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Places to Write, Drink Coffee, and Buy Books in Grand Rapids

18 Apr

As most of you know, at the Festival of Faith & Writing I’ll be leading a Festival Circle called Holy Grounds: The Role of Place in Your Spiritual and Literary Life.  One of the things we’ll be discussing is the idea of how where you write can actually affect your writing.

We’ll be talking about writing in such places as quiet home offices, caffeine-fueled coffeehouses, musty old libraries, in the serene beauty of nature, awe-inspiring churches, on the subway, in prison, and while you’re traveling.  Where do you like to write?

I’ll be providing those who registered for the Holy Grounds Festival Circle with a list of literary(-ish) places near Calvin College in Grand Rapids.  Places to relax, get inspiration, study Midwestern scenery and characters, and write.  A lot of us are traveling from out of state so I thought this list would be helpful.  There are plenty of places on campus to write and grab a cup of coffee, and the Festival will probably keep everyone busy enough that they won’t need this list, but sometimes it’s nice to break free from the bubble and see something outside the Festival grounds.  This list may also be helpful to writers who live in the area and are looking for a change of scenery from where they normally write.  I haven’t actually been to any of these places, so tread carefully!  Haha.  If you’re a Michigan writer, tell us your recommended writing places, coffee shops, bookstores, and literary havens.

Literary(-ish) places in Grand Rapids:

Ladies Literary Club (now a performing arts center)

61 Sheldon Blvd SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

(616) 459-6322

 

Bookstores in Grand Rapids

Argos Book Shop – Grand Rapids’ Oldest and Largest Used Book Shop!

1405 Robinson Rd SE; Grand Rapids, MI 49506-1722
616-454-0111

argos@argosbooks.com

Business Hours: Monday to Saturday: 10am to 6pm; Sunday: Noon to 3:00 pm


Family Christian Bookstores

3343 Alpine Ave. NW, #A; Grand Rapids, MI

 616-784-7179

 

Literary Life Bookstore & More

758 Wealthy Street SE (the southwest corner of Wealthy and Eastern); Grand Rapids, MI

Business Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10am to 8pm; Sunday closed

 

Schuler Books & Music – Celebrating 30 years as your local, independent bookstore!
2660 28th Street SE; Grand Rapids, MI 49512
616-942-2561
info@schulerbooks.com
bookgroupsgr@schulerbooks.com
Manager: Tim@schulerbooks.com

Business Hours: Monday to Saturday: 9am to 10pm; Sunday: 10am to 7pm

 

Schuler Books & Music
40 Fountain N.W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Phone: 616-459-7750
Promotions: Emily@schulerbooks.com
Manager: Neil@schulerbooks.com

Business Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 9am to 6pm; Thursday and Friday: 9am to 8pm; Saturday and Sunday: 11am to 5pm

 

Coffeehouses in Grand Rapids

76 Coffee

1507 Wealthy St SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

616-301-2226

 

Ferris Coffee & Nut

227 Winter Avenue NW; Grand Rapids, MI 49504

616-459-6257

 

Rowster New American Coffee

632 Wealthy Street, SE; Grand Rapids, MI 49503

(616) 780-7777

info@newamericancoffee.com
Business Hours: Monday to Friday: 7am – 7pm; Saturday: 9am – 5pm; Sunday: 11am – 3pm.


West Coast Coffee

55 Monroe Center NW; Grand Rapids MI 49503

Business Hours: Monday to Friday: 6:30am – 5:00pm; Saturday: 9am to 5pm; Sundays: closed

  

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Gripster: Tina Fey Ate “Old Balls”

23 Feb

While writing for Saturday Night Live, everyone’s favorite Gripster Tina Fey ate a lot of disgusting food in the wee hours of the night, according to Grub Street.  The grossest?  Old meatballs from Carmines.

The Grub Street article points to the obvious fact that those of us who stay up late, writing at our desks, probably eat pretty poorly.  I’ve never been to Carmines, and I don’t eat meatballs anymore, but my sister makes fun of me because I often eat leftover pasta without bothering to heat it up.

