Day & Evening 3

i...don't remember why i didn't post last night. alzheimer's again. damn.

alright, so for our second day and third night in the STL. we actually woke up early again - we had a 10:30 am reservation for easter brunch, so we had to be showered and dressed up and all that good stuff in time to make it there. our reservation was at the eau bistro at the chase park plaza hotel, and man...we had no idea what we were in for. first of all, we woke up to snow. we had a truly icky drive to brunch, parked, and came upon a locked door for eau bistro. cussing a blue streak (him) and not wanting to walk much further in heels (me), we went inside the hotel and managed to find the bistro that had just shut their outside door but was still open.

we sat down and were offered mimosas, which we jumped on, and coffee. shown the buffet, pete and i started going through the line: eggs benedict, hot pasta, french toast, bacon & sausage, then hand-carved prime rib & lamb, an omelet bar, fresh fruit, roasted cold vegetables, prosciutto, salami, cold pasta salads, duck, oysters, shrimp, crab leg, rolls & bagels & danishes, muffins, and i'm probably forgetting something. we filled a plate, then another plate, had a mimosa, then another mimosa, then a half a mimosa that was topped off with straight champagne. finally, we hit up the dessert annex to the space, getting fresh tiramisu, cold chocolate mousse, the richest chocolate brownie i've ever had, a fruit tart, and possibly more. we must've gained 10 pounds in one meal.

we staggered out, me certifiably tipsy, and drove a couple of blocks to the art museum. we found ourselves unable to immediately leave the car, we were so full, buzzed, sleepy, and content. after spending a good fifteen solid minutes in the car, we finally were able to get out and go in the museum, where we went picture happy and had a great time seeing more of the museum that we didn't have time for last time. and i did the whole thing in heels.

next we drove home and changed into notsofancy clothes, poked around online for an idea of something to do, and decided to go play pool. we got there, and i went on to kick booty. his booty, namely. i believe i will go on record to say that i won six out of seven games. woo! i'm now taking names for students, i will teach you all my skills. leaving the pool hall i decided that my windshield wiper blades needed to be switched around since the one in front of the driver is wearing out faster than the other. of course, i have no idea how to switch windshield wiper blades. so i made the illustrious rev do it for me. which he did, in a "quick, 5 minute operation" that became 15 minutes when my windshield wipers put up a fight. but he did it, despite my honking the horn while he was working, making him jump and slit his thumb. uh...oops. it was funny though.

we wrapped up our nice sleepy easter with dinner at TGIFridays and a drink at their bar. all in all yet another successful day, only tempered by the knowledge that we would have to once again leave each other the next day. maybe, though, that sort of situation will come to an end, eventually...

Day & Evening 2

we woke up early saturday morning, as we usually do on our vacations, eager to fit in as much as we could in the day. we first hit an adorable little downtown coffee shop - of course, we did the usual coffee and crossword, and headed out aiming for what we thought was the aquarium.

we arrive at what appears to be an insane asylum for children. suspended over virtual thin air are abandoned planes, a school bus, wire tunnels, a trolley car, a massive ball pit, and various and sundry other very enticing climbing devices. walking under all of this with parents and kids screaming and climbing above us, we enter complete mayhem. children everywhere, exhausted parents, exhausted but forcibly perky employees, and the most insane environment i've ever encountered. a bit overwhelmed, we consult a posted map for the aquarium, only to find that the supposed water wonderland encompasses roughly one eighteenth of this place, this place we've come to find out is called the city museum.

we decided to wander through the store, which happens to be around the corner from ticketing and the one sad sack "guard," aka an older woman in sad bunny ears and a droopy easter tshirt. we look at the store, head out of it, and decide to just look around this crazy place. wandering off, we move far enough in to the place to realize that we have managed to sneak in without even trying. reveling in this, we went on to enjoy the entirety of the building, unfortunately excluding many, many climbing and hiding opportunities both because we were carrying large bags and because we were scared that we would disappear, never to be seen again except occasionally by other Dwellers of the Tunnels.

all in all, we had a blast. we literally high-fived on the way out for our screwing the man and enjoying a $20/person museum for free. totally going back there. because it was freezing, we hopped back in the car and drove a few blocks down to the union station for lunch at houlihan's. we achieved this after a brief driving the wrong way down a one-way driveway debacle, engineered by the chauffeur reverend. we had quite the wait at houlihan's, thanks to about 3000 college-aged wrestlers in town for the NCAA wrestling tournament championship deal occurring one block from union station. who knew that drinking a canned 40 of beer at lunch was mandated by the NCAA rulebooks? we had a great lunch nonetheless, and left union station to attempt a brewery tour, only to be crowded out by wrestlers there as well. our next try was gus's pretzels, a great buy. finally we hit up the history museum, learning about lindbergh, the early conquests of the country by various other countries and how they made their way to missouri, and the st. louis world's fair.

then we headed back to the hotel, where i proceeded to be really romantic and make great use of our time by napping for a large portion of the afternoon. i awoke to pete launching the ironing board around the room with extensive groaning and squealing (on the board's part), and a call to go get my butt in gear so we'd be ready in time for our 8:15 reservation. we made it to savor by 8:20, were seated immediately, and tried to chain ourselves to our table so we'd never have to leave. after an extensive meal of new york strip steak (that you could cut with a butter knife) and crab-encrusted salmon, followed by dessert coffees, we left beyond satiated, replenished, and desperate to return.

trying to extend our nice evening, we stopped at what was neon-lightedly exclaimed to be a bowling alley and movie theater on the same road as savor, only to search much of the building without any success of actually finding a bowling alley. literally, nowhere to be found in the building. so we called it a night, headed back to the hotel, and collapsed to prepare ourselves for the next day.

coming up: snow, bottomless mimosas, a room of desserts, art & heels, pool halls, windshield wipers, and tgi fridays.

