Thrift Store Finds

Generally, I don't have much luck at thrift stores. I love the concept, but I have trouble going to them and actually finding clothes that fit and are reasonably priced. I have much better luck finding new clothes on the clearance racks or in the clearance section of online stores.

My best clearance rack finds ever were a $50 denim skirt I got for $1 and a cornflower blue button front shirt for $3. I found those items on the same day and have never been able to top those bargains. I have gotten good use out of both those items, which were purchased in 2003. The skirt I shortened in 2006 or 2007 and then a year or two later gave to a charity thrift store and I still have the cornflower blue shirt.

I recently hit a few of the fabulous thrift stores here in Iowa City and had a change of luck. I found exactly what I wanted at reasonable prices.

I found this dress at Stuff Etc., a store I've been selling some clothes and shoes at, but haven't had much luck finding clothes at. I went in there to get the balance on my account earlier this month and found this gem. I had been trying to find another fall/winter/early spring dress and was excited to find this one and used part of the balance on my account to buy it. I'm hoping to wear it to a work event next weekend.

On Friday I decided to stop by Revival, a new and gently used clothing store on the ped mall downtown. I found a dress, shrug and a sweater/jacket amongst their gently used merchandise.

I love this dress! It is my style and in the colors that I love. I can't wait to wear it. I'm hoping to pair it with blue tights, a cardigan, and my slouchy brown boots this fall/winter and will wear it a lot this coming summer.

Something similar to this has been on my to-find list all year, so I was happy to stumble upon this. I have a black, sleeveless cocktail dress that I wore to wedding last year that I will be wearing to an important fundraiser for work in February and I need to look nice, dressy, but not too showy. Since the event is in February in Iowa I've been trying to find a jacket or fancy sweater to wear over the dress. This fits the bill perfectly. It will also work with a new black, sleeveless sheath dress that I bought this summer (on sale for $12).

I just thought this was fun and would work with a lot of tops and dresses I have.

Gothic Novels

Once a year I read a gothic novel.

I have been reading gothic novel since I was a teenager after stumbling upon several collections of them at the local public library in my hometown. The library had a large selection of Madeline Brent and Victoria Holt books left over from the 1960s and 1970s. Later, I ended up purchasing a number of those books when they were withdrawn from the library. In fact, I found out that I by me reading them I had saved them from being removed from circulation for several years.

Although I generally prefer less formalistic fiction I have a special place in my heart for gothic novels.
 
Last year, I read "A Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters.

This year, I read "Lord of the Far Island" by Victoria Holt.

Gothic novels are very formalistic and generally have a lot of the same plot points, so much so that you would think they were all written by the same person, regardless who wrote the novel. I once discovered a (now former) co-worker was a fan of gothic novels and that we had read many of the same ones. We ended up having a lively debate about the formalistic nature of them and how despite that they are enjoyable to read.

A gothic novel has any number of these characteristics:

• Poor relation or other in-between social standing.
• An Inheritance.
• Said inheritance will be received at age 21.
• Guardianship.
• A companion or relative close to the same age as the heroine.
• Mysterious accidents involving boats, cliffs, trains, guns, or cars.
• Mentally unstable relative(s).
• Castle and/or grand family mansion/estate.
• Reoccurring dream starting in childhood that continues into adulthood, but by the end of the book never occurs again.
• Crumbling family fortunes.
• Deception.
• Family secrets.
• Family heirloom jewelry, generally a necklace that has been in a family hundreds of years and has a name.
• Family member locked away in a country home, the home of a trusted family friend, a top floor apartment of a mansion, or the attic of said mansion.
• Someone died before the book started or dies during the course of the book.
• Orphaned heronine.
• Heroine is generally between the age of 17-20.
• By the end of the book the heroine is married.
• Mysterious character, family friend, or family member that is assumed to be evil, but is eventually revealed to good hearted.
• Family member or family friend who assumed to be good hearted, but is eventually revealed to be evil.
• After a brief introduction into the world in which the novel takes place, the heroine recaps her life thus far before the story moves forward.
• The final chapter(s) skips between a few months and a few years and gives a recap of where things now stand.

I tired to compile this list while I was reading the book and typed it up after I finished reading it. Then, look at what Wikipedia had to say about gothic novels and was surprised by how spot on my list was.

Although I wouldn't want to read a gothic novel every week or even every month, they are certainly a fun read every once in a while.

The Kraken Returns

The Kraken made another appearance in Iowa City last week on the roof of a building on Washington Street.

I wonder where he will show up next?

Release the Kraken

This summer, I came across a news article about an interesting art project that was being staged in Muscatine, Iowa.

This public art display featured the Muscatine River Monster aka The Kraken. A mythological water dwelling monster that has allegedly been sighted in the Mississippi River near Muscatine off and on since ~ 1838.

This gigantic tentacled piece of art has made appearances at a variety of events and locations around the Muscatine area, but has recently been making its way inland and has been spotted in Cedar Rapids and now Iowa City. Apparently he wanted to come to Iowa City for the University of Iowa's homecoming.

