Saint Louis University

Tony had his camera out the other day while waiting on us to be ready to leave and took these beautiful photos, so I thought that I'd share! SLU is absolutely gorgeous right now with everything starting to bloom. Especially the tulips. SLU has by far the most beautiful tulips that I've ever seen and the campus is actually known for them! Several thousand tulips, including my favorites (the two-toned purple ones) spread out all across campus.

Our first snow!

We have been super busy as of late, which is why I haven't had a chance to update. We've had several programs at work, so I've been working a lot this week. Plus, our friend Jeanie that we haven't seen since college came in town for work so we were able to hang out with her for a bit. One night after Square One, I took Tony and Jeanie to Park Ave Coffee (absolutely adorable place!) so that they could try their first taste of gooey butter cake - a St. Louis specialty. They couldn't decide, so they ended up picking 4 pieces to sample! They had traditional, white chocolate rasberry (their favorite), blueberry, and chocholate chip. Tony and I will most definitely be bringing some home on our first trip home for everyone to sample. It's good stuff!

We did wake up to our first snowfall yesterday, which was pretty exciting! It wasn't much and it was gone by noon, but hey, we're from Louisiana. We were pretty excited about the snow!

Motivation for a higher purpose in life

This Rocky poster is going to go at the top flight of our stairs. As you should know if you keep up with this blog, the stairs are my arch enemy. This poster sums up my feelings as I finally reach the top of the stairs. I think I'm going to start referring to the master bedroom as "the summit." It could be that I'm just winded when finally reaching the zenith, but I think the air is thinner at that altitude. - TONY

Blues Brother

This past Wednesday, I met Dan Akroyd at a wine tasting/signing at a local liquor store. He came out with a chardonay, cabernet sauvignon, and crystal skull vodka. I did not purchase the vodka b/c it was about $47/bottle, and I already have Grey Goose in my bar for rare occasions. It was different b/c the bottle is shaped like a crystal skull. I have yet to have a nice meal to enjoy the wines with. He signed my Blues Brothers poster, my Blues Brothers DVD, two bottles of wine, and my Dan Akroyd Wines poster. I didn't really want the Dan Akroyd Wines poster, but the first 100 people in line got one. I was #15 in line b/c I showed up an hour early(a positive to still being unemployed). By the time he arrived, there were about 250 people waiting. He signed my Blues Brothers stuff "Dan Akroyd" and underneath that "Elwood," b/c his character was Elwood Blues. Working for a Jesuit university, I asked Christy if she would like to hang the poster in her office b/c they too were "On a mission from God." She declined. I guess she didn't want to hurt my feeling by taking the wonderful work of art from our house. - TONY

St. Patrick's Day

I had a great St. Patrick's Day here in St. Louis. I drank a local Irish stout at a place close to home called "Riley's Irish Pub." It was my first time going there. It's a small pub, but what it lacks in size, it makes up with character. I don't like those big commercial chains that are so packed you can't move. They didn't have green beer, but they did have an Irish Pizza. It had thin layer of sour cream in place of red sauce, shredded potatoes, bacon, cheddar, and green onions. It was like a loaded baked potato and was delicious. They have an Irish band every Wednesday and $3 pitchers all day on Friday! It's not a place I would bring my parents to, but I have always loved questionable establishments. I'm not sure I can get Christy to come along again until next St. Patrick's Day, but I'm sure going to frequent them more often. The other picture is of the morning of St. Patrick's Day. I had Lucky Charms for breakfast and Killian's for lunch. The beads on the Killians have the Saint Louis University mascot, "Billy" the billiken. The name, Billy, I made up, but it will catch on quick once I petition the University to name their mascot. Just about every other mascot I know of has a name. (ex. Mike the tiger) Most people don't call their child, "baby," or their dog, "dog." If you care about something, you name it. I've even though about the name, William, for the billiken. It sounds more prestigious, and then I could still call it "Billy" for the nickname. I'm off topic now. Hope your St. Patrick's Day was a blast too. Keep in touch. - TONY

Tony's coming out of the closet

I finally was able to come out of the closet today. I can cook, sew, and write poetry. It should be no surprise that I am a jack of all trades. The closet in our new house had a cheap wire hanger/shelving system. I upgraded! I've spent the past couple days measuring, going to Home Depot, removing, cutting, and installing. This badboy has 3" cabinet screws going into studs and can support up to 1000 lbs per bar! Arggg! Arggg! Arggg! Arggg! Dad always said,"A job worth doing, is worth doing well." Sometimes I go one step further and say,"A job worth doing, is worth overdoing!" Christy likes her new closet. It has about double the space to hang her clothes and I put in a 25 pair shoe organizer. Now we can finally get to work unpacking our suitcases and clothes in boxes. One task down. 187 more to go before our new house can finally be home. - TONY

Four Muddy Paws

Sugar visited his groomer here in St. Louis for the first time yesterday. All I can say is that we're going to miss Petropolitan more than we had thought. We were so spoiled by how much they doted on Sugar. His groomer here is Four Muddy Paws which is ranked as the best dog grooming business in St. Louis and is only a few blocks away from our house. Unfortunately, the attitude of the groomer leaves much to be desired. She did a great job, but she's just not the friendliest thing. They also put Sugar into a kennel at one point. He hasn't been in a kennel since he was like a 18 months old, so he barked at them til they let him out!

St. Francis Xavier College Church

Tony and I walked to Vito's for lunch and on the way back to campus, Tony walked through College Church for the first time. College Church is easily one of the Top 3 most beautiful churches that I've ever seen. It's stunning. We definitely plan to attend one of the student led 10 p.m. masses soon. It's a long standing tradition here at SLU!

