STL for Easter: Tower Grove Park

As I shared before I spent my long Easter weekend with my family in St. Louis.  On Saturday morning my sister, Cam, and I went with my mom to a garage sale, where she had already been that morning, to pick up her new finds.  On the way home my mom drove through an area of the city I had not yet visited:  Tower Grove Park.  One of my favorite things about STL, at least the area my parents live in, are the gorgeous parks.  The first thing to grab my attention while driving through the park were the different pavilions.  Never seen anything like it before:

These two were my favorite.  I could have spent the whole day walking through the park getting photos of each pavilion.  But I could tell Cam was starting to get a little sick of me yelling "STOP" so I could get out of the car to take another picture of something else. 

What I also enjoyed about Tower Grove was how it made you feel as though you are hidden away and not in the middle of a big city.  A great place to get lost for a while in a good book while resting on a blanket after a nice stroll.  

And in case you cannot tell, I kinda have a thing for benches.  I love the black bench under the trees.  Cant you just see an old man reading the newspaper with his cane propped up against the bench while he reads?  Very Finding Neverland.  

This reminded me of the last scene in Pride & Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightly) where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are looking longingly into each others eyes talking about their love for one another.  

When I visit again I am going to have to spend more time here.  Give me nature and my camera and I am content for hours.  

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  And a Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers and future Mothers out there!  

Manfrotto Pocket Tripod

Look what came in the mail today from Amazon!  My new toy for my trip to Scotland and Ireland in June!!!! 

What is it?  Well, my friends, it is a tripod that fits right in my little pocket.  You screw it into the socket on your DSLR or point-and-shoot then...

open the legs to stabilize your camera on an uneven surface for those situations where you want to get a photo with yourself in it OR in those low-light situations where you may need to increase the Shutter Speed.

And voila.. 

As a warning I at first had a hard time getting my camera to stay upright but all you need to do is adjust the little legs so it balances better and stays upright.  My favorite part: the legs fold so once you screw the little tripod to your camera's socket you can leave it on your camera and just unfold the legs whenever you want to use it as tripod!  Pretty neato, huh?  Great find for only like $30 dollars (including the shipping and handeling). 

It is not an uncommon sight to have packages on the front porch from Amazon.  It's always a nice surprise when I realize the package (which is usually for the husband) is for ME!:):):) 

What about you?  Have you made any new and exciting purchases recently?  

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1) Smile.

Husband and I watched a good friend of ours little boy.  He was so good for us.  He only cried once and it was only because I put him in the jumper and he didn't want to be put there.  Trying to keep him entertained I stood him up at the window to look out.  He had so much fun.  I had Chris hold him so I could go outside to get some photos from the front yard.  

2. Shadow

Husband working hard to mow the lawn before our first open house today.  When I showed him this picture he said, "Look at those strong, beastly legs."  Ha! 

 3. Fish

Because we had to be out of the house between 1 and 3 for the open house, husband and I went to a local park and relaxed in the sun.  To cool off I went down to the creek and got some pictures of these little fishies.  Can you seem them?  They are kinda hard to see. 

 4. Unedited (SOOC)

Zoomed in photo of the ripples in the creek.  

 5. Keys

My house and work keys hanging up by the front door.  

Happy to post Scavenger Hunt photos on an actual Sunday.  Finally!  Hope everyone has had a nice Sunday.  It was a gorgeous day in Pittsburgh.  My favorite time of the year!:) 

What did you photograph this weekend?

This week wasn't much better than last week.  I doubt it had nothing to do with my impending visit from aunt flow:-P  But, alas, it is the first warm Saturday morning in a while and I am already feeling much better.  Don't you just love waking up on mornings where it is already 65 degrees at 7?  I do!  It just makes me feel happy and hopeful.  I'm really not meant to live up north much longer.

Wednesday and Thursday nights are nights to myself because husband is in class until late.  Back in January we purchased a GoogleTV where we can browse the internet on the TV.  We have only basic cable but are now able to stream loads of shows from the shows websites or on Amazon.  Amazon introduced me to Downton Abbey (so disappointed I have to wait until Jan 2013 for another season) and I just finished watching Tudors.  My mother-in-law was also nice enough to give us her username and password to her HBOgo to watch Game of Thrones.  Since Game of Thrones is something husband and I watch together while he bikes on his trainer I was browsing the series section from the website.  And I  stumbled upon Girls.  And now I am obsessed.  Kinda like Sex and The City but I feel a more realistic take on what I would imagine living in New York City would be like.  If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.  And it's hard not to notice the great music played throughout the episodes.  Feist, Passion Pit, MGMT, LCD Soundsystem, etc.

In fact I was reintroduced to a favorite of mine from the 90s - Robyn.  Do y'all remember her?

One of her recent songs was played at the end of the last episode I watched - Dancing On My Own!  So catchy and maybe my new fav.  Who doesn't love to just get up and dance when the mood strikes? (please say I'm not alone) 

Oh, and Happy Cinco De Mayo! An excuse to get drunk off way too many margaritas.  But hey, I'll take it (even though I really don't need excuses).  Hoping to meet up with Jenny, my sister-in-law, for way too many margaritas at Mad Mex (if it isn't too busy) or making our own if it is too crowded.  First, husband and I get to watch a friend's baby for an hour or so while they treat themselves out to an early dinner.  Just between us, but I think husband is a little nervous:)  What are y'alls Saturday afternoon plans? 

