Small Town Treasure

Good Morning!  I am just going to jump right into yesterdays festivities!

Yesterday my mom, sister, Melinda and I went down to Decorah Iowa for the day!

Yea you think small town there is going to be nothing to do.  But since my Mom, Melinda and my sister had been raving about the cute little shops in Decorah I decided I wanted to go to!  Let me tell you for Decorah being a small town in Iowa they have the neatest downtown!  We just spent the afternoon going from shop to shop.  We went through little stores like a yarn shop, a cooking store, a store that sold Vera Bradley, and a hatchery!  I even found the wine my parents Mark and I had at the Meridian in Indianapolis!

And this wine is not easy to find!  We couldn't find this wine anywhere in Indianapolis (the only places we found it was a bar and they had one bottle), and of all places I find this particular wine in a little 

Co-Op store in downtown Decorah Iowa!  I was extremely excited about this find.

We had lunch at a wonderful little Bistro called La Rana. 

 The food was excellent, and the decor was charming yet simple.  La Rana means the frog so the bistro featured many a different frog statues!  

To top it off I got the cutest mug that they sold there!

For lunch my sister and I split a green salad topped with Pecans, Cranberries, Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese!

They had a orange vinaigrette as the dressing.  And the crusty bread they served on the side was fabulous!  We also split the Turkey Avocado and Swiss sandwich.

I have to say that Turkey and Avocado has to be one of my favorite combinations for a sandwich!

Melinda had a Cobb Salad which looked fantastic, and my mom had a grilled chicken sandwich.  I also had to sample the amazing Tomato Basil soup my sister and mom both ordered!  The dessert menu at La Rana looked phenomenal but I was way to full after lunch for dessert!

The hatchery was the last stop of our day!  We shopped a lot!  My sister and I bought some adorable hats and got to hold baby chicks that the hatchery raises!

They were adorable, so soft and fuzzy!

I was super excited about the hat purchases!

Decorah is just one of those charming little towns in the country!  

And don't think our day/fun ended in Decorah!  Because we came home to have a big BBQ with my dad and my sisters friend!  We had way to much food, but everything was delicious!  The only thing I made was baked beans I used a new homemade BBQ sauce recipe.  The sauce called for apple juice, but we were out I subbed in Orange Juice instead.  I want to try this BBQ sauce with apple juice before I share it with you, because I thought the OJ added an interesting flavor.  I am not sure the interesting flavor was a good thing!  Although we did have by far my favorite salad, Grilled Romaine Hearts with Grilled Pineapple.  This salad just screams summer! My sister also made this amazing Guacamole Salad from Ina Graten.  My sister kept saying something seems spicy but I don't know what the spice is from!  Turns out she had added way to much cayenne pepper to the salad!  I thought the salad was excellent!  We had a good evening full of lots of laughs and stories!

 Brats and Hamburgers on the grill!  We even had hot dogs and Veggie Burgers for me!

Yum!  Nothing but veggies fruit and beans!  

I hope you enjoy the many pictures from our day!  I don't think the pictures do the day justice!  And ow before I leave you to get ready for the day I will share our Be quote!

Be Amazed

"As I started looking, I found more and more."

Valerie Steele

Enjoy your day and the long holiday weekend, and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!