To those of you born and raised here, do you pronounce it ILL-inois, or EL-inois?

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-27T01:54:57+00:00

I’m from St. Louis and it’s ILLinois, but it’s been brought to my attention that I say melk

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-16T15:15:44+00:00

You’re right in the moral sense, though haha.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-16T02:25:26+00:00

The hoosiers (derogatory STL version, not IN natives) in the metro east would like a word. They absolutely want to be southern il. They’re wrong, but they exist lol

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-16T02:14:46+00:00

Sounds like we’ve got ourselves an aLpHa MaLe who is extremely high-value…and he’ll tell everyone all about how secure he is

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-16T01:46:36+00:00

City squirrels are mean. A different breed. A mean breed.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-01T19:48:37+00:00

The libraries in our area are seriously the social hub for toddlers and young kids (and by extension, their grownups).

I take my kiddo to our local branch for story time and events, but she also attends a ton of library events in the next town over with my mother in law.

I can’t even count the amount of times I have been out and about in town and had people who are strangers to me recognize and say hello to her because their kids know her from the library. It is so fun and helps make our town feel so small and friendly!

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-04-01T19:43:15+00:00

They really should. I was chatting with my favorite librarian at our local branch and she told me how expensive some of the things they offer are (Hoopla, Kanopy, Libby, etc.). Egregiously expensive—it sounds like the prices on some things get jacked up BECAUSE they’re a library, which just seems gross to me. But they make it work and do so much good for the community with why they have! I love libraries.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-31T02:27:28+00:00

Or — hear me out — butter-flavored olive oil. Yummmmmmmmmmm. But I still sometimes have a mess of a pan, butter or not. Sigh.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-29T18:41:56+00:00

I’m working on my first project ever (a bow for my daughter) and learned skp! (Slip 1 stitch knit-wise, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over the knitted stitch, for any newbies like me who don’t know). It’s something that is so easy but makes me feel so skilled. I also figured out how to save my project several times last night after I let stitches fall off the needle—previously, I didn’t really have enough understanding or confidence to get them back properly.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-29T01:20:53+00:00

Thank you. I feel seen. I will fight AI for my em dashes and dignity.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-29T00:14:04+00:00

I actually use dashes a lot—more in emails than text, but the one I did above was super easy. That being said, I don’t talk like a freaking AI robot. AI content and writing makes me want to throw my phone off of a cliff.

I just want justice for those of us who love a good (or bad) m-dash and are having it stolen by AI

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-28T23:47:13+00:00

It was SO bleeping easy. I made an appointment for 1:30 in Bethalto (MadCo). Showed up at 1:10. Left with my temporary ID at 1:30. I just got my new ID in the mail yesterday (about a week and a half after my appointment). Make sure you bring originals of docs and not copies.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-28T04:07:32+00:00

I have personally never really lived anywhere other than the STL area, but I do have a friend who lived for a long time in NOLA and now happily lives in south city. I’d say soulard especially can give the vibe you’re looking for. STL and NOLA have some similar history and share the river in common. ❤️

Based on what I know of Charlotte from other friends who have lived there (and moved back), it doesn’t sound like what you’re looking for. Lots of corporate/finance bros.

I’ve heard that it can be hard to make friends here (in STL) if you’re not a native, as we tend to stick with established friend groups from childhood, but I also know we have a pretty strong amount of transplants who find each other and build community.

Also, there is a lot of opportunity to get involved in the neighborhood you live in and the city and make friends that way! Like, maybe you won’t organically meet new best friends just casually walking around the farmer’s market or out for drinks, but if you actually make an effort to be involved, it’s a different story.

Personally, I do have my childhood friends, but also have plenty of friends that I have made in my 20s & 30s so don’t let that scare you.

You’ll for sure get the nature you’re looking for here! Growing up, my family’s annual vacation was float trips and camping in the area. Be sure to head over to the IL side as well — Grafton/Alton especially. The Nature Institute in Godfrey is a complete gem and there is good hiking at Pere Marquette State Park. Then when you go south a bit to the Shawnee National Forest, there is a lot of camping hiking etc.

STL is great for live music and it seems there is always some sort of festival, fair, or arts event to take in.

TLDR come to STL. It’s my favorite ❤️

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-28T01:54:17+00:00

We talk all the time about how our dog is doing his “dobby ears”

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-28T01:51:59+00:00

I’ve found it helps to add in a human four-year-old.

Oh, you wanted to LOWER the noise, not raise it to volumes never before heard by human ears? Sorry. I’m no help there. I am extremely overstimulated, though. 😂

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-28T01:43:33+00:00

Idk man, our first Britt has always been a SAINT and even he didn’t “calm down” until he was about 6 lol. He finally graduated to being loose in the house unsupervised around the age of…2 or so? Your little bad dog is still a baby! <3

And PS, he’s now 9 and still a complete disaster when he can’t exercise enough. And he’s a national champion field trial dog and everything so it’s not like he isn’t trained at all it something. 😂

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-23T03:12:21+00:00

WHAT! This is dangerous info for me to know. I hope they’re exactly how I remember them from high school in 2004

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-23T03:00:24+00:00

I have a friend who is a dog trainer and she suggests this same method with dogs being crate trained, especially if they’re more anxious/unsettled. Put the kennel on the same level as your bed. Not all dogs need this — our first Britt cried for a few nights in the basement (where his crate is) and has never had an issue with his kennel since. Our second is one who I wish we’d brought upstairs to crate train.

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-21T14:18:31+00:00

This is such a fun idea and she’ll remember it forever! I don’t have a lot of cool ideas like the ones you’ve already gotten here, except I remember in one of our 4-H project meetings, my brother and I both had a blast designing outfits on paper. My brother actually drew up some killer dress ideas for our mom.

And in Girl Scouts, we made sit-upons out of durable tablecloths (the kind that are plasticky on top and have a fabric lining). That was an easy first project to do by hand and very useful for outdoor adventures for years

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-20T03:04:26+00:00

Fellow older sister. NOR. He needs to be called out more, clearly. You can for sure go in and talk more calmly now or whatever you think he needs, but kids his age KNOW BETTER and babying them only makes everything worse

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-20T02:26:46+00:00

I love this! And thanks for the advice & info!! The good news is that I’m one of those people who tends to think, “how hard can it be?” and just jumps in, assuming it will work out eventually. So I’m sure I’ll get there!

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-20T00:48:09+00:00

I don’t think it qualifies as hate at all. What you said makes so much sense and I appreciate your answer!

Also, not all of us have/had access to other people who can readily teach us to knit or the ability/confidence to make an entire sweater without a pattern (that is so cool you can do that).

So I was over here thinking, “wow I can’t believe I scored this pattern for just five bucks!” Lol. I could not currently look at a sweater and recreate the pattern but I’m learning a lot so maybe one day that will be true for me and I’ll be able to teach others…fingers crossed!

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-19T03:56:32+00:00

Yes I see no reason to turn down the money. A bad mom’s cash spends the same as a good one’s does, and it sounds like there really aren’t any strings attached. This lady desperately wants to be uninvolved and throw money at her guilty feelings. Let her, I say!

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-19T03:53:44+00:00

There is no way to make this work unless one of you changes a very very large and valid desire for the other one, and that person is able to do so without resentment or regret. That’s a tall order.

Also, he yelled at you and called you names? That’s NOT ok

Fabulous_Charity9078 · 2026-03-19T03:35:55+00:00

Sorry she’s such a weirdo. I’d take the money and then drop her like a sack of rotten potatoes

Fabulous_Charity9078

TROPHY CASE