Wanderings: Des Moines, Iowa |Day 1|

A few weeks back my mom and I played with the idea of going to Des Moines, IA for a few days. Not to see anything in particular or do anything special, it was just a fairly close ( 3ish hour) drive away and might be a fun mini road trip. We didn't end up going then but a few weeks ago we had the same three days off and decided to give it a go and make our way down to Des Moines.

It turns out Des Moines does have some cool stuff to see and is a pretty cute city. When we first arrived we drove around downtown Des Moines and happened upon the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. So we decided to go and check it out, it turned out to be one of my favorite stops. The art is really cool and if you're an instagram/snapchat whore like myself, it gives you plenty of cool subjects for photos.

White Ghost by Yoshitomo Nara

Untitled (three dancing figure, version 3) by Keith Haring

Nomade by Jaume Plensa

We then headed towards the state capitol building that we had passed on the way in to town. The building was pretty cool and has a killer view of the Des Moines skyline.

Next to the capitol were a couple of memorials. The tall one was a memorial to the Iowans who fought in the civil war.

The back here remembers the work of the Iowan women during the war.

When I finally got to the front of the monument I noticed something a bit odd...

Ok so I'm not exactly sure about the pose of this lovely lady, she's definitely feeling herself if you get my drift. So that was a bit odd but still a very nice memorial.

Next to that monument was another smaller memorial for a senator that served Iowa for a long time.

After exploring downtown Des Moines for a while we were starving and decided to find a place to eat and a good hotel.

Food Truck Style on Point

   A while ago now I went to a food truck fair with the boy in Blaine, MN. There's some organization that has different food truck fairs throughout the summer in different locations around the metro area. I had to work the next weekend when it was in Minneapolis so we decided to go the one in Blaine  that coincided with my day off. 

I'm a semi-terrible food photographer. I never want to wait to take the picture I just want to eat, as you can see above.

We tried food from about five trucks before we were too stuffed for more. The best were probably the taco truck and empanadas. 

I wasn't really sure what to wear and originally had a recently thrifted skirt in mind, but I just wasn't feeling it that day.  When I was almost ready to compromise and go with the skirt I just wasn't feeling I thought of this one.  I've had this skirt forever but haven't worn it much in the last year, It was instantly perfect.

I bought this skirt a couple years ago from ASOS and loved it instantly because it reminds me of the talking Pansy/garden scene from the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. For some reason a lot of that movie has stayed with me. I should watch it again. 

close up of the print on the skirt.

Top: Thrifted   Skirt: ASOS   Shoes: borrowed from mom 

       Someone told me my whole look was on point, so I'll take that as a win.  It was a good reminder that I really need to go through my closet and take inventory of the good stuff I have in there, especially when I feel like I have nothing to wear.

Also if you're on Snapchat come and follow me! My username is: blackcatlies. I've started to really get into it and am trying to post more on there. Plus I'll totally follow you back, I'm always looking for new people to follow on snap!

if you didn't know you can instantly add me by pointing your snapchat camera on my QR code above!

Beach Essentials with Naja

It's finally summer which means spending as much time outside as possible, or at least trying. And what better place to spend those glorious sunny days than at the pool or beach? We all know a great swimsuit just the first step in getting chic for the beach. So I teamed up with Naja to show you what essentials always join me on a trip to the beach.

Every beach look is centered around the suit and mine is no different, Naja's Faye racerback one-piece swimsuit , a suit made of recycled plastic bottles, served as the inspiration for this years essentials . The suit looks very Mod with it's clean lines and waist cinching belt but also has a bit of a sporty flair with it's sexy racerback. I decided to go with a Mod yet nautical (modical?) theme for this list, playing off the style and colors of the swimsuit. I always like to have options so I also added the Valentina Bustier and matching Carmen Hi-Waisted Blue panties to stuff into my beach bag as a sexy alternative to struggling with a one piece all night. Both the Bustier and panties are also made with fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, how cool is that? Anyway here are my Naja inspired Modical beach essentials:

1. Donut Pool Float / 2. Wide-Brimmed Straw Hat / 3. Naja Faye Racerback One-Piece Navy /
4. River Island Kelly Metal Insert Sunglasses / 5. Valentina Bustier / 6. Carmen High Waisted Blue  /

7. Coppertone Sport Sunscreen / 8. Quite the Catch Bag / 9. Teal Anchor on Blue Stripes Beach Towel  / 10. Portable Beverage Bottle Define Bottle  / 11. Gait Minds Think Alike Sandal In White


Naja is a lingerie and swimwear company that creates quality items with great details, lovely patterns, cheeky prints and recycled materials.  If that isn't cool enough a portion of every sale goes to Naja's underwear for Hope program, a program that partners with the Golondrinas Foundation in Colombia which trains single or head of household mothers to sew.  There are tons of cute items and if you're on the smaller side (bras only go up to about 36DD and some panties go up to an XL or 12/14), you should definitely check them out.


