Michelle's Bonfire

Michelle had a birthday bonfire at her house last weekend. Well, it wasn't so much a bonfire as a fire pit.

The weather was hot, but there was cold beer and yummy food. I made quesadilla rolls, Michelle made chicken wings, her mom made ice cream-less sundae (It was a big sugar cookie baked on a baking stone with whipped cream, bananas, strawberry jam, pineapple, and chocolate shavings), and there were hot dogs, s'mores, chips, and lots of canned beer. Year round our fridge is stocked with canned beer from float trips, Mardi Gras parties, etc., and we can't seem to get rid of it. Every time we have an event that requires canned beer, we bring what we have, buy another case for some reason (it's always Tara's idea), and end up coming home with more beer than we brought. We never drink canned beer at our house!! And then, because it ruins beer when you make it cold and then let it get hot and then try to ice it down again, we just leave it in the fridge, letting it take up valuable space. I think Tara and I should have a canned beer party, buy some koozies, and tell people free beer and jello shots if they just drink the damn canned beer!

Anyway, Michelle had some leftover fireworks. Nothing big, just smoke bombs, sparklers, and black snakes. They decided to have a black snake race. Michelle stacked her four one on top of the other, but couldn't get them lit in time and lost.


The party was just getting started when I had to leave at 11:30. There were lots more people that showed up after I left and it was just winding down when I picked my sister up at 3 in the morning.

Overall, I think it was considered a successful get-together.

2008 Illinois State Fair

So this is what the Illinois State Fair looks like at 9:45 in the morning on the Saturday after the opening. For the first time in years it wasn't the-sun-hates-you-and-is-going-to-burn-you-alive hot. And finally we were smart enough to start early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

This is the infamous butter cow. Supposedly the Illinois State Fair has shown one since the 1960's. The Iowa State Fair does this, too. Supposedly it's cooler.

The other great part of going to the fair early is getting in two meals instead of one. This was my breakfast. A cream puff for only $4.50.

It was yummy. The next stop was the University of Illinois cow barn to pay $1 to milk a cow. I think I was the oldest person ever to milk a cow there. Milking a cow feels really weird and a little pervy.

For my $1 donation that benefits the University of Illinois Dairy Club, I got an ice cold milk ($.50 value) and a button. The milk was the best I've tasted in years.

Here's a new fact I found out at the FFA (Future Farmer's of America) tent,(where they didn't give me a free "future FFA" sticker like they were giving to every other kid). I decided to pair the "Fun Farm Fact" with a picture of the cows in the University of Illinois dairy barn.

From there we headed to the pig place. Here's a picture of some cute kid that was showing pigs while we walked by. That pig probably outweighed him by almost 100 pounds. Don't worry, he had some help from his big brother while showing the pig.

Next we headed to Conservation World. Lots of interesting stuff. We stopped and watched a glass blowing demonstration from artists from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. They made a glass fish and were very entertaining while doing it.

Next was my favorite spot, The goat building. I guess they don't show goats until next week because there weren't many there, but those that were there were very cute. I wanted to take one home.

We walked around some more. We stopped by the Artisan's building. Lots of talented people were showing there. I found a $1600 turtle I wanted to take home. Too bad I don't have $1600.

Then we went to the Exhibition hall. I love all the useless crap they sell there. It's like a huge gift shop. My sister and I bought a clutch purse (one for each, not one to share). Then it was time for the best part of the fair. The cheese dog. My sister got a boring corn dog. I got a cheese dog for $3.50. It looks like a corn dog, but instead of the hot dog, you get warm, gooey, molten cheddar cheese in the middle. It's tastes like an awesome grilled cheese.

The trick to eating them is to turn them over while they are still hot, twist and remove the stick, then eat the cheesy goodness hole first. If you eat it like a corn dog, then concoction will slide down the stick and then you'll throw the stick away anyway and then you are stuck with corn bread that has cheese oozing out of two holes. Needless to say, it's much easier to eat it my way.

Last but not least, is dessert...or breakfast. 22 mini donuts for $5.00. I could get these every weekend at the Soulard Farmer's Market, but it just wouldn't be the same.

Did I mention I'm in the middle of a diet competition at work right now? Yeah, that's right, I ate all this and still lost a pound this week.

Daniel Silva Book Signing

On Tuesday, my mother's favorite author, Daniel Silva, was in St. Louis for a book signing. I've only been to two book signings in my life and they were both with Daniel Silva. He's a very entertaining guy. Lots of funny anecdotes about his travels for his book.

His latest book is Moscow Rules. Here's a description:

The extraordinary new Gabriel Allon thriller from one of the world's finest writers of international intrigue and espionage. The violent death of a journalist leads agent turned art-restorer, Gabriel Allon to Russia. Here he finds that in terms of spycraft, the stakes are the highest they've ever been. He's playing by "Moscow Rules" now. It is not the grim Moscow of Soviet times, but a new Moscow, awash in oil wealth and bulletproof Bentleys. A Moscow where a new generation of Stalinists is plotting to reclaim an empire lost, and to challenge the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States. One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB agent who has built a global investment empire on the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hidden within that empire is a lucrative and deadly business. Kharkov is an arms dealer - and he is about to deliver Russia's most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda. Unless Allon can learn the time and place of the delivery, the world will see the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11 - and the clock is ticking fast. Filled with rich prose and breathtaking turns of plot, Moscow Rules is at once superior entertainment and a searing cautionary tale about the new threats rising to the East - and Silva's finest novel yet.

Here's a picture of him at the signing. And another one, borrowed from his website.