The other night I went to a new Mexican Restaurant named Gringo in the Central West End with a friend. I noticed it a few weeks ago when I was at Pi (LOVE PI) and wanted to return to check it out.  Leslie had been visiting at the time, and since she’s from Phoenix (home of thousands of excellent Mexican Restaurants) I didn’t go with her, but with another friend.

The first thing we noticed was that they have margaritas ON TAP. The waiter told us that the margaritas are mixed and then set up to go into the line (these are technical terms, don’t get too confused) so that no more mixing is required. They had two kinds on tap and then also numerous other kinds that they will mix for you. We tried the ones on tap, and they were very good (and a better value for your $$.)

The second thing we noticed was that there is a grasshopper taco. We were assured that the grasshoppers were free-range and organic, and the description of the taco was “like the texture of oatmeal with sunflower seeds on it.” I was intrigued, but decided to save that taco for a later visit—instead I chose a pork taco, a calamari taco, and a fish taco. We also split an order of the guacamole which is made tableside. It was delicious as were the tacos. I will be trying the grasshopper one on my next visit since I was impressed by the quality of the “normal” ones.

Overall it was a great meal! Fairly reasonably priced and very tasty. As usual I ate too many chips and guacamole/salsa, but it was a great evening.

I recently went for a run, and decided to sign up for a Fourth of July race downtown. It’s 4 miles and I’m not really ready for it, but I figured it’ll be a good time, and I’ll be just fine, and unlikely to come in last place.

Oh, and I don’t believe I ever shared this picture from the mall.

Okay more old pictures! I got a few more albums online from my mom (she had our old slides converted to digital photos, which is just awesome.)

This is to remind me of when I say, hey, I wonder how I’d look bald. There it is. That is my brother Jesse holding me awkwardly.

I think Jesse has me in a chokehold. Check out the old school plastic diaper cover!

My first birthday! I was a pretty happy child, evidently!

My brother and I taking a nap. Or at least me taking a nap and him posing for a picture. We are utterly adorable.

Another angle. You can’t see my little legs, but my head is pretty cute too.

Why are you interrupting our reading, Mom?

How stylin’ am I with my short dress and knee socks? LOVE THIS OUTFIT. I seem to be holding an art project of sorts.

I’m less sure about this outfit…but I had the legs for it, so why not, right? Jesse had the legs for his outfit too.

This picture is great because Jesse is giving a perfect look at the camera. He looks like a model and I look like I just rolled out of bed.

ONE foot in the air running! Longtime readers know that is rare for me.

I was so tired I just fell asleep like that, evidently. Interesting note: that bed is still in my room at my parent’s house.

I had a pretty awesome mohawk for awhile.

I joined a T-ball team for awhile. If I recall correctly, I never got a hit. (Process that…the ball doesn’t move.) I don’t have the greatest eye-hand coordination.

I did NOT know how to hold kitties when I was younger. I’m pretty sure this cat wasn’t enjoying that.

Case study on why NOT to tell kids to smile for a picture. Leslie is standing in front of me, and please note my “book it” button. I was WEARING that voluntarily at home.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed those pictures! I know that (most importantly) I do. It’s fun to see pictures that you haven’t seen in years…because as awesome as slide shows are, they are a pretty inconvenient way to look at pictures.

Thank you to StudentAdvisor.com for sponsoring this post. To learn more about MOOCs visit Mooc.StudentAdvisor.com.

Do you think of yourself as a lifelong learner?  Do you have curiosity about the world beyond what you already know?  Were you always trying to take the maximum number of hours of classes in college beyond just the requirements for your degree?  Do you love to read?  If you answered yes to any or, better yet, all of those questions, you might want to consider taking a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC for short.

Many world renowned universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Duke have free open online courses available for anyone who is interested.  There are a variety of websites that offer these courses, such as Edx or Coursera.  Basically it’s like going to a university and taking classes, but it’s a virtual college that is free and open to anyone.  Either way, you can attend class in your pajamas!

I have never taken a MOOC before but I have been interested ever since I heard of them.  The problem I had was deciding what course to take.  There are so many subjects that I didn’t get to learn about in college (I was a music major.)  The subjects offered range from Greek Literature to Psychology to Game Theory to Calculus.  Some of the courses are 5 or 6 weeks long, some are longer. The descriptions are well written and very appealing.  For a few short hours of studying a week you’ll become an expert in Sociology or Climate Change or Statistics.  My brain starts spinning at the possibilities of things I could learn!

For the rest of this blog post, please visit (insert link to post here)

For more information about MOOCs, please visit StudentAdvisor.com. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I think that’s what people are doing, right?

My mom recently had some slides converted into digital form. I wanted to share a few of me as a kid!

Me holding my sister Leslie. Look at those CHEEKS! And my adorable eyes and blonde hair.

Me, Leslie, and my brother Jesse. Leslie laughed because I was stuck with the yellow pjs since they had pink and blue covered. Already chewing my fingernails, it looks like.

I was evidently very proud of my baby sister. Who possibly had the mumps in this photo…she had the biggest cheeks anyone has ever seen.

Like now, I tanned easily.

An early violin recital. I seem to have won some sort of award than Leslie is taking a bow for.

Remember the dome house that my dad built and my parents live in? Here’s the beginning of the construction. I’m in the green with stripes. That’s my Dad, me, Jesse, and Leslie.

And one last one, as to not leave my mom off the blog. On the couch, my dad, baby Leslie, my Grandma and Grandpa (mom’s side), my Mom. In the front, Jesse and me.

Aren’t old pictures the best? I probably take more pictures in a couple of weeks than we used to take in a year! It was different when you had to buy film and pay for developing, wasn’t it? But I think that makes the pictures more precious, in a way.

Recently I had a violin recital at my home for my home students. Each year I invite the parents to bring goodies for a little reception afterwards, and for the past three years one of the parents has brought violin shaped cookies. Aren’t they adorable? (not to take away from what the other parents brought—butterscotch brownies, fruit, more cookies…I love my students!).

I don’t have a recipe to share, but it’s a sugar cookie recipe. The detail in the icing is so fun! (You should totes pin the recipe.)

One student was overheard saying “I don’t know how many of these I’ve eaten, but I can’t stop.”

Saturday is a big day!

Saturday morning: the 80’s race…(I haven’t totally settled on my costume, but I think you’ll love it.)

(already got our shirts and race numbers)

Saturday night:

Chamber Project St Louis. 8 pm at the Chapel. Tickets on sale now.

(from a couple years ago.)

And then…one more week of my school. I’m thrilled to tell you that I’ve gotten a bunch of new students going into the summer and feel confident that I’ll be at the same income level by fall (if not higher) through private teaching! Though I’ve enjoyed many aspects of teaching at the school I look forward to finally really working for myself 🙂 When a door closes, I find…another bigger door often opens. You just have to look around! (sappy inspirational paragraph) And yes, I’m still accepting new students, gladly!

Wish me luck this weekend!

(Did I use enough exclamation points for you?)