End of a Journey: St. Louis Lasts

Date: November 13, 2016

Author: astottler

It’s my last FULL weekend in St. Louis! Where the heck did the time go?? I’m both excited to go home for the holidays and sad to leave this city.

The title of this post (the journey) refers mainly to the thing I planned my entire Satuday around. But we’ll get there.

First on the agenda? A morning run. I’ve been wanted to run along the river but never got around to it, so today was the day! I went to bed super early the night before, so I was wide awake and ready to face the day at 6am.

Brrrr. Hard to imagine how hot it was last time I was down around there, my very first weekend in St. Louis.

I did my usual 3 miles, enjoying the sights of this city I’ve called home for the past few months.

Then, it was time to hit up my final coffeeshop of the list. Mississippi Mud House. I’ve been putting this one off since it’s downtown and that seemed like it required more effort. But like I said, I made a day of it. I ended up parking about half a mile from the coffeeshop, near where I was going to get lunch. I love walking around cities, on during the chilly early morning (like 8:45am).

The place had a cool vibe. It was in the front of an art gallery.

Of course, I got a decaf cappuccino.

This was probably the one of the best milk foams. I could tell the milk used was really high quality. The cappuccino was a little milky, which was what I was in the mood for, but I do have to dock a few points for style. I would maybe rank this just under Rise? The flavor wasn’t super deep.

But as I’ve finished my coffee tour of St. Louis, expect a full recap coming up! My Tuesday studying will be a little victory lap.

It felt good to start my morning with some productivity though!

My caffeine tolerance is sad. I don’t know what it is, but lately I’ve been feeling the caffeine even with decaf (and I’m sure it’s decaf). I can’t go through more than half a cup before feeling it.

After coffee I walked through the city to lunch. It was chilly so I decided to go back a block over in the sun, and ran into City Park!

Lunch on that chilly day was hot soup from Bread Co. (Panera in St. Louis). I got the Autumn Squash soup.

While I was downtown, it did occur to me that I should probably visit Anheuser-Busch before I leave St. Louis. I went home and showered and then arrived at the brewery.

They offer complimentary 45 minutes tours of the facilities and the production process, complete with free sampling.

We even got to see the Clydesdales! I love them.

From there, we started touring the facilities and learning about beer making.

We had the option of tasting Budweiser Select or Bud Light. Why would you ever choose Bud Light?? I think it’s a step up from Coors Light though.

I won’t pretend like I understand beer making, so enjoy some pictures!

At the end of the tour we got to choose any beer on tap to “sample” (I use quotes because it was a full glass). I went with Spaten. Not bad, but I like the dark Spaten better.

TO be honest, Budweiser isn’t my favorite beer. It seems a little bit water to me. That being said, at the Crossfit night out last weekend, I talked to a fellow Crossfitter who worked for Anheuser-Busch, and he brought up the point that Budweisser is really good for its style. And I’ve decided that that’s fair. It’s crisp, and not bad for a ballgame, but I personally like a little more complexity.

My next stop was to pick up some GF cannoli. Right??? I stopped by Piccone Pastry. They have tons of flavors, and they’ll fill the GF shell with whatever you want! I got a sea salt caramel and a chocolate chip.

I also picked up some tea at Blueprint across the street.

For dinner, I kept it on the light side because I fully intended on filling up on cannoli. I made avocado toast and cooked up my honeynut squash from Trader Joe’s. I bought this a few weeks ago because I thought it was cute and since it was small, it seemed like the perfect single girl’s squash. I was planning on microwaving it to soften it enough to cut, and then roast, but apparently 5 minutes was enough to make it totally soft. And then for some reason just turning on the janky oven here was enough to set off the fire alarm so that was out. I ended up finishing it up by sautéing it in a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I cut my cannoli in half in case I actually felt like using portion control but you better believe I devoured them.

I spent the first part of the evening watching Clueless, curled up with Scooby.

