I'm with the band.

80/35, Des Moines' burgeoning indie-rock music festival, fell upon us this past weekend. Since Parlours were on the bill this year, we had access to all the stage areas with these nifty little passes.

The last time my husband's band performed at 80/35, I was at the hospital down the street giving birth to Ruby! Of all seven years of the festival, that one was the only time we ever missed (but for good reason, I must say).

We brought the kids along on Day 2, mainly to see Daddy play the drums. Ruby felt pretty special getting to wear the band lanyard, as anyone would.

Watching our friends in the Envy Corps perform on the main stage. 

I love that the kids can splash around in these water features while the whole family can listen to some jams.

Here, Sterling is wearing the same Threadless dinosaur onesie that Ruby wore two 80/35's ago. There's just something about it that screams "music festival". The adorable space-themed bibdanna was lovingly sewn by our friend at Graystitch. Keep an eye out for more of where that came from in the coming weeks!

Parlours doing their thang. 

Ruby, so sweetly, remarked that her Daddy was doing a good job while watching him play. Heart melt.

We enjoyed performances from Dawes, Maids, Max Jury, Surfer Blood, Envy Corps, & Dr. Dog this year. The best part of the fest though is the community surrounding it. I could always find of group of friends at every show to hang out with or get some help with the kids. We love 80/35!!

Storytime at J.Crew!

Now that summer is in full swing, we are developing a regular rotation of kids activities that we switch up throughout the week (dependent on the weather, of course). It's always fun to try something new though, so we attended a special storytime this week at one of our favorite stores, J.Crew!

Local children's author, Billy Dohrmann, was in attendance to read from his book, Boxes for Billy. There were balloons, juice boxes, and delicious cookies from Brookie's Bakery. How amazing is that frosting job on those treats?!

Clearly, my kids don't want to miss out on anything. They were pretty much the only ones getting all up in Billy's space during the reading!

Ruby, Sterling, & I would like to thank our friends at J.Crew for inviting us to this Crewcuts event. It was a real treat:) Be sure to bug the lovely ladies at Jordan Creek to host another one of these storytimes in the future!

Halloween in the East Village

So, I thought I was going to take some time off from blogging for bit, but I HAD to share these pics from our trick-or-treat excursion through Des Moines' East Village. This is the way to do it, parents. That is, if you don't want copious amounts of candy stashed around your dwelling. And after trick-or-treating the last three nights in a row, well, I'm going to need to be exercising some serious self-control over the next few weeks.   

Lumberjack Dad & Snow White Ruby. 

Wayde really struggled with taking our girl out in this costume since she didn't have a black wig.

 The most handsome little lion I have ever layed eyes on. 

First stop, Eden. I caught Ruby eating the one piece of candy she had obtained up until then. 

Eden is my FAVORITE place in Des Moines to buy gifts. These The Moon & The Honey dolls are the cutest and a Bill Murray coloring book?! I mean, seriously.

We stopped into Eight Seven Central next to see some of our screenprinter / designer friends at work. 

Also, more candy. 

Someone with a big box of Scratch cupcakes came in and started handing them out. I was about to say, "Get jealous, Dena & Maren!" but they tasted like day-old's, so you girls didn't miss much. 

My friend, Allison, and her minion twins.

Um, can we talk about this shirt for a minute? I saw it through the door of Aimee and had to take a closer look. Anyone that has this movie etched into the fabric of their pre-teen existence is a kindred spirit, 

in my book. SONORA!!!!

Lastly, we got to pretend to be models at Raygun. Finally, a decent(ish) photo of the whole family! 

Hope you all had a happy & responsible Halloween. And now, that break I was itching to take. Unless this daily blogging thing is too much of a habit now;)

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.

Ruby's 2nd Birthday Party!

The 4th of July has become an extra special day for us since it's the day we celebrate Ruby's birthday with our families. This year, we partied in Union Park which, minus the stress of finding a picnic area on a major holiday, was the PERFECT location.

The birthday girl has recently developed a penchant for all things ballet so, naturally, she wanted to wear her dance costume for the occasion. 

This might be my favorite picture ever of Ruby & "PeePaw". 

Heritage Carousel in Union Park.

I only made box cupcakes for the party, but they turned out pretty good. Ruby even helped me put the sprinkles on them and that was super special. 

We really couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The weather was amazing, we had a great spot in the park, and the kids enjoyed all the fun things Union Park has to offer. 

We are SO thankful for all the people in Ruby's life that love & care for her so much. I'll never forget the smile on her face when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Warms this Mama's heart:)

Hope this was the best birthday yet, sweet Ruby Jayne! xx 

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