In the past 4.5 years living in the Des Moines area, I discovered that both Des Moines and Urbandale have really awesome libraries. However, never being a resident of West Des Moines until now, I had never been in the town's library. It's not too far from my new house nestled in between the police station, city hall, and Valley football stadium on Mills Civic Pkwy. After filling out my information and providing proof of my residence in West Des Moines, I had my card. Rows and rows of books filled the rooms leaving me, as usual, overwhelmed by all the options. I keep a list of books on my iPhone so I can remember all the ones I want to read. I typed a few of them into the electronic card catalog to find they were checked out. I was looking for a light, fun read to take with me on my vacation to San Diego, so half the books on my list didn't fit the criteria. I ended up wondering the stacks until I stumbled upon To Live and Die in Dixie by Mary Kay Andrews. It's part of a series of classic whodunnit novels similar to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money). The main character - Callahan Garrity - is a former Atlanta police officer turned P.I. and house cleaning company owner. On a house cleaning call, one of her employees finds the body of a murdered teenager. The owner of the home hires her to recover the items stolen in the robbery while the victim's sister hires her to solve the murder. The book was wrote in the 1990s so Garrity didn't have a smartphone or Google to help her in the investigation. Still, she caught several breaks and pieced it all together before the cops. Unfortunately, the ending wrapped up too nicely for me. When her case was about to fall apart, the murderers tried killing Garrity and ended up getting caught after setting themselves on fire in the process. Now that I'm back from vacation, I probably won't read the other novels in the series. But it was a fine read while on the beach and poolside. |
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The lights, the cameras, the set, the actors… the behind the scenes of filmmaking was on display around Des Moines this weekend for the 48 Hour Film Project. Nearly 50 teams took on the challenge to write, shoot, edit and perfect a 4-7 minute film in just 48 hours. See the trailer for the film my team - Two Creek Productions - produced. You're hooked - I just know it! To see Sycamore Trail for yourself, show up at the Fleur Cinema next Thursday, August 7 at 7:00pm or 9:30pm. You'll see Sycamore Trail plus eight other films for just $10. There will be a Q&A with each team after the 7:00pm screening. Audience members get to vote on their favorite films, and each screening group will have one Audience Award Winner. Judges will select the 10-ish best films to play at The Best Of Screening on Thursday, August 21 at 7:00pm, also at the Fleur Cinema. Skip the Hollywood blockbuster and support your local filmmakers! While this was my second year participating, it was my first time working with this team. Only one other person from my team last year, Continental Shift, was interested in taking on the challenge again. We combined with a one-man team and picked up two new people. We were a small crew of five, but we all had big roles to play. Chris and Jill were the actors, Jeremy the photographer and editor, Kristine the grip/gopher/fake blood maker/safety coordinator, and I played the director the best I could. After attempting to act last year, I decided staying off camera was a great idea. Our group drew "horror" for our genre. We decided to stick with it rather than take our chances with the more difficult wildcard genres including the likes of “chase/escape,” “creature/monster,” and “period piece.”
We crossed the starting line at 7:00pm Friday night. We came up with three story lines and quickly narrowed it down to one. We started writing the dialogue and visualizing the scenes. We drew up a shot sheet and finalized the script by midnight. We met Saturday at 9:00am on at the Neal Smith Trail along the Des Moines River. I picked the trail - which worked out perfectly except for getting eaten alive by big ass mosquitoes. Shooting went pretty smoothly. We tweaked the shots and script a bit, but for the most part, we stuck to the plan. We wrapped filming at 4:00pm. Jeremy put in a long night of editing while the rest of us got some decent sleep. We had the film finalized by 3:00pm Sunday - well before the 7:30pm deadline. Whether you know me personally or somehow just randomly stumbled across my blog, I hope you have fun - and maybe learn something - reading along as I experience the world one first time at a time. It's hard to believe, but I've been blogging for almost three years now. A lot of memories are forever on the interwebs for anyone to find. A good chunk of those memories are thanks to the great city I call home.
