Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Fall Festivities!

The start of fall in St. Louis means numerous festivals and activities happening! H and I tend to take full advantage of all the events! Here is a run down of a few fun things going on:

October 1
Apple picking at Eckerts
Kick off of St. Louis International Film Festival in Forest Park

October 2
Niki Nights - Botantical Garden

October 3
Soulard Oktoberfest
Haunted Houses!!!

October 4
More Soulard Oktoberfest!
Historic Shaw Art Fair
Best of Missouri Market - Botantical Gardens
Haunted Hayrides
Creepyworld
A lot of winery activities!

October 5
Still Soulard Oktoberfest
Taste of the Vine - St. Charles
Best of Missouri Markets

October 6-11
St. Louis Fashion Week! The ladies and I will be hitting this up, H isn't interested :)

We will definitely be attending Oktoberfest and we will just have to see what else!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Taste of St. Louis


Friday night, H, myself, Luke, Lisa, Prity, Ryan, Josh and Andrea headed down to the Taste of St. Louis. What a fun event! If you have ever been to the Taste of Chicago, it's similar but on a much smaller and less crowded scale! There were vendors from all over St. Louis, the food was wonderful! Everclear played on the main stage that evening. After wandering around for a while, and eating way more
than we should have, we headed down to Columns for a little while and then called it a night! Sunday, we headed back from Quincy and met up with my parents at Lester's for lunch, and decided to go through open houses in the area. We are not buying a house anytime soon, but it is fun to look! After that we hit the mall for a while, grocery shopped and finally made it home! I was excited to get back and watch DH and B&S season premier's. It's going to be a great show season, I love this time of year!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Miller


This past weekend we celebrated the marriage of Isaac and Kristina at the Ridge View Winery in Mt. Sterling. The wedding was outside of the winery, followed by cocktail hour and dinner reception inside the winery. They were fortunate with perfect weather, it was beautiful during the ceremony and then cooled down just enough during the evening. We had a wonderful time! The couple left for their honeymoon in Mexico today. Congratulations Ike and Kristina! Here are some more pictures from the celebration!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Crescent Block Party

Last night H and I headed out to Clayton for the Crescent block party with Sona, Vinay, Prity and Ryan. We had dinner at J. Bucks and then headed over to Araka for cocktails, music and shopping! The boutiques in the Crescent stayed open until 9 for us to browse around, which was a treat since these are 6 o'clock stores, so I never get to them! It was a nice, relaxing evening! There was a good crowd, but not overly crowded, which was really nice, we were able to move around, and talk. I love all the festivals the Lou has to offer. My friend Lianna was shocked by all the events going on during any given weekend. It made me realize I need to appreciate these events more!

This weekend is another busy one for us! Friday night we are heading down to the Taste of St. Louis. We have a good sized group going, it should be a great time! The taste is always fun and the food is great! I especially enjoy it because I get to try restaurants I haven't made it to yet, and it gives me incentive to get there. Saturday we are heading back to Quincy to see the fam and go to Ike and Kristina's wedding. They are getting married Saturday afternoon at Mt Sterling Winery. Sunday we will head back to the Lou and maybe hit the wine festival on the way back into town, or maybe attempt to go before we head to Quincy Saturday.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

SATC The Movie


Just in case you didn't know, SATC The Movie is out on DVD today! Needless to say, tonight I will have limited availability due to the movie watching I must do!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Lianna to the Lou!























This past weekend, my dear friend Lianna came to visit from Boston. Lianna and I became friends during my year in bean town. We lived next door to each other and worked in the same hospital, it was the most ironic thing ever! We have become very good friends and I feel very lucky to have met her. We had a wonderful time while I lived in Boston, but now that I moved back to the Lou, it is a little harder to get together!

The last time I saw Lianna was when she came to St. Louis for our wedding. Life gets busy and time flies by, it was almost a year since we had seen each other. She came in Thursday night, and the fun started immediately! We began her visit by meeting Mike and Erica at Mosaic for dinner and drinks. It was a great reunion and we had a fabulous time! Of course, once Lianna and I got home, we didn't want to sleep, we stayed up fairly late catching up, looking at wedding albums and dvd's.

