 |  | Inside Iowa: Bottomless coffee, angry Adele, and Trump beanies for all | Good afternoon and happy Friday. This is the first in a weekly email from our US correspondents giving you a unique insight into the the US election campaign. First up, it's Zoe Daniel in Iowa.
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It's been a frenetic but fascinating week in snowy Iowa where we were treated to a pleasant dose of that uniquely local friendliness often described as "Iowa nice". Everyone we met was up for a chat - especially about politics.
Our breakfast waitress was keen for a daily update on our activities around Iowa and added her two cents too on the polling among the presidential hopefuls while pouring bottomless filtered coffees with cream and setting down plates of eggs and bacon.
Much of the conversation, unsurprisingly, centred on Donald Trump and whether the flamboyant businessman could win the Republican side of the Iowa caucuses. In general, those we spoke to were more curious than committed to his campaign to be president of the United States.
In the end, he lost the caucuses to the hardline evangelist Ted Cruz. On the Democrat side, Hillary Clinton claimed victory but it was almost too close to call.
Here's what you need to know to bring you up to speed.
VICTORS
Republican Ted Cruz who won the Iowa caucuses with eight delegates after securing 27.7 per cent of the vote. Republican Marco Rubio who came in third behind Donald Trump but polled eight per cent better than forecast and is increasingly the darling of establishment Republicans who don't want the hardline Cruz in the White House. Democrat Bernie Sanders who came within a whisker of beating Hillary Clinton in a race that is tighter than tight.
VANQUISHED
Donald Trump, who has famously tweeted that "no one remembers who came in second", came second. Hillary Clinton, who won (just) by a smidgeon, but didn't get the decisive victory she needed to generate the psychological momentum and is starting to look a little desperate. Martin O'Malley (Dem), Mike Huckabee (GOP), Rand Paul (GOP), Rick Santorum (GOP) all of whom have now dropped out of the race. (That's a win for journalists and the public though, who now have fewer candidates to worry about in what was a very crowded Republican field.)
Ok, so what's next?
NEW HAMPSHIRE
With Des Moines under blizzard watch, many of the candidates jumped on chartered midnight flights out of Iowa to avoid being snowed in.
It was straight to New Hampshire where the next primary will be held in a few days, on Tuesday February 9. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at an early morning event in support of his wife where he said "we're here, and we're awake!" There's no doubt it was a very long week followed by a long night, and still the campaign marches on.
New Hampshire is a primary not a caucus. What does that mean?
Well, for starters, there'll be no horse-trading and coin-tossing like we saw in Iowa. At a primary people cast votes for their preferred candidate in a secret ballot. They don't have to be party members. At a caucus people discuss the candidates and are then either counted via a show of hands (Democrats) or write their preferred candidate on a piece of paper (GOP). They must be party members.
How is it looking for New Hampshire?
Donald Trump is way ahead in the polling for the Republicans in New Hampshire. Marco Rubio is on the move in second, closely followed by Ted Cruz. A few Republicans who skipped Iowa will try to make up ground in New Hampshire, among them John Kasich and Chris Christie, but they're way behind the leaders. Bernie Sanders is from Vermont so neighbouring New Hampshire is his heartland. He should take a big victory over Hillary Clinton there but she's way up on him in polling for the next primary in South Carolina so it's rotating like a ferris wheel on the Democrat side and there'll be no real clarity for a while yet.
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME...
Sometimes people say politicians act like children but The Washington Post sat down with six kids to see what they think of this year's crop of presidential frontrunners. It's adorable and sometimes, surprisingly apt!
LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK
Like Iowans, the folks in New Hampshire take their politics very seriously. Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu once said, "Iowa picks the corn and New Hampshire picks the president".
The Clintons have a storied past in New Hampshire. Hillary won the state back in 2008 but ended up losing the nomination. On the other hand, her husband, Bill lost the state in 1992 to little known Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas before famously dubbing himself "The Comeback Kid" before going on to not just take the nomination but also The White House.
BY THE NUMBERS
23. That's the number of Republican delegates up for grabs in New Hampshire. For all the time spent by candidates in the Granite State, if they sweep the field they'll only get themselves 1.9 per cent of the total number of delegates needed to take the nomination.
MAKE THE MUSIC STOP
British pop singer Adele has joined a growing list of artists who have reprimanded Donald Trump for using their music at rallies. Despite her publicist telling New York businessman he doesn't have permission to use her music, Trump was caught playing Adele again on Thursday in New Hampshire. Other musicians who have tried to distance their work from Donald include: Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Neil Young and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.
MERCH MADNESS
We took a rigorous look at the election souvenirs on offer in Iowa. There were buttons, magnets, mugs and t-shirts aplenty. Although Donald Trump's beanies are particularly stylish (made in China for the record) we settled on this t-shirt, especially designed for visiting journalists as the merchandise pick of the week.
Correspondent Stephanie March is on the ground in New Hampshire now. I will join her this weekend and I'll look forward to bringing you a summary from the quaint streets of Manchester around this time next week.
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