citygarden

the other night one of my girlfriends and i went to a cardinals game to see the cards dominate the brewers. on our way back to the car i finally checked out the new citygarden in downtown saint louis.

two full city blocks in the heart of downtown designated as a sculpture park. it was incredible, can't wait to see it in the daytime. definitely worth a visit next time you are downtown.

smash.

recently heard about this store in des moines, smash, that has hilarious iowa t-shirts.

this one may be my favorite.

that's right. don't meth with iowa!

in case you can't read this -- it says, "iowa: wave next time you fly over."

pumpkin spice and everything nice.

pumpkin spice latte is baaaaccck!

even though it is supposed to reach 80 degrees today, this morning at 7:45 and about 63 degrees you better believe i was sipping on one of these. oh, the first glorious signs of fall!

image courtesy of starbucks.com

provisions and libations: napa valley

tomorrow katie and bryan hit napa on their trip across america. again, unsolicited i thought i would throw my two cents in from my trip to sf/napa in june.

rubicon

we loved rubicon for its' atmosphere. owned by the coppola family, this winery had gorgeous facility and rustic italian feel to it. on the second story of the main building is display cases full of movie memorabilia from francis ford coppola's films.

st. supery

st. supery was a blast. they had by far the friendliest and most entertaining employees that love talking about their wine. this winery also had the best tasting white wines of the wineries we visited.

bouchon

my friend kate who is originally from napa had told me about bouchon a long time ago. this restaurant was beautiful with the huge bouquet of red gladiolus when you walk in the door. we just wanted a little food to nosh on and soak up some of the wine so we sat at their gorgeous zinc bar. the food was incredible -- highly recommend the mac and cheese, it was so rich and delicious. while eating a full meal there would rack up a high bill, sitting at the bar drinking more wine and a few appetizers is quite feasible and strongly recommended.

after watching "best thing i ever ate" the other night on food network, i wish i would have ordered their salmon rillettes. do i really know what salmon rillettes are? no! but it did look like rich salmon-ey deliciousness you spread on bread. katie, if you go here order this!