Girls Weekend in Springfield, MO

Alli and I went to Springfield, MO last weekend and had so. much. fun. Seriously, it was sooo nice.

We shopped, shopped and shopped.



We ate at one of my favorite restaurants ever-Thai House. If you're in or around Springfield, it's on Campbell, and you should probably get in your car and go there immediately. I have honestly been craving this food since my last year in Springfield....3 years ago. We had salad with fresh ginger and peanut dressing and chicken dumplings. Alli had mango chicken for her entree...and it was unbelievable. I had never tasted anything like it, it was so unique and yummy. I had spicy fried rice for my entree (with tofu), and it was good, but the basil was way too strong.

Here's Alli enjoying a chicken dumpling:

I didn't bother taking a picture of the dumplings until I had scarfed a couple....

I am in total bliss at this point. I look positively maniacal!

After Thai House, we shopped some more! We wedding dress shopped at one store in downtown Springfield. I had gone on their website and looked up all of the designers they carried and written down style numbers, so I was prepared. When we showed up for our appointment, they welcomed us and told us to pick out whatever we'd like to try on. We could only find 2-3 dresses to try on that weren't huge balls of pouf, and they didn't have a single style number that had written down. I tried them on, and none of them were right at all. The staff was really great though. The appointment took us maybe 30 minutes, and I had blocked off 2 hours for it. Alli and I had the name and phone number of another bridal salon also in downtown Springfield. I didn't want to call them, thinking that it's a Saturday and they'll be busy, but Alli told me to give it a shot. I called, and a girl I used to share a dorm with picked up the phone! She told us to come by in 45 minutes, so Alli and I killed some time in cute shops downtown.

We got to the appointment and picked out some dresses. At this shop I had at least 10 to try on, so we were already more successful than at the last shop. This place was so cute--pale pink walls, white chandeliers, etc. Mary Louise, the girl who had gotten us the appointment, was wonderful. She knew we were just trying on, on so their was no pressure at all to make a purchase. This is where I tried on that lovely lace Romona Keveza gown.

After the fun at the bridal salons, Alli and I headed to some antique stores before dinner. We found the neatest little shop that had work from lots of local artists. Alli got a way cute goldenrod yellow yarn flower pin, and we got our youngest sister Mary a felt cheeseburger pin.

We still weren't done shopping, so we headed back to Dillard's....where all of the clearance racks were an extra 30% off. Yay! Alli got a gorgeous cornflower blue silk dress, and I got a black silk top.

We checked into the hotel and headed out to dinner at Nonna's, a fantastic Italian restaurant.

We stuffed our faces. I got a caprese salad, which is fresh mozzarella drizzled with pesto.....drool. I also had lasgna, and Alli had some delicious chicken parmesan.

After Nonna's, we headed to a bar. Alli turned 21 last July, and she really isn't the bar hopping type. It doesn't help that all of the bars in our hometown are dirty frat boy bars. They're all smoky, too, which I can't stand ever since I quit smoking. So in light of this, we went to MudLounge, a smokeless bar that is fabulous. It's clean, they have great drinks and appetizers, and it also has a great atmosphere, so I knew Alli would like it.

We got chocolate fondue, because we wanted to stuff ourselves silly. This was supposed to be for two people, but it had enough food for at least 5-6.

Here is Alli giving MudLounge the thumps up. How cute is that flower pin!



I had a strawberry drink that was yummy, but strong. Ryan has made me drinks like this before, and I like his better.

The next day we woke up and lounged. We hauled ourselves out of the hotel, got some coffee from the delicious MudHouse (OMG Wild Tribe Dark Chocolate Mocha, I have been craving you ever since Sunday), and hit up Marshal's. After our final bout of shopping, we got on the road (with our sacks of rock candy and dark chocolate covered raisins from Mr. Bulky) and headed to Laura Ingall's Wilder's farm in Mansfield, Missouri. She wrote all of the Little House books here. Alli and I had been when we were younger, but I think we got more out of it this time. They showed a short film and lead you through the house. There was also a museum with lots of articles mentioned in the books, like Pa's fiddle. Laura collected pink and green Depression glass, which I actually have a few pieces of! Ryan's mom collects the pink glass, so I know that she would've enjoyed seeing that.

We had such a good weekend. We did what we wanted, and it was so relaxing. I'm trying to talk Alli into going to Chicago for a 3-day weekend, since it's only a 5-6 hour train ride from Carbondale, IL, which is only an hours drive for us. Chicago has a J Crew wedding store! Anyway, I wish this weekend never would have ended, I had such a good time. You're the best, Alli!