Update

Some of you may recall a certain sloshball incident... Well it's been just over three years since that fateful day, and here's what my leg looks like now:

Significantly improved, but still significantly scarred.

My Other Home

So I'm so behind in blogging that three months later I'm getting around to writing about going to St. Louis for Little Brother's college graduation.  It was mostly a really nice trip, and I'm always happy to go to St. Louis.  I love St. Louis.  I loved my time there.  It's such an under-rated city.  Little brother still lives there, along with Dad's side of the family, and one of my college roommates.  I can't wait to back for Wedding #3 in December!

I mostly took photos of family and graduation stuff, so not a whole lot to share, but here are a couple shots.

Ted Drewes.  Amazingness in a cup.  It's right on Route 66, and it's pretty much a St. Louis icon.  Grandpa (mom's dad, who lives in Connecticut, not dad's dad who lives in St. Louis) thought it was crowded.  The crowd that night hardly counted as a crowd.  After a Cardinals' game it's nothing short of a mob scene.  Ted Drewes is an essential stop on every trip to StL.

Those of you who have lived in mid-town St. Louis may recognize this UFO-like building.  Though you may not, as it is now far more classily (Yep, made that one up.  Standing by it.) occupied than when I was in college.  At that point it was a Del Taco.  And I never once in 4 years ate there.  It was a shady, shady place.  Now the university has bought the apartments behind it, and it's much more respectably occupied by a Starbucks and a Chipotle.  The flying saucer has come so far.

Time for a tangent.  My dorm freshman year was directly across the street from the above flying saucer, somewhat separate from the rest of campus.  The road was a really busy road, and we were just south of a large and apparently confusing intersection.  Accidents happened all the time.  The former Del Taco makes me think of one of the dumbest accidents I've ever seen, which happened right in front of it.  There's a light there, and a school bus - you know, giant, bright yellow vehicle - was stopped at the red light.  I was walking up the street towards campus when I heard a crash behind me, and I turned around to find a vehicle had rear ended the stopped school bus.  I don't really remember, but I think it was a jeep.  It's entire front end was smashed into the back of the bus.  We're not talking little fender bender from somebody creeping forward at the red light.  How do you miss the GIANT YELLOW BUS stopped in front of you??

At commencement all the faculty in their academic regalia process in before the students.  Check out the guy in the middle of the photo below.  It's Dumbledore!  Apparently he teaches at my old college - he didn't die in Book 6 after all!  After the ceremony we were chatting with a professor (actually a Jesuit priest who lived in the same dorm I did my freshman year) who was a contemporary of my parents when they were all students at this same college.  Dad asked him who Dumbledore was (literally, that's exactly what he said), and this professor thought about it for a few minutes, and said he teaches in the theology department.  On that description alone, he knew exactly who he was.  Priceless.

While in St. Louis I got to hang out with my college roommate (the bride in Wedding #3 this year - and I'm seriously excited for that wedding!), and she and her fiance just got the cutest little puppy.  He's adorable, and super photogenic.

I just love St. Louis.  Only 4 1/2 months until I get to go back!

Happy birthday Little Sister!

Today is Little Sister's 19th birthday!  I will take this occasion to suggest that you browse through the Little Sister label to relive some of her finest moments, which are obviously documented on my blog. :)

Happy birthday, Little Sister!

Wedding #1

So I last left off the 4th of July weekend/wedding/stomach bug saga with the hike up Mt Greylock and heading to Gloucester for Amy's wedding in a puke-free state.  This was wedding #1 for the year, with weddings #2 (my other Amy, in Ohio in October) and #3 (my other college roommate, in St. Louis after Christmas) later this year.

We got to Glouchester around lunch time, and were able to relax for a while before the wedding.  Unfortunately it was about 95 degrees with 95% humidity (and I'm really only just barely exaggerating - it was awful).  The wedding was outdoors in late afternoon.  I literally had sweat running down my legs.  The ceremony was very nice, and it was really neat how they wove their love of travel throughout the ceremony and the reception.

They had the best food I've ever seen at a wedding.  They had a salsa bar and sangria during the cocktail hour.  Dinner was three stations from three countries.  New Zealand (where they met) was a lamb roast with the most delicious mashed potatoes I've ever had.  Italy was classic pasta and antipasto.  Greece was pita and hummus...and stuff I don't remember...because I only ate about 3 bites of dinner before feeling so miserably sick again.

I felt so awful that I had to go back to the room - Boyfriend was so super sweet and came with me, abandoning his dinner.  Neither of us could believe how distended my stomach was.  Boyfriend zipped me into my dress with no difficulty, even with a bit of room to spare.  Plenty of room to be comfortable.  By time we got back to the room I could barely breathe in the dress.  The weird thing was, without actually getting sick sick, about an hour later I felt ok.  Not good, but good enough to go back and get some more for Boyfriend to eat and at least say goodnight to Amy.  While Boyfriend had some dessert (pavlova! so much better than cake!) I gradually felt better and better.  I can't explain it, but I wasn't complaining.  We would up staying for the rest of the reception, though we skipped the after party.

Believe it or not, the stomach woes weren't over.  Boyfriend woke up sick the next morning.  It was pretty crummy timing since we had to drive back to Pennsylvania that day.  He stayed behind while I went to brunch, and fortunately he survived the drive home without being sick (in my still quite new car!).  By Monday he felt tolerable, and back to normal by Tuesday.

It was definitely an up and down holiday weekend, but the wedding was lovely and fun.  Amy's one of my oldest friends, and her mom's been one of my extra moms for ages.  Amy was a year ahead of my in school, and I met her playing softball in the town summer league.  I believe we introduced ourselves when I slid into her at second base. :)  There were a couple of years where we played year round, with indoor practice at a the batting cages during the winter.  After winter practices we always went back to her house for ice cream and Dawson's Creek (yep, judge away).  My senior year when Amy had gone away to school, I still went over to her parents' house on Wednesday nights for ice cream and Dawson's Creek.  I can't tell you how happy it made me to see Amy so happy.  In every photo I took of Amy she had a giant, beaming smile.  I actually I tear up a little every time I think about how completely happy she is and seeing that enormous smile on her face. :)

New lens!

I got a new lens to play with today!  I've been hemming and hawing over a 50 mm f/1.4 lens for ages now.  I almost pulled the trigger after Christmas and didn't.  Honestly I don't really remember why, obviously financial, but I don't remember what it specifically was.  Maybe wanting to pay off student loans (down to about $1200! so close!)  Boyfriend and I are taking a big trip next month, and I really wanted this lens for that trip.  Seems appropriate since it was another trip that motivated buying my DSLR in the first place.  I've only spent a few minutes playing with it in my apartment, but I can already see a huge difference in low-light photos with the wider aperture.  Yay new toys!