Downtown Market

A new downtown market in Grand Rapids opened up at the beginning of this month, so Katelyn and I went to check it out for the first time yesterday. We had already anticipated a large crowd due to it being the first month of business, but it's ALSO ArtPrize time. Double-busy. It was really great seeing such a great development in the heart of the city.We recommend the quiche from Sweetie-Licious and the juices and smoothies from Malamiah Juice Bar. Delicious!

 Katelyn's Wearing:  Jeans- American Eagle // Tank- Forever 21 // Sweater- Pull&Bear // Shoes- Minnetonka // Belt- H&M

 

 Laura's Wearing: Morrissey Top- Etsy // Chambray Shirt- Target // Riding Pants- Marshalls // Bag- Target //Shoes- Samanthe Pleet Arc Boots f/ Wolverine

 If you live in the Grand Rapids area and have not yet checked out the Downtown Market, we recommend you do! There are still open retail spaces inside the building, so there are more cool vendors to come soon!

We can't wait to share our experience at the Wolverine Fashion's Night Out event hosted by Tieka of Selective Potential. It was so great to finally meet some of the wonderful bloggers we've been connected with over the last year. Everyone was so beautiful and sweet. We can't wait for the next meet-up!

xoxo,

L & K

Recipe: Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

As a follow-up to my last post, I wanted to share the recipe my mother and I used to make apple pies from the apples we picked at Lewis Farm Market over the weekend. We found a recipe that seemed sweet and simple here!

Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 granny smith apples - peeled, cored, sliced (we used Macintosh)
• 9 inch pie pan

Directions:

 Peel, core, and slice up your apples. (We used my mom's apple-peeler-corer-slicer, which worked phenomenally)

 

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

 We decided to make one pie with Pillsbury dough, and one with homemade. We had so many apples, we wanted to make sure we used them up!

 Hope you enjoy. :)

xoxo,

Laura

 

Lewis Farms

This past Saturday was spent at Lewis Farms in New Era, Michigan. Steve and I knew we wanted to do some kind of fall-related activity, so we decided going to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard was perfect since the weather is still nice.

Lewis Farms is one of my favorite places to visit at the end of summer/beginning of autumn. I love doing "U Pick" fruits for every season. Apple picking is the most fun and easiest fruit to pluck from trees. On top of all of the fruit picking, they have a petting farm. I am, and always will be, a sucker for a petting farm. 

We rode a tractor called the Apple Express across several acres of apple orchards and fields in New Era. I had no idea how far the Lewis Farms had stretched. It was beautiful.

 

Apple pie recipe to come!

xoxo,

Laura

100th Blog Post!

Happy 100th blog post to my awesome cousin Laura and myself! In honor of this achievement of ours I decided to do what anyone would do: bake a cake! If you've ever met me, you would know my weird love for all things banana flavored and especially banana flavored desserts. Here is a recipe I found on allrecipes.com for a scrumptious banana cake with homemade frosting. I wanted to test out my new bake wear I received as a gift from my wedding that makes heart shaped cakes. Take a look for yourself how it turned out:

I simply used baking candies for the "I <3 U" by melting some in a plastic baggie in the microwave. After it was completely melted I cut a small opening in the corner of the bag and traced what I previously outlined on parchment paper. I added the sprinkles while the candy was still wet so it would stick to the letters. It was super easy and I love how it turned out!

My heart shaped Pampered Chef cake mold turned out really cute too! Alex is going to be so mad I filled our house with not just one cake...but TWO. If anyone wants to take a cake off my hands be my guest!

xoxo, K

Art Prize

It's almost my favorite time of year! Next Thursday is the kickoff for the event that puts Grand Rapids on the map. It's called ArtPrize.

For those of you who don't know about ArtPrize, it is an independently world-wide art competition with a $200,000 first place prize voted completely by the public.

"For 19 days, three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, become an open playing field where anyone can find a voice in the conversation about what is art and why it matters. Art from around the world pops up in every inch of downtown, and it’s all free and open to the public.

It’s unorthodox, highly disruptive, and undeniably intriguing to the art world and the public alike." 

 This is the 5th year of ArtPrize, and every year seems to be better than the last. The competition is intense, but the experience is a thing of beauty. Although it can be a hassle to commute into downtown Grand Rapids for work, it's hard to complain when you look out the window and see all the passersby absorbing and savoring the paintings, sculptures, and more in the center of the city. 

ArtPrize will be running from September 18th - October 6th. Katelyn and I cannot wait to share some cool ArtPrize features with you over the next few weeks. 

For this segment, I present to you, my favorite exhibit from last year's ArtPrize. This was an entry titled "Lights in the Night". The idea was this:

Thousands of sky lanterns will be launched from coordinated key points in the downtown area at twilight. Think of it as the very large scale version of blowing out the candles and making a wish…only this time you offer up your dreams and hopes for the future or even reconcile events of your past in a symbolic lantern launch. Marvel as thousands of hopes and dreams traverse the sky, silently reaching an unknown desitination. It will be a night of inspiration and grace - a spectacle of lights - honoring our residents, our ArtPrize guests and the larger community in which we live and work and celebrate life.

 

Being a part of this event was the highlight of my year. Not only was it one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, but the sense of community that I witnessed sent shivers down my spine. In a world that can sometimes seem so cruel and evil, THIS happens, and puts my mind and heart at ease. 

Thank you, Grand Rapids, for reminding residents and visitors west Michigan, that we can come together and create something magnificent.

xoxo,

Laura