Posts Tagged ‘iowa state fair’

Humpday Blog Love: DIY or Buy?

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

It’s been a while since I posted some love about another blog.  But I’ve been wanting to post about DIY or Buy for a long time.  And she’s been blogging a lot more lately, so I feel like it’s a good time to post.

 

 

DIY or Buy focuses on analyzing exactly what the title implies: should you do something yourself or are you better off buying? Her tagline is “Make it or buy it? We’ll help you decide.”

 

My favorite posts include dishwasher detergent, egg nog and granola. This past week she did a promenade of fried foods in honor of the Iowa State Fair. I slightly feared for her health, but she made it through!

 

Anyway … if you are in the mood for some good tutorials, fun things to do yourself and maybe some greening of your daily routine, check out DIY or Buy.

Iowa State Fair!

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

I volunteered at the fair last week and I’m sad to say I didn’t have much time to walk around and do anything there but volunteer. But, on my way out I found the Fair Square booth.

A Fair Square is apparently a giant rice krispie treat on a stick. For only $2 — which is a crazy deal in the world of $7 corn dogs and fried foods on a stick. Also — not fried!

 

 

So I got one for lunch. Not my best decision, but much better than a corn dog!

Iowa State Fair RECAP!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Oh boy.

In case you didn’t know, I hate the fair. It is absolutely NOT super-magical. Honestly, if I didn’t have to go for work, I wouldn’t go.  And I really should play state fair bingo when I do go (after my shift) because it would make the day so much more exciting.

Regardless: it’s over.

Well, my day there is anyway — the fair is still here for a few more days … blech.

First off, I must mention that I parked in front of the Slaughter residence. Yes. That is an epic last name. I wonder if they have a son around my age …

The Slaughters

I got there and ran my shift at the Drake Day at the Fair tent. Check out the cool pix on our facebook! That was a lot of fun. My shift was slow, but we had a few awesome alums come through that made it totally worth while. Our theme this year was “Capture your love for Drake” and we were handing out pennants with a contest for the best fair photos with the pennant.  What a cool idea. Yay Drake!

Drake Day Photo

I also worked at the VI building earlier that day and met a lady who graduated from Drake in 1930!  NINETEEN THIRTY.  She was amazing. She was an art teacher and a counselor for years. She also apparently has a golf cart with a bulldog on it that she wants to paint blue. Not just any blue, DRAKE BLUE. How cool!

Also, let me just say, I hate temporary tattoos. Most of my day was spent putting these on kids. Every time I put one on a kid, I felt like his mom was going to kill me. I had this one kid that asked for it on his FOREHEAD.  Seriously? I put another kid’s on the back of his neck. Honestly, he was out of room everywhere else. These kids went around to every station and got temporary tattoos. I’m sure to the delight of their parents.

Regardless. Adorable photo op!

cute kid

Between my two shifts, I kind of geeked out over the quilts. I’m more of a fabric-a-holic than anything and the quilts at the fair never pique my interest as far as fabrics go, but damn. There is a lot of stitchery that goes into those quilts!

beautiful quilting

cute dots

This one had a few fabrics I like and was a cute pattern.

holy lord quilting

peacock

Seriously. Look at that stitching!

wow

All I have to say for this one is: wow. Those are a LOT of little tiny squares. This was a huge quilt. It didn’t even get an honorable mention. Really? Really.  I want to find out who did this so I can make him/her a ribbon because this is amazing.  Not as beautiful as some of the other quilts, but super amazing nonetheless. Can you imagine how much time and effort went into this? Seriously. CRAZY.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh. Wait.  I almost finished my post here, but then I realized I didn’t mention food. You can’t blog about the Iowa State Fair without food, right? Yeah. Okay, so I’m a health nut. I found the ONE thing that probably won’t kill me (and it was cheap too!). I had an apple with caramel and peanuts. OM. NOM. and only 2 bucks! That’s cheap for fair food.

healthy fair food

DRAKE DAY AT THE FAIR!

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

It’s time for my favorite work-related thing ever … Drake Day at the Fair!

You should stop by and say hi. I’m working 6-8 at the Drake Day tent and 1-5 at the VI building.  We’re doing a photo contest this year — pick up a pennant and spread your love for Drake.

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