Nothing ever happens in Blaine...

OR Des Moines.
So we've had a lot of free time here in Des Moines...so I've been exploring. And there isn't quite a lot going on. Yesterday, I took a stroll through the 'East Village' (read that as 'We Want This To Be An Artsy Part Of Town...But We've Got A Long Way To Go Village') - and at the end of the 3 blocks that make up the E.V., stands the Iowa Capitol Building. It's quite a beautiful building...but that's just me. You can be the judge of that for yourself.

After the East Village, I headed DOWN downtown - which...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....whoa. Sorry, I feel asleep even thinking about it. Evidently they recently closed the only real shopping downtown - a department store called Younkers - and so i walked around looking at...whatever is there. Alot of Wells Fargo Bank buildings - a Quizno's - and for some reason, a TON of skywalks. Evidently, they filmed portions of the Jetson's here in town, back in the day. The rest of the day, we all just hung out here at the hotel - people worked out, some of us watched some movies (Napoleon Dynamite was on...and most of us are fans), napped...just passed the time - until it was time to eat dinner and watch more movies at night - and then wake up again for ANOTHER day off. We did end up going back to the Spaghetti Works for dinner - and I had a cheesecake for dessert that I wanted to introduce you all to: the Turtle Cheesecake. (Eric also swore by his brownie sundae.) If anyone ends up coming to Des Moines, seek out the Spaghetti Works on Court Avenue. You'll be glad you did. (Plus we found out at dinner that Jackie used to date a man named Ann. Odd.)

The Turtle Cheesecake. Pecans, caramel, toffee with a graham cracker crust. mmmm....And to the right, Eric's brownie sundae.

After dinner, it was time for SURVIVOR: GUATEMALA. Welcome back to Stephanie and Bobby Jon from Palau. What an episode, eh? 11 1/2 mile hike to the camps? and all that paddling in the lake? after my busy day, watching that made me even more tired! But it IS good to have Survivor back.
Today - went back to the East Village to a brand new clothing shop I saw yesterday and saw a bit about on the news last night. It's called SMASH - and it is a store that this guy started who is from the area. He has his own clothing/screen-print t-shirt business, and some great shirts.
You can check out the shirts at his website: www.heretikinc.com and www.noshelter.net GRANTED - I don't agree with some of the politics of his shirts - but there are some funny ones, too. Below, you can see the 2 shirts I came away with...and sit there in utter jealousy. The designer is Mike Draper - he's 22 - and he's got a great store here in the East Village. Check it out! And do some shopping at Heretik, Inc.
Tonight - Des Moines throws us a CAST PARTY - complete with CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN - and we meet the Governor. And for those of you who know her, Tammy McCandless comes to town. She's seeing the show tomorrow. Report on it all later!
Word.
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Me in front of SMASH - and then my 2 t-shirts. I heart them.

This sign/place makes me laugh - so I had Jackie and Jen pose for the pic! Click on the pic to enlarge it, if you can't read the whole ENVY sign.

Taking to the busy streets of Des Moines...at like 9pm.

Jackie stops to smell the flowers in Des Moines...and to show off her hot earrings!