so for the past couple weekends i have skipped town.  2 weeks ago my little sister and i set-out on a last minute drive down to memphis.

we checked out the memphis zoo, saw an armadillo, some pandas, and a few sweet cats, and spent the evening on beale street.

 it was a great getaway.  though i’m not sure i recommend coyote ugly.  in fact, i’m sure i don’t recommend it unless you are a lonely guy looking to stare at a few girls dancing on a bar with a few hundred other lonely guys and the occassional confused/very drunk lady.

there are so many better places one could go.

we did karaoke, met creepy guys, ate chicken strips, met a not-so-creepy & actually really friendly older gentleman (like 60) who kept us company while we watched a sweet blues band sing the evening away.

 aside from the lack of potato products at denny’s during our Sunday morning breakfast and a rude hotel receptionist who refused our $5 off parking coupon  (promised, but not delivered by travelocity & benchmark hotels), the weekend went quite smoothly.

i suppose i can upload some photos soon now that i know my laptop is not dying, or dead, but is actually alive and well after the help of a fantastic member of the geeksquad at best buy in Clayton, MO.

last weekend, however, we did run into a snag or two.  a few girls from college and i drove to Evansville, IN to visit our favorite Edward Jones financial planner, Melissa Khan.  Evansville was bigger than i imagined it would be. 

we arrived late on Friday, and headed out to visit some fine local establishments.  we parked in the free, lit, camera secured parking garages near the casino.  fantastic!  covered parking downtown for free!

or so i thought.  apparently the cost of parking in the garage is that your car might be raided.  i suppose this goes with basically any parking lot, but somehow i didn’t think someone would find my coat to be a hot item.  

i guess someone is warmer because of me, but a part of my heart went with it, i think.

i am still quite bummed.  (obviously)

the rest of the trip was rather uneventful.  just hanging out.  80s night at a place called hammerhead’s.  a terrible cover band & unappealing crowd at fast eddies.  tasty italian dinner.  drunken red-headed bachelor–good for a laugh.

 this weekend i’ll be happily relaxing in good ol’ st louis.  doing laundry, reading, working out and other boring things.  and i’m totally exited about it.

 i’m even thinking about checking out the weiner dog race

-jess

and i wanna change
change the way we always had
and to make different plans
and try not to make this sad
and i always choose another way

shout out louds ~ very loud