If I hadn't mentioned it before, I haven't been cooking as much as I used to. I live by myself and cooking for one isn't as fun as cooking for a crowd so any chance I have to cook for anyone, I jump at the opportunity because I do truly love doing it so when Bethany told me to come over to her house to help her cook for the family, I jumped at he opportunity. 

I had a few things in my fridge (surprisingly) and I brought over fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil from my patio garden and made a little caprese salad. 

I also brought over some fresh sage that I thought we could incorporate with the fish that she had. 

I made a little mixture of panko, salt, pepper, garlic and the fresh sage to cover the fish fillets in. 

Once covered, I pan-fried the fish, while Seth and Bethany grilled some steak and oven roasted some rosemary potatoes. 

Little Quinn was loving everything, she is such good little eater, not too picky at all :)

The finished product. What do you think? I love to cook and eat, of course! 

Accidental Fashion Industry Show.

A couple of weeks ago, Bethany, Seth, Jenn and I attended the Accidental Fashion Industry Fashion Show at the Brenton Skating Arena. I had heard amazing things about the show in the Fall and I knew it was a "Must Attend" event. One of my great friends Lucy Shay was a producer so I knew it would be fabulous. 

This is what I wore. Electric blue pants, a crisp white shirt, a black suit jacket, and a cute bow tie from Vitae. This fabulous ensemble caught the eye of the DSM Style Hunter. He snapped a couple of quick pictures and I was on my way. I didn't realize how awesome they turned out until I saw them on Facebook. I have received SO many great compliments to the point where a client pointed out to me, "Your picture is the epitome of happiness and I want to blow your picture up and stare it all day long."

The weather and overall night was perfect. Everyone was freaking out because of the rain but it actually cooled the hot weather down and made it amazing. The view from our seats was gorgeous. You could see the entire city scape and sunset. 

Besties :) Such a great depiction of how fabulous the night was. The fashion, the show, the people, everything was so perfect. We had an amazing time. 

Our group picture before leaving my apartment. Everyone was dressed to impress. Don't you think? Such a great looking group, right? :) 

Miss Lucy, one of the show producers, looking amazing and also one the DSM Style Hunter's pick. Amazing, amazing show Lucy, can't wait for the next!

Most of the pictures posted here are courtesy of Bethany. Check out her blog here. She is amazing. Such a great shot and a perfect image to capture the greatness of the night. 

Two of the most fashionable men of the night? Duh. 

Dam to Dam: Done.

Yes, you better believe it... I trained my body to run 12.4 miles. Did I think I could achieve it? Maybe not at first, but once I had run 11 miles, I thought to myself, "What's another 1.4 miles, right?"

The most important part of running Dam to Dam? For me it was all about the outfit. The close the race got, the more and more I was worried about what I was going to wear. I kept thinking to myself, "How many people are going to see me?!" I knew I had to run out and get something quick and I did! What do you think?!

Race Day. We had to stick these little "GPS" trackers on our shoes. Apparently they don't have GPS but I was convinced they did. They track your time... also known as GPS to me ;) All the same thing right? Oh technology. 

I thought the buses were picking us up at 7:00 a.m. I was obviously very confused because the race started at 7:00 and the buses were picking us up downtown at 5:00 a.m. Ugh. How do we look for being on a school bus at 5:00 a.m.? We were actually kind of delirious. Haha.

We had been planning on meeting up with our friend Mike and his friend but didn't think we would actually find each other since there were thousands of people around but Mike found me. He was looking for the "red, mock turtle neck shirt". 

Jenn and John Hansen managed to capture the "joy" I was feeling at 12ish miles. To be completely honest, I was checked out at 11 miles. My body started cramping and I was fighting to keep running, there was no way I was going to give up!

The only way I could reward myself? Americana brunch, of course! Crossing the finish line was such an accomplishment and I was SO proud of myself. I run with music and it motivates me to keep running. As I was struggling to finish, the last song that came on and I stared at the finish line was "The Only Exception" by Paramore. I don't know why but as I ran, holding one of my best friends hands, and listened to it, I became super emotional and teared up and I crossed the finish line. If you have ever run and trained maybe you would understand but I was a little overwhelmed but SO happy.  

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous event in Waukee at Schade Winery hosted by the Burt Family, before heading out to Chicago for my mom's wedding reception. 

Schade Winery in Waukee.

A winery in Waukee? Who knew! Most of the people who attended and/or heard of it later had no idea.  The winery itself was very serene. I couldn't get over how I had never heard of it. All I wanted to do was have a picnic one the beautiful lawns that they had. 

Music, Wine, & Food.

The musical program was setting up when we first arrived. From the parking lot, we were escorted to the front lawn in golf carts. They had a couple of bars setup featuring the wineries best wines. 

