A Cup Of Joelle

Snow Day

2010-12-13T10:33:00.000-06:00

{Snow Day.}

Yesterday a frigged winter blast dumped 3 inches of snow on St. Louis. Along with the freezing temps and snow, the wind chill made it feel like at least 10 below 0. Luckily I had planned ahead. I bought plenty of groceries and refused to leave the house. I wouldn't have even gone outside if it weren't for my 2 dogs.

This was Sammie's first time in the snow and while I assumed she would freak out at the sight of it, she instead embraced it. It was hard to even get her back into the house. Callie on the other hand does not like anything wet on the ground. She did not appreciate the snow. Every time I took her out, she looked at me like "you're kidding right?".

{ Sammie in the snow.}

When I wasn't freezing outside with the dogs, I was inside making sure to stay warm and cozy. I was thankful that I didn't have to go anywhere.

{A cup of Christmas Tea with peppermint stick.}

{A fire in the fireplace. This means Christmas scented candles.}

Ghosts of Christmas Cards Past

2010-12-06T19:51:00.000-06:00

So far, our Christmas card photos only go back 4 years. I'm taking a look back at the past 4 Christmas photos just for fun.

2007
Our first Christmas together.

2008
Callie's new Christmas sweater.

2009
Christmas in a new apartment.

2010
Christmas with a new dog, Sammie.

The Story of Mistletoe Reindeer

2010-11-29T15:47:00.000-06:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is upon us, I look forward to getting out all of my Christmas decorations.

One holiday staple in my house is “Mistletoe Reindeer.” Mistletoe Reindeer has lived in my grandmother’s house in Newport, Arkansas; at my parents’ house in Kennett, MO; in the counselor’s office at my high school; in my dorm room at college; in my apartment at college; and now at my apartment in St. Louis. The story of Mistletoe Reindeer is a simple one.

One year around Christmas time, my family was visiting my grandmother in Arkansas. She proudly presented us with a hideous reindeer head made out of a sock. It had a mouth, eyes, and even eye lashes. I can’t remember if she had made it herself, or actually purchased it. Either way, she wasted her time and/or money. As my mom gasped at the gaudy thing before us, my dad explained that this “thing” would not be coming home with us. End of story. Somehow the reindeer ended up in the car with us and made its way to our house. There, my dad threatened to throw it in the trash. I saved it from an untimely death and kept it for the next several years.

I worked in the counselor’s office during high school and one year I decided to bring the ugly reindeer to decorate the office with. We ended up hanging it from the ceiling. This is where the reindeer got the name, Mistletoe Reindeer. Mistletoe Reindeer spent two years receiving attention in the counselor’s office during the holidays. I had to sneak it back into the house each time so that my dad didn’t see it. He refused to have it in his house.

When I left for college, I had Mistletoe Reindeer in tow. This is where my reindeer spent 4 fabulous years bringing Christmas joy to all who laid eyes on her. My dad refused to let it back into his house so it has remained with me through the years. It is now one of my favorite Christmas decorations.

Mistletoe Reindeer continues to spread Christmas cheer even today, much to my dad’s disappointment.

Continuing Education

2010-11-22T15:14:00.002-06:00

After being out of the classroom scene for a while, I realized I actually missed being in a learning environment. Recently I’ve been taking some continuing education classes (or non credit) at St. Louis Community College to get my learning fix.

After loving my ballet class my last semester at Missouri State, I signed up for a ballet class in St. Louis. This lead to me becoming a regular student at ADIVA Dance for almost three years now.

My mother and I signed up for a Saturday class about the 1904 World’s Fair not too long ago. This ended up being a day of traipsing through Forest Park with strangers while listening to cassette tapes explaining when and where events took place. The day ended with a 1904 World’s Fair feast including ice cream cones, iced tea, and hot dogs; all of which were invented at the 1904 World’s Fair. This class kept my interest for most of the day. Did you realize that Forest Park used to house 1000’s of buildings but were demolished after the fair was over? Insane!

Last month I took at class on haunted castles in Ireland. Because I can’t turn down a good ghost story, I knew I had to take this class. I learned that I want to visit Ireland and that I want to stay the night in a haunted castle.

My most recent STLCC experience involved a class about Christmas during the Civil War. I love history and most importantly I love learning about the Civil War. I think watching Gone With The Wind at an early age sparked this interest. My mother was originally going to take this class with me, but I ended up going alone.

So on a cold, rainy night in November, I wandered through the Meramec campus of STLCC, pepper spray in hand (just in case), and tried to fit in as a student who knew where they were going. I was headed to a science building so I wouldn’t fit in for long. Science and I never got along. Once I was in the “Science West” building, I was beginning to think I would never find my classroom when I saw a room filled with older adults with their eyes fixed on a 70-something-year-old man dressed in a Civil War (Union) uniform. Great. This must be it.

