Things To Do In Iowa

Well, that list isn't as long in Iowa as it is some places, but we managed to party hard all weekend. 

Saw lots of people I love again, which was great.  :)

Grabbed dinner w/ a childhood friend, Rachel - it was nice to catch up - and it was for the second time this year, which we both agreed was a great accomplishment.  Wish I had my old pics scanned in, I'd drop one of those in here. :)

Just remembered I had this!  I'm the nerd on the left, she's the nerd on the right.  Did we coordinate that hair thing or did our mothers?

Came home from work the other night and my sisters' midgets were at the house!  YEA!  It was fun to see them.  I wasn't happy at how big they were tho.  :(  They grow up too fast.  Mel's son Luke feels like he's moving into that next phase!  Kiera was the same - too big for my liking.  What do you do tho, part of life. :)

They apparently saw a man dressed as a chicken that day and Kiera wanted to talk about it endlessly. :)

Friday night we headed downtown to hear the FunkDaddies play and to Sand in the City.  I kept trying to figure out if they had rigged a digital organ up to a old school leslie, but they hadn't!  They had chopped the B3 up for portability and painted it black.  There is nothing like the sound of a HAMMOND.  Nothing.  Denny Kettelson was the organist, it was fun talking shop with him a while.  I was no where near as smart, but I loved it just as much as he did, so that felt like it evened the playing field a bit.  At least in my mind. :)

Denny Kettelson, The B3 and Me! 

Doing what we love in the city we love!

Funnel cake?  Yes, please! 

Lemonade Shake-up?  I think I will!  

Making Jack do what he hates. Sit like a human being. 

Also, when I went to France I tried to figure out if the women didn't shave, for the record, I never figured it out, and also for the record I've noticed WAY more women in Iowa City who don't shave then I ever saw in France.  Ok, now that we have that cleared up, I'll move on!

SO, Saturday we headed to the 97th Meskwaki Annual Powwow.  I read about it in the local paper and wanted to go and my husband graciously decided to accompany me. :)  I wasn't sure I'd be able to get him there, but he went.  One of the conclusions of the day is we don't love each others driving, but other than that, it was a beautiful day!  I managed to cry thru a good 15 min of the powwow...  not sure why but it was a little emotional to me.  They had a portion where they honored Vets... in a powwow... and it got to me.  People carrying on traditions I think is something special too.  Maybe it was the heat?  Maybe I'm hormonal?  Beats me, but I cried.  :)

How can you not love midgets in feather!?  He danced his heart out! 

Another cutie pie midget!

They were proud that their young "nation" of men were carrying on their traditions.  The young nation also turned out to be a Hawkeye nation - there was a pretty good woop when the Hawks came up.  :)  These guys played the large drums and sang the chants.

Ummmm... I LOVE this guys shirt! 

And this guys! :)  These seem like the metro-sexual regalia!  Seriously love that shirt! 

Pullin' over to take a picture w/ this beautiful backdrop!

It was a great day, and then it got even better!  Andy (Nick's brother) and his wife (Nicole) came over with the midgets and spent the night!  :)  So, we headed back down to Sand in the City and then to see Lilo and Stitch in the park.  It was a great night!  Church picnic the next day and needless to say, I'm more than a little exhausted right now. :)

I think Evie just told him she fed the steak to the cat.  ; )

Putting the ship together! Got pretty close. 

Orange slices serve many purposes. :)

"Emie do it now." 

LOL!  Love this pic!  

The brothers found some t-shirt place that sold drinks for $.37 - we heard about it all night. 

Lovely Days

I'm not sure I'm comfortable admitting this, but I think I just might be an Iowa girl - not the hawkeye's, just an Iowa girl. 

I hate the humidity here and I hate the snow (mostly because of driving), but sadly, I'm beginning to accept this is home. 

I'm also getting to the point - I hate even saying this out loud - I am ready to wear some substantial clothes.  I've never been a big fan of summer clothes, it feels like they should be biodegradable or something, like you wear them than throw them away at the end of summer, maybe in the yard and they end up fertilizing the plants...  Being an Iowa girl, you're used to wearing clothes that are industrial strength.  :)

Sooo, I've hit the jackpot thrifting lately!  I love Goodwill and I have a consignment shop in Cedar Rapids - Crazy Daisy’s - and one in Iowa City - Second Act - that I love.  You can find some really nice stuff for a bargain.  On a side note - I take all my extra plastic bags to the consignment shop they're always looking for them, so if you need a fun way to recycle this is a good one.  ALSO, I love taking my extra magazine places for people - laundry mat, doc office, work! 

Anyway, I found these shoes at Goodwill the other day for $4.38.  BCBG's, probably wore once/twice, in brown.  Not my favorite color, but I've been dying to try this glitter thing!  This was the perfect opportunity.  I follow a blog a friend hooked me up w/ and it was shown there. She's adorable and is an amazing repurposer.  She buys a lot of thrift stuff and tailors them to her liking:  http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/

I used my Martha Stewart glitter!  There's not much that Martha makes that I don't love, but her glitter is just one of my all time favorite things. :)  Also, I could live at Michael's. 

Here's my new shoes that I LOVE!  They turned out amazing:

The Original

Paint by small sections w/ Gem-Tac glue

Voila!  But not done yet!

Paint on an indoor/outdoor varnish - like a thin glue that protects the glitter.  The shoe below is wet.

The end result after the varnish dries! 

I left the heel as is.  I liked the look.  I have a few pairs tho that the heels are banged up on and this might be a good way to get a little more life out of them.

SO, I was really happy about a.) finally trying it and b.) how well it turned out.

Also, a few of my thrift finds lately:

The coral/pink skirt is a J Crew for $3.98!  Yippy yi!

How cute is this dress!  I need to do some work on the sleeves, I'd like something else, but it's so cute!  Lucial Ball! :)

Adorable skirt!  Very cute.  

Oh Sky How I Love Thee

Such a beautiful sky tonight!  Had to take a few shots.  :)  I have more pictures of sky then any one person should have.  Also need to get me a longer lense for my camera!