Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Iowa Vacation

I'm back from five peaceful, relaxing days visiting my dear friend Melanie and her wonderful family in Iowa.
(On the Mississippi after dinner at a steak house.)
I love Iowa in the summer -- mild, warm weather with brilliant blue skys, puffy white clouds and cool breezes -- quite a nice change from the sweltering heat and humidity of Florida:
Driving around Bettendorf, we saw miles of lush farm land with many silos:
And acres and acres of corn.  At one point I asked Melanie to stop and snap a pix of me at the edge of a corn field (wearing, of course, one of my Retro Revival aprons):
We visited the historic town of LeClaire, nestled along the bend of the upper Mississippi River.  This delightful town is full of quaint shops and eateries, and to my surprise, the home of Antique Archaeology!  Antique Archaeology (http://antiquearchaeology.com/home.html) is Mike Wolfe's store and "home base" for his History Channel show, "American Pickers."  I'm a huge fan of American Pickers; love watching Mike and his partner, Frank Fritz, travel the country pickin' treasures and sharing the history of their found objects.  Here's a peek inside his shop:
Just as we were about to leave Mike's shop, he walked in the door!  We were so excited to meet him and we were not disapointed -- talking with him was like talking with an old friend; he was incredibly nice, informative (shared with us his work pitching the show to the History Channel) and accomodating (willing to pose for a picture):
Other than tooling around town, we spent some time in the kitchen, whipping up several delectable meals and also baking my daughter's pound cake recipe (June 27th blog post):

This really is a delicious cake and even the batter is yummy!  We're wearing the Retro Revival aprons I made for her.
On the trip home was a bit hairy (wicked weather delayed then canceled my connection!).  We flew through some fantastic clouds though and I shot a couple of frames (pretty clear through the plane window):
Now that I'm home it's back to business!  One of my Toronto retailers has placed her fourth Retro Revival shower cap order -- yay!  I need to get sewing!
Please remember to leave a comment on this blog and become a follower so that you'll be entered to win my July blog giveaway -- drawing is July 31st.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

the picture of you in the corn field is so cute! i love that dress. you are so pretty! ~ Georgia

Natalie said...

aw mommy you're so pretty - love the pic of you and the car!

Anonymous said...

OOooo I love American Pickers! Looks like you had a wonderful time in Iowa...what's better then friends and cake!?

~Nadine

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had SO much fun. i love the corn field picture!! I wore my pretty little apron today when i cooked pasta sauce. thanks again :)come back to visit soon!
Nina

Becky said...

So glad you had so much fun!! And you met a celebrity too!

Your aprons are darlin!

Lara said...

I follow you on bloglovin. And I do love your blog!
Thank you,
Belle
www.purplepinafore.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I just became a follower of you blog, I just wanted to say hey and tell you how much I enjoy your posts,
Jenny

Little Chicks Info said...

You are so thoughtful sending Happy Loves Rosie a shower cap! I wish I'd thought of that when she designed my blog..I'll try to do better! Love your design and your cute stuff!
christine from thisandthatcreations.blogspot.com
:)