TWTW: Arts Fest

Weekends are supposed to be relaxing. I'm sure they are for some people. I still haven't figured out how to make them relaxing for me. Well, I know what would make them relaxing but for various reasons, I cannot make those changes. So ... instead I just stay busy.

Over the last few days, I worked both of my jobs, volunteered with the Des Moines Arts Festival, enjoyed said arts festival, helped a friend move, and checked out a local happy hour with a friend.

But, really, arts fest consumed most of my time and energy. This was my third year as an office manager for the festival. My duties included attending monthly meetings and then basically holding down the headquarters during the festival. To put it simply, I helped organize the headquarters, set up meals for the other volunteers, let them know when food arrived, reminded them of when meetings were, helped people find things in the office, and helped pack up headquarters when the event was over. It's always a fun time but a lot of work. This year, we had gorgeous weather, which was nice, and by all accounts it was a very successful festival.

Here are some scenes from my weekend:

A new coffee shop just opened right behind the festival office. It was a godsend for my two morning shifts.

The festival grounds were packed for much of the time. I snagged this pic from our facebook page because I didn't get to see the crowds like this. As office manager, I was contained to our festival headquarters.

This is what I saw most of my time in the office. I didn't get as much reading done this year though.

I did get out to see the Secret Walls event on Friday evening. Two teams had 90 minutes to create their pieces. Incredible!

Saturday night, I was alone in the festival office most of the time. But I was OK with that after a hectic day.

This is my crew. Well, some of them. It takes a lot of people to put on an award-winning festival.

And now I'm back to work.

Honestly, even though I'm sad about the festival being over, I'm glad to get back to my routine. I need and like routine.