I cautiously made my way into the classroom where I signed in, took my information packet, and made my way to the desk in the very back on the room, all while trying not to hit people in the side with my giant oversized purse. I quickly realized I was the youngest one in the room by a good 30 years. As the “instructor” rambled on about the Civil War (all of this information I either already knew or could easily read about on the internet), I was thankful for the grande peppermint mocha I had previously consumed that afternoon; without it I would have no doubt fallen asleep. While the “Union Officer” was a very sweet, knowledgeable man, he was also very boring. He didn’t really start talking about Christmas during the Civil War until almost 45 minutes in. The other adults in the room seemed mesmerized and hung on his every word. It must be a generational thing. I doodled in my notebook for what seemed like forever, sketching a detailed drawing of the Civil War soldier before me. After an hour we were dismissed for a short break, after which we would resume for another hour. Unfortunately I couldn’t take it anymore and dismissed myself from the building.

While I miss the hustle and bustle of the college campus, I do not miss the boring lectures. At least I didn’t have to take a test on it afterwards.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-15T11:00:00.000-06:00

With everyone getting ready for Christmas already, I feel like poor Thanksgiving gets ignored. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for several reasons.

Of course one reason is the food. Years ago my family would go down to Newport, AR to have Thanksgiving at my mother’s Uncle “Hobo’s” house (I forget why he was called “Hobo.” His real name was Bill). Uncle Hobo had an entire building behind his house just for food gatherings. There was always more than enough food, and more than enough people I may or may not know. When the meal was finished and everyone grabbed their plates, Uncle Hobo would sit off to the side and watch everyone. After preparing such a feast all he wanted to do was rest. I remember the organized chaos of that day; with everyone running around and talking over each other. These days Thanksgiving is a little less theatrical. My mother prepares Thanksgiving food now and more often than not, it’s just my parents, brother, and Jason and I.

For me, Thanksgiving is like the calm before the storm. It’s the last day before the holiday season officially kicks off. It’s the last day you can get away with not having any Christmas gifts bought yet. After Thanksgiving is over, you’re expected to have started your Christmas shopping or even be close to being finished. This is another reason I like Thanksgiving; a last good meal before you run yourself ragged getting ready for Christmas.

I don’t think we should wait until Thanksgiving to think about what we’re thankful for. Over the past couple of years, I’ve found myself having pity parties almost daily. I had to stop and realize all that I really did have to be thankful for. I try to remember everyday how blessed I truly am. Thankfulness is another reason I love Thanksgiving.

Every year, before I get the Christmas decorations out, I try to devote at least a couple of weeks to Thanksgiving by putting my Thanksgiving decorations out. There aren’t a lot of them and they usually don’t stay long, but I want them to at least see the light of day. This will probably be their last week on display.

The Wizard of Oz

2010-11-08T21:33:00.000-06:00

I don’t remember the first time I ever saw The Wizard of Oz. It must have been when I was very young because for as long as I can remember, I thought I was Dorothy.

I remember my mother making me a “Dorothy dress” when I was little. I wore the blue and white gingham dress everywhere. And I do mean every where. I wore the dress to the store, to church, to play in, everywhere. When I outgrew that dress, my mother made me another one a size bigger. This dress got as much attention as the first and was eventually accessorized with red shoes and a basket purse with a stuffed dog inside. I was never Dorothy for Halloween because I was Dorothy all year round.

To make things even better, my grandmother’s name was Dorothy. So when she bought a Yorkie puppy one summer and offered to let me name it, she should have known what was going to happen next. Yes my grandmother, Dorothy, had a dog for seventeen years named Toto.

I watched The Wizard of Oz so much that I completely wore out several VHS tapes. I could watch it over and over. I would sing along with the songs and dance with the music. The Emerald City was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. The Emerald City make-over scene was one of my favorite parts. Dorothy’s house landing in Munchkin Land was too exciting to comprehend. This is also probably where my fascination with tornadoes came from. And I am still to this day, a big Judy Garland fan (although her best work will always be playing Dorothy).

I wanted to follow the yellow brick road and hang out with the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion. I wanted to be somewhere over the rainbow. But as I grew up, I realized that I was not Dorothy, that I would never visit Oz, and that the characters from my favorite movie were just that; characters.

It was around this time that my Wizard of Oz collection took flight. Through the years, I’ve acquired many, many items. Because I live in a small apartment, most of them are crammed into a tiny cabinet with glass doors. This at least keeps them dust free. I hope to eventually have a better place to display these items.

