Dr Alex

Alex is a South Side neighbor. She has the most amazing red hair and precocious personality.

Here she is playing doctor with her baby doll. I love her attention to detail. She writes out a prescription and has a clipboard of paperwork she spends a lot of time on.

It's Go Time: GO PENS!

One of the best Penguin bobblehead collections we've ever had the pleasure to see.

Mother's Day: Race for the Cure

It's a Mother's Day tradition to participate in the annual Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure at Schenley Park. Besides being one of the largest events of it's kind in the country, it is also an amazingly inspiring event that takes over the Oakland area. Over 30,000 thousand people participated this year. Our tough looking Steeler mascot even represented in pink.

Even the dinosaur outside Carnegie Museum was dressed to reflect the day. Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Our city

The walk to PNC Park

One of our favorite things about Pittsburgh is PNC Park. It makes even the most heart-breaking Pirates loss bearable. And, as long as you have the wonderful city views, delicious food options, The Great Pittsburgh Pierogy Race N'at (which I am convinced Jalapeño Hannah  has a harder time winning carrying her handbag) and the occasional after game fireworks show, you can't spend a more relaxing evening with friends--unless you actually watch the games. We know we are not alone in thinking this. Click on the following link to read other visitor reviews or our beautiful baseball park--Jocelyn

http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/pirates/a/pnc_park.htm

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/reviews/pncreviews.htm

We like to park in one of the plentiful parking garages downtown if no street parking is available and walk over the Roberto Clemente Bridge that they close to auto traffic during games so pedestrians can walk to and from the park. It's a great walk to the park from downtown Pittsburgh.

If you don't feel like walking, you can take the water taxi from one side of the bridge to the other.

The same guy has been entertaining game day pedestrians with his saxophone for years.

Last Day tomorrow

Every year, this is something we look forward to. The whole event is so colorful and delicious.

The whole city must feel the same way because they mail this flyer out weeks in advance so we can mark our calendars. Tomorrow is the last day. I hope we make it.

A great gift message

I love when we get an order with a great gift message. Here's an example of one we got the other day:

"Congratulations Kristin & Ryan! A Fipp family tradition for generations, every couple in the family has a Marriage Crock on the kitchen counter. It's a nice daily reminder of your anniversary! Much Love, L & R"

Special Tax Day Discount!

Special Tax Day discount! zotterthepotter.com would also like to offer you 15% off all items in the shop now through april 30th! just enter the code "2010zotter" under "special instructions/gift message"  to zotterthepotter.com during checkout.

Unloading last week's glaze firing marked the return of the HPFs, the hand painted flowers. The 2010 marriage crock, the first thrown pot of the new year, turned out great. It's been over twenty years since we decorated by brush. All our personalized wedding gifts are stamped one letter at a time and accented with one of our custom logos. Hand painting was one of the techniques used back in the 19th century by the potters in the historic salt glazed Pennsylvania potteries that inspire our work. Along with brush stroke painting, stencils of words, eagles and other designs were used to make their functional wares more enjoyable. If you are interested in ordering this special 2010 hand painted pot, please click the following link. You can place your order through our paypal account:

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001zmrtXGWWEwZmygGsBOQXhmvOS40fCSnZCSgnO7p-jgmeYyYx2CizEkKXgbOrjn5QJa3m3YkSrri_iZWNOe1gTx2mOVJ8jv2S8eYlKmajql8rVIzDODXDeA%3D%3D

z: Signs of Spring

While working last night I watched a Dave & Dave, a show on local PBS about PA eateries.

They had a thing on the Sturgis Pretzel Co and showed their showroom and it had one of my old crocks with their name and pretzel logo. The tour guide's name was Jason Rieker and looked just like Mike.

They also did a thing on Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona. Have you ever been there?--Walt

Happy Spring!

This picture was sent to us by a neighbor. Henry is just one of the reasons why we love our neighborhood in the South Side of Pittsburgh.

March Madness: Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh

Our stoneware Stein and Mug are functional and beautiful. Good for both hot and cold liquids, dishwasher and microwave safe, you can enjoy using them every day.

http://www.zotterthepotter.com/personal.php?item=ST&cat=0

http://www.zotterthepotter.com/personal.php?item=MG&cat=0

Like most of the country, Pittsburgh is going through some unseasonably warm weather. It feels like we went from the dead of winter to mid-summer..Zotter The Potter got a touch of spring fever and decided to kick up our heels a little at Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh which we are lucky enough to have in our South Side Pittsburgh neighborhood. One of only three in the world, Hofbrauhaus continues an almost 500 year old  festive German beer hall tradition. Both Walter and I have been lucky enough to have gone to the original Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Being primarily of German and English descent, Walter looks like he fits right in, especially with his beard and Oktoberfest shirt. The restaurant's handcrafted beers, German menu and entertainment  make this place a great celebration destination. We invite you to find out for yourself.

http://www.hofbrauhauspittsburgh.com/about