Sara Bareilles - Yellow

I don't post music on here very often, just because there are so many different music genres people like, but I am can't not (I know...double negative....my bad) post this.  So simple and just so magical.  This is on repeat for me today. 

Clayton Restaurant Week(end)

This weekend was Clayton (small suburb in St Louis) Restaurant week, and we took full advantage of the 3-course pre fixe meals for $25 by going out Friday night as well as Saturday night too :-).  These restaurants are ones that we would typically not frequent as their menus are quite pricey, but restaurant week is the perfect excuse!! 
Friday night, Terry drove over to the city after work and we had dinner at Ruths Chris Steakhouse.  One word:  Breathtaking.  We got different appetizers, and go figure we ended up liking the other persons more than our own (I ordered the Louisiana Seafood Gumbo....it was a little too acidic for me, and he ordered the Steakhouse Salad.....he mis-read the choice and thought it was going to come out with steak on it.. HA) so we traded.  Ahhh the love.  For dinner, we both ordered the 6 oz. filet, he got garlic mashed potatoes while I got creamed spinach for a side dish...YUM!. Then dessert (we were stuffed at this point) was raspberry sorbet and a Chocolate cup filled with fresh berries and cream.  We had a bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany the meal, and even though we took half the bottle home with us, it was the perfect wine for a perfect meal.  We proceeded to drive home and go right to sleep with a food coma.  So delicious!

(I still laugh at this)

Saturday, we met up with Irma and Steve, who also work at Wash U., just in different departments than me.  We started the evening at Irma's with wine, shrimp cocktail, and cheese and crackers.  She opened a bottle of 1999 Navarro Zinfandel that she has been holding on to for forever but was starting to get worried it was past it's life-span.  It hadn't gone bad, but it was definitely at the end of it's life.  One of the sommeliers in Napa showed us a trick that if you helf a poured glass up to the light at a 45 degree angle, at the top of the wine, as it ages it starts to turn brown (oxidization), and when we did that with this wine, there was a distinct brown ring.  It tasted fine, it was definitely not a blow-your-mind 12-year old wine (I mean that in the least-snootiest way possible), but it was drinkable.  Terry enjoyed it a lot. 

We then headed off to a restaurant called Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar.  The cool thing about the restaurant was that we could bring our own wine, and then we just had to pay a small corking fee for them to open the bottle, so we brought a bottle from Dutch Henry, which was from our trip to Napa two years ago.  It was phenomenal.  Terry tasted Rootbeer, but I got mostly raspberry and soil (earthy body to the wine). 

For appetizers, I got flash fried seafood (calamari, scallops, and shrimp), and Terry ordered stuffed grapevine leaves with lamb and rice.  I liked mine, but with his again, the acidity was getting to me. For main courses, I ordered the Grilled Canadian Salmon with soy, honey glaze, and ginger scallion aioli while Terry ordered the Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Triple Bleu cheese butter and Cabernet reduction.  It's so silly to say, but the green scallions are really what tied my dish together and made it perfect. Terry's first steak came out over-cooked, but the second was mouth-watering for him.    

 The absolute best part of the meal though was dessert.....and that is a huge statement because dessert usually never wins out for favorite plate.  It was this little bit of heaven.  Chocolate Napolean.  Cocoa phyllo crisps layered with chocolate mousse and served with espresso creme Anglaise.  Sinful.  I'm already trying to figure out when we can get back there for this little bit of heaven.

Fun times!

99% of you won't get this...but this is my life right now

The fact that so much of this song is my work life right now is sad to realize.  A little nerdy scientist Friday humor. 

Short and Sweet Post: Megan

I got to see Megan while I was home and it was wonderful.  It's so amazing having those few friends that you can go months or years apart, and when you're finally together, it feels like there hasn't been any lapse in time. 

"I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me. I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way." - Edgar A. Guest

My Life In France and Julia's Kitchen

It's been 2 months since I started the book, but I officially finished reading My Life in France.  The book was a beautiful memoir of Julias journey to loving France, Food, and her Cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I can't help but be enamored in Julia and her husband Paul's love and life together.  They traveled the world together, and in her 40's she decided she wanted to leave working for the government to take on cooking.  Paul stood by her and encouraged her the entire way and she made herself to the star we all know her as now by following something that she truly loved.  You can tell from this book that Julia was very fiesty, which makes me like her all the more. 

My favorite quote (well...paragraph) from the book was during a hectic time in their lives between finishing the cookbook and going on book tours and starting to film The French Chef TV Series: "But then we looked at each other and repeated our favorite phrase, "No one's more important than people", In other words, friendship is the most important thing, not career or housework or one's fatigue- and it needs to be tended and nurtured."

During the day trip over to DC with Mom while I was back home 2 weeks ago, we stopped into the Smithsonian Museum of American History to see Julia's Kitchen from her home in Boston.  It was fascinating and beautiful and a great way to wrap up this time I've spent getting to know Julia Child. 

This made me smile, it's quite the perfect mantra.

