Settle in with the nearest cat and a cup of tea (bonus points if the cat will bring you the tea), here’s the exhaustive run-down of our Big Weeked Number One.
(Or, if you don’t care that much, scroll down to the bottom of this entry, where I’ve provided a handy summary of the events transpired. For your pleasure)
We woke up at 3:30 on Friday morning, showered, brewed a pot of coffee, drank a pot of coffee, and hit the road. It was dark. Quite dark. The highway was desolate. Quite desolate. I drove. Quite drove.
The Wash U people had a breakfast buffet thing set up for all the admitted students, and people (including Jeff) mingled before the presentations and stuff began. I sat in a corner and wound my skein of Cascade 220 for Jeff’s hat, into a ball. Using a pen as a nostepinne, and feeling very MacGuyver-ish in the process.
Then we all went into the moot court room to listen to people talk. I worked on my Alpaca Sox sox.
People talked a lot…about lawyer-y stuff. That’s really not my thing, y’know? In fact, that is SO not my thing. I was so awkward, uncomfortable…the girls were all wearing business suits and tottering around on stiletto heels (radiating insecurity, if you ask me), while little ol’ me sat in the corner with my knitting and cowboy boots. I’m pretty much the polar opposite of those girls. Except the insecurity thing. I just use knitting as my shield, rather than mascara and Prada knock-off bags 
I was happy with my knitting, until tragedy struck….the ball of yarn rolled off my lap, and under the seat in front of me! I was knitting-less for the remaining 45 minutes of the presentation. When it was finally over, I was faced with the humiliation of asking the girl seated in front of me to hand me my yarn. (I was so freaking close to digging myself a hole, and hiding in it, with some yarn and Diet Coke, and never coming out).
The first presentations over with, Jeff then gave me permission to duck out, so I gratefully retreated to the campus coffee shop. I spent the rest of the morning sipping a caramel latte and working on various projects. I sat in a corner and was happy
Jeff came to collect me when the lawyer-y people were done talking, and we went to the car to have some sandwiches, stare at the mind-trippy fence in the parking garage (it was an optical illusion, I swear), and talk about how the visit went. Jeff was exhausted but we couldn’t check into the hotel yet, so we went to the nearby Loop for some shopping and time-killing. I finally go to visit Knitty Couture (and meet Thi!), which was definitely the highlight of my trip I bought this:
That’s 7 skeins of Peter Pan DK. I was thinking about making it into Basic Black, but now it may have to become Sunshine, if I can get gauge.
I also got some souvenir sock yarn:
I haven’t seen that colorway before, and it’s just too yumylicious to pass up. It reminds me of stormclouds passing over a field of wild blueberries
I can definitely add Knitty Couture to the list of fantastic St Louis LYSs….and if we go to Wash U and move to University City, it’ll definitely be the closest one!
When we could finally check into the hotel, we did. Where a nap happened. A long nap. A long, deep, satisfying, don’t-bother-to-set-an-alarm-who-cares-if-it-lasts-five-hours nap. Man oh man…that was a nap of the gods! (Sheratons have *very* comfy beds, fyi).
Once we finally dragged ourselves awake, we realized two things:
1) we were hungry
2) somehow, we had managed to eat all the sandwiches we’d packed (quite possibly while simultaneously napping?)
So we hit up Fitz’s for dinner–definitely a must-see in St. Louis! It’s a root beer brewery and restaurant in one, located right in the heart of University City. It’s always busy, but is also *huge* (they have two stories of a building), so we only had to wait about 20 minutes to get seated. Jeff and I had gone there once before, when we were still dating (summer 2005). We hadn’t been back since they discontinued his favorite soda. But we decided it was high time to give them another chance, and I fell in love with the best diet cream soda ever. So I was happy.
After that we just went back to the hotel and called it an early night. Even though the hotel had a pool (and, knowing this, we’d brought our swim stuff), we couldn’t use it–it was closed for renovation. What a bummer 
(see what an emotional roller coaster my life is?). So some Sopranos happened, then a lot of sleeping.
The next day we went back to the campus to wander around on our own, outside the constraints of a tour guide. Since it was just me and Jeff I was feeling a lot more secure, even enough to break out the camera:
Jeff looking up at the University’s “big entrance”:
We loved all the gothic architecture:
Then we saw a tunnel of trees, not dissimilar to Truman’s!
(wonder if they had a lazy gardener, too?)
