Repurposing an Icon

At this time last September, I was traveling with my mother in London. And as we come upon the 1-year anniversary of that trip, I thought I'd share a fun article about one of the city's most beloved icons... the red telephone booth.

With my love of vintage design, it's not surprising that I was instantly drawn to the classic structure and simple charm of these often lonely looking booths. 

This universally recognized icon of London was first introduced to the city's streets in 1924. But while smartphones have made them obsolete as a communication device, they also made them a favorite backdrop for selfies, appearing in feeds around the world. 

But as the booths fall into disrepair, the UK telecommunication company British Telecom has introduced an "adopt a kiosk" program, embracing their pop culture cult status and hoping to give them a second life. 
By selling these booths to entrepreneurs, they can turn them into brand new businesses. Around the country, old telephone booths are being repurposed as cafes, neighborhood libraries and retail kiosks. Some are even maintaining their communication service, by becoming internet hotspots and workstations on street corners. 

These unexpected uses bring communities together and protect the heritage of the city—creating new pride in an already cherished symbol of London. 

Learn more about how entreprenuers are preserving these booths through reinvention on cnn.com.
*image source

Walking through Fire – Exploring Chicago's Architecture

Last week, I spent two days in Chicago doing an unofficial architectural tour. 

The trip was inspired by a desire to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House near the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. Anyone who knows me, knows I have distinct interest in all of Wright's work—in the past I've visited, and blogged about, Taliesin, Taliesin West and Falling Water. 

Robie House was built in 1910, and is the pinnacle of Wright's prairie style homes. Long lines and low ceilings allow the structure to fit into it's natural landscape. Yet, in response to a desire for privacy and protection (the owner had young children), the home has almost a fortress like feel from the outside. 

Touring it, I didn't feel the floorplan flowed as smoothly as some of Wrights other homes. I'm wondering if that was because certain portions of the home weren't open to the public, or if this winding path was part of the home's original design. 

Nevertheless, it is an undeniably Wright space, and when renovations are complete, it will be a masterful piece of architecture history. 

Just down the road, I saw another Wright masterpiece — at the Museum of Science and Industry. This one was much smaller... 

The Fallingwater model at the Brick by Brick Lego architecture exhibit was built by Adam Reed Tucker and contains some 21,000+ bricks. 

The Brick by Brick exhibit is a special feature at the museum running through February 2017. Other highlights include a 60 foot long Golden Gate Bridge (64,500 bricks) and a replica of the Palace of Fine Arts (18,500 bricks) — the building the museum is actually in!

Coincidentally, at the recommendation of a friend, I had started listening to Devil in the White City by Erik Larson on my drive to Chicago. The book is about the murders that took place during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; with a second, parallel storyline about the architects behind the expo, Burnham and Root. While reading about the process of building this Expo, it was amazing to be standing in the only building remaining from the event. It was an unplanned and absolutely kismet scenario.*

Burnham and Root were to come up again on day two of my architectural adventures. The pair of architects achieved great success after the 1871 Chicago Fire. Otis's invention of the safety elevator and the strength of new steel construction, made it possible to design taller buildings. Burnham and Root are credited with the first "skyscraper" — built in 1882 (demolished in 1902), the Montauk was 10 stories tall.

Just down the street from where the Montauk once stood, is the Rookery building. Also designed by Burnham and Root (their office was on the top floor), the Rookery is an 11 story tall steel building on LaSalle, in the "Loop" of downtown Chicago. 

Built in 1888, the main entry to the building opens up to the Light Court, a glass covered courtyard. In 1905, the building's owners hired Frank Lloyd Wright to update and modernize the Light Court. 

To brighten the space, Wright covered the original dark cast iron ornamentation with white marble with gold Persian style inlays, which was more in unison with the other materials within the building. The original design still hides under the marble casing today. 

The Rookery's Light Court is Wright's only work within the downtown landscape of Chicago. You can tour the light court as part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

From the Rookery, I headed north to the Chicago River and got aboard my Wendella boat** for a 75 minute architectural tour. It was a beautiful 90+ degree afternoon, and we had a lovely ride down the river, which has seen much improvement over the last few year's as part of Chicago's Riverwalk project. 

The tour was full of factoids about the buildings along the river, as well as Chicago history in general. In retrospect, I should have trusted my gut and gone with the Chicago Architecture Foundation's 90 minute boat tour. It was a little more expensive, but I think the tour information would have been more geared towards specific architectural details, and construction facts, vs. which building Lady Gaga has a penthouse in. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful ride. 

As an amateur architecture buff, I had a fantastic 2 days exploring (and reading about!) this historic city. If your interested in seeing some of what I saw, here's all the details:

• Robie House Tour – 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave.
  $17 dollar tour
• Brick by Brick – Science and Industry Museum – 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr.
  $18 museum entry + $9 for special exhibit
  Exhibit showing until September 2017
  Parking - $22 (Robie house is .7 miles away, I parked in the residential neighborhood for free and walked to the museum).
  (Don’t miss Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle!!)
• Rookery Tour – 201 S. LaSalle St.
  $7 for a 30 minute tour
  If you go on a Wednesday, you can also tour Burnham's Library!
• Wendella's Original Architecture Tour –  401 N. Wabash Ave.
  5 minute boat ride for $35

*This book is amazing. Highly recommend. 

