Category Archives for Best Of Grand Rapids

Best Of Grand Rapids: Downtown Market

October 20, 2013

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Grand Rapids has grown tremendously over the last ten years. Our skyline has evolved, and the culture within downtown Grand Rapids has also evolved. Upon years of obtaining new sights and things to do in the city, the Downtown Market has caught my attention.

Basically the Downtown Market is a venue downtown full of local food and good vendors in a friendly environment. It has a very communal layout of small shops and vendors, that makes for easy shopping!

The second level of the market has a lot of green space and open space for future vendors. It is still very new so there is still plenty of space to be filled so I cannot wait to see for it to flourish!

The vendors throughout the market are very friendly who are specialty to the background of what they sell. Mostly the goods sold here are organic which is again, another plus.  Most of the food related venues offer samples, and who doesn’t like samples!

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I recommend anyone living downtown, or in the Grand Rapids area to at least check out the Downtown Market, especially if you are into buying local organically produced products! I enjoy finding places that make Grand Rapids a little more unique and the market definitely adds to it. Have a good one!

Proud To Be American

July 6th, 2013

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First of all, I hope you all had a fantastic Fourth of July! I spent it at a cottage of Nicki’s family in Southern Michigan then I went downtown for the fireworks back in GR. The fireworks were amazing from Lyon street! You could see the fireworks perfectly! That was not the only thing that caught my attention though that evening. If you notice on the photo above, the man on the right with his hands up. Our friends kind of giggled at how enthusiastic he was to the fireworks, but I realized that this was such a cool sight!

The man was on his bike the whole show with his head held high in amazement. He noticed me taking pictures half-way through and said “I hope you are getting this on camera, it is AMAZING!” His positivity just kind of radiated off of him. Whether this was due to his pride in his country, or the guy just liking fireworks, it was just such a cool, and positive thing to see that evening and I thought I’d share! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and enjoy this hot week of Summer!

Best Of Grand Rapids: Calder Plaza!

July 3rd, 2013

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One of my newly favorite places in downtown GR is the Calder Plaza! I have always heard about it and known about it, but really have never walked to it before, and my last two visits downtown solidified it as a favorite if you are visiting Grand Rapids for a park downtown.

Now the GIANT TIRE SWING is not the main attraction to the Calder Plaza, due to the name being after the artist of the giant sculpture also in the plaza, but the tire swing is just too fun! It makes this tire swing look bleak in comparison.

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Here is the actual reason that the plaza got it’s named, and here is the La Grande Vitesse, built by Alexander Calder. He is well known for multiple steel sculptures in Grand Rapids, but this is his most famously known in the area and is kind of an icon for Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids DOES have art besides Art Prize!

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It was fun hanging out downtown for the evening, and I love constantly finding new venues, and places to hang out downtown that makes my town just that little bit cooler. I hope you have a wonderful holiday for my American readers! Enjoy! xxoo

Flower Power: Adventures At Horrocks!

June 17th, 2013


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This past weekend I went out with Tiffany and Julia to do some pictures at Horrocks, a local organic market and floralstore. We went out and took some pictures in the multiple aisles of flowers, even with a little sprinkling of rain here and there, it made for a pleasant day!

Tiffany’s Outfit:

  • Dress: Brandy Melville
  • Kimono: Buckle
  • Shoes: Doc Martens

We may have been looking like we were stocking up on flowers in the photos, but in reality we just looked like freaks posing for pictures with flowers. Julia should be in a Martha Stewart Mag!

Tiffany and I go to different schools so when we get the opportunity to hang out we definitely take advantage, and converse about fashion and the internet. 😉

After much time spent in the store, and the skies cleared, we walked around a bit and to 7/11 where we got a few pics.

My Outfit:

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It was nice to spend some time in a simple place and get so much enjoyment out of it. It inspires me to get out to more local stores to tour and play around in this Summer. It was also nice to do something relaxing with all the hustle and bustle of Annmarie’s wedding coming up, 5 MORE DAYS! It is crazy how different our lives will be after this weekend! I hope you are enjoying your Summers readers! xxoo

Grand Rapids, Or Should I Say, Atlantis?