Then we popped into the library (which is that odd modern-looking building in the background of that picture up above) to see their miniature book exhibit:
Then we briefly contemplated having lunch at the library’s cafe:
(to interested parties: we ultimately decided to go elsewhere. ”Elsewhere” being, ultimately, Panera. Ultimately.)
A statue of the university’s namesake:
(Point of interest: Washington University was named as such *before* the state of Washington existed. So nyah nyah! Jeff and I decided that the University of Washington should, thus, be renamed “University of the state in the extreme upper left corner of the United States”. It has a nice ring to it, right? I think that’ll help avoid any further confusion 
Looking across the quad:
(a photo which would be much mroe impressive if I had the wide-angle lens for which I pine)
Jeff at a crossroads, just like in life:
(that’s the library in the background, again. Isn’t it ugly?)
More beautiful architecture, this time on the women’s studies building:
Also, a convenient representation of “undergrad” versus “law school”. Here’s a typical bike rack on campus, on a Saturday afternoon:
And here’s the racks outside the law building:
True story.
Speaking of the law building, here’s the new building where it’s moving next year:
And just next door, here’s the law program’s current home, Anheuser-Busch Hall:
We’re in St. Louis, remember? And actually, I’ve heard tell that there’s free Budweiser products at a lot of the law school’s social events
Jeff outside the doors:
He’s already gained admittance, but will he choose to pass through? We’ll know by next week!
(also, ps, I’m corny 
)
Plaque in the entrance, just to prove I’m not lyin’ about the name:
An awesome “Justice” gargoyle:
And here’s the bench where I sat the day before, knitting and feeling socially awkward!
(since I know you care)
A-B Hall has a courtyard in the middle of it, for students to eat, study, whatever, in. I like it a lot:
The courtyard may also be used for pondering:
Inside the moot court room, scene of the previous day’s embarassing knitting incident:
And so ends our tour of the Washington University campus. If you’re still with us, there’s more to go…
After a quick lunch, we decided to visit the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, while we were in the neighborhood (Forest Park is right next to campus):
This shall also serve as proof that I was, indeed, also along on this trip:
President Jefferson also came along:
and by “came along” I, of course, mean “sat there and continued to be a statue”.
I managed to snap one more picture–of this amazing 1900s-period crocheted purse–before my camera died (yes, I forgot to bring my Nikon charger. Yes, I’m an idiot. This I know.):
So I had to use my old camera (of course I always carry a backup!) to capture this Napoleon lamp:
Napoleon lamp, I covet thee.
And also:
Poster of a wife mending her husband’s trousers while he mows the lawn, I covet thee.
After leaving the museum we headed down to Jeff’ parents’ house in South County (read: about half an hour from U City), where we had our noses thoroughly kissed by the always adorable Molly, and had dinner at the best Italian restaurant in St. Louis (until proven otherwise), Joe Boccardi’s. I had linguini with a spicy marinara that was “just right” spicy. Perfecto!
Later that night we stopped by Jeff’s grandma’s nursing home, where I noticed this art print:
Zomg! Knitting!
And even…
Zomg! Knitting correctly!
You don’t see that every day, kids. Ya really don’t.
We stayed with the in-laws that night and left pretty early on Sunday morning, headed back home.
By the time we pulled up to our house back in Kirksville yesterday afternoon, I’d made this much progress on Jeff’s Claudia hat:
This hat is not my friend, or yours.
‘Course, I don’t really know what I was expecting, knitting a hat on DPNs in the first place. But that’s another entry, for another day. I don’t have the energy to bitch about it any more tonight.
~~
Well, that was about it! A little knitting, a little sightseeing, a few tears, a lot of laughs, and absolutely *no* progress towards a Decision. Harrumph. Oh well, I suppose that’s what next weekend is for! Watch out, Chicago…I’m on my way.
Finally, for your summarizing pleasure:
If you were too busy/apathetic to read all of the above, here’s a handy-dandy abbreviated version. To trace these over the course of the weekend, please consult the above graphical representation.
1)Getting up ass-early
2)Being socially awkward
3)Sandwiches
4)Yarn!
5)Pool closed
6)Nap!
7)Dinner
8)Pool still closed
9)Visiting campus
10)Lunch at Panera
11)Creepy guy in Panera
12)Getting away from creepy guy in Panera
13)Missouri History museum
14)Dinner at Joe Boccardi’s
15)Provel cheese from Jeff’s parents!
16)Driving home in the rain
17)Seeing the kitties
18)Sleeping in our own bed.