These were taken with a camera phone, so it's not the greatest quality!

Sunday Morning Ritual

In what is quickly becoming our ritual here in St. Louis, we had breakfast at the Soulard Coffee Garden this past Sunday morning. It's such a cute little place and the food is yummy! Plus, you can't beat the atmosphere! We were going to sit out on the patio, but it was still just a tad too chilly for that. Instead, we opted to sit inside. All of the chairs there are a white and black woven wicker and really cute. My favorite are the tables upstairs. A different flower type is painted on the top of each. The first time that we visited, our table was the sunflower table.
The picture is of Tony's favorite food that he's had so far in St. Louis and it was at Soulard Coffee Garden. Unfortunately, it was a special and it hasn't been on the menu since! He did compare the creme brulee french toast topped with strawberries to heaven though. And of course, since it's Tony, he had to take a picture of his food!

Rooftop Deck, Wine, Drama, and the Way Out Club

And that was just Saturday!

We had a great weekend! Busy, but lots of fun! On Saturday, we had a lazy morning and then joined Jean for a trip to Kirkwood. Kirkwood is a suburb of St. Louis that has adorable little boutique shops up and down the main streets, so we spent a few hours walking around. Tony kept finding cute ways to remind us that he hadn't eaten lunch and was hungry. Our personal favorite was when he picked up the children's book entitled Me Hungry to see if we'd get the hint!

We were also introduced to the wonderful world of Home Goods while visiting Kirkwood. It's the first time that I've ever been in one, but I love it! I even bought my first item for my office here in St. Louis there. After Home Goods, we did finally get food for Tony. He was very excited! The three of us headed back to our house and set up tables and chairs on our rooftop deck to enjoy pizza and wine. Imo's is the local pizza place that everyone loves. There's one on basically every corner. It's a really thin crust pizza and their slices are cut into little squares. They also have a great house salad that's topped with provel cheese - a St. Louis specialty. Good stuff! The rooftop deck is also fantastic. We will definitely be spending lots of time up there as the weather warms up! Tucker even came over to play with Sugar and enjoy the deck as well!

Our next stop of the evening is where the real drama began! We went to try out a wine bar in town that Jean had heard about from one of her friends - Sasha's. It's one of my new favorite places here! It's a really, really, really cute wine bar with a great selection. My favorite is that all the lights in the place are old wine and champagne bottles that have been turned into hanging lights. It's really beautiful. Well, right after we sat down, we saw our waitress being shoved into a little area which we originally thought was a bathroom, but later learned was a set of stairs that led down to a bathroom. A woman had fallen down the stairs and couldn't move. The cops, ambulance, and fire truck all arrived soon after and she was transported out on a stretcher with her whole body immobilized. Certainly hope that she's okay!

On the way home from Sasha's, Tony and Jean decided that we should stop at this really sketchy club - the Way Out Club - that we pass all the time. I could honestly have lived without ever stepping foot into that place! Fortunately, there was a $5 cover charge that evening because of a live band and none of us had any cash so our stop at the Way Out Club was brief!!!

The first picture is from the really cute Amtrak Station in downtown Kirkwood. The second is a picture from the first of many evenings spent on the rooftop! The next two are pictures from Sasha's and then lastly is a picture taken during the day of The Way Out Club. You can see why I didn't want to hang out there too long!

Ballroom

When DuBourg Hall was first built, it housed everything for the university. All of the classes were taught in this building and it was the home for all of the university faculty, staff, and administration. So, on the fourth floor is a ballroom. It is absolutely gorgeous! The picture really doesn't do justice to all of the magnificent woodwork, but you get the idea!

The Arch Enemy

Not a single day has gone by in our new house that Tony hasn't complained about his nemesis - the stairs! I'm not exactly sure what he expected from a three story house plus a basement. I think that he honestly believed that there would be an elevator! He even asked the management company if they would mind if he put in a fireman's pole. I can't believe they said no...

Mea Culpa

In my previous post, I titled it No longer a Tiger. I simply meant that I no longer worked for LSU! I'm sorry Reni! Of course I believe in once a Tiger, always a Tiger!

A few people have been asking about how Sugar is doing... okay, mainly my parents. I think they miss Tony and I as well, but who knows! The picture above is how he enjoys his days! He's really loving the window seat on the third floor. He can actually sit in all the windows, but he has the most room in that one. The other day, Tony returned home to see Sugar looking down at him from one of the second floor windows. He used the boxes to jump up into the window!

No longer a Tiger...

We made this move so that I could accept a position with the Office of Undergraduate Admission at Saint Louis University. I'm absolutely loving it! The office and the school are both great!

The first picture is of the office that I work in followed by the hallway where my office is located. DuBourg Hall is an absolutely beautiful old building. The next pictures are of the inside and outside of College Church. No, I did not take the inside picture! Lastly, is a picture of the SLU mascot - the Billiken. Tony is trying to start a campaign to name him Billy the Billiken. Jean is less than amused....

Gateway to St. Louis!!

Well, we're finally here! Actually, I've been living in St. Louis for about a month now and Tony just joined me a little over a week ago. So far, we're loving it! Although, I can't wait until all the boxes are unpacked!

Tony and I went to the last Billiken basketball game this past Saturday. I really wanted him to see inside Chaifetz and the games are fun! Too bad they lost...

The pictures above are of the new house. The first one is the view from our master bedroom (the church that you see is gorgeous!), then our rooftop deck, the backyard that Sugar is loving, the kitchen and then lastly the front of the house.