Life without tradition would be like….well….

Years ago a tradition started amongst St. Louis architectural and engineering firms.  On the last work day before Christmas, White Castle hamburgers mysteriously showed up on people’s drafting tables.  This would always happen very early in the morning, so the delectable White Castle aroma would fill the office thereby making the offering even that much more irresistible.  The moans and groans of the arriving fellow employees brought true Christmas joy to the unknown deliverer of the “belly bombers.”  The comments were priceless, “this thing smeared grease on my drawing,” or “this is disgusting,” or “am I supposed to eat it,” or just a simple “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Mmmm...sliders.

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8:30 a.m. sharp!



This morning, StLDA was visited by the White Castle Elf, marking our 24th Christmas!  As always, there was a little friendly competition in regard to how many burgers one could eat (reigning champ Kazadi won...8 sliders consumed, down from last years 12!)...

Kazadi is King of White Castle



...and Clinton ate his first slider EVER.



Clintons first slider!

As always, a monumental White Castle breakfast and a great Design Alliance tradition! 

Filling the Red Kettle

For the last three years, StLDA has taken time out to raise money for the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights Red Kettle by ringing the bell at the Schnucks at Clayton and Big Bend. Today was the big day, and we were ready to fill some kettles!  We always enjoy helping out our friends at the Salvation Army!



Our Jolene and Kathy decked out in red!



Click on the links below for details on ways (in addition to donating cash to the red kettles at many grocery stores) you can help the Salvation Army, an organization that reaches so many:

The Cans Film Festival - Free movie!  Donate cans at any Wehrenberg Theatre on Saturday 12/3/11 only!

Online Red Kettle

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend!

Salvation Army Tree of Lights Kick-Off

This past Sunday, StLDA had a blast at The Salvation Army Tree of Lights Campaign kick-off. This year the Rams theme couldn’t have been more fitting as we all braved the rain and the chill on our way to the Edward Jones Dome to "kick-off" the campaign as the Rams "kicked-off" their home game against the Seattle Seahawks.

As we tailgated at the Convention Center, we had the opportunity to catch up with some of our old friends from The Salvation Army. There was a celebrity appearance with Rampage the St. Louis Rams mascot who was all decked out in military gear (it just happened to be military appreciation day at the Dome). The Rams cheerleaders also made an appearance and Roman agreed to get his photo taken with them!

The program also included updates about some of the amazing things that The Salvation Army has done in the past year. We learned about their after-school programs, successful food bank, and the extensive relief they provided in Joplin, Missouri after the devastating tornado in May. That doesn't even scratch the surface of all of the things going on throughout their organization.

Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to pull off a win...that would have really been a exciting way to kick-off the Tree of Light’s campaign!

We here at StLDA pray that 2011 Tree of Lights Campaign is the best one yet!

First Post!

We are excited to launch our new blog!  Check back often for updates as we have a lot of going on around here...like working with Merced Housing Texas on their new elderly facility in San Antonio.  Congratulations to Merced on the HUD grant award...we're looking forward to working with you again!