Happy 30th, Brandon!

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Jen

Okay, so it’s a bit late, couldn’t be helped. Our house decided to have a power surge during one of the many storms in May and we were without a computer for a couple of weeks. And then life took over and some things fell to the wayside. So, finally, here it is: welcome to your 30s, man, it’s all downhill from here.

But what a way to celebrate! A group of us trekked across the great state to Kansas City for the I-70 series (aka Cards vs. Royals series) and partied there for the weekend. It began with the obligatory tailgating:

Men, with beers and brats. They are very happy.

Women, with beers and chips. They are very happy.

Food. Happy.

We were actually pretty comfortable there that we didn’t want to go but we finally packed it up and headed in for a quick but entertaining game. Our seats were high but it had a great view and we were in the shade most of the time, that’s always a plus. It’s always great to look out at stadium and see that half (if not more) of the crowd was wearing red. And we won, so made it worth the drive and dealing with obnoxious Royals fans.

For dinner, we had to go for Kansas City barbecue. That is the one good thing about KC. This time, we tried out Gates BBQ. It was good barbecue, but I’ve had some fantastic barbecue in my time and I would say that Pappy’s in St. Louis is better. And the Memphis ribs just fell right off the bone, just the way I liked it.

We then hit the town as only 30-year-olds can do…we went down to the Power and Light District and parked ourselves at the Flying Saucer for a good while, just hanging out and drinking. Can’t you tell that we are huge party people?

But I guess too much fun in the sun had us turning in pretty early (yes, yes, we are old).

And of course, the next day, after driving through Stormaggedeon, we had to stop by Shakespeare’s Pizza, a Mizzou institution.

There have been enough people to rave about this place so I was excited to try out the “famous” pizza. And for sure, I can see why hundreds of college students flock to this joint. Now, I can say, I’ve had Shakespeare’s pizza, I’m part of the club.

Brandon, it was a great party, what are we going to do next year?

For the rest of the weekend pictures, click here.

A Month of Celebrations

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Jen

As you can tell, we’ve been busy the last few months and so blogging has fallen to the wayside. I am trying to rectify that. Since so much has happened, I figured I can encompass a few things at once.

This past month was filled with with celebrations. Let’s get to it:

We first celebrated Andrew’s 30th! Way to go, old man! You made it to 30! We started at the Blue Sea for dinner (by the way, no more all you can eat sushi, how sad) and then headed to Trainwreck where some girls serenaded the locals.

Here are the rest of the pictures from that evening.

Next, it was my sister’s going away gathering. Sniffle. Damn bitch decided that she was moving to Cali and leaving her big sister in the Midwest. So selfish! :)

No really, I’m happy for her, just a bit sad that she won’t be around. So, to properly send her off, we had dinner and dessert at the Fountain. After a few hours there, we found Tom’s, a bar in the CWE that had karaoke and away we went!

Holy moly, even the boys got up and sang!

What a send-off! I do have to say, Tom’s was pretty cool. Most of the people who got up and sang were pretty good (or at least they picked great songs) and the atmosphere was laid-back and not crowded at all. Plus side, no smoking!

Click here for the rest of the photos.

Lastly, Miss Sarah’s 26th birthday. Yep, the young one is now officially in her late 20s.

Oh to be that age again, sigh. We celebrated by going down to ITAP in Soulard. The company was great, the service was absolutely terrible. For a place that touts so many beers on tap, it took Bob seven different orders before he just said, “At this point, literally any beer will do.”

Pics, please click here.

It was a busy month and the next few months will be even busier but I wouldn’t trade it. That’s our life and we love it!

Supper Club: Blackthorn Pub

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Jen

You don’t see it advertised, you don’t hear about it on the TV or the radio, they don’t have a website. Only word of mouth: Blackthorn. It’s the best kept secret in St. Louis for outstanding pizza. If you talk to anyone about where to get some great pizza, they will highly recommend this place.

After hearing about it for years from friends, we finally took the plunge and headed down to South City to see what all the hooplah was about. When you first walk in, you’re definitely thinking: “What a dive. Seriously, this is the place?” It’s small and dark, with a long wooden bar, scarred from years of patrons. It is definitely not a place where people wait on you, you have to go to them for the drinks and food. Once we ordered, we waited. And waited. And waited. It has been said that it takes a while for the pizzas and they sure weren’t kidding. I think we waited close to 45 minutes for our order and we were beginning to wonder if it was worth it.

Hell yeah, it was. We had ordered a Chicago-style and a pan-style pizza and both were delicious. They were hot, cheesy, flavorful and so filling. The pizza sauce had a fiery kick to it, I liked it. My personal favorite was the Chicago-style, I think it had to do with the crust.

An absolute recommendation. You must try it at least once, even if it is a jaunt for you. And maybe call ahead to put your order in.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Jen

Woo! Welcome to the club! I know it was painful the days leading up to it, but now that you celebrated it, it wasn’t so bad now, was it? The joys of being 30!

To start of the evening, we had dinner down at Boogaloo, a Cuban restaurant down in Maplewood.

I have heard good things about this place and it did not disappoint. Monika had made the reservations and actually spoke with the chef, Mike Johnson, and he hooked us up with some great smoked ribs and wings. They were a huge hit at the table. Some other food highlights were the Brazil Nut Encrusted Manchego Cheese, Plantain Tostones, Jerk Chicken Wings, Creole Jambalaya, and the Jerk Chicken Sandwich (basically, everything I tasted). A return trip to this place is a must! Thanks, Mike, for the great food and great atmosphere!

After downing enough alcohol to be dangerous, we all headed to the Piano Bar at Harrah’s (damn you Jive and Wail for closing, it would have been so convenient). Kim was in contact with one of the piano players and it was his birthday also so he hooked us up with some coupons.

We were able to get her on stage:

Delivered her a present:

And Steve, her brother, gave her something to remember the evening:

Happy birthday, lady! I hope you enjoyed the night as much as I did!

Here are the rest of the pictures from the evening.

Go Blues!

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Jen

Bob’s cousin, Drew, was in town for the holidays and he expressed interest in a hockey game while here. We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see a game so Bob gathered a group of us and headed down to the game.

Our first stop was the Royale. Bob is such a huge fan of this restaurant. It has the corner local bar vibe to it with simple bar food. We had wanted to go to Pappy’s but it was closed for Christmas so this was our second choice. It was a more than adequate choice for dinner. I’m a big fan of the fish tacos, I would recommend that dish.

After sitting down in our seats, the Blackhawks scored and our entire section stood up and cheered. I had no idea that we were surrounded by Blackhawk fans. But don’t worry, I represented. Each time the Blues scored, we cheered loudly. Monika and I even participated in the Power Play dance. We wanted the Blackhawk fans to know that we weren’t intimidated by them. And we saw a winning game, woo! Now, they were only one goal away from free Big Macs but a win was a win.

We wanted to take that winning energy and apply that to the Mizzou game so we went to Lester’s to watch the Insight Bowl. This was my first time at Lester’s and I have to say, it is definitely a great place to watch a sports game. There were TVs all over the place, wherever you sat, you were able to see a game. The fries were delicious and I enjoyed my coke float (although, my order confused the waitress, she didn’t understand that I wanted to replace root beer with coke). Unfortunately, with all of our cheering, the Tigers were not able to pull out a win. So sad. But hey, one of two wins, I’ll take it.