A Little Sleeping In, A Little Culture, and A Little Shopping

This last week I opened at work four days in a row and on the fifth day, I had to be there at 7am, which isn't too much better.  I was well on my way to becoming an actual, real-life zombie until today.  I didn't have to work at all!  That meant that last night I could stay downstairs and watch a movie!  Guess which one!

Lord of the Rings!  It truly is a beautiful thing to see on our sharp new tv.  Ahh, and since I'm off tomorrow too, disc two is on the docket for tonight!  I slept until much later than 6am today and then met up with a friend from work to go down to the history museum.  She had to go for a class and since I'm a history person, she thought I would make it more fun.

First we walked through the St. Louis in 1875 exhibit, which focused on maps and had some really nice graphic design-work going on.  After that we made our way over to the World's Fair section, which was also very well done.

And later this afternoon, Mom and I went to the mall for a little fall shopping.  We each got a new sweater, and I also found a pair of jeans and a dress in a really great, rich green color.  Yay for successful shopping trips!  Don't forget to look for the special eclipse tonight!

(photos by e.hunt)

Smooth Signs of Change

Tomorrow is the official first day of fall, and we get to wear jeans and flannel shirts at work tomorrow to celebrate.  As much as I live and breathe summer year-round, I'm ready for the season shift.  I've gotten a few new sweaters and boots that I'm ready to start breaking in, and now that the loft is all clean again, I'm just waiting for a little cooler weather for it to be a comfortable sleeping environment again.

(photo by e.hunt)

Never Laugh At Live Dragons

I wore my Lord of the Rings map dress the other day.  It's a piece that's always fun to pull out: one, because it is a physical representation of one of my favorite things, and two, because it reminds me how fun it was printing out maps and painting all the little details on the dress.  I'm glad I included all the major stops in the journey; Rivendell, Rohan, Gondor, and even Mordor.  Cheers to Middle Earth!  May it keep inspiring us all.

(photos by e.hunt)

Watching the World With Glittering Eyes

Well, yesterday I woke up with the lovely little infliction known as Pink Eye.  In both eyes, mind you.  Don't worry though, I went to the friendly folks down at the Walgreens clinic and they set me up with some drops that are already working!  I had to call in sick to work today and yesterday, on account of the Pink Eye being so contagious.  And I've had to wear my glasses all the time.  Ew.

Anyway, I had a productive couple of days getting the loft all clean and ready for me to move back up there.  Now that it's not quite so hot outside, it is livable again.  Yesterday I vacuumed, dusted, and deep cleaned the bathroom and today I put clean sheets on the bed, put together a replacement fan, and collected a few bags of clothes I don't wear anymore to donate to Goodwill.  Now all I have to do is move all the stuff I've accumulated on the second floor back up to the third!

(photos by e.hunt)

Four Weeks in One

Wow, finally caught up on the Florida posts!  I understand it may have been a little excessive, but what can I say?  I took a lot of good pics and had a lot of stories to share.  Anyway, a lot has happened since the trip!

Mom and I spent one of our last summer days at The Castle pool, which was lovely as always.  She picked a few souvenirs from the luscious garden as well.

Dad and Taylor whipped up some marvelous meals on the barbecue.

We celebrated the last night before school started with some pumpkin ales that looked especially good in the early-evening light shining through the kitchen curtains.

Taylor and I spied a lone fox wandering around a construction site one night when we were walking.  It explains the really creepy screaming mating calls the rest of the family heard in the middle of the night earlier in the summer.  I didn't hear a thing all lonely and far away up in the loft.  This little guy was really cute though, and followed us along the sidewalk for a bit too.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte returned to Starbucks' everywhere.  They changed the recipe this year to include some actual pumpkin in it, and while still really sweet, I think it tastes a lot better this year than last.  I got to design and make the sign for in front of our store too!

The new McArthur's bakery opened in its new location downtown, and I have to say, it's giving Kaldi's a run for its money.  It's clean and bright, and I've already found my spot in the front by the door so I can do a little people watching in between working.  The mocha tasted great and as it is a bakery, their pastry items are pretty delicious as well.

Taylor was determined to go to a different pizza place than Dewey's before he left for England (England!), so he, Dad, and I went to Pi one night.  The pizza was of the deep dish variety, which was a nice change.  They had this cool secret bar where we waited for the table.  It lost its cool though when the bartender asked Taylor and I for our papers!  Not really, although instead of saying, 'Can I see your ID?' he asked 'Can I see your personal identification?'  'Twas a bit strange.

Last weekend we celebrated Dad's birthday.  He was playing in Springfield on Thursday night so Mom, Taylor, and I went and picked up his new tv!  We moved our old, really heavy box tv out to the car so Taylor could take it to an electronic drop off drive the next day and set up the new one in the exact same spot.  

The next morning Taylor and I put the bow on it and got everything else ready but then learned that Dad wasn't going to have time to stop by the house in between gigs.  Later that evening we went downtown to see him play.  And after that we moved over to Schlafly for gig #2, and then surprised him with the tv, at one in the morning!

The next night we ventured down to the Clayton Art Fair for Taylor's last night in town.  We talked with some very interesting artists and saw some really cool artwork.  It was a delightful last night and we figured out the rest of our Christmas in Europe accommodations!  I ran in to Mom and Dad the next morning at 5am after they had dropped him off at the airport and I was on my way to work.

(photos by e.hunt)

All the Golden Lands In Front of You and All the Unforeseen Events

The following morning, we packed up the monster truck and were on our way.  We had decided to take the scenic route along 30A and stop in Rosemary Beach, a stunning planned community we spotted on the way down.  A planned community is an interesting concept.  The architectural firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk, designed the town from the ground up, focusing on creating a "sustainable, environmentally-responsive, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use and compact urban" center, (DPZ Wikipedia).  They create a master-plan with project-specific design and style codes, keeping in line with the local culture and integrating local materials and plant life.

We stopped for lunch at this lovely coral-colored building.  We chose a table under the overhang in front so we could admire the town.  It was a good thing too, as it started raining as soon as we were seated.  Luckily, the rain stopped before we were finished so we got to explore the rest of the town as well.

The amount of detail was endless, with each house becoming more interesting than the last.

After an hour or so we decided it was time to get back on the road, but we didn't make it that far.  After only a few minutes back in the car, we pulled into another planned community called Alys Beach, designed by the same firm.  This one, though, was made up of all white buildings.  We wondered if there was an all-white dress code to go along with it.

(photos by e.hunt)