That's why I'm excited to become the newest contributor for the well-known blog Des Moines is NOT Boring. I stumbled across the blog shortly after moving to Des Moines a couple years ago. It's an awesome resource for keeping in the loop of goings-on around the metro. Once upon a time Des Moines MAY have been boring; that hasn't been the case for years. If you still need to be convinced Des Moines is a fun, thriving city, get in the loop at Des Moines is NOT Boring. You can also check out my first post on the blog. Being a new homeowner in West Des Moines, I'm excited to get to know my new town. My last two residences were in Des Moines and Urbandale. While I've lived in the metro 4.5 years now, there are too many roads and paths to know them all. Today was such a beautiful day, we decided to get to know a few new ones. Lucas and I hopped on our bikes for a quick 3 mile ride to Raccoon River Park. A quick check of the local trail map gave us a decent idea of easiest way to get there. We don't like riding on the roads if we don't have to. Luckily, we only rode on a few back streets for a couple blocks before connecting with the Jordan Creek Trail. I've never been on this trail and didn't know where it connected. We started in Fairmeadows Park on 22nd and Vine and rode the trail all the way to the north side of the park. The trail isn't perfectly marked so I was concerned we'd get lost, but we didn't. It was a beautiful day for discovering a new trail and relaxing at the beach.
Preface: My pants may or may not be unbuttoned as I speak - or rather - write.
Working at a marketing agency, there is a time and place for wining and dining clients. I haven't experienced this until tonight. After a long but extremely insightful day of meetings, a few of my colleagues and I took our two clients who were in town to the new restaurant at the Des Moines Social Club called MALO. I was about to describe the food as Mexican; however, a quick check of the website clarified that in fact the genre of food is Latin. This might explain why I found the menu wasn't traditional Mexican offerings, or the meals are just that contemporary. Either way, there are some interesting choices available from tots & shots to Texas shrimp enchiladas to paella. My dinner party of seven didn't have one bad word to say about the food. From the sangria to salads and tacos to ice cream, we tasted a good cross section of the menu. The prices were reasonable. Many of the meals were from $10-$20 with only a few entrees going above that. Chips and salsa are included, plus we ordered guacamole and the tater tots. Holy food coma. We all left stuffed, which is why my pants may or may not be unbuttoned at this exact point in time. If you aren't familiar with the Social Club, you should know that it recently opened after a massive remodel of the old Des Moines fire station headquarters. It's a hub for the arts, education, theater, and concerts. MALO occupies the space that used to be the fire truck bays. It's a fun and modern atmosphere that blends bright colors with a sophisticated feel. There was a steady crowd this evening, plus a large party table. There's a lot of ways you can spend any given Saturday morning. Sleeping in, visiting family and binge watching my TV show du jour are the usual suspects. However, this Saturday morning was different; I was going to pull a UPS airplane. As a new homeowner, expenses add up fast and your bank account dwindles faster. Surprisingly, there is at least one way you can save a little money. Our real estate agent filled us in on a not-so-secret tax credit - the Homestead Credit - available in Polk County. It's really simple to get and will save us about $175 on our property taxes every year from here on out. All you have to do is head down to the Polk County building at 111 Court Avenue in Des Moines and look for this door (which is on the main floor on the left wall) to Room 195. It even says on the sign "Homestead Exemptions." A nice lady will ask your name and address (she didn't even ask for ID), print you off a paper to sign stating you live there and show you how much you'll save on your property taxes.
