Hungry Girl

Last week, I went to a Happy Hour at the Four Seasons for the launch of the new "Hungry Girl Happy Hour" book.  I read about it online and it was free so I figured, "why not?"  Catherine and Jennifer came down after they got off work and we got to try all kinds of appetizers that were healthier versions of fatty foods we usually eat, and most of them were REALLY good (a few missed the mark, but not a big deal).

The woman who started Hungry Girl is Lisa Lillien, and I've seen her a few times before on Rachel Ray and The View.  I was standing in the side room of the party and in she walked all non chalant.  I got to talk to her one-on-one for a few minutes, and she was really personable and friendly.  She has a new cooking show coming out on the new Cooking Channel this fall, so that should be fun.

Here's one of her appetizers:

HG's Sassy Wonton Tacos

'Tons of Yum!

This new starter is totally cute, amazingly delicious, and a calorie bargain, considering it has a fraction of the cals found in the original. HG's Sassy Wonton Tacos: Make 'em, crunch 'em, love 'em...


Ingredients:
8 small square wonton wrappers (often stocked near the tofu in the fridge section of the market)
4 oz. cooked skinless lean chicken breast, shredded
2 tbsp. BBQ sauce with about 45 calories per 2-tbsp. serving
3/4 cup dry coleslaw mix
2 tbsp. Newman's Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing (or another sesame ginger dressing with about 35 calories per 2-tbsp. serving)
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- To make the wonton shells, spray the inside and outside walls of a deep square or rectangular baking pan with nonstick spray. Evenly drape wonton wrappers over the pan's walls on a diagonal, making triangle-shaped "shells." (Use two pans, if needed, to keep wontons from overlapping.) Bake for 3 - 4 minutes, until just crispy enough to hold their shape. Remove pan from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Combine chicken with BBQ sauce in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine coleslaw mix, dressing, and cilantro. Mix well. Microwave for 45 seconds, until slightly softened. Set aside.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. One at a time, carefully remove wonton shells from the pan and fill each with a heaping tablespoon of BBQ chicken and a heaping teaspoon of cilantro slaw. Lay filled wontons gently on their sides on the baking sheet.
- Spray the upward-facing sides of the wonton shells lightly with nonstick spray (for added crispiness) and bake for about 5 minutes, until warm and crunchy. Let cool slightly and serve!


MAKES 2 SERVINGS
Serving Size: 4 wonton tacos, Calories: 191, Fat: 2g, Sodium: 605mg, Carbs: 25g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 7.5g
Protein: 17g

Gone With The Wind....breaking page 1,000!!

Sweet goodness I am really liking this book, but it just needs to be OVER WITH!  I just crossed over page 1,000 last night which was a small victory, but there are still 448 pages left, which when you say (read) it like that....well lets just be honest about it.....thats AWFUL! 

On Saturday, I picked up the book to read in the morning, and it tore in two right down the binding.  So now I have Gone with the Wind: Part I, which is the first 557 pages, and Gone with the Wind Part II that I'm just about half way through. :-)

Has anyone else read this monstrosity? 

Surprise! Hardwood Floors in the Dining Room!

Saturday started off as a day of staining the front room hardwood and priming the french doors.  That quickly ended when the stain from Friday night was still not dry to do the second coat and the priming of the doors was finished by 11am.  I dont know what sparked Terry to look, but he pulled up one of the air registers and looked under the carpet and padding, and low and behold there is hardwood. 

Before shots

Before shots

Peek-a-boo!  I see you!!

Still having no idea what we're in for...

GROSS!!! Along the high traffic areas, there was a moldy, nasty growth of some sort.  (Terry thinks that it was just the padding that disintegrated and then just got packed where we walk).   I spent all of Sunday scrubbing it off. 

This is a picture of the "after", after in parenthesis bc it is after all the mold is up, but it is before Terry rents the sander again and takes all the stain off and then we re-stain it. 

