Photo by MilliGFunk Photography

Even though it’s beginning to feel like it’s been a long time since I lived in Brooklyn, I still miss the arts scenes there. Taking the photography my husband gave me as a birthday gift through Bemis School of Art challenges me to continue to grow in how I executive my creative ideas.

I may not be exposed (punny, huh?) to the best art in the world in Colorado like I was in New York, but I still strive to live a creatively meaningful life. I wanted that to come through in our elopement ceremony and I want it to be apparent when you enter our home.

Photo by Jon Collins

For the ceremony, I created all of our flowers, made my veil, and wore sparkly white canvas TOMs wedding shoes.

Photo by Jon Collins

One week before our wedding, we were told unexpectedly by our realty management company, Advanced Realty Concepts, that our lease would be terminated early at no cause of our own,  just before my husband’s deployment to Afghanistan. So in the midst of final plans for our ceremony and hosting our families who were visiting from four different states, we had to find a new place to live.

Two weeks later, we’ve moved into our new place, but I’m taking my time and being very intentional about how we decorate and organize our new home. It may not be a brownstone in Brooklyn, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come home at night to a place that inspires us.

I miss my friends who live in other places, but I feel closer to them when we share music and food. So on this lovely Monday morning, I’m listening to music by Portugal, the Man, recommended to me by my friend Factor as I eat breakfast that also reminds me of good friends.

Photo by MilliGFunk Photography - Taken at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, CA

My toast was made of fresh bread from a Colorado Springs bakery called Great Harvest Bread Company with jam I picked up from happy girl kitchen co. on a visit to see my best girls in San Francisco. To top it off, I’m drinking French coffee I bought from Colorado Springs’ Colorado Coffee Merchants, a roaster I took my best friend to when she visited me in Colorado in November.

With the Girls in Napa - Photo by HubbyGFunk

When you cultivate a life in which the little things are meaningful, the big things (like deployments and unexpected moves)  have less power to throw you off course, and geography feels like less of a barrier between you and the people you love.

Whether it’s locally-made bread or wearing TOMs in your wedding; making your own flowers or appreciating the sentiment behind a gift from a friend, I hope you’ll take a moment today to find peace in a little thing or two that make you happy.

Wildwood Farmers Market, photo by Bruce Clithero

Guest Post by Bruce Clithero

A local TV station recently aired the special “Cutting Edge Fighting Fat”.

About one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese, and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. One of seven low-income, preschool-aged children is obese. You don’t have to look far to find statistics.

Because there is a direct relationship to the food you eat and your health a fantastic way to take a stand against obesity in Missouri is to eat locally grown foods. We are blessed in the St. Louis area with the many markets and natural food stores. I shop at one of the many local Farmers Markets every week.  Some of my favorites are Wildwood, Ellisville and Maplewood. You can find a local grocery store, farmers market or farm near you on localharvest.org.

Ellisville, Missouri Community Farmers Market, photo by Bruce Clithero

My challenge to you is to eat naturally grown food that comes from a garden or a farm that has not been modified to resist pests or has had chemicals added to ward off diseases.

If you want to take it a step further (and get some extra exercise), you can even grow your own food. If you need help with your own garden, call up your friends, family, your neighbor or tweet with me to find helping hands.

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Bruce Clithero is a fresh food advocate who’s interested in sustainable farming, helping busy people, entrepreneurship, and loving life. Follow Bruce on Twitter of visit his business website, Concierge Services of St. Louis.

Pikes Peak Community Cupboard, photo by MilliGFunk

On Sunday afternoon, we attended our first food swap hosted by Pikes Peak Community Cupboard at Care and Share – a food bank for southern Colorado - in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I’d never attended a food swap before, and I was on an absolute high by the end of this one. The event drew 20 or 30 people total, about half of whom brought items for swap, barter and trade.

Fresh Tomatoes, photo by MilliGFunk

I saw fresh cut flowers from one woman’s garden, home made soaps and oils, fresh produce from several different family’s gardens, hand-crafted jewelry, and an assortment of home-canned jellies, jams and preserves.

Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes, photo (and cupcakes) by MilliGFunk

I baked homemade vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan butter cream frosting (both made using recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) and vegan chocolate sprinkles. I packaged the cupcakes in pretty boxes and wrappers I found at Michael’s craft store, placing them on the table for trade, four cupcakes per box.

I also brought eight hand-made greeting cards featuring my own black and white photography. I bundled the cards together in two groups of four. Next to each of my items, I placed a swap sheet – a small piece of paper listing my name, the items available for swap, ingredients included in baked goods, and a number of blank spaces where other traders could write down their own names and what they were willing to swap for my goods.

