July 30, 2010
Why does shoe shopping rock so much?? I’m pretty sure it’s because shoes always fit! You don’t put shoes on, look in the mirror, and think “no way is that the way this outfit is supposed to look!” I love shoes! The Soiree this year has a “wild” theme, hence animal print shoes. Mine are on the left…
I hate to say it…but Im completely ambivalent about this trade. Maybe if I was more interested in the Astros this year, I would care. But I really dont see myself caring until it is obvious that Drayton is OUT of the baseball side of things and lets the people he has put in place do their jobs. We shall see! I didnt even stay to watch the game the other night after we had our B2B networking event at MMP. Which says a LOT! I have never not stayed.
So, so long, Roy O! It’s been real. And fun. And there was that time I met you at Wild West, and you were actually nice. And super country. So there is that. Good luck!
Jorge, Chad and I signed up for this on August 14. I need a headlamp! 
Im kind of excited. Although Chad and Jorge have a side bet going that I am so not participating in. Give me a YEAR and maybe I could beat Jorge…over a longer distance.
July 27, 2010
Jorge and I ran the Dynamo 5K this past weekend. I have to say that I really enjoyed this course way more than the Astros and Rise & Shine…which were almost the exact same boring course. Jorge said he thought this one was harder than that last one, as well. I dont know why he thought that…he kicked butt! Bested his time by 2 minutes. I did better by 3 minutes…but considering I was sick on the last one, I dont think that counts! ha. Still tons of fun, though!
Next ones to sign up for:
Galveston Sand Crab 5K and Race for the Cure
July 26, 2010
I actually went against every rule I have and saw this movie right after it came out. Granted, it was on a Monday morning the weekend it came out, but still. Even being the first showing on a Monday morning, the theater was pretty packed.
I wasnt expecting to like it SO much, but I thought it was absolutely amazing. Even if you take away the story and dialogue, it was absolutely gorgeous to look at. But it also had me on the edge of my seat for most of the movie, as well.
My favorite part of the story was that the plot didnt spend time trying to convince you that the dream capabilities were some new technology that was just discovered by this group of people. The dream capabilities were just fact. Just something that was out there, and people knew about it and accepted it. The story involved using those abilities, not trying to start a debate as to whether they were ethical or moral or if the world was ready to accept this blah blah blah. That probably didnt make sense….but in my head it did. I will try to edit later to move what I want to say from my brain to my blog. Ha!
LOVED IT!
July 21, 2010
So the Friday of our trip was a bit unplanned, but we decided Thursday that we may as well head over to Kansas City to hit that ballpark, as well. We decided we would probably never be that close to Kansas City for any reason, so why not! On our way out of town, we stopped at the Goody Goody Diner in east St. Louis. I had a yummy waffle with turkey sausage, and Marilyn had some super sweet pancakes.
Four hours later we checked into our hotel in a town on the edge of Kansas City, which was apparently the birthplace of one of the American Idols. One of the Davids…Cook, I think. Not that I care in the slightest, but they had a sign and everything.
When we started to head to the ballpark, the skies were black and it was thundering everywhere…but it managed to clear up and become gloriously bright by game time. Marilyn liked Kansas City better than St. Louis as far as ballparks. Which adds more evidence to the idea that I really enjoy urban ballparks, and she enjoys the openness of suburban ballparks. When we went to the concession stands we discovered that it was what they call “Buck Night.” Hot dogs, peanuts, Twinkies, sodas….all a dollar! On a Friday! Fascinating. I guess they really need attendance! Mainly because the Royals make my Astros look like an All-Star team. *sigh*
Highlight of the game: sharing my peanuts with the three-year old boy next to me that was “starving!” because it was taking at least 3 or 4 innings to stand in line and get hot dogs. He kept saying his dad was not coming back, because he had been gone “FOREEEEVER!” Also, it was 9 p.m. by this point, and I figured he wasnt exaggerating about the starving thing. He MUNCHED on my peanuts! But he did offer me one of his hot dogs to make up for it. Adorable!
Pictures from Day 4:
I consider Day 3 to be the day that we did the most typical St. Louis tourist things. First up….the stupid ARCH. Ugh. While this is a fascinatingly engineered structure, I HATED it. The tiny little ferris-wheel like cars put you way too close to other people. Ive decided I dont have claustrophobia really….I have definite personal space issues. And the trip up and down definitely interfered with that! Ha! Up at the top the observation is very small, as well. Very narrow, and not very long, either. I believe we stayed up on top less than 8 minutes. The funniest part was when a woman we met tried to give us her husband and have him join our family because we said we like to travel around and go to ballparks. Ha! She had no interest, but they were in town mainly for the Cardinals game, as well. Hilarious. She straight up looked at him and said “There ya go! There is your new family!”
