Folinazzo

Felicia already detailed our whole weekend in St. Louis but there are a few things I wanted to add, especially the pictures. I had such a good time, despite it being “Africa hot”, that I cannot wait to plan a return trip for next baseball season.

Here are a few things I learned in St. Louis:
*Albert Pujols is the sexiest man in baseball (actually, I knew that already).
*David Eckstein is not. In fact, he is my new arch nemesis.
*I love The Hill. It is somewhat of a sad reminder of what my neighborhood used to be like when I was growing up.
*Make fun of me all you want, but I will rock the Dusty Baker sweatbands whenever it is as hot as it was last weekend in St. Louis. They sure came in handy.
*Bowling is a lot of fun when playing only four frames. That doesn’t give me as many chances to screw up and play as miserably as I usually do.
*The Central West End is a thriving, delightful neighborhood and I look forward to spending more time in that area on my next trip. Left Bank Books is a fabulous little find, as well, featuring new and used books of just about every genre. I picked up In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson for $5; A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe for $6; and the only book I paid full price for, The Tree is Older Than You Are, a bilingual gathering of poems and stories from Mexico (for my future bilingual classroom).
*I am severely claustrophobic and don’t feel the need to EVER go to the top of the Arch again.

And now, without further delay, the pictures.
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I’m a horrible friend. What can I say. It’s been a month since Julie and Kevin’s wedding and I’m finally getting around to writing something about it. True, I had that damn thesis monopolozing all of my free time but it doesn’t stop me from feeling bad for not writing something sooner.

So rewind to July 1, 2005: the day was perfect from beginning to end. Cloudless blue skies, a cool, mild breeze, and moderate temperatures created the perfect conditions. Surprising after a week’s worth of temperatures above 90 degrees. All of the bridesmaids gathered at Julie’s parents’ early that morning for hair and make-up appointments and to help keep the bride calm. Julie was so calm and even-keeled that it kind of scared me. I don’t know what I was expecting - maybe a few fireworks, perhaps an outburst here or there, but nothing. Perfect. Our make-up was done by Rosie Scianna of Salon Duo. This girl rocks. Not only is she an artist in the true sense of the word, but she is totally cool and fun and down to earth. She made all of us look like supermodels. Next time I get to go to a big, fancy shindig, Rosie will definitely be doing my make-up again. Fannie of Colorrific Coiffure did our hair. I love Fannie. She’s been my full-time hairdresser for almost a year now and I have never gotten more compliments on my hair since I became a Fannie devotee. She did not let us down on the big day, either. Everyone looked gorgeous.
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Hard to believe but last Tuesday I completed my final graduate school course. I was thrilled to finally hand in the assignment from hell (my thesis) and to think about all the other wonderful things I could now do ... [Continue reading this entry]

..are coming to Chicago on Friday, September 16, 2005 at Soldier Field. Should I audition? If so, what should I sing? When I fist learned last year that the audition age was changed to 28, I was so excited. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friday, July 22, 2005 found Francesca & me traveling the 4-hour car trip to St. Louis, Missour-ah. We headed down to I-55 around 10 am. Several country & Italian classic CD's later (Patsy Cline, Dixie Chicks, Louis Prima, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friday, July 22, 2005 found Francesca & me traveling the 4-hour car trip to St. Louis, Missour-ah. We headed down to I-55 around 10 am. Several country & Italian classic CD's later (Patsy Cline, Dixie Chicks, Louis Prima, ... [Continue reading this entry]

I was taking a history course at Columbia College Chicago. It was "Family History" & for one of our assignments I wrote the following paper. I don't quite remember what the exact assignment was but I remember being ... [Continue reading this entry]

Throughout the day I have an endless flow of random thoughts entering and exiting my stream of consciousness. Some of these thoughts are funny or insightful; some are just plain absurd. For some equally obnoxious reason, I feel ... [Continue reading this entry]

Yesterday I took a jab at the mayor for bulldozing Meigs Field in the middle of the night, thereby instantly and abruptly ceasing all air traffic into and out of the small airport on Northerly Island, and turning the area ... [Continue reading this entry]

Used to be that I couldn't wait for summer to arrive in Chicago, because with the warm temperatures came world class street fairs and music festivals. It was not too long ago that I would fight the masses ... [Continue reading this entry]