US Capitol Building

Mom and I took a day trip over to DC last week and had a great trip.  She got us passes for a tour through the Capitol, and I must say that although I went into with no expectations, it completely blew me away. 

One of the original smaller rotundas that were part of the original building.  The colors look all wonky because the lighting was really dim, but it was bright pinks and blues.

  

One of the side small rotundas, but this is of special significance as this is where the soon-to-be-President stands to have a moment of silence and solitude before walking out to be sworn in as the next President of the US.

Looking up inside the central Rotunda.  Absolutely breath-taking in person.

The center of the Rotunda, where memorial services are held for people of prominence, and their caskets are placed for people to come pay their respects. 

Paintings that looked like marble carvings that went around the center of the Rotunda.  The scenes depicted America Timeline from when Columbus landed through the time of the Wright Brothers First Flight.

Famous Paintings in the Capitol Rotunda.  You can see it in the background of the following picture where Obama is giving a speech.  They were enormous. 

The Old House of Representatives.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the current House or Senate.

My Chandelier Fascination again 

So beautiful

 Replica of the figure that sits on top of the Capitol Building

We had a really fun day together



Family is a Wonderful Thing

I could put together 4 or 5 posts about the family over the past week while I was back in Delaware visiting, but I thought it'd be easier to consolidate and smash it all into one post....with a WHOLE LOT of pictures! 

As my flights got all messed up, I got to go to Delaware a few days early.  I stayed at Jeff and Kim's house Tuesday and Wednesday, and I got some much needed Chloe time.  We started off Wednesday morning with some Coffee (and hot cocoa) and movies, then went for a walk on Brecknock Parks Trails that were covered in snow.

 

 

I made it down to Chris and Kristins Thursday night and had a blast with the nieces.  Maya is a hair styling pro, and Jenna is an expert make-up artist.  Here they were working their magic.

Jenna laughing at me for something, who knows.  :-)

Chloe wanted in on the hair styling.  Too Cute!!

Alexa and her braces

White Sunday down in Lewes at our favorite coffee shop (love this picture of us)

Chloe making a go at doing my hair.  She was great with the clips! :-)

Jenna taking a picture of Chris and me by the fire. 

Hundreds of other pictures were taken but these were just some of the highlights.  I always love going home and being with the family.  Fills the soul for sure.

The planned trip that didnt start off as planned

I'm in the middle of my winter vacation back to visit the family in Delaware and have a little downtime so I thought I'd add a little update. 

My flight originally was intended for Tuesday into D.C. to spend a day with Allison and then an evening with Emily, however the crazy winter storm on the east coast had other intentions for me.  After making 15 different plans in preparation of diversions or delays or worst case scenarios, many of my east coast friends and family were involved, so thanks everyone for being on standby.  While in the airport waiting for my flight, the overhead announcement came on that my flight was cancelled from St Louis into my connection in Chicago, so all plans and preparation went out the window.  I was able to get re-routed with a direct flight into Baltimore, so I took it and crossed my fingers for no more delays or cancellations.  All worked out fine, my Mom drove over to get me, and other than not being able to see the road driving back through the snow and sleet, we got to Delaware in one piece. 

Although it was incredibly disappointing not getting to see friends, I got a full unanticipated day with Jeff, Kim, and Chloe that was amazing.  Mom and I still went over for a day to DC and toured the US Capitol Building and got to see Julia Child's Kitchen in the American History Museum. After DC, Mom dropped me off to Chris, Kristin, Alexa, Jenna, and Maya, and it has been full-throttle Aunt Lindsey time ever since. Friday I went down for lunch with Megan while the girls were in school, which was wonderful.  She is truly one of those friends that you can go so much time apart and when we finally get together, it's like we didn't miss a minute.  Its been non-stop Aunt Lindsey time all day today, and Jeff Kim and Chloe have been down which has been so nice.  Many MANY pictures to come in the next few days....or maybe once I get back to St Louis Tuesday. 

Soul-filling back in process now.  :-)

Backsplash Started!!

I had to work all day Saturday, but Terry was wonderful with his time while I was away and decided to put up the backsplash in the kitchen.

We talked about our design dilemma a while back, and finally decided on which style we liked most. The sheets of tile had been sitting in the garage for a few months now, but we just haven't aliquoted the time to it. We are both SO happy with the results!


The Before Shots:

A few of the During Shots:

How it sits currently (notice Terry's installation of the undercabinet lighting....more to come on that in a few posts from now).  We Love It!!  We still have to cut tile to fit in around the outlets and receptacles and around the window ledge, and then grout or course, but this is easily 75% done!

What do you think??

Jefferson City, Missouri

While mom was out visiting, I took the Monday after Christmas off from work to do a day trip over to the Capital of Missouri. She loves touring the Capital Buildings and the Governor's Mansions (I think she's up to 17 states that she's toured so far), so we figured we may as well go knock one more off the list. Seeing as Jefferson City is in the middle of nowhere in Missouri (literally....there were no signs for Jefferson City until 30 miles away from it), I had very low expectations. Turns out, I was happily surprised. As we were driving in, it was just an enormous structure off in the distance.