Today was the day Joe and I decided to embrace our fair city. Little did we know that museums have extremely lame business hours that end at 5. Reading their websites misled me greatly, and I really should have called beforehand to make sure we would have enough time to fulfill our entire day (spoiler alert: we didn't).
First we had the leftovers from our Mr. Pizza adventure last night. YUM. Then we got cleaned up and headed out to the Grand Rapids Public Library to get our library cards and maybe some books. I read The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list and wrote down a notebook page-long list of books that I'd like to have read by the end of the summer. I'll let you know how that goes. Today I picked up The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner and The Fountainhead (not on my list) and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I'm not convinced that I'll enjoy the Rand books, but as I feel with most things I have to experience them before I can have any sort of discussion about them.
Our library is really lovely inside. The centuries-old buildings in Grand Rapids have been maintained very well, and the library is no exception. There are five staggered floors chock full of books and we made sure to visit each floor to see what was offered within. After searching for way too long for the Fiction section, we found it on the first floor right inside the entrance in its own separate area. I love libraries. I regret that I've never taken advantage of them, instead getting books on Amazon or eBay for a buck apiece. That's great, but now I have zillions of books that have been read once and probably never will be again, at least by me. Today's library excursion was a very positive experience, and I'm looking forward to eating these books up and finding new ones to enjoy.
Moving forth, we parked our car at Grand Valley's downtown campus and walked approximately 6 steps to the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Upon entry, we went to get tickets and were informed that they were closing in 45 minutes. What?! We'd planned all day to spend an hour or two there followed by an hour or so at the Gerald R Ford Museum (yet another 6 steps away). I had no idea they both closed at 5. They advertised planetarium showings until 8, so I figured the museum would be open that long too. False. Either way we got a pretty good deal on our tickets and enjoyed the museum very much. The current traveling exhibit is "Big, Big Bugs!" so we made sure to stop by that room and see all the bugs we could. Fortunately, save crickets, all the bugs were dried and from collectors' stores. There were big tables with drawers containing facts about bugs, things created from bugs, examples of damage by bugs, etc. It was actually very interesting. We stopped at a couple other attractions, including the Numismatics station where we learned some pretty cool facts about our currency. Did you know that inside the numbers on the lower-left corner of the bills (at least the 10 and 20), the printed number "ten" or "twenty" repeats? On the first floor, there was a really great Grand Rapids exhibit that showed a couple of major intersections of the city as they existed when the city was young. It was really cool to walk down the "streets" of our city as they would have been almost two hundred years ago.
Finally before we left, on the third floor, we saw a window seat area that jutted out from the building toward the river. There were placards that gave tidbits of information about the city as it was when it was young as well as about the river itself. It was a fun and educational experience, and it was even romantic even though we were surrounded by moms and dads with their elementary-aged kids. It made my baby-craziness jump into overdrive for a while.
We didn't get to visit the Gerry today, but hopefully we will get to visit soon. There is an "America in the Cold War" exhibit I'd really like to see. We came home after the Public Museum for lack of anything else to do before our dinner reservations at the Bull's Head Tavern, and I was excited to jump into the books I'd checked out from the library (I started the Faulkner book, more on that after I finish it).
At 8:30 we got to the Bull's Head and were taken to their upstairs non-smoking area for dinner. It was intimate and the lighting was dim enough to be tavern-y without needing flashlights for the menu. Unfortunately we were seated next to a bachelorette party that had no concern for anyone around them. Point 1: I don't mind that it's your bachelorette party, I'm glad you're having a good time, but that doesn't give you and your raucous friends the right to impede on the evenings of those around you. Point 2: Everyone upstairs complained about their volume repeatedly, but fortunately they left shortly after our arrival.
