Experiences, Travel

Iowa State Fair 2018

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Enjoying ice cream from the Dairy Barn!

I grew up going to the Iowa State Fair. It’s a tradition. When I moved out of state, it was difficult to make it back in August. I actually missed four fairs. Fortunately for me, my mom broke her ankle skydiving, and I had an excuse to hang out in Iowa for a month. She managed to wheel herself around the fairgrounds, and I got to be a kid again.

If you’ve never heard of the Iowa State Fair, I feel bad for you. It is actually really well known. It’s listed in a lot of “must see in America” lists or what have you. I can’t describe to you how much fun it is.

The state fair always happens in the middle of August at the Iowa State Fair grounds in Des Moines, Iowa. This year it is from August 9 – August 20.

This year was the first time I went on opening day. It was a Thursday and very hot. It may not be the most pleasant conditions, but it means the fair isn’t jam packed, which I greatly appreciate. There are several air conditioned buildings, so when you need some relief you can have it.

Ever since I was a little girl, my favorite thing to visit at the fair has always been the barns. I love seeing all the animals. Horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, all the animals. They’re usually there for shows and competitions. There are usually baby animals there with their mamas. There used to be an area where you could pet the calves, and they would suck on my fingers. Fun fact: cows don’t have upper teeth. Now there is a whole building for baby animals. Chicks hatch. Baby ducks swim in a tiny pond. Pregnant cows, does (goats) and sows (pigs) give birth to calves, kids, and piglets on site throughout the duration of the fair. They’re so cute!!! I would love to have goats someday.

The 4H building is very cool. Kids from all over the state enter their projects in competitions ranging from sewing to photography to cooking to woodwork and more. It’s really impressive, and the kids come up with some really ingenious ideas. Pioneer Hall, The Varied Industries Building, Agriculture Building, and Exhibition Center are other can’t misses.

Butter was a movie made in 2011 starring Jennifer Garner, Olivia Wilde, and others. It is about carving butter in Iowa. Surprise, this is a real thing. The Butter Cow is a must see for most fair goers. What is it? It’s a cow carved out of butter. No joke. There are several other butter sculptures featured at the state fair in the Agriculture Building, but if butter art isn’t your speed, there are tons of flowers to look at.

The fair has a giant slide, which I have done every year, and it never gets old. There are tons of fair rides. Lots of stages for entertainment. The grandstand was redone this past year. Every night of the fair, a band or singer is featured.

Food. Fair food is its own kind of strange. At the Iowa State Fair, you can find literally anything on a stick. No longer is the corn dog king of stick foods. No. You can find cheesecake on a stick, salad on a stick, mac-and-cheese on a stick, butter on a stick, and so much more. I always get a pork tenderloin because it’s Iowa and I love them. I also have to get a funnel cake. Funnel cakes are disgusting, and it is important to just embrace the diabetes when eating it. I also always need to have fresh squeezed lemonade in hand. It’s the best at the fair.

Anyways, this is a basic rundown of the state fair. If you’re in Iowa, you need to go. If you’re not in Iowa, you should plan a trip to enjoy it.     

Iowa State Fair
E. 30th Street & E. University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50317
Instagram: @iowastatefair

 

Lifestyle

Off Goes My Wandering Soul

Happy Tuesday Truth!

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I have a wandering soul. I majored in languages at university for so many reasons. A big one being my love for travel. Seeing the world, communicating with people in their native language, and experiencing a culture the way the people do held an immense appeal, so I dedicated a huge portion of my life to learning languages.

A dream of mine for as long as I can remember: finding a way to make traveling my job. I quite literally want to go everywhere, taste all the food, and hear everyone’s story. Nothing trips my trigger quite like setting off on a new adventure.

I’m a freelance editor, writer, and translator. My job doesn’t include traveling; however, I can travel and do my job. I abhorred working in an office with two weeks of paid vacation a year. I was suffocating. I quit very quickly. Freelance was never on my radar as a possibility. Until it happened. It’s been a long road to being a self-sustaining freelancer… Sometimes, I wonder if I’m even there yet. For arguments sake: I arrived! My work can go anywhere, so I do. I go everywhere. I travel so much I wonder if my bed misses me.

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One of the attractive things about being a blogger is the fact I can write about my travels. In a way, I am turning traveling into my job! No one is paying me… yet! I remain hopeful. I am always open to collaborating with an five star hotels with a spa.

On Saturday, I left Houston for a month long trip. (I’d be so fired if I had an office gig.) First! I’m in the Chicago area visiting family, enjoying the city, seeing friends, and going to a drag race. Over the weekend, I will be dropping my dog, Beau, off with her grandparents in Iowa as I head to Colorado! I’ll be there doing a whole bunch of outdoorsy shit and content creation for a week and a dayish. Lastly, I’ll be spending time with my family in Iowa for two weeks before my little brother gets married.

So be ready for lots of book reviews, travel posts, and other updates! I have a busy, busy month! I am so excited to bring you along on this big summer adventure of mine! Off to picturesque scenery I go. My wandering soul will be so well traveled after the month; I may just be ready to go home! For a little while anyways.

Lifestyle

I’m Not In It For the Free Stuff… BUT!

For this week’s Tuesday Truth, I want to talk about the one thing that is really starting to get on my last nerve about being a blogger. 

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I started Bookish Liaisons as a hobby and a passion project. A place I could take all my thoughts and opinions about the books I read. It still is. It has definitely grown larger than my wildest dreams. It accidentally turned into a small job and business. This place of mine transformed from a book blog into a bookish lifestyle blog because I’m a nerd with a life!

