The Iowa State Fair – Part 2

Cows, cows, and more cows. Oh my.

This year just happened to be the butter cows 100th birthday. In honor of this exceptional year the fair allowed people to get these cement cows and paint them to showcase their club, school, business, family, whatever they wanted.

This blog post is an ode to the butter cow.

Enjoy.

Like the other post – all picture here can be clicked on to enlarge.

I was going to take a picture of every single cow I saw… but let’s not kid ourselves… that would be in the thousands. No one has that much battery life. No one.

-Ellen

P.s. Part 3 comes soon… I’m thinking “The Biggest ______. “

The Iowa State Fair – Part 1

My forays to the state fair are by no means done, but I felt that I ought to share some of my adventures with you. I was at a loss at first on how to present the pictures and fun stories to you. Do I go about as I saw things? Bulk similar events together like food, animals, and fun? I just wasn’t quite sure. So there will be different posts that are mostly categorized by what they are.

Let’s take a quick look at  the time I have spent at the fair so far this year:

Days attended: 2

Hours spent walking around: 15 hours

Days still planned to attend: 1

This part one will start off with a few of the random random things I came across at the fair.

Enjoy.

NOTE – ALL PICTURE CAN BE MADE BIGGER BY CLICKING ON THEM!

This lovely image was taken within 5 minutes of me getting into the fair. It was of course the first thing I saw coming in. I thought it was only appropriate that I take a picture and share with you some of the glorious views and smells. It’s not like you could find this on the streets in your city! Unless of course you live in podunk Nebraska or amish-land Iowa.

So with that rousing start to the day, I continued onward finding many great things. I saw a girl with a tail… yes, a tail… and I was going to take a picture but figured there were laws or something against that, so you will just have to imagine a little girl with a long long tail buttoned to the back of her shorts. There were also many children leashed and being walked around like pets. Pretty standard to see children on leashes at the fair. Also unable to get a picture because I’m pretty sure that’s illegal also.

The next wondrous thing I ran across was the fair version of swamp people. At least that’s what I assume it would have been like. It was much too crowded to actually stay and watch the show. Who knew hillbillies and alligators would make such entertainment.

Not only will you find hillbillies at the fair, but also an elite class of lazy. You can rent or buy these bad boys to cruise around in. I happened across this gem in the indian/trapper/fur/bead/wooden gun area. Lucky for me the person using it had ACTUALLY gotten off their ass and gone to look at the rabbit pelts so I was able to snap a picture. It struck me as amusing and appropriate for the fair album.

Next comes the TRACTOR PULLLLLLL!!!!!!! Start your engines! Mini style. Yes, they do tractor pulls, and they are actually pretty cool to watch. This was a mini version where people brought in the gas powered mini tractors and had to pull weights. It was not as exciting as real tractors, and the whine from the 20,000 RPM was killer in that tent. None the less, a true addition to the fair contest line ups. Also something that I hadn’t seen in all my years coming to the fair.

There is also this thing called the Giant Slide, original, I know. This is tradition for my sisters and I. We always trek up the treacherous steps and slide on our potato bags all the way down. We may or may not squeal like little girls when we rush down – that’s open to debate. All I know is that it’s fun, and honestly never gets old.

You know me…. I managed to find a mustache on a stick, and it was a glorious moment. I had to talk my mom into taking this picture of me. I do think I look quite charming.

This bad boy is the pumpkin vine tunnel. A classic at the fair for kids under 12 and of course my 20 year old sisters. It never fails - screeching children and the adventurous adults run, or hobble, depending on your height through this tunnel. Often twice. Or more.

There are carved wooden things around the state fair and of course we had to sit and pose with this lovely old women who sat still for the camera – oblivious to what went on around her.

There are many more things that are around to pose with, cut-outs, animals, more wooden creatures, plenty more poop, and hilarious things. I sadly did not get many pictures of the people because I didn’t want to be rude. But trust me… there is tons of people watching potential at the fair. This I will leave to your imagination, and hopefully as a mysterious allure to bring you to the fair.

