Not too long ago we packed up our sweaters and jackets and spent a four day weekend in Grand Rapids. We hadn’t been there since last fall for ArtPrize, so we were excited to visit again this time of year and see what was making the city buzz.  We found it at the Grand Rapids’ Art Museum (GRAM) with Iris van Herpen’s Transforming Fashion exhibit, which was our first stop while we were in town.

If you follow along with us on snapchat, you might have seen a bit of our museum tour, featuring Iris van Herpen’s work. It was the first fashion exhibit for the museum, which was really exciting because the pieces have such an incredible range with architectural elements.  The collections range from 2008 to 2015, made up metal gauze, faux leather, foil, cotton, and various 3-D printed materials. The museum highlighted 18 pieces from van Herpen’s most recent lines, along with some of her shoe designs, and 27 pieces from a solo exhibition she did in the Netherlands. Each piece was truly remarkable to see in person. The amount of detail that went into each look blew us away. The way she pulls inspiration from her surrounding environment and plays with soft vs hard elements really drew us in. Urban Outfitters sweater | Yellow 108 hat

Can you believe the piece above was made from the ribs of children’s umbrellas and industrial boat yarns?! The museum has a hands-on “touch material” section where visitors are able explore to some of the more untraditional materials she used in her work. We really loved this addition of the exhibit because we felt like kids in a candy shop while walking through each collection.  Every piece is so visually appealing, intricate, and pleasantly unusual that you can’t help but want to get up close and touch each dress, to further experience her craft. During our visit we learned that the exhibit would be making it’s way to Phoenix pretty soon. We can’t wait!

Urban Outfitters shirt | Bridge and Burn jacket | ONA bagJ.Crew trenchcoat | Madewell bag | Everlane scarf | Shwood sunglassesUrban Outfitters jacket and shirt | ASOS jeans | Nisolo boots | Timex watch Zara coat (similar) | Free People overalls | Forever 21 turtleneck | Sézane bag (similar)

We of course made some time to stop into some favorite coffee shops: Madcap and Rowster Coffee. We spent a few good hours at Rowster one afternoon, catching up some work and people watching out the window.  It was the perfect cozy afternoon, with leaves swirling around outside the coffeeshop, warm drinks, and a few sweet treats. We were befriended by a sweet old man who shared with us how he only uses Facebook to spred positivity, and does so by sharing pictures of burgers and Russian roses on his feed. He happily showed us a few. 😉

We were so glad we were able to grab a bite with Tieka from Selective Potential, and her husband Eric one night at Donkey Taqueria.  It was so nice meeting in person after following each other on social media for quite some time and what better way to get to know each other than over guacamole and quesadillas?! 😉 They were both so sweet and we’re always down for hanging with another married couple! We can’t wait to show them around Phoenix one of these days!

Dinner at Sovengard our last night in town was simply incredible! If you ever find yourself in Grand Rapids definitely check it out. It is such a beautiful place with as equally well-crafted food. We spent the whole dinner “oohing and ahhing” over the decor and flatware, in between declaring our love for their tempura fried squash and apple butter. So good! We caught a movie after dinner and then headed back to the hotel for a quiet evening. It was nice taking it easy for a few days, just the two of us. Now we’re back home and ready for the holidays! Well, sort of. 😉

…`till next time!

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