103/365

Some days you just need chocolate... and this is my favorite kind - chocolate with my favorite kind of sprinkles. The only thing that would make these chocolates better is if they were dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. I've come to appreciate dark chocolate more recently, plus its theoretically slightly better for you.

UPDATE: Task #5 -Visit All 50 States

See the older list here...

I'm almost halfway there... I think it's time to take a road trip...

States I've Lived In: (4)
California, Indiana, Missouri, Texas [note: "lived in" means stayed for a period of longer than a show contract; and not necessarily tied to a contract either]

States I've Worked In/Already Visited: (19)
Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia

States I'm Already Planning On: (1)
Iowa (Jan '10)

States That I Still Need To Visit: (26)
Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

102/365

I tend to occasionally forget about the wealth of museums in St. Louis. There was a special exhibition of quilts made by the ladies of Gee's Bend and my mom and I went to see them on day 101, especially because it was a museum free day. Those quilts and their stories were quite amazing. I'm so glad we went.

101/365

First of all, yay 100 days!

Second of all, this is a picture of my typical order at Steak 'n Shake: frisco melt with fries and a side of honey mustard.

Those were the days, when hanging out happened at Steak and Shake. LK and I reminisced over our usual fare (though she'd eaten dinner already and only had dessert), and bemoaned our getting older and/or healthier and not being able to finish either of our meals.

I guess that's good. My grease tolerance lowered so I can only take so much. My arteries thank me.

But there's nothing like occasionally reliving the past. :)

100/365

Day 100 was a pesto-making day in our family. Our vegetable garden has some very generous basil plants... this is at least the second harvest and there's probably one more to go. We made a TON of pesto, and boy was it fun.

99/365

Day 99 found me at the Missouri Botanical Garden very early for a meetup.com meetup where I met many fabulous photographers! I just adore the Botanical Garden. It's the main reason why I'm hardly ever impressed with ones in other cities... ours is world-renowned!

Happy List, Week 39

1. Illinois State Fair. Since ours is apparently in some backwards corner, mom and I went to the one in Springfield. It was a bit of a trek and instead of rain, we got sun. It was a fun trip and we didn't eat ourselves sick on all the fried goodness available.

2. New haircut. At long last, I finally chopped some length off - my summer haircut, in AUGUST.

3. New glasses! My prescription was woefully out of date. I can see better and I have two new frames that didn't totally break the bank.

4. Gorgeous weather. These last few days have had the most un-August-like weather.

5. Meeting new people, especially new photographers. More people to learn from, hurrah!

98/365

Taken from the hammock in my backyard, because day 98 was stunningly gorgeous and so very un-August-like for St. Louis.

97/365

It had been far too long since I had had my eyes checked and a new prescription had... not since I'd lived in LA/Pasadena. Bad me.

So I bit the bullet, went in, got checked (my eyes are healthy and my prescription didn't change TOO terribly much) and picked out new frames.

Ah to see well again. And thanks to Mom who helped make sure I picked the right ones...

96/365

I went to a photo meetup where I met a lot of STL photographers... one of them brought this gem with him.

95/365

To me, state fairs mean seeing everything fried. It's ever so true. I sort of felt obligated to have a corn dog, and it was delicious. I rounded out my state fair meal later with a grape sno cone. YUM!

94/365

Mundane, boring, you might say. I say, necessary.

For some unknown reason, mosquitos really like me. If there's a group of people around, they will all beeline for me. This itch-stopper gel has been my best-est pal lately.

93/365

I went shopping with a friend, for moral support and company. Thankfully for my pocketbook, we were discount shopping. Still these rather cute, very impractical for me (weak ankles here), shoes called my name and didn't let me say no. They're purple, patent and fabulous.

92/365

This is my new dresser and I love it. I wanted a low and long dresser because I wanted more real estate on top. I wasn't even interested in a mirror, but this one came with it. It's certainly not new, its well used and has some marring on it. But I love it. It is exactly what I wanted, the right size and the right price.