Part 2 will come shortly.

-Ellen

It’s that time of year again.

Hello again!

It’s been awhile, and I have left you stranded. I should have been writing things with cool titles like, 4 People A Baby And A Dog, or The Life And Times Of An Angry Roommate, or Sometimes You Just Gotta Move The Bed. Let’s just leave it at, many things have been accomplished and now there may be a new post called 2 People In A House – Finally.

But I digress.

The main point of this article if to bring up the wonderful new season that is approaching. Fall is my favorite season for a variety of reasons. Let me tell you about a few. I love the colder weather, the cold weather clothes, digging my boots out of the over-crowded shoe closet, wearing scarfs just for the hell of it, walking and sometimes jumping on crunchy looking leaves, Turkey-Day, Halloween, and of course the FAIR. Every year the Iowa State Fair brings sweltering hot weather, barn animals in un-air-conditioned buildings, food on a stick *ahem* FRIED food on a stick, mullets and baby mamas, musical acts, and lots of stuff to buy. Now this may not sound like something you would want to do, but trust me… it is. I have been going every year of my life at least once, and most years twice.

This year though, it appears that things will be a little different. The weather has a high of 82, some of the animals HAVE been air-conditioned, and the addition of fried butter really just made the fair complete. (No I will not be trying fried butter, ew.) I will be attending at least twice this year, and rest assured I will take my camera… or just my phone, and capture the essence of the fair JUST FOR YOU! You’re excited right? No? Well, I am.

So get ready for a series of fair-like posts, and the wondrous world of Iowa’s people watching.

More to come…..

-Ellen

Need cash? – Solution!

Tweet

Sadly, yes, but this is besides the point.

I’m posting this short piece because YOU could potentially have money sitting in the state treasury with your name on it waiting to be claimed.

I’m talking unclaimed property. Always wondered where that check went you were supposed to get? Well it sits and waits for you if it can’t find your location. Careful though, it won’t wait forever, collect before it disappears!

So, if you want to check and see if you have unclaimed CASH MONEY sitting in your state, google “(state) unclaimed property” and search away! For those of you that are too lazy to google this yourself, I have included the link to both Iowa and Nebraska unclaimed property searches.

Iowa
Nebraska

I’ve given this some thought, and I really think the government out to have a month long – “CLAIM YOUR MONEY” extravaganza, and make sure that everyone is given the opportunity to search the databases. They could use schools, libraries, banks, anywhere with a computer that reaches people who may not have one at home, so that it’s fair. After the month is up, and all the claims for the money are processed… I think the governments (state and federal) should collect the left over unclaimed properties and use it to pay off our debt. Based on a phone conversation I had with a woman in the Illinois treasury, there are billions in their state unclaimed property alone.

This is my solution for the debt crises. I think it’s a good one that has been overlooked. Honestly… even if you just wiped out the unclaimed property over 10 or 15 years old… that’s still TONS OF MONEY!

If you have a better idea, or actually found that you had some money sitting around in unclaimed property, I would love to know! Comment that shiest.

-Ellen
@ellenaheld

Shellac or Axxium …

The new acrylic?

For those of you who aren’t following, I’m talking about a new type of manicure paint option.

I got acrylics once, and vowed NEVER AGAIN after the woman ripped away half my nails and I bled out for 3 or 4 minutes. It was not a pleasant experience. Once I vowed off acrylics, I painted my own nails for awhile. Only going into the salon when my cuticles were getting out of control – I’m talking the kind of out of control where you put your hands in your pocket and start bleeding profusely because you caught a hangnail.

I have always liked the look of nice manicured nails with the white tips or as my stylist calls it, the “smile line”. They look clean and professional. I found out about Shellac from my mom, who I noticed one day was wearing very dark, very shiny nails (unusual for her) and I asked her about the color. She filled me in on the whole process and how she loved the new Shellac. So I had to try it. I made an appointment over lunch and did it.