April 22nd, 2013

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It was an interesting view for me Sunday afternoon, as I could not walk along the paths that were paved along the Grand River. They were a few feet below water to the immense amounts of rain that occurred a couple days before.  Now I know that Atlantis is a bit of an exaggeration to the situation, but it is not an understatement to say that the water was something crazy!

I was not kidding. Thankfully it has not been severely dangerous to the people, and it has been kind of interesting seeing the town in a way it has never been before, if rarely. Many places and bridges along the Grand were closed due to the flooding, and worry of rising waters to overflow the bridges.

We spent some time along the river outside the Gerald R. Ford Museum to check out the overflow, and to get a grasp on the flooding, the lights in the upper-right hand corner of the photo above is where it should be normally. This is normally just an open grass area.

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It was a little breezy that day, but I was pretty comfortable in my button-up flannel I bought freshman year that has been resurrected from my wardrobe, along with some shoes I don’t even remember when I bought them. I’m also some sunglasses and a beanie from H&M. This beanie has made many appearances on this blog, I just love to wear it with everything!

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Although things were a little wet in GR the past few days, the sunshine and being in town is really making me anxious for Summer and warmer weather. Only a few more weeks of class until I’m free!(For the most part 😉 ) Enjoy your week readers!

Yesterdogs and Bowling Lanes

March 17th, 2013

Wow, these last 3 months have definitely flown by. With shows this week, it will be the end of a great musical season. This also means, once musical is over I can devote more time to blogging. This past weekend, I got to take some time away from a long week on stage, and go to East Town for a good hot dog at Yesterdog! My mom, sister, and I took our uncle for the day who has never been to this Grand Rapids delight. I haven’t been in a while myself so I was pleased to take up the opportunity.

I think my favorite thing about Yesterdog, is the array of vintage posters, signs, and publications spread all over the walls of this joint. This is just excluding the food that does compete with it’s decor.

Don’t let it’s messy exterior fool you.

After a good lunch, we worked our way over to Wegners, to bowl. My family went here for a New Years party a few years back and has not changed much and I like that about places that are frozen in time. We had fun, other then my absense of ability to bowl. gutter gutter gutter…

My mom, and uncle enjoyed a drink while kicking our butts

It was a nice treat for the weekend to step away from the busy last few weeks I have had, and just enjoy a day with the family. I need to remember to take time and enjoy the small things in life, and spend more time with family. I encourage you all to do the same, it’s quite freeing.

I hope you all had a great St. Patty’s day and wish the best of luck that you get through this week. I know i’ll need it. 😉

DownTown Dress

This week we decided to head downtown in fancy wear and take pictures. We always have a lot of fun, finding new adventures, and venues in downtown Grand Rapids, that we can loiter in. We also take time to take pictures on top of the downtown parking garages that overlook the city. Fun, right?

We spent a lot of time by the river that afternoon.

Jen is my favorite Diva. She loves dressing up for these things! 🙂

I think spending time with your friends in one of your favorite places is a great way to bring the Summer to a close. There are many events that keep bringing me and my friends together, and fall is coming up so most Grand Rapids natives know that ART PRIZE is right around the corner! I can’t wait to bring you pictures from this years festival! I hope you enjoy the rest of your weeks readers!(:

Festival Of The Arts- 2012

So This past weekend. Some friends and I took the treck downtown to visit the West Michigan Festival Of The Arts. The rain caught up with us when we arrived, and we chose to resort to lunch and the indoor activities before the skies cleared up. Bands played throughout the day, along with a dance competition, and cultural foods for you to try.

One of the bands pulled up in a tricked-out version of the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. It parked in the middle of the street and didn’t hesitate to get multiple photos.

We spent some time taking pictures at the steam fountain at Rosa Parks Circle.

A dog with some banjo players that had a “free hugs” sign attached to it’s collar.

The bands were pretty awesome. Grand Rapids really does pull a lot of local artists from these kind of events.

In the end it was another wonderful adventure in Downtown Grand Rapids. One of my favorite things to do at night in the city is walk the bridges because the town is lit up so nicely. Anyways this week is finals week so I hope you all have a fantastic week.