chimesblog

So I turned 26. Last Sunday. I’m a little late on this post, but I’m a little partied out. Not to mention I’ve had a ridiculously busy week at work! We moved from our old office to a brand new space that was built out just for us.

Anyway, 26-year-old festivities began back in September with my friend Kelly‘s birthday on the 23rd.  I like to make it a 2-week event (and I’m sure she does too) with fun birthday activities and fall times.

For Kelly‘s b-day, we went to Fong’s Pizza in Des Moines.  It is amazing. Chinese food? Check. Pizza? Check.  Chinese Food as pizza? What? Yes. Check.

They also have these shots that are so hardcore that they require helmets. They’re so nice at Fong’s that they even provide them for you!

Kelly and me with our helmets

Most amazing photo ever — it so describes our girl group in a snapshot: Steph‘s being all “peace out”, I’m being all badass hardcore metal, Kelly‘s smiling like she has no idea this is out of the ordinary and Maria looks very afriad.

For a full recap of those festivities, check out Kelly’s post. I just realized I left out a super juicy detail from the evening, but you’ll have to check her blog out for that. Plus, she writes better than me anyway.

For MY birthday festivities, I had a semi-formal gathering in which we went to dinner, went for drinks and ended up at my place for dessert, drinks and games. Fun times! We played a 3-hour game of Apples to Apples and ended up going through the ENTIRE box of cards!

Mark and me all dressed up

My friend and former roommate, Danielle, and me all pretty and such — I’m so glad she came down — she drove 3 hours to make it!

My friend Molleh and me. Well, it’s Molly, but I prefer to call her Molleh.

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This past weekend, Mark and I trekked up north to his family’s place in the Twin Cities to hit up his brother’s 30th Birthday and Housewarming party.  Our friend Ben met us at Mark’s parents’ house on the way back from a camping trip in Canada. Ben’s car had been broken into a few different times and dismantled, so he didn’t have any way to get back to Iowa. His parents were going to Madison, and since Minneapolis was kind of on the way, they dropped him off with us since we were heading back to Iowa.

Anyway, that was kind of a mouthful.

So Nick, Mark’s brother, turned 30 (which, guys, I realize I’m getting closer and closer to that. No more birthdays. Seriously.), and he christened his house that he bought back in March or February with a nice little get-together. Mark, Ben, Mark’s dad and I showed up with some Moosehead Lager (my new favorite beer) and a bottle of Jim Beam. We were ready to roll.

Ben and me (also, check out the epic cleavage! what up?)

Beautiful scenery … one of my favorite parts of heading to MN.

I love the lilypads in all the little ponds and lakes.  I actually ran 6 miles on Saturday on the Gateway Trail and went past a few of these. It was so refreshing — not to mention, it was about 5 degrees cooler and a lot less humid. So much easier and more enjoyable to run!

… not beautiful scenery. I giggled when I saw this guy driving by. But then I quickly realized this is probably going to be Mark someday.

Related: this truck pulled into the gas station we stopped at on the way back. The guy left the truck running, took up two spaces, and pretty much gave off an all-around aura of douchebag. Seriously. Who drives this?

And I must mention, that nothing makes me more happy than a new pair of big, cheap earrings. I love going to visit Minnesota for so many reasons, and sadly, one of them is to hit H&M for some adorable cheap couture. I picked up a skirt, a dress, a scarf and 2 pairs of earrings for an unbelievably low price. Why we don’t have one of those stores here is beyond me. Regardless, I am happy to have some new earrings!

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I just got all my stuff moved, and I’m settling in. Time to check out my awesome new porch on the roof with the cool spool table.

Nothing like beers, brats and cigars to start the summer off.

Our friend Matt lighting his cigar

Mark hanging out on my porch with the awesome spool table.

Me and the last bottle of IPA

Barney tries to get a paw on a beer or two. Not successful. He did manage to get the butt end of a bratwurst.

Looks like the end of the first night of summer. Such a gross subject, but I thought it made a really cool picture. It’s like hipster art.

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I’m participating in another craft show on the 29th of this month (yes, that’s 2 in one day!). This one is completely different than anything I’ve done before and it seems to be MY kind of people!

Here’s the details taken from Satanimals’ website:

Once again, here comes another art show where the weird are most welcome. Quickly gaining an awesome customer base, these art shows reflect the talent of folks who you wouldn’t ordinarily see in a Gallery around town.

Butch Von Dreaux is making another trek all the way from Louisiana to be here and Spookshow Pinups has been added to the list of amazing artists as well!

D. Ryan Allen will be there again showing all of his amazing work from zombie sketches to kid’s coloring books for the macabre.

In addition to the fine arts folks, we will also have all kinds of goodies like hand-made leather wallets, re-structured clothing, creepy dolls, hand-bags, pillows and everything else in between.

SATANIMALS will also be unveiling a new line of horror inspired pillows.. the first being an amazing SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA pillow!

This is not just your average art show. Pretentious art snobs are discouraged from coming. Although, it is fun to see them stick their nose in the air and turn on their heels when they see Gregg Bensink’s table of amazing goodies.

Attendees can enter the raffle to win numerous prizes including: original artwork from each of the artists, gift certificates for tattoos up to $100 as well as gift certificates to some local businesses including: Best Place Ever, ZZZ Records, Cup O’ Kryptonite and The Beauty Parlor!

The Raffle is at 9PM and you MUST be present to win!!

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In case you were wondering, I’m on the poster — credited as “toDIYfor” since I’m going to be selling my rock/punk/dark stuff.

I’m super excited for this show!  I’ll finally get to meet Sew Zinski and it sounds like there’s free beer all around. Sounds like a great craft show to me!

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