Happy Monday, everyone, did you have a nice weekend?
I spent the past few days at the Deere Valley Resort in Park City, Utah for a food blogger conference! I’d never been to Utah before and to say it’s beautiful is an understatement. I took a bajillion photos of this view from the balcony of the house we stayed in, which I had to scale at one point to get us in after forgetting a key to the front door. You know how much I love me a good mountain view and climb!
Over the course of a few days the ladies and I talked all things food blogging, had a chocolate and wine pairing with Lindt USA’s Master Chocolatier,
participated in a running lesson from the young founder of Altra Running that 100% inspired me to get back in the game, (tips I picked up: keep shoulders back and lead with your hips, relax your feet, fists should never pump in front of your hips – think chicken wing form, and take shorter strides,)
did a little bit of shopping, and ate, ate, ATE. I don’t think I got hungry once the entire time I was out there!
Working as a blogger is a unique occupation in that most of us are without co-workers, so getting together with peers always leave me feeling inspired, rejuvenated, and ready to take on the world. (Thank you Liz for the great Insta-memory!)
Something else giving me tingly feelings? The brand new Iowa Girl Eats website is launching TOMORROW, Tuesday 10/27! As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this redesign has been two years in the making and I’m unbelievably excited (giddy, in fact!) to finally share the new IGE branding, website design and slick new site features. My biggest challenges with the current site was that content was being lost to the archives and recipes were incredibly hard for you guys to search for. Challenge no more.
Since the new site is much different than the current one, I wanted to introduce a few fun features before it launches, starting with the homepage. First and foremost, the homepage highlights my new logo and branding, which underwent a complete overhaul. I think the colors and fruit/vegetable stamps are fresh, fun and inviting, and hope you agree!
The new homepage also has several options for viewing recipes and blog posts. If you want to see the latest blog post, click on the large left-hand image with the green overlay at the top, or click on the “Blog” link within the main navigation. Below that is an area to sign up for my weekly newsletter and/or new post email notification, and below that is a little bit about me, in case you’re new to Iowa Girl Eats.
There’s an area underneath that where you can scroll between the four most recent posts, popular posts on the site, and popular pinterest posts. Scroll by clicking the grey arrows at the end of each color block.
Below that is a couple highlighted posts, categories to easily find content like Family posts, Friday Favorites, Workouts (I decided to keep ’em!) and Recipe Roundups. Also in this area you’ll find icons for recipe categories like gluten-free, 30 minute meals, vegetarian, etc, that you can click on to quickly find all the recipes that fit within the category. Super easy!
The feature I’m most excited about is the Recipe Finder widget that’s going to help you, wait for it, find recipes. In a red hot jif, in fact! The recipe finder feature is at the top of the homepage and in the sidebar of blog posts. To use it, click within a “key ingredients”, “courses” or “special diets” field then start typing and, when you see your keyword pop up, click it.
Hit “Find My Recipe” when you’re done then the recipes matching the criteria you’ve searched for will appear. You can use one or all search fields, and type in as many search criteria as you want. The more criteria you search by, the more refined the results, making it very easy to find a dish you want to cook!
The brand new Recipe Index is the heart of the site, which you can access by clicking “Recipe Index” in the main navigation. Here you can enter even more search criteria to find recipes such as ingredients you have in the house, what type of course you’re looking for (breakfast, appetizer, etc.) special dietary restrictions, recipe difficulty, and more. You can also find popular posts, Pinterest favorites, and a few more categories to find recipe inspiration.
The post pages will look a bit different, too. As you probably know, I like to write a little bit about life here on IGE, at least every Monday with a recap of fun weekend activities, but if you’re looking to skip right down to the recipe, click “Jump To Recipe” at the top of the post, and you’ll be taken directly to the recipe – pretty cool, right? Next to it is a “Print Recipe” button to print the recipe out on one page.
The top of the post also includes icons that tell you what kind of recipe it is – gluten-free, 30-minute, low carb, etc. – which are clickable to find other recipes in that category. As always, the Recipe Finder widget will be next door in the sidebar if you want to skip over the post and find a different recipe.
The change I think we’re all ready for though? A brand new, easy to use mobile website! The majority of you visit Iowa Girl Eats on a mobile device, so I wanted this experience to be as fun and painless as possible. I think you’ll love the smooth and easy-to-navigate site a lot.
Of course none of this would be possible without my incredible designer and developer, both of whom I’d recommend in a heartbeat. A redesign/development process can be a long and stressful one and, while this was a ton of work, these ladies made it fun and exciting.
My website and new branding designer was Megan Gray. I told Megan no less than 500 times that she just “gets it”, and really thinks outside the box. She was/is a joy to work with!
My developer is Kristin Falkner. Kristin is a work horse (not literally, of course!) a fantastic communicator and above all, a crazy talented developer. Everyday felt like Christmas when I’d get an update on how development was going.
All that said, please consider giving either of these ladies your business if you are looking for a beautiful, unique, one-of-a-kind blog or website, no matter the niche or topic!
