The weather was warm. Again. Coming from the super-dry Colorado air, Missouri’s humidity hit me harder than it used to, and by the second or third mile of the race, I’d already sweat more than I do in Colorado after running twice as far or more. The wind was strong, I was allergic to just about everything in the air, and I’d only been able to sleep for 1.5 hours the night before.

It was a recipe for a ugly race.

Still going strong at around Mile 7

By mile 8 I had IT band issues for the first time in my life. I ran, walked and limped my way through the last five miles of the race, determined not to stop short of the finish line. I was slower than I’d expected to be, but managed to beat my very first half marathon time despite my leg and knee pain.

Thank you SO much to Dr. Craig and the other medical staff and physical therapists who supported GO! St. Louis. I could barely walk by the time I reached the med tents, but after support from the PTs at the finish area, I was able to get through the St. Louis airport that evening, limping with my suitcase onto my flight.

Post-race with taped-up knee

Also, congratulations to the GO! St. Louis race organizers for yet another well-organized race. I’ve run their 5K (2009), their Halloween 10K (2010), and their Half Marathon (2011 & 2012), and have been impressed by the overall race experience at each event. The organizers make safety a priority, provide good post-race water and snacks, engage the community in fitness and health, and even manage to provide consistently cool finisher medals and race shirts.

Pueblo Chieftain Spring Runoff 2012, photo by MilliGFunk

I drove to Pueblo, Colorado – a town of around 100,000 people, 37 miles south of Colorado Springs – to run in the Pueblo Chieftan Spring Runoff on Sunday. The Runoff includes a kids’ fun run, a 5K, a 10K and a 10-mile run. As part of my training for several upcoming half marathons – including Go! St. Louis Half Marathon – I opted to run the Pueblo Chieftan’s 10K race. I had a “we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto” moment when the announcer began talking up the race’s elite runners.

Race Entrance, photo by MilliGFunk

In other parts of the country, a small town road race might draw some of the area’s faster runners. In Colorado though, even small town races bring elite athletes. Since the race was USA Track & Field sanctioned, and probably because it was held only 40 miles or so from the Olympic Training center, there world national record setters and olympians in the mix that day.

The Finish Line, photo by MilliGFunk

This wasn’t my best race. The winds were blowing at around 20 MPH before gusts, so there were times when it was faster for me to walk than to run. I crossed the finish line at Dutch Clark Memorial Stadium three minutes slower than my goal time, face red with windburn, alongside runners who – like myself – were decidedly un-elite. Still though, I ran. And running felt good.

MilliGFunk after Race, photo by MilliGFunk

Friends in St. Louis

Where does the time go?

I wanted to write about this St. Louis tweet-up when it happened, but instead found myself swamped (in the best of all possible ways) with the holidays, travel and time with our (my fiance and my) families.

One of the highlights of all of that holiday craziness was the Christmas Eve meet-up that so many good friends in St. Louis joined me for at Hartford Coffee Company in South City, St. Louis. Amidst the bustle of the Christmas holiday and with very short notice, ten of my friends made the time to get together with me.

Thank you, @VersaDave, @Nanna_J, @NickGilham, @mamarcus17, @Tojosan, @michaeltomko, @TabithaKMeyer, @STLWineGirl, @Velo_City – and of course, my fiance, Nick – for starting my Christmas weekend out warmly. It meant the world to me to see everyone while I was home!

STLWineGirl and MilliGFunk

L-R: Little Sister (Fuji), Big Sister (Nikon)

In Missouri, I did a significant amount of freelance writing and photography work for other blogs, and also for local and state-wide print publications. While my eye was strong enough to be hired as a second shooter on professional magazine shoots, I quickly learned that my camera was not.

I found that while my Fuji technically had the capability to the basics I needed it to, it was too slow to shoot RAW images quickly, and that its low-light capabilities (it didn’t have the ability to add external flash) were rotten. I realized then that if I wanted to continue to improve my photography, I would need to invest in better equipment — beginning with a better camera.

Smalltowngirl's Growing Family

The old Fuji has sentimental value to me: I bought the Fuji in 2006 on Camera Street in Hong Kong while participating in a year-long Asian fellowship program, and it was my first big purchase after finishing graduate school. I’ll hold onto it for the sentiment and as a backup camera, but the Nikon is my new baby. I can’t wait to start taking photo walks with it, but I admit – the new camera makes me miss my old favorite subject matters; St. Louis and rural Missouri.

Let’s face it – The stress of these super-close World Series games is a lot to handle this week. Wouldn’t it feel good to get out on Friday night for some good, hard, live rock music? If I still lived in Missouri, I’d be at Off Broadway on Friday night to see Kentucky Knife Fight.

