Washington, DC

    This past weekend was crazy and a little chaotic, but seeing one of my best friends was pretty great. Being with her while she bought her wedding dress wasn't half bad either ;). It poured rain the days I was actually free, and then the American Public Health Association conference was a flurry of activity. It was so nice to be involved in the Maternal and Child Health section though, and see all the things people do within public health. Being in DC again was really fun, and while I don't miss the price of rent, I do miss those people!
    Of course one of the few non-wedding dress related photos I took all weekend was of food: Chopt, a chain with pretty good salads. I ate it in the sunshine outside of the convention center. Sad that this is the only thing I think to photograph, but true.

    Then I got to fly home with Phoebe, and we had the best hour-long flight delay I can think of. We drank over-priced beers in the terminal, and could almost forget we were exhausted and delayed in a fairly empty terminal with mounds of homework to do. It was the best flight delay I've ever had.

You'd almost think we were somewhere classy, not in the airport getting kicked out of the restaurant as they closed!

Our new favorite grain base: polenta. So easy and so delicious: bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add 1.75 cups of polenta corn grits, cook 15 minutes. I added a tablespoon of butter, a little bit of parmesan, and some Tony's (again, thanks dad).

Terrible photo, but oh well. Trader Joe's sells southern greens all ready to cook.

Unrelated, but snuggly puppies and partners are the best. 

This weekend will be full of conference in DC, wedding dress shopping with one of my nearest and dearest, and hopefully lots of catching up in DC.

Today was the most beautiful day in St. Louis. And I didn't have to work, so I did homework, ran with the dog, and ran errands.

Today I am thankful for:
-Trees in our backyard (terrible photo, but it's the only one I have)

-Tomatoes from the garden - I swear October has given us more tomatoes than any other month!

-Changing leaves, puppies growing up, and all the telltale signs that time moves forward, and sometimes that's actually a good thing.

Breakfast

So it turns out I mostly talk about weather, food, and our dog on this blog. I might as well embrace it, so I made a fabulous sandwich today.

Onion and Kale Grilled Cheese:

Grill onions, add kale just before the end, just to get it wilted. White cheddar cheese, onions and kale mixture on whole wheat bread. Ate it with Trader Joe's cilantro dressing: if you've never had it, you should. So so delicious. Sitting on the deck with puppies on a sunny fall day was just about the perfect lunch.

Fall Friday

The weather is lovely again in St. Louis. I could probably liver here forever if we had weather like this. It felt like we missed fall last season, so it is a nice change.

Today I had a lovely fall walk...

I was walking with a pretty odd-looking pair:

 

We are watching Robin's lab mate's dog Zoe. Gertie wants to play, but Zoe is not so sure. 

Thank goodness for lovely fall days, for sunshine, and for unlikely pairs. Happy weekend!

Rainy Monday

Today it is gross in St. Louis for the first time in several weeks. All I want is hot cider and a blanket and a nap. One for three will have to do.

This weekend was:
-Delicious breakfast: corn tortilla, refried beans, fried egg, salsa, and caramelized onions (maybe my favorite food - thanks, dad!)

-Walk/run with the pup. Afterwards she looked like this: 

That is what victory looks like. 

A weekend filled with sunshine, puppy, movie, and dinner with my brother and his fam. If we take out the time spent doing homework, it was pretty close to a perfect weekend in my book. 

Off to rainy studying....

Thursday Thoughts

-Bed sounds nice.
-The love of my life turned 26 this week. I gave him a rice cooker for his birthday. The other options I was thinking of were an electric lawn mower or a weed wacker. Are we getting old?
-I saw Lucinda Williams in concert, and it was just what the doctor ordered. I have no good photos but here are a couple anyway:

-Gertie holds her tongue just slightly out of her mouth periodically, and I find it hilarious. Robin managed to catch her in the act last night:

 

Happy Birthday to Josh Holland today, father to some of the cutest kids around!