Finally February is over

We had another busy weekend.  It was unexpected this time but we seemed to have gotten a lot done and none of it was wedding related which made it even more fun!  Friday night we really needed a night home.  For the last 2 weeks almost every night of the week either Scott or I had something going on one night.  So we needed a night in to relax and eat at home for a change too.  We had been wanting to make stuffed peppers for a while and last weekend we went down to Soulard and got everything and then we were never home to cook.  We took advantage of our time and made some awesome stuffed peppers!



Saturday we took Reily to the vet for her yearly check up.  She was not a happy camper with the visit until she realized it was over and she got a treat.  Afterwards, we stopped quickly at David's Bridal to pick up my slip and then on the only Dunkin' Donuts in STL for some much needed breakfast.  We headed home to drop off the pup and then relax for a couple hours before heading down to Soulard.  We needed to get some more groceries and gifts for Scott's dad's birthday.  Little did we know that the Taste of Soulard was going on at the same time.  We parked at Scott's office and then walked over to the market did our shopping and then checked out everything that was going on.  There was tent with live music in Soulard park and it seemed that almost every restaurant was participating in the Taste.



Scott showed me where he hangs out every morning, Soulard Coffe Garden.  After walking around for a while and seeing the houses all decorated for the next weekends events we decided it was time to head home and get ready for Saturday night's dinner.



We had plans to go out to Bartilino's in South County for Scott's dad's birthday but when he came down with the stomach flu plans changed at the last minute.  Since we were already dressed up and ready to go out we decided to make it a date night.  We headed over to the Harrah's Casino to try one of the restaurants, Sammy's Bar & Grill.  The food was great and I learned that I like sweet potato fries!  Afterwards we were going to check out the dueling piano bar but that was dead so we decided to make it a movie night and watched Gangs of New York.

On Sunday we didn't have too much planned except that Scott was helping at the Celebrate the World Festival up at the Community Center and then we were going to go to the Botanical Gardens.  The weather was warmer and too nice to really be inside all day long.  We got to the gardens and were able to check out the orchids and walk around the garden.  The orchid show was really interesting to see and well worth the wait in line.





We even stopped to feed the fish.  I surprisingly had some quarters to actually get the fish food.  I think this was the first time the fish were not fighting for the food.  But it's always a highlight of the garden!  I just can't wait till the free concerts start this summer.



After the Gardens we made it home so I could try my hand at making a roast.  I had emailed my dad back in October for his recipe and after getting a great deal on a roast at Soulard last week I couldn't wait to finally try cooking one.  So, with Scott as my guinea pig I prepared the roast and set it in the oven and quickly the house started to smell great and a short hour later we checked on it and it was ready.  We added some fresh green beans and a salad and magically we had a great meal and I can cook a roast, too bad we do not have any leftovers for French dip sandwiches.

Add in a somewhat decent hockey game, would have been better had the Blues won and it was a great weekend!

REALTOR®

Last night I finally completed my SLAR (St. Louis Association of REALTOR®) training.  It was a class that I was signed up to take back in November but with my parents visiting I put it off till last night.  The training wasn't anything new and it was just a few refreshers but I offically and finally received my REALTOR® pin. 

It was nice to see some people who I hadn't seen since my initital 48 hour class or from other firms that I see only on my monthly Tours.  Overall the class was great to go to, even if it was a 3 hour class after a very long day.  But it just makes me feel much more accepted in the Real Estate community.

More home improvements

We have updated another room!  The office has been painted this past weekend.  It always amazes me with how fast the painting goes once we start.  This room however needed a lot of pre-painting work.  We had more sanding and putty to put up this time, but the end result is well worth it.

The room was previously a very bright green and now it's a very nice beige.  I've been told it's less distracting to work in there and the new furniture arrangement might have something to do with that too.

Here are the before and after pictures:

[caption id="attachment_1029" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Before the sanding even started"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1030" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And the primer goes up"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1031" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Someone is slacking on the job"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1032" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And the green is gone!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1033" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our helper, if you look closely at her tail she was painting with it"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1034" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And the beige is up"][/caption]

We still need to put the finishing touches on the room but it's coming together!  Now on to the bathroom and the master bedroom!

 

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not a day that I go crazy about.  I truly believe it's a Hallmark Holiday and I don't like wasting a lot of money on it and I do not like having lots of money wasted on me.  I did, however, buy Scott a card and a new Blues t-shirt that he mentioned he wanted after I bought him a Blues hat for Christmas.

