Hello again, everybody! The time has come to pick our exciting Kick-Off Party location! Here is where I need your help: I have narrowed it down to a few locations, and I need all WriMos who plan on attending to respond to this post with the option they'd like best - and I need your vote to be in by about 10pm tomorrow (Thursday, October 22) evening.
The Kick-Off Party is a non-laptop, casual getting-to-know-your-fellow-WriMos event. This is not to be confused with the Official Pittsburgh Kick-Off Write-In (I know, this is getting confusing, right?) at 12:01am on November 1, where we will all bring our laptops and what battery power we can muster, and write like fiends well into the Daylight Savings mark. No, without the stress of potentially dropping a piece of Breakfast Smile bacon onto your laptop mid-sentence, the Kick-Off Party is just a nice excuse to have brunch together on a Sunday, see who's who in your part of the NaNo neighborhood, and, well, stress together about how we should all be working on our word count and not eating that other pancake. :)
So! That being said, here are the details so far, as they are known:
Date: Sunday, November 1
Time: 11am(ish) until 1pm(ish)
Location: You Pick!
Here are the options, with a little bit of info about each one (including price range - because we will be having this get-together at a restaurant, plan to bring enough cash to get yourself a tasty meal, or at the very least, a side of fries or sausage :):
1) Primanti Brothers (Strip District)
46 18th Streeet
Pittsburgh 15222
Food: delicious sandwiches with fries & coleslaw, the Pittsburgh tradition! (check the menu)
Price: $5-7 for a sandwich, plus $1.50 for a pop
2) Fuel & Fuddle (Oakland)
212 Oakland Ave
Pittsburgh 15213
Food: huge brunch portions, plus the full lunch menu available also (check the menu - Pitt students can use their Pitt Funds)
Price: $6-7.50 for brunch (including coffee), around that rate also for lunch items
3) Harris Grill (Shadyside)
5747 Ellsworth Ave
Pittsburgh 15232
Food: Sunday brunch items, plus some lunch mix thrown in as well (check the menu)
Price: this one's a little pricey, at about $13 per brunch item, but the quality is great, and the plates are ginormous
4) Church Brew Works (Lawrenceville)
3525 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh 15201
Food: lunch stuff - big sandwiches and salads, unique Pittsburgh things (pierogies!) and specials (check the menu)
Price: $7-15, depending on what you get - the appetizers are big enough for a meal, quite honestly
5) Doublewide Grill (South Side)
2339 E. Carson St.
Pittsburgh 15203
Food: brunch and lunch with SO yummy fries, also vegan/vegetarian options (check the menu)
Price: $6-10 (breakfast stuff on the cheaper end of that)
Well, I know those options all seem overwhelming, but please, take a look at each of the sites and respond to this post with your favorite option. For those of you keeping score at home, each of these restaurants is accessible by bus (you may have to walk a teeny bit from the stop), and they are most definitely open to all ages, even if they have 'brew' in the name. :) If you are not planning on attending the Kick-Off Party, you don't have to respond. If you think you might, but you aren't sure, go right on ahead and cast your vote.
And if you can't make it to the Kick-Off Party, remember, there are plenty of Write-Ins all around the city and the suburbs once the month gets going, so fret not! All of these events will be posted on our Google Calendar, which I will share the link to quite soon (once I hear from my heroes in the North end about what dates we'll be writing there).
So please, by 10pm Thursday night, cast your vote! Hopefully, by Friday morning, we'll all know where we are headed on November 1. Thanks everyone!
Wants To Have Five Kick-Off Parties In A Row So She Can Eat At Every Restaurant In One Day,
fox
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(banner made by the amazing ThisIsRocketScience)
41,094 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 10 06
I'm down for the Church Brew Works. I've been putting off a visit there for far too long.
----------http://jessicarbrown.blogspot.com
0 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 11 34
Church or Primantis; they are both an easy bike ride away and I haven't yet had a chance to check out Church Brew Works, either!