On to other things: Dinner. We started with crab cakes, and while they weren't the absolute pinnacle of crab cakeyness, they were very good. I would eat them again anytime. They were served with the typical spiced mayonnaise, but they weren't typical in that they actually contained large quantities of crab, which is always better. I ordered a whiskey sour to go with the appetizer and I was pleased with the balance the bartender struck between sour and whiskey - the last couple times I have ordered the same drink it has been off-balance in one direction or the other.
For entrees, Joe ordered a chicken and pasta dish in a smoked Gouda sauce. Holy cow! It was very tasty - smoky, cheesy and cooked beautifully. I ordered the Caribbean Jerk Salmon with mango salsa. Joe's dinner was great but mine was... indescribable. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the rub and salsa were an incredible combination. I only wish there had been more. I enjoyed a Cosmo on the side - also mixed very nicely. The drink was a little strong, but I prefer them that way. I am no lightweight, and I like to enjoy the fruits of my liquor. The flavor was spot-on and its tartness actually went quite well with the savory and fruity flavors of the dish itself. The service was a bit curt, but I tipped her well anyway seeing that she had to deal with the bachelorette party. We went on to order dessert - the Chocolate Pudding Cake. Mmm, be still my beating taste buds. It was not super-sweet, made with more dark chocolate than lighter chocolates. There was a pleasantly sized lump of vanilla ice cream served with it, and Joe and I may have fought over more than one bite.
All in all, I give our day an A+. It was really great bouncing around the city with Joe, seeing things we hadn't yet seen after living here for 3 years. Evenings with someone you love are always well-spent.
Now it is time to tuck into bed and watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We've got to get up early tomorrow - Joe is recording our friends' band demo at the school. I'll probably end up telling all about that as well.
Stay tuned (:
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Hair Health/Growth Regimen Day 1
I decided recently that I'd like to grow about 14 feet of hair before my wedding. This sounds absolutely reasonable (and possible) to me. OK, hyperbole aside, a friend of mine at work started taking iron supplements and saw a nice increase in the health and length of her hair, so I thought I'd copy her. I picked up some iron-focused multivitamins, Mane 'n Tail shampoo, and "Care Free Curl" curl activator. I'd read and seen nice results of Mane 'n Tail helping with body and shine, and my lifeless locks could certainly use the help. I also love my curly hair and am hoping the Care Free Curl (which I will probably refer to as CFC from here on) will help spring it up a bit.
One of my favorite things is to wear my hair curly for several weeks - I'm pretty sure there wasn't a day this past summer that it was straight - and then one day, straighten it out. It looks so much shorter when it's curled that when it is straight I get the feeling of it being so much longer than it really is.
In August '09, I hacked off all my hair. Again, hyperbole, but I made a dramatic cut from armpit-length to chin-length. I always do these stupid things. I'm a highly impulsive person and I just kind of "felt like doing it" until about 3 days later when I was clamoring to have it all back. I've made the same mistake (cutting ridiculous amounts of length off in one fell snip) several times in my life, and I apparently have never learned my lesson.
Well, in October of next year, I'm getting married to Joe and I would ideally have 6 more inches of length by then. If hair typically grows at half and inch per month, and I've got about 18 months to go, hair law says I should be able to get 9 inches. Factoring in regular trimmings (which I should actually start doing) a more realistic goal would be about 6 inches. I'm going to straighten out my hair today and take a picture and compare it to my hair in six months given the iron supplements and hair care products.
I'm also hoping to consume as much water as possible and I'm really hoping to get my diet back in control to not only promote the hair growth but also perhaps shed some weight. That wouldn't be a bad side effect.
One of my favorite things is to wear my hair curly for several weeks - I'm pretty sure there wasn't a day this past summer that it was straight - and then one day, straighten it out. It looks so much shorter when it's curled that when it is straight I get the feeling of it being so much longer than it really is.
In August '09, I hacked off all my hair. Again, hyperbole, but I made a dramatic cut from armpit-length to chin-length. I always do these stupid things. I'm a highly impulsive person and I just kind of "felt like doing it" until about 3 days later when I was clamoring to have it all back. I've made the same mistake (cutting ridiculous amounts of length off in one fell snip) several times in my life, and I apparently have never learned my lesson.