It was actually a very busy day follow a busy weekend of wedding planning and my mom's visit.  I started the day by dropping my mom off at the airport and then quickyly headed off to work.  I did receive a bunch of goodies at the office and that helped fill me up while waiting for lunch.  I was informed mid-afternoon that I had to drive down to Soulard to pick up Scott since his car "wasn't working."  I knew that wasn't true, but went along with it.

I quickly ran home and changed and let Reily out and then hurried down to pick up him just in time to get my Valentine's Day gift, tickets to the Blues game!  Wow, it was a good thing I brought Scott's gift with me when I picked him up!  He loved his new t-shirt and put it on as we drove to the game.  The seats were awesome!  They were right behind Luongo, the Vancouver goalie for 2 periods.  It was a great game and the Blues even started a win streak with that game!

[caption id="attachment_1026" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View from our awesome seats!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1027" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Blues Victory Salute to the Fans!"][/caption]

Overall it was a great Valentine's Day!  I love you!

Mom's visit

My mom visited last weekend and wow, we got a lot of wedding planning done!  My mom arrived on Thursday and she was put to work on Friday.  She started by checking out hotels and even looking at florists.  Although since it was the Friday before Valentine's Day her unscheduled trip to the florist was short lived.  But we did find out that they have worked with the church and that they were the cheapest that a family friend found and used at their recent wedding.  Later that night we went to Zia's for dinner and then to the Cup for a sampling/desert of a possible wedding cake.

On Saturday we met up with Scott's mom to check out the reception venue.  We drove down to the Randall Gallery and let Mark, the owner, run through his whole tour with the moms and wow, they loved it!  I was so happy that they saw what Scott and I saw when walking through there and of course we paid the deposit and took some pictures and it's one less thing to worry about.

[caption id="attachment_1021" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Where dancing and the speeches will be held"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1022" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Basement art"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1023" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dining area"][/caption]

We then proceeded to lunch at my cousin's restaurant to discuss possible rehersal dinner locations and even more details about the wedding.  We then found out that my cousin has a friend who is a florist!  We are going to try to meet with her in a couple weeks.  After lunch we went to St. Ambrose to the moms could see the church and talk about flowers there and get a feel for the wedding.  Scott's mom had never seen the church and it had been a few years since my mom was last there.  Of course we still had some time and made another trip over to the Cup so Scott's mom could trip the potential cake and see why we talk so highly about this place.

My mom and I said good byes and headed out to David's Bridal and met up with Ellen and the girls so I could try on my 2 favorite dresses from the week before.  The girls loved seeing the dresses and we all agreed that one dress was better than the other.  It really was a no brainer and so we bought THE dress and now have to wait till late April for the dress to arrive before some minor alterations will be done, mainly the bustle will be put in.  After the big purchase we went to the mall to get a few things and then headed home

We decided that since the day was so crazy we were going to relax and watch the hockey game.  We did get some Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and then watched the game at home.  On Sunday my mom and I worked on filling in the blanks on the budget and then headed out to have some non-wedding fun.  Lunch at Blueberry Hill in the Loop and then Catherine's baseketball game in Clayton followed by Ted Drews.

It was a great trip and very productive time having my mom up here!

Blizzard 2011

Here we go again with another snow storm.  It has started with ice and ended with maybe and inch or 2 of snow.  The blizzard was a week or so of complete hype by the weather people and in the end it totally missed the St. Louis area.  All day it sleeted and there was freezing rain and all day we were told that at any minute we should expect snow.  Grant it, the sleet really did look like snow on the ground, but no it was just a few inches of ice.

[caption id="attachment_1007" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="All sleet, no snow!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1008" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Reily checking it out before the inch of snow"][/caption]

It was weird to see Reily walking in the backyard with such ease after the last snow storm had her galloping through the 11 inches!  It did take me 40 minutes to scrape the ice off my car and with the help of a blow dryer I was able to get into my car.  My doors were frozen shut!  With the last storm the city had trucks going up and down our street plowing and salting, we had one truck last night and nothing since.

Last night the weatherman was trying to explain that predicting the weather was just that, a prediction and they can't help it when the winds turn.  However, you have to remember that we were in Blizzard warnings and The Weather Channel and CNN's weather guy was in St. Louis and missed hanging out in Chicago or central Missouri where the real Blizzard hit.  Either way, all of St. Louis has been pretty much shut down since Monday at noon.