Downtown Living

nothing. nothing. beats a farmers market!

Saturday morning, in the beautiful sunny weather, I walked to the Farmer's Market in downtown Des Moines. It is only 10 or so blocks away from my loft and was bustling with people and produce. I grabbed a coffee at a local coffee shop and started shopping! I purchased almond butter and kale and can't wait to make kale chips later this week! more to come on those :)I sliced up a juicy apple as soon as I got home and dug in to the almond butter. love. If you haven't tried almond butter (or any nut butter!) you must! They go well with so many things (apples, oatmeal, carrot chips, by the spoonful, or used just as peanut butter is!

And for breakfast—a mug of coffee and the best bowl of oatmeal. Kath at katheats.com knows her stuff. I followed her recipe and am now addicted. It's creamy, whipped, packed with healthy grains and seeds, and keeps you full until noon!
1/3 c oats. 1/3 almond milk. 1/3 cup water. 1/2 sliced banana. 1 T chia seeds. 1 T ground flax seed. 1/2 tsp salt. 1 tsp vanilla. all prepared on the stove. topped with Kashi cereal and a big blob of almond butter :) breakfast perfection.

One of the reasons I was drawn to live downtown was being close to work. I can now walk (!!!) to work in less than 15 min. It is a lovely walk.... and definitely beats the 50 min. mundane. boring. interstate. drive I was doing before! Here are some pictures I snapped as I was walking home today.

Des Moines Public Library.

completely copper structure that looks so neat at night because it becomes see-thru!

Beautiful limestone hardscaping with treelined sidewalks.

Looking forward to fall as my walk becomes littered with fall leaves and golden trees!

Below is the east, and probably most unappealing, side of Meredith and our lawn.

I pass a Starbucks twice. daily! eek but have only stopped once so far :) Isn't the building quaint? Right next door to the Des Moines Civic Center and a wonderful Italian restaurant Centro.

a peek at the side of my loft. more to come as we finish decorating and organizing our new home!