Weekend in THE WINDY CITY

This past weekend, Matt and I headed out bright and early Saturday morning to Chicago!! We left our house around 5:30 to get to the St. Louis Amtrak station to board out 6:40 train headed for Chicago's Union Station! After a quick 6 hour train we arrived, and took a taxi to our hotel Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown to meet up with Kory and Diana. (Sidenote: Diana and I met at Baylor and Kory is her fiance...they live in Washington, D.C. - and we miss seeing them as frequently as we used to when we lived in Charlottesville, so it was a great time to get the 4 of us back together again!) Also, let me first say, thank you so much to Kory and Diana as we stayed with them at the Hampton Inn - which was also one of the nicest hotels Matt and I have stayed at! It was just renovated a few months ago and looks AMAZING! Anyways, we dropped off our luggage and headed out to lunch with them at EATT! It was a place they found while walking around (their flight arrived a few hours before our train)...and it was delicious burgers for all 4! Then it was off to Millennium Park to see the "BEAN" and the water art project! Really cool sight! Then we headed back up Michigan Ave. for some shopping - window shopping that is! Ha! Ha! Then off to the John Hancock building...up the elevators to the 96th floor with spectacular views (for free) and tasty drinks! It was really quite the sight! I mean astounding really! Even Matt and Diana (two who don't really love heights) checked out the sights after some liquid courage! Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for the party at Kristyna's condo! I guess this would be a good time to point out why we were all in Chicago...Kelly's friend and sophomore year roommate at Baylor, Kristyna Sujata, was getting married to Abraham Munoz on Sunday afternoon in the St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago!!! So off to Kristyna's condo for a "Welcome Out-Of-Town Family and Friends" party! We had a great time and meeting and greeting friends we had not seen in forever, and meeting new friends!! Then it was back to the hotel for some much needed sleep! Who knew traveling + sight-seeing was so tiring!! Ha! Ha!

Sunday morning the four of us (after an amazing breakfast at the hotel) headed out to Navy Pier! It was quite a sight - overcast at first, but then it turned out to be a beautiful day! Albeit - WINDY!!!! I had to buy a sweatshirt to keep me toasty warm, and Matt had to get some popcorn! Then it was off to Giordano's for some famous deep dish Chicago pizza!!! Yummy! Back to the hotel to get dressed and ready for the wedding! The wedding ceremony was held at St. James Cathedral and it was a stunning sight! After the wedding we went to a local Starbucks and hung out (aka stayed warm....it was 64 degrees and Diana and I had cocktail length, sleeveless dresses on)...pretty soon it was time to board the bus to take us to the Newberry Library for the reception! The cocktail hour was lovely and gave us a chance to mingle with a lot of people and hear a mariachi band! The reception followed - with lots of dancing for the 4 of us! Then it was back to the hotel by 11, for early 4:15 wake up! Diana and Kory had to leave at 4:30 to get to O'Hare for their flight and Matt and I had to head to Union Station for the train back to St. Louis!

We had a great time in Chicago and can't wait to get back! Thanks again to Diana and Kory......and, Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Munoz!!!!

Happy 26th Birthday to Matt!

Today (Wednesday September 22, 2010) is Matt's 26th Birthday!!!! Woo-hoo!!! I started helping Matt celebrate by doing something special on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - but finally today arrived!!!! Although we had reservations for dinner at Triumph Grill (Matt's favorite restaurant) as part of my birthday gift to him - Matt decided this morning he was ready to stay home and relax for his birthday...well, he decided that and that he wanted mexican food! Ha! Ha! So we celebrated Spiderman-style with a mexican dinner, one of his favorite ice cream cakes, and cards/presents from family members!

HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY MATT!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame - Owner's Box please!

Matt and I were lucky to get an invite this year from my sister Kimberly's husband Jeff and his company (BlueChip Pest Control) to watch the Cardinals take on the Padres Saturday afternoon in the owner's box at Busch Stadium! Matt and I were definitely excited to say the least! We got there early to get legend Whitey Herzog's autograph...who actually signed the night before, bummer - but stayed until the top of the 9th inside the Redbird Club and the AllStar Box! It was a great afternoon full of beer, brats, and baseball! Thanks again for a fun time BlueChip! We really appreciated it!

