CONTACT! I get to meet our very own Weed. I can't wait!

I always love moving closer to a goal.

Weed and Luna, two of my all time favorite KF buddies - have an awesome time and wish I was there!

"----Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the Fair
Don't tell me the lights are shining
Any place but there
We will dance the "Hoochie-Koochie"
I will be your "Tootsie-Wootsie"
If you will meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the Fair.----"

Have not been to St Louis for many a years. Have a good time.

dcarch

Pauline! Long time, my friend! Maybe one of these days we can meet in person. It IS a goal you know, and I Do dearly love an accomplishment.

Thanks dcarch for the sentiment. As far as having a good time, I'm counting on it!

Wooo Hoooo!!!! I wish I was going! Take piccys and share the scoop!

A

LOL - Alexa, we've been on the phone for over an hour tonight, and your name came up :)
All good, but we may be descending on you someday

Oh YES...Plans are being made and ideas swirling about! All I can say is...''What took me so long to meet my forum friends?'' Silly me!

I have been keeping tabs on this meetup and I'm glad that it's coming off. All I can say is I hope CdL makes it down here this fall so I can be next on her list!

Cathy, barring natural disasters, personal injuries or Acts of God, I'll be there. I'm counting on it, so it's good to know You are!

Here is what's a little weird...Weed and I started talking on the phone, and it's like we've known each other for years. Only because we HAVE, but without the face to face. (Oh, yeah!) I'm so glad to be entering the next phase; it's about time, I'd say.

A little KC vs. St. Louie BBQ?? I know y'all will have a great time together for sure. Keep us posted ladies!

David

Weed is too wiped out to post. We had a fabulous time, and Mr. de Luna is a delight. Both of us will follow up upon recovery :)

All I'm going to say at this moment is Yes...Recovery time is needed! (Draw your own conclusions. You're probably right.) It was a fun day and great time, and one I hope to repeat in the future.

Absolutely can't wait for the details and the pix!

yeah, yeah, like there'll be pictures, LOL. They will be all off center and blurry and pictures of the floor, I just know it. (grin)

I'll be watching for pictures too, they had to take SOME before they started celebrating their get together!

Annie

....any burnt pans?

Unfortunately, there are not many photos! A certain dog chewed up the cable for my camera, so I can't get anything transferred to my PC. CDL has a couple that she will post. She brought me a surprise bag of nifty kitchen related gadgets, the best of which must be these

The day started with a visit to my new house! I don't actually own it yet, but told my realtor I had an electrician giving me a bid, so he arranged for me and my electrician, CDL Inc., to get into the house :) The service from CDL was superb, and she solved a HUGE issue with my planned kitchen remodel! CDL Inc. went above and beyond by providing Mojitos! How's that for service?

Next was a stop at Breadsmith, for...you guessed it,

Next we tried to go to a retro furniture/stuff store, but it was closed. So we switched gears and went to the Cathedral Basilica St. Louis. It is known for its incredible mosaics, made up of over 41,000,000 glass tesserae tiles using over 8,000 shades of color. Embarrassingly enough, I grew up in St. Louis and didn't know about it until Diana (dlundin) visited here a few years back!

The last stop before dinner was Global Foods Market, one of the best International markets I've been to. I think CDL enjoyed it too.

We wound up the day at Las Palmas, a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. Mr. CDL met us there, and he is just as nice and interesting as Mrs. CDL. I felt like I'd known them both for years.

It really was a fun day. We only live about 3 1/2 hours apart, so we definitely plan to have future meet ups.

I have no doubt that CdL was able to apply her kitchen remodel skills to resolve some issues...that's what she does!

Works for me--I think documenting your itinerary and releasing it for future foodie visitors to enjoy is the way to go.

It sounds like a really fun day. Thanks for sharing it with us - I only wish I could have been there too.

Lee

Wow, there are those pastries again, you know you're going to tempt me to Missouri, don't you?

Everythnig sounds just like a perfect CF get together, the food, the shopping, more food, just right!

Annie

Yes, Annie, it WAS a perfect CF get-together! There was great, delicious food, as we grazed our way throughout the day, and never a moment when conversation lagged.

Weed was absolutely right right about the Maple Nut Goo. Goo is GOOD! I love the Goo, and will take every opportunity to eat Goo in the future. Yes, Silence Must Be Observed for full enjoyment to ensue. Weed thinks she may be in trouble as it's going to be very near her new house, but I think she just needs to embrace it, and develop a personal relationship with those who serve/sell. Leave a standing order so there will be Goo in reserve!

Carl's da bomb burgers? Oh yeah. 'Nuff said!

What a fun day we had! Since you're filled in on the details, what I wanted to add is how familiar Weed was to me, even though I'd never met her in person. I started thinking about ''Things Weed Has Taught Me'', which include:
The Problem with Framed Cabinets
How To Make A Clickable Link (I didn't learn that one very well, but I'm counting it anyway)
Cooling Food Quickly For Safety in the Kitchen
Maple Nut Goo is Grood
Famous Barr Onion Soup (a St. Louis Tradition) is Awesome, Including the Stringy Cheese on Top
and so many others!

I had the best time at her new house, wandering from room to room. Her house is very familiar to me, as it could almost come out of my own neighborhood. I will let her share the details of her home when she's ready, but I loved the feeling of the neighborhood and good house vibes. I always love a good ''before'' and ''after'' view, so I'm really looking forward to the changes she's going to make. You all know how I love to live vicariously (since I fully expect to be invited back you see!)

Here's a picture at Global Foods. Weed is buying baby bok choy, (even though she's holding dates!), and I bought some sharp swiss cheese, brown bread and KerryGold butter. She was telling me how her mom used to make sandwiches out of this, and of course I wanted to try it. I also bought Vanilla Bean Powder and enjoyed the shopping trip while trying not to feel bad we don't have anything remotely like it where I live. She also turned me onto Mexican sour cream and her favorite corn tortillas.

The Pork Chili Verde was delicious. I got hold of some peppers which burned the roots of my hair, but once I got over it, enjoyed it very much.

Here's our beloved Weed, looking great at the end of a very hot and mugly day. Yes, that is a margarita on the table, which is partially responsible for why there aren't more (or better) pictures. I simply didn't care by then.

I'm so happy to finally meet some of you! We talked about you all, only in the nicest way. I wish there were more of us in the midwest, but we did talk about a road trip to Des Moines to see about visiting Lindac. When the stars align, that could happen. But then, if any of you want to fly into St. Louis or Kansas City, it's not that far for either of us!

OK...I thought Weed was buying baby bok choy, but I don't remember now. (By that time, no one could blame me for not remembering anything! It must have been those ready-made mojitos I was carrying around in my bag.) Really, I'm sure nobody really cares about this, but I did want to note how beautiful the vegetables were at the Global Market. They were incredible, really!