Soapourri Natural Bath and Body, LLC

What a gorgeous day it is today - right now, at 4 pm, it is 59 degrees! Pretty spectacular for 2 days after Thanksgiving!
We took the doggy for a walk downtown at the new Pappajohn Sculpture Park. It is such a great addition to our city, and there were tons of people there admiring it and walking around.  This one below is my favorite - you can actually walk inside it. 

Here's the 411 on the park, courtesy of TimesDelphic.com -

Appraised at $31.5 million, the new Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines is a must-see. Two years in the making, the park made its public debut Sunday with a community celebration. Local philanthropists, John and Mary Pappajohn, donated the sculptures to the city of Des Moines. “Art News Magazine” listed the Pappajohns as one of the top 200 art collectors in the world. The collection includes 24 sculptures by 19 world-renowned artists. The garden is located in Gateway Park at 15th Street and Grand Avenue, and is definitely worth a trip downtown.

Click the TimesDelphic.com link above to see the other sculptures.

The World is on Fire...

 
This is what I see when I look out the window in my soap studio - isn't Mother Nature spectacular?

Me Like Cookie!

That was my best Cookie Monster imitation - what do you think?  I recently got a dozen
chocolate  chip cookies from Baby Boomers Cafe.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  These, after all, were the cookies that Barack Obama took a shine to when his Iowa campaign headquarters was next door to Baby Boomers Cafe.  It is just a tiny place, but I understand that they are now shipping 4,000 cookies a week all over the world.  And they furnished 5,500 cookies for the inauguration.  As a small business owner, I love these kinds of stories.  What luck for them to be in the right place at the right time, with a great product.

Anyway, I tried them.  And they are ALL THAT.  Wow.

Paying it Forward in Iowa

From:  http://www.kcci.com/family/18211725/detail.html?rss=des&psp=news

KCCI viewer Katherine Gamble reports that at least 50 people joined a spontaneous "pay it forward" effort Friday morning in Johnston.

Gamble said she was the 50th person to pay for the coffee for the car behind them in line at the Starbucks location at 5250 86th Street.

"It's great to see the holiday spirit even during these hard economic times," said Gamble, in an email to KCCI.

Store workers said 53 people joined the effort during the morning coffee rush. It started when the a man told an employee at the drive through to use a $20 bill to pay for as many people behind him in line as possible, others then kept the effort going.

HOW COOL IS THIS???

Good News!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing all the negativity in the press.  Yes, the financial markets are having a very rough time, unemployment is higher, there is plenty of bad news out there.  But as I drive around my city, I do see crowded parking lots, both at restaurants and shopping malls.  Soapourri is having its best year ever.  There is still a lot to be thankful for.

Yesterday, I had a brainstorm and decided to make a Good News Soap.  It will be a super duper price.  Last night I made a whole bunch.

So for a few minutes, let's think of ONLY GOOD NEWS!  Please post - I'm dying to hear it!

I'll start.  The sun is shining today. 

Mother Nature in all her fleeting glory

Oh, I'm going to miss you, stunning crimson leaves.  The grass was green yesterday and you hadn't yet begun your leaf-shedding.  Soon you will be naked and shivering.  Yesterday the temperature was a balmy 76 degrees, crazy wonderful for November 3rd.  But on Friday the forecast is for a mix of snow and rain, high of 39.  Mother Nature, why can't you just slip into the winter more subtly?  Why the mood swings? 

Carole King

A few weeks ago I made the trek downtown to see Carole King.  Not perform, but to stump for her candidate.  I love Carole King  - even now when I think of her name, Tapestry starts to go around in my head.  So I couldn't pass up the chance.  Here she is, signing autographs in a coffee shop.  She led us in a rendition of "You've Got a Friend" which always makes me choke up.

Halloween and Weather

This morning as I was reading the paper, I glanced at the bottom of the front page and saw the weather forecast.  Two numbers in particular caught my eye - 39° for a high Monday and 74° for a high Thursday.  Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  That is Iowa in the fall!  It makes it kind of hard to figure out what to wear from what day to the next - heck, from one hour to the next. 

In Des Moines,  Halloween is different than other places for two reasons.  One, the kids go trick-or-treating on the night before Halloween - we call it "Beggar's Night".  Not sure why, but rumor has it that they did it so the adults could party on Halloween itself.  Two, the kids are required to tell a joke for their candy.  I love this - when I've lived other places it seemed so boring just to hand out the candy.   Plus, it is so adorable to see the little ones try their jokes out on us.  The all-time favorite is, "what do you get when you put a car in the oven?  A hot rod!"

Since our weather is so crazy, I can remember Halloweens when it snowed, rained, was 75°, you name it! 

Today is a windy day.  Not just windy - WINDY!   This has been going on since I got up this morning - big gusts where I can feel the house rattle, it sounds like a bulldozer coming through the house.  I look outside to see all the patio chairs flying around.  Makes me want to go to a movie so I can't hear it.  Seems like we always have at least one of these at this time of year - the leaves in your yard go into your neighbors yard, and vice versa.  If you're lucky, all yours went away. 

Whoops, I just heard a big crash outside - better go investigate.

Update:  the big crash was the grill - how often does YOUR grill fall over, with a big propane tank attached?  And our metal gazebo with 120 pounds of sand attached - destroyed.   Yes, we have a windy backyard.

Fortune's 100 Best Cities to Live & Launch

West Des Moines, Iowa, (where Soapourri happens to reside), has been named by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 100 cities in which to live and launch a small business.  Wow!  Here's the link.   

Today was the big day - pix

An overwhelming turnout in Iowa for Caucus Day - I'm proud of all the Iowans that came out tonight in the cold weather.  Here are some pix from the Polk County Convention Center.  The first picture is Charlie Gibson, graciously giving an autograph, next is Bill Richardson, then Juan Williams with me, the PETA pigs (who were the warmest people out there - I envied them in their cute pink outfits), Chris Dodd, then Sean Hannity with me. I must say it was a total blast, playing paparazzi!  I was also interviewed by Newsweek.com and was on their website (but I won't share it with you - too embarrassing!)

What else did I do today?  Spent several hours organizing papers and filing - not my favorite job and one that I have put off  F O R E V E R.  Perhaps I'll be better in the New Year?