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| Sophie with cousin Ashley at the St. Louis Zoo |
We left our home in Sweden around 4:45 in the morning and headed out to the airport on November 19th. Snow was falling as we drove to the airport and unfortunately, our flight to Stockholm was delayed 20 minutes, leaving my daughter and I only about 40 minutes to catch our flight to Chicago. We ran like hell just so we could make it on the flight....but we made it! Of course my daughter was dragging her feet so it made things a bit challenging. Luckily, a couple of different woman helped my daughter and I get to our gate just in time.
Finally, after around 20 hours of total travel time (starting when we left for the airport), we were welcomed by my mom and dad at the airport. It was good to be home again. That first night, we drove to Whole Foods to grab a quick bite, and my poor little girl Sophie ended up falling asleep in the car, and didn't wake up again until 2AM. We were both awake for an hour or so and finally, we fell back asleep.
Sunday morning I met with my bosses at my favorite meeting place - Bread Co. on Ballas.
I came home around 1pm and headed straight out to the Zoo (a must when visiting St. Louis). We had a great time checking out all the animals with my parents, sister, bro in law and my 1 year old niece. We shut down the zoo, and decided to grab a bite at Llewellyn's in the Central West End. I got the Llewellyn's Chicken Sandwich (amazing). As if the day wasn't complete enough, we headed out to Eureka to check out some light displays and meet Santa. We were all exhausted and were happy to have a good night's sleep. This was just my first day back.
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| The Girls..at Kobe |
Monday, after some conference calls relating to my job, I went to my old place of work at ReachLocal to catch up with friends. I was a bit surprised to see so many new faces, but luckily I was able to catch up with a few of my previous co-workers. That night, my girlfriends and I went to Kobe's for some good Hibachi food and wonderful conversation....(unfortunately, that place is pretty noisy so we caught up in the bar instead), while my daughter slept on the chair.
Throughout the week, we did a ton of shopping, kid friendly activities, and catching up with friends and family.
My daughter had her hitlist of things to do:
The Zoo
Incredible Pizza Company
Planet Fun for a playdate with her BFF Sam
Magic House
Jumping with Bungee Cord and Trampoline at the Mall
Butterfly House, Carousel, Faust Park
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| Fun at the Magic House |
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| Me and Sophie at the Butterfly House in Chesterfield |
We did all these things AND MORE in about a week - this is more activity than we've had in the last 6 months combined!
My hitlist was a little different;
Target (why is there no Target in Sweden?)The Mall- any mall will do just fine thank you....
Whole Foods
Oishi for Sushi
Hibachi at Kobe Steakhouse Westport
Dierdorf & Hart's for King Crab Legs
Pei Wei for Mandarin Kung Pao Chicken
Llewellyn's - Llewellyn's Chicken Sandwich
I took in as much of my favorite dishes as possible and it was awesome! Although my mother in law is a great cook, nothing compares to some of my faves in St. Louis. Although I could have shopped MUCH MUCH more I contained myself (slightly) anyway. I could have done some SERIOUS damage in the Macy's shoe department, however, I held back. Generally, things cost more in Sweden, so I was happy to stock up on some clothes for my two girls at Children's Place and Target.
We had great time with friends and family as well! We stayed part time with my parents so we got in a lot of time there, and later in the week, we stayed with my sister. It was wonderful catching up with my sister and bro in law, and of course, my little niece Ashley. Thanksgiving allowed us time to spend time with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. We ate, played, and surfed the web together!
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| Thankful for the iPhone at Thanksgiving 2010 |
My older brother Doug and his fiance' Heather also came in last weekend allowing (nearly) our whole family to be together..or course we missed Mikael and Maja. I spent two nights out with my girlfriends, one night out with "the boys" and had a dessert date with Kels.
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| Dinner at Jessi's |
Besides for missing my hubbie and youngest daughter like crazy, we had a fabulous trip. We definitely could have used another week or so there so we could have spent more time with everyone. That old saying..."Time flies when you're having fun" definitely applies to my recent trip home to St. Louis.
Until next time...
Brandi