I never, not once, started this to get free stuff. Actually, the first time someone sent me a free book, I was thrilled and mostly shocked. “I should have started doing this a long time ago,” went through my mind because free books! A bookworm’s dream. I do not search out free books, and I do not search out free stuff. Sometimes, I get things in exchange for an honest review. Always honest. I’m never going to sell out for loot. Or try and sell my followers on things I don’t genuinely believe in.

Complete honesty: I’m pretty proud of the following I have on Instagram. I love all my followers because they are joining in on this great journey of mine. I’m no Selena Gomez, but I’m doing just fine!

Due to the number of followers I have, I get a lot of offers from companies and people wanting to send me their products. I turn down most because I am very picky about what I associate with. I am only ever going to talk about, post, and promote things I believe in and would spend my own money on. The books I have received from publishers are fabulous, but I only say “yes” to the books I’m actually interested in reading. I have turned down a ton of books, even if they are free. No matter what, I still review with honesty. (The books I have hated the most have been books sent to me for free. Oh man, I roasted a couple.) I’m not going to put my integrity on the line for a free book. No way. If I upset a publisher, editor, or author because of that, so be it.

What is starting to get on my last nerve as a blogger: companies soliciting. I’m a blogger. I’m a blogger on a limited budget. I freelance for a living. I like to spend my money on three things: travel, my dog, and food. I’m a bargain shopper when it comes to books because I’m a bargain shopper with e.v.e.r.y.thing. I ABSOLUTELY HATE WHEN COMPANIES, AUTHORS, ANYONE REACHES OUT ASKING ME TO BUY THEIR PRODUCT AND REVIEW IT. I get. We all have to hustle. It’s the way of the world. If you really want me to review your book, candle, bookmark, product, whatever, then send me an email, ask if I’d be interested, and then send it to me for free. I will never ever ever ask anyone to send me something for free. If I want it I will buy it. I am not going to spend the little money I have on something I do not want, need, or am looking for.

I have been contacted so many times because people want me to buy, review, and promote their product. Being a blogger, creating content, writing posts, and promoting takes A LOT of time. If you can’t pay for my time to market your product as the influencer I am, then at least offer to send it to me for free. I always politely say “thanks, but no thanks.” Sometimes, they even ask if I could shout them out or repost their pictures on my feed directing my followers their way. NO. Unless I can product test, I am not going to promote it. Integrity people. So many of the people who have approached me this way had products I would have totally accepted. Not now. Ya gotta spend some to make some.

I’m nothing special; I have a respectable following. I am an influencer and a blogger. I absolutely love doing this. I hate that people don’t take the work, my time, or my followers seriously. I’m not in this for free stuff. I am also not in this to spend all of my money.

End of rant!

Books

The Rules of Love & Grammar by Mary Simses

Difficulty: II
Length: III
Quick Review: Grace Hammond is having a rough time, so she goes home to figure her life out.

As summer approaches, I’m trying to compile a list of books good for a vacation reading list. The Rules of Love and Grammar fits into that category perfectly. It’s light, romantic, and escapist in nature. Not a fabulous novel, but it holds its own as a beach read.

The book begins with Grace Hammond telling the reader exactly what is going wrong in her life. It was abrupt and unnecessary. In her early thirties, she loses her, her boyfriend, and her apartment before returning to her small hometown. While she tries putting her life back together, she takes a small job at a bike shop, dates, hangs out with her hometown best friend, rekindles old rivalries, and deals with the ups and downs of living with family.

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Grace is your run of the mill grammar nazi, and, quite frankly, she comes off as a bitch. (I, as an editor, am always finding grammar mistakes in people’s work… So I get it. I do not point it out unless I am being paid because it is not a trait I have found that makes many friends.) Grace returns to her hometown which seems to bring out antics similar to those of a high schooler with a tendency towards exaggeration and fantastical scenarios. It felt immature at times. Her love sick puppy attitude made it a little hard to find the interesting person through the husband-hunter exterior.

Each chapter starts with a grammar rule and a sentence depicting the previously mentioned rule. The chapter usually reflects a similar concept in Grace’s life. It’s a cute way to effortlessly weave the theme throughout the book.

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I have a difficulty reading books about grammar obsessed main characters, which seems to be the most important character quality to the author never developed just constantly mentioned. Once that personality trait has been established, I am on duty looking for any mistake. This does not disappoint. There were plenty of grammar mistakes including one in Simses bio. Though, this is not the author’s fault but the fault of the editor. It’s just irritating.

Simses tries to add a flair of mystery but does a thin job veiling what that is. The love interests are all lovely but highly predictable. To be completely honest, I had the entire plot figured out by page 17.  The aspect I appreciate the most is the complexity of familial relationships: ie. siblings, parents, perception, reality, coping, etc. Simses touches on these thematically, but I think it would have been a stronger book had she focused on Grace’s reconciliation more than her love life. I really thought the ending was going to be strong aside from the predictable love story portion. However, Simses felt it necessary Grace narrate the meaning of the book instead of allowing it to speak for itself. I audibly cringed as she ruined what she had managed to turn around. Us readers are not dumb. We get it, unless, you wrote the next Lolita… but this is not that.

Personally, I enjoyed the bike shop aspect. My brother was a semi-professional cyclist, so my life revolved around bikes for many, many years. For me, that was sentimental.

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Memorable Quotes:
“”Let life unfold, or you’ll miss the chance to be surprised.””

Title: The Rules of Love & Grammar
Author: Mary Simses
Publisher: Back Bay Books (Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group)
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9780316382083