I saw the band for the first time at Off Broadway on New Year’s Eve 2010, and I was impressed enough that I immediately emailed friends in Brooklyn and San Francisco, both of whom work professionally in the music industry, to share Kentucky Knife Fight with them.

So…On our off-night from World Series excitement, go check out some local music at a local venue. Namely, check out Kentucky Knife Fight at Off Broadway. While you’re at it, have a Schlafly for me. I’m feeling mighty homesick for the home state this week, and nothing cures the blues like some good live music.

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Who: Kentucky Knife Fight w/the Upright Animals and John Paul Keith & the One, Four, Fives (from Memphis)

When: Friday, October 21,

What Time: Show starts at 9 p.m.

Where: Off Broadway – STL

My 3 Favorite Men & Me at Coors Field, 2011

You were nice to let me borrow your moving truck last weekend to put all of my things into. I thought I’d be okay with a 10-foot truck, but somehow you just knew that a 14-foot truck would come in handy. You told me that the 10-foot wasn’t available, but I know that you were just looking out for me, hooking me up with that extra four feet of U-Haul goodness.

Then you were kind enough to loan me an auto transport to put my car on. I picked the transport up from my local U-Haul vendor in Small Town Missouri, and you helped me out by attaching the transport to the tow-hitch on the back of that super-sized 14-foot truck. Perfect!

Loading the Car

After loading my car with last minute things like clothes and fragile kitchenware, my dad helped me load the car onto the auto transport.

I have to be honest with you, U-Haul, that this is where you began to let me down. You see, once we’d loaded the car onto the transport, I couldn’t get back out of the car:

Quite the Predicament

At this point in my story, I think it’s relevant to mention to you, U-Haul, that my dad is an engineer and I have my master’s degree…in Arts Management. You see, he’s smart and I’m creative. The two of us evaluated my situation, wondering how, exactly, we could load the car and get me back out of the car without leaving a window rolled down.

Engineering a Solution

After some deliberation, my dad and I engineered a solution. We folded down my back seat, leaving space for me to crawl from the driver’s seat through the back seat and out of the trunk. U-Haul, I’m going to admit to you here that this solution required some degree of flexibility.

U-Haul Acrobatics

We rehearsed our solution forward and backward…Literally. We backed the car off of the auto transport so that we could get the doors open. We rearranged my things to make room for me to crawl through the trunk, and I tried crawling from the driver’s seat through the trunk.

Crawling through the Trunk

Almost Out!

...Almost There...

Success!

After acing the crawl from driver’s seat out through the trunk, I realized I would need to practice crawling from the trunk back up to the driver’s seat. I would need to be able to get back into the car upon my arrival in Colorado, after all.

Climbing back through the Trunk

Feeling Optimistic...

So close!

Signaling to my Dad that we were Good to Go

Solution found, we pulled the car back onto the auto transport, I put the parking brake on, and I made my way out through the trunk of the car, cursing you, U-Haul, for making my life so difficult.

There's a Funk in my Trunk!

The Great Escape

(Foolishly) Proud of Myself

U-Haul, as my parents and I discussed the ridiculousness of your auto transport design, my mom noticed a small black lever on the front of the driver’s side fender.

The Conspicuous Black Lever

Curiously, she pulled the lever, at which time the fender rotated outward, allowing plenty of room for the driver’s door to open.

The Magical Fender

This is where I am confused, U-Haul. McDonald’s has to remind me that their coffee is hot and could burn me. Snicker’s has to remind me that there are nuts in their production facilities (in case I have a peanut allergy), and I’ve seen irons that remind me that  I should remove the clothes from my body before ironing them.

The interior of your U-Haul truck is practically covered in reminders like this one, reminding me not to drive too fast:

Speed Kills

But when it comes to something truly helpful, U-Haul, like explaining to me that the fender of the auto-transport was removable so that I could get out of the car without climbing through the trunk, you failed me.

Luckily, you have 17 hours tomorrow of my driving your loaner across Missouri, Kansas and part of Colorado to make this right. On the bright side, U-Haul, you gave my family the best laugh we’ve had all weekend.

Thanks U-Haul!

Warm Regards,

The Funk

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

(Check out this YNPN post about the need to fill my position and a colleague’s.)

YNPN was formally organized and opened to new participants at around the same time I arrived in Missouri in February of 2009, and I became involved immediately. From helping to create and later maintain the organization’s social media accounts to writing content for the YNPN blog to helping to organize events,  my involvement with  YNPN has been a great experience. I’ve made valuable connections in the St. Louis nonprofit sector through my involvement with YNPN, and I’ve had fun in the process.