Well, in October of next year, I'm getting married to Joe and I would ideally have 6 more inches of length by then. If hair typically grows at half and inch per month, and I've got about 18 months to go, hair law says I should be able to get 9 inches. Factoring in regular trimmings (which I should actually start doing) a more realistic goal would be about 6 inches. I'm going to straighten out my hair today and take a picture and compare it to my hair in six months given the iron supplements and hair care products.
I'm also hoping to consume as much water as possible and I'm really hoping to get my diet back in control to not only promote the hair growth but also perhaps shed some weight. That wouldn't be a bad side effect.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Staying In
Tonight was a great night to stay in and have a little mini-date with Joe. This afternoon I took him to the doctor to get a bump checked out, and thankfully it turned out to be no big deal. Huge relief. Then while we were waiting to pick up an antibiotic for him, we decided to stay in for the night, play an extra-long round of Mario Party, and have some pizza delivered. There are millions of things to do on a Friday night, but we made the right decision. At around 8, we ordered our half cheese/half pineapple pizza with cheesy breadsticks, and tucked in while we started our nightlong Mario escapade.
One thing that I will truly miss about Grand Rapids is the delectable Mr. Pizza on Michigan St. There is something absolutely perfect about their sauce, and I'm really not one for pizza sauce, and they are liberal with the cheese which suits me very nicely. They were running some special I didn't fully understand on their 16" pizzas, so that's what we got. Absolutely wonderful. It will be great to snack on the leftovers tomorrow.
In between bites we were fiercely competing in 50 rounds of Mario Party. If you've ever played a 50, you know that it is quite an undertaking. It only took us 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is actually the shortest amount of time I've ever completed that many turns in. I ended up winning with an incredible 9 stars (Joe was 2nd place with 5), and we had a totally fun time. It was the most pleasant Friday night possible.
Tomorrow, we're heading out into the city for once. We never really take advantage of going out here, which is pretty shameful. It's not fair to live in a relatively sizable city and never go out and take in the night life. We recently went to Hopcat, a beer bar downtown with our friends Mike and Deanna and had a magnificent time. Mike and I may have enjoyed one too many alcohols, but we didn't make total fools of ourselves. Tomorrow we are planning to visit a couple museums (I had no idea Grand Rapids even had an Art Museum...) and then go to the Bull's Head Tavern for dinner and a couple libations. More on that tomorrow.
Moral of the story is this: if you ever have a business conference at the Amway Grand or someplace in Grand Rapids and you're staying overnight, I recommend you go grab a couple of brews at Hopcat (third best beer bar in the world as rated on BeerAdvocate!), go back to your hotel room, and have Mr. Pizza deliver you a wonderful pie. You'll never want to leave the riverside.
One thing that I will truly miss about Grand Rapids is the delectable Mr. Pizza on Michigan St. There is something absolutely perfect about their sauce, and I'm really not one for pizza sauce, and they are liberal with the cheese which suits me very nicely. They were running some special I didn't fully understand on their 16" pizzas, so that's what we got. Absolutely wonderful. It will be great to snack on the leftovers tomorrow.
In between bites we were fiercely competing in 50 rounds of Mario Party. If you've ever played a 50, you know that it is quite an undertaking. It only took us 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is actually the shortest amount of time I've ever completed that many turns in. I ended up winning with an incredible 9 stars (Joe was 2nd place with 5), and we had a totally fun time. It was the most pleasant Friday night possible.
