7/29/2011

Hubert Keller and a Riverboat Cruise with Emily

Emily got into town yesterday for the start of a glorious weekend together.  I swooped her up from Amtrak at noon and we went to the Burger Bar for lunch.  I've been wanting to go for a while because, A) it's received many wonderful reviews, B) everything on the menu is in the form of a burger...what's not to love, and C) it's a Hubert Keller Restaurant. 

When our orders arrived at the table, our waiter also dropped the bomb that HUBERT WAS AT THE RESTAURANT.  I immediately started geeking out.  I don't get star struck often....the times I do is almost always involving Chefs (they apparently hold the key to my geeked-out food-loving heart). 

Of course I asked if we could get a picture (I mean really, these opportunities come around once in a blue-moon) and he was as nice as could be imagined for a celebrity, highly accoladed chef.  The Executive Chef was also out on the floor, and he spent about 15 minutes talking to us, explaining their menu and finding out about us.  I started slightly food-geeking with him as well when he asked what toppings we chose on our burgers and when we both said Peppered Bacon he said, "that's my favorite topping, how can you go wrong with coarse cracked pepper on thick-sliced crispy bacon". Music to my ears.  He brought out a cheesecake "burger" dessert for us to try that was a doughnut cut in half, with Cheesecake, strawberries, and reduced glaze pineapples with a strawberry sauce.  One word: Heaven.  He also brought us a cookies and cream milkshake for us to have on our run to the Riverboat Cruise.  Yes......we both know that we need to go to the gym to 15 years to burn off that lunch, but it was SO worth it!

 The run to the Riverboat was not enjoyable.  It was 110 degrees outside....literally.  St. Louis is in it's 11th day of extreme heat advisory. 


 Still enjoying those milkshakes!  It was HOT!!





Eads Bridge


Always so much fun with this girl!!! And I still have her for the whole weekend!! Wonder what else we'll get into!!!!!

7/26/2011

PA School....I'm applying!

Sorry that the posts have been so brief and/or infrequent the past few weeks.  I've been up to no good some things involving PA School.  A month or so back,  I went and took the GRE, which is a Graduate Level Exam to get into advanced schooling.  I didn't have to take this before taking my Masters at Hopkins because it wasn't one of their requirements, but there are a few PA schools that mandate it, so I just got it out of the way.  I got the scores back last week, and I actually did very well, so ever since I have been gung-ho with researching PA schools concerning location, cost, timeline, and prerequisites. 

What I'm trying to say is, SUPER SORRY for being such a snooze on here the past few weeks. Hope you few out there haven't forgotten about me :-)

Keep your fingers crossed for me as I keep chugging along through this ever-tedious process of applications!

7/20/2011

It's A Beautiful Daaaaaaaaaaaaay

U2 style.

They were here this past weekend and I'm so happy we got tickets.  We went downtown early in the afternoon on Saturday to watch the World Cup Finals (sidenote: So disappointing, but also happy for Japan), and then headed towards the Stadium.  I've never been to a concert in a baseball stadium before, and the general admission tickets were on the field.  I intended to go run the bases, but by the time we got in for the concert, it was jam packed on that side of the field, so no go.  We stood in right field though (Emily...pretty much right in front of where we were sitting when we snuck in went to see the Cardinal/Dodgers Playoffs in 2009. 

So back to U2....what amazing performers. It was a wild experience, that's for sure.  I think my favorite part of the entire concert though was the intro piece leading into It's a Beautiful Day.  The screens came on with Mark Kelly floating around in Endeavor and he floated out the words of "It's A Beautiful Day" in front of him, then he said, "I'm looking forward to coming home. Tell my wife I Love her very much....she knows"  Gah, still chokes me up a bit. 


Love this pic of The Edge

Great Concert.  Great Performers.  Great Company. 
Last I heard, there were 53,000 people in attendance.

Bono came and sang just to me ;-)


Definitely a "you'll remember this concert forever" kinda night.  

7/14/2011

Master Bathroom's Got Walls

As I realized I keep talking about the bathroom, I then realized that it's been a while since I made a post about the bathroom....4 MONTHS to be exact.  What?!?  To be  completely fair to Terry on this, I had no idea that this has been a 4 month venture.  Certainly doesn't feel like it, but it's documented so it must be true.

Of the few pictures I uploaded while at work, I can give you a sort-of-what-we've-been-up-to in relation to the bathroom up to this point (and it's an exciting point, let me tell ya!! We're one sand-and-spackle-and-sand away from PAINTING & TILING!)

We finally decided on our bathroom vanity but it was WAY too big for the space, so we had to cut it in half.  With Terry at 6'3", you can see how much countertop space we are gaining. 

I'm awed/embarrassed amazed that we actually lived with that previous vanity for as long as we did. What were we thinking buying this house?!?! What were those previous owners THINKING?!?!?!  And the fact that the vanity in the hall bath that we are still currently using during this demo is the same color scheme gives me a belly ache laugh.  
 

On to the actual bathroom.  So this is where I am typically standing during all of the bathroom pictures as it gives the best view and reference.  But so it's easier to understand, that door is going to be gone soon and replaced with a wall.  That door was previously used for the hallway closet, but we expanded the bathroom for more of a Master Bath feel.  The shower is behind me, the entrance to our bedroom is to the left, and the vanity and toilet will be to the right.  This wall gets so little picture time that I just thought I'd do a bit of explaining. :-)

Here's where we were as of  June.  The walls have been put up, the durock is on the floor and in the shower and eagerly waiting to be tiled once all the seams and holes have been puttied and sanded.
 
