Red Moon

Friday night we went to Red Moon. My first impression upon pulling up was sort of odd. It's located on 15th & St. Charles. The area is kinda industrial and not very appealing. Anyway, once we went in, it was nice. I like the atmosphere. It felt like a Chicago restaurant. Our reservation was for 7:15 and we got there a little early, but we were seated right away. The restaurant had people there, but it wasn't packed. Our waiter was great and very attentive. We started out with the Hoisin Chicken Nems & the Pork Dumplings. The chicken was my favorite. They were really delicious and they came with three different dipping sauces. The dumplings were good too, but not as good as the chicken. They also came with the three same sauces. My main dish was Pineapple Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice. I won't say it was good, but it was okay. The shrimp was good though. Not overcooked like most places cook shrimp. The pork was seriously like sliced ham. I'm not really sure what was up with that. Chris had the Mushroom Noodles. They were pretty good, but again, they were not great. What was great, however, was the fact that Red Moon serves Goose Island brew. Our waiter told me that one of the owners also owned a part of Goose Island. I was impressed because there are hardly any places in STL that carry it. It's a Chicago thing. Our friends said they enjoyed their food. Tyler had duck and Steph had salmon. The duck was apparently really good. Overall, I would give them a B+ if I was grading. It was good, but I enjoyed our appetizers better than the main dishs. The prices are so-so. They're not outrageous, but they're more than they should be for the quality of food they're putting out. If you get a chance to check it out, cool; if you don't, don't sweat it. Go to Savor instead.

Next month, we're heading to Cafe Balaban. Of course, I'll let you know how it is.

In other news, this weekend was crazy. Friday night after Red Moon, we headed out to Harry's West to see my friend Kara. A client at her firm has a band that was playing, so we watched them for a while. They were pretty decent for a cover band. They're called the Hula Poppers. Not bad. I'd never been to Harry's West before but quickly realized it was the meat market joint for single and maybe not so single 30-40 year olds. It was cool though. Everyone was nice and it was kind of entertaining to watch older people try to 'hook-up'.

Saturday, we had the engagement party. I got up early that morning and had some errands to run, then started getting ready for the party. Everyone had a smashing time and then everyone left. After that, we headed over to Geof's going away party and hung out there until late. Today, I went to the hospital with my cousin to see his baby who just had surgery. I stayed there most of the afternoon and then came home and did some homework. Now, I'm doing laundry.

This week is going to be crazy. Tomorrow we're closing on our refi and I have to meet with my study group. Tuesday is convocation at school and on Wednesday, we're going out for Jason's birthday. Thursday I have class, and Friday (so far) is wide open. I hope it stays that way but I highly doubt it will. The only thing I have planned for Labor Day is the Cubs/Cards game on Monday. So who knows what will happen.

I am having some problems with the paper I have due. I'm supposed to be writing about the problems in gender relations. I have no idea what to write about. If you have any ideas, by all means let me know. I obviously know there are fundamental differences in men & women regarding communication, but it's not something I think about on a regular basis. Hopefully I'll come up with something soon!

Arrrrrrr

I hate rental cars and I hate Enterprise. My car is in the shop and I have this big Chrysler monstrosity to drive. I can't even see the hood. I hate it. I feel like I'm driving a land yacht. I miss my car. I hope I get it back tomorrow.

I got my paper back from last week and I got an A. Yay!

I have way too much going on this weekend. Red Moon tomorrow, engagement party on Saturday, Geof's going away party on Saturday, my cousin coming in on Saturday, etc etc etc. I'm tired just thinking about it.

It's late and I'm sleepy.

Engagement!

Party supplies have been purchased. The gift has been as well. Now I just need to go to the grocery store. Chris is going to make the mostaccioli and I'm going to make a big lavish fruit tray. Nicole is bringing the rest. Now, I need to que up the itunes and think of something 'fun' to do game wise. I think every party needs some sort of game with a prize. Like, at RJ's birthday party when I had a pinata filled with mini little alcohol bottles. It was great!

Chris just informed me that my smurf name is Busty Smurf. His is Deadly Smurf, or if he goes by Christopher, Pimpin' Smurf. Heh.

Loverly.

We had a picnic at Forest Park today. It was perfect. We got the picnic feast from Boston Market and brought a bottle of wine. It was good. After the picnic, we went to the Art Museum. It was good, but I lost interest once we started looking at the antique section. Oh wait. Art. Art is so funky. I just have a hard time looking at a chair as art. Anyway, the day was fun.

