All right.  So we FINALLY got to do some actual, real, down to earth, wedding planning.  Oh yes.  I’m talking about cake tasting!

The Cakery gives you a to-go box of up to four flavors to taste at home.  If you like it, then you can go back to do the rest.

French vanilla, chocolate, lemon, and red velvet.  Those were all filled with vanilla butter cream frosting.  And that’s a side of chocolate frosting.

Can you believe this was all complimentary?  Does it make you want to pretend you are engaged to get free cake?

Let the tastings begin!  I pulled out my cake plate for the honors.

Verdict:  Cake tasted great!  I liked the lemon best, Chris preferred the red velvet.  Our wedding cake choice will likely come down to price though.  We’ll see! 

Oh, and here’s the new grill.  That’s Chris acting proud.  Or something.  Constipated?  I told him to try to think of something happy.  I guess he couldn’t…I wonder if he would have the same problem producing a proper patronus? 

Today is the day.  I have a wedding today that I (for some reason) have been stressed out about for approximately three weeks.  I’ll be happy when it’s done.  I know it will be fine (they always are) but there is lots of score reading happening, and I am just a little nervous.

Jen and I had plans to run this morning at Forest Park, but when my alarm went off at 6:30, (yes, very early, it was to fit in the rest of the day) I was already awake.  Why?  Because of a gigantic thunder storm that was going through.  We canceled the plans.  I got two more hours of sleep instead.  I can always run after my wedding, as all I have planned for the evening is prep for my trip to Kansas bright and early tomorrow.  (Laundry and packing).

Last night I went to Coco Louco Brasil with Melissa.  We hadn’t been before and had been meaning to try it for some time.  The waiter was hilariously attentive—he appeared to be approximately 12 years old, and since the restaurant was suspiciously empty, he had some time to chitchat.  He made numerous menu suggestions and we ended up discussing his future career plans with him.  He’s thinking law school, in case you were wondering.

I ordered some sort of mixed barbecue thing that came on a skewer.  Luckily the skewer was not super hot by the time I had to deal with it.  I’ve had trouble with that in the past.

The skewer definitely looked more like a sword than anything else.

The lone green pepper.  Why would I take that off?  I hate peppers.  Melissa liked that the pepper sat at the golden mean of the sword.

In any case, we couldn’t resist the tres leches cake for dessert (weight loss contest be damned!  No, I’m just kidding, it’s just that occasionally one must have indulgences, right?).

Our waiter did a delightful job decorating this.  He wanted to demonstrate that a philosophy major could have some skills.

It was delicious!

Overall the meal was good, but I think I prefer Yemanja Brasil, which is also closer to my house.  I’m glad we went though.  Oh, and the waiter apparently thought Melissa and I were together.  Like dating.  I guess we have a good rapport 🙂  Can’t two ladies go out on a Saturday night and share dessert anymore?  I am pretty sure they can.

Last thought:  I don’t know if yesterday’s fat post was harsh or not.  I hope I didn’t offend anyone.  I guess I was pretty mean to myself.

Really last thought:  I think my new camera is taking better pictures, can anyone tell?

I know my mother doesn’t want to read about it, but I went with some friends to a Beer Festival in Forest Park over the weekend called St Louis Brewfest. 

You should know that traditionally my family doesn’t drink.  My parents were brought up in the Mennonite Church and many of my relatives are still part of the church.  I was raised to believe that alcohol was wrong along with dancing and a whole host of other behaviors, ranging from listening to popular music to shopping for new clothes or other frivolous purchases.  I was raised as a Presbyterian, but my mother still insisted on many of her Mennonite values (or at least as I understood them to be, as I don’t even really know) for her children.  I attribute much of my guilt and self-loathing to my religious upbringing.  (Is that harsh?  Let’s put a 😉 there.)

In any case, four of us girls went to brewfest on Saturday night (after a long day of weddings…grr…)  Basically you pay one price for the ticket, get a little souvenir tasting glass and get to go crazy and drink as many samples as you like of a variety of local beers.  It’s out in a field at Forest Park under a tent.  I was the only non-single girl so naturally the secondary plan (other than tasting a lot of beer) was to attempt to meet people.  I used to be really good at talking to strangers (maybe briefly between senior year of high school and into college for a bit) and that’s a skill I’m trying to bring up again…it is a confidence thing (you must assume that you are interesting and/or attractive enough that strangers would WANT to talk to you) and since I have been feeling more confident lately (seriously thanks to my workouts with Mike) I figured that would be good.  I won’t hold you in suspense though, we didn’t really meet anyone, and simply ran into a variety of people we already knew, and I did inadvertently pick up a friend of a guy Jen knew.  But I digress (and use too many parentheses, right?). 

Why are you here?  Well, for the pictures.  I took lots of pictures and most of them were terrible!  But some turned out okay.  Please don’t comment on my tan lines, I really am not interested.

(And sorry friends, I will be taking MORE pictures in the future.  It’s fun, plus you all look great generally so don’t worry!)

Adrianne and Melissa, Jen and I

The view inside the tent.

We split this giant pretzel from Companion Bakery.  While it won’t help me lose ten pounds, it did give me the ability to drink a little more beer.

Overall it was a great night!  It was great to hang out with my friends (and again, just so pleased to have real friends in St Louis), and it was great to try all the different beers.  Ran into a few other people I knew including the ocarina player from my trio (Hi!).  And I would definitely go back next year.

Oh, and I may have been on tv…again…

Adrianne and Jen both had facebook comments that people saw them on Channel 5, and we were all there doing a toast in front of the cameraman.  Did anybody see me?

We had a wonderful time at our friends’ bbq yesterday.

Growing up, we used to call it a "cook-out."  A cook-out meant burgers and hot dogs on the grill.  A barbecue was something different, that involved…well…barbecue.  And I’ll always be partial to the barbecue of my childhood.  I don’t care for the stuff they call barbecue here in St Louis too much, at least not in comparison.

In any case, no matter what you call it, we had a great time.  In typical fashion, we had way too many side dishes because everybody brought something.  And everything tasted fantastic!

I told Chris he needed to get used to having his picture taken.

Jon was very proud of his gigantic glass.

This is Chauncey, their dog.  He’s not so bad when he’s just sitting there.  And now for a bunch of pictures!

I burnt my finger on the shrimp skewers.  Interesting fact:  metal skewers are hot when they come off the grill.  Even when the shrimp looks exceedingly delicious.  My finger is okay, just two little blisters.

Saw these at the gym counter yesterday.  I always love me a good meat snack.  Plus it comes in two flavors!