Balloon Glow in Forest Park (+ a giveaway!)

Apologies for that brief blogging hiatus. I've been too busy watching fall TV and mourning over the loss of my Chevy Malibu.

To close out my week with the Malibu, I went to Forest Park for their annual Balloon Glow. The 'Glow' is held the night before the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, and all the balloons are fired up after the sun goes down so that they.... glow. It's quite the sight.



Thanks to Chevy and the Keys to St. Louis program, we got tickets to Glow with PAL VIP section, benefiting the Police Athletic League. All you can eat, all you can drink and a great view of the balloons! It was awesome! Plus, everyone in the VIP section was super friendly. I swear, every time we would sit down at a table, we would be greeted by someone that loved St. Louis and loved to talk about it. It was a great evening, and I can't thank Chevy enough for the tickets (and of course, the vehicle that got me there!)

And now, to pay my good luck forward, Chevy is giving me a $100 Visa Gift Card to give away to one of my followers! All you have to do is follow me (@daniellesmyname) and @ChevySTLKeys on Twitter. I'll choose one winner at random this Friday (9/28) at noon (central time, of course). I'll notify the winner via DM!

Keys to St. Louis Weekend

Breakfast: Companion Bakery Early Bird Outlet

Boy, have I got a secret for you. You know Companion bread? The like, most famous bread in St. Louis? The kind that is used at almost every (good) restaurant and sells like crazy at their bakeries? Well, what if I told you that you could get that bread, pasties and other goodies for super discounted prices - right in South City?

Hallelujah!

The Companion Early Bird Outlet is at their bakery in South City (4555 Gustine) and is open from 7am - noon, or until they run out. They've got it all - breads, pastries, pretzels, honey, apple butter, bagels, heck, even T-shirts. 

For $7.15 - seven dollars and fifteen cents! - we picked up a loaf of sourdough, a cinnamon roll, a cheese danish, three Bavarian pretzels and a 16 oz Kaldi's coffee. INSANE. 

Shopping (and snacks): Tower Grove Farmers Market

I've raved about this market before. While I love (and am always in awe of) the Soulard Market, TG is smaller, quieter, and less intimidating. You can pick up your produce, cheese, pasta, coffee, and even lunch (despite Southwest Diner closing their booth for a brick and mortar restaurant, there are still a couple sandwich options and other snacks available). They've usually got music playing and kids on the playground. It's just.... perfect. 

We picked up some late season peaches and butternut and acorn squashes. And of course, stopped at the Holy Crepe truck for a frozen banana nutella pop. (No, I did not care that it was 60 degrees and that I had just devoured a cinnamon roll 20 minutes prior.)

Lunch: Psghetti's

I love sandwiches. Blues City, Mom's, 9th Street, Pickleman's, LeGrand's... the city has plenty of options. But when I'm feeling especially nostalgic, there's nothing better than a drive 'home' to South County for Psghetti's.

I don't mess with the classic. I get the regular, no additions or substitutions. And a Pepsi to wash it down.

World's Fair Donuts

... Or 'Keys to St. Louis: Day 5 / Friday morning'

Is there a better way to start off a Friday than with some classic St. Louis donuts from World's Fair Donuts? (Bonus: This will also make you very popular at the office.)

To be honest, this was my first trip to World's Fair - but with a possible move to the Shaw area in the next couple weeks - it certainly won't be my last. World's Fair is in the Southwest Garden neighborhood, near the corner of Vandeventer and Shaw (conveniently close to 44 by the way). I picked up a dozen - 4 classic glazed, 2 chocolate longjohns, 2 vanilla longjohns, 2 blueberry cake and 2 cinnamon rolls. Something for everyone.

Then the buttermilk cake donut caught my eye. In all the Yelp reviews I had read, this was the donut that was raved about the most. I grabbed one for myself since the box was already taped up and - sorry Atomicdusters - it was awesome. Melt in your mouth goodness, without the processed flavor you get from Krispy Kremes.

... And now I want a donut again.

Keys to St. Louis: Day 4

the Chevy Malibu makes a stop in Lafayette Square...

 ... for some of the best coffee in St. Louis - Park Ave!

 and then, off to work at (IMHO) the best marketing + design firm in the city - Atomicdust. 

lunch at my favorite restaurant in St. Louis - Sybergs! Wings may be the specialty, the the chicken strips are my weakness. 

best part of going out to eat? Picking up a copy of Sauce Magazine! 