This picture in particular is of interest because up to this point, we couldn't figure out what to do with the space behind the shower head.  We opened up that wall and realized there was quite a bit of dead space, but not enough for a full closet.  Terry, with his creativity and OCD spent far too many agonizing hair-pulling hard-scheming hours decided how best to use the space, while still being able to allow access to the shower in the event we need to turn it off. 
  

What he came up with was a removable wooden cubby inset.  It will be able to be pulled out if necessary, but it will provide us with storage space that we have lost with having an open vanity bottom.  We are talking now about incorporating some slate into it so it is more cohesive with the shower and floor.


Oh, I suppose it was kind of easy to tell from the previous picture, but last weekend we did our first round of mud (spackle).  We need to sand it down smooth, do the mud and sand process all over again, and then knowing my perfectionist boyfriend, there will be one more round just to make sure it is 100% (thank goodness for him!) Then it's all set and ready to paint (don't worry; that light fixture is not staying.  It was just our temporary light provider during demo and remodel)

There's our soon to be replaced door that leads into our master bedroom.

This weekends going to be a pretty busy one with the bathroom, and I promise to update in fewer than 4 months on the outcome :-)

7/13/2011

We Are Family...(Get Up Everybody and SING!)

Awww man, now that songs gonna be stuck in my head all day.  Visiting with the family is always the best!  What's not the best though is how big all the girls get everytime I see them.  Always miss them!


Chloe and Daddy

Over to visit Mom-mom....notice she is up on her tip-toes.  Ha
 
Jenna and I are rockstars

Alexa is inches from being the same height as me...crazy!

They were so good

Terry and Maya at bedtime drooling over Justin Bieber

4th of July at the beach

Beautiful picture of Alexa

...and miss Maya


Maya wanted to go for a walk with Terry.  Be still my heart!

 Jenna and Uncle Jeff's amazing Sand Castle (that she later pulverized in during a temper tantrum)

Little Maya-Mermaid
 
Goodbyes are hard

Always good being with family.  Can't wait til the next trip back!

7/12/2011

Baltimore fun with friends and Joe's Wedding

4th of July weekend we high-tailed it out of St Louis to attend a wedding and spend some time with the East Coast family.  It was overall a great trip including friends, celebrations, family, CRABS, and a beach day.  

 Start of the trip in Baltimore getting ready for the wedding at Keiths.  Luckily for us David (who came and visited Memorial Day), his wife Meghan, and a few other friends from college were also in town, so we got to have a super quick but super fun time with them.
Megs, ohhh how I've missed you

Keith and David

 Joe and Ginas wedding overlooking the Chesapeake Bay

Terry and Joe

Can't get enough of those blue eyes.  

7/08/2011

Personality Type

One of my co-workers suggested we take a personality test to see how we all mesh with each other and what we do best in the workplace.

I'm still a little weirded out with how truly accurate (in my opinion) this is about my personality. 

The Caregiver/Supporter ESFJ (Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging)
You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding.
You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner.

At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people.
You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.

How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative
When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all


In true Lindsey-form, I went on another site and went through a different test, and crazy as it is, I got the same result.  Their explanation was a bit different, but still along the same lines

The Supporter ESFJ (Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging) 
ESFJs are social butterflies that value relationships, supporting and nurturing others. Never one to shy away from social events, they are often the host. They are great encouragers of teamwork. ESFJs are responsible, dutiful, observe traditions and follow rules. ESFJs have a deep concern for others and often end up as caretakers. They are sensitive to criticism and have a need to be appreciated for the good they do for others. ESFJs are understanding, generous, have a quick wit and a knack for composition and beautification. 


If you want to take one of the tests, here's the link I used. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

What personality are you?  For those of you who know me, how accurate do you think my result is??


 

7/01/2011

Spending the 4th on the East Coast

We'll be back east this 4th of July and I'm super-excited about it!  I think the last 4th of July that I was in Delaware with my family was when I was living with Chris and Kristin for the summer and we were down on the boardwalk for the fireworks and Jenna was just a baby (reference she's 8 now). 
We have a wedding to attend tomorrow; Terry's friends Joe and Gina are tying the knot just outside of Baltimore, Maryland.  We're going to stop in and see some friends of mine before the wedding in Downtown, and then head over for the ceremony to start at 6:30.  Then we're off to Delaware until Tuesday.  So excited!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July!!  Lots of pictures of our travels soon!

7/01/2011

Terrys Birthday Present

Only a month and some change after his actual birthday now, but I suppose better late than never. To be fair, I ordered it the day before his birthday and they didn't get it here on time, and then they legitimately didn't ship it, which delayed it even more, and I was in Canada by the time it did arrive for him.  And then I wrote about Canada and not his gift. Oh well.

Anyway, here's what he got:

I ordered it from Grgich, and it is the same wine decanter that is in our painting.  He loved it :-)  And he was completely surprised by it! Score and Score!

7/01/2011

Official Senior Research Tech

So although I received my promotion from Research Tech II to Senior Tech unofficially a month and a half ago, today OFFICIALLY marks my work promotion.  Yippee! 

Now I just gotta hope no one out there thinks this way about me movin' on up: