Lifestyles category, Page 211
College student defies his mother’s ban on football
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My son is a wonderful young man, but there was one thing we butted heads on all four years of high school: He wanted to play football, and I wouldn’t let him. Well, he just informed me that he plans to play...
Husband tells daughters of his desire to cheat before telling his wife
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My husband recently told me he had fallen for another woman. I was stunned, but even more when he said he had informed my daughters of his desires before he spoke to me. Both daughters stood up to him, he and I...
Wife second-guesses marriage after trouble conceiving children
Dear Carolyn: I got married two years ago to a wonderful woman. We are in our mid-30s and decided to wait one year before trying to have kids. We waited the year and started trying, but despite neither of us having any obvious medical issues, we’ve been unable to conceive....
Disappointed with adult life
Dear Carolyn: Is being an adult just the process of becoming more accepting of disappointment in life? I’m in my 30s and awakening to the fact that nothing in the life I have spent a decade building — relationships, career, skills, hobbies, home — is fulfilling to me at all....
Man can’t connect with wife now that kids are grown and gone
Dear Carolyn: After 30 years of marriage, my wife and I have come to the realization that we have nothing in common. It hasn’t always been this way. Even with our cultural differences — my wife emigrated from Central America at 20; I’m third-generation Japanese American — there was an...
Chef’s recipes put hearty meals on your table
Nanny’s Famous Orange Cookies INGREDIENTS 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt 11⁄2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup milk 4 cups flour Juice and rind of 1 orange DIRECTIONS Cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, milk, orange juice and rind. Mix...
In the dark and cold, these dishes warm body and soulVideo
Soon enough (we hope), we will be firing up the grill and covering our dinner plates with colorful salads, ears of corn and refreshing fruit salads. But for now, while the wind howls, the sky turns dark early and temperatures plummet, it’s hearty, filling food we order or prepare at...
Grandparents’ options are limited when good advice is ignored
Q: We have 10 grandchildren, spread among three of our kids. They all live within an hour’s drive, so we see them often. We want to be involved in their lives and to be good influences. Our problem is with the parents. None of them are receptive to any advice...
White-flowering shrubs add understated drama to the garden
White gardens, including the most famous example at Sissinghurst Castle in England, are dramatic in the most understated of ways. A collection of plants with green and gray foliage that produce only white blooms, white gardens are one of the most elegant ways to combine plants. While your own backyard...
Celebrate film buffs’ favorite snack on National Popcorn Day
A snack that’s been around for hundreds of years clearly has staying power, and should have its own day, right? Welcome to National Popcorn Day, celebrated annually on Jan. 19, says the Popcorn Board. What was once — and still is — transformed into garlands to decorate a Christmas tree,...
Snowshoe event satisfies cabin fever and chili cravings in Laurel Highlands
Deep in the heart of the dark and cold of winter, cabin fever can strike. Appetites for hearty meals also increase this time of year. From 5-7:30 p.m. on Jan. 31, Laurel Highlands Conservation Landscape partners, including the Forbes State Forest, will hold a “Snowshoes and Chili” event. Burn off...
‘Dark and moody’ colors, spa tubs among 2019 home design trends
The home remodeling and design platform Houzz recently released its annual forecast, derived from conversations with industry experts as well as trends spotted among its 40 million monthly users. It offers a snapshot of what we might see in stores, living rooms and Instagram feeds this year. We asked Houzz...
Rose of Sharon isn’t fussy about how or when it’s pruned
Question: We have a hedge of Rose of Sharon plants down the side of our driveway. They’re getting a little overgrown. They’re also very thick because they’ve spread by seed, too. What is the best time to prune them, and how do we do it? Answer: Unlike most other trees...
United States Postal Service releases ‘Year of the Boar’ stamp
To celebrate Lunar New Year, the United States Postal Service is releasing a 2019 “Year of the Boar” Forever stamp, the 12th and final stamp in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. An important holiday for many Asian communities, Lunar New year is celebrated with parades, parties and other special...
Carnegie Science Center installation depicts waste, upcycling, from discarded plasticVideo
Through Feb. 15, Carnegie Science Center’s RiverView Cafè will display an exhibit depicting the fallout from single-use plastic waste and plastic pollution. The Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant program’s Straw Forward demonstrates a community-wide, collaborative effort to inspire a conversation about the issue of plastic pollution from a local perspective. More than...
Royal Caribbean bans passengers for life for jumping off Symphony of the Seas balcony
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Royal Caribbean has banned a group of men from Vancouver, British Columbia from ever traveling with the cruise line again after one of them jumped off a ship’s deck and posted a video of the stunt on social media. Nick Naydev posted the video on Instagram...
Oakland Restaurant Week returns with 16 sites for six days of lunch
Oakland Restaurant Week returns, with 16 eateries offering $6 lunches for six days, Jan. 28 through Feb. 2, according to sponsors Oakland Business Improvement District and Sustainable Pittsburgh. Diners also can enter to win free lunch for one month, along with other prizes from participating Oakland retail businesses. Also, people...
Some things to consider about alcohol on airplanes
On a recent Delta Air Lines flight from Newark to Minneapolis, a passenger seated near Stephanie Wolkin downed five mini-bottles of vodka in rapid succession. By the time the plane landed, the intoxicated passenger had become violently ill, and Wolkin, a retired union worker from St. Paul, Minn., had earned...
Dr Pepper petitions to be official soft drink of Texas
Why not? Some states have rather strange official symbols — Mississippi has an official toy: the teddy bear; Maryland has an official exercise: walking; and Utah has an official snack: Jell-O. So, when Dr Pepper started a Change.org petition to become the official soft drink of Texas, it really doesn’t...
Pittsburgh friends show off creative skills on Food Network’s ‘Winner Cake All’
This baking experience definitely was the icing on the cake. That’s what Pittsburgh-area friends Cathy Lucas Burnheimer and Lesley Polinko Wasielewski say about their upcoming appearance on the Food Network’s “Winner Cake All.” The episode airs at 10 p.m. Jan. 21. The two say the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...
Gooey goodness: Eateries put unique twists on grilled cheese
The Ancient Romans did it. Ate cheese on toasted bread, that is. For centuries, the grilled cheese sandwich has satisfied appetites. During the 1920s, America embraced the classic grilled cheese, thanks to a readily available supply of inexpensive sliced bread and American cheese. The Armed Forces cooked thousands of grilled...
Wooden barrels: The fifth ingredient in making flavorful beer
One might consider a wooden barrel the fifth ingredient in beer after water, malt, hops and yeast. Brewers use them to impart additional flavors into the beer. But why barrels — bourbon in particular — and how did this come about, you might ask? Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all...
New Amazon headquarters a tale of 2 very different cities
Before mid-November, Long Island City and Crystal City were never on the same page, much less uttered in the same sentence. Though both destinations are on the East Coast (New York and Virginia, respectively) and within shouting distance of a major metropolitan center, they had little else in common. Well,...
Explaining nurse’s schedule to boyfriend’s family is like talking to a brick wall
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I am a nurse, my boyfriend is a teacher. A lot of his family are teachers, too. My boyfriend and I get along great, he is really patient with my schedule and I am completely understanding that he gets extra time off...
Woodlands group offers tour of Champion wood mill
The Westmoreland Woodlands Improvement Association is sponsoring a field trip Saturday to a wood mill in Champion that turns lumber into handles for landscaping and gardening tools. The tour of the Ames Companies’ mill begins at 9 a.m. at 135 Roaring Run Road. It is expected to last about 90...
