Birthdays Part Two

My birthday present is an incredible telephoto lens for my also incredible digital SLR camera. We both knew that I needed one before we headed to the Galapagos, but I hadn't done any looking or pricing yet. It turns out that the telephoto lenses these days have a lot of new technology which makes them much pricier than I expected. Mark insisted that I needed the newer technology instead of the basic lens, so I am now the very proud owner of a 70-300 mm Image Stabilization lens! We went to the Botanical Gardens on Thursday night to give me a chance to play with it. I was amazed at the quality of photos that happened on my first try with this lens, most of which were taken in poor evening lighting. The image stabilization keeps the images sharp, even if I happen to have slight movement while holding the camera. I can't wait to play more!

Friday was Mark's birthday, and we went to the preseason Rams vs. Falcons game. I have said that I would adopt the St. Louis teams, but I found it very hard to cheer against the Falcons, and impossible to cheer against DJ Shockley, when he was quarterbacking for the Falcons. He's a former Bulldog quarterback, and I was yelling for him every time he was in the game. The Falcons won, and I can't say I was too disappointed! Maybe over time I'll adopt the Rams more fully, but I also think Red and Black are in my blood! Here's a few pictures from the game....I didn't waste too much time with the camera, and left the telephoto lens at home, so there are no closeups.

Birthday dinners were held at Pho Grand (mine), and at Coco Louco (Mark's). Pho Grand is a Vietnamese place that is popular in STL, and our meal was great. Coco Louco was a restaurant that we thought had actually closed, but when we were scouting out places for Mark's birthday (I insisted that we try someplace new), we saw that they had just relocated to the Central West End. It is a Brazilian steakhouse, and the food and service were great! The waitress even gave us dessert on the house before we told her it was Mark's birthday. Definitely a restaurant that will stay on our list.

So far Mark has requested a concrete morel mushroom (or two) for the farm, and I have renewed his membership at the Botanical Gardens. I also have planned a trip to the Craft Alliance for a piece of glass from an artist that he had admired awhile back. I'll let you know how that goes! (He BETTER pick something out!) It's not much, but he is so difficult to buy for!!