Forest Park Balloon Glow

Friday night, Matt and I headed out to Forest Park in St. Louis for the annual Balloon Glow! It is always the night before the Great Forest Park Balloon Race (involving over 70 hot air balloons). The Balloon Glow offers spectators a breathtaking view of inflated balloons lighted by their burners. We got to get up close and walk around the balloons! It was a stunning sight! There were about 40 balloons that participated in the glow. Matt's favorite was the Post cereal balloon - Sugar Bear and Kelly's favorite was the Budweiser balloon. We also got to see the energizer bunny balloon - it was HUGE! Although we left about 15 minutes before the fireworks - wanted to beat traffic out - it was crowded - it was a fun evening!

Matt's Anniversary Present to Kelly - Date Night Sept. 14, 2010

Tuesday night (September 14) was the date of Matt's first anniversary present to me (Kelly). On our anniversary, he gave me a Shrek and Donkey mini stuffed animals that were holding 2 tickets to see Shrek the Muscial (Orchestra seats) at the Fox Theater. He told me that he was going to plan an entire date night and have everything prepared. I couldn't believe it - literally, I really thought I'd be doing all the work finding a restaurant, parking, the Fox....and I was WRONG! Matt did it all, and it was AMAZING! First he had printed directions on how to get us to the Fox and all of the parking garages near it, since neither one of us have been to that area of town! Then he researched places for dinner, and decided upon Triumph Grill. Wholly Mcguiver - I can't even begin to describe how absolutely delicious this meal was! Matt and I both had spectacular dinners and the service was fantastic! We will definitely be going back! It was also a very cool atmosphere - and all centered around the Triumph motorcycle - very cool! Then it was off to the FOX - which upon entering is stunningly beautiful! I mean it feels like you are instantly transported to a different place and time - like an Indian Bazaar - somewhere very exotic! Our seats were in the orchestra section row L - that means we were only 12 rows from the stage! SWEET! The show was HILARIOUS! What a fantastic night for both of us!

Happy 28th Birthday to ME!

Monday, September 13th was my (Kelly's) 28th birthday! I am so thankful to have so many friends and family remember my special day with cards, emails, and phone calls! Thank you so much for making my birthday so special! Tradition in the Wallace family was on your birthday, you chose the meal you wanted...well, I chose Dewey's Pizza! I love Dewey's - so Matt and I headed there for dinner, where Kimberly, Jeff, Logan, and Carter met us to celebrate with the best pizza in St. Louis! And, to top it off, Dewey's sent me home with a gift for the birthday girl! One of their glasses - SWEET!

Football Road Trip to Tuscaloosa Alabama

Matt and I were very fortunate this past weekend to have been invited by a law school friend of mine (Robby) to watch the University of Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Penn State Lions! We headed south on Friday afternoon (about 5 pm) and arrived in Birmingham, Alabama around 1:30 am. The next morning we dawned our crimson and headed out with Robby and his mom to Tuscaloosa!! We ate lunch at the famouse Baumhower's Wings and then headed over to Bryant Denny Stadium! Matt and I had AMAZING seats in the end zone and were surrounded by really amazing fans - so friendly! Before the game even started it was phenomenal, when on the 50 yard line Bobby Bowden (former FSU coach/former Alabama assistant coach), Nick Saban (current Alabama coach), and Joe Paterno (current Penn State coach) all met! It was like a meeting of the titans! Phenomenal! Then of course the Tide came out and impressed us all..Although, it was hot, humid, and rainy - that didn't stop the Crimson Tide! They won the game 24-3!!! Seriously, I have never seen rushing like that in person! PHENOMENAL GAME! We started the drive back to St. Louis early Sunday morning and arrived safely at home after 8 hours! Thanks to Robby and his mom for the invitation and Kimberly and Jeff for watching Molly while we were gone!

Football sidenote: Baylor won again this weekend - beating Buffalo to have a record of 2-0. Although Virginia lost to USC, and their record dropped to 1-1...it was definitely a moral victory while it was their second game with a brand new coach in a rebuilding year...and the final score, against a power house like USC, was 17-14!!!! Wa-hoo-Wah! It's going to be a great year for football!

Labor-free Labor Day!

Matt and I enjoyed an AMAZING labor day weekend (Matt's FIRST labor day weekend that was work-free in 5 years)....We started it off right, by the Friday night Cardinals game (see below post)...but the weekend was even better with FOOTBALL and GRILLING! Matt and I spent Saturday doing what you are supposed to do on Labor day - being lazy, grilling out, and watching football! It was a great day! And, to top it off, our teams (University of Virginia and Baylor) went 1-0, respectively, to start their seasons! Hope everyone else enjoyed their long weekend!

