Monthly Archives: August 2012

August 27, 2012 · 9:25 pm

Des Moines date-in-a-box: Equestrian edition

What woman doesn’t love horses? Their smell and velvety noses and the way they chomp sugar cubes from an outstretched palm. And who doesn’t secretly or not-so-secretly love a cowboy/girl? (If you’re not already familiar with The Pioneer Woman blog, Ree will teach you to love cowboys.)

It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden, though. And even though Joe buys lots of his shirts at G&L Clothing, I’ve yet to see him on a horse.

I’m no equestrian, but I really have an itch to get back in the saddle – at least for a day. I think that calls for scheduling a fall trail ride date at Jester Park, where you can do one-hour guided trail rides for $30 per person. It’s not going to be as romantic as riding on the beach, but in Central Iowa, ya gotta work with what you’ve got. I bet with the leaves turning, it could be really beautiful out there.

In the winter, Jester Park also does wagon and sleigh rides! This would be a great double date or something to do with a group of friends.

Mycountyparks.com lists some more spots for equestrian activities in Iowa. If you’re in the mood, you can even go camping before or after and make a weekend of it. Perhaps prepare some “campurritos” in advance?

Oh! And the Des Moines Dates series has inspired the auction items for the upcoming Brews&Brownies, a benefit event for The Des Moines “I Have a Dream” Foundation, where I work. We’re going to do a blind auction of different dates-in-a-box at the Sept. 25 event at Creme Cupcake. Buy tickets for you and a date and have fun and do good in the process!

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August 24, 2012 · 8:03 am

Into for August

No class for a few weeks in August means I’m soaking up the last of summer nights and reading for fun.

Wednesday night we enjoyed a book club discussion of “The Art of Fielding” with an amazing view from the roof of the AP Lofts. (I loved the book and it got unanimously high ratings from the rest of the group.)

Right now, I’m reading “A Hologram for the King,” Dave Eggers’ new book.

It’s good, a really fast read, and having traveled to the Middle East this spring, I feel like I get the context a little bit more. It’s not as exhilarating as Eggers other books (the main character is a middle aged depressed consultant); I’ve read a review that described it like a modern “Death of a Salesman” and I can see that.

Our Book Club chose “Gone Girl,” which Amber posted about the other day. The fact that our club is made up of a bunch of married couples might make this discussion particularly interesting!

Here’s a video from TEDxDesMoines to get you creating this weekend on all of your weekend projects. I think Rachel is awesome and am really impressed with what she’s been doing on the collaborative Art Beacon Des Moines.

Rachel was super nervous to do this talk, but she was one of my absolute favorites. I love her slides, too! I consider myself a creative person/maker and I could totally relate to what she was saying! I’m working on a quilt right now for Arin’s baby boy, and I’ll post some photos of that this weekend. Almost done!

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August 20, 2012 · 9:06 pm

House history in a Younkers box

Our backyard neighbors were doing some cleaning and came across a Younkers box full of clippings and letters from our “house ancestors” the other week, so they literally passed it over the fence for us to check out. I don’t think “house ancestor” is a real term, but that’s how I like to think of Sec Taylor and his wife, who I’m pretty sure was named Hazel. It also helps justify my curiosity as I went through the letters, articles and photographs.

Scan from the Des Moines Register archives

Joe and I have known about the Taylor connection since we first spotted the house on Zillow in 2009. Sec Taylor was a longtime sports editor at The Des Moines Register and Des Moines’ Iowa Cubs stadium was originally named after him, so he was a local celebrity about town, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Having a kind of house ancestry is one of the reasons I fell in love with our home in the first place, in addition to its cuteness, built-ins and our location on a leafy central Des Moines boulevard. We found a few photos of Sec in the Register’s archives when we worked there, and did a tiny bit of research on him and his work at the Des Moines Public Library. (They have some great local history info online.)

The box contained some mundane but fascinating correspondence among Sec’s siblings about what to do with a farm in Kansas that their father had passed on without a will (and under which there was the possibility of an oil strike), and fun surprises, like a photo of Sec Taylor and some Milwaukee Braves players, one of whom happens to be Hank Aaron. Or so thinks Joe, because I have no idea.

There were also clippings from Helen Hazel Rex’s society page writings for (we think) the newspaper in St. Joseph, Missouri. “Will you stand for a bit of scandal? I’ll try you one…” It’s funny stuff I can’t believe she got away with writing in such a small city. She would have been one snarky blogger.

