I want to be a shining czar.

Dear 28,

I'm running for Social Czar* of Des Moines. How bizarre.

The Des Moines Social Club [DMSC] is holding their first "Faux Caucus" and they've asked me to join the race. In addition to achieving my lifelong dream of being cool, (True. See photo below. While those glasses may now be considered hipster, in '89- uncool) I'll have the chance to make a donation to my favorite place in all of Des Moines, The Des Moines Art Center [DMAC]. In order to give the big gift, I need some big votes-- here's where you can help!

Want to support the DMAC and the DMSC?

(Very similar acronyms. Both are awesome art-promoting organizations that make DSM a super place)

Oh and make me cool (see photo again. think Sally Jessy Raphael)

Check out this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DHMJQ5H

Vote. There's 13 nominees. Again, only the final five will have the chance to campaign for their charity. Many of my competitors have campaign videos and cool slogans or sell tshirts. (I've even been called a candyass.)

See you at the BASH. (Buy tickets for that HERE. The final five also speak at the event. So that should be interesting.)

If you're an out-of-towner, Vote anyway. I need you.

Thanks for your help!

xo-

LP

*Social Czar | social zär; (t)sär | (noun):
1. a title for a fancy person who wins the Des Moines Social Club's Faux Caucus. 
2. a person with great authority or power, or at least someone who gets a bathroom named for them.
3. most importantly a way to get a bunch of donations for the Des Moines Art Center.

Mixtape Exchange 2011

Dear 28,
Remember this?

It's coming back. And soon. The xo-LP mixtape exchange returns. More details coming right after the holidays. Start preppin your playlist.
xo-LP

#21

Dear 28,
It's time. #21. It's time.

 xo-LP

A real live rock show.

Dear 28,
No vacation is complete without a rock show. After feasting on Nick's famous "tacos*" and sharing a moment of tequila, we took a cab through the ghettos of Uptown to the Aragon.

(Thank you for all the photos Tim.)

So the tickets said 7pm. And they meant it. It was about 7:38pm when we made it to the ballroom, which looked an awful lot like a Dario Robleto piece, and the Local Natives were already ON STAGE. (gasp. noooo. gasp. watch checking. twitter search. gasp.) We missed the opening opener, Wye Oak, which was an unfortunate surprise, especially after reading what the AV Club has to say about their album. They must have played a short little set but heard that they "rocked quite hard." 

I have a thing for the Local Natives. We've bonded on many Muscatine road trips. So seeing them was the highlight of the evening for me. Especially hearing this one. We witnessed about 8 songs (I think we may have missed one or two) and then waited for The National to emerge.

Pointing at something and accidentally making a mustache.

A man was crazy body dancing next to us. So that was awesome. It was a little like a sauna in the star-covered Aragon.

(my blackberry took this picture. which is not good.)

I wasn't completely sold on the National pre-show (Like I said- I came to see the Local Natives) but damn they put on a real live rock show. The stage video stuff was pretty awesome. The lead singer carried himself like a bigtimer. I was enjoying the light show, the vests, the inaudible banter.

And then-- oh then there came the encore. I should first admit I don't really care for encores. It's become so standard that there's no "ok-we'll-play-just-one-more-song-because-you-love-us-that-much" magic. But then the National encored. and WHOA.

Overall- impressive. And I added another outta state concert to the list. Thanks JEN for coming with me. And the Paluchs, my new vacation buddies, that book run from the bus was so exciting.
xo-LP

Marine Drive Getaway.

Dear 28,
These digs are unbuster. So are Jen and Nick.

yes. we are all wearing the same outfit.

Megabus-ed to Chicago for an extended stay. Kicked the celebration of a vacation off with what Jen calls the "best pizza ever" and although a near fistfight broke out over delivery time, Pizza Rustica was quite tasty.

Hitting the lanes at the Diversey River Bowl with some Muskies. Then there was the Dose Market and meeting the Buckshot Sonny boys. A visit to giant Marilyn. (Seriously dudes. Why stand under her skirt? It's not that funny. Stop it. This article agrees.)

Then we went all-in holiday: Christkindlmarket. Mulled wine. Lots of glass ornaments. And German accents. And the commemorative boot mug.

Then there was brunch at Orange, shopping on Michigan Avenue, accidentally free whiskey and KATIE TIME (jenga. jenga. jenga.)

Then the tour de fancy places. Hancock. Trump. Hub 51. Great views of the chilly city. A ginger drink with flowers. An amazing (and recreate-able) brussels sprout salad.

Then there was the National+Local Natives show (more on that later). And breakfast with Jake. Whew. What a perfect trip to the Windy City. Thanks Jen and Nick-- you're terrific hosts.

xo-LP

Yesvember recap.

Dear 28,

Yesvember has come to a close, and as expected, the month dazzled me. A couple bits to note- there are indeed only 30 days in November. Good thing I picked up on that in the original November post "28 challenges. 31 days. One month of Yes (and a wee bit of stress) because I can't keep saying no to the blog."

Mid-27 I wrote what might have been my favorite post of the year about what I've learned in the process of writing my little love letter. And a little over a year later, I'm writing admittedly less. (Currently I’m writing on a moving bus. With Tim and Gretchen and Garrett's popcorn. And it’s two weeks after I should have posted this. Because a mid-year post should actually be posted mid year.)

The thing about this year: I’ve still been doing really cool things. And I’m not just writing that so I sound really cool.