I still watch it when it comes on TV. I even own a collectors edition DVD. Even though I know I’m not Dorothy, I still like to pretend sometimes......

"Like It's Her Birthday"

2010-11-03T21:37:00.001-06:00

On Halloween, I celebrated my 27th birthday (hence the Good Charlotte reference in the title). Because my birthday fell on a weekend I decided to go home to Kennett and spend it with my parents. My mother hasn’t had a chance to go all out for my birthday in many years so this year she really did it up big. I had a Wizard of Oz (my favorite movie) cake, cupcakes, plates, napkins, and center piece on the table for my grand Wizard of Oz birthday party. Most of the items from the party can now be added to my ever growing Wizard of Oz collection.

With Halloween now over, I’ll take a quick glance in my holiday closet to find my Thanksgiving decorations. These few items will grace my living room with their presence until Jason decides he can’t wait any longer for the Christmas tree to go up.

Ready for Halloween

2010-10-24T21:02:00.000-06:00

With Halloween a mere week away, I spent the weekend getting ready. In addition to carving my two pumpkins I got at Pumpkin Hollow last week, I also made some pumpkin spice cookies, and a spooky cookie haunted house (without a roof). The roof on the house refused to stay put so there isn’t one, but the pumpkin spice cookies were delicious. I can’t take credit for them though because I used a mix, but I did top them with cream cheese frosting and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

Last weekend I met some friends I hadn’t seen in a while at Pumpkin Hollow in Piggott, Arkansas. We all used to work for Pumpkin Hollow in college and met up to meet the newest member of the PH team, Mabry. After some daytime fun in the pumpkin patch, we headed to Holcomb, Missouri for some Strawberry’s BBQ, then back to PH for Horror in the Hollow. After dark, Pumpkin Hollow becomes a haunted wonderland including three haunted attractions: “Forrest of Fright,” “Bubba’s Butcher Barn,” and “Mad Skull Mine.” After taking pictures with some “spooks,” we made our way through the ghastly locations, but not without our annual “RIP treatment” including line cuts and a ride in a hearse. No month of October is complete without a trip down south to Pumpkin Hollow. I am now officially ready for Halloween!

Pumpkin Hollow Reunion 2010 (Me, Julie, Emily, Mabry, and Brooke)

Horror in the Hollow (Me, Julie, and Emily)

Bubba's Butcher Barn

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Slightly altered haunted house made from chocolate graham cookies.

Carved pumpkin.

Ghost Storytelling

2010-10-18T22:00:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, I once again accompanied my mother to another storytelling festival. This one was labeled a ghost storytelling event so I willingly went. Because this event was in Cape Girardeau, home to my favorite antique store (more on Annie Laurie's here), we had to stop by there first.

I was able to introduce my mother to Annie Laurie’s for the first time and we ended up spending an hour and a half in the store. She bought jewelry to complete her Halloween costume and I bought another clutch/change purse and a fall scarf to accent my True Religion snake skin purse.

Inside Annie Laurie's Antiques

With our lawn chairs in tow, we then headed down by the Mississippi River to hear ghost stories. They were serving hot apple cider and kettle corn so I thought this was exciting. It was the perfect October night.

Cape Girardeau

I had forgotten how theatrical storytellers could be (my previous storytelling adventure here) and how the stories wouldn’t seem true at all. The first storyteller was a guy who told a long drawn out story about a witch on a mountain. This story actually kept my interest for most of the time he told it. He played the guitar and sang a couple little numbers and then he was done. The next storyteller was a woman who entered the stage playing bagpipes. That was my first clue that she was going to annoy me. She proceeded to tell several short stories that almost sounded familiar. By the third story I leaned over to my mother and said “these are songs that she’s turned into stories.” One story was about a fiddle player who sold his soul to the devil (“Devil Went Down To Georgia”). Another story was about a dead husband who tapped his dead foot when he heard music and his foot turned to dust (“Dem Bones”...a song my mother was familiar with). At intermission, we were told that the second half of the “show” would be really scary stories. I anxiously waited for the next part to start, but was horribly disappointed when the second half was just as weird as the first.

The old man came back out and sang/told a story about what I can only guess was a vampire slayer. A majority of the beginning of this story was about how old the storyteller felt so he went on a hitchhiking trip. My disappointment continued when the lady came back and sang a song about a “scary” mother-in-law and a wax baby with glass eyes or something like that. I was so confused by the end of this story that my mother had to explain what had just happened.

Because it was late and cold, we left shortly after that story. This storytelling event was better than the last, although I would’ve liked to hear stories that were actually interesting.

Favorite Fall Things

2010-10-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

I’ve said before that I love fall. My mood always lightens in the fall. There are so many things about fall that I love. I decided to list them to remind myself how much I love this time of year.

