Sometimes you just can't catch a break. The past three times that I have flown home, one of my flights has been cancelled. I must hold some sort of record for number of flights cancelled or horribly delayed in one short life. I honestly feel sorry for any city I am flying in or out of, as once the universe hears of my travel plans, it is bound to be struck by some horrible weather front.

Last weekend was perhaps the worst travel experience to date. Minus the perhaps, plus the absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, holy heavens it was awful.

My flight departed on time from Laguardia, much to my surprise. I should have taken our timely departure as a sign of things to come - travel never goes that smoothly for me.

And behold, about an hour and a half into a non-descript flight our pilot got on the mike to inform us that we would be landing in Nashville. Uh...what?

Turns out, although the Cardinals were able to play downtown, the airport had suffered some damage in a storm and was not open for landing Friday or Saturday.

In tears, I headed to a hotel near the Nashville airport to spend the night. My long-suffering dad agreed to make the drive to Nashville the following morning to retrieve me.

After making the long drive from St. Louis to Nashville (and stopping in a Cracker Barrel in Middle-o-nowhere Kentucky, which is another story altogether) I finally arrived home exhausted, relieved, but still feeling slightly sorry for myself.

That is, until I noticed the day's paper on my kitchen counter. The cover featured a photograph of a young mother, visibly distraught, holding her baby in her arms, her house behind her more resembling a pile of lumber than a home.

The storm that I found merely irritating devastated much of the northern Saint Louis area. I was shocked to see how much physical damage the tornado caused, and very thankful that no serious injuries or deaths had been reported.

Alas, that calm did not last long as just a day after I returned to New York, severe floods hit the southern Saint Louis area, causing more physical damage and, unfortunately, taking several lives.

These incidents certainly humbled me; the minor inconveniences of my life pale in comparison with those who are struggling to put the pieces of their life back together.

The Red Cross and the United Way of Greater Saint Louis are teaming up to meet the needs of affected communities, please go to here to learn more about what you can do to support their efforts!

Today is awesome because...

Today is awesome because of this:

FREE coffee (...or tea) at Starbucks!!!

And also this:

Big Cats on the big screen!

And also because it is Good Friday (hello the word good is involved!) which I recently learned is technically the end of Lent - I gave up animal products so I will finally be able to enjoy this:

World's Greatest Pizza

Because incidentally I will also be here:

I'm from a city in the Midwest best city in the whole wide wide world

And even though the weather will be like this:

AWFUL

It's all good because we've got this on DVD:

All-time fave regardless of season

And these two faces:

I'm in your face because I Love You!

I can't open ma eyes!

our view at the start of the marathon - good morning Gateway Arch!

Running a marathon is sort of like turning a year older.

Something about you is different...but you don't necessarily feel different.

Tired, yes. Smelly, oh absolutely.

But different?

No, I'm just as dull as I was before.

I returned to the real world, not happily, last Tuesday, a "marathoner," having completed my first 26.2 in Saint Louis two days prior. I have to say that it was an amazing experience. The first 18 miles flew by and were filled with exciting, memory-inducing scenery (view of the Arch, Soulard - which smelled delicious - WashU, Forest Park, downtown Clayton, the Loop). Passing mile 20 I exited the famed "Loop" area and finished out the run on Delmar Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway. Like running on a highway. With hills. In the sweltering heat. And zero fans.

I take that back, I did have one fan, and that was the best kind of fan - the kind of fan who runs with you! For various reasons (shin splints, being an idiot, etc.) my brother did not complete the full marathon as planned, but he did graciously offer to run with me for a portion of the race. I don't think that when he joined me just before mile 20 that he realized he would be stuck with me for the duration, but alas, there we were, in a non-existent neighborhood on Forest Park Parkway and he had nowhere to escape to. Heh.

Honestly, the end of the marathon was so hilly and so morbidly boring that had he not been there, I likely would have started walking the uphills like the runners around me. So, many thanks to my brother for making sure that despite the undesirable weather and difficult terrain, I reached my goal of a sub-4 marathon and I am so excited to get out there and try another, hopefully even more sub-4 than the first. Selfishly, I'm glad that he did not run the marathon. If he had, we likely would not have run together and during those last 6 miles, I would have thought at least 1,000 suicidal thoughts and may have even acted upon one. Or two...I would probably be too tired to be successful the first go-around. But since he was able to run alongside me at the end of a grueling race, he did much more to support me running, and not offing myself. Win-win.

the finish line - as seen before the race began when I was a lame non-marathoner

Anyway, I really appreciated his support and family is invaluable and blah blah blah. It was fantastic hanging with the whole gang last weekend and I am so thrilled that I will be heading back this upcoming weekend to celebrate Easter. I gave up animal products for Lent so there are more than a few Easter sweets haunting my dreams...and Imo's pizza, which will undoubtedly be consumed in a frenzied state on Monday.

enjoying my free beer & marathoner-status...you just thank your lucky stars this photo isn't scratch & sniff!