Then I went to watch a horror movie (Insidious) with my zoo buddy. I brought the last of my Oktoberfest beer. I had it in my bag with my wallet, keys, etc, and as I was getting out of my car, I dropped my bag and one of the bottles exploded. I was literally pouring beer out of my wallet. My bag was dripping and full of glass shards. Luckily, 2 of the 3 were spared, but my wallet and everything in it was a sloppy mess. I actually got a new wallet today, which was probably needed anyways! But everything smells like Oktoberfest (which thankfully is more pleasant than average beer).

Sunday morning I went to an Olympic Lifting class at Crossfit. They just got a new coach to teach it! I’ve been Olympic Lifting for over 6 years now, and in that time my focus on it has come and gone. I don’t work on my lifts as consistently with Crossfit (which I’ve been doing for over 3 years now) because we have so many other focuses, but I did work with my original trainer again last summer, and I got really strong and my technique improved greatly. I PRed all my Oly lifts last summer. Between my shoulder and my foot injuries, these lifts have kind of fallen by the wayside.That being said, I have pretty good technique. One thing the coach helped me on a lot was the position out of the bottom of my snatch, which is my weak point. I’m actually easy stronger from the hang than the ground, just because my position isn’t where it should be. He instructed me to arch my back more at the bottom, start with my hips a little higher, and bring the bar in closer to my shins. This worked to created a straight plane for the bar to move in, and it felt like it was flying up! My clean and jerk is definitely stronger for me (technique and weight-wise) so there were fewer comments for that!

I ran some errands afterwards including getting a flu shot, and made a quick lunch of avocado toast and pizza eggs (marina+cheese).

After lunch, I picked up my coworker and we drove out to Defiance, Missouri’s wine country.

We went to Sugar Creek Winery.

We did a $4 tasting, which included 4 samples and a wine glass. I went with all whites, plus the blackberry.

I sampled the Vidal, the Boone Country, the peach, and the blackberry. All were delicious, with light flavors. Plus, the company wasn’t too bad!

We got a bottle of the Boone Country to share while chatting and enjoying the scenery.

This was on the sweeter side and it was pretty easy to drink. So, how does MO wine compare to CA wine? I talked to a wine distributer about this at the Crossfit night out, and I think I agree with his assessment that CA is better for the price. These were also all lighter flavors than a lot of CA wines. I’m going wine tasting in Napa over Thanksgiving so I guess I’ll have a direct comparison!

And now I’m on the couch. I wasn’t planning on being here for the rest of the night BUT i’m currently under 2 kitties. Yoyo decided to join me halfway through this post. He really wanted to settle on my laptop, which was a problem. Now he’s on my belly and my laptop is lodged in the space between 2 kitties. I’ll miss these boys.

That’s all for now! I’ll catch you guys later!

Day in the Life: Fall 2016

Date: October 13, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

It’s that time again! Day in the life!

5:45am: FREAKING YOYO. We were both feeling sad the night before (post-baseball blues. As heartbreaking as it was, I honestly think the Cubs were the better team and deserved to win, that’s just not how you want to go down…) so I let him sleep with me. Around 5:45 he got sweet and especially restless and wouldn’t stop walking across my face and chest.

6:15: Alarm goes off.

6:45: Leave for 3 mile run. It’s dark in the mornings! Also chilly! Upper 40s.

The run actually felt better than expected! I basically always do the same 3 mile route. I live in a good neighborhood but there isn’t a ton of space to go in different directions. I also am pretty much limited to 3 miles right now. I spent so much time on my feet and walking at work that my stress fracture spot sometimes gets a little sore if I pass 3. And I’m ok with that for now. Decent speed though! Good negative splits—I’ll take it!

7:20ish: Make and eat breakfast. I’m in the mood for a flapjacked muffin, so I eat a S’mores one with mango.

The key to these is to slightly undercook them so they stay gooey and don’t get tough!

7:45: Pack lunch for the day.

