The Birth of the West Saint Louis Forum

I had this idea for a while.

Let's see if how you respond to an Open Forum dedicated to West Saint Louis.

Free to sign-up.

Follow the link.

TAKE ME TO THE FORUM

See you on the Forum!!

The New Year Resolutions

Christmas....Always an exciting time of the year.

2009 is coming to an end and you are pumped up to start 2010 with a bunch of resolutions you will forget by March unless you put them on paper. My friend Matt Witte has a wonderful system for his entire family to be successful with commitments - I won't elaborate today, after all it is personal, but I might ask him to write an article about it that I would post here.

In the meantime, here we go... the 2010 resolutions I am going to start hearing in the upcoming Parties...until December 31st.

I will be a better Husband:

I will stop procrastinating at the office:



I will take care of myself...



...and go to the Gym every day:


I will stop cursing while stuck in traffic:



I will stop looking, at least when going out with my wife:



I won't party until the early morning hours. After all, I am not in College anymore:



I will stop making bad jokes that hurt people's feelings:

And finally, as a man, I will always lift up the cover seat when going to the bathroom out of respect for my wife:

Thanks for the thousand hits (closing on 7000!) this Blog has been getting over the past few months - although you could help me a little by posting comments or leaving me feedbacks or even throwing some ideas for upcoming posts.

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Trot Thru the Woods 2009 - Newsletter

Ready, set, go! The newly formed Warson Woods Running Club took off with their first organized race. The “Trot Thru the Woods” was held November 28 and featured 5K run and a ½ mile walk. The event hosted 230 participants and 24 volunteers. Mustering community spirit with many local businesses’ support and sponsorship from the law firm of Behr, McCarter, and Potter, PC and Rohan Woods School, the run achieved its goal of encouraging youth exercise by including more than 50 young racers (under 12 years). In addition the “Trot Thru the Woods” was able to make a nice donation to “The BackStoppers”.

Below is a picture of WWRC President Ed Crites (left) and Vice President James Lambert (right) presenting BackStoppers Executive Director Col. Ronald Battelle with the check.

2010 - Election Year in WW.

This is our current Board of Aldermen and our Mayor Mr. E. William Bergfeld.

If you are interested in running for an Alderman Seat, you have until early January to declare yourself at City Hall. The Elections will be held in April.

Men with Balls - The Ste. Gen. Men suffered another loss - We need you!

14 Teams in our league. We are ranked 13 out of 14.
We are 0-5 so far with 9 goals scored and 40 goals scored against us.
Next week, on Sunday at 2.50 pm, we are facing the team ranked 14. With only 2 games left in the season, this is our best chance to finally win a game.

So if you have nothing going on, join us at the Vetta Soccerdome in Brentwood and cheer for us.

Our men have been playing hard against tougher and younger opponents but we have been showing pride and courage.

So hopefully see you on Sunday. We need your support!

Restaurant Review - Cardwell's at the Plaza Frontenac

We went to Cardwell's last saturday night with another couple for Dinner. I give you my + and my -.

Location:
+ Right on Lindergh and 40, very easy to get in and out.

Greeting:
+ Although it was a busy saturday night Crowd, we received a very warmth welcome from a dedicated hostess willing to help us.

The Menu:
+ Very easy to read, good wine selection.
- I couldn't get a theme. I spotted only one pasta dish and a little bit of everything from a French Dish to a Chinese Dish + a few American ones.

The Atmosphere:
+ Nice layout, I liked the private rooms. Sitting at the bar seems fantastic. Even, the main dining room gives you a nice feeling. Great place to see and be seen. Trust me, we ran into at least 5 parties we knew.

The Service:
+ Fast pace.
- I ordered a coffee that came with no spoon. Both our waiters were not very friendly. When I complained about one of our entrees - see below - I felt like I was annoying my waitress and she didn't seem to care that much about the situation.

The Food:
I was really disappointed with the Food.

The presentation lacked creativity. The white round plates are boring and bland. My fried calamari showed up on one of these white plates with a tartar sauce (white as well) The dish lacked color and appeal. The Calamari were chewy and the fried part was more gooey than crispy. Of course the portion was enormous but I ate barely half of my plate and none of my friends wanted to try that dish.

