#ayearofdates

[lifesnowmoments]

For our May date - Curt and I had a Michigan beer and MSU Dairy Store pairing adventure. For most of the month, I was in China, so our dates have gotten a little jumbled and mixed, but we’ll still be doing all 12 before the year is up!

[lifesnowmoments]

A Year of Monthly Dates: MARCH

March’s date was to the Lansing Home and Garden show! We braved the East Lansing, St. Patty’s Day crowds (March 17th is always a big day about town because we already have so much green and white gear) to head to the MSU Pavillion. I’ve never been to the home and garden show, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was quite fun and informative! There were so many different business and organizations, we didn’t know all the connections we’d make. We found fantastic ideas for planting our garden this spring, and even gleaned some ideas for decorations at our wedding in September! There are some home-improvement projects that we’ve been meaning to do (reglaze a tub, buy new window blinds, etc.) and we were able to identify local businesses that could help us with each of the things on the immediate to-do list! Needless to say, we were very excited to have been able to 1) take advantage of an event in our own town, and 2) Identify people to help us tick some items off our list!

[lifesnowmoments]

A Year of Monthly Dates: FEB

For our February date, my parents gave us a gift certificate to the English Inn in Eaton Rapids. We barely eeked it into the month (wow did Feb. fly by) and ended up going during the last week. It was a great experience. A Michigan historical site, the English Inn is now home to a restaurant, pub, and boutique hotel. We went for dinner, just because we were both too tired to cook and it ended up completely uplifting our evening. This just so happened to be the same time as the greater Lansing area was experiencing some MAJOR flooding (so it took us an extra 20 min. to get there, because of closed roads). Upon arrival, we were delighted by the service which was very formal (someone to take your coats, a different person to serve you bread, a very attentive and polite waiter, etc.) and the setting is beautiful. Staying intuned to the history of the building, the decor was elaborate, the lighting dim, and they even employ a pianist for live dinner music! Curt had a steak and I had salmon, both of which were extremely delicious. We selected creme brulee from the dessert tray (yep- I told you it was fancy) and shared it as a sweet conclusion to the evening. The other really cool thing about the English Inn is that they honor an “open door policy” - meaning if there is a door that is open in the building, you are welcome to check out what’s inside. We were able to explore three rooms, each having its own unique color scheme and attached (equally colorful) water closet. It was a great date and we’re looking forward to taking Curt’s Grandma there sometime in the future! 

[lifesnowmoments]

A year of monthly dates: JAN

For this past Christmas, my parents gave Curt and I a “year of dates”. They thoughtfully planned one date per month, putting each date in its own envelope and securing all the envelopes in a bin. On the first of each month, Curt and I get to open an envelope and see what our date for that month will be. Some of the dates have actual dates preselected while others are “at our leisure” during the month. 

January’s date was a tour of Bells Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI followed by brunch in the cafe. It just so happens that our friends Coby and Ann live in the area, and Ann works for Bells. This meant we also got a private tour of the Bell’s Brewery in Comstock prior to our tour of the Kalamazoo location. Ann led us through the entire process, from ingredients to brewing, to fermenting, storage, and packaging. Can you believe that the Bells’ bottle line can bottle over 700 bottles of beer per minute! (and that doesn’t include cans or kegs). We had a blast and Coby agreed to stand with Curt in our wedding! 

We had some tasters at the Kalamazoo Bells pub and kicked off our tour with Austin, who was extremely knowledgeable and very entertaining. It was very cool to hear a history of Bells, as I’ve been going there for the past six years and never knew. After our tour, we enjoyed breakfast poutine and tacos in the pub and grabbed our favorite seasonal beer from the shop. 

It was a great day, and we’re so thankful for (and excited about ) our next 11 dates! I plan to share a recap and photos each month :)