The box also contained some glamour shots of Miss America, 1954, and photos of Sec at various hob-nobby looking functions with people holding an Oscar and in front of a model horse track. I think the Braves photo will go in a frame near our Iowa Cubs art, but I’m not sure what we’ll do with the rest of it. We’ll have to talk to Leo, our next-door neighbor who is curator for the Salisbury House!

Do any of you know the stories of your home’s ancestors?

Baseball photo update from Leo: ‎”44 is definitely Hammerin’ Hank. 21 is Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, 41 is HoFer Eddie Matthews, and only player to play for Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves and Atlanta Braves. Pretty sure Frank Torre is on the left, possibly is 1957 or 1958 World Series.” I’ll tell you, having a museum curator/bacon expert as a next-door neighbor never fails me. Thanks, Leo!

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August 14, 2012 · 8:25 pm

(Sky Zone) Make ya wanna jump, jump!

Iowa is in the midst of a major drought, with temps this summer that felt hot enough to boil the mercury in a thermometer. So of course on the one weekend a big group plans to get together to go tubing (in an admittedly low river), it rains. My garden and the bajillion acres of crops in this great state need it, so I can’t really begrudge the bad weather, but I haven’t donned my polka dot swimsuit since Punta Cana so I was a little bummed.

Our group convened at Smokey Row to come up with a Sunday Funday Plan B, and after nixing the National Hobo Convention (most of the fun stuff happened earlier in the week), lazer tag (you only get like 12 minutes of actual tag) and rock climbing (someone said you all have to learn how to belay), we chose Sky Zone. Mostly because it was Rob’s 30th birthday and he wanted to go.

Sky Zone is an indoor trampoline park. For someone as uncoordinated as I am who has managed to live for 27 years without breaking a bone (knock on wood), this sounded like a potentially disastrous yet delightful idea. We gave ourselves 20 minutes to go home and change into workout gear, which I of course interpreted as “put together a costume.” What can I say, I want to get my money’s worth out of my New Orleans leopard pants.

Photo courtesy of Liz’s iPhone!

We opted for one hour of jumping ($12 per person), which gave us access to the open trampoline area, foam pit, two basketball dunk hoops and dodgeball zone. You have to wear gross blue suede high top shoes  — although they did kind of work with my costume — but I have to say we had a great time. Especially since we’d just spent two weeks cheering on Olympic athletes from the couch. I almost felt like Gabby Douglas’ pinkie for a second while doing a series of trampoline assisted toe-touches. Magical! 3-D dodgeball for adults is also pretty rad. We teamed up and against some kids, too, which was fun kind of ridiculous.

Everyone was pretty sweaty when our hour was up! And SORE! The Jillian Michaels Yoga workout we’ve been doing at our house has nothing on an hour of jumping. Muscles I didn’t know existed in my back were sore the next morning.

After Sky Zone our group caravaned to the Flat Tire Lounge in Madrid, just off the High Trestle Trail for lunch, beverages and bar games. They have shuffle board and a giant jenga set made out of 2x4s, so what’s not to love?

Bottom line: Even when epic plans get rained out, Des Moines can bring the fun. I recommend SkyZone with a big group, and if you’re nervous about it filling up, you can reserve jump times in advance online.

And yes, that headline is a reference to Kris Kross!

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August 10, 2012 · 5:30 pm

Feeling fallish

How refreshing to reach outside to pick the newspaper up off the stoop today (yes, Joe and I are coffee-and-newspaper kind of morning people) and feel cool fallish weather in the air.

This is completely silly, but one of the road signs to the end of summer for me has always been the Nordstrom sale. Back in Junior High, Doc Martens were all the thing. I had to have them. The kids in my class actually made a club of having them. But my mom (the wise woman she was) made me spend my babysitting money on the shoes. I would save up and then buy them at Oakbrook mall  during the big Nordstrom fall sale. The smell of leather and that yellow top stitching on Mary Janes — it brings me back! So when I was having a bad week the other week, and the Nordstrom sale was going on, I clicked my way to some retail therapy and scored a pair of brown boots I’d been searching for. They came in the mail and fall can now officially start!

