Shanna and St. Louis

Hello! Hello!
I am back after a long weekend in St. Louis with my dear friend Shanna.


Another person in my life that I am so fortunate to have such an easy friendship with, she may just be the best thing to come out of my military career. We became close Battle Buddies and although she is no longer in my unit, her friendship remains a necessary element in my life. We certainly struggle to find any glimmer of difference between the two of us....cut from the same cloth doesn't even really come close to explaining it. I absolutely cherished every moment we spent together.

This weekend included:
Amtrack Trip!
Shopping
Bubbletea
More shopping
Browsing Left Bank Books
Lots of eating breakfast
Shopping
Photo taking
Cupcakes
1/2 Marathon!
Massage
Nap
Sushi
Reading The Lazarus Project (which is amazing)
Sleeping In
Shopping

Things I learned about St. Louis:
The Metro train is an interesting way to get around. You must VALIDATE that ticket, and there is absolutely no eating or drinking on the train.

That this pizza joint, was highly praised by one of my neighbors, My President and yours, Mr. Obama.....supposedly when he was in town for the debates he was heard to say it was the best pizza he's ever had in his LIFE, and the owners recently flew to D.C. with some for him. I am not sure how all of the CHICAGO pizza people feel about that....but their salads sure were good!

Riding the Amtrack is pretty fun. I got a lot of working and reading done and has some lively interactions with an EXTREMELY intoxicated woman.

My uncle Randy might as well be my father's TWIN brother. Randy and Marna and Meghan came out in the pouring rain to cheer Shanna and I on. More on that tomorrow...but as I sat and listened to Randy's stories, and watched Randy's looks and mannerisms I just couldn't get over how much he reminds me of my dad.

You really do feel cooler in expensive clothes. So another amazing thing about Shanna is that she works for an Italian Fashion Designer - ETRO. And while there is not much else I would rather do with my life for work than what I do know....Shanna's job might be the exception. So the long and short of it is, this girl has some GORGEOUS clothes. Always conjuring up dramatic OOHS AND AAAHS from me....her new leather jacket which retails for $3,000 was NO exception. I slipped it on and felt cool. Instantly. Instant fashionable cool. And I felt more like Shanna....which is something I've always aspired to be more like ;)

I have to get the photos off my camera from Race Day...so I will blog that tomorrow. I will also post an update on Nick's latest competition which was ALSO this weekend in Orlando, FL!

Here are few more photos of my dear friend.....and check the Flickr page for some other St. Louis shots.