7:50am: Shower and get ready; pack up my bag.

8:25: Run out the door and drive to work.

8:45: Arrive at the zoo!

I was at a colder part of the zoo this morning, and was determined not to be cold. I packed layers on layers. Fleece lined long sleeves, sweatshirt, fleece north face, gloves.

9:00: My day officially begins! I walk to my first observation, and see one of the cheetahs! They weren’t out much earlier this fall so it still feels like a treat to see them!

Then it’s time for my first observation.

Somali Wild Asses.

10:30: Our next observation is cancelled due to construction so we head back by way of the warm bird house.

And then it’s back to the lab to work.

12:00: Lunchtime! I haven’t managed to fully warm up so I’m grateful for my soup! I made it Tuesday night, another wing it recipe, but the same as before.

Chicken, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, soy sauce, asparagus. Essentially. I added a little coriander too for some warmth, because why not?

I also had a few sweet potato tortilla chips and some Vans Say Cheese GF crackers.

1:00: Lunch is over, back to work!

2:00: Next observation starts.

3:00

4:00: Snack!

5:00: Off for the day! After some debating, I decided to go to Crossfit. Like I said before, I’ve been suffering a little bit with post-baseball blues and wanted something fun to do after work. I ripped my finger doing toes to bar and snatches the previous day. (I also hit 110# for 1 RM thrusters…I was happy with that!)

This is the time of year when I start to look like a weather confused CA girl. Shorts. 2 jackets. It’s cool.

5:15: Arrive at Crossfit, and sit in my car for a few minutes before heading in.

5:30-6:30: Crossfit!

For strength, we did 1 rep max weighted ring dips. Which for me was find the lightest band, because ring dips are not my strong point.

Anytime I see pull ups in a WOD, I try to make it. It’s one of my newer skills, so I have fun with them! This workout was 50 pull ups, 75 push jerks, and 100 front squats. You work every other minute and rest every other minute. I was a little worried about my torn finger, but as I learned in the middle of my workout the previous day, I found the best possible place to tear a finger. I made it through! I used 55#.

6:45: Make dinner! You know I have to snack while I cook.

7:00: Dinner on the table. Nothing crazy here. Avocado toast, scrambled eggs (1 whole+1 white+milk) with Irish cheddar, and spinach with nutritional yeast, coriander, and garlic.

I ate while watching Netflix. I’m watching the United States of Tara, which is about a woman with DID. The way the show is done reminds me a little bit of OITNB.

Dessert: a few GF cookies. These new ginger cookies from Trader Joe’s +WOW chocolate chip.

7:30: Start to watch the Dodger-Nationals game. I stream it while cleaning up my room a little bit. It’s SO good to watch baseball again, and while I do care about the outcome of this game, it’s not the same type of crazy stress as with the Giants. (My superstitions were getting a little ridiculous for our games. Knock on wood by knocking on my head, then Yoyo’s head, then hand on Yoyo for the pitch. #noshame)

8:00: Start this post while watching the game+snacktime.

I have some of these+snap pea crisps+pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds.

9:30: Start Saturday’s spin class while watching baseball, and continue this post.

Somewhere 10-11: Bedtime!

Guess What?

Date: August 28, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I have some weekend fun as well as some news to share! Let’s get into it, shall we?

Overall, my weekend was a good mix of fun, active, and relaxing. It’s SO nice to not have so much going on right now. There was lots of this involved:

Friday at the zoo I was outside for 5 hours in crazy humid heat, so I was looking forward to a night of air conditioning, netflix, and kitties!

Plus, I wanted to be well rested for Saturday morning! I had a spin teaching audition at a local studio. I wasn’t sure if I was going to try and teach while I’m here, but when I looked around for some classes to go to, I found that the studio was looking for instructors. Perfect! Saturday morning I taught a class as my audition, and I got the job! It was a blast, and even though it hasn’t really been that long, it was great to be teaching again (it’s been <2 weeks…).