In about two and a half weeks, I am returning to the motherland: St. Louis, Missouri. There I will be running a marathon with my misguided brother (seriously, how did I convince him to do this with me?), a friend from the city who's run approximately 123908 marathons and will SMOKE me, and some other people I don't know. I'm super excited to show my friend around town as she's never, ever been and is a huge Chicago fan. I'll have to turn her to the Lou-side. In a perfect world, we would have unlimited time (and unlimited appetites!) and get to enjoy all of the following:

D's Top 15 this-is-St. Louis-must-do's

1. See Chuck Berry perform on a Wednesday night at Blueberry Hill – and enjoy the eclectic Loop neighborhood.

2. Get a toasted ravioli appetizer from Gian-Tony’s on The Hill (and then eat dinner there. And then walk around the neighborhood and say hi to all the old Italian ladies sweeping their sidewalks)

3. Head up to North Saint Louis and order a chocolate malt from Crown Candy Kitchen. Don’t share it. What are you, on a diet or something? (and get a box of chocolates to bring home for a friend. It’s okay if the friend is actually you.)

4. Play in the outdoor playground at City Museum on Saturday night - they’re open until 1 am!

5. Go see Kim Massie perform (for only $5!) at the Beale on Broadway and dance your pants right off. Seriously. Off. I want to hear you got arrested for public indecency.

6. Get a screw-top bottle of wine, some friends and some solo cups and head to the Grand Basin at Forest Park. Bonus points if these friends are actually just one friend and it’s the sort of friend you kiss.

7. Wander around Laumeier Sculpture Park on a sunny afternoon (same details as #6, except during the day rather than at night.)

8. Order a pizza from Imo’s, any pizza, it’ll be good. Their salads are shockingly yummy also. Do not order any other entrée. Not that they’re bad, but really, why would you?

9. Spend the day (for free!) at the Zoo. If it gets too hot, go into the penguin & puffin exhibit! Under no circumstances should you pay the admission to go to the Insectarium. Trust me on this one. You should probably ride the train though.

10. Get frozen custard from Ted Drewes on historic Route 66. I recommend Cardinal Sin, but it's your life.

11. Pack a picnic dinner and head to a (free!) Wednesday summer night concert at the Botanical Gardens. All details from #6 also apply here. As long as you’re there and don’t have to pay an admission fee, go ahead and explore the gardens as well.

12. Go to the Art Museum (I like to call it SLAM but I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing, that’s just me). It’s free, and it’s probably hot outside, so you don’t really have an excuse.

13. Head to the Washington Ave art galleries on the first Friday of any month, and drink as much free wine as you can before you black out (bonus points if you: make up a drinking game for the occasion. meet the artist. hit on the artist. Actually black out: I’ve never done it but I imagine it would take some effort.) Eat free cheese and crackers until you turn into a cheese-and-cracker sandwich (perfectly acceptable to make this your dinner. Times are tough.) Oh yes, and enjoy the art.

14. Get family brunch [I use the term “family” here loosely – just bring anyone you like a lot] at Duff’s on a Sunday and enjoy the charming Central West End neighborhood.

15. If you learn one thing from this list, and one thing only, let it be this: GO TO A CARDINALS GAME. And root for the home team.

Honorable mentions: if you’re feeling healthy (weird), go to St. Louis Smoothie, have them take a Polaroid of you and put it on the wall (I recommend the “strawberry sensation” with protein powder. Also if you see a polaroid of me & my friends from Junior High, I'd appreciate it if you would just look the other way). Get a Gooey Butter Cake from Kaldi's because guess what Paula Deen did not invent that, St. Louis did. Get a Mississippi root beer float at Fitz’s Bottling Company. Go to “Margaritaville” at the Hacienda, eat your weight in home-made tortilla chips and salsa. Go to the brewery (you get a free beer. Are you noticing a trend here? No, it’s not booze, it’s “free things”). Get cheese fries at Carl’s Drive-in, or if you’re into meat, get cheese fries and a burger, but do get the cheese fries. Save up your appetite and have the lunch buffet at King Doh. Go to the Chocolate Bar and sit outside – perfect for dates, girls’ nights, heck even baby-sitting. Go to my grandmother’s house and swim in her pool – seriously, it’s like, really hot outside. And lastly, go to my house, and play with my dogs.

