The Big 2-8!

Ok, I hate my birthday.  Loathe it, actually.  You know what's worse for me than getting another year closer to 30?  Doing it with my husband deployed.  But, thank God for small miracles.  My dear friend and her husband took pity on me and took me out for my Birthday.  We had dinner and went to a fun chocolate bar in Saint Louis for birthday martinis.  It was a blast!

Me in all of my birthday glory.

So, 28 is here...and it's ok, I suppose.  I miss Joel like crazy, but I am staying busy.  I think that's the key to surviving a deployment.  Always stay busy.  Between work and my grad school classes, there's enough to keep me busy, but not overwhelmed.  And of course, the pugs.  They're awesome little guys, well, most of the time...

Anywho, that's about all from  my end.  I may have some exciting and scary news to share soon, but that is TBD.  Right now I am just trying to enjoy life and all that it has to offer right now.  And missing my husband...almost 1/3 of the way done with this stupid deployment!

What a "Suite" Life

So, there's a lot of perks that come with my new gig at the foundation.  First and foremost is that I love what I do every day, and even basic tasks give me a sense of accomplishment, because I know every little piece is a part of something great.

An unexpected perk came on last Tuesday.  We apparently host the occasional "suite night" where we have various people involved with the foundation out to a Cardinals game in the owner's suite.  Well, I was actually asked to go!  I felt like such a VIP.  They had a buffet set up and a dessert cart (more on that yumminess later!).  And best of all?  The 'birds pulled off a win against the reds!  Can I say awesome?  Well, I hope so, because I just did.

 Our special VIP entrance.

 Inside the suite.

 Look at this table!  I totally want one.  And the bats came from another one of my favorite 'Lous!

 See!  Proof that I was there!

 The best dessert cart in the world!  Yummers!

 Have I said lately how much I love the Lou?  Cause I totally do.

I'm Published, Ya'll!

Hey!  Sorry I've been scarce.  Those of you that have gone to college can understand the stress of the end of a semester.  I have nearly the entire month of May off, though, and I can't wait.  Grad school is a lot of writing!

Speaking of writing, I am happy to say that I have been published!  It's for the new gig, but I would appreciator you guys checking me and the awesome organization I work for out.

My article!

Iron Fork

Ok, so we all know how much I love food.  Well, if you could see my waistline you would know this.  So I was super stoked to get tickets to the St. Louis Iron Fork event.  It was held in the Marriott in Union Station (BTW, Union Station is worth a check out in itself).  It had 30 restaurants featured and 12 mixologists, each with a sampling of yumminess.  Of course I couldn't visit all of them, but I think I did my best.  Here are a few reviews.

 The Entrance.  Oh, yeah.  I forgot to mention there was free wine and beer.

 So many people!

 Ok, I have no idea what this is called, but it reminded me of bread pudding.  It was fantastic!  Harvest folks explained that they use as much local and/or organic products that they can.  Score one for going local!

 Here is a huge example of Toasted Ravioli, invented right here in the STL.  I can't for the life of me remember what restaurant this was from (they didn't have handy little cards) but, it was just ok.  Not too memorable.  I have definitely had better.

There was plenty of BBQ to go around!  I really enjoyed PM BBQ.  Dare I saw it was my favorite of the event?  There was also Bogart's BBQ (had it, very good, will do a review later) and Pappy's (see below), which go back and forth for the best in the 'Lou, but PM BBQ was definitely my favorite of the night.  I may have to make the trip to try it again.

 Bless the people at the mud house.  They had tone of little deserts, and the guy said I could try one of each!  There was (from left-ish) a blueberry scone, something I can't remember, gingerbread, banana bread, a brownie, and an almond milk cupcake.  Each one was phenomenal, but my favorite would be the gingerbread or the brownie.  I would definitely recommend this place if you have a sweet tooth.

 This was an interesting choice.  It was a beef slider, mixed with a little bit of pork.  It had a white cheese (not sure which kind) and an eggy sauce on top.  While the burger itself was pretty tasty, and the cheese complimented it well, I was not a fan of an eggy burger.

 Oh, Pappy's.  I had heard so much about this place, I was dying to try it.  Apparently, they make everything fresh each day, and usually sell out by 7 or 8 at night.  It totally did not disappoint!  While PM BBQ was my favorite, I really enjoyed the sweet BBQ sauce that Pappy's provided, and would definitely recommend this to anyone in the area.  The people of St. Louis know their BBQ.