*Pumpkins

*Halloween

*Thanksgiving (or should I just say Thanksgiving FOOD)

*The leaves change colors

*St. Louis Bread Company’s Pink Ribbon Bagel

*Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks

*TV shows premiere their new seasons

*Going to Pumpkin Hollow

*Homecoming season

*Going to Haunted Houses

*The weather gets cooler (normally…not this year apparently)

*My birthday (I still love my birthday)

*Going home in early fall and seeing the cotton in the fields

*Making popcorn balls and pumpkin bread

*Football (yeah I know…weird right?)

*Baseball playoffs

*I see my family more

October

2010-10-04T15:02:00.001-06:00

I love October. It's my favorite month of the year. The air turns chilly, the leaves start to fall, and Halloween comes around (and my birthday). I've always loved Halloween because it's also my birthday. My mother was always great at making a national holiday my day too. When I was younger my birthday party and cake always matched my costume. When the trick-or-treaters rang the doorbell, I assumed they were there to see me on my birthday.

I liked to help my mom get out all of our Halloween decorations and help her place them throughout the house and yard. Our yard was a spooky wonderland that was featured in the newspaper several years in a row. Everything from a fake coffin to a witch riding a flying bicycle could be found in our front yard.

One year when vandals tried to ruin our decorations, my dad dressed up like a pumpkin headed dummy and sat in the front yard among the other decorations. When the assailants returned to finish the job, my dad jumped up to grab them. Needless to say, they never returned.

These days, I do my own decorating. I have almost has many Halloween items as I do Christmas. Some things I've had for years. My collection grows a little every year. One of my favorite places to get Halloween stuff is Dollar Tree. Last weekend I transformed a normal apartment into a smaller scale of what my mother used to accomplish.

Halloween village.

Halloween village. This haunted house music box is from the old James Cohn Department Store in Kennett, MO. I've had it for years!

The spooky fireplace.

Bowl of tiny skulls from Dollar Tree.

Mantel over fireplace.

Glitter skull, black bird, and black roses from Dollar Tree.

I got this Halloween tree for my birthday from Mr. and Mrs. "Neighbor" Barnett when I was 10.

I put spider webs on just about everything.

More Bargain Shopping

2010-09-27T13:13:00.000-06:00

I did a little more bargain shopping this past weekend with my mom. We went to a couple of flea markets and although it wasn’t one of my most successful bargain hunting outings, I still found a couple of unique items. I found a rotary dial address book (which I never knew existed) and a jukebox salt and pepper shaker. I love flea markets!

Do you know what this is?

Its an address book!

Jukebox salt and pepper shakers.

Bargain Hunting

2010-09-20T13:23:00.001-06:00

As I may have previously stated, I love a good bargain. On my days off from work, you can probably find me Goodwill hopping or visiting many of my favorite resale shops. I love the thrill of the hunt for the right thing at the right price.

Among my favorite resale shops in St. Louis are Dos, Clique, The Scholarshop, Women’s Closet Exchange, and Next. In these shops, you can find high end designer items for less than half of its original price.

I recently stopped by my local Goodwill store where I found this awesomely intriguing bottle. Because I love art and collages, this was the perfect piece to display in my office.

This collage soda bottle was $1.00 at Goodwill.

At Back On The Rack, I found this one of a kind army jacket dress. This is my new favorite item for fall. I can wear it now even though it’s hot, and bring it into the fall weather by adding leggings.

This dress was a great find at Back On The Rack.

Queen Bee Necklace.

I have also set up my own Etsy shop with things that I’ve made myself. You can visit my shop here.

If you’re in the St. Louis area, I recommend any of these resale shops, and I recommend Etsy to everyone where ever you are! Enjoy!!

I bought his cute clutch from J.Faith. I carry this as a clutch and also as a wallet inside a bigger purse. I love this clutch! Visit J.Faith’s shop here.

A perfect fit.

Clutch by J.Faith

Another favorite place to find a bargain is located down in Cape Girardeau, MO. At Annie Laurie’s Antiques I found these classic cameo earrings. I previously discussed my trip to Annie Laurie’s here.

I love these earrings!

I am also a huge fan of Etsy. On this site, you can find handmade and vintage items. I absolutely love this site and have several favorite sellers. I got this chic bee necklace from My Lavaliere. I wear this necklace with almost everything because I love it so much. Visit her shop here.

In My Room

2010-09-13T10:31:00.000-06:00

Growing up one of my favorite places to be was my bedroom. When my parents moved into a beautiful house on College Avenue (back on 1996), I inherited a spacious bedroom with a walk-in closet and my very own bathroom. My luxury suite also included French doors leading out to the back yard. I have always been so grateful to my parents and God for allowing me to have such an awesome room to call my own. I loved my room so much that I never wanted to leave.

