I'm Havin' a Ball

This song ALWAYS makes me feel better. Try it!

Queen "Don't Stop Me Now"

Garnier Fructis BzzCampaign

i just received my bzzkit for Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition shampoo and conditioner.

i've been a bzzagent for a few years now, and i get to try out products and tell my friends what i think about them. check out bzzagent.com if you are interested in becoming a bzzagent too! anyway, i tried these products for the first time this morning, and they are supposed to fix my dry and damaged hair. as you may know, my hair is very thin and fine and grows very slowly, so i'm hoping to see an improvement with this stuff. it contains three weightless oils - olive, shea, and avocado - to replenish the core and surface of my hair. one of my other bzzagent friends described the smell as like bubblegum. i would say specifically watermelon bubbalicious. but it smells pretty good (that was my favorite flavor of bubbalicious after all), and my hair feels nice and soft today. garnier also wants us to know that they have a more eco-friendly bottle now, which is something that is important to me! would "greener" packaging help influence the products you buy?

i will let you know if i notice any major improvements after some more use!

Don't Stop Me Now

soooooo, andrew got into a car accident on thursday. i had been working allllll day long and he was just trying to surprise me with a jet's pizza for dinner. we were going to have a lazy night. instead, while we were talking on the phone, both of us almost home, i heard a horrible awful noise and andrew yell and then say "i just got rammed! i gotta go!" and i was shouting, asking where he was, but he didn't answer. i assumed he had gone to jet's and headed that way. he got hit right next to a hospital by one of the hospital's busses. yes, a BUS. on his driver's side. the whole window shattered on him. thank god he wasn't any worse off than a little dazed and upset, although later that night we spent 3.5 hours at the hospital making sure. the bus driver was about 70 years old and had one passenger. they both said they had a green light so andrew ended up with the ticket. he is of course fighting it. i am confident in andrew's version of events and his driving ability - even while on the phone - and this whole thing has just been super unfair. his car is totaled, so we will be on the used car hunt. we just don't have time for this! but i am of course thankful that he is okay.

so that's a bummer. but we'll obviously figure something out. we are however, down to just my car right now which proves difficult since we have the same job. i guess we will be utilizing the bus for the first time!

i will leave you with a really beautiful flower arrangement that was my being-a-good-helper gift! the morning of andrew's accident i got to help with an event at steelcase called the growth summit; i was something like job shadowing my new friend/contact jill. i was planning on helping friday as well, but then i had to work the entire day in the nourishment bar since andrew couldn't come in. anyway, she sent me an email that she had left flowers for me, so here they are. it is so nice to have flowers to look at!

have a wonderful weekend!

MindShare 2012: Brighter Together

This might be a little lazy, but I copied and pasted this from my Steelcase blog. I didn't want you to be confused by all the capital letters at the beginning of the sentences! Anyway, read on: )

Yesterday I took a day off from the nourishment bar to volunteer with the Grand Rapids Student Advancement Foundation. Since I'm from the east-side of the state, I wasn't aware of this wonderful organization until about a month ago. Jill Wilterdink, a wonderful lady that I also wasn't aware of until about a month ago, told me about them and suggested I get in contact with them. Well, I emailed to see if they needed any volunteers for their annual fundraiser, and it turns out they were eager to put me to work!

GRSAF raises money to help Grand Rapids Public Schools students play sports, learn instruments, take field trips, have school supplies, and so much more. Their goal is that one day, there will be no barriers for students to reach their full potential. MindShare brought together over 600 people who believe in and support that goal. The event was wonderful! There was a silent auction of GRPS student art, and wow, these kids are super talented! After that, an all-ages, multiple school student choir performed and received a standing ovation from the crowd. There was also a live auction hosted by Judge Sara Smolenski, who was hilarious. She told a story of her college basketball days, when she accidentally showed the audience her underpants whilst attempting to remove just her sweats before entering the game. She did a great job of encouraging attendees to empty their wallets for the cause, which was in the area of physical wellness. The energy at the event was so great, and we are very lucky to have an organization in Grand Rapids that cares so much about this cause, especially when funding in continuously cut to sports, art, and music!

Here is a link to an article about the event: MindShare draws 700, raises $150,000 in sponsorships to support Grand Rapids students | MLive.com and below are a couple photos - credit to the event photographer (I don't know his name)!

Have any of you ever been to MindShare? What other organizations do you support in Grand Rapids (or beyond)?

