Some 80/35 Highlights...

This is going to be brief. Mainly because I didn't take many photos this year. We didn't even spend much time at the fest, which can be attributed to the fact that I am 9 months pregnant. But still, good times were had. Also, I deserve some kind of "cool mom" award for enduring the heat/ walking around.

For a variety of factors, we decided not to purchase tickets this year. We had every intention of checking out the free stages though. Then, the day before the festival, some friends off-loaded a pair of tickets on us. SCORE.

Ruby stayed with the grandparents on Friday, so Mama & Papa made a date night out of it. We got hot dogs at Hot Shots (2nd time in a week) and enjoyed shows from Yeasayer, Menomena, and David Byrne & St.Vincent.

(Above: Live art by Van Holmgren)

I've been a long time Menomena fan and was surprised to see them playing a free stage. Their "Friend or Foe" album just *might* be in my Top 10 of all time, so I was pumped that they played "Muscle & Flo". 

I was really glad we got to catch the big show on Friday night - David Byrne & St. Vincent. I'm not as familiar with their mutual musical efforts, but I'm a fan of their individual projects. The two of them on stage together felt enigmatic. No need for dazzling visuals here. The minimalist light show with backing brass band set an almost surreal tone and made for one memorable 80/35 performance.

Come Saturday, we only went to ONE SHOW. I know. But it was a good one. Deerhunter on the main stage. Wayde watched up close while I supervised Ruby in the library fountain/ stream. She had so much fun—I wouldn't have had it any other way:)

So, another great festival year & one of my favorite things about living in Des Moines.

P.S. Check out the Here, Pretty Kitty blog—they featured this prego Mama in their 80/35 street style post.

Some Music & Some Art

A couple highlights from the past week...My dear friends, Dena & Maren, had a mini-girls' getaway to Omaha for a She & Him concert!

I saw a couple other pregnant ladies in attendance, but I was definitely the most pregnant of the ones I saw, haha. I think I stood for one song. But still, a good time:)

Future besties, June & Ruby. These girls were such little troopers as we carted them around Des Moines to a rummage sale, thrift store, and a mandatory Tasty Taco stop.

This past weekend was the Des Moines Arts Festival, which is sort of a yearly tradition to visit. Ruby was excited to see all the artist's "colorings".

On a couple occasions, our opinionated little lady would state, "I don't like this picture". Right in front of the artist. So.....sorry about that.

It's been a little quiet here lately due to general life stuff/ pregnancy/ etc, but all is going well. I've got a few more posts coming this week, so watch out for those! xx

An Evening with Jack White

It's been a long time since I hit the road for a concert, but a carload of us made the trek to Omaha to see JACK WHITE play some songs this week!!

The show sold out (naturally), but I was fortunate enough to know enough Vault Members who helped get me in on the pre-sale. If there was one big show I was going to see this year, this was going to be it!!

This was actually my third time seeing the "Third Man" live. The first was with The White Stripes at the Big Day Out in Auckland, NZ. The second was at Lollapalooza with The Raconteurs. And each time has been completely memorable.

The show on Monday played like a best of his best collaborations from "Cut Like a Buffalo" to "Broken Boy Soldiers" to "Seven Nation Army", not to mention songs from his solo record, Blunderbuss.

We weren't technically supposed to take photos, but I couldn't resist. There's just something about having your own documentation of any event. This was my perspective of the show, and it was a great one at that.

My biggest regret was not purchasing a commemorative silk-screened poster for his Omaha performance. There was a stack of them while I was still making it through the merch line. I did leave with this pretty little "Freedom at 21" 7 inch though.

I just love the whole aesthetic of a Jack White experience. The intentionality of the color schemes, the air of mystery, the homages to yester-years, all rolled up into one amazing rock & roll show...xx