After my experience with the stupid Arch, Marilyn requested Hodak’s fried chicken again. It was just as yummy the second time!
The afternoon was spent at the Anheuser-Busch plant. Very nice. Free tour, free exhibit area, free tastings! You cant lose. Marilyn was even interested in the buildings and all…the entire facility dates way back. The plant in St. Louis is the original, and they have the history to prove it. I was more interested in the buildings that smelled like hops and yeast! Divine.
We ended the day by attending the Cardinals game at Busch Stadium. Add this one to the list! I really like the urban ballparks…but I will never understand why roofs arent added. Baseball is not an all-weather game like football, and it is a LONG game…and it gets HOT. Just fascinates me. Anyway…we definitely melted in our seats, but the stadium was gorgeous.
P.S. Their nachos have pulled pork on them!
Pictures from Day 3:
Day 2 started off BRIGHT and early at the Cahokia Burial Mounds in Illinois. By bright I mean the SUN. And I also mean SCORCHING. Whew, it was H O T. Cahokia is the site of an ancient Native American civilization based around these huge earthwork mounds. HUGE. And numerous. The largest mound can be climbed by a set of steps and you can see all the way to the Arch from the top. Has a neat visitor center, and very nice tour guides. I never really did get into American history in school, so North American ancient cultures are fairly new to me. Makes it more interesting that way.
After a stop at the hotel to change clothes and cool off, it was to off the City Diner in downtown St. Louis for lunch. One of the two places that serves the “best pancakes”. Different polls, I guess. Marilyn had the deep-fried french toast….and I when I say it tasted just like a funnel cake, that is no exaggeration. I had a Slinger, which is a traditional Midwest dish served primarily in diners. It had hash browns, sausage patties, eggs, chili and CHEESE. Heartburn on a plate, I tell ya. Do not worry….I didnt finish it. Whew. It sounds like such a weird combo…I almost didnt want to try it, but I am glad I found the gumption to do so! Totally worth it.
Just down the street from my meal that is apparently every “drunk’s dream meal” was the Cathedral Basilica. This is a cathedral that was completed in 1914. I must say, I never expect churches like that to be on American soil. I guess Im stuckup and only expect to see such beauty and vast spaces in Europe. It was magnificent. Instead of painted frescos, the cathedral is covered with tiled mosaics. Apparently, there are over 41 million tiles in that place! Craziness. Definitely shiny, but dark so the pictures dont quite do it justice.
The last stop of the day was the Stone Hill Winery. Back in the day, we had toured the Stone Hill Winery in Branson on a family vacation, so it was neat to go to a different location, but have it be the same quality of people and tour. Such nice people! Also, I have a member or buyer card for Stone Hill when I ordered a case of grape juice online a few years ago, so we saved 15%. That was my favorite part. Besides the tasting, of course! Ha!
Pictures from Day 2:
Day 1 was technically a travel day in which we made it all the way to Blytheville, AK. VERY exciting. Ha!
The next day we made it to St. Louis in time for lunch, at which time we visited Hodak’s…voted best fried chicken in St. Louis for the last bazillion years. Or something like that. Anyway…those voters were NOT lying. I have never had fried chicken that tasted so good. And there was so much of it! Whew. Super crispy and juicy. Yea for chicken!
After we stuffed ourselves, we headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden. This was Marilyn’s favorite part, Im sure. I thought it was gorgeous, but I can only look at so many flowers. This botanical garden was definitely the best one we have ever been – the largest and the most distinctive.
Since we got so hot touring the botanical garden, I declared the third stop of the day to be Ted Drewes frozen custard. Whoo hoo! I have not had a concrete since visiting College Station. A concrete is a like a blizzard…but using frozen custard instead of regular soft serve. SO creamy and delicious! Funniest part: when the lady at the window kept trying to take orders coming through for her kids, even though she had JUST ordered and there was a second line where you waited to pick up your concretes. I still cant decide what she thought we were all standing there for, if not to get our custard! Jeez, lady.
Last stop of the day was the Missouri History Museum. I really enjoyed this – it was free and awesome. And air conditioned! Ha! There was an entire exhibit on the World’s Fair in St. Louis, and then two sections on the history of St. Louis itself. A good way to find out about the city we were in, and I was glad we did it the first day. Of course, anything history-related is always going to be tops with me!
Pics from Day 1:
Vacation photos are up…I’ll be writing posts about what we did on vacation, but these are just the photos all in one place!