Hurrah!

Happy List, Week 38

1. Garage sales. They're actually kind of fun and its amazing what you can find there. It really is true what they say about one person's trash is another person's treasure.

2. On that note, Freecycle rocks. I signed up because I really like the idea, and you never know what you're going to find. I got my hands on 28 crafting books for free. I'm sure my roommate and I will put them to good use.

3. Lovely people in Granite City, IL who sold me my new-to-me dresser. It pretty much was everything I was looking for, just the right size, great color, pretty decent condition and cooler than I expected. A perfect fit, and a perfect dresser for me right now. And the right price.

4. Spending time with my family. I really love living near them. Still weird to feel like I have two homes in same city, though.

5. My pups. Especially since I don't live at home, but am still in the city, I get to see them often. The reception I get every time I see them is wonderful. Tom, our quiet one, immediately wants to play and runs and gets his favorite toy. Pippin lives up to one of her nicknames, Pipsqueak, and squeaks with joy and delight that I'm there. And jumps all around me and on me.

91/365

Pippin started protesting that Tommy is featured more than she is. It's really a matter of who holds still more, especially when I'm not shooting with a flash. I love this dog... she's the best. I love both of them, really.

This girl was so excited to see me that she didn't leave me alone for hours. It's really very sweet. It's only annoying at the dinner table when one wants to you know, eat.

90/365

This may not look like much, but our old washer just wasn't working. Clothes came out sopping wet. The spin cycle was non-existent. Day 90 brought us our brand new washer which works like a dream. I've never had a new washer... it's very exciting!

Yes, I know I'm behind on posting again, but I'll catch up soon, I promise!

89/365

I went to garage sales to find a dresser... but all I found were these three games. But they were a steal of a deal at $0.50 each. I love board games, especially trivial pursuits... its one of the few times where I don't mind feeling stupid.

However, it does make me miss my Tosca cast... that was our game.

88/365

Mmmmm... sushi. From Drunken Fish, where I had my all-time favorite, deep-fried (tempura'd) philly. LOVE it. Despite the okay service, it was incredibly yummy.

And just for the record, this was shared between the two of us, and we had sushi to spare... leftovers!

Happy List, Week 37

1. My apartment. I really really like it, the more I spend time in it. We really found a great one.

2. My pups. We had a great time, just the three of us.

3. Air conditioning. We go from having perfectly lovely days to having beastly ones. I know its August and its St. Louis, but sheesh.

4. Craigslist. What a wonderful resource, hopefully it will help me find a dresser.

5. U City Lions. A lovely summer art installation celebrating the centennial installation of our city guardians. It also led to a wonderful, albeit slightly sweaty morning with mom and pip.

That's it for now, its not that I'm 'unhappy' this week or anything, but I'm still getting settled and there's not much going on in my life than sorting, unpacking, etc.

87/365

There's a nine-part art installation in University City for four months this summer celebrating 100 years of the U City Lions, the guardians and gatekeepers of University City. Mom, Pip and I found all nine this morning that are spread throughout University City.

We tried to beat the heat and we just missed the rain, but it was definitely a lot of fun. For more views and details, visit here.

80/365-86/365

I collect DVDs, but I never pay full price. I got all these for under $40. I adore Blockbuster.



After too much time on the phone and one early morning visit from a technician, we finally have internet!



Daylilies from my parent's beautiful garden, on day one of dogsitting.



Tommy misses his mom and dad. A lot.



One of the perks of living where I do, I'm near the Loop. Love it.



Early morning sunlight in our backyard. This tree was planted by mom and I for some Arbor Day project and/or a Brownie project. We disagree on how and when, but the point is that it has FLOURISHED.



Mom spotted this little guy on one of our cucumber leaves... he's VERY little. But he held still long enough for me to run into the house and get my camera and posed for lots of pictures.

Wheee, I am ALL caught up. Finally. What a wonderfull feeling. I've got such the backlog though on posting other pictures...