Hope everyone is having a great day!  I love weekends and wish they would NEVER end.  

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What I was up to last week through the lens of my iPhone

Happy 27th

Coke vs Pepsi

Biscuit

Raymond the ring leader 

view

his shadow

drive

almost home

Ziva Princess

Tulips

my shadow

from where I sit

just because flowers

Wednesday happy hour wine tasting remnants

front porch view

visitor

husband vs my take on Friday night relaxing drink

storms acommin'

silly

xoxo

STL for Easter: The Arch

Over Easter I was able to spend some time with my parents and sister in STL.  I had off work the Friday before and Monday after the holiday so it was a nice long weekend visit.  I got in early Friday morning.  My mom always asks me if there is anything I want to do while I'm there.  I'm all about being lazy with no plans but really wanted to go up into the the arch this time.  I usually travel with my husband to see the family.  He would have no interest what so ever of ever going up in it so I took full advantage of the solo trip.

I saw the arch for the first time in person one my first trip to STL back in 2006 but haven't made any effort to go back.  It is a common scene driving around the city and seems so small when seen from a distance.  You can't really appreciate it's size until you are really close up.  It's size impressed me in 2006 and again my last trip.

My mom ordered our tickets over the phone (definitely recommended) so she dropped me off to get in line to get in while she parked.

I got this while we were waiting at a light to let me out. 

I took full advantage of the few minutes I had to kill waiting for my mom to park the car and meet me in line.  

The line to get into the museum under ground was just ridiculous.  All because of security.  If you do pre-order your tickets (because the line inside to buy tickets was INSANELY long) give yourself some time before your lift time.  I think we had tickets for a 11:45 lift time but didn't get there until 11:30.  Needless to say, we missed our time but fortunately they didn't seem be too strict about letting us on the next one.  

So, I am not sure what I expected to take us up to the top but was utterly horrified when I saw this small egg-shaped space.  And it's supposed to fit FIVE PEOPLE in there.  Luckily for my mom and I we had two kinds and their mom in addition to us (who are also small) riding up with us.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to ride up with anyone too large.  And let us face it; this is America so I'm sure that happens more often than not.  The egg-shaped space shook and creaked the whole way up.  One of the kids jokingly said, "this sounds new."  I very much appreciated the sense of humor to distract me from having a panic attack.  If you are claustrophobic in the least, this is a "ride" I do not recommend.    

We jolted to a halt, exited our ride, walked up a few more steps to check out the view from above.  

helicopter ride over the Mighty Mississippi.  

We lucked out for our ride down as well.  There was only four of us this time.  Our ride mates were young thin girls who we struck up a conversation with.  They were super sweet.  The conversation was another great distraction.  Once we got to the bottom my mom told me that last summer something happened with the electric and people who were on their way up/down were stuck in those terrifying small egg-shaped rooms for a few hours.  And of course there is no air conditioning.  Thankfully Mom waited to tell me this little story (although she started to share it with me half way down) after we landed arrived safely.

Would I do that again?  No.  It's kinda like the Statue of Liberty.  Once you get up there you look around for a few minutes, see all you want/need to see in that time, and are ready to return to land almost as soon as you get up there.  It's one of those things you do to say you did it.  Even if going up is not your thing I still recommend seeing it in person.  There's also a museum underneath too (for free) if you are interested in learning about the arch.  

One of the draws to going to see the arch in person is the park area to hang out underneath it.  I could see myself having a picnic or bringing my book to read there.  Although, it might be difficult to really enjoy it with the constant traffic of people.  The day we went, it was a gorgeous Spring day in the 60s and relatively windy.  There was an adorable family flying a kite.  It may have been this kids first time flying one because he needed some help a couple of times from his parents.  Sweet though.  

I really liked this one of a family overlooking the Mississippi.  I also kinda makes me laugh.  Doesn't it remind you of traveling with your family when you were young to those not so fun places.  You know the ones where your Dad/Mom/Grandparent tried so hard to explain the history behind something but all you really wanted to do is be at the beach or in a pool?  Looks like these kids are being good sports though.  

To get where my mom parked her car we walked along such a nice tree-lined path.  Unfortunately, it was so crowded I really wasn't able to get any shots without people.  So green.  LOVE! 

I am kinda obsessed with reflections.  I love the reflection of the city buildings in the first one but was disappointed with the lovely trash in the second.  I love (I know I used "I love" to begin two sentences in a row) how you can see the reflection of the arch in the second one but the trash kinda takes away from it.  Silly, dirty,  and littering Saint Louis-ians (?).  Ruined an awesome photo-op.  Once I figure out photoshop perhaps I can edit them out.  

Have you ever been to STL?  Have you seen the arch?  If my parents hadn't moved there in 2006 I doubt it would have been a place I'd ever consider visiting but am so glad I have.  It truly is a hidden gem and I highly recommend visiting the city.

Okay, now it is time to get my sweating bum downstairs for a glass of red and dinner before I melt! (i LOVE the warm weather though;))