too, but that is not what her venture is about). I don't think I have tried a lot of her offerings (check out the website for photos and descriptions), but finally this coming Monday, if all goes well, I plan to make the trek out that way and then suffer thy consequences (tighter clothing, which considering the way I dress is probably not a bad thing anyway). Squish Monsters, here I come! I highly recommend you stop by if you are in the area any Monday through the end of September (I think).

The other person I have to give a shout-out to is Diana Duda, who is to painting what Lynnette is to baking. I worked with Diane's husband at my last job, and I had not realized how talented she was until the last year or so. (I am sure Mike talked about it, but I am a pretty bad listener.) Diane started off painting various things (what I consider "cute" people and animals, though there is probably an artistic term for it) and selling those originals online. She blogs about her work here. At some point, these creations ended up as/on notecards, cards, stamps, mugs, magnets, etc. You can check them out here. Diane recently had her paintings turned into a collection of small canvases, figurines and shadow boxes for DEMDACO. You can find that gift collection in various stores, though not around here (yet). So in the meantime, I ordered the cutest girl and dog figurine for Jordan's birthday here.

So if you are hungry for sweets and live in the Burgh, visit HappyJack at Caste Village on Mondays. And if you are looking for something nice to have around the house or to give as a gift, check out Diane's art at one of the above links.

It is nice to be able to recommend some things (and not just complain about things I don't like). Yeah, talented friends!

Comments

Diane Duda said…
Thanks,Faith! I really appreciate the plug. :)
And I didn't know about the Happy Jack website so thanks for sharing that too. It does look soooo tempting.

Well, off to the lake!
xo
Di
Lynnette said…
Yeah, Facie, thanks so much for the shout-out! I really appreciate it. And as a customer of Diane's, I can attest to the adorableness of her artwork! She custom-made me a Mother's Day gift, per specifications from my husband. And I've also purchased two princess pictures for my daughter's bedroom. I just love her style! And kudos to Diane for the Demdaco deal! That's fantastic!

Popular posts from this blog

What a year 2021 has been (Day 7)

I have almost no words for what happened yesterday at the Capitol. Protesting is one thing (though I truly think it is and has been time to move on). But to storm the Capitol? A friend on Facebook said, quite simply, " Almost 20 years ago a group of people on an airplane sacrificed themselves to protect the Capitol. How far we have fallen!" Indeed. And, yes, it IS storming the Capitol. I have seen numerous videos of people knocking down barricades/fences, pushing police officers, and breaking windows and climbing through them. That is beyond protesting. And even if a protestor did not do those things, if they followed those seditionists past those barricades and into the building, they are just as guilty. I did not support the violent protests this summer that resulted in damages to businesses and public property (I was in full support of the actual protests). But I also acknowledged as a white person, I cannot truly put myself in the position of a black person who is angry a

Melancholy and Gratitude

 A few days ago, I decided to do gratitude posts on FB. I was good the first two days. Day 3 I got a little snarky as I posted about "doing the right thing" in regards to Covid. The Covid cases in Allegheny County have been on the rise. For a while, we had daily counts between 50 and 100. After July 4, we saw a spike for a few weeks, and then cases were back below 100. Unfortunately, other than one "low" day this week, where "only" 288 cases were reported, we have had between 500 and 620 daily cases. Fortunately, only a few people have died this week. But of course, any death is too many. I started to keep track of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations on 6/12/20. On that day, since 3/12, Allegheny County had had 2,034 cases, 352 people had been hospitalized, and 172 people had died. On 11/19/20, the county has seen a total of 22,042 cases, 1,724 people have been hospitalized, and 465 people have died from Covid since 3/12. In just over 8 months, we have had

Hug your loved ones!

I hate to say that I am still working through my grief. I mean, in some ways I can imagine I will always be grieving. But I feel pretty confident it will get easier, and I will cry less and less. But, yeah, I guess I am still working through it. Yesterday, a thought occurred to me: I had not hugged my dad since the end of February, and that will now be the last time I ever did. I did not see him for almost three months because of COVID, and then at the end of May, he started his series of hospital visits with skilled nursing stints in between. I was always afraid to hug him then. What if I gave him COVID? And yet when my dad had really bad ICU delirium during a few different hospital stays, I fed him. If I could do that, why not hug him? So I cried a bit last night thinking about that. I am not necessarily a big hugger; I used to hate it, and then probably before Jordan was born, I got back to doing it again. Before COVID, I hugged my friends goodbye (and sometimes hello). I always wou