photography

Shutterfly Coupon for The Gallery Wall Project

To say that Groupon has some what fueled our social lives since moving to Chicago would be an understatement. We have gone golfing, enjoyed an amazing prohibition tour through the city (which deserves it’s own post) dined out, and decorated our new place.

Imagine my glee when I discovered that Groupon now does coupons! I was so excited to see there was an offer from Shutterfly because I have wanted to develop some of my own photography to use on a gallery wall I am (pitifully) attempting to put together.

With a 45% off coupon, I was able to upload my photo to Shutterfly, edit it as needed, and five days later, I got my orange package in the mail with my fabulous canvas.

So, we continue to piece together this “gallery” wall:

It is a fun work in progress that can easily be shifted, but for right now, I kind of like the unconventional-ness of it 🙂

Hope everyone is well, and I will have more next week. I am off to Long Beach to stay on the historic Queen Mary for a night!

Adventures at Art Prize

Paul and I had the pleasure of heading to the west side of Michigan yesterday for a friend’s birthday party, allowing us to sneak into Grand Rapids on the way home to check out Art Prize.

I have referenced my love for Grand Rapids in previous posts, but I love the city more and more with each visit, and this time was no exception.

Art Prize is an art contest in which artists from around the world create, install, build, etc. art throughout the entire city; in restaurants, businesses, hotels, on the street, in the river, and the public vote on the winner.

This was my first Art Prize experience, and it did not disappoint.

This guy, who was in Founder Brewing Co., was a little bit scary. Very cool at the same time because it was made entirely of natural materials like moss, sticks, etc. (except for the light up eyes).

My angle could have been better on this photo, but he is actually fishing…

There was an amazing Buddah fixture that looked to be made of hanging tiles

Buffalo sculpted out of wood

My favorite of the day

There was also a baby panda 🙂

The pandas were made out of bike tires

I am not even sure what this was made out of. Some sort of media art, but it was beautiful.

The art was amazing, but it was invigorating to see the city so alive with energy. There were people every where! Grand Rapids always has a great vibe, but adding in street vendors and performers gave it a whole new atmosphere.

Juggler

And then there is the architecture in Grand Rapids. There are streets that, to me, feel like Chicago collided with Europe. It really is a beautiful downtown.

Beautiful Grand Rapids

Vacation Recap: 2 weeks late

Hi Strangers!

It has been a busy few weeks for me, meeting new people, traveling, vacation, working out, all the good stuff 🙂 I hope everyone has been well and enjoying their summer! Michigan sue got hot quick…. I am sweating in a few inexplicable places…

Anywho, every year, I spend a week at my favorite place in the world, the place I consider home; my cottage. It is not actually “my” cottage, but it is where I spent nearly every summertime moment of my childhood, it was my mom’s favorite place on the planet, and is mine as well.

So, on June 29th, I headed to the great north, which for me, looks like this:

Who wouldn’t go on vacation with their dog AND your cat?

Then, my trusty co-pilot stepped up to monitor the 4.5 hour drive:

You can almost hear him saying, “hands on 10 and 2″… thanks, dad.

Once we arrived, it was pure bliss. I burned through 4 books in about 2 days, enjoyed indescribable sunsets, ran, swam, put my brother’s girlfriend through a few nasty workouts, hiked, hung out with the puppy, watched the cat turn from a timid, scared thing into a pseudo jungle cat, met a few great people, caught up with old friends, and just enjoyed life.

Sunset on the first night. Simply amazing!

The New Presque Isle lighthouse

Sunset on night #4 before we started a bonfire.

At puppy’s favorite beach

Where we found this in the water!!! How cool is that? Love truly is all around us 🙂

One of my mom’s best friends lives up in Presque Isle, so we try to have dinner with her once whenever we are up there. This year, she pulled out her wedding album. My whole family was in the wedding party, and this is probably one of my favorite family photos ever!

Last sunset of the week 😦

It was just a really great time. And the good news is; I get to go back at the end of August and finally take Paul too my favorite place ever! I can promise more photos then 🙂