Right now, I'm watching 60 Minutes. The story is about parents allowing underage drinking. The case is about the parents of an 18 year old boy who allowed him to have a drinking party (post prom) at their home with the stipulation that they would not buy the kids the alcohol and if a kid came to the party, they did not leave. They spent the night. Okay, so what's so bad about that? Growing up, my mom taught me the rights and wrongs of life and obviously she did not want me to drink. However, she always told me if I was going to drink, she'd rather I drink at home vs drink somewhere else and drive home. Because of that, I think that's why I've never driven while drunk. I realize there are tons of people who don't agree with underage drinking, but the 21 age is flawed anyway. You can smoke at 18, go to war at 18, have sex at 18, and do lots of other things at 18, yet you cannot legally drink. There's something wrong with that. Anyway, back to 60 Minutes. There is this mom from Kansas who's son died because he was at a parent approved drinking party, but he left. In turn, he crashed into a tree and died. Now she's on a war path to make sure that any parent who lets kids drink, get arrested. What a waste of tax dollars. I'm not saying parents should promote drinking, but if a parent can try and prevent drunk driving and have a controlled environment, why should they go to jail? Some things I just don't understand.

FYI

Regarding my post on hating people, I should say this. I don't actually HATE people. I don't HATE anything. I just have a severe dislike for some people. I may be a lot of bad things, but hatemonger is not one of them. Thanks.

Momos Food Review

Here it is. Get excited.

We started off with the Greek Cheese Sampler. It came with warm soft pita triangles, lots of yummy cheeses, olives and a tomato wedge. It was good and if you like cheese, you should order it. Next, we had Momos Spread Sampler. We picked Hipiti, Skordalia, and Melitzanosalata. It came with warm pita too. The Hipiti was my favorite, followed by the Melitzanosalata. For my main dish, I had a chicken Shish Kabob. It was soooo good. Great flavor and very filling. Even if you have your heart set on a Gyro, get the Kabob. It's super yummy. We had an Elleniki salad too. It was good too. For dessert, we had the Creme' Brulee and the Baked Phyllo with Chocolate. GREAT. Get either one of these. They were both delicious. That was really the theme of the night. Delicious. Everything was. Go there. Then tell me what you think. Don't forget to make reservations though.

I don't have a title. Deal with it.

I did a lot of nothing today. It was nice. I did get to take a nap though. That was nice. Chris made turkey wraps and then we went to Kohl's. We got a veggie grill basket and 2 picture frames.

In the next 2 months, we have 3 weddings to attend and two engagement parties to go to. One of which, we're giving. I'm not really sure what the sudden rush on weddings is. Next year, at this exact same time, we have three more to go to. Two being family, and one being friends. That's a lot of wedding gifts. Sheesh.

So, this engagement party we're giving next weekend. I can't decide what kind of food I want to make. I had planned on doing sandwiches, salad, fruits, etc etc...but now I'm thinking of something else. Something more...St. Louis. Like Mostaccioli. I haven't completely decided though. I may just do the sandwich thing after all. We'll see. Maybe I'll do cute little cucumber sandwiches.

Have you ever disliked someone for various reasons, none of which you can pinpoint to be the breaking decision, but continued to talk to them because it's like a bad habit you can't break? It's funny that I have, considering I'm a straight-to-the-point, call-it-as-I-see-it kind of girl. As hard-assed as I can appear, for some reason, I just don't like hurting people's feelings. Of course, if you could hear what goes through my head on most days regarding people, you'd probably cry and run, but it never makes it out of my mouth. I can't figure out why. Before I met Chris and got married, I didn't have a problem hurting people's feelings. As a matter of fact, I did it for fun. Something happened over the past 6 years that made me soften up. I need to get that hard-ass attitude back. I miss it. Oh to tell people what I really think. Oh to tell people I don't like, "I DON'T LIKE YOU FUCKER." That would be sweetass satisfaction. I'm sorry if this post ruins your sweetie pie, girly shopping-lover image of me, but it's just the facts. I hate people and I just may hate you.

Another thing that pisses me off about people, is the fact that people seem to think I give a shit. I don't. I really don't. I don't care about your marital problems, or your kid problems or your family problems or the fact that your blood pressure is high or the fact that you hate your boss. I honestly don't care. Of course, I don't tell you I don't care. I listen, but don't listen. I have the "yeah, oh yeah? Oh?" thing down pretty good. I nod, and smile, smile and frown and make any facial expression that you would expect me to, but I do not listen anymore. If you asked me what you just said while you're bitching to me about something, I'd be blank. Sometimes I wonder what it is about me that draws people to me like maggots on rotting meat. I often wonder if I have a tattoo that's only visible to people who want to bitch about something that is on my forehead. That's really all I can think of.

I'll just go ahead and add that this week was a rough one at work. It was like a week long train wreck. Everyday was an explosion of bullshit. A PR nightmare, an HR nightmare, an IT nightmare and several other nightmares that I won't talk about here. I'm really hoping next week will be uneventful. Somehow I doubt it though.

