Alderwoman Kacie Starr-Triplett and myself at her fundraiser."You were acting like you were shy!" complained my BFF Tiffany.

Tiffany, who has known me since high school, knows that I am not a shy person, but I did feel rather awkward at Tuesday night's Fun-D-Raiser for St. Louis sixth ward alderwoman, Kacie Starr-Triplett. Everyone was nice. I actually knew a few people there besides my friend, her hubby and my sister who came with me. I felt amazingly adorable in my outfit, so confidence wasn't the problem. It was just so hard to talk to people when you can't hear them. The band was awesome, but loud, making all my conversations sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown.

Also, unlike in say, back east, where it delightfully meant something to be "The Black Snob," I have no kind of rep at all in St. Louis. (Although I was told by someone that might be a GOOD thing.) I mostly got some blinks and polite smiles upon telling people I was a freelance journalist and blogger. The highlight of the whole evening came at the very beginning when I ran into my old co-worker/friend, David, from The Bakersfield Californian who now works for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was just driving by the restaurant and we ended up having a convo, catching up, in the middle of traffic. Love that guy. He was always a good sport about all my ribbing.

That said, the food was awesome and Kaci was as tall, gracious and lovely as ever. She's a great person with a bright future in STL politics. The restaurant, Smoking Joes at 1901 Washington Ave., was gorgeous and I told the owner I would be back. Maybe I'll drag Big Sis out again or Baby Snob. I think Baby would like the place A LOT. Maybe we'll go back on Friday when they have live music.

Anyway. My shoes were awesome and my hair looked nice and that's really all that matters, right?