The Life of Riley

Hello Pittsburgh – my hometown and “City of Champions!” How are ya?

I’m Riley, and it is such a pleasure to meet you. I’m very fortunate to have an amazing husband, the sweetest children, great friends, and a supportive and loving extended family. And, to top it all off, I get to live in this beautiful town of ours! Life is an amazing gift – I just live it and count my blessings.

In each issue of Designing HOME Lifestyles, I’m going to tell you about some of my experiences as I try to balance everything in my life. One of these experiences happened on a recent Friday night.

My friends – Carly, Liz, and Kate – and I were given a “girls’ night out,” and we took full advantage of it. So we chose to spend the evening at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon.

The Galleria is full of great restaurants (Bravo, Houlihans, Mitchells), beautiful boutiques (Tutto Bella – you have to go in and just sniff all the flowers and thymes perfumes!) and right-off-the-runway clothing and shoes (Footloose) for us fashionistas. And – to make up for the kids screaming their heads off as I was walking out the door – bribes from the new toy store, Learning Express.

So guess what we did? We went to three restaurants and had three different courses – one at each!

First was happy hour at Houlihan’s for appetizers and drinks, where they have Long Island Iced Teas that come served in a pitcher and ready to share (They have nine different kinds, for crying out loud!). Let’s just say we tried a few.

Then it was onto Mitchell’s for dinner, where their selection of fresh fish makes you feel like you are in a harbor-side hangout. It was so yummy and fun.

If you think we couldn’t handle any more…well, you’d be wrong! From there, the night got even more interesting. Sipping cappuccinos and espressos at Bravo, pretending to be ladylike and demure while enjoying our tiramisu, Carly spies her friend Chris with a buddy. She calls Chris over to say hello, and they ended up joining us.

From that point on, our beautiful faux-Italian experience turned into a conversation about crow’s feet and cellulite. Turns out Chris’ pal is a plastic surgeon (and

I don’t have to tell you what that conversation went to with four women with nine pregnancies between them). Let me tell you, this man is one rock star of a surgeon, and he was more than happy to answer even our weirdest most embarrassing questions:

“What do you think I need?” someone would ask.

“No-one needs anything,” he’d say. Good answer. “Of course, it’s all in what you want.” He even told us about these cool processes called Juvaderm and Evolence.

We were psyched! Forty-five minutes later, all four of us had his card in hand.

And sorry guys, call me cheesy, but I had to ask if he offered any group discounts. Of course, the Michelangelo of surgeons replies, “Give me a call.”

“Count on it,” I say.

So, I guess we’ll see. I‘ve embraced my flaws; but just because you embrace them doesn’t mean they have to stick around forever! I’ll keep you posted.

All in all, it was a fabulous girls’ night out. All three of my little ones were tucked in safe and sound when I got home, which is such a bonus. (My man Luke got some major husband points for that.) And believe me, I made his night too! (Hee-hee!)

Love you guys. Love this city. Can’t wait to talk again!

-Riley

Related Links

• Galleria in Mt. Lebanon
• Bravo
• Houlihans
• Mitchells
• Tutto Bella
• Footloose
• Learning Express