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Thanksgiving notes

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving weekend was pretty amazing in my neck of the woods.  So without further ado, 15 notes from Thanksgiving weekend:

1. I love driving 55 to St. Louis and watching the number of Missouri license plates steadily increase.  Dear IDOT, Thank you for finishing construction on that bridge for my trip back to Chicago.  

2. What up STL suburb bike lane!

3.  Yes, St. Louis is known for Anheuser-Busch, but there are a ton of micro breweries to check out!  Karen & I checked out a couple:  Urban Chestnut Brewing Company & Schlafly's.

Urban Chestnut Brewing Company's beers were like stepping into Germany!  I had a Zwickel and it was delicious.  Not to mention I loved the vibe and their decorations.

Schlafly's is somewhat of a local gem, which you can get bottled at most grocery stores so I had no idea upon arrival that they had SO MANY beers.  So many beers that you can't have anywhere but at the brewery.  I had a Coffee Chocolate Blond Ale.  Yes, seriously!  Very delicious, but I would not recommend it with food.  Definitely a stand alone beer.

4.  Clearly Karen & I are not ready for children.  We tried installing Charlie's car seat from the instructions (which were horrible), youtube (only a little better), then we looked at each other and said, "Jeff's going to have to do it.  This is not safe."

5.  "You don't look old enough not to live with your parents."  this evolved into a conversation about the town my parents live in, which she's familiar with.  I said it's kind-of nice to go visit for the slower pace.  She said, "You can have that anywhere though."  So true!  It's all about decisions.  It's just hard for me to do that as I balance traveling for work while trying to maintain friendships.  I sometimes double book myself for one evening when I am in Chicago.  Too much of that & I get very tired.  Choices.

6.  Finally made it to Companion, which I keep seeing pop up and one of my friends worked there in high school.  Delicious!

7.  Karen took me to a movie & I cried...a lot.  One of the many reasons I don't typically go to the movies.

8.  The Grove neighborhood is after my heart.  I went to The Mud House and decided I would be very happy going there everyday.  

9.  Karen & I saw The Mowgli's, Royal Teeth, and X Ambassadors in concert at the Firebird and it was amazing.  Karen said she felt a bit claustrophobic, but we were surrounded by good people.  The mention of LouFest resulted in an uproar and we saw several LouFest Ts.

10.  Nice hilly runs.  After one such run, I was trying to help Mom with the computer when she said, "Your aroma is...breathtaking."  Haha.
Yep, we ran the Thanksgiving 5K again.  I finished in 23:45.  I am satisfied.  (It also helps to be satisfied when you don't have a goal.)  I came in 5th in the 21-30 age group.

11.  My dad started a little blog to have stories about my grandpa.  I really like it.  You can check it out, if you'd like:  Bricks & Beagles.

12.  Thanksgiving dinner including the cutting of a special cake... I found out I'm getting a NIECE in April!

13.  The traditional Christmas tree hunt!

14.  And turning the Christmas spirit up in Mom & Dad's house with decorating!

15.  Bedtime stories with the Charlie Man.

I drove back today (apparently along with everyone else).  So. Much. Traffic!  Luckily I talked with one of my friends the last hour or I may have fallen asleep or cried.  I left a lovely 63 degree day in Ste. Gen and watched the temperature steadily drop... :(

I'm off to New York this week (and next).  I'm really trying to keep a positive attitude.  REALLY trying.  I seriously debated bringing my yoga mat...

Comments

  1. Charlie was right about getting a baby SISTER!!

    ReplyDelete

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