Then, 2 of us ordered the Grilled Shrimp Dish. One plate came with 3 superb size Shrimp, the other plate came with 3 medium to small Shrimp. The 2 plates next to each other looked odd. My friends were shocked. How can someone looking at the food in the kitchen could let these 2 plates be served on the same table? I complained to our waitress and see if we could get 1 or 2 more shrimp, she apologized vaguely but didn't seem to really care. We were done eating our entrees and almost ready to go when she showed up with another full Grilled Shrimp dish. She noticed we have been done for 30 minutes and wondered if we wanted that dish wrapped to take home. Give me a break, all she had to do was rushing back in the kitchen as soon as we complained and bring us a couple of shrimp on a plate.

My dish was the Lobster Ravioli. Well, here is a hint when you order Lobster Ravioli or Crab Cake. It has to taste like Lobster or Crab. What I mean is in my raviolis, I had a tiny piece of lobster and the rest was a heavy filling of some kind. I had some Crab Cakes in the past when all you taste is the Mayo. The lobster was an afterthought. I couldn't finish my dish, it was so heavy + it was soaked in heavy cream.

Overall:
I know it is a very successful place and it is a great social meeting point. I am always concerned when Big Time Chefs lose track of what is going on in their own kitchen. Look at what happened in New York to Bobby Flay- lost of Stars at Mesa Grill - and Jeffrey Chodorow - Horrid reviews on the New York Times of his 2 new restaurants: zero star and 1 star - and the fall out of their restaurants after spending too much time promoting themselves and their brand and not enough time in their kitchens.

You can't cheat the customer anymore with what you put on the plate especially in a rough economy. People travel, they know the good from the bad. Don't hide behind huge portions to justify an below average dish. Yes I want to feel that I am getting some bang for my bucks but I still want to remember my dining experience.

Well, in that case, I would rather forget about it.

The Realtor Corner - Houses for sale in WW.

Bonus Pix of an underground house in Switzerland

From the most $$$ to the least $ -click on links to go to the House Page - here we go:

1111 Timberlane $675K

1616 Dearborn $474.5K

555 Flanders $449K

1021 North Drive $399.9K

570 Gederson $375



522 Flanders $374.9K

824 Edlin $345.9K



1474 Forest View $315K

1445 Andrew $249.9K

News Flash on a local business

The Tuesday Morning in Warson Woods is closing at the end of the month and will be moving next to Stein Mart.

Thanks Sylvia for the tip on this one.

I know it is not Warson Woods but...

...but I just heard that Michael Vick could be the next Quarterback for the Rams...

Hum...your thoughts...??

Chasing the Barbie Pink World 3-Story Dream Townhouse

Aargh, although it seemed to be an easy find, the Barbie Dollhouse is out of stock everywhere. My poor little Charlotte is looking for one for her upcoming birthday. My back against the wall, I am turning into an Ebay consumer. Are you buying on Ebay?

With over 130 Barbie Dollhouses listed, I thought it would be a piece of cake to get one, but I guess there is a whole lot of strategy involved in order to get your prize item. With the clock ticking, I got outbid numerous times. This item with a $139 retail price goes for over $250 on Ebay. Ouch!

Anyway, wish me luck in my quest to find this Dollhouse. Of course, if you know anyone who knows anyone who has an extra one, please contact me....

A joke for those of you who go out this week-end

click to enlarge

Just to give you some ammo to get the party going....here we go:

Husband Store

A store that sells new husbands has opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men Have Job.

She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids. 'That's nice,' she thinks , 'but I want more.'
So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking.

'Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework.

'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!'
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

PLEASE NOTE:

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opened a New Wives store just across the street.
The first floor has wives that love having fun - (you know what I mean).

The second floor has wives that love having fun, have money and like beer.

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors have never been visited.

Trot Thru the Woods - Videos

Our Alderman Gordon Gosh was the starter of the race. Michele Motte was our singer. And what a singer! Michele, you gave me goosebumps during your performance. You have an amazing voice - Wow - like Simon Cowell would say, actually like Randy Jackson would say: "You nailed it, Girl!".

Now it is race time for the Grown-ups! Although, on a side note, Annie Mullenix finished 13th and she is only 10 years old. Way to go Annie, great job!