Tomorrow, we're heading out into the city for once. We never really take advantage of going out here, which is pretty shameful. It's not fair to live in a relatively sizable city and never go out and take in the night life. We recently went to Hopcat, a beer bar downtown with our friends Mike and Deanna and had a magnificent time. Mike and I may have enjoyed one too many alcohols, but we didn't make total fools of ourselves. Tomorrow we are planning to visit a couple museums (I had no idea Grand Rapids even had an Art Museum...) and then go to the Bull's Head Tavern for dinner and a couple libations. More on that tomorrow.
Moral of the story is this: if you ever have a business conference at the Amway Grand or someplace in Grand Rapids and you're staying overnight, I recommend you go grab a couple of brews at Hopcat (third best beer bar in the world as rated on BeerAdvocate!), go back to your hotel room, and have Mr. Pizza deliver you a wonderful pie. You'll never want to leave the riverside.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Welcome!
Hello! This is the Little Yellow Blog, and it shall be the catchall for my leftover thoughts. My fiance, Joe, and I currently live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For those who don't know (...who does?) it is the second-largest city in Michigan, based around the furniture and now the medical industries and located smack dab on top of the Grand River. We both attend college in nearby Allendale, Michigan (probably #341679865 on the Michigan's big cities list). Grand Rapids is about 200 times the size of our home area, and 1/14 the size of our next hometown: Chicago. You heard it here first. Come January, we're packing up and hitting the road on out to the Windy City. I laugh at a lot of people who think Chicago is some big deal. I grew up within its reaches - my hometown is about an hour's drive into the heart of the city (I call my home area the armpit of Michigan because it's right up tight to the Indiana border and also pressed up against Lake Michigan). The rich Chicagoans who own second homes in our small town invade every summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I am very familiar with the city and its people and I often forget it's the third largest city in the country. I guess that makes it pretty cool.
Grand Rapids is a pretty city, with lots of big buildings and of course the signature concrete Flemish knot of highway that tells drivers, "Hey, you're in a bigger city than you were before." The traffic is terrible, the residents are questionable, there are awesome foodie hotspots around town, but there aren't a lot of opportunities left in Grand Rapids (or Michigan) for budding college-grads. So, we go to Chicago. In a long debate over where to go after graduation, Chicago won out over Los Angeles. There are millions of reasons, but the best is that Chicago is almost home to us, and we can get the benefit of a big city (we're ditching our cars in January - woo!) and also have our wee hometown be accessible (an hour-and-a-half long train ride, and we're home).
A friend of ours recently lost his job (see: Michigan economy = terrible) and when I pitched him the idea of Joe and me going to Chicago after graduation, I could see his eyes light up... I knew I'd just found us a roommate. We've been planning extensively and in January, it's so long for now Michigan.
This blog is basically going to capture the thoughts and activities that take us over for the next while. I'll report back with interesting happenings, great bars, new music, favorite cocktails, the hassles of packing and moving, and all sorts of other whatnot. I hope you stay tuned!
-Jayme
Grand Rapids is a pretty city, with lots of big buildings and of course the signature concrete Flemish knot of highway that tells drivers, "Hey, you're in a bigger city than you were before." The traffic is terrible, the residents are questionable, there are awesome foodie hotspots around town, but there aren't a lot of opportunities left in Grand Rapids (or Michigan) for budding college-grads. So, we go to Chicago. In a long debate over where to go after graduation, Chicago won out over Los Angeles. There are millions of reasons, but the best is that Chicago is almost home to us, and we can get the benefit of a big city (we're ditching our cars in January - woo!) and also have our wee hometown be accessible (an hour-and-a-half long train ride, and we're home).
A friend of ours recently lost his job (see: Michigan economy = terrible) and when I pitched him the idea of Joe and me going to Chicago after graduation, I could see his eyes light up... I knew I'd just found us a roommate. We've been planning extensively and in January, it's so long for now Michigan.
This blog is basically going to capture the thoughts and activities that take us over for the next while. I'll report back with interesting happenings, great bars, new music, favorite cocktails, the hassles of packing and moving, and all sorts of other whatnot. I hope you stay tuned!
-Jayme
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