Best weekend ever

There are just some weekends that click and there are some weekends that just fall flat despite even the best efforts. Two weekends ago, Chuck and I were staring at each other with no motivation, 12 degrees outside and a serious case of cabin fever. This weekend was an entirely different story.


Friday night, Chuck and I met cousin Sarah to see the Oscar nominated animated shorts. Good films, overall entertaining, Wallace & Gromit are nominated and I am always a big fan of their shorts (even if they are the popular ones). After the show, we went to Barrister’s, a bar in Clayton that we have become regular patrons. Great night.

Saturday started with a beautiful warm morning. I am on a young professional board for Mayor Slay and we had a meeting downtown. I grabbed my essentials and headed to the Metrolink. The meeting was at Soldier’s Memorial (which I thought was just a park until a couple of weeks ago). What an amazing building! First, the outside is an impressive and massive building. We have all seen it a thousand times, I just have never looked at it. Our meeting was in the auditorium (it looked like a courtroom) on the second floor. I was just taken aback when I walked in. I felt like I had stepped back in time to 1964. I felt out of place without a pillbox hat, white gloves and not discussing segregation in the classroom. It was an adorable room. I tried to take pictures on my phone, but that was useless. St. Louis could make millions renting it out to movie theaters. Since I am currently obsessed with all things 60’s, I was just tickled to death sitting in the meeting. The meeting was pointless, but that’s not important to our story. Go to the second floor of Soldier’s Memorial, it’s just fun.

Saturday night was the night. We have been waiting for this: Bugs at the Symphony. We went to Herbie’s for a pre-show cocktail to make a whole night of it. I did not realize that Herbie’s has quite a drink menu. Not the tuity-fruity cosmo/apple martini’s drinks, wonderful delicious drinks with bitters, Benedictine and a flaming orange peels. Don’t ask me, I don’t make them, I just drink them. Amanda (my new best friend or as some people would call her, the bartender at Herbie’s) walked us through all the drinks let us taste all the different gins, scotches, and bourbons that went into the different drinks for different reasons. Yum. We decided to make dinner reservations after the show just to get another drink.

The show was so much fun. You know, but you forget how much goes into a Wil E. Coyote short. To see all the instruments doing their own thing to work together into an amazing complex piece, just humbled me. The conductor was great in explaining the history and importance of the pieces and composers. I struggled between paying attention to the cartoons and the musicians. I am really looking forward to going back and enjoying the symphony again.

After dinner: back to Herbie’s. Drinks were still very good. We split the rabbit pasta, which I loved. The conductor or the symphony came in after us and we heard him refusing the rabbit (because of Bugs), but I blamed him for ‘kill da wabbit! Kill da wabbit’ and we had to have the rabbit. Amanda even came by the dining room and check in on us while we were there too. Herbie’s has moved up to one of my favorite restaurants, very very impressed with the food, drinks and people.

Sunday we ran errands and bought a new sofa. Someone is coming by tonight to buy the old ones.

Life is good.

Thank you Mr. Pollan

He’s at it again. Michael Pollan has a new book out, it’s called Food Rules. He has actually given rules to live by on how to choose what you eat. It can’t get easier than this. I do not have the book but I have been following the reviews closely and here are some interesting rules:
#11 Avoid foods advertised on TV. Reasoning: Only the biggest manufacturers can afford to advertise their products on TV. These manufacturers have simply reformulated their food-like substance into the trend of the moment (no HFCS, fortified with grains, low-sodium, etc). Avoiding TV food is avoiding food-like substances and not paying for the advertising in the price. It makes sense to me except for Kashi. Darn it, I love that company (even if they are owned by Kellogg’s, I always imagined them different than others). He has a point though; there are LOTS of other good things out there.
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made from a plant, don’t. High-fructose corn syrup, enough said.
#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. I love this. If you have to clean up the mess, you are going to eat a lot less often, but you still can eat it. There are also so many things that taste so much better homemade: cakes, ice cream, doughnuts. If you do happen to break this rule, just remember french fries, chips, and cupcakes are TREATS, not food.
#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. This is where I struggle the most and my thighs are finally taking notice. I am trying so hard with this one.
Oldies but goodies from Pollen (I am sure they are in the book, but I don’t have the number):
Don’t eat anything that won’t rot. Snack cakes, cereal, etc.
Don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce: sodium caseinate, dimethylpolysiloxane, calcium pantothenate.
Don’t eat anything your Grandma wouldn’t eat or recognize (while that’s true for my grandma, I think he meant his, so go back another generation)

There is a difference between food and food-like substance and there is a difference between food and treats. Please know this difference.

While we are on the subject, Chuck and I have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Every week we pick up a load of meat, cheeses, produce and condiments (jellies, butter, salsa’s, etc) all produced and grown from small local farms in the area. I pick up my first load tomorrow and I am excited to see what I get. I will keep you posted.

it slipped to #2

I have made my love for 'How I Met your Mother' very known. It is a great show: funny, original, the timing /writing of the show is a breath of fresh air, and Neil Patrick Harris. I am here to tell you that HIMYM has moved to #2 in my favorite TV shows. 'Modern Family' has moved proudly into that spot. Holy hilarity Batman. Genius. Cameron and Manny are the two that keep in in tears throughout the show, but the whole cast is a bowl full of talent. It can get a little happy family Brady Bunch at times, but overall, a good watch.


It is refreshing to see that sitcoms are having a comeback. We had a low time of less-than-quality shows and it seems we are moving back into a substantial group of shows that are neither reality or drama. Thankfully, we have grieved 2004 and are ready to start seeing other people again ('04 saw the series finale of Sex & The City, Frasier, Will & Grace, and Friends, among others).


My favorite line:
Cameron: Mitchell is a snob.
Mitchell: No, n-no, I'm discerning.
Cameron: Official slogan for snobs.
If you have time, check out Modern Family on Hulu or ABC.com.