Voila! You're a money-saving homeowner. Today's the perfect day to hop on a bike and check out some urban chicken coops! This is probably not a typical thought for most of us. It was never a thought for me until I randomly found out about the inaugural Urban Tour de Cluck bike ride. The ride was hosted by Urban Community Concepts, whose mission is to connect resources to help other organizations build stronger communities. As someone always excited about learning new things and doing new things, I figured this ride would be great. And it was. For $15, you had six hours to bike (or drive) to a dozen homes with chicken coops. We got a late start on the day so we only made it to seven. To be honest, at the beginning of the ride, I thought this could get repetitive. Boy, was I wrong. Each family had such an interesting and unique story about why they first got chickens, their experiences - good and bad - raising them and their plans for the future. Each chicken coop was so unique, too, all from reclaimed materials (double sustainability points). I learned a lot about chickens from the different breeds to their psychology. It was interesting that half of the families we talked with starting raising chickens because of their child/teenager. It (almost) makes me want to raise chickens of our own. But even if I really wanted to, I also found out on the ride that West Des Moines (where we just bought a house) doesn't allow any chickens. Des Moines allows 30 and Windsor Heights allows two. Maybe that'll change one day... My bum is a little sore (from the first ride of the year) and my arms a little sunburn (thanks to my Irish roots), but overall, it was a really fun, informative day. I love getting to know more about what's going on in my community! "We're a triple A town with major league opportunities." - Jay Byers, CEO Greater Des Moines Partnership Only moving to Des Moines four years ago, I quickly became a cheerleader for this great community. I have to explain to my friends from back home in Chicagoland and college friends from Missouri that they shouldn't feel bad for me being "stuck" in Des Moines. Stuck might be the right word in that Des Moines is stuck with me. I consider the metro my home. And my home will not stay as wonderful as it is today or get better in the future if the next generation of leaders does not step up. The Young Professionals Connection is hosting a series of events called "Next: Your City." The first one was Tuesday night at Capitol Square downtown. About 75 young folks showed up to hear from major leaders in our community including Steven Zumbach, Angela Connolly, Jay Byers, Teri Coldwell-Johnson and Chris Diebel. The panelists all gave great advice on how to get involved whether volunteering with a non-profit, joining a church, serving on a city/county board, helping with a local campaign or running for an elected position. It's awesome that these leaders made time out of their hectic schedules to encourage and meet people wanting to follow in their footsteps. "We don't have mountains or oceans, but we have great people." - Angela Connolly, Polk County Supervisor Also at the event were representatives from several metro organizations. A newer group called Eat Greater Des Moines caught my eye. I hadn't heard of them before and got chatting with the director Aubrey Martinez. The organization has only been around one year with the goal to connect resources already available in the community that support the entire food life cycle in central Iowa.
As someone who hates to waste food, I think this is a great cause. It's amazing - and really actually sickening - how much food we waste. How often do you throw away fruits or veggies because they've spoiled? More than you'd like to admit, I'm sure. Groups like this are all over Des Moines all with the same goal of making our community frickin awesome. So, how can you make sure it stays awesome for the next 20, 30, 50+ years? Who doesn't love the 2001 rom-com The Wedding Planner? OK, probably most men, but I think most women take a liking to Matthew McConaughey and most people (regardless of sex) like Jennifer Lopez. In the flick, J-Lo plays a successful, practically legendary, wedding planner. She leaves no detail unfinished.
After planning my own wedding last year, I can appreciate what a wedding planner does. There's way too many odds and ends details that can make you go crazy. I was not only able to maintain my sanity during my eight-month engagement, but I really enjoyed it. Lucas and I had our ceremony at our church in West Des Moines, Shepherd of the Valley. Just recently the wedding coordinator for the church asked me if I'd like to help her. Uh, duh! This last Friday and Saturday I helped prepare the church, the bride and groom and their families for the big day. The rehearsal went pretty well Friday night, and Saturday ran pretty smoothly as well. My job was to make sure the space was set properly, the cast of characters knew their parts and that the bride didn't have to worry about any part of the ceremony. This bride was extremely laid back, which made my first wedding a breeze. I know it won't always be that easy, and that's just fine. My wedding day was about as wonderful as it could be, and this is a small way I can give other couples a chance to have a wonderful day as well. |