Travel Iowa Archives - Olio in Iowa

December 3, 2019

2019 Holiday Gift Guide: Made in Iowa Gifts

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! In the coming days I’ll be sharing Olio in Iowa’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide for every type of traveler on your holiday list. From the frequent jetsetter to the lover of all things local, I’ve compiled some of my favorite items so you can give a little bit of adventure to everyone on your list this holiday season.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Travel Iowa. However, all opinions are my own.

In my opinion, there’s no better way to embrace the spirit of the season than to support an Iowa-based maker. When I travel, I make a point to eat a local restaurants and support small businesses in the communities I visit. When I’m home in Des Moines I do the same. So it should come as no surprise to learn that I love to shop small during the holiday season.

This year I’m excited to team up with Travel Iowa to share some of my favorite items from their 2019 Made-in-Iowa Holiday Gift Guide. The guide highlights a variety of products from seven shops across the state that specialize in everything from homemade foods to artisan jewelry and home decor items.

To celebrate some of my favorite Iowa makers, I’ve selected a few of my favorite items from this year’s Travel Iowa guide perfect for your favorite Midwesterner or lover of all things local.Continue Reading…

December 31, 2018

Olio in Iowa’s Best of 2018

2018 held some pretty big adventures! Read the most popular posts from Olio in Iowa's last year.

Maybe it’s the fact that my birthday also falls around the New Year, but I always enjoy taking time to reflect and look back on all I’ve accomplished in the previous 12 months. While I didn’t travel as much in 2018 as I did other years, I still had some memorable adventures.

I spent a week in Las Vegas, explored new corners of Iowa, and took a fantastic road trip around Kansas. Our year also included some less exciting adventures like having home mold remediation done (twice) and living in a hotel for weeks. But those are stories for another time.

In 2018, all of you really enjoyed posts about food (message received), and loved content that came with a dash of the unexpected. As always, I’m so thankful for your choice to support my adventures and the places I visit by continuing to read. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy revisiting Olio in Iowa’s best of 2018.

July 11, 2018

5 Things I Discovered Searching for Iowa’s Hidden Shopping Gems

Disclosure: I explored a variety of shops and occasional markets across the state as part of paid freelance assignments for Travel Iowa featuring Iowa’s hidden shopping gems. However, all opinions are my own.

Earlier this year, my friends at Travel Iowa reached out to ask if I would be interested in searching the state for Iowa’s hidden shopping gems. Of course I said yes immediately, and started planning my retail road trips.

Through the occasional markets I attended and small stores I popped into, I discovered some truly spectacular shopping experiences. From vendors selling handmade items of all kinds to occasionally overlooked shops in historic buildings, I found some new favorite places for a little retail therapy. Interested in seeing where I stopped along the way? Read about my retail adventures on Travel Iowa’s site below.

Read about my shopping experiences on Travel Iowa!

But through my research I also learned a few valuable lessons about building community and the people leading the charge in some of the state’s smallest communities. Discover some of the things I learned while searching for Iowa’s hidden shopping gems.Continue Reading…

September 11, 2017

Enjoying a Made in Iowa Meal with Travel Iowa & Harvestville Farm

Disclosure: I attended Harvestville Farm‘s farm-to-table dinner on a freelance assignment for Travel Iowa‘s Made in Iowa series. Travel Iowa covered my expenses and I was compensated for my writing. However, all opinions are my own.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to experience an incredible farm-to-table dinner on assignment for Travel Iowa as part of their Made in Iowa series. After stepping out of my car in the rolling hills of southeast Iowa, it didn’t take me long to realize that Harvestville Farm is one of the state’s true hidden gems.

Based in Donnellson, Iowa, this farm is a local food lover’s dream. For the past few years, the fifth generation family farm has hosted a series of fabulous farm-to-table dinners with rotating featured chefs.

Read about my Made in Iowa experience on Travel Iowa!

On the evening that I visited, Burlington, Iowa-based Chef Shawn Foehring was in charge of the menu. In the heart of July, our meal highlighted Iowa’s staple summer vegetables. The best part? Many of the vegetables grew literal feet from where we dined. If you’re considering attending a Harvestville Farm dinner yourself, I’m not exaggerating when I say this was truly one of my favorite meals from an Iowa chef with local ingredients.Continue Reading…

January 9, 2015

The Week: January 9, 2015

I’ve spent a lot of time this week getting organized (with the help of my shiny new Simplified Planner) and making plans for the coming year. And while I’m not even close to having it all figured out, I’ve got a lot of ideas bouncing around my overcrowded brain. In the meantime, here are my favorite bits of Internet from this week:

Travel Iowa: This week I shared some of Iowa’s largest attractions with readers at the Travel Iowa blog. If you’re looking for a “big” 2015 adventure you can check it out here.

Well-timed Seth Godin truth bombs. “If you demand that everything that happens be something you are adequately prepared for, I wonder if you’ve chosen never to leap in ways that we need you to leap.”

I absolutely love these photos of Cedar Falls during the snowstorm we had earlier this week.

I’ve been needing a little extra determination lately and this little talisman might be the perfect solution.

These vintage photos and postcards of historic Des Moines are incredible. Continue Reading…

October 24, 2014

The Week: October 24, 2014

Lately I’ve taken a little bit of a hiatus from blogging. For someone who spends all day writing as part of their career, I find that sometimes it’s important to step back and remember why I enjoy stringing words together so much. And then one morning I just wake up, itching to start scribbling something new, click-clacking on my keyboard to share a new adventure.

So hello there, I’m back. And while I get to writing, here are my favorite bits of Internet from the last week (or five):

Exciting extras: I wrote my first post for the Travel Iowa blog awhile back. You can read it and (if you enjoy it) help vote it into the top posts section, here.

Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out Olio in Iowa’s brand new Complete Guide to Roadside Attractions.

This is the smartest I’ve ever felt about finance.

Sometimes the right words find you instead. “And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens—The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”

A linguistic history of some of our favorite foods.Continue Reading…