I met a man made of solid gold.
Dear 27,
My friend Ashley celebrated the big 2-6 in Kansas City with her fam and invited Jo and I to tag along for the weekend. There were many photo opportunities for me, which Jo and Ashley know I love and still hang out with me despite that fact.
Bubbles. And a cross eyed Laura.
Boulevard Brewery. Birthday Cupcakes. Dancing with Grandma.
Happy Birthday Ashley. Thrills. That's what 2-6 will bring. You just wait.
xo-LP
Everybody Dim Sum tonight.
Dear 27,
Tonight was perfect. Thanks friend. Dim Sum and my new found foodie pals. Perfect.
I fell in love with Des Moines tonight. Again.
xo-LP
Dear 27,
Host a dinner party.Take a roll of film photos.Visit my sisters for a weekend.- Give a masterful tour of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park.
Enter a contest.Go to a movie alone and watch7classics.Stay at the Pearl Hotel.- Raise over $750,000.
Go to Denver (hi Becca).Make27dinners.Learn to embroider or quilt or both. (ish)Visit27new spots in DSM.- Tamales Industry
- Mullets
- Irina's
- Red
- Bandit Burrito
- The Ridgemont
- Kee's Pole Camp
- El Chisme
- Bagni di Lucca
- Carl's
- Blues on Grand
- Baru 66
- Tally's
- Sully's
- Happy Apple Orchard
- Baby Boomers
- Wakonda Club
- Skip's
- The Brass Armadillo
- The Varsity
- Bucs Arena
- Topped Doughnuts
- All in the Family
- Francie's
- ZZZ Records
- Flying Mango
- Sbrocco
Ride a rollercoaster.Sell100postcards.(thank you Ephemera!)- Buy a new car.
Make a manhattan. A good tasting one.- See 17 live shows (and the Swell Season).
- She & Him 6/10
- Passion Pit 6/10
- Spoon 7/10
- The Heavy 7/10
- The Walkmen 7/10
- The Black Keys 8/10
- Phoenix 8/10
- Tennis 8/10
- William Fitzsimmons 8/10
- The Bob Pace Band 8/10
- Pink Martini + Guests 9/10
- Wolf Parade 11/10
- Fitz and the Tantrums 02/11
- Best Coast 02/11
Visit NYC.Give blood.- Take an art class.
- Read 27 books.
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- The Road
- Nothing to Declare
- The Stranger
- Animal Farm
- Talking to Girls About Duran Duran
- DRIVE
- A Long Way Gone
- A Whole New Mind
- High Fidelity
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
- Orbiting the Giant Hairball
Tie Dye.Browse a flea market.Take a random weekend road trip.- Finally kick-off the 30 things challenge.
Visit7art museums.- The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
- Milwaukee Art Museum
- MoMA
- Palm Springs Art Museum
- San Diego Art Museum
- Muscatine Art Center
- Des Moines Art Center
Celebrate28ina big way.
An even better better side.
Dear 27,
I cannot stop singing this. On repeat.
Band of Horses wrote a terribly beautiful and heartbreaking, full, bold and totally rad song...
Cee-Lo made it even more compelling.
Both are worth a listen. Both are best played at heightened volume.
(Please note the video attached to the song is a bit risque. You were fully warned.)
(This song elicits this type of response. It's like Bieber Fever, but not really at all.)
xo-LP
"It's my better side of you to admire"
Dear 27,
The first pick-six tracks of the week.
I think you'll be pleased.
xo-LP
Chaos Emerald.
Dear 27,
A hacked x-box complete with Sonic the Hedgehog and Bubble Bobble
(yes Jen- you read that right)
+ Karen Brady
+ an entertaining bartender Eric
+ a parade of people I know but wasn't expecting to see
+ 90's music
+ Belgian beer
= a pretty bizarrely awesome late night adventure
xo-LP
Who still eats crackerjacks?
Dear 27, 
My first I-Cubs game of the season. And what a lovely night.
See photographic evidence:
xo-LP
That was surely the heavy.
Dear 27,
Day 2 of the music fest (80/35 brought to my fair city by the folks of DMMC) brought rain and the Walkmen and the Heavy and many more missed connections...
And no fireworks.
xo-LP
Goodnight Laura. Not your best work. But I like it.
Dear 27,
Thanks to a pretty awesome and totally generous friend (thank you thank you thank you!!) I got an all access pass for Des Moines' own 80/35... and it rocked!
Met lots of new people, including my new friend, Britt Daniel.
Wrote a missed connection with my beloved Art Noir:
And got to see SPOON preform from backstage....
Oh 27, this was one of your greatest nights to date. In a big way.
xo-LP
What a day. What a day.
Dear 27,
Today is causing this face.
(please feel free to caption)
xo-LP
Photo adventure
Dear 27,
The world would be a better place if there were more photobooths. And more Anthony.
xo-LP
The world would be a better place if there were more photobooths. And more Anthony.
xo-LP
Summerfest-ive
Dear 27,
Passion Pit at Summerfest. I suffered through the chain smoking kiddos, the over-served crowd and the heat and managed to see a damn good show.
Thanks to the Youtube people and the kids who video-ed this in better seats than I had.
xo-LP
These are a few of my favorite things
Dear 27,
When Brianne Sanchez asked me to do a lil feature in Juice, I was flattered and nervous and excited...I hadn't done a "photo shoot" since senior pictures (back when my mom forced me to put on "at least one coat of mascara" and I would have worn a t shirt and super cool ill-fitting jeans in the picture if it were allowed). And there I was with Brianne and Eric getting my picture snapped with THE Jeff Fleming of the Des Moines Art Center.
It took awhile to narrow down what to bring-- thanks to my friends who let me stress too darn much about it!
Here's the results.
(Thank you Mr. Eric Rowley.)
xo-LP
I wish I were a book nerd.
Dear 27,
I set out to read 20 books in 2010. The year started out well, thanks to regular meetings of Books & Bourbon. Then life got in the way.
So when I finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower in one day (Thanks to United Airlines and an unprecedented amount of awakeness on my flights-- I'm one of those rare and lucky people who find it terrifically simple to sleep on planes.)... I felt that 20 books was completely doable.
But then-- as if one book wasn't enough-- I finished The Road when I returned home.
(Yes. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now.)
If you haven't picked up The Perks of Being a Wallflower it's a series of letters written by a young high school kiddo, called Charlie, to an unknown recipient. I have a sweet and special place in my heart for letters (if you couldn't tell) and I flew through this book, written by Stephen Chbosky. I found it an odd combo of enlightening+disturbing+just kind of weird, but the way Charlie's words were strung together in sentences felt sincere. I definitely was NOT a Charlie in high school, but I could identify with some of his moments, particularly some of his words:
--
"Sometimes, I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read those books before. And listened to those songs. I wonder how they feel tonight."
--
"After the song finished, I said something. 'I feel infinite.'”
--
"Do you always think this much, Charlie?"
"Is that bad?" I just wanted someone to tell me the truth.
"Not necessarily. It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life."
"Is that bad?"
"Yes."
"Is that bad?" I just wanted someone to tell me the truth.
"Not necessarily. It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life."
"Is that bad?"
"Yes."
--
(Please sing the blog post title to the tune of "I wish I were a rich man.")
xo-LP
John Wayne, the aviation innovator
Dear 27,
Orange County is beautiful always, but the Californians know of the June gloom. Hazy and chilly and gloomy. Had my usual round of hellos this trip. June is flying by...faster than G-pa Don's plane pictured here, but hoping to make time to enjoy it.
Wishing my own June gloom burns off soon. Can't wait for summer.
xo-LP