Exciting!!!  Always something changing in the house.  We think that there is hardwood in the hallway and all of the bedrooms, so now it is deciding what we are going to leave carpeted and what we are going to hardwood expose. 

SARA BAREILLES!!

St Louis does a great job with providing things to do that are free to the community.  There is a summer concert series called Live at the Levy, and this Friday, Sara Bareilles performed.  Catherine, Jen, Monica, and I went and had a wonderful girls night.  We went down in Laclede's Landing and had dinner at The Drunken Fish, which was wonderful!  Then we headed out to the concert.  Normally it is "at the Levy" meaning the Mississippi River at the Arch, but with the water flooding as horribly as it is right now, the venue was moved up into the center of town.  We were unaware of the change up until we saw signs on our way walking to the concert.  So we hailed a cab and get up there just in the nick of time before she went on stage. 

It was filthy hot out so pardon the sweat...

"I'm not gonna write you a love song"

"Something always brings me back to you....it never takes too long"

It was a fun concert, she's a great entertainer, and her voice is ridiculously good live.  After the concert, we walked back to the car, which was about a 30 minute jaunt.  It had cooled down though by that point, so it was very relaxing. 

Here's her new single, "King of Anything".  I will be the first in line for her new CD in September!

Mighty Mississippi River: 1 Lindsey: 0

Lets just say that Wednesday in the life of Lindsey was miserable.  There was a horrible rain and thunderstorm in the afternoon that lasted up until I was leaving from work.  When I got out to the interstate from work, the traffic was at a complete stop.  I didn't think anything of it because I just assumed in bad weather that there were going to be some accidents.  I hopped off at the first exit I could and snaked around on the streets in downtown (I'm getting really good and knowing my way around the city) and got over to the MLK bridge.  It was at a complete stop as well.  The last bridge that could get me across the river to get home was the Eads and it seemed like traffic was moving fine.  I get to the other side of the bridge and see that all the cars into the city were actually just everyone in front of me turning around because the entire Illinois side of the river was flooded. 

ALL THREE BRIDGES FROM ST LOUIS TO ILLINOIS WERE FLOODED OUT!!

This picture was in the news yesterday, it's on the Illinois side of the river at the exchange of I-64 with I-55 and I-70......I drive that road EVERY DAY!!!

--Oh and I didn't add in that during my 5 point turn around maneuver, the lady in the van behind me started flaily her arms to get my attention and told me that my back right tire was flat.....sure enough it wasn't quite scraping on the road but it was not gonna get me home.

--Oh and I didn't add in that this whole debaucle at this point was about 2 hours, and I had to use the bathroom since I left work (I figured I could wait until I got home.....)

These are pictures from a few weeks ago when Scott was visiting....this was at 28ft above normal water levels.  30ft is considered "flooding", although you can clearly see that it's flooding at this level.

If you notice in the picture below, out in the water between the Riverfront sign and the interstate signs is a metal thing sticking out....

That "metal thing" is actually the hat of the huge Tom Sawyer Statue (this picture was from October last year)

The long and short of it is that I went and put air in my tire at a gas station and the attendant told me that the only way across is the bridge that's 20 minutes south of the city, but she didn't know if it was flooded out or not at that point.  I got down there and the road was covered with water but not to the point where you couldn't drive across; all the cars were having the huge "turkey wings" of water from the wheels.  I ended up getting home right at 9pm. 

This weekend it is anticipated that the river is going to get up to 33ft above normal and that is supposed to last through Tuesday.  Maybe I will get out of work a few days on account of rain (and flooding). 

What an awesome Saturday!

Saturday turned into one of those days that just rarely happens, that is so perfect it's almost surreal.  We started off the morning bright and early, working on the house as usual.  The Dodgers were in town so we knew that we were going to go down to the afternoon game, and also Catherine's parents were visiting for the weekend so we wanted to meet up with them as well.  They had fantastic seats right behind the dugout, so while we were looking for tickets, we were trying to get close to them so we could possibly enjoy the game together and not in different sections.  We got onto Stubhub and Craigslist, and ended up with quite simply the best seats in the stadium.  We were front row just off of home plate closer to the dodgers. 