Before long, I had transformed the room into my own special refuge. The blue wallpaper with pink flowers on it had almost been completely covered by my art and random mementos from school and my friends. One whole wall was covered in pictures and the other was covered with “Milk Mustache” ads I collected. This room was where I had sleepovers; where I listened to music for hours; where I dreamed of my future. It was sad the night I moved out of my room. I was heading off to college and I knew I’d never have another room like this one. How true that has been. Where I once had a huge space to myself, I now have very little space that has to be shared with someone else.

Now my room seems like just another part of “my parent’s house.” Although some of my artistic decor has been taken down, a lot of things are just as I left them. My room now serves as a workout room, a craft room, and a laundry folding area.

Over Labor Day weekend I visited my parents and spent some time in my old room. It was fun to look at things and to reminisce.

Bulletin board of the past. (High School flag, old Polaroid, Ole Miss button, Key Club convention name tag, Reagan/Bush campaign button, picture of the old Busch Stadium, high school graduation tassel.)

My window seat.

Items in my closet from high school. (Majorette uniform, Girl Scout vest, graduation gown, letter jacket)

Friends. (the "Fly Honies" then and later)

The French doors leading to the backyard.

Favorite things. (Squirrel art project, KHS cheerleader bear, Valentines Dance picture 1998, ceramic fish art project, Tatler first issue picture)

Festival of Nations

2010-08-30T10:13:00.000-06:00

The Festival of Nations in Tower Grove Park

This weekend I spent my Saturday morning in Tower Grove Park at the Festival of Nations. The Festival of Nations is an assembly of countries from all over the world, who set up food and retail booths in shady Tower Grove Park. At this annual event you can eat food from around the world, buy trinkets and clothing from a different culture, and watch dance and competitions from other countries. Despite the heat, this is always a interesting event.

Lots of beautiful things.

Music.

Add caption

Athletically Challenged

2010-08-23T08:44:00.000-06:00

I am not, nor have I ever been, an athlete. I tried hard to be. Really I did. It just never happened for me.

My parents signed me up for summer softball when I was 9. My coaches put me behind home plate as the catcher. Because this was very slow pitch, this was the only position where I couldn’t mess things up for the rest of the team. I struck out almost every single time I came up to bat. But my dad was persistent. He had me in the back yard practicing. I think the embarrassment of being the father of the “sure thing out getter” was more than he could stand.

Just in case this softball thing didn’t work out, for the next two summers in addition to softball I was also enrolled in the youth golf camp at the country club. I was the only girl, and while I showed slight natural talent in the game of golf, I lacked the interest in it.

Over the next few years my softball skills improved, but it was apparent that I would not be the next softball star. I gave up on softball and moved on to volleyball where I quickly failed miserably. In the end I played high school tennis where I eventually landed on the varsity team. Finally a victory for the athletically challenged.

You can imagine my surprise when my husband signed us both up for an adult summer softball league this summer. Suddenly all the feelings of inadequacy came pouring over me. Now it was Jason who had me in the yard playing catch and taking batting practice. He too did not want to be associated with the “sure thing out getter.” A couple weeks into the season I stopped hitting directly into double plays and was getting RBIs. I even got on base a couple of times. I am still the catcher in order to not mess things up, but I’m ok with that. Another small victory for the athletically challenged.

Making contact with the ball.

Jason and I before one of our softball games.

Like Father, Like Daughter

2010-08-16T10:44:00.000-06:00

Much, much to my surprise, it seems that I have turned in to my father. I did not see this coming. I started noticing it whenever I would get bored. I found myself doing improvement projects around the house. I would fix something that was broken or enhance something that was lacking. After a brief period of denial, I decided to embrace my inner Treadway.

My latest project was this old chair that I bought at an antique shop in my hometown. It once sat in my closet, but now is a part of our bedroom décor. I painted the frame of the chair and recovered the seat.

This is the chair before.

This is the chair after.

I come from a long line of creativity. If the cycle continues, when I’m older I will be found working in my wood shop behind my house.....which sounds ok to me.

Vacation

2010-08-09T12:24:00.006-06:00

After a two week hiatus, I have returned home from vacation. I have spent the past couple of weeks with my family traveling through Tennessee...all of Tennessee.

Jason and I, accompanied by my mom, dad, brother, and his girlfriend, traveled through Tennessee landing in the Smoky Mountains. There we white water rafted, climbed mountains (either by foot or by Sky Lift), played Hillbilly Golf, went on a ghost tour (one of my favorite things to do), and shopped in the most unusual of stores. We spent time in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and even Cherokee, North Carolina.