**At the Trump Dock. Which made me cringe. I hope they're not associated.
I did enjoy my fellow passengers taking selfies flipping-off the Trump sign. 

Back on the Bayou

Had a lovely Memorial Day holiday with dear friends, which got me reminiscing about our trip to New Orleans last year.

Here's a look back to our 2015 bayou adventure. One should always travel with a professional photographer! All these images are courtesy of the talented Alicia Magnuson Photography.

Check out more of Alicia's travel photography on her blog. She has an amazing knack for capturing details and moments.

Elusive Blooms

Recently I've become obsessed with the idea of seeing the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC*. The Cherry Trees were originally a gift from Japan in 1912. President Taft returned the gesture by sending Flowering Dogwoods to Japan in 1915. They remain a symbol of of friendship to this day.

The trees do not produce any actual fruit, but every spring fill the city with millions of pink flowers. These blossoms have become iconic to DC, and thousands of people show up annually for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The average peak bloom time of the trees is mid-April. Knowing it had been a warm winter, I gambled and bought my tickets for March 31st. I had the right idea, but you can never out-plan Mother Nature — it was, in fact, a very warm winter, and the cherry blossoms peaked even a few days prior to my arrival, around March 26th.

It was clear they were past their peak, but it was still a site to see. It had rained the morning before I arrived, giving everything a light, mysterious hue.

There was evidence everywhere of all the flowers that had been. Little petal-less stems with tufts of pink. The wonderful natural sight only enhanced the magnificent man-made sites.

It had been nearly 20 years since I'd been to DC, and I took the opportunity to visit every site I could. DC is a fanatically, clean, walkable city. And when you can't walk, there are these marvelous trains that can take you basically anywhere. Oh the wonders of mass public transit and a transportation infrastructure.

And yes, the sun did come out, giving me a weekend full of warm, sunny and very blue skies. 

*Perhaps because of a certain stamp?

Going On the Grid

We all know designers have the best taste. That's why the "Designer’s Neighborhood Guide" at onthegrid.city is the perfect solution to all your travel uncertainties — now you can be sure you're dining at and visiting "designer-approved" venues no matter where you are!

Created by Hyperakt, a design agency based in Brooklyn, their idea was to share a simple, user-friendly guide of their neighborhoods hidden gems.

Since April, hundreds of creative companies and designers around the world have joined in to represent their own neighborhoods. The site is growing fast — new cities and neighborhoods launch weekly — in fact — Grand Rapids will be launching November 6th! (we made it, we're a cool city!)

The idea is simple, the larger cities have a landing page which breaks their city down into neighborhoods which are curated by local designers. The neighborhood pages highlight everything from dining and bars, to parks and arts, to retail and hospitality – you can sort by category or by map display.

The design is very Pinterest-esque in style, with large visuals, dramatic imagery, and limited text. The layout is quite mobile friendly, so no matter where you are, you'll always know where to go.

To be a city ambassador, you must live in the city and be a designer. They have a call out for dozens more cities to be added. Let's get on this people!

My 24 Hours in Detroit

I intentionally didn't plan an out-of-state vacation this summer, so that I could kick back and enjoy the season in Michigan. Summer is Michigan's gift to the residents that survived its winter. This summer has been filled with trips to West Michigan's pristine beaches, visits to the dunes, and camping, and sailing excursions.

So this weekend, I took 24 hours to explore a different side of the state, the East Side. And I packed a lot of Detroit into those 24 hours....

The Detroit Zoo: You don't have to have a kid to make a trip to the zoo... we had our own adult fun meandering with the kangaroos and playing peek-a-boo with the prairie dogs. What struck me most about this zoo was how cage-free it all felt. Wide moats around each exhibit mean they can ditch the fences. It all was significantly more vast and less depressing than the John Ball Zoo. The only animal's whose habitat broke my heart was the penguins, and they are moving into a 30 million upgrade next year!

Oh, and the giant Anteater is the most under-celebrated animal — I mean seriously, check this guy out ^

Dinner at Inn Season: I more than satisfactorily stuffed myself on a stuffed Carmen Pepper, Corn Chowder, and an incredible house-made Chai Tea during dinner. Inn Season has been in Royal Oak since 1984, and I am devastated I didn't know about this vegan/vegetarian gem when I was a resident there—it has one of the most incredible menus I've had the pleasure of obsessing over in a long time.

Drag Queen Bingo at Five15: Not your grandma's bingo.... An alternative to your typical Friday at the bar—Drag Queen Bingo is actually hosted in a coffee shop/gift shop in downtown Royal Oak. Angel Sheridan entertained us — while insulting us. Who wouldn't pay for the chance to be made fun of on stage!

Before leaving Royal Oak, we fueled up with breakfast at Café Muse. Muse was one of my favorites when I lived in Roak, but since then they have moved and expanded significantly. It was as tasty as I remembered.