It’s time to hang up my YNPN hat, and I’d like to help YNPN fill my role on its marketing committee. I wonder if you know someone in the St. Louis area who is interested in spending a few hours each month volunteering their time and marketing skills to help this great St. Louis-area nonprofit young professionals group.

If you’re interested in learning more about YNPN, leave me a comment!

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YNPN on Twitter

YNPN’s call for new committee members

Small Town Girl’s Post on Mentorship for the YNPN Blog

This event was special for me because my beau, who lives out of state, happened to be in town. When we arrived at Nebula Coworking – a seriously rad coworking space - near Cherokee Street in South City, St. Louis, we were warmly greeted by Angela and asked to write our name and our blog’s URL on a “Hi, My Name is…”-style paper label nametag.

MilliGFunk, photo by Nick

I did exactly as instructed, my clever, clever boy toy got…well…clever. Nick isn’t a blogger, so while my name tag said, “@MilliGFunk” and “SmallTownGirlsGuide.com”, here’s what he wrote on his name tag:

"What Blog?" photo by MilliGFunk

Once everyone arrived, Angela introduced herself and explained that this course would be a wine tasting only (not a food and wine pairing), and was designed to be a sort of a Wine 101; an introduction to generic styles of wine rather than a tasting to highlight particular wine makers or vintages.

Angela gave us a handful of tips on handling wine, including tips on wine storage. She explained that wines should be stored in a dark, temperature-controlled environment like a closet or a wine cooler,and that wines shouldn’t be stored in direct sunlight.

STLWineGirl's Will Write for Wine, photo by MilliGFunk Photography

Wines shouldn’t be stored in a room where temperatures tend to fluctuate, Angela explained. And do you know which room in your house has temperatures that change the most in any given day, month or year? Your kitchen! What does that tell you? Don’t store you wine in your kitchen, silly. Store it in a room were temperatures are more stable.

And for those of you wine your wine collection sitting on the top of your fridge? For shame! It’s all kinds of hot up on that fridge, so go right now and move that wine someplace cooler.

Speaking of moving wine, wine doesn’t like being moved around a lot. What does that mean? If you’ve got a cross-country move planned, maybe you should invite all your closest friends over to help you drink you wine. Okay, maybe that’s not necessary, but your friends would probably appreciate the invitation, and there is a chance that your wine might go bad in transit.

Another tip Angela offered was the 30/30 rule for chilling wines. Red wines should be put into the fridge to chill roughly 30 minutes before you’d like to serve them. Whites, on the other hand, should start out chilled and should be removed from the fridge 30 minutes before you imbibe.

One of the things I didn’t know before this class was exactly why it is that a server will let you taste a small pour of the wine you select while dining out. It’s not so that you act hoity-toity and return the wine if you don’t like it. The only time it’s okay to send the wine back is if the wine is “corked”; in other works, if the wine has turned bad in the bottle.

Here’s where it gets neat, IMHO;  the restaurant doesn’t take a loss on the corked bottle. They sent it back to the distributor, who sends the restaurant a new bottle. And the wine maker replaces that bottle for the distributor. The lesson here is that if you’re poured a glass of wine that’s gone bad, you can return it without feeling guilty, since the restaurant won’t be hurt in the pocketbook (and neither will your server).

Missouri Rose, photo by MilliGFunk Photography

Through the course of the class, we tasted a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Missouri rose, discussing the basic characteristics of each wine. Angela provided us with a helpful glossary of terms often used to describe wines, and I got the impression that all 20 of us in the class learned at least a few new things about wine.

Angela was one of the first friends I made after moving “home” to Missouri two and a half years ago.  I genuinely enjoy her classes, and I think she’s building a good business. Her mission is, “Creating a personal experience with food & wine that is approachable & accessible”, and she’s done this and more in each of the wine experiences I’ve shared with her.

Thanks for another great class, Angie!

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Sharing this class were: @cityjars, @MoEats, @kimberly9938, @ironstef, @maddie_em, @katiethatcher, @goblueELTblog, @mamamarcus17 @stlsouptonuts, @citydiva, @deliciousstl, @4leafclovergirl, @stlveggirl, @hannahviolin, @eatlocalstl and @howmomrolls

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Other bloggers’ write-ups on the Will Write for Wine Event:

Bridget McGuire’s Filling Station

City in a Jar

Every Little Thing

Hannah Violin

Michelle A. Marcus

Tony Loves Food

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To learn more about STLWine Girl, visit her online!