Go Blue!

I'm still feeling March Madness even though it's April. You may be surprised to find out that I will be glued to the TV today, watching the last four teams in the NCAA tournament play this afternoon and evening, paying particular attention to the Wolverines. CBS Sports is predicting Michigan and Louisville in the finals. That would be spectacular. But whatever way the ball bounces, I have enjoyed the tournament and getting to know Coach Beilein a little better through this great read.

I haven't thought specifically about sporty snacks for your game day watching (particularly with the Season 6 Mad Men premiere looming!) so I tried to come up with some inspiration from my existing maize and blue highlight reel below, though I was hard pressed to come up with any blue food! No, not gold and navy or yellow and royal. Maize and blue. Hail!

Fresh Corn Salad

Smoked Garlic Aioli

Blueberry Crumb Pie

Lemon Bars

Lemon Tart

Buttermilk Biscuits

Mixed Berry Crumble

Rustic Berry Tart

Limoncello

Art Prize Autumn

Another year another...ArtPrize! This was the third year of the ginormous art contest and my second year in attendance (and my mother's second year participating). Last year I managed to visit during the first week, so was able to participate in voting. This year I went right at the very end so wasn't able to vote, but did attend the finalist party where the winner (of the major public voting prize) was announced in addition to several juried awards. I spent the next day walking all over town looking at art with the fam for 6 hours or so, with a pit stop at Reserve to refuel. The weather was amazeballs so I basically spent the entire weekend outside, topping it all off with donuts at Robinette's (again!) and a trip to the beach. Now, after a lengthy delay (while I looked up details of everything that I took photos of!)...I present: A Fall Weekend in Western Michigan.


Mom's painting The Four Horses


Detail of Mom's painting - nail polish used in the highlights


Rain by Lynda Cole


Serial Reproduction by Meir Lobaton


The other perspective


Look and Learn, Little Girl Series by Jess Larson


Branches Unbound by Wendy Wahl


Salvaged Landscape by Catie Newell


Detail of the charred wood salvaged from a Detroit house hit by arson


A former location of Junior Achievement utilized by Site Lab as a gallery


Wall detail


Disappearances - An Eternal Journey by Shinji-Turner Yamamoto


Detail of Disappearances


View from the opposite direction


Tele-present Water by David Bowen


Glass Totems by Todd Kime


Prosciutto pit stop


Early birthday candle


Art walk at sunset


Robinette's! Donuts! Sugar!


Have you ever seen a bluer sky?


Grand Haven, MI


GH Pier


The Big Lake

Donut Haus

Aside from looking at loads of art last weekend, the other priority turned out to be obtaining apple cider, donuts, and apples from Robinette's Apple Haus. (How can you not want to go anywhere with haus in the title?) Some people (i.e. my sister, Erin) had claimed that I had been there before. Um, that must have been your other sister. Who doesn't exist. This was my maiden voyage to the land of manna. Growing up in Michigan you go to apple orchards, like, every other day in autumn, but I had never been to THIS particular orchard.

Bananas. That's what I have to say about them apples. The donuts were so freaking good that I don't know how I could possibly ever eat another donut not from Robinette's. And they're only 65 cents. What else can you buy for less than a dollar? Here's the deal. They have two (very important) flavors: pumpkin spice and cinnamon sugar. I ate one of each trying to figure out which was superior and could have eaten 10 more in my quest for answers. I'm not kidding. THEY ARE SO GOOD. They melt in your mouth. Did I mention that they were warm? Fresh out of the deep fryer? The outside had a slight crunch and the inside a soft, tender crumb. Even my dad's and aunt's apple-orchard-non-traditional chocolate covered cake donuts were ah-mazing.

Robinette's will send gift boxes...of apples (but not to Arizona, sorry). Dear Robinette's: Can you please make a gift box of donuts??? That would be awesome. Sincerely, Tina

Say Yes to Michigan!

I used to be called "The Hub"...back when I actually knew what everyone was up to and no one else did. I think I'm out of the loop now so thank goodness that there's a building that now claims all of my knowledge. (I feel so much less pressure.) Here's a brief rundown (there are over 1200 artists so this is but the tiniest sliver) of the ArtPrize extravaganza that I attended in Grand Rapids, MI last weekend.

FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS AND SCULPTURE PARK


A Chihuly sculpture...completely separate from the ArtPrize competition...but still totally rad.



Vessel by Amanda Katz


I'm a sucker for anything typographic.


Conductivity by Julia Rogers

DOWNTOWN GR


The artists' reception at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. My mom in the foreground right, my sis in the background right. My one-dimensional self in the center background: Tina by Char Anderson.


More of the artists' reception.

DOWNTOWN GR: AH-NAB-AWEN PARK


Burial Mounds by Flinten Sackett. Read about it here.


More Burial Mounds


Detail of Burial Mounds


Dream Big by Pete Fecteau made of 4242 Rubik's Cubes.


Detail of Dream Big.


Art break: Reserve, the all new GR wine bar/art viewing-pit stop slice of fabulosity, the perfect downtown destination in which to sample over 100 wines by the glass. (Not all at the same time!) While sipping a Cremant D'Alsace I also sampled a Michigan sparkler. Not bad! There are also some tasty prosciutto/jamon/queso/formaggio options (I was so busy eating that I forgot to take photos) as well as other sorted snacks. You really can't go wrong. Wine and cheese is the perfect meal!

GRAM


Chroma Passage by Janice Arnold


Baby Calder: La Petite Vitesse


Dreamscape by Kathy Stecko

INTERSECTION


Extremely random ArtPrize festivity: The Shaolin comes to GR. GZA at Intersection. For realz.


GZA up close and personal. I'm pretty sure that he and I were the oldest people there.


The winning ArtPrize entry from last year (Open Water No. 24) gracing the bar at the brand spanking new wine bar/small plate eatery extravagana: Reserve. The end.