We're not taking a "big" vacation this next year. Well, we are, but not our usual tropical vacation. We're spending a little over a week at Kentucky Lake. I guess I'm excited about it. I can't really decide. Lots of alcohol will be consumed. This much I know.

Well, I hadn't planned on talking about hating people. Actually, I was going to talk about something much more interesting...like cake. I'll save that for next time though.

Need. Rest. Badly

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. This week went by fast. It was like a blur. I must say I'm glad though.

I need a pedicure. No, I mean I want a pedicure. As much as I love shoes, I hate the way they hurt my feet. The things women do for beautiful shoes.

I had class tonight. Wheee. I have another paper to write. Big surprise there. I'm going to write it on civil disobedience. Basically, I'll write it about Chris cutting down the KKK sign. I'll enjoy writing it I think.

I went shopping last night. I got a sweet-ass pair of jeans at the Gap for $8 and then I got a jacket, khaki pants, a camisole and a shirt. It was a nice shopping trip. I also saw lots of things I want and will be getting this fall. Can I get a big YAY FOR SHOPPING?

Jeff requested a food review for Momos. Look for it soon.

Breaking News

P-Diddy is now known as "Diddy"

Drop the P, please.

Word.

Chris went to the baseball game tonight. I ran some errands and prepared the feast for tomorrow's shower. It was a good night.

Tomorrow we're going out to dinner with Beckie & RJ. Big fun.

That is all.

I *heart* elastic pants.

We just returned from Momos. I am stuffed. We went with Carol & John and ate what seems like everything on the menu. Everything was wonderful! They even had belly dancing. It was cool. You should go there. The prices are great and the food is even better. Also, apparently one of the partners of Barcelona, is a partner here. So check it out, it's worth it. Just make sure you make a reservation if you go on a weekend.

Today I went shopping. I ended up getting 2 pairs of pants and a shirt. I just couldn't find my shopping groove. I will try and go back again soon though.

I have to write a paper tomorrow. I'm kinda looking forward to it because I just want to get my draft done. Hopefully all will go well with it tomorrow.

I am full and need to just sit back and relax in my comfy elastic pj pants. Bye.

Grrrrr.

Last night, I typed up a spiffy little blog post for you kids and poof. I hit publish and I got a message from blogwhore that said they had taken down the site for an hour. THANKS FOR NOT SAVING MY POST BITCHES. I just had to get that out. It really ticked me off, so I didn't bother to retype it and now I don't even remember what I talked about. So, moving on...

I had class tonight and it kinda sucked. The prof. talks like my 1 legged grandma walks. Slowly. The night just drug by. Craptastic!

This week has been pretty busy. Chris has been working a shitload of OT so the only time I get to see him lately is in the morning before we leave for work. I have a paper to write this weekend and besides that, I'm not doing much but resting.

I was reading Hafiz's blog tonight and he was talking about Momos Greek Tavern. It sounds great and I want to go there soon. I'm always looking for new, good places to go. It eases the pain of not living in Chicago when I find cool places to go.

Jack was just sleeping on my ottoman and I coughed and I guess it scared him, because he jumped and woke up. I kinda felt bad but it was so cute.

I just realized that was random. Sorry.

It's late but I'm not really that tired. I'm watching a TiVo'd Big Brother. Kaysar just came back into the house. Yay! He's so hot.

Well, I guess I'll stop talking now. I need to google for an essay I want to read. Peace.

Woah.

I am not Dana Reeve, nor am I a smoker.

Sorry, I am not the robot you are looking for.

Sweet!

Airfare to Detroit has been purchased for $28. Yay! I will travel to see my cousin in October for cheap!

In other news, Chris may have to go to Seattle for a few weeks for work. That sucks because I hate staying by myself. I need a babysitter for myself.

Framing

I need to have a piece of art framed. Does anyone know of a good, reasonably priced place to do framing?

Baking

After the chocolate chip cookie want tonight, it reminded me that it has been a long time since I've been in baking mode. I love baking and used to bake all the time. Actually, I'm known among my friends & family as a kickass baker. I've just been way too busy lately to devote anytime to baking. I miss baking cupcakes and new kinds of cookies and cakes. It's like a calming therapy for me when I'm baking.

I think I'll try and make some time in my schedule to bake again. Hopefully.

Itch No More..

I only have 1/2 of a bag of chocolate chips. No cookies tonight. Maybe I'll make some tomorrow. I don't feel like going to the store tonight.

A Baking Itch...

I'm sitting here trying to decide if I should get up and go make some chocolate chip cookies. I really want to make some chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, however I know if I make them, I will eat them. That would not be very point friendly. So, I'll just sit here and keep kicking around the idea of making chocolate chip cookies.