My day with Roz - a double date with St. Louis

Y'all wish you were riding with us today!

I had so much fun running around town with my college pal, Roz. She's just as cool as way way cooler than I remember (hadn't seen her in 2+ years!)...and she is pretty cool. Can't say enough about this girl. Delaware should be proud to have produced her! I'm also glad her Dad, who went to SLU med school, sent her to me with such enthusiasm for St. Louis! I'm glad in general today, though I am exHAUSTED.

I'll definitely be posting a'plenty later about our trip today, with a few pictures. The order particular of our sightseeing was the most noteworthy for us, also pretty hilarious and pretty perfect. Gosh I miss my Penn friends a LOT sometimes/all the time. You forget what wonderful people you get to say are your friend when they're all so spread out across the frickin' globe. Lucky world. (Roz is going to Uganda soon - and blogging about it - so if you're into that, you know there will be links)

So, we absolutely didn't fit everything in, and barely went to any bars, so I'm hoping to take her out for a congratulatory cocktail after her med school interview is over. Hopefully she will be as impressed with the Jesuit Medical training offered here as she seems to have been by the city proper. We had such fun discussions as Roz got to know St. Louis.

PS I was totally wrong about the "new" Sandrinas... I'll tell myself I was just misled by Grand Opening Weekend Crowds so I don't feel too dumb. Its a win-win situation for me though, I am quite happy to have been wrong! Went there on Thursday - the jukebox was working!!! - can't say enough. Yay!
PPS The Buttery is now a stranger place to visit, and not in a very good way. I've been scared/upset about people the past 2 visits. It's also more crowded, which should be good, but turns out its not. Seems so at least. More on that later.

too much to do this thursday

Its not easy to overwhelm me with things to do.

This thursday (Oct 25 aka tomorrow) - color me overwhelmed. St. Louis is being a serious credit to itself lately.

October 25 - A List:
-Priority: Rockabilly-ish "Gauchos" playing at Joes at 9pm
-Starting at like, 7pm, Metropolis is doing The Walk in the Lemp district ! I havn't visited the milk store in a while, and I've always wanted to go to O'Malleys! Durr!
- Drinks&Mortar at Zach's at 8pm. Another bar and another event I've never been to! Sounds like a cool scene and good conversatin'.
- Also, the Royale's having some "Drinking Liberally" thing at 9pm, which sounds hilarious and also like a v. good idea. I have a feeling I might have to get in a few fights w/ some obamaheads, so maybe I'll just opt out of that.

aaaand, I just told my high school BFF I'd meet her for drinks!
(i'm sure I'm missing something, if you can believe it)

Maybe its a good thing every night isn't like this in the StL b/c I'd go crazy. Nah. Every night can be like this. I love rolling to a million places all over the city - I'd do it for Penn&philly events/performances all through school and wow.

Next up, city museum b-day, art-attacks at some boxing gym (i think, I've never been....exciting!) and a myriad other things! So many opportunities to dress up, too. Lordy, and the moon is full!

This is wonderful.

bullet points

I must chronicle something for you, though I cannot do it justice in prose (yet...maybe?)

- The Royale Coronation was really fun! I of course forgot to take any pictures of myself, and so far my efforts at poaching on Flickr have come up pretty short. Sigh. Hm, Free Candy ought to think about turning to Clownvis Prestley for some mic technique tips...he had it down if I may put in my 2 cents. Must've been in choir like yours truly in high school/church. I couldn't decide if I liked that he sang Dixie.

Also, what up with the underwear doki doki only sold in Chicago stores? I don't usually jeer amateur stage guests out loud, but I gotta say I'm not ashamed I jeered that lady. Online isn't the same! I'm sure she just meant that the line was coming soon to the myriad stores that could carry it here in the StL...and I misheard her. Pardon me, in that case.

Jeers as well to those who took the "formal wear strongly encouraged" in an IRONIC way - thus sporting unserioius t-shirts, ties and general brooklyn icono-hipster-i-couldn't-care-less chic. Boo! Sincerity is the new ironic, didn'tcha know?

I suppose Schaper and I spent a fair amount of time griping (me about no dance floor ....wtf! though I did move a table... and her about other things) aloud, but it was all in good fun. A v. lovely event/excuse to dress up more than usual, so I actually have no gripes. I was griping a lot just then.

- I cannot WAIT for the City Museum's 10th birthday -- it will be fun! And another reason to dress up. Do you think I already know what I'm wearing? B/c if you thought I did you'd be right.

