St. Louis weekend: awesome.

It was an amazing weekend. It felt a lot like this picture.

Dictionary.com: Word of the Day.

slake \SLAYK\, transitive verb:
1. To satisfy; to quench; to extinguish; as, to slake thirst.
2. To cause to lessen; to make less active or intense; to moderate; as, slaking his anger.
3. To cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment with water.

intransitive verb:
1. To become slaked; to crumble or disintegrate, as lime.

I like this one. It seems very useful. Can you use it in a sentence?

The environmental impact of eating meat: you may be surprised.

As I'm usually dancing on the border of vegetarianism (I typically eat meat only rarely), and as the daughter of farmers, I found this article very interesting:

New Study Reopens Debate: Are Omnivores Better for the Environment Than Vegetarians?

The Crossing Macomb.

I've been waiting in anticipation for The Crossing to finally open here in Macomb. It's a church plant out of Quincy, IL, and they have been working on their Macomb campus for over a year now. They bought the old Thompson Food Basket building at Jackson & Wigwam (see above) and have given it an extreme makeover. Yesterday was their first service.

I am thanking God. It is a new, fresh addition to the body of Christ here. I worshiped uninhibited in spirit and in truth. I was taught the word of God in a powerful, pertinent way. I had communion with my brothers & sisters. The leaders felt genuine. The people were excited. I'm thanking God.

Keith was at a soccer game @ MSU yesterday, and he won't have a Sunday off for another few weeks, but he is so excited to check it out as soon as he can.

My prayer is that this new addition to the Church in Macomb will bring a fresh movement of the Spirit, and that it will not be about The Crossing but the glory of GOD. As we sang in worship there yesterday, "Not to us, but to your name be the glory." The Crossing is new and different and fresh and young for Macomb, but I pray that they will be unified with the rest of the body and that we would all work together for the glory of God.

"Not to us, but to your name be the glory."

Shawn McDonald.

My latest musical obsession has been Shawn McDonald. Acoustic, worshipful, organic, contemplative, melodic, rhythmic...basically all my favorite things in music. At this point, the album I recommend the most is Live in Seattle.

This guy has a beautiful testimony. Love his heart; love his music.

Day one of three completed.

It was a long day of hard work (don't laugh, I'm serious) and my feet hurt, but I'm feeling very satisfied and thankful.

I get to stay with my friend Lois, who is also modeling at the Bridal Market, who lives literally a couple of minutes' walk from the Merchandise Mart where the show is. What a huge blessing: the ease & convenience of that is incredible, and Lois and I are having a great time together.

I did my five runway shows today. They went great. It's fun-happy-flirty-smiley runway, which is super-easy. In a show, which lasts about 45 minutes, six of us models rotate through about 15 dresses each (that's almost a hundred dresses in 45 minutes). It's constant, fast-paced walk-change-walk-change. I'm working with a few of the same Maggie Sottero people from last fall, which is cool, and then a lot of new people. Always meeting new people in this business. Lois, Ashley D., and I ended the day with a relaxing visit to Starbucks.

Last night on my Amtrak ride up here, I sat in the cafe car and talked the entire trip to this precious, little, old Japanese lady who was on her first leg of a trip back to Japan for her sister's funeral. Words cannot describe the experience. It was so unique and wonderful. She is a practicing Buddhist, which led to engaging conversations about our faiths and life stories. She shared great wisdom from her life experience. We both had an amazing time listening to each other and both were very fascinated and impressed by each other. She lives in a small town near Macomb (she married a GI during the Vietnam years) and we exchanged contact info in hopes of getting together again.

Bridal Market.

This weekend (Saturday - Monday): The National Braidal Market in Chicago.

I'll be modeling prom dresses in mini-runway shows for the client Maggie Sottero.

More to come.

Google Reader.

I've been using & enjoying the new Google Reader for about a week now (see my "I read these" in the sidebar).

I'll let Chris explain it to you in this video (he knows a lot more than me, and he's pretty precious).


I also just discovered the "Next >>" button for your toolbar! This is my favorite thing with Google Reader yet! This button automatically takes you (every time you push it) to the most recent unread post from the blogs you are subscribed to! Then you can easily go to all of the recently updated posts from all your favorite blogs on their actual site (so you can easily leave comments if desired), not just in your Reader. Love it! Install Google Reader and the "Next >>" button on your toolbar today! ;)

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps.

I've recently gotten into Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. Dr. Emmanuel Bronner was a crazy revolutionary/master soap maker/Jewish German. His bio is fascinating.

I didn't know before what soap really even was, and I could not understand how the Dr. Bronner's soaps were made with simply natural oils, so I did a little research. Here, on the website is a great explanation. Honestly, after learning about it, I don't know how soap could get any better than this.

Also, here's a video about their recent effort to get all of the olive oil they use in their soaps from organic & fair trade sources in the Holy Land.

Al Sears Jazz Festival.

Today: The Al Sears Jazz Festival & the Gazebo Art Festival here in Macomb.

Al Sears was a legendary jazz saxophone musician from Macomb (pictured).

Keith, Ali, my friend Nancy, and I are about to head over to Chandler Park for the festivities now.

Keep in mind this annual Macomb event for future visits!