GRAM on the Green

Getting ready for the GRAM on the green was a little bit chaotic for Eloise as she was working right up until our ETA; awe the life of a driven advertising executive. Good thing I am a patient friend, and hired out her children to help dress her. They did a great job, with one minor detail missed…

           At the Grand Rapids Art Museum we set up base right along the entrance of the museum, from this prime location we could people watch the Rosa Parks circle Zumba class, the sketching pads, and the band playing; An Dro. It was so fun to watch all the Keith Urban fans walk around downtown in their boots and daisy dukes anxiously awaiting the concert.

            The more I people watched, the more I thought about starting a street fashion blog, and they are my favorite go-to fashion inspiration sites. For instance The Sartorialist and Street Peeper. At the GRAM the environment was just peaceful, a cohesive mix of all ages enjoying the weather and Celtic sounds of An Dro.

            We were comfortably casual. I wore a Michael Stars tank top, with a 3.1 Phillip Lim necklace, and J Brand jeans. Eloise was rocking a 3.1 Phillip Lim dress, elegantly understated; her kids really shined. I think they have a future as stylists. Thank you very much to Natalie Thomas for being such a great host and her right-hand woman Kristi.

 

Lake Day

After John Shea’s jokes about getting outside more often, Eloise and I decided we would start working on our tan. Therefore, it was off to the Lake to visit Rebecca’s parents Gary and Peggy…oh and let’s not forget their adorable dog Wuufi! What a great place they have, the décor is so fun and is a beach house beauty. 

After being there for a couple hours and trying to jump-start our tan base by skipping the whole SPF application process, we left with our skin feeling like leather. At our age, I suppose we should know better! At the same time who doesn’t have a little childish-side to them.

 The scenery was amazing, and our clothes fit right in. I sported all Lilly Pulitzer; this label is just right for a great day at the beach or golfing. They use bright colors in such an endearing way, with floral prints or fun beading; their garments are a great pick for any summer activity. Lola strutted the beach in J Brand jeans and a Bailey 44 tank top. Also, another two labels that really picked up on the hyper color trend.

While enjoying the beach we couldn’t help but notice young architects at work, building delightful sand castles along the water’s edge. What a great day! Oh and by the way, I failed to have mentioned earlier that after bonding with Wuufi, Lola now wants a puppy. Who knows maybe she’s ready for this next step in life…what do you guys think?

Live Jazz & Wine Night

With the two of us being such downtown figures in a sense, I am surprised we have had yet to visit the two neighboring restaurants Rockwell’s/Republic owned by twin brothers, Dave and Paul Reinert. Both of the restaurants’ interiors were very well done; Rockwell’s embodying your classic American pub, whereas Republic offered more of a modern vibe with artwork on display from the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. Plus! How ideal was it that we happen to grab a late night snack at the Republic, while they were having live jazz and wine specials! 40% off the bottle to be exact; can you tell Lola was involved?

That evening we made great friends with the musicians playing, the John Shea Trio. Specifically the bandleader and Pianist became so comfortable with our newfound friendship he began throwing around jokes early in the night. He teased and called me stiff, like I haven’t heard that one before! Then continued to say I needed another glass of wine to unwind. That man has a good sense of humor and an even better band.

While listening to the rhythmic jazz numbers, Lola and I split a Kobe Tortilla Salad and bottle of Australian Riesling. We got there around 8 pm so we were just looking for a little snack, and goodness me did that suffice. The salad was just delectable, and when can you go wrong with Riesling?

We fit right in along with all the other stylish hipsters present that ev

ening. Both Lola and I wore mesh netted tops; mine was a black long sleeve Michael Stars shirt with a bright pink Michael Stars tank underneath and DL 1961 black jeans. Then Lola, clearly out of adoration of me, followed trend wearing a green-netted Castings shirt and DL 1961 dark blue jeans. Hyper colors and mesh are the “it” thing for this summer! Even a certain handsome customer took notice, claiming he could not take his eyes off of me! So naturally we had a mini-photo shoot.

Well that’s a wrap for fashion, fun, and wine night! We enjoyed ourselves so much that it might have to become a traditional Monday night deal.

"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!

Bizarre Bazaar

This past weekend Lola and myself had a great time in the "bizarrely" cold, summer weather visiting the hippest neighborhood in Grand Rapids; that is Eastown of course! We started our day at Leigh's, I just had to see the new Tory Burch and Lilly Pulitzer merchandise that just arrived at the store! This early agenda required me purchasing Starbucks for Lola to get her up and out of bed. Apparently, for Miss Socialite old habits die hard. Then we made our way over to Bizarre Bazaar. It was a great day for walking around the eclectic mix of hand-made works of art, while listening to live local music.

We started at the Eastown Information booth to devise our plan of attack, where to go and what to see? Destination number one; Reb Robert's booth. He had a great mix of pieces! Lola was so captured by his use of color and entertaining folk art style. All the work within his booth was represented by either him or his wife, Carmella Loftis. I ended up purchasing a piece entitled "Fish Boy" for my little tyke back home.

Next up, right across the street was Feathers by Carisa. She had a bunch of unique hairpieces made up of bright feathers, we continued leisurely walking along Wealthy Street bopping around booths.

I wore my favorite new RED Valentino dress, with a bright green Love Quotes scarf, and beautiful Stuart Weitzman wedges. Lola claims I wear them better than Jennifer Aniston, she's sweet but clearly has a biased opinion. Lola also representing RED Valentino with her ribbon detailed top; worn with J Brand skinny jeans, 3.1 Phillip Lim wristlet, and Cole Haan black slide heels.

Not only were we fashionable, but we had fun and met some new friends as well! A special thanks to the Eastown Community Association and Pam for such a warm welcome.

Meet Our New Intern!

Lola and Eloise have a new BFF....our fabulous new summer intern from Central Michigan University, Brittany Dixon who is majoring in  Apparel Merchandising and Design.  The girls were a bit standoffish to Brittany when she started.  They had really enjoyed the relationship they had built with our GVSU intern, Annie and were reluctant to get attached...as they said, "Who could possibly replace our sweet Annie?" So, I sat the girls down to have a conversation with them about being open minded.  For Lola, I could equate this to wine.....just because you love one Cabernet, does not mean you can't love another Cabernet.  After this analogy, she got the picture.  Now all of a sudden, I have emails, texts, voice mails from both girls 24/7 saying how much fun they are having hanging out with Brittany. They have all these great summer plans set up with her.  I reminded them that I do need Brittany in the store, too - she's being graded on her internship and it's not just about them.  That didn't go over so well! Ooops!  

 Watch our blog for new posts from Brittany about the girls.  They are going to have a busy summer taking in lots of great offerings here in West Michigan....of course it will be done fashionably! 

Science Fair

Earlier this week our good friend Rebecca Wierda invited Eloise and me to attend her son's science fair.  Unfortunately, Eloise was unable to go and because we are inseperable, I nearly declined the invitation. However, Rebecca knows me too well.  She enticed me to attend with the prospect of meeting super hot Single Dad, so I put on a cute outfit and got pumped to learn some chemistry!  Little did I know I WAS the science experiment!  

I had been hoodwinked into serving as a prop in a demonstration about prosthetic limbs!!! I soon realized that this had been her plan all along!  I never would have gone had I known what I was signing up for.  After being touched by sticky kid fingers and covered in molding clay I was banished to ride home in the trunk.  When I was in the vulnerable position with limbs detached and with a ridiculous over-sized tee-shirt on she decided to snap these "hilarious'' photos of me.  I see how you are Rebecca! I'm such a good friend and shop only at Leigh's and this is how you treat me!?