*I was contacted to do this post by Naja, all opinions are my own.

What I didn't Buy at the Thrift Store

Hey guys! So try as I might I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything yesterday at the Memorial Day thrift sales. I went to five stores and came away with nothing! There were just too many people and I was really just not in the mood. I mean one savers was giving out numbers for the dressing room, nope no sorry not gonna happen. So instead of a thrift haul I'd thought I'd do another addition of things I didn't buy at the thrift store.

1.  Wagon Wheel Chairs 

 I'm Mildly obsessed with wagon wheel furniture.  If I had a house with a finished basement I would be tempted to decorate the whole thing in mid century wagon wheel furniture, it's just so kitschy and cool. These chairs are pretty awesome but I don't have a finished basement awaiting a sweet wagon wheel collection and if i'm going to go through the hassle of buying thrift store furniture It has to be something I know I can use.  So I left these for a better home.

2. Barber Chair

This chair is pretty cool but it was also pretty beat up. One of the arm rests fell completely off and  I also have no immediate use for it. So it stayed at the thrifts.

3. Mosaic-y Lamps

These are cool and I kind of regret not getting them but I have enough lamps and don't really need anymore unless they're something I can't live without. These I could live without so I  left them.

9. Dirty Wavy Lamp

I liked the pattern on this lamp and thought if cleaned it would have a lot of potential. But again I don't really need anymore lamps.

10. Mid Century Sliding Door Bookcase

Ok I kind of regret not getting this. It was only around $10/11.00 and I've wanted one of these for awhile. The catch? I want one with glass doors and these are solid wood. In hindsight I should have gotten it anyway but I guess I'll wait for the next one I see.


11-12. Cat Statue and "Marble" top side table

I really liked the egyptian cat statue but it was like $14.00 and that seemed a bit pricey for a decorative cat. The side table was really cute too but one thing I really don't need is another side table.

13. Emily Anne cross stitch

I have an old friend named Emily Anne who is exactly one day and eight years younger than whoever this cross stitch was made for. I kind of wanted to get it but I decided to just take a picture and maybe send it to her later.

14. Dress Form

I like the idea of a decorative dress form to hang clothes and stuff on, so when I see them at the thrifts I'm always a little interested. This one was a whopping $50.00 so I kept on walking.

15.  Pitcher

I liked the design on this pitcher but didn't need one.

16. Mid Century Lawn Chairs

These lawn chairs were pretty cool but they were also in need of refinishing and were a bit pricey at about $70.00 for the pair. They're very cool but were a bit expensive and not really practical for me right now, so I passed.


17. Mikasa Cups

I thought liked these but they were kind of small and into larger mugs at the moment.

18. Mid Century Small Dresser/ Nightstand 

These dressers ( there's a twin behind it) were nice and would be good storage. I think they'd be cute with different pulls. But  A.) They didn't have a tag and B.) I realized I liked them 99% because of the mid century style legs, which you can buy anywhere.  I decided to leave them since I really wasn't in love.

19. Jelly Bean White House

This is a thing. My grandpa loves Jelly beans so I was slightly tempted to get it but ... I don't think anyone really needs a jelly bean white house. Except maybe for Jelly Bean Barack Obama, Obama bean?

Superhero Chic

    After Avengers : Age of Ultron I realized I was in serious need of some superhero tee shirts.  So what's a girl to do? Turn to the internets of course! Heres a little sampling of some of the shirts I liked the best. My favorite by far is the Eartha Kitt as catwoman tee, It's from a website called candybomb and they have an assortment of tee shirts with various black icons on them. The shirts include the Eartha one below as well as some with Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Donyale Luna, Iman, Grace Jones, Diana Ross and Andrae Leon Talley. You should definitely check out the site and get one if it sounds like your thing. I'm dying to get the Eartha one but they're a little on the pricier side ($30.00) and I just haven't taken the plunge yet.

superhero chic by cleopatrajonez featuring a blue top