- I went to the Old Rock House (dance floor heaven) to see the Jessica Butler trio/usual suspects and it was a riot. A bartender got up and sang "If I Ain't Got You" and I hung out w/ someone who could very well be Steve-O's bizzarro self....or his like, long lost twin. Steve-O II took me to hear this band practicing, and I stuck around and got to possibly be one of the first people to hear a country song about how everything at Cracker Barrel's made in China. It was sortof hilarious, and it still is a shame that I had to get up the next day at 4am (starbucks, ouch). There were many highlights of this evening, not the least of them being Emmylou the cool saggitarian lady I met. Cool name. I owe this evening a better post laters....with less "I." I also met a guitar-playing nurse who went to high school with my neighbor. The catholic school boys are everywhere.

-I went to Five with my cousins! And my mom. We were a truly silly 5some. How appropriate, I didn't even realize until now! I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed that I'm related to cool people other than my grandma, who is cool in a different way. I definitely got in trouble for assuming that "sweetbreads" were, "like dougnuts, right?" Like I'm supposed to know fine dining euphemisms.

-After Five, I went to see Kathy Griffin at UMSL (whoa north county) and she was Kathy Griffin, and v. funny. I wanted to change her outfit the whole night....still, she was a funny lady. Such a storyteller. Is that an Irish thing? I should look into being more irish.

....Ok, I've gotta go get ready for my UrbanFuture info session...finally. I have been a scheduling nightmare to myself trying to get to this thing.

I'm excited about many things this coming week...October in St. Louis is awesome.

UPDATE: I found a good one.

I am awesome

Did you know this?

So I'm prone to these funny (to me...to you?) moments where I find myself in ameila bedelia/nutty professor-like predicaments. Life is so silly and it will play many jokes on you if you let it.

So, I was lucky enough to get some tickets to this shindig tonight - I'm taking my 2 favorite sisters -- who together straddle the political and funky/prim spectrums -- but they're both cool, savvy and have a knack for formal wear. Did I mention that they're funny? They're like bizzaro version of me and my sister. There are a couple other respectable kids I'd like to join me as well, an old AP science class buddy and a fellow funky Marc Broussard fan are in the running. I'd also like to call in the swing dancers (the ones who dress nice) -- the Dock Ellis band's playing, and they've got some danceable rhythms happenin'--- the ones that aren't that choo-choo train rhythm...still - workable.

Anyway. So I snag some invites and promptly lose them w/in 24 hours. Like, monsters-under-the-refridgerator lose them.

So I search for them for about 2 days -- in the process I found a long lost glue gun, a b'thousand white envelopes, but not THE one with MY purple tickets. In the interest of not losing my sanity and finding my pride - I decide... just get more tickets, or like a marker or something from the owner/organizer of said event. His name's Steven.

So I call the bar, talk to someone there, and after a little phone loop....yes! 4 tickets for me!

Fast forward to later that evening - after a funny little dinner/meeting/chat (& wasabi mashed potatoes -- zing!) with a client I'm "consulting" (sounds too pretentious w/o the quotes), I stop by the bar and ask for the tickets.

Rose, the lovely bartender who recently got some great highlights, hands me an envelope -- relief! the tickets are mine!

-- wait.

Empty envelope. ?

Sigh. Inquiries about invisible tickets...can I get a marker? Will the envelope do? Rose runs in some circles for me, etc... Lucky for me, Rose is kind and tells me not to worry -- she's working, I'll get in. Will my friends? I'm feeling a little trepidation. Will there be door drama? I really had my fair share of that at some shady frat and club houses back at the U of P and I'm sortof done. I mean, I'm a devil-may-care ragamuffin, but gotsta keep it respectable and worthy of my sparkly blue dress (which is awesome).

So, l much like the silly and pointless plot-twists of Timeline or Saving Silverman (don't get me started on Young Einstein), though maybe not quite as absurd -- this is the sortof story I really like telling, it just feels goofy to be a star in it. Meh, everything will be great!

& tonight should be a riot; I'm really looking forward to it and I'm so glad I get to bring my sisters ... one just moved back to St. Louis from Memphis/summer work in Michigan, and I'm trying to cajole her into jumping on the StL is awesome bandwagon. She's got a good mix of classy(gets it from her older sister) and funky that I find to be key.

Tonight should be clutch.

Gotta go plan my accessories.