I was surprised that my cupcakes were only bargained for by one woman, while my greeting cards were significantly more popular. To be honest, it was exhilarating to see so many people’s names listed on the greeting cards. Who knew that my photos would be so well-liked? It was exciting!

The swap lasted for approximately two hours, during which time we mingled with other swappers, tasted samples of edibles, and checked out the goods available for swap with the people who’d shown interest in swapping for our cupcakes and cards.

Fresh Produce, photo by MilliGFunk

At the end of the swap, we came home with a huge bag of fresh produce and herbs as well as a beautiful pair of hand-crafted earrings made by a Colorado Springs company called Busy Little Beaders. I can’t wait for the October swap!

I’ll be watching for other events organized by Kathya Ethington, the woman who organizes the PPCC. Here’s her blog post on this week’s swap. Give her photography some love if you have time – she’s got an amazing set of skills for food photography, and I think you’ll be impressed by her capture of color and light.

To learn more about Pikes Peak Community Cupboard, visit them online.

I was graced with the good company of several friends who also blog, tweet, and Yelp! about St. Louis-area restaurants; @offeatenpathstl, @4leafclovergirl, @gotarchoptions, @stllegend, @misseinstein007, @tojosan and @nanna_j.

Because I move to Colorado in a week, this dinner was a bittersweet one for me. It’s unlikely that I’ll have dinner with my St. Louis friends again before I hit the highway for the day-long trip to Colorado Springs.

Bridge has a big city meets country cabin kind of feel on the inside. Dark hardwood floors, and a beautiful bar with floor-to-ceiling shelves of wines and beers behind it, give the bar a polished and contemporary feel. Chandeliers made of tree branches and a lofted dining area make the space feel cozy and warm.

Our group was seated quickly and easily just before our 6:00 meetup time, and drink orders at the table ranged from my own Argentinian Malbec to a green apple cider and various beer selections from my companions. Having forgotten my own camera, I didn’t try to take pictures of the wonderful vegan bread and oil that were served prior to our entrees.

The menu was – surprisingly, considering the restaurant’s location and trendiness – reasonably priced. I ordered the Cuba, Missouri sandwich as a tribute to my Small Town Missouri heritage, and it was wonderful. In between two fresh buns were mojo roasted pork, ham, emmenthaler, pickles and mustard. On the side were St. Louis’s own Billy Goat Chips. All of this for $8. (For the record, the Malbec I ordered was also $8).

The space was a little bit loud, which made conversation at a table of eight guests nearly impossible. The service was great though, and the  manager stopped me on my way out to make sure that I had been pleased with the meal. He also gave me a tip-off that Bridge will be featuring a new menu soon. If you live in St. Louis, it might be worth checking out.

Bridge remains one of my favorite St. Louis bar destinations for its huge selection of imbibements. Bridge serves more than 200 beers, 55 of which are on tap. There are also more than twenty wines by the glass and over a hundred total wines.

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Bridge Wine Bar & Tap House is located at 1004 Locust Street in St. Louis Missouri. For more information about Bridge, visit their website.

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From the evening’s other blogger guests:

Tojosan’s Blog Post
Tojosan’s Photostream
Nanna_J’s Photostream

This event is open to any St. Louis area food bloggers or social media friends who’d like to join us, but it would be helpful if you would RSVP by commenting here that you’d like to attend. If we end up with more than just a small group, I’ll make a reservation for our group in advance.

What: A Blogger’s Dinner Meetup
Who: St. Louis Food Bloggers (and Social Media Friends)
Where: Bridge (1004 Locust Street, St. Louis)
When: Friday, August 12th
What Time: 6 p.m.

R.S.V.P. by leaving a comment

While I’ve only had the cheese plate and drinks at Bridge, I really enjoyed the restaurant’s wine and beer selection and its interior decor. If you’ve not eaten at Bridge yet, please consider joining us for this Food Bloggers’ Meetup.

RFT Web Awards, image credit the Riverfront Times

I haven’t owned a television since 1999, and I’m pretty content that way. Occasionally, however, something will be televised that I really do want to see. Last night’s State of the Union Address was one of those things. As a result, I paid my parents an overnight visit, borrowing their t.v. and enjoying breakfast with them this morning before heading to work.

Breakfast is what I really want to write about – not television. As I wrote about in the Insider573 January/February issue, my dad was raised on a cattle farm, and my cousins, my brother and I spent a lot of time on the farm as kids. I grew up eating fresh beef for dinner several nights a week, and enjoying big farm-style breakfasts on the weekends.

