This summer, I learned the biggest new thing of all: having a full-time internship makes it really hard to try something new every day! Today is supposed to mark my 255th new thing, but I’ll just pick up where I left off at #130. I have been trying new things, just not as frequently, and I haven’t had time to post them here.
#130-132: Rustica / Roast Duck / New gelato flavor. Tucked into a side street in downtown Kalamazoo, Rustica is likely the best-kept secret in town. Serving traditional Italitan cuisine, Rustica treated us to the best 4-course meal of my life – not even exaggerating! I tried roast duck for the first time, and had sweet white wine and carrot cake flavored gelato that rivaled, if not blew out of the water, the gelato I had when I was actually in Italy. It was a $95 well spent.
Rustica is the sweet Italian great-grandmother I never had.
#133-134: The Dark Knight Rises: Pre-screening. I’m convinced my uncle is a wizard, because he managed to get free tickets to see The Dark Knight Rises, the night before it opened to the public. I gladly tagged along, but felt like a fraud, because truth be told, I wasn’t too crazy about the 1st or 2nd Batman movies. That being said, I walked out of this movie OBSESSED – best movie of the year, easy! I also bumped into an old friend, and met some new people (who I sat with), which is why I’m counting this as 2 entries.
#135: Brave. This movie was disappointing in a few ways. Mostly, that revolves around the fact that it wasn’t so much about a strong female lead, but about a magical witch turning the female lead’s family into bears. I don’t even wanna talk about it.
Storyboard drawing from Pixar Studios, originally titled “Bravey-Locks”
#136: Visited my friend at the Detroit Yacht Club. Okay, I’ve never been one for the fancy-schmancy life of luxury, but it was 10 minutes from my workplace, and I hadn’t seen my friend in a while. His dad’s boat was awesome, and we took a dip in the icy pool on a hot afternoon in June. Aaaah.
#137-138: Went to vegan restaurant / Saw Tilda Swinton! Shortly after swimming, my friend with the yacht decided to take me to a vegan restaurant called Seva. After 40 minutes of sitting on the patio in the shade, my friend gasped and pointed to the table right next to us – at Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton! We didn’t bother her or sneak pictures, because we want her to say nice things about Detroit, but it was quite the pleasant surprise!
Full of laughter and chatter, Tilda Swinton seemed to be far from an Ice Queen in real life.
#139-141: Ferry Corsten / Kenneth Thomas / Elektricity. First time going to an electronic rave-like show of any kind (technically, I think it was trance music), and first time going to Elektricity nightclub in Pontiac! I went with my brother, my salsa-dancing friend Florian, and my friend since middle school named Erin (and her boyfriend Eaton). I was surprised by both the price of the drinks, and the number of women walking around in what was a smidgeon more than lingerie. The show itself was insanely fun though, and I can’t remember a time in the 2-hour event that I stopped dancing!
Eaton is a nightlife photographer, so it’s nice to post something than the usual crappy cameraphone pic. Enjoy!
#142-144: Saw (and met!) Kaskade / The Fillmore / Detroit nightclubs. In just a day’s notice, Erin found out she had won free meet-and-greet tickets to see Kaskade at The Fillmore in downtown Detroit – and invited me along! Upon arrival, we were greeted by two aggressive ladies who gave us full body pat-downs in plain sight, but it was easily forgiven when we entered the grand venue, full of energy, life and music. Meeting Kaskade was slightly awkward – shortly beforehand, Erin and I had frantically looked up pictures of him via Smartphone because we had no idea what he looked like, and when we did meet him, he wasn’t much of a talker (we exchanged a few words about schwarma…… and that was it). BUT, we did manage to get a few pictures with him, and one even got published in a local magazine! Afterwards, we visited a few nightclubs, because Erin and Eaton had some DJ friends who were playing. All in all, it was a great night, different from any experience I’ve ever had before! Detroit is not as dull or shady as people make it out to be.
Kaskade put on a great show… he was quite the Rockstar… I mean, rock star.
#145: Watched 4th of July fireworks atop Sparrow Hospital, Lansing. The best part of the night was when I randomly decided to look over the railing of Sparrow Hospital’s parking structure (where hundreds of people gathered), only to catch a motorcyclist and an SUV driver in the middle of a drug deal. Seriously. The guy hopped off his motorcycle, walked to the SUV driver, swapped a small item for money, and returned to his bike as if nothing had happened. In the middle of the road. Where everyone could see from above. Smart! The fireworks themselves were spectacular, though!
Me with a classy bunch of Spartans.
#146-147: Deftones/System of a Down. DREAM. COME. TRUE! It’s a little-known fact, but I’ve been obsessed with System of a Down since middle school. They went on a hiatus, and my best friend Heather and I swore that if they ever came to town again, we’d see them — so we did! My eyes fogged up when they came on stage (watch from 1 minute… so suspenseful!), and I knew the words to every song. Plainly said, rocked my face off. I had work the next day, but it was so, SO worth it!
Trevor, me and Bryce, waiting for the girls (Heather & Gynelle) to arrive.
Gotta love DTE lawn seats! I SWEAR this is System of a Down!
#148: Linkin Park & Incubus. After seeing Incubus live at DTE last year, my friend Trevor (pictured above) convinced me and a few others to go to the Linkin Park / Incubus Honda Civic Tour. While it was a complete sell-out of a show (Honda Civic commercials between sets… what?!), it was a great time, even from our balcony seats.
Linkin Park, I have no idea how any of you have your voices left after all that screaming.
Incubus was pitch-perfect and energetic as ever. Man, I love seeing them live!
#149: Went to a baby shower. I’m about that age where my friends are getting married and having kids. My friend Alyssa was the first in my circle of friends to throw a baby shower, and while it was strange to see my goofy middle-school buddy so grown up, it was actually a pretty nice event. The baby-to-be is named Penny, and they even have a 4D Ultrasound image of her.
I told her that I couldn’t decide if this was cute or creepy, but it’s cool nonetheless (I mean… look at that little smile!).