In Cherokee we ran into one of Jason’s old classmates from high school, shopped in authentic Native American shops (where my mother insisted on looking at every walking stick she found), and endured a torrential rain storm. The North Carolina trip was my least favorite adventure due to my sensitiveness to getting car sick in the winding roads of the mountains.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the white water rafting. It was something that I’ve never done, but I would do it again in a heart beat. Not being much of a thrill seeker, this was a stretch for me but I loved it. I would recommend trying it.

Because we take our vacation around the same time every year, I know when I get back that summer is almost over. It is the same feeling this year. The “back to school” commercials are on TV, the stores are packed with school supplies, and I find myself wishing I could go back to school. I miss the excitement of starting a new school year. I still have that “going back to school” mind set.

It feels good to be back in my own house and getting back to my schedule. My dogs are happy to be home too. They’re exhausted from all of the traveling.

Ballet and The Haygoods

2010-07-19T13:00:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Jason and I traveled down to Branson, where I graced a Branson stage with my presence.

I take ballet classes at a local dance school and since beginning the classes, I’ve been getting used to being back on a stage. The stage was once a place I felt the most at ease, but now its something that I fear. Dancing has forced me to face this new fear and try to regain my confidence on the stage.

I’ve always loved ballet. I like watching it and I always wanted to be a ballerina. I took ballet lessons as a kid, but when my teacher moved away my mom was unable to drive me out of town to continue lessons. This was my 18 year break from ballet. During my last semester in college I signed up for a ballet class. I ended up really enjoying it. When the semester was over I hung up my ballet shoes thinking it was over for me. A year after I moved to St. Louis, I signed up for a ballet class again, this time through St. Louis Community College. This ballet class was taught by Teresa Daniels of ADIVA Dance.

I have now been dancing at ADIVA for over two years. Last August, I got my first pair of pointe shoes.

Anyway, ADIVA dance school performed at the Americana Theater in Branson opening for The Haygoods. It was quite the experience; one I was glad I got to be a part of.

Annie Laurie's Antiques

2010-07-11T21:44:00.004-06:00

This past Thursday, I met my Dad in Cape Girardeau. After saying good bye to him, I had some time to kill before returning to St. Louis. I found myself wandering the streets of downtown, looking for anything to catch my interest. As I drove past Shivelbines Music Store (a place I frequented with my mother as a child), I noticed the gem of all antique stores. There, sitting across the street from Shivelbines, was Annie Laurie’s Antiques.

Annie Laurie’s Antiques resides in a fabulously old fashioned building (which I later learned used to be a funeral home – which adds to its charm). The owner uses every space of the building, filling it with beautiful and interesting items. There was so much to look at that I spent nearly two hours in the store.

Annie Laurie’s has everything from furniture to vintage clothing. The basement (named Alley Cat) is even loaded with finds. I loaded up with vintage jewelry and a special birthday gift for my mom. I would drive the hour and a half back down to Cape just to visit Annie Laurie’s. I love this place! To see more visit Annie Laurie’s website!!

(photos from annielauries.net)

Fourth Of July

2010-07-03T20:43:00.004-06:00

I always welcome a nice holiday weekend. This weekend is no different. I hope everyone is having a fabulous 4th of July weekend.

I’m still trying to iron out my last minute 4th of July plans. We’ll probably cook out and take in a fireworks show. I’m not sure which one yet. St. Louis has so many different options when it comes to fireworks displays.

When I was a kid, there was only one fireworks show in our small town. Every year my family would pile into the car and drive out to the country club where we would climb into the golf cart. My dad would head out to our spot out by the airport runway where we would shoot off our own fireworks purchased at the fireworks tent. After setting off our small fireworks with my dad’s lit cigarette (in true hoosier style), we would head off to watch the big fireworks show. We would leave somewhat dissatisfied with the fireworks display and sticky from bug spray, but mostly it was just a fun family outing.

These days I enjoy a nice breezy 4th of July in the city, free of mosquitoes. This weekend is no different.

Happy 4th of July!

Get Your Groupon

2010-06-29T09:27:00.006-06:00

One of my new favorite things is the “Groupon Deal of the Day.” For those of you who know and use Groupon, you know how helpful and convenient it can be. Every morning when I check my email, I can hardly contain my excitement as I look to see what the day’s Groupon deal of the day will be.

For those of you who don’t know what a Groupon is, I want to let you in on the deals and discounts.

Groupon is a website that features something to do (eat, drink, shop, play) for a discounted price. When you sign up with Groupon, you receive an email every day with the deal of the day. You only have that day to purchase the deal but you have weeks or months to actually use the discount.

