Fab Finds: Thread

My friend, Jennifer, from thread makes super adorable t-shirts and onesies.  She made the little elephant onesie I gave Emily for her baby shower. I love the look of the Thread shirts, and have a feeling that most of my future baby shower gifts are going to be from her.

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Yesterday morning, Jennifer hosted a made by hand open house.  She invited different local vendors to display and sell their handmade (and local) wares.  I purchased a bottle of wine from Penoach Winery in Adel, Iowa.  Michaun purchased a cute "1" shirt for her godson from Thread.  It was a great event, and I hope Jennifer hosts again next year!

Feels Good to be Home

Josh came home this weekend.  It felt right.  Sophie and I were pumped to see him.  Anytime Sophie saw his hand dangling off the bed or the sofa, she decided it was time to wrestle.  She loves to wrestle with Josh.  She and I don't wrestle.  We tried last week, but gave up because we both realized it's unnatural for us to wrestle; we cuddle. 

Sophie is happy to have her wrestling buddy home.

Yesterday it rained all day, which made it seem like an even better, relaxing Saturday.  We had three things on our agenda this weekend:  do Josh's laundry (check), schedule a haircut for Josh (check), and take advantage of Des Moines' Restaurant Week (check).  When Josh only has two weeks worth of laundry to do, it gets done really quickly!  I think it only took four loads.  That's a record.  Also, after months of asking if I could schedule a haircut, magically he obliged on Saturday.  Within ten minutes of his request, I had one scheduled.  Then, we made a reservation at Alba, one of our favorite restaurants in Des Moines.  They had a fixed menu for Restaurant Week, and it had the largest selection of options of the few restaurants we were interested in.  I called at 11 AM to make a reservation; the earliest available was 8:30 PM.  I took it since we didn't have anything else going on yesterday.  Any other day, I would have had to had an early dinner before the 8:30 dinner. 

Our meals were amazing!  For starters, Josh had the Iowa Sweet Corn Soup - Puffed Bacon / Chive Oil / Tomato Jam; I had the Chameleon Farms Heirloom Tomato Salad - Basil Caramel / House Made Ricotta / Zucchini Crouton.  For the main course, Josh had the Hanger Steak - Crushed Yukon Potatoes / Crispy Onion Rings / Blue Collar Sauce and I had the Pork Loin Duo - Mexican Chorizo /Yukon Potatoes /Sweet Corn / Scallion.  For dessert, Josh had the Sticky Roll Bread Pudding - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream / Pecan Pralines; I had the Salted Caramel Crème Brule - Espresso Brittle.  Josh and I both enjoyed our starters.  We favored my pork dish over his steak.  His bread pudding was amazing; my crème brule was very sweet and I couldn't finish it.  First time ever not finishing a crème brule.  Finding g-free food in Des Moines is actually pretty easy...even during Restaurant Week!

It's Sunday, and I have a million things to do - print Cassie's wedding invitations, workout, do a little laundry, do some mending and ironing...  I wish it could stay the weekend forever...

Drive-In Movie Theater

I've always been enthralled with the idea of drive-ins.  To be honest, I'm a little surprised it didn't make it on my 30 before 30 list.  Anyway, on Saturday, Josh and I are planning our first date since he started law school.  Since I have a baby shower in Des Moines Saturday morning, and then the Rascal Flatts concert on Sunday at the Iowa State Fair, we decided to try our first "meet-in-the-middle" date night.  I heard about the drive-in movie theater in Newton a while back, but always thought driving an hour to watch a movie was quite ridiculous (since there is a movie theater five minutes from my house, why would I drive any further than that?).  Well, the hour drive for a movie is actually perfect since it's right in the middle for both Josh and I to drive.  Plus, the main feature is The Bourne Legacy, a movie we wanted to see together anyway.  Then, upon completing further research, I discovered the Pizza Ranch in Newton has a gluten-free menu.  It looks like we'll be having g-free pizza and a drive-in movie on Saturday.  Knowing I have this to look forward to, will hopefully make this week a little more manageable...

Pizza Ranch's g-free menu, part 1

Pizza Ranch's g-free menu, part 2

Also, I feel it's important for me to put aside my preconceived ideas of Pizza Ranch being grungy small-town Midwest (read: outdated) restaurants that didn't stand a chance (I've been questioning the opening of a new Pizza Ranch in Ankeny since I learned about it).  I was wrong.  Pizza Ranch isn't hokey...and since they offer a g-free menu, I'm pretty sure - unless the g-free menu is awful - I'll be frequenting their establishments often.

Exploring Local

This weekend, I stayed in Ankeny and took advantage of some fun things to do locally.  Normally, I like to spend every weekend in the summer (or any season, really) away from home.  I love to visit friends (especially in Minneapolis), but with Josh leaving for law school, I'm trying to stay home more than "normal" to take advantage of any extra time we can spend together.

Anyway, on Friday night, Minna invited me to White Oaks Vineyards for her birthday.  The winery is in Cambridge, which is about a 20-minute drive from my house.  Josh and I went there last year, but we didn't know about the free music Fridays.  I think I might have to take advantage of this more often!  Together, our group bought one bottle of each wine, and two of Celebrate, since it was delicious and seemed appropriate for Minna's birthday celebration.

On Saturday, we  headed across the street from Minna's house to the Des Moines Home Show Expo.  We toured eight of the 12 homes.  My favorite was this one.  I loved the Cape Cod style, however the spiral staircase in the turret was a little much.  I prefer a more direct route between my floors.  One special touch I felt was very appropriate for an Iowa home show, was a feature of Templeton Rye.

Here's a little video about the history of Templeton Rye, if you're curious.

Then, we headed over to West Des Moines to check out the new Whole Foods.  Sometimes, I don't understand why people think Whole Foods is a "high-end" grocery store.  Twenty-one of their vendors are local.  It's not like these things are imported from Europe, folks.  Plus, the prices of many of the "mainstream" gluten-free products were lower than HyVee...so I think I'm probably going to become a loyal customer. 

I didn't want to get caught up in the excitement yesterday, so I only bought a couple of things.  I couldn't resist the chipolte ranch (it's g-free!), honey nut rice cakes (also g-free), and chocolate milk from Picket Fence Creamery.  I think I have quite a few trips to Whole Foods in my future.