73/365-79/365

The unpacking continued... these are my roommates boxes slowly being collapsed into a pile to store downstairs.



Flowers for someone going through a rough patch... something to make her smile.



Giving in and going to an Urgent Care and diagnosing my first broken bone. My poor fingertip.



Berries, berries and more berries. It's berry season, what a great time of year!



Movie night at our house - my roommate made popcorn...mmmm!



Dad and I made stir-fry while mom was out of town. Mmmmmm! And by Dad and I, I mean Dad did everything cooking-wise, but Pip and I supervised.



A lovely day outside found my roommate and I at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, one of the best botanical gardens ever. Both of us had grown up with memberships, and now we were able to split one for ourselves! Hooray!


(Embarassingly, due to moving and lack of internet access, the posting got to TWO weeks behind. Tired of falling so far behind in the posting, its time to play catch up. Look for another week's worth tomorrow!)

72/365

Slowly but surely, more boxes were unpacked. This time, books go on bookshelves. I'm also re-reading HP&HBP after having seen the movie. Now I want to see it again!

71/365

Not even two days later... (since I hurt myself in the evening of Day 69). Yes, it probably hurt more than it looked. It was so swollen and tight... constant icing, constant patience...

70/365

Just one morning's harvest from the front veggie garden, including a surprise pepper... holy vegetables, batman!

69/365

Oops. My roommate, her brother and I were putting together a very heavy (210 lb) bookshelf when it fell apart in our hands... and I just wasn't quick enough to get my hand out. At first I thought I smashed 3 fingers, but it turned out to be only the middle finger. It was pretty angry at me and throbbing and very very uncomfortable.

This is hours after I received the injury... the best is yet to come. Did I mention that this is my dominant hand??

(Yup, I'm still behind... when internet access is harder to be had, its harder to update!)

Happy List, Weeks 35 and 36

From Week 35: 1-6, from Week 36, 7-10.

1. My parents next door neighbors who are great friends. MK graciously donated her time and muscle to helping me move in.

2. My roommates' brother who also graciously donated time and muscle to help.

3. Our downstairs neighbor who was volunteered by his mother to help.

4. Returning the scary over-sized truck. It was at least 10 or so feet too big. I was about 6 inches too short to drive it without discomfort.

5. Unpacking slowly but surely. Settling into the new place.

6. My new apartment... I really love it and am looking forward to when we're really settled in there.

7. Getting settled in. Our apartment looks less like chaos and more like a home.

8. Missouri Botanical Garden. My roommate and I both love the place and we just joined as members.

9. Office Max for having the storage solution for my crafts. I might need two - we're turning our extra bedroom into an art studio.

10. Concentra for confirming my suspicions that I have indeed broken my fingertip. Its not necessarily a happy thing, but it is a good and happy thing to know how to treat and protect it.

68/365

Tom pretending that he's not absolutely overjoyed to see me. We arrived in St Louis this day but my stuff was crammed everywhere in my room. Better to crash at my parents until I had things all straightened out, unpacked, organized, etc.

67/365

This is the grille to our 26' moving truck. Let it be said that this was waaaaaaaay oversized for my needs. We needed a 16' truck. But it couldn't be had, and this is what I got. I almost threw up on the Penske guy (and I don't have a weak stomach or anything) because I was so scared of the size of the truck. Very terrifying to drive and apparently at 5'2" I was too short to drive it comfortably.

Mom's ticked that I didn't take a full-length picture (but I still can, it's still at the drop-off site) but this grille picture is pretty telling. The grille is taller than I am... and you had to step up into the cab. If you look carefully, you can see me...

Never again am I driving a truck that size...

66/365

An empty corner of my old apartment. What used to occupy this corner? A lamp (seen in previous day) and a POANG chair from IKEA and its footstool.

As I pointed out to my dad this afternoon, yes, I am about a week behind in pictures. I promise to catch up soon... a lot has been happening recently and well, uploading requires internet access too!