Now that my mom stays at home again, she’s gone back to fixing farm-style breakfasts several days each week. Last night we had rib eyes for dinner, and I woke up this morning to fried eggs, fried potatoes, fresh apple slices, sausage, gravy and leftover steak.

After breakfast, I laced up my hiking boots and put on a fleece. Well-fed this morning, I’ll go about my small town day in my small town way in small town Missouri. Today is a Milli kind of day.

Tonight, however, the Funk will come out, because tonight is the RFT’s Web Awards event. A Small Town Girl’s Guide is a finalist in the Web Awards under the “Best Personal Blog” category, and I’ve been invited to the RFT’s private Web Awards party tonight to celebrate.

This my life – a constant blend between country and city; small town and down town, farm-style breakfasts and private parties; Milli and Funk. And you know what? It’s a pretty great life.

I wanted to go somewhere that, if I’d had a travel companion that day, would have said, “Are you SURE about this??”

And I would have said, “Definitely, you’ll see. Come on!”

The Dutzow Deli was just that kind of place. It was the only business visible at the edge of the village of Dutzow, and at first glance, the deli looking remarkably like a doublewide trailer.

Inside the deli, I found concrete floors, simple tables and a bar. I wasn’t at all surprised when the sandwich I ordered for lunch was awesome.

I can’t remember now what I ordered, but it involved meat and thousand island dressing, and it was very messy. It was like a Reuben, but not quite. And did I mention that it was really good?

The Dutzow Deli Sandwich

I could have driven on to Washington, Missouri to eat at a more established restaurant. I could have picked up a coffee at Starbucks or Bread Co., and I could have run through the McDonald’s drive-through for a chicken sandwich. When I’m out exploring small town Missouri though, those big name restaurants and chains kind of defeat the purpose.

What’s the last surprisingly good small town business you’ve used?

Ground Bison Meat, photo taken with my iPhone4

From there, my mom took over, making a fantastic meatloaf from Sayersbrook’s meat, mashed potatoes, salad, and vegetables. The whole family enjoyed the meal.

Meat. Photo taken with my iPhone4

My dad (the son of a cattle farmer) commented that the meat wasn’t dry like he anticipated it might be. My brother and mom commented on the good flavor, and I just sat back smiling, feeling good about how healthy it was (bison is very nearly fat free). It also felt great knowing that I bought meat produced by a local ranch and sold in a locally-owned grocery store.

When’s the last time you fed your family locally-grown food? Are there any local farms that you would recommend?

The Slinger at Crystal City's Stop Light Diner, photo by MilliGFunk (taken with my iPhone4)

Each time I went out with friends when I moved back to Missouri, a “slinger” would inevitably come up in conversation as a distinctly St. Louis diner original. I had no idea what a slinger was, but I was curious.

When I learned that a slinger included hash browns, meat (usually hamburger), eggs, chili (sometimes with beans, sometimes without), cheese and onions, my curiosity was satiated. In fact, it was so well-satisfied that I’ve never even needed to try eating this heart-attack of a Midwestern delicacy.

The slinger is such an infamous St. Louis diner food that there are vegetarian and vegan versions of it available at some St. Louis-area restaurants. If you’re in St. Louis, what restaurant serves your favorite version of the slinger?

Vietnamese Noodles at Pacific Cafe, photo by MilliGFunk (taken on my iPhone4)

Today for lunch I took full advantage of *not* being in small town Missouri. When my morning meeting ended at Westport Plaza, I used Yelp to do a quick search for nearby restaurants I’d not yet tried. When the listing came up for Vietnamese food at Pacific Cafe, my tummy grumbled and my appetite kicked into high gear – it had been two years since I’d last eaten Vietnamese food!

My experience at Pacific Cafe was directly in  line with what other Yelpers had written in their reviews; the restaurant has sparse decor, cheap food, and a diverse menu. Marketed as a Vietnamese/Asian Fusion restaurant, Pacific Cafe also serves espresso drinks, Thai food and gyros. That said, I’m not sure how much excellence can be provided when the menu is that diverse. On the bright side, the price was right - For under $9.00 I had a Vietnamese iced tea (strong coffee served over ice with condensed, sweetened milk), an egg roll, a bottle of water, and more noodles  & tofu than I could eat.

Pacific Cafe is located in Creve Coeur, Missouri on Olive Boulevard, just off of I-270.  Creve Coeur had a population of 16,888 in the 2009 US Census, so even though it’s inside a busy region of St. Louis County, it technically qualifies as a small Missouri town.