office party

Every holiday season Andy and I jokingly have a Small Earth Vintage office party. We dress up a bit and visit a museum or something and go out for a nice dinner.

On last weekend's thrift trip I found myself a lovely Christmas gift--yet another coat! I love the closures, the fur collar, and the gray color on this worsted wool beauty. I was so happy it fit.

I also wore my new festive holiday skirt, an airy little chiffon full skirt with flocked feathers, glitter, and a velvet waistband. Chilly temperatures and the promise of much walking around the museum meant I wore my good old boots, rather than prettier but less sensible shoes. (Oh, hello there, Lucy!)

Andy was dapper, as usual, in a vintage plaid print sweater and Harris Tweed jacket. I think the vintage Stetson cap will end up for sale in the Etsy shop.

Before the museum, we visited Grand Rapids' newest brew pub, a Belgian farmhouse-esque place called Brewery Vivant, that is housed in a former funeral chapel. The beer was tasty, and though it wasn't served yet, the menu sounds like it will be really good. The place looks very cool, inside and out.

So our museum visit was the Bodies Revealed exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. I think the 12-year-old me who had a rather gruesome fascination with the Time Life book series about disease and disfigurement would have probably been really into it. But the 41-year-old me--not so much. It was interesting, and Andy enjoyed it. (Bodies Revealed gives a tour of the human body via preserved human remains that have been sliced open and whatnot to show how the body works. They don't allow photos, but you can see examples at the website.)

Here's a nice view of the Grand River from the upper floor of the museum.

WARNING: Possibly disturbing images of cute animals eating other cute animals ahead!

So, the exhibit had a warning (a la the above) previous to the section on fetal development, which was roped off from the rest of the exhibit. I did not personally find the fetuses disturbing. Well, except for the fact that they had been injected with a red dye, and so looked like tiny, horrifying Alien-style monsters.

I did find it kind of funny that the main part of the museum doesn't have similar signs for the many examples on display of cute taxidermied furry animals eating other cute taxidermied furry animals (like this wolverine devouring poor Rikki Tikki Tavi).

Or this badger that's about to eat a cute, limp little chipmunk for dinner! Let's face it, nature is disturbing in all its forms--human, animal, fetus in a jar, taxidermied, and sliced open. Yikes.

So as to not end this on a completely horrifying note, here are some cute little fellows. I love how the guy on the left has his paw lifted as though he's telling someone off.

xo

K