For example this weekend the deal was a gift certificate to Weber’s Front Row Pub. For $10 you get $25 worth of credit to use at Weber’s Pub. My brother is a frequent flyer at Weber’s so he purchased several of these Groupons deals. He can use them whenever he wants during the next year.

Yesterday’s deal was half off tickets to see the Vatican exhibit at the Missouri History Museum.

I received a year subscription to St. Louis Magazine for $8.

When you go to the Groupon website, you pick your city and let the fun begin. Enjoy!

http://www.groupon.com/stlouis/

Pool Snob (Revisited)

2010-06-22T21:09:00.002-06:00

I am a self professed pool snob. I don’t mean the billiards game, but the swimming pool.

The reason I say this is because I had never had to experience the public pool scene until my 20’s. Every summer of my life, I enjoyed a privately owned pool without the added stress of the general public and their behavior.

When I was 12 my parents bought a new house with a giant swimming pool in the backyard. I don’t use the word “giant” loosely. My parents joked that the house came with an Olympic size pool (not really, but that's what my mom called it) complete with a slide and springy diving board. As a preteen, now equipped with her very own pool, I couldn’t have been happier. To make my existence even more significant, my bedroom included white French doors that led directly out to the pool. I realize at this point you may be thinking what an overindulged princess I really was, but I had never before led such a privileged existence. From that summer on through high school, my house was the scene for many pool parties. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it. I was very thankful for my backyard paradise.

Before moving into the pool palace, my mom would drive us to the country club pool, where we were members, to swim. Though I thought of this pool as a “public pool,” it was hardly public. To swim in this pool, one must be a member of the country club, be immediate family of a country club member, or be one of only two allowed guests at time of a country club member. This pool was always clean and inappropriate behavior was quickly illiminated.

Yes, I was spoiled. Where some kids had to share their swimming experience with strangers, I never had to.

After leaving my aquatic privileged life behind to move to the big city, I realized that I had lived in my apartment building for almost three years and had never visited the apartment pool. Part of me was afraid of being in a bathing suit in public and the other part of me was afraid of what I might find lounging around the pool.

So on a sunny afternoon on the first day of June, I put on my one piece and ventured out to the apartment community pool. There couldn’t be that many people there; after all it was 1:30 on a Monday. As I walked toward the pool, wicker beach bag flung over my shoulder, I heard it. The sounds of men laughing, babies crying, and Sir Mix-a-Lot blaring from a stereo. I rounded the corner and saw close to 30 people splashing and lounging around the pool. I stopped at the gate completely frozen in fear. There was no turning back now. I was already here. So I stepped through the gate and started my search for a lounge chair. After noticing that all of them were taken, I pulled two empty chairs from around a disserted table. I picked a spot away from the table and set up shop.

After spreading my towel across the chairs, pulling my book that I brought to read out of my bag, and trying my best to make myself comfortable, I began to take in the sights. To my left were a group of girls about my age. They had on bikinis that could have been a little bigger, a stereo, and two or three young children. The girls looked like they had been tanning since mid February because of their perfectly tanned skin. I looked down at my own ghostly white legs and suddenly felt self conscience. While these girls tanned, their unattended children ran free in and around the pool. So much for the “all children must be supervised by an adult at the pool” rule.

Across the pool from me, was a large group of men in their mid to late 20’s. I counted 12 of them. They had taken most of the loungers to their side of the pool for what I can only guess was a drunken pool party. They laughed and carried on as if no one else was there. Their section of chairs was littered with beer cans. I could only imagine how long they had been at the pool because the amount of trash in their area. Some of them had jumped into the pool to play a rowdy game of volleyball. I heard one of the guys say that only two of them actually lived in the apartment complex. The rest were just extra friends. So much for the “only two guests per resident at the pool” rule.

I suddenly turned by gaze back to the group of mothers to my left when I saw a toddler, who I can only guess had been possessed by a demonic spirit begin to scream, stomping his feet. When his mother told him to quiet down, he angrily flung the cup his was holding hitting another women in the face. His mother jumped up from her lounger and took the toddler by the arm. Here we go, I thought assuming his mother was taking him to the bathroom to teach him a lesson. You can imagine my surprise when the mother took a chair from the table next to me, set the chair against the wall a foot away from me. She threw her son into the chair and told him to stay put. She then turned and walked back over to her lounger, flipped over on her stomach and proceeded to lay out while her son sat screaming next to me. I looked over at the red faced toddler sitting next to me. He looked back at me with tears streaming down his face, then turned his gaze back to his mother and began shrieking again. I looked over at mom and saw that she was ignoring him and no intention of coming back over to get him. I rolled my eyes and took my ipod out of my bag. I was so thankful that I had decided to pack it as I put the earphones in my ears. The sounds of Cage the Elephant partially drowned out the sound of the screaming demon child next to me.