Friday morning, dear H had to go to work and we hung out and relaxed, which was great! We decided to spend the day at Forest Park, which we did. We started with lunch at the Boat House and then explored the park, finishing with stopping by H's work to say hi. We went home and got some rest, and then once H got home, we all headed to Cafe Eau for dinner and then back to Forest Park for the balloon glow. Lianna was amazed by this, they don't have this in Boston! From there we headed on a mini-bar crawl, beginning at Molly's, then to Hotshots and finishing at Column's lounge in the Sheraton!

Saturday we again, had a slow start but eventually gathered the energy to head out for the day! We fortunately had beautiful weather so far, so we headed out to St. Charles to hit some of the historical area, festivals and winery! It was so much fun! While at one of the wine shops, we found the game "Wine-opoly", which we of course had to buy. We decided after dinner, we would hang out on the deck, drink wine and play this game! It was so much fun. We learned a lot about different wines!

Lianna had to leave on Sunday (I did try and kidnap so she didn't have to go back, but it didn't work). We had our final outing at Jimmy's on the Park, to enjoy their Sunday Jazz Brunch. From there we did some shopping and then it was time to go. I am so glad she came to visit, and can't wait to see her again in February when we head to Boston for Jackie and Tim's wedding! Thanks Lianna for visiting, I can't wait for our next fun weekend! Here are the pics from the weekend.

The rest of my Sunday was very busy, I headed to my neighbor's memorial service, Randy Ford. He passed in June, and they held an appropriate and amazing service for him. He will be missed dearly. The memorial service truly showed what an amazing person he was and how he impacted so many people. After the service, I headed to Araka for a fundraiser dinner with my very good friends Sonali and Vinay. I met new people, enjoyed wonderful food, and it was all for a good cause.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

Here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks, you can go here to view them all! Enjoy!
































Another busy one!

Per my previous post we had quite a week for H's birthday. I think it's going to take a whole week to recover from it! We had a fun and busy weekend! Friday night we headed to The Shaved Duck for dinner with Mike and Erica, what a fun place! We were in the Godfather Booth, which was perfect for the celebration. From there we headed to the Four Seasons for cocktails. It was the most beautiful night! To top it off, Ozzie Smith showed up for a night cap. Erica was the lucky one to get her picture taken with him, it was pretty cool!

Saturday we enjoyed brunch at India Palace with my parents for a 1st birthday party, and then H and my mom headed out for shopping and my dad and I headed out exploring. He is hosting his class reunion here next summer, so we went to research hotels and decided that we also should research some activities in the area. We headed to the brewery for our first stop, had a short version of the tour and then headed over to Vin de Set and Sqwires. It was a very fun afternoon! H and mom were busy making money at Macy's, and dad and I enjoyed some beers in the afternoon! That evening our friends Kyle and Erica came to visit us from Quincy. We all headed out to Wasabi for dinner, and then to Flannery's to meet up with a group of our friends. Yesterday the boys headed out to the Ram's Game and Erica and I relaxed! All in all, it was a very fun weekend! Pictures from the week long celebration to come!

This week, we have a low key week, which is needed! Tonight I am having dinner with GG, which is always fun! Wednesday, Justin's parents are coming in town to start treatment, and will be staying with us until Thursday. And then Thursday night, my dear friend Lianna is coming to visit us from Boston, I am soooo excited! We are going to have a wonderful weekend, I am in process of making plans for us! It will be a fun weekend, again!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

SAALT

This past summer Priti spent her time doing an internship at SAALT in D.C. (South Asian Americans Leading Together). She educated us on so much about issues in our community and how this organization is conducting research and doing many projects to advance South Asian Americans. Check out the website: www.saalt.org.

We are proud of the young woman she has become, she always has been very active in the community and I think was her next big step in keeping with her values.

Good Luck Abhi

Today Abhi leaves for Oxford to study a semester abroad. We are so proud of him! He is a little nervous and so are we, but it will be a wonderful experience. Priti was able to do a summer there and loved it! Good luck Abhi, we love you and are proud of you! We will miss him but he'll be back December 17, it'll be here before we know it!

