St. Louis

I just got home from my trip to St. Louis. I went to the AADA (Alliance of the American Dental Association a.k.a. dental spouses meeting) and although as a conference itself, it had it's pros and cons, it was overall a great trip!

I met up with my good friend Zipporah and it was such a treat to be there with her! We tagged along with some fellow CASE alumni Lindsey and Cassie (Cassie lives in St. Louis so she had a car) and Thursday night we headed to dinner and to the mall. As we drove to find the mall we found PENN STATION! This establishment was our FAVORITE place to eat in Cleveland. We went there at LEAST once a week and I mourned for it's greasy fries and yummy sandwiches after we moved!

Zipporah introduced me to the Artichoke Sandwich with Mushrooms and Chicken and this is my all-time favorite sandwich. I didn't get it too often in Cleveland because Jared and I always split the Club Sandwich (it was cheaper that way) but yum, yum, yum- it was just as good as I remembered it being!

Ah man, just looking at this pictures makes me hungry!

Thursday night we had seminars most of the day so we got a late start. As we hung out in the lobby waiting for Cassie and Lindsey we noticed a lot of guys in suits...turns out these guys were the San Francisco Giants!! Sure wish I had known that earlier, I had passed them in the lobby several times, rode the elevator with them and would have loved to have had their autographs!

By the time we had dinner and got to the mall- it was nearly closed. We went to Steve and Barry's with little success finding any good deals or must haves but the drive was worth it for that yummy dinner!

Friday the big talk of the convention was the 5.2 EARTHQUAKE that we all awoke too at 4:36 am. WOW, what a feeling!

Friday our seminar ended after lunch so we had the whole afternoon to do whatever. Once again Zipporah and I tagged along with Lindsey and Cassie and this time we found a great mall that had screaming deals! I found some great clearance items for the boys and ended up buying a new pair of shoes for myself since I wore some ultra cute, totally uncomfortable heels and my feet rebelled within the first 30 minutes and I just couldn't have that!

As you can tell by the bags, we DONE good!

(Disclaimer to Jared......only two of those bags are mine)

We ended the night having a yummy, yummy dinner at Canyon Cafe where we ate the best chips and salsa I think I have ever eaten. They were sweet potato and topped with seasonings and powdered sugar! Dipped in salsa they didn't last long!

Saturday we were done by noon and wanted to grab a bite to eat down by the St. Louis Arch. (There was this darling cobble stone street of restaurants/bars.) On our way down there we bought some baseball tickets for $7 (for 2) (impulsive I know) but we thought we'd eat first and then catch the middle of the game. We walked down to the arch and everything was closed on our quaint cobblestone street! So we snapped some pictures and off we went to the game. In we went, snapped some pictures stayed a moment and then we hopped on the metro and went yet again to another mall. We ate at Cheesecake Factory, walked around and then headed back to the hotel in time for the closing gala.

We didn't go to the top of the arch because it was an overcast day. It had rained the day before and that morning so we opted to pretend we did.

There were actually games every day that we were there. Our hotel was directly across the street from the stadium and I couldn't believe the amount of RED that we saw. Really?? How do THAT many people attend a game on Thursday at noon???

The closing gala was a lot of fun. Delicious dinner and a silent auction. Zipporah and I had fun driving the prices up on the auctions. We didn't win anything which is what we wanted but it was pretty entertaining to watch everyone circle around the items to make sure they got that knitted scarf or that purse.

For the most part it was a great conference. Boring at times (don't worry, I had licorice nibs that we played pictionary with) but I learned some great things and met some great dental spouses.

Besides not getting through security because I didn't put my lip gloss in a plastic bag and getting a cocky, mean security guy, throwing up on the plane (yep, you read that right. Reading + Turbulence = barf bag and breaking my favorite pair of sunglasses -I had a great trip.

Jared was great with the boys. He continued to be great because when I got home I was not feeling well and he continued to watch the boys, do the dishes and put them to bed so that I could take a nap and lay around feeling like crap!

Today I am once again immersed in motherhood. Laundry, diapers, cutting food into small portions, etc. However, I am refreshed and enjoying every moment!