Festival of the Arts

Lola and I had such an amazing day! It was the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts weekend. We couldn't wait to go downtown and see the artwork and eat a ton of great food. The morning started off a bit chilly and we weren't sure if we would even make it downtown, but the weather turned out to be fabulous! I decided it was a Lilly Pulitzer kind of day. I wore a stylish pair of floral shorts with a navy blue top and pink cardigan. Lola decided to wear a brand new Drew maxi dress with a blue Love Quotes scarf.  Of course, both of our outfits were from Leigh's!

On our way to the art festival! Some people say we shouldn't be on the road!

Showing off our outfits before heading down to the festival.

It was so busy downtown, we were forced to park a mile away from all of the entertainment. It took a little longer to walk there than we thought, due to slight stiffness in our legs. When we finally got there, all we could see is food booths, and a lot of them! There was so much to choose from, we couldn't decide what to eat.  Lola finally decided on a deep fried pickle and some fresh squeezed lemonade. I choose a shrimp kabob and a nice cold frozen lemonade. It's amazing how both of us can still eat whatever we want and not gain weight.  We attribute it to great genetics!  We walked through the art tents and listened to the live bands playing outside.

Live music!

Art tents were set up along the street.

An amazing building on our way to the art festival.

It turned out to be a wonderful day downtown. We enjoyed looking at the unique art and eating the yummy food, while talking to some great people along the way.

The Nutcracker Ballet

Our new holiday dresses!

We love Christmas, and even more we love celebrating it with fun and festivities! It's been quite sad with the lack of snow fall this year in Grand Rapids, but we aren't letting that affect our Christmas cheer. To enlighten our spirits, Lola and I decided to attend the Grand Rapids Ballet Company performance of the Nutcracker, at the Devos Performance Hall. We love watching the ballet dancer's sweep so elegantly across the stage. The other great thing about Christmas events is finding the perfect holiday outfit. Thankfully, Leigh's has such a great selection this year it was hard to leave with just one!

Santa's workshop and fun Christmas ornaments!

I decided to wear my new scarlet colored Tracy Reese dress. Its bow on the shoulder and cutout on the chest is fun and edgy, yet very comfortable! I chose to wear gold strappy heels from Lilly Pulitzer and a few chunky bracelets by Simon Sebbag. Lola looked very chic herself in her new holiday dress by Trina Turk. To add some sparkle she wore a bracelet from Kenneth Jay Lane and cute peep toe suede pumps by Cole Haan. It's always exciting for us to tell everyone we never have to leave Grand Rapids for our shopping. Leigh's has everything to meet our fashion needs!

 

Christmas carolers

After such a great performance, Lola and I now have cheerful Christmas hearts and spirits. The Devos Performance Hall had amazing Christmas displays, and also had personal carolers singing so merrily. The girls above asked if we were ballet dancers, and wanted to know if we would pose for a picture with them! We figured it was our slender figures and poise that gave them such an assumption, but rest assured, our grace is far from that of a ballet dancer. Of course, one thing we do love is Christmas shopping. If you have a few more things on your Christmas list to cross off, stop into Leigh's and you might just find what you are looking for!

"Put the WILD Back in Life"

After Eloise continually promising her little ones a trip to the John Ball Zoo, I finally got on her case as well, and off we went. Auntie Lola really pulled through for the group, plus our friend Annie got to join, as well as our new friend Brittany; we couldn't have had a better group! Right upon entrance there is a large sculpture of John Ball, the quintessential photo-opt location we wasted no time to climb at our own risk and pose!

Something about the zoo’s aura brought out the child deep within us, Eloise and I posed for hours! After our photo shoot, we immediately got distracted by the funky gift shop- we had yet to enter the zoo, and we were already having a ball! Check out our fun masks that made us instant friends with some youngsters and slightly embarrassed Eloise’s little ones…they were just jealous in my opinion!

Walking through the zoo I could not help but admire how amazing all the different fur coats were of all the different animals…and think how amazing they would be as a coat!! PETA would not be pleased with me, oh my!

Also, little did I know until I reviewed my photos that Eloise REALLY embraced the “Put the Wild Back in Life” motto, while I was off petting pygmy goats and taking a camel ride- take note following the rules! Eloise found herself in a much more “wild” position; just take a look at the pictures, they speak volumes more than I ever could.

Later on that day, Eloise mentioned she does not highly recommend any mothers or children follow in her footsteps and I am sure the John Ball Zoo employees would second that! She was simply inspired by the Louis Vuitton and Chanel ads; they have beautiful clothes, models, and elephants…so she went for it, somewhat regrettably.

All in all what a great day at the zoo, sporting such labels as Lilly Pulizter, Stuart Weitman, Valentino Red, Michael Stars, and Donald Pliner! A special thank you to all the helpful employees; what a great staff they have!

Lunch at The Green Well

On Friday Eloise and I went out to lunch at our favorite East Hills eatery- The Green Well Gastro Pub.  The laid back atmosphere, eclectic menu, and vast beverage selection made it the perfect place to recap our busy weeks!

Our new friends John and Susan

Eloise (Left) and I

Eloise had on a cute 3.1 Philip Lim cardigan and pleated See by Chloe trousers which she accessorized with a Sarah Calender necklace and her practical Lilly Pulitzer flats.

I wore a striped Vince shirt, 3.1 Philip Lim pants, a Kenneth Jay Lane necklace, and my favorite Venezia-Milano ruffle-front trench.  I completed my outfit with strappy Cole Haan sandals which, as Eloise pointed out, revealed my eagerness for the arrival of spring (she may have been suggesting that they were not appropriate to wear in February in Michigan when its 35 degrees but I think she is just jealous of my new purchase).

Our baked goat cheese appetizer

My seafood platter

Eloise's pad thai 

For our appetizer we shared the baked goat cheese (from a local farmer of course- I love their emphasis on sustainability!) that was served with tomato salad, bacon, and pesto.  I ordered the seafood platter for my entrée paired with an Albarino from Spain, the featured wine of the week.  Eloise decided on the pad thai and a "dark and stormy" to drink which is a dream pairing of dark rum and home-made ginger syrup.  As always our dining experience at The Green Well was outstanding.  I can't wait for summer so we can enjoy cocktails on the patio!