Believe it or not, it's been an almost typical week for me. My weekdays are filled with morning coffee runs, work and the occasional lunch date. My weekday evenings are jam packed with events, meetings and social gatherings. Not to mention, this week kicks off the fall TV season.... and I love TV.

So last night, instead of the planned St. Louis Design Week Happy Hour in the CWE, I went home. We made tuna casserole for dinner (odd choice, I know) and watched Glee, The New Normal and Revolution. It was boring, but just what I needed heading into this busy weekend.

Keys to St. Louis: Day 3

I realized last night when I checked in again for 'some of my favorite pizza in St. Louis' that pretty much all I've done this week is eat pizza, visit food trucks and drink coffee. 

Oops. 

There is more to St. Louis than that, I promise! Coming up in the next few days, I'm hoping to get donuts at an STL classic, do some farmer's market shopping, get my favorite South County sandwich and even go to some extra special events! Stay tuned.

Anyway. Here's my Wednesday....

 gooey butter may be the ultimate 'key to St. Louis'. Caramel Apple from Park Avenue Coffee

 SUCH a gorgeous day in Midtown! 

 another favorite food truck - Go Gyro Go! May be my favorite gyro in St. Louis

Ferraro's Pizza on their Soulard patio = the best dinner

I also had my first game of fall softball at Forest Park last night, but was too busy to take pictures! This summer, we got a team together to play in the Blackthorn Pub (more GREAT pizza!) League at Tower Grove Park and it.was.a.blast. We had so much fun, made some new friends and always had something cool to do on Tuesday nights. 

This fall, we're playing on Wednesdays at Forest Park and it's..... serious. We're under the lights on really nice fields, we play double headers every week, no double innings, a bunch of crazy rules I don't understand... the games might as well be televised! 

It's a lot of pressure for non-athletic little ole me, but it is so much fun and just recreational. Win or lose, we always have a great time and that's all that matters. 

Consider this one of my 'keys to St. Louis' - go play. Find a softball team, a kickball team, sand volleyball, bowling - whatever. Don't be afraid to join a team where you don't know anyone. Get a team of misfits together. Get matching shirts. Make up a stupid team name. Have fun. 

Keys to St. Louis: Day 2

8am: Started the day off with a trip to (my favorite coffee shop/cafe in St. Louis) Hartford Coffee Company, near Tower Grove Park.

drink of choice: Vietnamese Iced Coffee (expresso + sweetened condensed milk)

doesn't the Chevy Malibu look good in this neighborhood? 

11:30am: Loaded up the Atomicdust crew and went to the food trucks at Wells Fargo (Beaumont and Pine). My choice? Seoul Taco, obviously. 

These guys make the most amazing steak tacos. You gotta try 'em. 

6pm: Got down to business at REBUS' monthly event at Atomicdust. We presented 'Things We've Learned" in marketing and design. Pretty great event, if I do say so myself. [Full disclosure: I was one of the speakers.]

this is obviously BEFORE the people got here. It was a packed house, I promise. 

Keys to St. Louis: Day 1

One day down in the Chevy Malibu, and I successfully figured out how to work the Bluetooth to make phone calls, listen to XM radio and found the parking break. 

Okay. Lie. My dad showed me where the parking break was. 

The rest of the day....

treats from The Cup at work 

chopped salad and sausage pizza from one of my favorites - The Good Pie 

in heels for the Manchester Nordstrom Rack Preview Party

missing my yellow car in a sea of white and silver

a south county gem - Spanky's Pina Colada Slustard

finding 90s on 9, the best station ever

the inside of the Malibu looks like a party bus at night

Keys to St. Louis, or My Week with a Chevy Malibu.

This social media thing is really paying off.

Over the summer, I was contacted by Chevy to participate in their 'Keys to St. Louis' program. Basically, I get a Chevy Malibu to drive around for a week to all my favorite places in St. Louis. So far,  all I've done is move it from one end of the street to the other.... and I can tell you one thing, this is no Neon! I'm going to have to get used to driving a car that isn't a glorified go kart. 

I've got a busy week coming up - shopping, marketing and design events, a wedding and even my first week of fall softball at Forest Park. But mostly, I think I'll be doing a lot of eating. When I was trying to think of my favorite things to do in St. Louis - restaurants immediately came to mind. Basil Spice, Hartford Coffee Company, Park Ave, Bogart's, Psghetti's, Pint Size Bakery.... apparently, all I do is eat. 

I'll try to find some non-food related things to do this week, but I'm not making any promises. 

Find out more about the Keys to St. Louis program on Alive Magazine's blog, by following #KeysToSTL on Twitter or by checking out my other #KeystoSTL posts.