17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Greetings friends! I though I would stop by this early morning and share a few FUN photos from the 17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. This past weekend, we took a road trip up to Iowa to see the BEST of friends and attend the 2025 Bacon Festival. Over the the last 17 years, we have made it to almost every Bacon Fest...and even though we made the move to Kansas City, we still make the annual trip back "home" for this event each year. This year the bacon festivities were held indoors at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Agriculture Building. Our group had a VIP table/tickets for the event...and we were able to attend an hour earlier than the general public. We made so many memories over the weekend...we arrived in Des Moines on Friday evening and our Iowa friends (I call them family) had a big party and we were able to see almost everyone (including two new additions - babies that were born the last year!). Then, we spent all day Saturday at Bacon Fest. The theme this year was The Bacon Boat - and the costume contest was filled with characters from the original Love Boat television show - the winners were a group that included Captain Stubing, Julie McCoy, and Isaac Washington (there's a throwback cast list for you). There was axe throwing, all sorts of photo ops, my yearly photo with the bacon belt, a silent disco, lots of live music (Yachty by Nature!), all sorts of bacon food dishes, tasty beverages, a bacon eating contest, and the best people watching around...and did I mention, all the bacon you can eat! We finished the day by visiting two local bars and laughing into the wee hours. It was the BEST two days with my Iowa family...including ending day two by cramming nine adults into one Traverse (last time is was 10 adults into one Suburban). I couldn't have asked for a better road trip and I am already looking forward to next year! Sadly, Sunday we made the drive back to Kansas City...but the whirlwind trip was so good for my soul. We made it back home just in time to head out to Children's Mercy Park for a Sporting KC MLS soccer game (it was Star Wars night!)...it was a jam packed weekend. Here are a few favorite photos from the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival...

Relaxing and Celebrating in the Dominican

Hola family and friends! I have returned from the Dominican Republic feeling refreshed and recharged...so today I am going to interrupt the creativity posts with some favorite vacation photos. This trip had a special agenda - we were attending a wedding for one of my husband's best friends from high school. We were treated like royalty at the resort (Secrets Resort Cap Cana Resort & Spa) and had a lovely premium swim out suite with stylish Caribbean style décor. We sampled some wonderful foods, ate at most of the restaurants on the property and were spoiled by fresh tropical fruit daily! We spent quite a bit of time with friends (family) at the pool and the private beach and enjoyed fabulous meals and cocktails (and a wonderful coffee house!)...and also met some delightful people. The beach wedding was beautiful and the bride looked stunning. We also went on a private catamaran excursion with snorkeling at a coral reef and cocktail time/swimming at a sandbar. It was a fabulous trip - the islanders were warm and welcoming, the service was impeccable, the views were incredible and the food/drinks were tasty! This was our second trip to the DR and we would be happy to return...in fact, I could have stayed another week and enjoyed the pampering, sun, and sand...

Here is a selection of my favorite photos (as always, I took a gazillion images and narrowed it down to a grouping of favorites)...

Unfortunately, it's back to reality and business as usual in the studio (I'm already missing my toes in the sand and the resort pampering)...I'm busy working on some needlework finishing and project bags, along with model stitching/sewing and finishing up some new designs (hmmm - maybe I should work on one with a Caribbean theme). I have a fun Poppie Cotton Fabric Tour post scheduled for next week (think Halloween) and a new Therm O Web project tutorial that will be posted next Tuesday. Now that we are back, my website and Etsy shop are both open again...and I have responded to all correspondence, so if you contacted me while we were gone, you should have a message from me.

There will be more artistic things to share with you in the near future, so stop back soon!💙