Inspired by Morocco

New pants from Target, new area rug from West Elm. I guess Morocco had an impression on me. 

STL Tour Guide: A Day Outdoors

Saturday was seriously the most beautiful July day in St. Louis. Great breeze, blue skies, and I don't even think it hit 80 degrees. Would have been a shame to spend it inside, and so leads me to the second in my STL Tour Guide series.

10:00am We started off the day, as we do many Saturday mornings, at the Tower Grove Farmers Market. Can't miss items this week are peaches (finally in season!) and sun gold tomatoes. Trust me - I don't even consider myself a fan of tomatoes, but I've been snacking on them like crazy. So good. We got some blackberry lemonade from Holy Crepe (in a mason jar! So hipster of us!) and a 'special' from The Big Cheese - goat cheese, pickled red onion, and greens on Companion bread - and sat down in the grass to enjoy our little meal and some people (and dog) watching. 

1:00pm Stopped at G&W to pick up some landjager - they are like little summer sausage / jerky sticks and so, so good. Salty, juicy - not dry like you'd expect. We've been snacking on these sticks like crazy the last couple weeks.

 2:00pm Headed west to Castlewood State Park for a hike. They have plenty of trail options depending on what you're in the mood for (visit their site for more info on the different trails). We did the 1.5 mile Lone Wolf Trail that overlooks the river and then dives down in to a nice shaded walkway along the river. Really pretty, not too difficult and you get some great pictures out of it. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

4:00pm After hiking, we wanted a beer (obviously) and a patio, so we came back to the city to visit one of my new favorites - Milo's on the Hill. I usually opt for the Chicken Florentine pizza, but this time Joe and I split a Milo's Special sandwich and some toasted raviolis (duh). Nice late lunch. Then we played a game of bocce ball, and it was a lot of fun! We had never played before, but the rules were posted on each court and it's a fairly simple game so you catch on quickly.

Take Notes

from Fast Company:
"As we've discussed before, your mind can only handle so great of a cognitive load--people can only hold so many items in their working memory before they start to fall out. Active listening--that is, attending to the speaker and jotting down the things that catch your attention--lets us invest our working memory in paying attention to the new thing the Facebook founder just said rather than trying to remember that joke he made five minutes ago.

But it's not just about the initial notetaking: The idea is to create your own repository of knowledge. With luck, you'll continue to be awesome into your 80s--and if you're recording and organizing your knowledge from now until then, you'll have a mighty base of understanding.

This is a practice that badass learners systematize: Tim Ferriss, who is impeccable about his use of time, shows devotion to his notetaking, quipping that he takes notes "like some people take drugs" and that he trusts the weakest pen more than the strongest memory.

Casnocha has a lighter system, one that we ourselves wish we were already implementing:

I take lots of notes in paper mole skin notebooks; every week or so I go back with a different color pen and circle the key sentences; I then transfer these ideas to Evernote files on my computer; and finally, I blog/tweet/publish/email out the crispest, most important ideas or quotes. 

That's a nice analog-to-digital workflow--one that can help us to attach our experiences to the mental latticework we call knowledge and thus recall info quickly. In this way, we can be productive for the long haul."

Nothing Better...

... than fresh flowers in the house. 

Nude

Morning Musings (8th Ed.)

Instead of spending time making things neon and changing bars to dots, why doesn't Apple focus all of its energy on a paper white screen feature for iPad, iPhones and laptops so we can all work outside on nice days?

Work hard so that you can play hard. And by play hard, I mean eat well and travel often.

Weren't we just saying, "Man, I can't believe it is already July!" And now it is almost over. Blah.

Can someone create an adult living class where we learn about 401k's, changing oil, home repair, finances, ironing, things you can and can't do while pregnant etc.? I've recently learned there is some basic knowledge I'm totally missing.

I'm really struggling to watch streaming television (via Netflix, Hulu, etc.). I thought I liked binge watching, but I think I prefer the social viewing experience. The urgency. The watercooler discussion. I understand that this is NOT something I should be wasting my time stressing out about.

Sometimes I'd rather just keep driving, listening to KDHX in the mornings.

Speaking of KDHX, heard this one this morning on the way to work. James Maddock's 'Another Life.' Sort of obsessed already.
 

Pretty Friends

My best friends are prettier than yours, that's all. 