How fun was the kid's run! The movie jumped a bit because as I was stepping back to avoid the flow of the runners, my head bumped into Macks'camera. I really want to add that having Shelley Pruett participating and finishing the race was a tremendous emotional, uplifting and inspiring moment. We pray for you, Shelly, and your amazing family!

I have few more videos including Michele singing, let me know if you are interested in me posting them.

Why was my street named that way?

My friend Brian posted a comment on the Blog about a spelling mistake found on our Street Name - Bennett, spelled Bennette on a sign at the Corner of Manchester and Bennett. Here is his comment: Brian

Well, it gave me an idea to look for the origin of some of our streets around Warson Woods. It is quite fascinating when you start digging. Here are a few:

Manchester Ave:
Originally known as Fox Creek Road, this old state road was renamed Manchester early in the 19th century since it was the road to the St. Louis County town of that name. "Old Manchester Road," the original connecting link, is now Vandeventer. For a time in the late-19th century, "Old" and "New" Manchester Roads existed at the same time. The name Manchester, beacuse of its assocaition with Manchester, England, always suggested commercial and industrial prosperity to those who adopted it in America. (Central West End) (Oakland) (Shaw)

Clayton Road:
So named because it was a direct route from St. Louis to the farm of Ralph W. Clayton in St. Louis County during the 1860s. Part of his farm became the site of the county seat of Clayton in 1876. (Central West End) (Kingsbury) (Oakland)

Olive:
Did not receive its first official name until 1821 when it was called North "C" Street. Five years later the city named it for the olive tree, the small evergreen native to the Mediterranean region. West of Eighteenth Street, it was called the Olive Street Plank Road during the 1850s. (Central West End) (Downtown) (Midtown)

Delmar:
A coined name combining the first three letters of Delaware and Maryland, those being the home states of the owners of two abutting tracts of land along the street. The section of Delmar between the wharf and Grand Boulevard was known as Morgan Street until it received its present name in 1933. The section west of Taylor in the Central West End was known as Olive Street or the Central Plank Road until 1881.

As for Bennett, Brian, it seems the name is derived from "Benedict" and like it means "blessed."

Source: Dr. Glen Holt and Thomas A. Pearson (1994)

The Elf on the Shelf

Do you know the Elf on the Shelf?

The other night, we were attending a Dinner Party and every couple was talking about it.

A little Elf who comes to your house and reports to Santa every night on how good/bad the children were that day. Every morning the Elf magically moves to a different spot and the kids try to find him in the house. They can't touch him or the Elf would lose his magic power. It teaches discipline and good behavior to the children.

The following day, I rushed to Borders to get the combo Book/Elf. As I am getting ready to check out, I noticed that a guy right behind me was holding one as well. We smiled at each other.. "social pressure", he said..." great marketing idea.." I added...


Back home, I dropped the Elf on the front door, rang the door bell and ran back in the house through the back door. My kids opened the door and we brought our Elf inside. We read the book and my kids started to talk to Samba - we had to give him a name.

Reminder to all parents:
- Do not drink too much at night since the Elf has to be moved to a different spot every morning - the Elf goes back to see Santa every night and then returns to your house. If you pass out and you forget to move the Elf, it will be panic mode in the early AM.
- If one of your kids is kind of suspicious about a puppet being able to move by itself, tell him/her that he/she has nothing to lose in talking to the Elf and believing in the Magic of it. After all, if the Elf is really reporting to Santa, it is all benefit to the child to behave until Christmas.(you should have seen the face of my 5 year old, the first morning when he saw the Elf sitting on the curtain Rod. He looked at me with his smart face.."Dad, how did a stuffed puppet fly up there by itself?")


Anyway, I love the idea... if you have an Elf at home, feel free to share your tips with us. If you don't have one, hurry.. It seems like all the kids are starting to talk about it...

The best Christmas Lights in WW.

This is the time of the year. You drive home, it is getting dark and you look forward to certain houses of your neighbourhood knowing their Christmas Lights will give you this extra smile before pulling in your driveway.

My kids and I love the Tim and Susan Robben's display. First, it is right at a stop sign, so we can get an extra few seconds of "Wow and Ha" from my kids and be safe. It only works if you actually stop at the stop sign which is still one of the things some drivers seem to forget in WW. Second, it has all the ingredients of Christmas and it feels warm. Thanks guys, you touch people's life and we appreciate that!

How about you my beloved readers? Any particular house you like in WW.?