I realize hair stylists can be expensive but...

I've been meaning to say something for quite some time, but I've been holding my tongue.

Ombre?

It's called roots.

Go to the salon.

So I never claimed to be normal. One of the reasons I so unfortunately cannot make that claim is my partiality to the big cat family. Lions, Tigers, Cougars (heh), Leopards, Cheetahs - you get the point.

I'm actually only a fan of big-cat themed teams.

Oddly, I more or less despise small cats - tabbies, abyssinians, siamese - no thank you.

Anyway, I recently made a friend who has a similar passion for large kitties. We occasionally text message each other exciting big cat news. Or sometimes just “Roar!” We know what we mean.

Last week, I received a text message from my Big Cat friend asking for my e-mail address. Shortly thereafter, he forwarded me an e-mail offer for discounted tickets to the new documentary “The Last Lions,” asking if I wanted to go.

Did I want to go?

DOES JAMES BROWN GET DOWN?

Yes. and yes.

And now I am here to encourage you to follow in my footsteps and see this film.

It was amazing. An epic visual and emotional journey through the life of a lioness. Who is, simply put, the big cat’s pajamas.

The movie tells the tale of the lioness as a mother and the relationships portrayed are oddly human, the drama and story arc far more moving than a scripted story, and no matter how ferocious the action was at any given moment, let’s be honest, those lions are still adorable.

terrifying! and...awwww.

The main moral of the tale is that while life as a single mom is never easy (can I get an amen?!), the encroachment of humans adds even greater hardship to the animals of Africa.

In order to support these truly magnificent, fascinating, deeply emotional and snuggly creatures, please visit the National Geographic’s Cause an Uproar big cats initiative site.

I just imagined a world without big cats, and it is not a world this girl would wish to live in.

AMERICA DAY. It’s here. I wait for it during the other 364 days of the year - it’s like Christmas to me, but hot. There are so many wonderful things that occur on the 4th of July - stunning fireworks displays, delicious BBQ, a long weekend, families gathering, often from afar - but the very greatest thing is that everyone is so excited about one thing: the birth of the United States of America, and all of the ideals that our fine nation was founded on.

As a reminder that America is more than beer, homeruns and Tim McGraw (sometimes I really do forget), I popped into the New York Public Library to view the various copies of the Declaration of Independence that they put on display each year at this time (strikingly similar to how they also put out a Christmas tree every winter - see it is just like Christmas!).

In the tiny Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III (not like that's pretentious at all) gallery on the main floor of the library you will find a copy of the Declaration, which is actually quite diminutive in size, surrounded by printings of the Declaration in various news outlets of the time. I found myself reading almost all of these papers, although the Declaration was the same, word for word, in each one.

I was struck not only by how comfortingly familiar the first sentences were, but by how very thorough the Declaration is and how very eloquently the argument is articulated. If anybody actually reads this blog, they can witness it as evidence of how much American writers have deviated from this high standard of prose. I use humor (at least that's what I call it, you might call it bor-ing) and candor not only to make an argument, but also as a sort of defense mechanism to demonstrate that none of the opinions here are fiercely held and the writing is not necessarily "flawless."

The Declaration of Independence, in contrast, uses thoughtfully considered language to say, "Absolutely not, England. And furthermore, jump off a cliff King George." This document demonstrates not only the tenacity of the American people, but our high intellectual capabilities. There is a sentence one doesn't hear terribly often anymore, as we are continually reminded that despite our exorbitant wealth as a nation, we are falling far behind in standards of education, linguistic capabilities, and overall impressions of intelligence. And height, which is alarming on another level and which I will discuss in a later post.

So this year, to honor the land that I love and the dead white guys who founded it, I encourage Americans not only to toss back a few cold ones, but also to expand their minds. I, for one, will be borrowing my little roommate's book, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion in an effort to prevent my brain from actually resembling scrambled eggs both in consistency and in ability to accomplish...anything. (Thanks E.) I hope you do the same (not read the same book - although if you wanted to start a book club with me that would be okay) and be proud to be an American.