STL Tour Guide: A Summer Saturday in South City

Last weekend was one of those freak summer weekends in St. Louis - weather only in the 80s, with a nice breeze and, most importantly, we had nothing on the calendar.

We slept in, had breakfast at home, and then had a little STL adventure running errands and stopping at a few of our favorite spots in the city. So I thought I'd share our day here, as the first in a hopefully continuing series - 'STL Tour Guide.'

10:00am Tower Grove Farmer's Market. We hit up the market for veggies, fruit, cheese, meat, and bread from Companion Bakery. There's always a couple food trucks there (my favorite being Holy Crepe) and a grilled cheese sandwich stand, too. We got an iced tea (for Joe) and a fresh lemonade (for me), kicked off our sandals and waded in the fountains. Not a bad way to cool off.

12:00pm Mokabe's for lunch on the patio. My choice is always the chicken salad on a croissant and a fresh strawberry lemonade.

1:00pm Paul's Bait & Tackle for supplies for an afternoon of fishing. Don't forget cash to buy your fishing license ;)

1:30pm G&W Sausage. We stopped in for some brats, and left with about five different kinds, oops. And some beef jerky to snack on while we were fishing. The lines are long on Saturdays, but the staff is friendly and you get a Busch for waiting in line. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

3:30pm Fishing at Jefferson Lake at Forest Park. We packed a cooler of some waters, Schlafly Summer Lagers and our jerky from G&W and made our way to Forest Park for an afternoon of fishing. I don't know much about the rules there (I leave that for Joe...), but we heard that they stock the lake at the beginning of the month, so if you're going to go that's probably the time to do it. We didn't catch a single fish all afternoon.

Ain't that the Truth

Wake Up

Probably once a week, I see some article about the habits of highly successful/productive people, and always (always) the list includes waking up early. They eat breakfast, read a newspaper/magazine/blogroll, go for a run, make a to do list.

I've been thinking a lot lately of how much of my day I'm wasting by sleeping til 7am 8am 8:20am. Of how much I could get done if I actually got up the first time my alarm went off. Of how much I could get done if I set that alarm just fifteen, twenty minutes earlier.

Perhaps a new goal for myself? To get up earlier and do something in the morning?

Am I crazy? Do you have any advice for not hitting snooze? What time do you wake up?

And furthermore, does the fact that I'm thinking/worrying about this mean I'm a grown-up now?

Statement

necklace from BaubleBar. stripes from LOFT. bright cardigan from J Crew. 

Longing for...

Currently in the process of planning trips to Colorado and New York City, yet can't stop thinking about exotic locales, white sand beaches and clear blue water.

Muny 2013: Nunsense

I really wanted to love Nunsense at the Muny. But, alas, it is only a poor man's 'Book of Mormon.' 

The premise itself - a talent show to raise money for some dead nuns stuffed in a freezer - is ridiculously awesome. But I wish there was more of that 'talent show' and less explanation of who the nuns are, their relationships with each other, them freaking out about how bad the show is going, etc. In fact, some of the best scenes we're from the show-within-a-show - the quiz show in the beginning of the first act, the understudies Chicago-esque number, Sister Amnesia and the puppet, for example. 

The first act went on way too long. Most of the songs weren't as funny as I'd hoped (I was hoping to get a few laughs from 'Growing Up Catholic' but alas, it was slow and sentimental). I certainly didn't expect the musical to feature an elaborate ensemble tap number, and while I loved it, it did feel a bit out of place (but not more so than all the ballet, particularly the Flying Nun scene). 

Yes, I laughed. Yes, I was ecstatic to see Phyllis Smith in the show. The jokes about Catholics were awesome. The jokes about other musicals were okay. I did feel like some of the jokes were too mature - as in, my grandma would have found them hilarious - while others were too adult. And it's hard to mix references to Cher and Sally Field with a 'that's what she said' joke. Perhaps they were trying to appeal to too many audiences - young, old, Office fans, Catholics, non Catholics.... And I'm not sure it worked. 

All in all, an enjoyable show (made more tolerable by the fact that it was only 65 degrees outside). I know there are many versions of Nunsense, adapted for different theaters or productions, and I'm eager to see other versions before I write-off the entire musical itself. 

Read my other Muny reviews.