Check out his blog:

http://cmcabroad.com/anemani10/

Update


We received some good news yesterday about my MIL, the cancer has not spread, which is such a relief. She will begin treatment next week here at Siteman. We feel very positive about this news, we have a plan in place and a great team.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We are lucky to have friends who have been checking on us and have been so supportive through this difficult time.

Have you ever wondered where the pink ribbon came from? Here is some information on it.....

From Wikipedia:

The aim of Pink Ribbon International is to create a supportive community worldwide and to inform patients, specialist, families and friends about Pink Ribbon and Breast Cancer.

Pink ribbons are used as the logo of Breast Cancer Awareness Month every October. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October, people raise money by organizing activities such as theme parties or a "pink day" (when employees wear pink clothing or accessories) at work. The money raised is donated to the organizers' choice of breast cancer care or research programs.

The original 'pink day' is called wear it pink and is organized by Breast Cancer Campaign. In 2006 this event raised £3.5m in a single day, and 2007 marks its sixth anniversary. Breast Cancer Care's In The Pink which raised £800,000 in 2006.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND!


Yesterday was my darling husband's 27th birthday! If you know me, we don't celebrate only for one day, it is a whole week of celebrations! It all began Monday night with homemade Tiramisu, yes I can cook if I want to! Tuesday (his actual birthday) we headed to Wasabi for sushi, it was wonderful! If you love sushi, you have to go there. They have a location on Washington and one in Clayton - we have not been to the Clayton one yet, but I imagine it is wonderful as well! We decided to be true city people and walk to dinner and then walk from Wasabi to the stadium to watch the Cubs v Cards. We had a great time! After the game, we weren't quite ready to call it a night and went to Dawn's bar in our building for a few drinks! All in all a good birthday! The activities will continue this evening with dinner at Modesto with my parents. We have not been there yet, but have heard they have wonderful sangria's and food! We will report on it later!
There is more - Thursday we have our monthly Condo dinner at Five and then Friday dinner with our close friends, Saturday we have friends coming in town and Sunday, H will finish off his week by going to the Rams Game! All in all, it should be a good celebration! Happy Birthday Husband, here is to many, many more birthdays as husband and wife! I love you!

Monday, September 8, 2008

The Windy City and The Gem City

Last week, H and I decided to take a week of vacation! We started off our vaca with going to Chicago last Saturday. It had been a while since we had been to visit my sister and Tim, and thought this would be the perfect time. We also try to go to Wrigley once a year for a game for Justin's birthday. We got to Chicago Saturday afternoon, and headed out to dinner at Graham Elliot. Such a fun restaurant. In lieu of bread, they serve sea salt popcorn! They had me at that, I heart popcorn! The food was wonderful and a very nice ambiance. After dinner, we walked around the city, and enjoyed the beautiful evening!

Sunday, H, myself and Ritu headed to Wrigleyville for breakfast with our friend Parool. From there, H and I headed to the Cubs Game. Man it was a hot one! For August 31, it was extremely warm! Unfortunately, the Cubbies lost, H was sad. We were wiped out after the game, so we hung out in Wrigleyville for a while, and then headed back to Ritu's. That night, we stayed in for dinner and then walked down to Old Town for cupcakes from Twisted Sister's Bakery - yum!

Monday was a day for shopping on Michigan Avenue - fabulous! That evening we went out to dinner. It was hard to find a place open due to Labor Day, which was odd. Tuesday, H and I headed to the beach in the morning, what a beautiful day! We had a great time, it didn't even feel like we were in Chicago! We love visiting my sister and Tim, it is always a wonderful time!

Wednesday we headed back to St. Louis, first stopping by Northern Illinois University to visit my brother in law, Evan.

We received some bad news while we were away, my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer, so we headed back to Quincy to spend time with the fam. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we head down this road to recovery. She is a strong and amazing woman and will come out of this even stronger. We love you Karen!

Yearbook Yourself (Thanks Chich)

My friend Christen has introduced me to Yearbook Yourself - hilarious! Here are some pics from my journey through time...