Wedding Stuff and Dewey's Pizza

Yesterday, we went to St. Louis for some wedding shopping. Kristen met us at the shop where she and Grant ordered wedding invitations, Any Occasion in Chesterfield. We needed to order invitations for the rehearsal dinner. What a cute shop! Shannah, the owner helped us choose something to complement the wedding invitation and also reflect the location of the rehearsal dinner. Shannah creates and makes her own invitations and I was surprised to find them much more affordable than standard invitations you order and have printed. Kristen and I were really excited about them and Dean was . . . well, pleased, but I wouldn't say excited. I can't wait to get them and see the finished product. It won't be long until it's time to mail them out. And I still don't even have a dress for the wedding!

After a quick Starbucks break, we headed to Plaza Frontenac to get Dean's suit for the wedding. Grant has done a great job choosing and coordinating what the guys will all be wearing, including a really neat outfit for Joey, the ring bearer. Dean was outfitted, Kristen and I found cute madras bags we just had to have, and I even got Grant some pants and a shirt. It's a joy to buy him any outfit that does not have a mountain logo on it somewhere!

After J. Crew, we met up with Grant and he and Dean found a couch, while Kristen and I made our way to BCBGMAXAZRIA. She had seen a dress there for after the wedding that she wanted to try on. We found it, and also found a really cute one for the rehearsal dinner. She says she now has all the dresses she needs for the wedding events. Grant appeared doubtful. The after-the-wedding dress is already hanging in the room upstairs where Kristen will be getting ready for the wedding. Everything is beginning to feel very real!

After all that shopping, we desperately needed dinner! Now we're to the part of this post that really belongs in a food blog. Last time we were in Kirkwood, we went with Kristen to Dewey's Pizza. It was so good, I wanted to go back, even though the wait is usually a little long, and really long on Saturday. We had time to talk and have a drink, while we watched them tossing the dough for their incredible pizzas. Grant, who is more into food everyday, was waxing poetic about the new seasonal pizza they had tried on their last Dewey's visit, so when we finally got a table, we jumped right in and ordered it, along with Grant's favorite Candied Walnut and Grape Salad. One salad was more than enough for the four of us to share, and we loved it as much as the first time we had it with Kristen. When the pizza came, they forgot to hold the onions, so we just picked them off and dived right in. The pizza was outstanding!!!!! It's called Ryan's Inferno -- olive oil, light mozzarella, buffalo chicken, gorgonzola cheese, and thin slivers of red onions. After it is baked, they add ranch dressing and itty-bitty pieces of chopped celery - a very nice touch. The crust alone is amazing, but adding the shredded buffalo chicken, the cheeses, the ranch dressing, and the crunchy little celery bits made it one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. If you ever find yourself in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Columbus, or Northern Kentucky, you will thank yourself (and me!) for trying a Dewey's Pizza. Oh, and the manager came over and gave us a $15 coupon for our next visit, just because of those pesky onions we had to pick off our pizza. No surprise that Grant and Kristen got the extra pizza AND the coupon!

We had a lot more shopping we could have done yesterday, but we always get such a late start when we head to St. Louis, that we ran out of time and shopping steam. After dinner we went to the Alpine Shop, so Dean could get some more Superfeet and I could get more Smartwool socks. Of course, Grant told Dean about the sale markdowns, so we also came home with a big Patagonia parka that looks like a barn coat. I will admit that Dean needed a heavier coat to keep out the icy chill when he is shoveling snow, but he would never admit that I need any kind of new coat -- so maybe I'll keep that to myself.

Our last stop was at Circuit City to look at a couple of cameras I am considering for my new attempts at food photography. It took us forever to find Circuit City -- every other place we've lived had one on virtually every corner, but not St. Louis! I played with a few cameras, but was not ready to buy one, so we hit the road for home. When we stopped for gas, we spied a Krispy Kreme Donuts in the next block and the Hot Donuts Now sign was on!!!! We zipped over and ordered six to go -- six of the last few left on the glazing conveyor belt. When we got in the car and opened the box ,we were thrilled to find not six, but eight warm donuts inside. Somehow, we must have had the look of people who don't get hot Krispy Kremes very often anymore, and the clerk took pity on us. God bless her! And thank God too, for that perfect blend of yeast, sugar and air, known as Krispy Kreme.

The trip home was uneventful, but when we got home, we found bits of white donut glaze sprinkled all over the black upholstery, like so many twinkling stars in the night sky. Ahhhhh... heaven must be like eating Dewey's pizza and Krispy Kreme in the same day.