Earth Day!

earth day is on sunday, and there is so much going on in grand rapids to celebrate, which makes me very happy! let's start with tonight, april 20th:

Vegan Potluck 
Treehuggers, Grand Rapids 
6pm-8pm
there is a great eco-friendly store up the street called treehuggers; , and tonight they are hosting a vegan potluck. i made my favorite lemon vegan cookies to contribute, and they are having live music and sangria. can't beat it. i've been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks. anyway, treehuggers has a list on their website of hard-to-recycle recyclables that they take, and they sell great environmentally friendly/locally made/reusable products. i bought the mesh produce bags, so instead of using the plastic bags in the produce section, i will use my reusable ones now! anyway, i still need to glaze my cookies!

now for tomorrow, april 21st. i just updated my google calendar with everything that is happening, so i am attempting to narrow down my choices for the day!

A People's Assembly on Radical Sustainability in Grand Rapids 
Trinity United Methodist Church 1100 Lake Drive SE 
10am - 3pm
this event sounds really great, but 5 hours is a big time commitment! anyway, it is a community discussion of ideas for being a sustainable city. they are providing lunch (and childcare), and the schedule is split into big groups and then breakaway groups. i hope they have a lot of attendees. i would really like a few more options (like composting!) to be more sustainable where i live:) you can find more details for this event on facebook.

Green Market/Info Expo 
Main Library – 111 Library St NE 
10am-3pm
the library actually has quite a few events going on tomorrow, but this is the one i'd likely be stopping by. here's the event details from the email: "Visit our market! Several local farmers and artists will transform the Library into a bustling market. Farmers will sell a variety of local and often free-range and chemical-free goods like maple syrup, honey, cheese, greens, and meat. Local artists will sell handmade items like pottery, clothes, jewelry, soap, crafts and more! There will be some great local organizations on hand to share green-living tips." the library always has great events! here is a link to what else they have going on.

Whitecaps vs Wisconsin 
Fifth Third Ballpark 
1pm
if the weather is nice, i hear there are $1 lawn seats at the game tomorrow. the great thing about the lawn is that 1. you don't have to sit on the bleachers, and 2. you can bring your own lawn chairs. i've been wanting to check out the new scoreboard as well!

Record Store Day 
Vertigo Music 
11am-9pm
this is the 5th annual record store day, and it's a great way to prove the music industry isn't slowing down (and that vinyl is coming back!). many artists and labels release limited edition records for this day, and i'm sure vertigo music will have their hands on some of that. they also have live music and refreshments! it's definitely an event to stop by and check out. you can find more information for this event on facebook.

11th Annual Black Party 
Founder's Brewery 
11am-2am
 i'm not the biggest fan of dark beers, but this party still sounds awesome. for $10, you get admission, a commemorative pint glass, and your first beer filled in it. there is also live music starting around 6pm, and some delicious sounding food available. check out all the details here, except for the beers on tap, that's a secret until tomorrow.

i hope you all find someway to celebrate the earth this weekend! do you have any unique plans?

Scrambled Eggs

so i took a break from the blog again, but then i had a meeting yesterday where i was asked by two people if i write. i think they asked because i really like social media, but i was still surprised that they both wondered this. so i told them about this dinky blog and found some motivation from that scenario to update!

team zissou (my trivia team) has been in full swing these last few weeks trying to get invited to the finals. i don't think we will make it, but it's been fun going more often and testing our knowledge. last night at gipper's we won! i mainly contributed on the beatles question, "what huge beatles ballad did paul mccartney call 'scrambled eggs' until he actually wrote the lyrics?" i guessed "yesterday" because of the number of syllables, and scored one for team zissou. i will let you know if we make it to finals this season!

lately i've been keeping busy with meeting lots of new people per nancy's (my steelcase mentor) kindness, helpfulness, and large network of people. everyone has been so helpful and interesting in their own way, and i definitely appreciate people taking the time to talk with me. it's been difficult to make a name for myself in grand rapids because i'm not from here, but i have some hope now! one exciting opportunity that has come out of this is that i am volunteering for mindshare next tuesday. mindshare is an annual event put on by the grand rapids student advancement foundation, which raises money to benefit the grand rapids public school system. without them, many students wouldn't have access to musical instruments, graphing calculators, or new books in the library. it should be a really great event, and i never complain when a vegetarian amway meal is involved: )

more later. cleanin' time!

i leave you with a couple pictures from our easter brunch for dinner. i hope you all had a relaxing easter!