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Tasty Tuesday: Georgetown Cupcake SoHo

21 Feb

 

Remember those insanely delicious cupcakes I wrote about after tasting them at the Gabby Awards?  The ones that I was willing to bus it all the way to DC for?  Well, it turns out all I have to do now is hop on the subway.  On February 11, Sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis opened up Georgetown Cupcake SoHo at 111 Mercer St.

They’ve even whipped up special New York-themed cupcakes to mark the occasion:::

  • Apple Crumble
  • B&W Cookie
  • New York Cheesecake

They’re decorated with fondants in the shape of subway stops and taxi cabs.  Too, too cute.

Shhhh!  Can I let you in on a secret?  I’ve been Facebook stalking them and they always reveal their “secret” menu flavors on their social media accounts.  The first 100 to “guess” their not-so-secret-secret flavor get a free cupcake!

Can’t wait to try them all!

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Happy Tsiknopempti!

16 Feb

Happy Tsiknopempti!  You’ve heard of Fat Tuesday, the French holiday associated with Mardi Gras.  Well, today is Fat Thursday, ten days before the beginning of Great Lent.

Tsiknopempti means Barbecue Thursday, Charred Meat Thursday, or Burnt Thursday.  It’s the evening Greek Orthodox believers consume massive amounts of meat because they start fasting from meat even a week before Great Lent, the forty days leading up to Pascha (Easter), begins.

I’ve been fasting from meat for six years.  I guess that means BBQ tofu and grilled veggies for me.

It’s my sister’s favorite holiday.  She’s such a carnivore!  I’d never even heard of the holiday til my family moved to Greece.  Then my sister told me all about a day where the sweet smell of charred meat wafts through the dusty roads of ancient villages.

What’s your favorite food to barbecue?

Here are a few recipe ideas:::

Skewered Grilled Fruit with Minted Yogurt Honey Sauce

Grilled Fruit Skewers with Spicy Maple Cumin Glaze

Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas Barbecue Sauce

Lamb Chops with Lemon

 

You might also like these articles:::

Hello, Carnival; Good-bye Meat

Tasty Tuesday: Dinner at Souvlaki GR

Clip: Paintings of the Crucifixion

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Gift Guide: For the Swede or Lover of Swedish Culture

21 Dec

With Santa living in the Lapland (the Finnish side), give a gift from Scandinavia is a wonderful way to make Christmas festive!  Here are a couple ideas from Sweden or inspired by Sweden.  If anyone knows any authentic Sami vendors, please add them in the comments section.

 

 For the person who loves Swedish crime literature:::

 

The Millennium Trilogy Series (starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) by Stieg Larsson

 

 

 

 

 

The Inspector Van Veeteren Series (starting with The Mind’s Eye) by Hakan Nesser

 

 

 

 

 

The Kurt Wallander Series (starting with Faceless Killers) by Henning Mankell

 

 

 

 

 

The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Box 21 by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

 

 

 

 

 

Red Wolf by Liza Marklund

 

 

 

 

Bonus tip! — If you can afford it, give the whole set!  If you’re not sure the person will like the book, you may want to give one of the books plus a gift card to their favorite bookstore.  You can also accompany the book with a coffee mug and Swedish coffee, a book lamp, or a cozy blanket from Swedish chain IKEA.

 

Gift ideas for the Swedish food lover:::

 

Swedish Breads and Pastries by Jan Hedh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet and Savory Swedish Baking by Leila Lindholm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hash by Torgny Lindgren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swedish coffee basket by Anderson Butik

Coffee and sweets gift box by Anderson Butik

Swedish pancake basket by Anderson Butik

Bonus tip! — Select a coffee and food product that naturally go together and give them as a pair.  The gift baskets make shopping and wrapping easier!

Gifts for the Swedish home:::

Swedish table prayer tile

Iron candle holder with hearts

Iron candle holder with wild horses

Swedish blessing

Algfamilj tea towel

Bonus tip! — A gift card to IKEA would go nicely with any of these.  A lovely handwritten message or something that is personal and has sentimental value is also nice to give with gifts for the home.

 

Gifts for people on the go:::

Carrie Swedish lace bicycle basket

A Volvo

Bonus tip! — A nice key chain would go well with either of these.

