dinner

Yesterday evening, my dad surprised me by calling me up to say

he was on his way to take me out to dinner! 

We indulged our Italian heritage by eating delicious bowls of pasta.

mmmm!

 

thanks, dad!

breakfast.

Spenser and I ended our weekend by having a big breakfast Sunday morning.

We had planned on going to our very favorite crepes deluxe, but alas they were closed.  The good news is the reason why they were closed was because they were doing some sort of food festival/competition in Des Moines, so we were very happy for them!

We ended up going here instead and splitting a ton of food.

Coffee, chocolate-dipped biscotti, scrambled eggs, potatoes, french toast, sticky roll, we went crazy!

 

Goodbye, Iowa City, for now!

See you again soon!

 

P.S. I've come to realize all I've been posting recently is food and more food.  I swear I'll get back to blogging other things, too. ;)

 

a hidden place

Yesterday I went on a walk while Spenser was at band practice. (no not this band, instead he was at this band ;) )  The neighborhood I was in was so pretty.  There were some really nice houses in the area.  The homes were filled with character and many had some neat, unique features.  For example, one house had a brick circular archway leading out to their garden-like backyard. While admiring the houses, I took pictures of a few of the doors and doorways that I fancied.  I'll have to share them another time! 

 

The neighborhood not only had pretty homes, but it was filled with lush greenery.  The sidewalks were lined with flowers and the yards were overgrown with ornamental grasses, shrubs, and the like.  So it should come as no surprise (but it did!) when I found this beautiful place.  The sunflowers were brimming over everywhere! 

 

This gorgeous sunflower garden was someone's backyard.  They had installed large wired structures that you would see at a greenhouse and really their whole backyard was similiar to an exposed outdoor greenhouse.  It was truly amazing and so beautiful.  (I know, I know, my treehugger, nature-lover just came out!) Everything about it was so beautiful.  What a wonderful place to stumble upon!  And what a wonderful sign of fall those sunflowers are!

 

 

 

 

4 am.

This morning I dropped off my mom at the airport. 
She is flying out to my cousin Malori's wedding in the Florida panhandle. 
Jealous! Silly school!  Anyway, I hope she has a wonderful time!
Also, many congratulations to Malori!  I can't wait to see pictures.

P.S. The city is beautiful at 4:00 am. I think I kind of like driving then.

the first of many more

tonight I had my first pumpkin malt of the season.

an ice cream treat that tastes

just like pumpkin pie...

yes, please!

 

oh so yummy!

 

 

*taken with the roidizer app for android

we almost ate the whole box. cardboard and all.

spenser came by tonight and we ordered oriental.

our dinner arrived in a huge cardboard box.

that's right. a box.

oh my goodness, that box was full- whoa!

we did not know that much came with what we ordered.

oh well... nothing wrong with that.

 

yay for goofy pictures!

experimenting: the city lights

In the car, after the art show Sunday evening, I played around with my camera. 

(Oh how I love my camera!) 

Using long exposures and a variety of movements,

I got these abstract photos of lights on the road and in the city.

It was a lot of fun just trying different things; playing around.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Art Show II

The art show was hosted on a local historic site.  The grounds were beautifully landscaped and made for a lovely place to wander around.  On the site sits a very well-preserved historic home which we toured.  It was carefully arranged with original furnishings including housewares such as the iron seen above, elegant parlor chairs, and children's simple, worn toys.

 

We also perused some very neat pottery and jewerly, as well as some unique creations (see the mosaic clock?).  I loved the clay sun faces.  They all had different faces and expressions that were so charming.  If I had a backyard of my own, I definitely would have bought a few guys to hang on a back deck, porch, tree, wherever! 

 

The whole day was so relaxing with the beautiful weather, being surrounded by creativity, and spending time with one of my favorite people.  It was an all around beautiful day!

 

Also, before I end this post: this wasn't part of the show, but...this car was too cool!

Art Show I

Yesterday, I went to an art show that featured all kinds of painters, pottery-workers, jewelry designers, and so on.  My mom accompanied me and we teased that this was only a warm-up to this!  (Yes, I already cannot wait!)  We recognized a number of the artists who were showing their work, and met some new ones too. 

 

It always amazes me the different mediums and methods artists use.  For example, we met a painter who chooses to start out on black canvas.  Usually, artists start on white and then shade and tone, but he worked in reverse.  It was a fascinating effect. (Sorry I didn't get a picture! oops!)

 

Also, do you see the third from the last photo? Um, the next Salvador Dali?

 

I know this was a photo overload, but...I'll be back soon with even more! Everything was so pretty!