30,048 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 16 34
My vote is for Doublewide: they've got enough space, and if the weather is nice, we can be outside.
928 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 17 56
I'm for Double Wide too.
3,168 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 18 22
I am sad to say I can't attend this year. Sadly, my Sunday mornings are otherwise filled and I can't in good conscience ditch my group. Hope ya'll have fun anyway! :)
----------'07: Red Sky
'08: Saving Alyss
'09 Bird Noises
18,703 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 18 31
Both Doublewide and Fuel sound good, and would both be fairly easy to get to...most of them would be easy to get to, actually!
26,096 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 18 48
I'd be up for Primanti Brothers; it's been years since I've been up that way. Or even Church Brew Works, to be honest. I've heard good things about that place but have never been. Having said that, it's a WriMo meet up, and I'm thinking we'll have fun no matter where it's held. :) So excited!!
----------The Otherside of Things
10,519 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 19 19
My vote's for Doublewide.
----------Draco's book review blog
39,900 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 19 50
I vote Primanti; I can walk there from my house. My second vote is for Church Brew Works, third for Fuel, although I kind of hate Oakland now that I don't have to live there anymore. ;p
44,611 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2009 - 20 14
I vote for Doublewide
----------The gears in my mind are turning like dancers.
~ The Downtown Fiction
2006: Untitled - Lost
2007: The Five Guardians - Won
2008: How Long is Forever - Lost
2009: Pink Heart - ?
Dares Taken: 35; Dares Completed: 7; Pages Written: 38; Number of Panic
30,421 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2009 - 06 34
I was so sad when I realized that I'm not going to be able to go. I wasn't able to go last year and I wanted to go this year. Unortunately, I won't be in town. Oh, well. I hopefully will be able to come to other things later in the month.
1,830 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2009 - 13 55
I vote for Primanti's. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
-Tamara
36,113 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2009 - 16 34
Either Primanti's or Doublewide.
1,440 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2009 - 17 00
I would say Church. Primanti's is AWESOME but also typically packed with tourists during the day and drunks at night. Doublewide is ok, but has an odd brunch menu imho.
----------"Everybody hates a prodigy, detests an old head on young shoulders." Desiderius Erasmus
18,192 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2009 - 18 30
I might not be able to attend, it depends on how work schedules me (Sadly my manager decided to not allow the employees to make schedule requests around Halloween, and no amount of "But I'm writing a NOVEL, not getting wasted!" protests would budge her). However, if I do end up with the day free my vote would go to:
1. Church Brew Works (Close to home and Yelp seems to have good things to say)
2. Doublewide Grill (Next closest to home that's not Fuel and Fuddle, and I'm all for staying reasonably close!)
If possible can I cast an anti-Fuel and Fuddle vote? I've heard bad reviews on service from numerous friends, in addition to the writing group that met up there last year. When I hear enough bad reviews from people I tend to avoid places.
2,932 / 50,000
Okt 25, 2009 - 14 12
I'll cast my vote for Church Brew Works. I am also down for the Double Wide Grille, they're nice folks there!
t.
29,581 / 50,000
Okt 27, 2009 - 12 37
I'll vote for Doublewide, as it's probably the easiest for me to get to, but I don't know my work schedule yet so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to go or not.
Also, my laptop is this laughably old machine that won't run if it's not plugged in -- are there outlets available at any of these places?
0 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2009 - 02 00
Gotta say Double Wide.
----------Oh no, not me, we never lost control. You're face to face with the man who sold the world.
4,093 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2009 - 10 35
My vote is Church Brew Works.
Also, hello, Pittsburgh! It's my first NaNo here.
5,521 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2009 - 16 59
I vote Primanti Brothers, as I've always wanted to go there, and never had the opportunity. However, I note that none of the locations are near where I live, which is slightly depressing? But I shall try my best to bribe Mother into taking me.