 

God Jul! Merry Christmas!

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Tasty Tuesday: Chew on These Greek Crisis Cooking Tips

13 Dec

 

My yiayia (grandma) never threw anything out.  She repurposed plastic bottles and sewed up the runs in cheap, drugstore pantyhose.

When she made chicken, the leftover bones got thrown into soups.

Raising her family in Greece during World War II, she had to stretch the drachma as far as it could go.  Now, with the economic crisis in Greece, Greeks are having to return to the thrifty ways of their yiayias.

The Associated Press takes a look at Eleni Nikolaidou’s book “Starvation Recipes,” a collection of recipes and “survival tips” based in Nazi-occupied Greece, and chef F. T. Bletsas’ budget-minded cooking tips in his Greek tv show “Mama’s Cooking” and English-language website www.cookingeconomy.com.

One tip from the article: You’ll feel like you’re eating more if you chew your food veeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyy sssssllllloooowwwwlllllyyyyy.

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A Very Nerdy Birthday

13 Dec

When I was a little girl, I always wanted my birthday party at the American Museum of Natural History.  (Well, that or The Rink — the roller rink in Bergenfield — where I’d feed quarters into the vending machines for neon friendship bracelets.)  I figured it was about time to bring the tradition back so the museum’s where I headed for my birthday earlier this month.

 


 

 

After the museum, I headed over to Momufuku’s Milk Bar.  What better birthday cake than crack pie and candybar pie??

 

 

 

And then it was on to The Dead Poet, where I got to drink for free because I share a birthday with Leo Tolstoy.  I ordered the Jack Kerouac, naturally.

 

 


So thankful to all the family and friends who made my birthday special!

 

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Tasty Tuesday: Tzatziki in the Morning

22 Nov

One of my favorite bloggers, Joy of … wait for it … Oh Joy!, likes tzatziki sauce.  In a recent post, “My New Favorite Breakfast Sandwich…” she calls tzatziki sauce the “extra special ingredient” to the breakfast sandwich she’s been making and enjoying that includes egg and avocado slices on a toasted English muffin.

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The Simple Pleasure of Jasmine

15 Nov

The Simple Pleasure

of

Jasmine

After watching beauty guru Elle Fowler’s YouTube video on tea, I was inspired to drink more tea.  I ran out to Trader Joe’s and got a few variety of teas.  I’m now obsessed with Trader Joe’s delicious jasmine green tea.  It’s such a great alternative to the stale coffee at the publishing house, and it also dehydrates less than coffee does, which is important as we head into the colder, drier months.

I must be keyed into all things jasmine suddenly because I just opened an email from Korres, a Greek makeup brand that sells here in the States too, and they were promoting their jasmine product line.  Korres is Greece’s fastest-growing natural skincare company, and I really value the fact that they have an eco-conscious policy.

Fun fact from the Korres email: Greek monks used jasmine for giving thanks.

What are you thankful for today?  I’m thankful for life’s simple pleasures like a hot cup of tea on a cold day and the way a fragrant lotion can lift my mood.

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Tasty Tuesday: Visual Inspiration in Your Cupboard

25 Oct

While I was browsing through all the wonderful posts on Black Eiffel the other day, I came across one that I just had to share with you.  In “Method,” graphic designer Rachel Jones reveals that she pins up food articles and recipes on a hidden wall in her kitchen.

It got me thinking that the inside of the pantry cabinet is the perfect place to tape up photographic inspiration for recipes.  I’m kind of a creature of habit when it comes to cooking.  I forget that I know how to make all sorts of delicious foods, and instead cook up a rotation of angel hair with sauce, fried eggs with onions and tomatoes, rice and beans, and pierogis.  Maybe if I tape up a few magazine cutouts of some new recipes or even just of foods I know how to cook but never think of making, there will be a little more variety to my meals.  I’ll see the inspiration every time I reach for a box of pasta in the cabinet, but the magazines will still be hidden away so I have that nice, streamlined look to my kitchen.

So much easier than poring over my cookbooks, searching for something—anything—to inspire a meal when I’m already hungry!

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