My Favorite Artists At This Year's St. Louis Art Fair

1. Chris Dahlquist, my favorite photographer of the show. I'm not usually drawn to photography, but this gal. Come on...she had me at her artist statement.
2. I had lunch with Todd Alexander on Saturday and found him fascinating. His art, is so beautifully disturbing and evocative. I am saving up for one of his pieces.
3. I think that Steven Graber is one of my new favorite artists. Everything he does is lovely and soulful.
4. Rebecca Hungerford, who works with pewter to create lovely pieces. I have a few of these hooks that I love.
5. Jonathan Rutledge, a very popular jewelry designer people come to shop for. His work is breathtaking.
6. Stephen Bach, who does these oil landscapes that are just so serene and make me long to live in them
7. Paveen "Beer" Chunhaswasdikul, who was as profilic an entertainer as an artist. He had coffee mugs that whistled and really unique, not-your-grandma's teapots.
8. I've never been so captivated by felt. Amy Gillespie always had a packed booth. No internet image could do her justice.
9. This woman, Flora Zarate, is so unbelievably talented. THIS is not a painting, but a hand-sewn textile. I literally went and visited her "arpilleras" all weekend long and was sad to not have purchased one.
10. I like Michael Bauermeister because he is an amazing artist, but also because he is a really cool guy.
11. We have a piece from Aaron Hequembourg, and I can't get enough of him. He is great to visit with- lots of stories.
12. I kept coming back to this booth...Bruce Peeso captures something so comforting and American.

The Fun Activities To Do With Your Kids In The Kids Area At The St. Louis Art Fair This Weekend

1. Bubble splatter painting with Chesterfield Arts
2. Making musical instruments with the Contemporary Art Museum
3. Creating treasure pouches with Crossroads College Preparatory Academy
4. Discovering Seville custom with the Flamenco Society
5. Write skits and watch them be performed with Integrity Productions
6. Making sun catchers and optical illusions with Leftovers, Etc.
7. A Chinese calligraphy lesson with Missouri Falun Dafa Association
8. Creating mystical magical masks with Rohan Woods School
9. Paper bag hat construction with Cultural Festivals
10. Making paint swatch bookmarks with St. Louis County Library
11. Animal Marionettes with Volunteen Nation
12. "Foiling Around" with The Magic House
13. Art Portfolio assembly with ArtMart
14. Creating rain sticks with University of Phoenix

My Favorite Places In St. Louis

1. The St. Louis Art Museum
2. Bowood Gardens
3. The Penguin and Puffin Coast at the zoo
4. Government Hill area of Forest Park
5. Fitz's
6. Demun
7. The Kemper Home Gardening building in the Botanical Gardens
8. The City Museum
9. The patio at McGurk's
10. Outside at Rosalita's
11. ArtMart
12. Downtown Clayton

New Births At The St. Louis Zoo

1. An East African black rhino male named Ruka, the firstborn of parents Kati Rain and Ajabu. At four days old, he weighs the same amount as I do.

2. A female Asian elephant named Kenzi, born to Rani and Raja. The STL Zoo has three generations of this elephant family living there with the grandmother being the 40 year old named Pearl, who is Raja's mama.

3. Imani, an African lion cub whose name means "faith" in Swahili. Her sister was stillborn, and so Imani had to be bottle-fed at the vet hospital because she was becoming dehydrated (just one cub doesn't provide enough lactation stimulation for the mama).

What I Love At The Magic House

1. My favorite is the room that plays music and projects your dancing image in an awesome, psychedelic, cheap-music-video kind of way.
2. The bubble room
3. The toddler sand table- R could stay there for hours
4. That thing that displays some scientific principle (clearly, I don't pay attention to the scientific facts) where the balls float over the blown air. I think it's amazing!
5. The "grocery store"
6. They really know how to put on a show. I love all of their members events. We went to the Halloween morning today; It was so fun! And W swooned over their Beauty and the Beast Tea Party last year.
7. The St. Louis Blues bubble piano. So cheesy, but fun.
8. The little creek and fishing pond

The APA's "Great Places in America: Streets"