Incredible.

These are the moments I want to remember forever.

I tried to walk out on the field with him....I got scorned.

I will never be this close to Albert ever again.

Terry's current man-crush.

Man-crush take 2. 

Terry adoring the man crush at bat. 

Our safe haven from the scorching heat throughout the game; the VIP Cardinals Seating Air Conditioned Restaurant and Bar under the stadium.

Hey Joe....got an itch?

The Pitcher from Fresno State...don't remember his name

After the game, we met up with Catherine and her parents for dinner.  We went to an incredible restaurant called An American Place in downtown.  To say we were treated to luxury was an understatement.  The food was immaculate, the wine was flawless, the service was bar-none, and the company was perfect.

We asked if we could give our compliments to the chef, and he actually came out to our table at the end of the evening and talked for us.  Of course I took the opportunity to have a picture taken with him.  Here's a little background on Larry Forgione.   Here's another article. 

Overall a highly memorable day in the lives of Terry and Lindsey.  So happy for these experiences with him.

Thursday Night Cardina...uh, uh...I mean Dodgers game!

Gotta love impromptu fun.  We have been looking at tickets for the baseball games this weekend because the Dodgers are in town.  Terry, always lovin' his Cali teams, wanted to go and show his team spirit at some point in the weekend, and we came across great seats at super low $$.  I went downtown straight from work and we met an hour or so before the game.  We went and had appetizers (which ended up turning into our dinner) at The Oyster Bar, which we love! 

We headed over to the game, and our seats were unreal!!  This is not even zoomed in!

Close-up of Albert Pujols

Dang he's cute!!

It was a great unanticipated date night.  The Dodgers couldn't pull through with the win, but they've still got 2 more chances for redemption this weekend.

I killed Fievel

After 2 days and 3 glue traps he/she escaped from ....he/she finally stuck too strong and got caught.  It was not exactly the way I wanted to start my day this morning by having to murder the little fella, but it had to be done none the less.

I walked out into the kitchen when I woke up because I heard some noise, and low and behold, the trap with cheese in the center was the one it was stuck to.  I called Terry to ask how I should "dispose" of it, to which he explained a bag and a shovel were probably necessary.  I got off the phone, gained all of my courage, tried not to squeal, and went over to it (with gloves and boots on....just so it couldn't have a chance to eat one of my appendages as it's last supper...irrational...I know) and poor little thing was pulling with all of it's might to get loose.  As I leaned down to pick it up, he either had a panic attack and passed out, had a heart attack and croaked, or was giving the best performance of playing dead I had ever seen. 

After the bagging and the shovel, I hope that it went on to a better place.  Now, one might say our kitchen is, in fact, the better place to be than most other places, however that mouse was not invited! 

Our House is again VERMIN FREE!!!!

(And for those of you having no idea what my title means, google An American Tale...that movie was my favorite before The Little Mermaid when I was almost as small as that mouse.  I sang the best song of the movie to my labmates this morning...yes I still remember it....they were not nearly as amused as I was)

Low Key in the Midwest

From quite a few posts on here, it's clear that my family in college was Low Key.  It's always great spending time with people you feel so close with, so this past weekend was wonderful.  One of the guys who got into the group the same time as me, Scott Bourdeau, flew into St. Louis to visit and see the city.  We went to a great restaurant Thursday night, West End Grill and Pub, after he landed.  It was nice just catching up together.  Friday we did all the touristy things, which although I've done them all, is fun to do again with new people.  We went to the Arch and walked around downtown.

 We went through the Budweiser Tour, and had a nice dinner on The Hill at Lorenzo's Trattoria.  After, we went to John D. McGurks to hang out and check out some St. Louis Nightlife. 

The next morning, we got up and headed up to Chicago for the night.  In total, there were 7 of us from Low Key who got to spend time together, so it was wonderful.  We went to an underwhelming street festival called WestFest.  The best thing at the festival was us...