I took this picture of the Kraken on the morning of Saturday, October 22. He was hanging out at the former Vito's building in downtown Iowa City on the ped mall.

I hear that the Vito's building is being turned into office and retail space. Maybe the Kraken needs a space to work or perhaps a retail location to sell some of those famous pearl buttons made out of Mississippi River clams.

Getting Free Stuff in the Mail is Fun

One morning last week I was riding the bus ride to work and I began to wonder when my free samples from Target would be arriving, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a white and pink box from Target in my mailbox that afternoon.

Over a month ago, one of the blogs I read had a post about Target giving away makeup bags of free samples, so I went to Target's website and requested one. Target has done this offer before. The last time they had this giveaway, I received a blue and white makeup bag filled with shampoo & conditioner samples, a sample of lip gloss, a tube of lip balm, a travel sized bottle of hand lotion, and a coupon book.

The box I received today contained:

• A brightly colored makeup bag. 
• A sample of Burt's Bees lotion.
• A travel sized package of Pond's facial cleansing towelettes.
• A sample of L'oreal facial cream.
• 3 different sets of shampoo & conditioner samples.
• A coupon booklet for lotions, makeup, and other products at Target.

I'm really excited about the facial cleansing towelettes, because I like to take those in my toiletry bag when I travel so I don't have to lug around a bottle of face wash.

The makeup bag will go into my present box where I put things that I stick away to give to people later. I know several people who would like to have the makeup bag, but I haven't decided who I will end up giving it to.

The rest of the samples will I try out later this fall.

The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

I'm a big fan on Chuck Klosterman's work, so I was excited to learn that he had a new novel out,
"The Visible Man."

Klosterman mostly writes nonfiction, magazine articles, and essays. He's primarily recognized for his witty writing on American pop culture.

I have read all his books and a handful of his magazine articles over the years.

Despite not entirely enjoying his last book, "Eating the Dinosaur" and finding his first novel, "Downtown Owl: A Novel" OK. I was a little worried I might be disappointed by this book, but wanted to read it regardless because I really like Klosterman's work.

The book focuses on a licensed therapist and her relationship with a patient referred to only as Y__.

Y__ was allegedly a scientists for a defunct research project that created a suit and cream solution to make people practically invisible. He then used the special suit and chemical to essentially break into people's homes and observe them while they were alone.

The book had a lot of the themes Klosterman has touched on in his previous books (nonfiction and fiction) such as voyeurism, drug use, pop culture, music, and life fulfillment.

Some of the observations about watching people alone in their homes reminded me of a story from one of Klosterman's other books (unfortunately I don't remember which one) where talks about having a neighbor who never closed her blinds/curtains and how he became enthralled with sitting on his couch watching this neighbor in her apartment unbeknown to her.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was interesting and there were a number of odd plot developments that kept me wanting to read it, but it wasn't so enthralling that I wished I had bought the book instead of getting it from the local public library.

It was no "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs," but it was great read for any Klosterman fan or anyone that loves odd genre defying fiction.

Fall Day Trip

Saturday, we took a day trip to Wisconsin.

We love going to Wisconsin, it is our favorite weekend getaway location. We have a long list of things we like to do in the Madison and Milwaukee areas, as well as in the Kettle Moraine State Forest Region.

Yesterday morning after enjoying a delicious break at the Pilot Club of Iowa City breakfast we hit the road and headed up to the Kettle Moraine area.

Our first stop was Baker. Baker is best known for their string cheese. We found out about them and Kettle Moraine when we were visiting another local dairy and someone recommended that we check out Baker and Kettle Moraine. We were not disappointed.

Baker makes great string cheese and we drove by a number of the dairy farms that supply them with milk on the way, so that was neat.

Next we made a quick drive through part of Kettle Moraine State Forest to get to Beechwood, home of Beechwood Cheese Co.

We first had Beechwood cheese curds during a visit to Sprecher Brewery. We bought a small package of them while we sampling Sprecher products after a tour once. After that we looked up the location of the dairy and discovered it was less than an hour from Milwaukee and we've been going there ever since.

We then headed back to Kettle Moraine State Forest where we drove back and forth down Scenic Drive (that's the actual name of a road that runs through a beautiful stretch of the forest), walked around and enjoyed the beauty of the forest.



This a video we made of our drive through the forest. I was driving and my husband was running the camera.

As you can see from the video, the forest was gorgeous with all the leaves turning and falling.

After we enjoyed the forest, we drove to Milwaukee where we went to Kopp's for a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate frozen custard. It was delicious. I'm not a big fan of restaurant or fast food burgers, but Kopp's is one of the three places where I will happily eat a cheeseburger. Their fries are handmade and tasty, but what Kopp's is known for is their custard. It is so smooth and full of flavor. It was a great way to wrap up the day before we headed back to Iowa.