Eastern Market: Eastern Market is the largest, historic public market district in the United States. And midday on Saturday, the market was bustling. Music, food trucks, flowers, veggies, specialty and traditional food items, and curiosities filled the streets and stalls. I stocked up on pierogies and even popped into a legit butcher— Mr. Food.

And while in the Eastern Market district, we stopped into the Detroit Mercantile.
The gorgeous shop was perfectly curated with Made in the U.S.A. products and focused on Michigan themed items.

Dutch Girl Donuts: Since 1947, Dutch Girl has operated on Woodward near 7 Mile. The donuts are still made by hand in the front window, but are now served from behind bullet-proof glass. 

And while we were passing through, we took a quick tour or Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest, where I believe the phrase "Architecture Porn" was used to aptly describe what I was experiencing. 

It was a whirlwind, but Detroit won me over, and I've already planned the itinerary for my next journey East!

Sugar Coated Christmas (in July)

This weekend's trip across the state, included a stop in Frankenmuth – Home of Bronner's – "World's Largest Christmas Store." 

It was here that I fell in love with this little s'more man.

We were about to go camping, we were at a giant Christmas store— this seemed like the perfect embodiment of the weekend ahead!

I turned the corner, to discover a whole army of s'more men! From skiers to fisherman, bakers to ballerinas. They were adorable, and boy, did they know it!

I was completely smitten with the talking s'mores. I'm wonder if I'm having a subconscious reaction based on my love of the Calvin and Hobbes snowmen. 

There's something about marshmallows that immediately sends me to a happy place. Sugar. That you can roast over a fire. 

And clearly this is what Christmas is about. Sugar. With a sense of humor. 

I don't put up a Christmas tree, but someday. Someday I will have my own army.

Art with Soul

A few hours in on our New Orleans adventures, we stumbled across an Easter Hat Bar Crawl. Now this alone is worth mentioning, as I love the idea and spirit of this event. Moreover, the people watching was epic. And as an excuse to stare a little longer,  we meandered into the nearest bar.

The bar was Mimi's in the Marigny, and we quickly found ourselves admiring and commenting on the "Be Nice or Leave" sign hanging above the dartboard.

It was straight-forward. And we appreciated its candor. Little did we know, this sign was kind of a big idea and a big deal in New Orleans. 

It's a simple message, but it embodies the spirit of New Orleans. Over the course of the week, we noted many times just how friendly people were, (with few exceptions—Vaughan's).

The painting was done by Dr. Bob (Bob Shaffer), a local Bywater artist, and in the days to come, we would see the sign (or variations therein) dozens of times. Dr. Bob started selling these signs after his own sign bearing the message continued to get stolen (and he continued to replace it).

Artistically, Dr. Bob reminded me of GR's Reb Roberts,  (who coincidentally has a gator gumbo painting reminiscent of Dr. Bob's gator po-boy painting). Wild, colorful folk art with big block letters, messages of kindness or animal inspired, Dr. Bob livens up the buildings of New Orleans much in the same manner that Reb adorns the streets of Easttown.

In my head, especially since we were staying in Bywater, Dr. Bob's artwork is an integral part of the visual experience of New Orleans. When I reflect back on the trip, I will see his art on sidewalks, buildings and inside restaurants.

I'm sure Dr. Bob wants everyone to be nice (or leave) but I'm sure he also gets a kick out of all the yankees who come down to NOLA and spend $50 on one of his signs. But what better message to take home, then these simple words that should be a motto world-wide.

Read the interesting and entertaining story of the messages origin here. 

Moving In: New Orleans

I'm only a little bit tech savvy. I'm right on the edge of Old School and Millennial. So when I traveled to New Orleans last week, it was the first time I tried airbnb. Airbnb is a website that allows individuals to rent out lodging, be it an apartment, a whole house, or an airstream trailer.  

The house we stayed in the Bywater was an 87-foot shotgun house from 1897. If you're unfamiliar with shotgun houses, it's when rooms connect to one another in a long row, so you have to travel through one to get to the next—a straight shot from front to back. It's a very common style throughout New Orleans. 

 The house was fantastic. It was so spacious and unique, and so very specific to New Orleans. Being in a neighborhood made it feel like we were living in the city rather than just visiting it. We got to know the streets around our house very well.

The house itself had so much charm — vintage kitchen appliances from the 30s/40s (functional), plants and orchids in every room, 3 fireplaces (non-functional), ridiculously high ceilings, original paintings by the homeowner, and great patio furniture and gardens. Every room had appeal.

While my roomies showered and readied, I spent my mornings on the porch reading my book and basking in the sunshine. And saying hello to all the passerbys—because New Orleans is a crazy friendly city. 

In this transaction we only saw the host when we picked up the keys, but we were able to text her to ask questions about the city throughout the week. This process is different in every airbnb scenario, sometimes you even stay on the property with the owners, more like a bed + breakfast situation. 

Having tried it once, I will definitely do airbnb again, and recommend it to others (as I'm doing here). Marriotts are the same wherever you go, but you can only stay at a house like this in New Orleans!