Bad day

It's been 7 years and I still can't get this day out of my head. Take time to hug your family today.

Public Enemy #1

Wow, corn growers are getting nervous. Have you seen the pro-high-fructose corn syrup commercials? It's good to know the "facts." The point of the commercial was that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is ok in moderation. Well, sort of yes, but that's the whole point. Most Americans don't know what contains high-fructose corn syrup and most Americans have a hard time with moderation. HFCS is mainly in unhealthy highly-processed low nutrition food. Our sugar consumption has more than doubled since the 50's thanks to HFCS; pair this with our activity level diminishing over the last 60 years. This equals up to one large country.

Don't be fooled. Stay away from it because you will still be consuming it without knowing it. It took a real effort to find bread without it.

The commercials claim that HFCS is made from natural ingredients. Just to keep the record straight, the FDA does not allow HFCS products to be called natural.

Don't believe the commercials. I am frightened to think of the people who will be convinced by them (well, they are the same people that think Palin will advance women's rights too, sorry, I digress). We are all in this together and we need to make a real effort to limit our HFCS consumption. This will lead to healthier lives, healthier futures, and be happier people.

My friends are da cooooolest

Just some pics of good times with my friends.

San Fran

Sorry, I am too tired today to figure out how to rotate a picture.

San Francisco was great. I got in Thursday evening. Sarah and I enjoyed a glass of wine and then tucked in for the night. On Friday I walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed some touristy activities. Mostly people watching and reading. In the afternoon Sarah and I did some shopping. Friday night I had the best guac in my life (and I don't even really like guac) at a Mexican restaurant and then a great glass of wine at a wine bar. 2 thumbs up on both establishments. Yum. Saturday we went out to the 'burbs and layed by the pool, then came back into the city and grilled out. On Sunday we headed out to Napa. We stopped by Tiburon and Sausalito too.

Overall it was a great trip. Great town, great company, excellent weekend. Sarah was very generous to put up with me for 3 days and then drop me off at the airport at 4:30 am. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING SARAH!

Foiled Again

In 6 weeks, my building is going to be moving to Earth City. It's good and bad. I like the idea and don't, but it is going to happen and we will all adjust accordingly. I started looking into riding the bus to work. I had looked into at my present building and it was a mess. Then Sarah DeVaughan and I were discussing it again because she was looking into riding the bus. I decided to work out my route to my new Earth City location. Well, sorry Earth, you lose.

There is a bus that goes from the Hanley Station to Earth City. Perfect. I will drive 4 miles to Hanley and take the bus. It will save about 1/2 hour off my bus commute if I don't ride it from my house. I need to ride the bus 15 times round-trip to break even on a $60 pass. Wait a minute, for me to make 15 round trips in my car to work, it will only cost $40. I am willing to sacrifice some time and money for the Earth, but not $20 a month. I know what you are saying, "just ride it more than 15 times a month, Anna." In reality I would love to take the bus everyday. I do run errands at lunch sometimes, make lunch plans, and go out after work; not to mention the weekly allergy shots. Riding the bus everyday isn't feasible with my social calendar. Even if I did ride it 20 times, my gas only comes out to $53.00.

My commute from my house to Earth City is 10.79 miles according to MapQuest. It is quick and painless and I should look on the bright side: I have a car that gets great gas mileage and I don't live far from work. I guess I will have to look into other ways to save the Earth.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Adios Summer

This was a great summer. For some reason, St. Louis had one of the most pleasant summers I can ever remember. There were about 2 weeks when it was a typical St. Louis summer, but for the most part, it was delightful. It is still over 70% humidity, but it doesn't feel suffocating like it use to feel. I think I have finally acclimated to St. Louis weather (it only took my entire life)

Great things I did this summer:

1. went to the Art Fair in Paducah and bought some fabu art.

2. went to chicago and had a wonderful city girl weekend.

3. Morton's wedding: great time was had by all

4. Minneapolis for a sustainability conference. Learned a lot.

5. The new M. Night movie came out. Not his best, but the message was important.

6. Joss Stone concert. Nothing like celebrating the 4th of July with the British

7. volunteered at the FoodBank. It's my favorite volunteer activity all year.

8. making s'mores in Tara and Paul's street

9. Finding an organization that will loan me easy to handle recycle bins. Offering recycling services just got a whole lot easier for me. (and my mom and dad since I have to drag them to help too)

10. annual girls trip to the Ozarks.

11. riding bikes all over St. Louis and just being outside.

To cap off the summer, I am going to San Francisco to visit Sarah for the weekend.

P.S. The picture is the view from the brand new Four Seasons in St. Louis. Bern, Billy, and I enjoyed drinks and dinner there one night. It was very cool. Everyone needs to check it out.

What was your favorite memory of the summer?

Good Things

Here are some pics of my friends. Good times.

Just want to share some simple things I look forward to experiencing. You may also:

1. How I Met Your Mother. Probably the best show on TV right now, don't worry when the season premiere is on, I will alert you.

2. NPR podcasts. I can catch all my favorite show whenever I want. They even have snippets of various episodes put together into environmental report podcasts.
3. Stephen King's column in Entertainment Weekly. It's genius, it's down to earth, it's logical, and it's not creepy, which makes it kind of creepy.
4. Netflix. I get all the boring documentaries I want when I want. It's fabulous.

5. Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, and Duffy. My girls can rock.

6. Coppola Pinot Noir. mmmmmmmm...delicious.

Enjoy your day.