Doctor Doctor...give me the news!

So, last Friday, Matt started stating how his left wrist was hurting...by Sunday night, we went out to CVS and bought him a brace for it. Well, Monday it felt a little better, but it was back down hill Tuesday and Wednesday - and by downhill, what I really mean is 1) he lost almost all range of motion (without feeling pain), 2) it was swelling, 3) there was sharp pains that occurred randomly...so on Wednesday around 8 am I hear Matt talking about how painful it was all of a sudden....Now here is where I thought, "Well, I'll just ask him if he wants to go to a doctor...and he will reply 'NO!' and then the day will continue." If you know Matt, you know that getting him to go to the doctor for anything takes a lot - I mean we've dated/married for a little over 3 years and I've only been able to talk him into going to the doctor ONCE (granted that trip ended up a trip to the ER and there were way more people than just me talking him into it)...but it was like a 4 hour discussion...so....here I was on Wednesday saying "Well, do you want to go to a doctor?" and BAM!!! Matt did not even hesitate - "YES!" I was completely shell-shocked...but hopped on it, as Matt was still working! Although my first two calls were a miss, the third call worked....we had an appointment at 11:30 (told to show up at 11) with a Orthopedic surgeon in St. Louis. I spent the next hour getting all of Matt's paperwork done and making copies of his drivers license/insurance (you learn a thing or two having a dad as a physician - and loving hanging out with his office staff)...and we were promptly at the doctors office at 10:50 with all paperwork done (can I tell you how that nurse staff already loved Matt as a patient and they had just met him! who doesn't love someone who comes in totally prepared and makes it easy on them! SCORE!)...so they got us in a little early to see the doctor...Have I mentioned how AMAZING this doctor was?!?! Totally just like my father with PHENOMENAL bedside manner - totally made Matt and I feel at ease from the minute we met him! Well he checked Matt out and was a little concerned with the location and the swelling - so he sent Matt down the hall for a few X-Rays! 3 X-rays later, the doctor was back telling us everything looked good bone-wise...AKA NO BROKEN BONE! SCORE! He diagnosed Matt with a severely sprained wrist and send him home with a prescription for any anti-inflamatory. It is a day later and Matt's wrist is already feeling a little better - still not much range of motion is back without pain, but the swelling and random pains have subsided!

Date Night at Busch Stadium

Last night, Friday September 3, Matt and I had date night - at one of our favorite locations BUSCH STADIUM! We found out earlier this year that with a fill up at a Phillips 66 station, you get a card that gets you "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" tickets to Cards games! So we used them on a a game before, last night's game, and an upcoming Rockies game! Anyways, I'll get on with the post...

So we were really excited for last night because the last time the Cards played the Reds, it was in Cincinnati and well there is this player on the Reds, Brandon Phillips who made some comments (rude, jerky comments) about the Cards before the series...then he violently attacked Yadiar Molina (ok, so he just did a regular baseball tap on Yadi's shin guards)..but Yadi was like "Don't do that, not after those comments - We are not friends, let's just play ball!" And then BAM! Clear the dugouts and a fight started! Basically the Reds pitcher ended up kicking (with his cleats) our back-up catcher and he is now on the DL list for 60 days (basically the rest of the season)! Well the Cards fought back - literally and in the game winning that series...all 3 games...oh and Yadi came back and hammered out a home-run! Anyways, last night St. Louis welcomed the Reds to our home!!! GAME ON!

Matt and I had AMAZING seats - just a 13 rows up from 3rd base (hello Scott Rolen - still like him even though he is in a Reds uniform now)...We also came prepared with a sign for Brandon Phillips...and it was a phenomenal sight! I love being a part of CARDINAL NATION...When Phillips stepped up to the plate and was "welcomed" with a stadium full of "BOOS!!!" - and that would be EVERY TIME he came up to the plate, or made a play! Then when a fan caught his foul ball, it was thrown back on to the field! Priceless!! And oh yeah - WE WON!!!! The game ended with a PHENOMENAL strike out pitch by Franklin with a final score of 3-2! Then the Cardinals treated all their fans to one of the best fireworks shows (completely with the lights out at the stadium) for almost a full 15 minutes! Excellent fireworks show to end the evening!