Meanwhile, another toddler from the group had picked up the abandoned cup from demon child and started a rousing game of “fling the water.” At his mother’s encouragement, this toddler would lean over filling the cup with water and fling the cup so that the water would spray anyone within reach. I got to participate in this game once or twice, being the recipient of the spray of water. The demon child beside me jumped to his feet and began running in circles around the pool. I noticed this child did not have on floaties, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t a swimmer yet. I watched anxiously as he jumped around the pool, ready to jump in after him if he should fall in. His mother never noticed. Instead the group of “mothers” lit their cigarettes filling the entire pool area with a thick layer of smoke. So much for the “no smoking in the pool area” rule.

I then heard shouting from the frat party on the other side of the pool. I looked up to see that someone had pulled out a beer bong. The group of guys proceeded to drink from the beer bong, asking any female around to join them. A few tattooed girls joined in. I noticed they didn’t ask me to join their party. Oh well.

As the afternoon wore on, I was eventually joined by a woman about my age, in a bright orange string bikini, with what could only be described as “circus boobs.” Since there were no lounge chairs available, Circus boobs spread her towel out on the ground and prepared to lay out on the concrete. Suddenly, she was swarmed by the beer bongers like moths to a flame. I listened as these guys fell all over themselves offering her everything from free drinks to volleyball play and even one of their lounge chairs. Only the potential lounge chair caught her interest. She graciously excepted and within five whole sections was enjoying the comfort of her new chair. I looked at the middle aged, bikini clad, belly button bearing women across from me and shrugged. They too were laying out on the ground, but were not offered a lounge chair from the beer bongers.

Between the noise of the beer bongers, the unsupervised screaming children, the thick cloud of smoke looming over the pool, and the fact that the more beautiful people were offered companionship and comfortable seating, I had had my fill of the apartment pool. I told myself I would go back again. Just to see if my experience was a fluke or if that was the way it always was at the pool. I always knew that there would come a day when I wouldn’t have my very own pool in my beautiful backyard. I knew that one day I would have to grow up and except what I had. That afternoon, after my trip to the pool, I looked at my calendar and made plans to go home to visit and spend a week with my parents....and their pool.

Race For The Cure

2010-06-14T10:42:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I attended the 12th annual St. Louis Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure . I was one of over 71,000 people participating in the 5K run/walk for breast cancer.

It was such an amazing sight to see the sea of people walking through downtown St. Louis. The different t-shirts worn by groups and team represented loved ones who had suffered through cancer. Some in honor of someone and some were in memory of someone.

There were over 4,000 women wearing pink shirts, which meant that had battled and beaten breast cancer.

This was my second time participating in the walk and my first time to be there alone. I was walking along, enjoying the sights and sounds when I heard a voice behind me ask, “Are you walking alone?” I turned to see a middle aged women walking beside me. “Yeah for now,” I lied. I didn’t want her to know that I was alone all day; that no one was with me like the big fat loser that I was.

The woman, whose name was Shelley, proceeded to tell me about how her team had decided not to do the entire 5K and had turned off on the 1 mile fun walk. Much to my disappointment, Shelley stayed with me until the end of the race, making small talk and telling me about her life.

Shelley was born and raised in Jefferson County and that’s where she currently still lived. She had three grown children; two boys and a girl. Her sons lived in New York. One had moved to New York right after school and the other had moved to L.A., but when he fell in love when a girl who got a job in New York he moved with her to the east coast. There, both of her sons lived unemployed. Her daughter lived in St. Louis and worked for Wells Fargo. She was in Toronto this weekend with her husband, who played hockey. I didn’t ask if he played professional hockey or just for fun.

Shelley’s mother and father both had had cancer, but she was trying to stay healthy to avoid such illnesses. We chatted for 2.5 miles until we crossed the finish line. Shelley turned to me casually and gave me a “see ya later Angela.” I knew I would probably not see her again so I simply said, “it was nice to meet you Shelley.” She walked off to the right and I proceeded left.

Although I would have enjoyed being about to finish the race alone, it was nice to be with someone; even if it was a random woman I didn’t know.

Over all the day was fun. I got some exercise for a good cause and made a new friend.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

2010-06-07T19:48:00.002-06:00

St. Louis is my favorite city. One of the reasons I love this city is because of its love and devotion to its St. Louis Cardinals. Having always been a baseball and Cardinal fan, its no surprise I ended up here in St. Louis.

One of my favorite things to do in the city is of course going to baseball games. This past week, I got to go to 2 games in 1 week. One with my new friend Bridget and the other with Jason. It was a baseball-filled week, but I enjoyed every minute of it.