beer!

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has a great exhibit on right now, called "Thank you, BEER!" about the history of brewing in Grand Rapids.  I didn't give a hoot about "craft beer" until I moved here and saw how seriously Andy and all his friends took their beer.  It's apparently a grand tradition locally.

I loved the old photos of breweries and the guys who worked at them.  When you look at these photos next to photos of current breweries and their brewmasters, there isn't much difference.  Well, nowadays, the guys are in t-shirts and jeans or shorts, and seem to prefer the beard to the mustache.

There is also a great range of old beer advertisements on display.

Every ad for a German bock beer had a goat on it.  I had no idea why, so I did a Google search.  Apparently the beer now known as "bock" was first brewed in a German town called "Einbeck."  The Bavarian accent of brewers in Munich made "Einbeck" sound like "ein bock," which means "a billy goat."  Hence, all the goats!

These three dimensional shadow box ads are the coolest!

As a lover of both beer and nifty packaging, I could have spent hours staring at the giant beer can collection on display.  (I had a beer can collection, inherited from a family friend, when I was a child.  Obviously a harbinger for my later love of beer!)  Here are some shots of some of my favorites on display.

That Olde Frothingslosh Pale Stale Ale kills me!

So bummed my photo of these 70s gals on cans is blurry.

If you're in Grand Rapids, you should definitely check the exhibit out.  Apparently, they do beer tastings on Tuesday evenings ($5 for five samples).  It runs now through December 30.

xo

k

finally spring

It's not really spring here, in my opinion, until it's comfortable enough to drink beer outside. Saturday--at last! I mean, it's freaking May, already--was nice enough for us to do just that. We ventured with Lucy to the dog-friendly patio at Hopcat and enjoyed a couple delicious brews while we watched the local cowboys and cowgirls headed to the Kenny Chesney concert. (Trust me, it was pretty good people-watching.)

Perfect weather. Warm enough to go bare-legged, but cool enough to require a cardigan.

While we were downtown this amazing old doorway caught my eye. It's in a spot I've walked by hundreds of times--I've no idea how it escaped my notice before now. It looks like the entry to a jazz age speakeasy. I particularly love the vines creeping across the bricks near it.

I've always loved the Noble Wood Products sign. I captured the building here in the evening sun, with the shadows of streetlights cast on it.

A crescent moon!

xo

K

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