So, that’s my brief introduction to the brand new, beautiful Iowa Girl Eats dot com! I hope you have fun clicking around and exploring the new digs. As I mentioned, the new site will be going up on Tuesday, and it could take a few hours for it to start showing up on your computer or device. New sites come with new, unforeseen challenges, so if you see any glitches or bugs, I would be so grateful if you’d take a moment to let me know by emailing me: kristin@iowagirleats.com
Thank you for your patience as we get the new site up and rolling tomorrow, but more importantly, thank you for reading. I have the best readers on the interwebs and want IGE to be a fun and inspirational website for YOU to visit and cook from every day.
That said, I’ll catch you on the flip side – have a wonderful start to your week!
Elizabeth Dixon 10.26.2015
Yeah!!! So excited for you and the new website previews look great! So excited there is a mobile app for it too! Can’t wait to check it out tomorrow :)
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health 10.26.2015
So excited for your new design! It looks like it’s going to be amazing. I’m waiting to have mine redone so I’m going to live vicariously through you for now. ;) I can’t wait to see it live tomorrow!
Courtney @ Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life 10.26.2015
LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of the new site! Can’t wait to see it all come together – so excited for you, friend! xo
Kristin 10.29.2015
Thanks girl!! I owe you an email – can’t wait to catch up! xoxoxo
Kristen 10.26.2015
this is so exciting!!! congrats on all the hard work for the new site.
I love Utah! I’ve skied at Deer Valley – it’s incredible. PS I think it only has one “e” (?)
Megan Gray 10.26.2015
Yayyy! So excited the big day is finally here! <3
Anna 10.26.2015
All of last week I kept checking to see if the new site was up. Can’t wait to check it out tomorrow!
That photo of all of you instagraming–so funny. #bloggerlife
Emily 10.26.2015
The new site looks like it’s going to be great — I’m excited (especially for the searching abilities! Squuueee!). Also, I’m glad you decided to keep the workouts!! :) Thanks for such a great blog — my family eats at least one recipe every week from you!!
Amy 10.26.2015
Congrats! Yours is one of just a few blogs that I have followed consistently over the years, and it’s been so fun to see it evolve. The recipe-finder upgrades will be awesome! Just this weekend I made Ben’s Beef Stew (In an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. Is that something you’ve ever considered tackling? I’d love to see what you could do!), and while I could just google for exactly what I was looking for, there are definitely many other times when searching based on random ingredient will be super useful.
Kristin 10.29.2015
Ooo, pressure cooker beef stew – what a great idea! I don’t have one but would love to experiment with one some day!
Rachel E 10.26.2015
Ooohhh the new site looks awesome! I can’t wait to use the recipe search feature!
Brittany | Words Like Honeycomb 10.26.2015
AHHHHH!!! Gorgeous!! Can NOT wait to click around like a crazy person tomorrow :D
Will definitely keep your design and developer ladies in mind for the future, they are obviously very talented!
ShaNae 10.26.2015
I am happy you loved my state! It is beautiful here in Autumn though winter is creeping in fast. The conference looks like fun, I would have loved to meet you since I make many, many things from your blog and love them.
Looking forward to the new design and launch tomorrow!
Leslie 10.26.2015
So exciting, and it looks awesome! I have been reading your blog for years and can’t wait for the new recipe search! Will make finding old favorites a lot easier!
MOM 10.26.2015
Thanks for the details on using the new site. Really helps and looks amazing! Can’t wait to start viewing!
Nina @ Too Hottie For That Body 10.26.2015
Yay! Being able to find recipes by ingredients is my favorite feature. xoxo
Cara 10.26.2015
It looks amazing! I am so glad you are keeping the running tab, as I print out and use those treadmill posts often!!
Lindsey @ Simply Lindsey 10.26.2015
Your new blog design is GORGEOUS!!! I can’t wait to see it!! :)
Kristin 10.29.2015
Thank you so much, Lindsey!
Anna 10.26.2015
Would love to hear how you fit a run into your daily schedule with a toddler. Do you go in the morning before your hubby leaves for work or at night when he gets home? I have a one year old and it is so hard to get out unless I take her with me in the jogging stroller!
Kristin 10.29.2015
Hi Anna! I have zero workout routine at the moment, unfortunately! I have very little energy since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease and, as you mentioned, it’s so hard to get out when you have a little one at home. I’m afraid I don’t have a ton of advice in this department!
Jennifer 10.26.2015
I was just re-reading the post announcing the rebranding yesterday and wondering when the big day was going to happen. I hope it goes off without a hitch.
Glad you had fun at the conference. I love getting together with my “internet friends” as my husband calls them. And that cheese and meat spread looks ah-maz-ing!
Beth Ann Chiles 10.26.2015
What a great new design. I love it and can’t wait to see it tomorrow! Looks very user friendly! And pretty! :-)
Tom ~ RYG 10.26.2015
Congrats on the new web design. My wife and I were talking last night over hot fudge sundaes that the best food blogs are the ones are the ones where you can type in the ingredients you have and POOF the recipe pops up. User friendly!
Kristin 10.29.2015
Yes, totally agree – had to have it on the new site! :)