I loved it.

I went for a nice pearly white/pink that showed my smile lines. I was immediately hooked; It helped my nails grow, and they never looked better. The upside of the Shellac is it doesn’t remove any layers of your nails and keeps it’s paint chip free for about 2 weeks. To remove it you just soak them in alcohol and then scrape it off, you can do this yourself or have a salon do it for you (It’s important though to use a 99% alcohol – which is sometimes hard to buy because of meth heads).

My stylist finally told me that there are two types of UV cured nail paints, the OPI Axxium version and the Creative Shellac version. I’ve tried both now and definitely prefer the Shellac. It may not last as long, but it stays pretty and doesn’t lift off the nail as badly as the Axxium.

Random side story, I was at an autobody shop getting work on Tuk Tuk (My lovely geo prism) and the guy helping me noticed my newly Shellac’ed nails and commented on how pretty they are! I know right?! Who knew they noticed, anywho, I told him about them an he said he was definitely going to tell his wife. Hah!

Ask your salon for shellac next time you go in, and join the party. I love it.

Until my next post…

@ellenaheld

linkedin.com/in/ellenheld

7 Things I Hate About Driving…er…Other’s Driving.

So this post was really spawned on my drive to and from Kansas City, MO. Though it has been a long time coming, because I have been driving to and from Lincoln, Nebraska and Des Moines, IA for over 3 years, and it SUCKS. No if’s, and’s, or but’s, about it – it SUCKS. Here are the reasons why… (And if I missed YOUR pet peeve, or you disagree, feel free to comment and shout it out)

1. Driving in the left lane going slower than a one legged dog
2. Driving in inclement weather or at night WITHOUT YOUR LIGHTS ON…idiots.
3. The guy who passes you, and then slows down, and you go to pass him, and he speeds up, and repeat.
4. The car that tries to merge going 5mph with out a signal #fail
5. The car that won’t turn right on a red light even though there are NO CARS COMING!
6. The jerk that takes up one and a half parking spaces, come on, your car isn’t really THAT nice.
7. When I miss my exit or turn because people won’t let you over (yes, I had my signal on)

This is my list of pet peeves of other drivers. This does not mean I am an amazing driver, I would like to think I am… but I know this isn’t true. This is besides the point though.

I’m sure you can agree, that these are just a few of the things that bring out your road rage, and hopefully venting here in the comments will help relieve some of your pent up peeves.

Post away!

-Ellen
@ellenaheld

YOUR pet peeves:

1. Not fully stopping at a stop sign – jay @KSMA_DSM
2. Leaving your blinker on for what feels like an eternity – Cj
3. The jerk that cuts you off when obviously there is not enough room for them to do so! – Jo

Ride On

Worlds Of Fun. Period. Hereafter referred to as WOF.

14 hours, $75, countless games, sore feet, a sun burn, and some of the best roller coasters later I have a new favorite amusement park.

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a list, in ranking order, of the rides I enjoyed most at WOF.

1. Prowler

2. Boomerang

3. Cyclone Sam

The worst rides for me at WOF tending to be rides with long “ups”. 

1. Mamba

2. Patriot

3. Detonator

Completely off topic, but have you noticed how many interstates and highways are in Kansas City, KS/MO? I swear there are at least 7 different ways to get around on interstates! Very easy to get lost, and trust me, we did.

I have to say the drive there is much more enjoyable than the drive to Lincoln, NE. It was also fun to stop at the firework shops in Eagleville before hitting Iowa. I made some excellent purchases there. Plenty of ammo to wake up the neighbors and get the police called on us.

I can’t wait to go back, and I’m bound and determined to win at the Flying Frog game. I couldn’t get a frog to jump onto the lillypad for the life of me. All I wanted was a stinking minion doll too. Though Kate did win me a lovely lemur with large eyes and a long glorious tail, who I named Stew, and my sister tried to steal (he’s that cute).