I’ve always wanted to teach at an actual boutique spin studio, and I have my own weekly class+subbing. One adjustment though is that the classes are an hour long, and I’ve actually only taught 45 minute classes. I had to pace myself a little bit there! I was pretty beat and hungry after the 9:30 class, so I found the nearest Starbucks in hopes they had my favorite chocolate smoothie. Not all Starbucks have the chocolate banana protein smoothies, but they’re delicious! I got it with some cheddar chickpea chip things for carbs.

Afterwards, I cleaned myself up and relaxed for a few hours before braving the heat at the Festival of Nations, one of the best festivals (and free!) in St. Louis every year. It’s a really cool international festival in Tower Park, and there’s food from every country pretty much that you can buy, plus music and crafts. I went with my roommate and her friends who are all Brazilian, and we arrived just in time to see the Brazilian band play.

I got Brazilian food, of course. I don’t remember the name of the dish, but I got chicken over rice with cashew gravy, collard greens, and some type of yuca based side.

As you might recall, it’s still unclear if I’m minority allergic to cashews or not, so maybe this will be a good test!

We stayed at the festival for quite a while, and then the lightning began. No rain though!

We all headed home to clean up a little bit before going out to dinner and drinks somewhere in the Tower Grove area, I believe. I’m REALLY trying to figure out what all the neighborhoods are!

Sunday morning, I was up pretty early to go back to the spin studio to take another instructor’s class. I’m trying to drop in to a few classes to get a sense for the different instructor’s styles. It was a fantastic class, and I found myself working VERY hard! Lots of time in the saddle, which I tend to love.

After class, I went back to Starbucks for another chocolate smoothie. It’s the perfect thing after a workout, during that awkward 10:30am between meal times hour.

I actually felt like today was a day I was almost constantly eating. After dealing with my rental car stuff, I came home for what I guess I would call lunch? I kind of pieced together what I wanted+what I felt I needed. I had a little appetizer of spinach and cheese. Why not, right? Plus frozen grapes.

And then had a chocolate chunk flapjacked muffin. I’m a big fan of these, especially now that I discovered when you undercook them slightly, they taste like lava cake!

Then, a little later I had half of a big Bobo’s Oat bar, in Cinnamon Raisin.

I spent the afternoon doing little things around the house (like laundry) before deciding I should at least get out a little bit. I decided to grab my book and check out another coffee shop on my list. Today’s choice was Rise Coffee House in the Grove area.

It had a nice atmosphere. It had the feel of a good quality coffee shop, but less hipster than Blueprint.

Of course, I had my standard drink, a decaf cappuccino. I’m trying to stay consistent for my first pass through the list to be as objective as possible. Plus, that is by far my favorite drink!

The verdict? It was good! It was not quite as deep and complex of a flavor as Blueprint, but I could tell it was quality. I would say I liked Blueprint more, but if you want a less strong flavor, you might like this better!

Finally, it was time for dinner. I made an omelette with goat gouda, italian herbs, and spinach, and served it with sunbutter and jam on toast and a salad with goat cheese, craisins, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Other snacks for the night included a Yasso sea salt caramel bar, and one of these new Target finds, a chocolate chip granola bar. It’s simple, but delicious! For some reason, the flavor reminds me of a donut!

And that’s a wrap! I have a pretty active day planned tomorrow. I’m making my triumphant return to Crossfit post-busted hand (it’s definitely still quite limiting but I think the workout should be doable), and then in the evening I think I’m going to drop in on the spin class I will eventually be taking over!

What is your favorite ethnicity of food?

St. Louis

Date: August 22, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

App is submitted. I’m in St. Louis! I’ve spent the last 1.5 days settling in. So we’re going to do a little photo recap.

Airport—off to the next adventure!

I have this uncanny ability to always have the furthest gate, but the advantage is when changing planes I get to see every food option in the airport. Salad with roasted corn, grapes, goat cheese, chicken, agave champagne vinaigrette.