After we left there, we got everything together for a picnic dinner down at Millenium Park to listen to the Symphony.  Blankets, wine, cheese, hummus, sandwiches, sushi and snacks were all assembled and ready to go. The only thing not cooperating was the weather.  It started off as a soft drizzle.  By the middle, it had turned into torrential downpour.  We hopped on the metro soaking wet and headed back up to Billy and Mike's rowhouse.

The night was so relaxing, just great to be with great friends.  Convo's drifted from funny to deep to thought-provoking to witty and around and around again and I am so glad that we were all able to be together.  Of course there were the usual shenanigans of calling other Keyer's and there just being a hodgepodge of ridiculousness (sorry Allison, Brody, and Tiff), and having Lauren crawl in the back of Billy's closet so she could hear the phone over the boys screaming at the person on the phone, and apparently wiffleball games in the middle of the living room.

Fitting....

The next morning (afternoon), we got some Bubble Tea and Dim Sum Brunch in Chicago's Chinatown....DELICIOUS!!! 

The 5 hour car ride home was a little miserable, just tiring, but well worth the fun that was had with this crew.  Can't wait til it happens again! Oogamama!

I think we need to buy a cat....

BECAUSE WE HAVE A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE!!!!!

Ok, so yes, it really was about as cute as this picture above, just a little country mouse, but it was not so cute when it was zooming around the kitchen countertop at 80mph.  Here are my problems with this mouse:

First, how in the world did it get on the counter?!  Are mice able to climb??  I wouldn't be as angry and wishing death to this poor harmless creature if it was just scurrying around my kitchen floor. (I'd still want it out of the house, but not wish it dead).  But now I have to re-wash all the clean dishes that were drying in the sink, lysol the entire countertop down, and have fear for quite some time when I turn on the garbage disposal (lets be real....that's not that way I want to see him go.) 

Second, how is it that we do not have a single rodent problem for almost an entire year that we've had the house, yet Terminix comes 3 weeks ago to "work their magic" and ensure us of no bugs, snakes, OR MICE for an entire year.......and that's when a mouse comes!!!

Third, this mouse has made me have to point out to myself that I am irrational, and that's just irritating.  Of course I know that this mouse is not going to travel the entire distance of the home to follow me back into my bedroom and find it's way under the covers.....but I woke up several times to check.  Of course I know that if a mouse wants to get somewhere, he'll get there regardless of obstacle, but that still didn't stop me from closing (and locking...idiot) the door, then shoving a towel under the door jamb so he couldn't come in. Finally, of course I know that a mouse can only nibble at the pace of any other small animal....I owned hamsters and guinea pigs my whole childhood... but that doesn't stop me from thinking that this mouse can bite off my big toe in one gulp and that just barely appeases his insatiable and ravenous appetite.  Yah...he need to be out of our house immediately.

We set out glue traps that Terminix so graciously left us (it's like they knew it was going to happen), so Terry put out three before he left for work, and I put out two with Cheese in the middle of them before I left.  I think that mine are gonna get him; I mean really what mouse can resist cheese?!

The French Door Project Begins...

Last weekend, the "Front Living Room Floor / French Door from the front living room to the Kitchen" project began.  Friday night, Terry rented a floor sander and took off the top layer of poly and stain on the floorboards.  This was my sneak-in shot while he was in action, but as you can see, the dust was awful.

During:

After:

The next half of the project consisted of knocking out a hole in the wall to put in a french door.  We decided on this plan mainly because with the layout of the house, the front room was very excluded and inaccessible to the main living spaces. 

Before:

After:

The first throws in the wall  :-)  That's about the only part that I did because then Terry broke out the drywall saw which made it move much faster.   

Terry did the rest....

The next steps to finish up are putting a new stain on the front living room floor, re-running the electrical lines (You can barely see it in the picture, but the electrical wire from the outlet runs straight across about a 1/4 of the way up), installing the french door by building a new header and support beams since this is a load bearing wall, and that's about all.  No Big Deal :-)

myly