Evening 1

my bad for not posting last night. it boils down to i was tired, the end.

alright so to recap our trip to st. louis, remixed...after calling the police, filing a report, doing a little relaxing to try to calm myself after everything, i headed out for st. louis. it's (for most people) a three and a half hour drive. for me, closer to four hours, since i manage to stop four times on that length of a drive. not to overshare, but i have the world's smallest bladder. when i later told pete that i stopped twice, twenty minutes apart, he decided then and there that we shall never road trip together, for he would have to murder me. i am sorry i do not have some backup reservoir system, i am only human.

anyway. so i got to st. louis, far ahead of pete thanks to getting to leave earlier than planned, and hit up the local schnuck's for a couple dinner supplies. we stayed at a homestead suites with a full kitchen in each room. i had planned in advance to bring and make dinner - the plan was to have it ready and on the table for him upon his later arrival. i unpacked, chopped up the chicken for the chicken tikka masala i was making (totally not from scratch, i got a kick a** sauce in a jar from world market), and watched a very interesting diane sawyer (go wellesley!) documentary on "working girls." finally, pete called to alert me that he was in the neighborhood, so i got dinner going so that it'd be piping hot for him. unfortunately we happened to be staying on the most annoying, difficult, and potentially dangerous road to get to in perhaps all of st. louis, so it took pete an additional 40 minutes longer than it should have to find the place and get checked in. needless to say, he was a little peeved when he got there. i had done all i could to maintain optimum heat levels on the food without burning it. it still tasted pretty good, though.

we exchanged some gifts before and after dinner - i had made him a little easter basket with his favorite candies and a huge hit: a white iron paperweight from pottery barn, shaped like a paperclip. apparently, this was his heart's most intimate desire. who knew? then he pulls out a bag and says he has something "little" for me for our 6 month anniversary. and hands me a zales bag...with two boxes in it. turns out the man got me diamond earrings and a diamond necklace for our anniversary - i was beyond surprised, and i have literally not yet taken the earrings off. i take the necklace off for sleep, but i have worn that every day since that minute, too. once again, i am spoiled beyond belief. in case you were wondering if that was waning.

tomorrow's tale will include sneaking into a museum, wrestlers by the thousands, a nap, a large steak, and an invisible bowling alley.

Back From Break

i'm going to, for now, pretend that my weekend didn't happen so that i can regale you with what happened to me BEFORE my weekend began, and what threatened to completely ruin all possibilities of fun with my rev.

as i documented on here, my beloved watch and a cheap but equally beloved bracelet had recently gone strangely missing from my bedside table. i am beyond OCD about my watch. i take it off every night, place it in the little leaf dish katherine had sent me, wake up in the morning, put it on, rinse, repeat. so as i said, its disappearance was truly baffling to me, but i decided to wait it out for it to magically reappear in the freezer or something, as things of mine that go missing are sometimes wont to do.

then, friday morning as i got ready for work in one of my fav new cardigans, i decided to add one of my favorite necklaces to my ensemble: the freshwater pearls that pete had sent me for...well for no good reason, but they were super special to me, for obvious reasons. i opened the drawer where they live(d) in my jewelry armoire, only to find a blank spot. my heart in my throat, i tore out the drawer, pulled open other drawers frantically, slid my hand up the backside of the drawers, and found nothing. i flipped open the top of the armoire where my rings and earrings live, and found three blank spots in the ring crevices.

silver lining: i do not have early onset alzheimer's. tarnished anti-lining: i have been robbed.

i called pete and sobbingly apologized for letting his necklace get stolen, and then tried to go to work and put it from my mind, only to burst out in tears more than once telling people that my necklace from pete was gone. i finally ended up leaving work at noon, going home, and calling the police to file a report. seeing that the cop that came was able to pick a lock to a (now much more secured) door that leads directly to my room in about 3.6 seconds, we think we know how it happened. it still sucks, and whoever you are that took my necklace, watch, bracelet, and rings, watch your back. i'm coming for you.

Thanks...

"are you excited to see my tattoo?"

"i dunno. prolly not."

"um, thanks..."

"huh?"

So Hardcore

i just got a tattoo.

a real one.

i chose a more unusual path than most, and went with all white ink. my tattoo is on the inside of my left wrist, and is a line of sanskrit that translates to drishta dharma sukha viharin. it's part of the third noble truth of buddhism, and basically means "dwelling happily in things as they are." it's often used as a mantra while meditating. i'm just going to use it to try and guide my life a little more and help remind me to focus on what makes me happy.

here's an early image of it, literally the second he took the needle away from my skin:counting the minutes til i get to take my bandage off and see it calmed down. although first i have to wash the extra white off...derek (my tattoo artist) smeared extra ink over the whole tattoo after it was finished, telling me that after they do tribal work in brazil, they put extra ink over it since they are convinced that the tattoo still soaks up more ink. he did this with a shrug and a well, let's see if it works. guess it can't hurt. more pics to come!

Grand

"so you're going on dates with other girls?"

"well...i can't just withdraw from life...."

"WHAT?!?!?"

"wait what did you say?"