There was that great show in Omaha (where we slept at the classiest casino this side of the Missouri), and the time I hosted scotch club (and purchased $250+ worth of scotch with my 15% discount), and when we watched zombies takeover the East Village (and ate burgers named for them), oh and I printed my postcards (but we all know that by now), and once I was in a band for a night (this is worth repeating. a true riot of rhythm), I saw three couples wed (aw), I skipped out on a camping trip (for a good reason. I promise), there was that front row dance party with Mayer Hawthorne ($6 tickets and sweet soul beats), and for about six weeks I was workin out at 5:15am (the most shocking fact of them all.)

All that cool stuff was never really written about. Maybe I’m too busy enjoying the year to thank her. Or maybe I’m just lazy. Or maybe having the internet at home really doesn’t encourage me to write more. But the truth is I'm having a super cool 28th year. 

1. Try a new bourbon.
2. Make a pie for Thanksgiving.
3. See the Hawkeyes play live. (It's #13.)
4. Stir up something out of the "Cook with Jamie" book you couldn't live without.
5. Peek inside the Basilica of St. John.
6. Renew my passport.
7. Create a line of XO-LP Holiday cards.
8. Eat at Cafe di Scala.
9. Decorate the Stoop for Christmas.
10. Build a human pyramid.
11. Read a book. (This just can't seem to happen)
12. Go to the Des Moines Symphony.
13. Master the art of winter layers. And fearlessly wear tights.
14. Cheer on the Bulldogs at a basketball game.
15. See a play.
16. See Des Moines' Bass Pro Shop. (If it's cool in Springfield...)
17. Walk across that Center Street Bridge.
18. Take more photobooth photos.
19. Celebrate the onset of the holidays (and sell a bunch of cards) at the East Village Holiday Promenade.
20. Walk through that Woodland Cemetery.
21. Coq au Vin.
22. Go to a movie.
23. Take a yoga class. Maybe more than once.
24. Go see the ArtVend machine up in Ames.
25. Play cards.
26. Perform with Our Kelly.
27. Light the sparklers. Even thought they are out of season.
28. Retry baking a cake.


Yesvember.
xo-LP

Game face.

Dear 28,
Thursday. 2:36pm.
From Muskie. To Des Moines. To Marysville. 12:14am. ish.
(Jessica you're a terrific driver and big thank you to the Searcey family*.)
Friday. 6:08am.
Bus must leave by 7:00am- right. 

Friday. 7:26am.
Onto Lincoln.

Friday. 11:00am.
Game time. (After walking a maze of sidewalks and bridges and through throngs of fans that matched the crowds at the WalMarts we passed. Game time.)
Friday. 9:21pm.
Leave Lincoln.
Saturday. 1:34am.
Back to DSM. Lots of sleeping.
xo-LP

*Thank you again Searceys! So hospitable.

Just so damn thankful.

Dear 28,

What a year. It has been oh-so-spectacular. And the last two months have been the very best. I can't wait to celebrate the final act of 2011 all December long. 

Thank you so much for reading. For being awesome. Never have I felt more grateful.
Gobble. Gobble.
xo-LP

CoqAuVinture.

Dear 28,
I don't know how to say "Coq Au Vin" out loud. I bet you are trying to right now. Qu'il est difficile de dire. And even though Tom has repeated it about 16 times to me, I still sound ridiculous. Co uh wha? Coke oh van? Really? 4 years of high school French class paid off big time. I can sing a song about strawberries (J'aime les fraises) and understand a little bit of French movies without reading the subtitles. Thank you Miss Sorden.

Photo credit goes to Fawn + Sara. 

Tom tells me French food takes time, the finest ingredients, and patience. Ina Garten tells me it's just like Beef something or another, but with chicken. Local foodie, and cookbook author, and friend of Tom's, Miss Moranville writes a whole book about French cooking and gave us her blessing on the shortened Coq recipe. But Sarah tells me I'm cheating by both using le poulet (instead of coq) and cooking up the impossible-to-pronounce-naturally recipe in one night rather than the French Master Julia's way-- over two frickin days, deux jours. I decided to use the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for several reasons. 1. This recipe is doable in one night. 2. Barefoot Contessa's book has really pretty pictures. 3. Tom said it was a good idea.

CoqAuVinture night was a lot of work (and there was beaucoup de vin). Les carottes, les oignons, beaucoup de vin, lard de fantaisie. That's basically coq au vin in French. There's a lot of browning of chicken (like a lot of it). And the bacon-- don't be all skimpy on that. Tom says to go for REALLY fancy bacon. And the wonderful Abbe picked out a special bottle of vin for the recipe. (While you're looking at the Gateway site, click on the "meat/seafood" tab. You'll recognize a meat buyer.) You don't really want to skimp on that either. She picked out one that had a stamp on it-- HOW APPROPRIATE!

After the bacon cooking, the chicken browning (go for the golden+tan-ish color), and being super patient (obviously this was the hardest part of the whole recipe for me), you add the veggies and wine and herbs and chicken stock and probably other ingredients I forgot about. Then there's the time you get to light the pot of delicious food on fire. That was fun.

oh. that smells delicious. especially after adding booze and lighting it on fire.

Overall the dish turned out to be flavorful, oh-so French and far simpler than I thought, but it does take a while. The final meal earned a highfive. (as pictured below) 

Someday I'll try it Sarah's way (only if she does the first day of cooking. read that Sarah. And let's make that happen. coq au vin- off can still occur) And I would definitely make the Contessa's recipe again. Thanks Tom and Sara and Fawn for sharing the French feast with me (and putting it all together). Vous êtes la plus grande compagnie.
Also. This post taught me how to type accents. SO much learning in French cooking!
What a CoqAuVinture.
xo-LP

Now. Usually we don't do this but...

Dear 28,

It happened.

xo-LP