Des Moines Weekend

This past weekend I went to Des Moines to visit my guy. My flight arrived much earlier than originally planned and Jeff already had lunch plans so I sat down to a lunch by myself at one of my favorite spots.  City Bakery is a local place with yummy salad, soups and sandwiches. The soup of the day was a creamy carrot. I was skeptical but it was so good that I want to attempt to make this at home.

After lunch I walked around the adorable East Village neighborhood. This area is filled with boutiques. These were a couple of my favorites. Velvet Coat is a woman's clothing shop that was having a fabulous sale. I scored a pair of maroon James Jeans for 14 bucks. That's right, 14 bucks.

There was also a phenomenal paper shop called Ephemera. The owner was very nice and has amazing taste (or maybe just my taste) and I could have purchased every card in her store. The card I chose I thought was too cute and I barely want to even give it away. 

The last shop I visited was Raygun. A local told me that I had to go to this place and check out their plethora of custom shirts. The shirts below are some of the best. The cat one especially gets to my sense of humor.

Friday night we went to the Animal Rescue League's event at an Iowa Energy basketball game. This was particularly fun because you got to bring your dog. Travi was overwhelmed with excitement and was by far the cutest pup there. She sat on my lap the whole time like a little baby.

Saturday we spent most of the day running errands and capped off the night with a dinner at HoQ with dear friends. HoQ is a new restaurant that is farm to table and serves local food that is grown or raised within 150 miles of Des Moines. Everything we ordered was delicious from the appetizers to the dessert. 

Sunday before I left to head back to Chicago we went to another favorite of mine, Gateway Market. This place is an upscale (very expensive) grocery store with a restaurant. Think of a local Whole Foods. I was craving something sweet for brunch and their challah french toast with walnuts and strawberries hit the spot. Jeff grabbed some pastries from the Goodies To-Go section that I couldn't resist trying. They also have a fireplace, which makes brunch and drinking a latte all the more delightful. And check out those gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.