This morning I made a happy discovery.  My usual peek at Grace Bonney’s Design*Sponge turned up an incredibly thorough guide to purposeful living in Des Moines, Iowa.  Our capitol city often gets a bad rap, mostly due to its close proximity to West Des Moines, a bastion of strip malls and cookie cutter tract homes that seems to suck a little bit of life out of you each time you pass through it.  Downtown Des Moines, with more than a bit of purposeful revitalization and a rechanneling of the energy and resources that run through it with each campaign season, is working hard to build a different kind of community.

Upon my return to Iowa five years ago, I spent about five months living and working in downtown Des Moines.  I remember being surprised by the slow food movement that was gaining momentum, the fast growth of the areas’ farmer’s markets, and the boom of new and interesting restaurants.  I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was and then glad to have a fun, new place to explore while I was adjusting to being back in the Midwest after many years.

So much time has passed since I moved to Iowa City that I am grateful for Annie May’s detailed guest post on the city and its hidden and not-so-hidden gems.  I think its time for a road trip and a day of exploration!

I ran across this gorgeous photograph* on sfgirlbybay (thank you, mrs. french!) and felt like it the perfect representation of how I feel after this great birthday week of mine.  I am four weeks away from the Institute and sometimes a bit overwhelmed, but I spent the last four or five days with some of the best people I know and the result is a grounded and happy me.   I am more than a lucky girl.

*the photograph is by Alana Davis – http://alanakdavis.com/past.html

It is cold and beyond blustery here in Iowa City and I am craving a little sunshine.  With highs in the seventies and eighties predicted for later this week, that will come soon enough.  For now, I’ll take a little lemony sunshine courtesy of Lara Rossignol of piewacket.  Her etsy shop is full of of fun things.  Take a peek and feel a bit better until our own sunshine arrives.