1. Santa Monica Boulevard- West Hollywood, CA

2. U Street N.W.- Washington, DC

3. Front Street- Lahaina, HI

4. Main Street- Galena, IL

5. Main Street- Nantucket, MA

6. Washington Avenue- St. Louis, MO (no big deal, just the street I live on)

7. Market Street and Market Square- Portsmouth, NH

8. Davis Street- Culpepper, VA

9. King Street- Alexandria, VA

10. Downtown Woodstock Streetscape- Woodstock, VT

*the source of this list can be found here

Things That Irritate Me About St. Louis

1. No decent Wal-Marts

2. I dislike the whole city/county thing

3. The whole riverfront downtown inaccessible or taken over by casinos

4. The Arch grounds are a total disappointment--what a waste of one of the most recognizable American landmarks

5. The restaurant scene in STL is mostly just Italian restaurants and pubs/sports bars

6. I think people don't consider themselves "Missourians," just "St. Louisians." However, I don't think there is much St. Louis pride here. Forget about Missouri pride.

7. I get annoyed with the whole "Where did you go to high school?" thing

8. Not many great vegetarian dining options

9. The downtown should be a bigger deal

10. Too big/too small...I can't make up my mind. I don't think St. Louis can, either.

11. I am actually fearful to drive on HWY 44 and 40 (especially 40- come on!) People don't know how to drive on the big highways! I do love driving on 55...those folks can do it.

Places I Like Downtown

1. Left Bank Books
2. Culinaria
3. Uma
4. Crepes in the City
5. The Gelateria
6. The Washington Post
7. City Pet Supply
8. The London Tea Room

Things I Have "Members" Cards For

1. St. Louis Art Museum

2. Forest Park Forever

3. St. Louis Zoo

4. Aveda store

5. Anthropologie

6. Bare Escentuals

7. St. Louis city library

Places I Like To Drive

1. Hwy 65 from Branson to Conway
2. The road from Nixa to Hurley
3. Forest Park Pkwy at night when no one else is on it
4. 86 to kamp
5. The old Pig Trail
6. Baxter Rd in Chesterfield
7. Down Lindell at Forest Park
8. Through the neighborhood around Northmoor/Brentmoor/Southmoor/Forest Ridge

What's Cool About The New "Citygarden"

1. Three amazing water features (our favorite: the spray plaza)

2. Contemporary, modern, beautiful sculptures that are climb-able

3. Winnie had a BLAST there today

4. Totally open and free to the public, right in the heart of downtown STL

5. The cutest huge Pinocchio statue that delighted Winnie

6. The Terrace Cafe there looks delicious

7. Downtown needs more greenspace and it will look great for the All-Star boom

8. I can take Winnie there every day if I want and not waste gas driving to the county

9. I love anything that gets people excited about being downtown

10. It was beautiful

If Your Looking To Come To The City To Eat...

1. The Fountain on Locust

2. Triumph Grill

3. Vin de Set

4. Crepes in the City

5. The Sidebar

6. Eleven Eleven Mississippi

7. Square One Brewery

8. Wave Taco

Some Favorite Menu Items from Around STL

1. Enchiladas de Crema from Arcelias
2. Angeli pizza (no chicken) from Il Vicino
3. Pickle and cheese toastie from Schlafly Tap Room--RIP
4. Vegetarian Special #1 from El Maguey
5. Sebzeli Musakka from Aya Sofia
6. Spinach and Artichoke Ravioli from McGurks
7. Gorgonzola Whipped Potatoes from Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar
8. Macaroni and cheese from Fifteen
9. Bada Bing Salad from Pi
10. Raspberry concrete from Ted Drewes
11. Chai milkshake from Koffee Kartel

Reasons I Love Living Downtown: A Shout-Out to the Homies

1. I love our loft
2. The dog park is way cooler than a backyard--Puddy has so many friends!
3. I have friends just a few feet or floors away
4. I always have an excuse to get out of something..."I don't want to drive all the way out to the county..."
5. All of the local stores and boutiques know me, Winnie, and Puddy
6. I love Uma!
7. Our favorite thing in the summer is to walk down to the Sidebar, Tin Can, or the Tap Room for dinner outside
8. Gelato is never more than 2 blocks away
9. I feel really safe in our loft building
10. Andy rarely has a list of to-do's around the house
11. There is a huge sense of pride and community down here
12. I love the Reinbergs...best neighbors ever.
13. I like being a little different than everyone else I know--not much else is that different
14. I could write a book about all the different stories these homeless people come up with to get a quarter--they can be very creative! Someone should hire them for their creativity...two birds, one stone.
15. Who else can say that there was a male db found by there house?
16. We walk to Cardinals games
17. We have only had about 2 spiders, flies, or insects in our loft...and no rodents. (in 5 years!)