A few Sunday snaps

These are by no means great pictures, but I wanted to record a few favorite homes and buildings in Des Moines. The first house, which is actually for sale right now, is one of my all-time favorites here. It looks as if it were plucked right out of Cotswolds. The second is my favorite apartment building in Des Moines (and actually along the same street as the first house). It's called The Wetherell. Built in 1922, it's an example of Spanish Mission-style architecture. I helped produce a story for a magazine of one of the apartments inside and instantly fell in love with its charm. Several of the spaces have solariums and terraces. The next house I spotted on a drive through a favorite neighborhood adjacent to ours. I love it for its Great Expectations/Grey Gardens qualities. The final shots are of a church (also along the same street as the first house and the apartment building). The church is also for sale.

A home, only smaller

Annina Gunter creates life in miniature, with all the messiness and coziness that home entails for most people. I have to keep reminding myself when studying each frame that these scenes are not human scale, but tiny representations of simple everyday life. Read more about her here.

poster

My friend recently opened an awesome shop in town, called Domestica, and I had to have this poster of awesomeness.

Evan's world

Being the mom of a 9-year-old who adores all things Star Wars and Legos, I often wonder what it would be like not picking up light sabers or stepping on tiny bits of hard plastic every day. But the other day when I walked out our door and saw these two military trucks on our front stoop, I had an overwhelming feeling of how innocent childhood is and how I most certainly will one day long for the moments watching Evan play for hours constructing his latest castle, starship, or warrior on our long dining table covered in those precious little bits of plastic.