Here’s something interesting: When I was at my conference in New York, one of the workshops was on bullying and our presenter told us that one of the psychological reasons kids want to wear what everyone else is wearing (in addition to Doc Martens back in my day, it was Starter Jackets) is along the same principles as the way many animals behave at the watering hole. By wearing the same thing as their peers, they blend in and have a lesser chance of becoming the target for someone picking on them for the way they’re dressed!

I’m lusting for these layers right now:

The back of this dress is darling. It’s a good thing it’s sold out in my size!

This classic-but-whimsical cardigan from Boden. I want to set their catalog on the floor and jump right into it every single season.

If this fallish weather has you feeling like going back to school and in the mood for a sweater, I say you should check out the class schedule at the newish East Village shop Hill Vintage and Knits and learn to crochet or knit this season! Then you can MAKE me that cardigan.

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August 8, 2012 · 6:18 pm

Finding closure — or not?

We’re in the process of uploading some of the videos from TEDxDesMoines, and I wanted to make sure to share this talk, “Beyond Closure,” from Nancy Berns:

I first learned of Nancy’s work with closure last year, when I still worked in the Drake University marketing department, where she is a professor of sociology. Her publisher sent me an advance copy of her book, and I remember thinking about what an important topic that space between grief and joy is in our society. As someone who has felt deeply at both extremes and struggled with how people I’m around have treated me in my periods of grief, I found it personally fascinating.

In helping Alexander curate our July event around the theme “The Space Between,” I remembered Nancy’s message and thought it would resonate with any audience. Who among us hasn’t either struggled with grief or watched someone we care about experience the sadness of loss? I feel like Berns’ talk is one that our audience will return to, and share, when they or someone they know needs it. It’s a great reminder that oftentimes the best thing we can do for someone is to ask them to tell their stories and recall the joy.

Especially as we work through national tragedies like the recent mass shootings, and as we await sentencing for the perpetrators, this is an interesting idea worth spreading.

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August 5, 2012 · 12:47 pm

NYC afternoon

This week capped off what’s felt like my year of conferences with a trip to NYC!

I got to meet Eugene Lang, who founded the “I Have a Dream” Foundation 30 years ago, and got a taste of city life last week during the organization’s national staff conference.

We stayed in the NYU dorms (which were huge and had great views!) and our days were packed with group workshops and activities, but I had a few chances to break from the pack and this is what I did:

Thursday morning I went with a couple of people to start the day at Yoga to the People off St. Marks with a power yoga class that was for all ability levels and featured a sound track that brought me back to my college days. (“Into the Mystic” and “Hallelujah” were part of the playlist.) I don’t do yoga very often, but now I’m inspired to fit it in on a much more regular basis. I spent the rest of the conference sore, which is a definite sign I need to get myself in shape!

Our workshops overlooked Washington Square Park, where I stole a few moments to read our TEDxDesMoines book club pick. (Our meeting is Aug. 15, so you have time to read it, too.)

After the sessions were over, I scooted down to Purl Soho and did a little damage fabric shopping. It was exciting to actually be in one of the magical places that I only experience via the blogosphere. Plus, there was a 20% off everything sale going on!

Saturday was a free day; I just needed to be back to the dorms in time for a 3:30 p.m. airport shuttle pickup. I didn’t do much research in advance or really make any plans, but I ended up being able to meet my friend and former London flatmate Maggie at Westville in the East Village for brunch, which was delicious and lovely despite the fact that I kept accidentally flinging my silverware at the people who were at the table next to us. (Teeny tables really close to each other.)

Then I went on a solo excursion to the High Line. My Parks and Rec friend Teva had recommended I check it out, which I remembered after looking up Joanna Goddard’s NYC afternoon NYC Guide recommendations. I knew I could count on Cup of Jo to steer me in the right direction! The High Line is a converted above ground rail line that’s now a (free-to-access) park with great wildflower landscaping, art, food trucks and views! I can imagine it would be even more amazing at sunset, and when you’re not lugging a heavy purse and a carry on:

I did the whole 1.45 mile length, then doubled back to the start and walked there from the East Village, so I earned a cucumber lime popsicle, right?

I lounged on the sky lawn, stopped to smell the flowers and was super excited to see this art by former TED prize winner JR along the way.

It felt so great to walk in the sunshine and keep my eyes and mind open. Thankfully, I made it back to Des Moines last night after a nail-biter of a tight layover and got a seat next to some awesome strangers who might even put together a fundraiser for “I Have a Dream”!

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