Mid Western Art: Barn Quilts

        For the past week I have been visiting my Mothers parents who live in the "heartland" of the United States, in  an old farming town called Dension, Iowa. Dension is best known for being the hometown of Donna Reed an actress in the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life. They even have a Donna Reed festival every year which is made complete with the Denision hollywood sign.

Photo by: Collin Burnett

          The viewing of barn quilts came as we traveled across the state of Iowa from Dension to Okoboji. Okoboji is a resort town in the great lakes region of Iowa. Okoboji is home to a small amusement park called Arnolds Park. It is also famous for a university that does not exist. Though I was not informed of this before our visit, which began with browsing The Three Sons store. The Three Sons store is a very peculiar store as it is just this poorly put together barn stuffed full of name brands. As I wandered this odd store I noticed clothing branded with Okoboji University; I did not think much of it. Though, I did find it odd that my family seemed so interested in the clothing though no one had attended the university. It was not until I innocently asked my grandfather "How big the university was?" that I found out it was all a sham. Apparently three brothers (hence the store name) started making branded clothing bearing the below seal in the 70's it caught on and is still a running joke. So next time you see an Okoboji University sweatshirt you will be in on the joke too.

So know back to barn quilts. Barn quilts are not made out of fabric but are wooden squares that are painted to resemble quilt like patterns. They are sometimes created to honor a particular person or simply for embellishment. I found these quilts simply fascinating as each is slightly different, yet all are beautiful in there simplicity of shapes and colors. I hope you enjoy the simple beauty of a barn quilt as much as I did.

American Pride

The Barn Quilt pictured below was part of the Sac County Barn Quilt Map

A Less Traditional Quilt

Flower Pot Quilt

A Quilt on the Side of a Nursing Home

Artistic Grain Silos 

Simply American Farm

Adventures in Healthy Eating

So I have been trying to live a healthier life style. I ran a 5K on the Forth of July and have been trying to run 8-11 miles a week. One of the best things about running is that it makes me want to eat healthier junk food just does not sound good after running a few miles. Though that does not mean all time, their are defiantly still  unhealthy food cravings. So in this post I am going to share some healthy recipes. I will share some of my guilty pleasure recipes in another post.

Here is a photo from my 5K

Turkey and Qunioa Stuffed Bell Peppers

These were super good and filling. Easy to make too. You can find the recipe on the He and She Eat Clean blog.

Here are some photos from a Mushroom Asparagus Quiche I made

Crest made from pressed out crescent rolls

Did you know that you can just simply bend
asparagus and snap off the ends it is so much fun!!

Before Baking

After Baking

I found the recipe on taste of home.com

We got spaghetti squash in our Bountiful Basket a few weeks ago. I had no idea what to do with this squash, and was thrilled to learn it can literally replace spaghetti with less than a quarter of the calories. It was a wonderful opportunity to use and learn about an ingredient I would never choose on my own.

Here is what squash looks up cut open and gutted just link a pumpkin.

You just simply heat up the squash for a few minutes in
microwave until soft  and then scrap the
insides and  it just comes of in strings!

We made a meat sauce with natural veggie sauce with turkey

My sweet husband cooking up the turkey

Finished product so good!

Really simple delicious stuffed pesto chicken shells

So good and made from all stuff that is easily found around the house. I found the recipe on pinterest here is the link.

And this is my favorite summer salad!

I received this recipe as a wedding gift along with red wine vinegar, olive oil, pecans, and poppy seeds. Such a fun idea.

Here are the ingredients:

1-12 oz. bag baby spinach leaves

13 large strawberries sliced

1-6 oz. Container of feta cheese

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 Cup candied pecans (recipe below)

2 Strawberries

1/4 C. White Sugar

1 1/4 tsp. Salt

1/3 Cup + 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/2 Cup olive oil

1 tbsp. + 3/4 tsp. poppy seeds

Prepare Candied Pecans:

1 Cup Pecans

2 tbsp. Water

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss pecans with water, then brown sugar. Place nuts on 2 parchment-lined baking sheet; bake 5-8 minutes, until sugar is caramelized. Slide parchment with nuts off pan to cool; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the spinach, onion, and strawberries. Place feta Cheese and candied pecans of top of salad.

Place the sugar, salt, vinegar, oil, and 2 whole strawberries in a food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in poppy seeds. Just before serving, pour desired amount of dressing over salad, and toss.

And last but not least my favorite snack Tillamock vanilla yogurt and granola.

Hope these recipes are useful in your healthy eating endeavor!  

Perfect Day!

I am so behind on blogging! I have made a lot of awesome dishes, created some great outfits, and shared a lot great summer times with my family and friends since I have lasted posted and am excited to share each experience with you. But this post is going to be about today! Because I am really excited about my outfit today and it has been a wonderful day! Their is just something wonderful about an outfit that perfectly conveys your mood or attitude for the day, and this is defiantly one of those outfits.

First things first my outfit!

This outfit was inspired by Bows and Summer colors! The Bow idea came from a tutorial I found on Pinterest.

Here is my hair Bow!

Amazing Five Dollar Vintage Navy Shoes!

My Husbands awesome picture!

It so happens that my husband also had an awesome outfit on today that he picked out himself!

He is a goof ball.

He is pretty cute too!

We ended the day with amazing  homemade breakfast burritos that I forgot to take pictures of because they were that good. It was a beautiful day and is not over yet!

Comments and Thoughts are Welcome! Stay tuned for the rest of my summer adventures in fashion, food, and crafts!

Flower Power

If you have not already noticed prints are in, partically flower prints. They are all over most stores. This trend began back in September on the runways of the Spring/Summer 2012 shows. Garance Dore even predicted correctly that this spring would be "Super Floral!". I absolutely love this trend! It just appeals to my love for the Victoria age! At the end of the post you can see my interpretation of floral.

Here are some of the images from the shows that started it all!

Dolce & Gabana Fall/Winter 2012 Completely Floral Show

Balmain Fall/Winter 2012 by the Sartorialist

Floral Center Piece at Jil Sander by Garance Dore

  

And then the trend took off!

Viviana Volpicella (Assistant Fashion Editor at Nippon (Japan) Vogue) By Garance Dore

Olivia Palermo (Sorce: Miss at la Playa)

Even in your Hair!

 And finally at stores all over!

Anthropology 

Pipperlime

 Here is my interpretation of floral!

Skirt: Vintage
Heels: Redesigned by Me
Blouse: Cira

Hair Flowers Created using a Beauty Department Tutorial

Blouse : H&M
Belt: Pull and Bear
Tights: Urban Outfitters
Heels: Nordstrom

 Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post! I just found some amazing vintage finds and healthy recipes so look forward to those posts soon! Would love to hear your thoughts about any of my posts!