Dinner Reception Location. 

 The event was catered by Maid-Rite and everything from the food to music to company was amazing. They had a live auction and swag bags. The evening was just perfect. 

A very special thanks to the Burt's for the invitation. It was a magical evening for a great cause. So honored to be invited and able to enjoy great music, food, wine, and friendly and fun company :)

City Bakery.

Have you been to City Bakery in the East Village?

Eggs & Avocado Breakfast.

It opened late Fall and has been a hidden gem. They don't do any advertising or social media marketing at all which is why most people don't know what or where it is exactly. The owners of La Mie opened this cute little cafe in the same place that Bagni di Lucca used to be.

They used to only be open for lunch Tuesday thru Friday but have recently extended their hours to accommodate breakfast goers as well as Saturdays for those strolling around the East Village. I hope it stays open, the food and service are amazing... but you shouldn't expect anything less since they are the masterminds behind La Mie :)

Have you ever been to eden? It's probably one of my favorite places in Des Moines. Jen has always been an amazing person to work with when I am looking for the perfect gift for someone. I still remember when I first moved to Des Moines and her cute little boutique was on the corner of E. 5th and & Grand. The new location on E. 6th is gorgeous and as serene as her original home. 

Anyhow, as the years have passed, we have become rather close and I started working for a her little after I had moved back from California, very part-time, of course. It was always the highlight of my week because working with her doesn't feel like working at all!  Here's a little project that we have started last month on Mondays when I work.

eden's impromptu kitchen setup.

I came into work a few Mondays ago and Jen has purchased a bunch of ingredients because she wanted to have a Waldorf Salad for lunch. Not knowing what it was, I kind of hesitated to make one but she had a recipe and I went to work on figuring it out. 

Waldorf Salad ingredients. 

I looked at everything that I had and knew it was  going to take a while to chop everything up. Once I read the recipe over once, I knew exactly what I was making and had a clear vision of what I wanted it to look like.

Three Types of Apples.

I used to not like apples very much but now they are an important part of my breakfast. When I am on the run, I throw one in my bag and snack on it either first thing in the morning or after my lunch. If you didn't know already, I have a super sweet tooth so I always want something sweet after every meal and apples help me cut some calories once in awhile but what I really crave are chocolate chip cookies.

Chopped. Cubed. Ready.

Once I have successfully chopped the apples, celery, and grapes, I made the dressing and threw them all into a bowl. I added the yellow raisins but waited on the walnuts because I thought that they would be a lot more prominent if they were sprinkled over the top of the finished product.

Assembling Process.

Once all of the ingredients were nicely covered in the dressing, I laid out the romaine lettuce leaves on a platter and carefully scooped the mixture of the leaves.

Jen purchased a rotisserie chicken so that we didn't have to cook anything, which we don't have a stove at eden, just a microwave. So I pretty much gutted the chicken for all of its meat and topped our salad with it.

There you go! A pretty fabulous Waldorf Salad, don't you think? I used to not be a huge fan of salad's but recently I just love them. This salad was refreshing and perfect for the Spring-like weather. After this, Jen and I vowed to make something for lunch every Monday with the challenge that we couldn't used a stove but we could bend the rules for some dishes and pre-make some stuff at home first, if needed. Let the challenge begin!

If I haven't told you already, I have been working at Salon Spa W in the East Village since August and I love it. I never thought that I'd be working at a salon but I appreciate the beauty that all the stylists create and the happiness people feel after a great spa service. 

I am the Director of Guest Relations and take care of the marketing, public relations, bridal, front desk, and all of the our social media as well. I really enjoy it and appreciate it. Here's a little tid bit about what I get to do on a daily/weekly basis.

Branding for Salon Spa W

 The more we grow and expand, the more we have to create a brand for ourselves. I get to do that :) The screen printing was by the amazing staff at 8/7 Central.

Unveiling Parties with VIP Guests.

 If Public Relations means getting to leave work early to attend a fabulous event with fabulous people, why not right? We have several VIP clients and getting to mingle and attend events with them is a lot of fun. I always have to remember that I am representing our company!

TOP 200 Salon Party

Not only do I get to attend parties, I get to throw them too! We were named a Top 100 Salon by Elle Magazine a few months ago and in April we were named a Top 200 Salon by Salon Today Magazine so I got to plan and throw a party at the salon for all of our guests. We had prosecco, a fabulous cake from Cake Me, I'm Yours, and prizes. It was a lot of fun. 

Professional Head Shot

Our website should be up to date pretty soon with my head shot. I just ordered my business cards as well which I am very excited about :) Yes, there are days that my job is super stressful but at the end of the day, I do really love what I do, who I work with, and what we create.