House Love in "New Neighborhood" in Empire, Michigan

A planned community ... nestled in the hills near Lake Michigan and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

In January of this year, my sisters and I were able to go up to the Traverse City area ...

We stumbled into this new little neighborhood full of cute houses to love.

It was so flippin' cold, I took pictures out the window for you.

There is some reflection on the windows but for the most part,

they're good!  And you should LOVE THEM!  

I love the metal-roof porches on this, it was a 'town hall' of sorts for the little neighborhood.

 A farmhouse-design that is made to look like an addition was added.  Pretty cute!  

The unusual trim colors on a classic design catch your eye... 

Oh, yes, I loved this one, ORANGE!  One of my favorite colors! 

So colorful! 

There were piles of snow everywhere...

This one looked so cozy...

I loved the fish above the door...

Can you imagine this one, all decorated for Christmas?  

This was a barn red ... 

Hope you enjoyed looking at the new houses that are similar to the days of old...

I hope to get back to blogging on a more regular basis and this is my 'comeback' post!

Love, 

Joni 

Photo Essay: Sunset

Let's go on a little walk.

It's windy, hold onto your hat! 

We are going to take a nice, long stroll out there on that breakwall.

Do you like lighthouses?

Do you like the water?

Do you like sunsets?

Well, today, I have all three!

And I am sharing...

On September 30, Luke and I went to Grand Rapids to the ArtPrize show.  

Since we were SO CLOSE to the lake shore, we took a few minutes and drove out there and found ourselves the perfect spot to watch the sunset.

The water was lively.The sunset was gorgeous.And the waves crashed up on the pier.

It was sort of like being on the bow of a ship heading straight for the sun. 

(Except I wasn't seasick.  And I slept in my own bed that night!)

If you live in Michigan, you're never too far away from a lake shore.

And that's great!

Because the beauty of our Great Lakes is unmatched.

This particular sunset was brought to you by...

LAKE MICHIGAN.

Post Cards from ArtPrize!

It was a perfectly chilly fall Sunday.  I was with three really nice friends of mine and we had a day to ourselves, doing something so enjoyable.

Joni, Marti, Sue and Linda!  Wonderful times and great conversation, lots of laughs!

Not too far from where I live is a city that holds a weeks-long art fair.  It is very different from any art fair you've ever been to.

It's an art fair that's everywhere.  Literally.

It's inside buildings like hotels and hospitals and art museums, and in parks, riverbanks, bridges, sidewalks, anywhere and everywhere, hanging on walls outside of buildings, in lawns, between buildings, high up in the air.

It's in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the art fair is called "Art Prize".

You can read more about it here.

Reflections were gorgeous in the glass buildings.

I am so glad our friend Linda introduced us to this.  This art show has a fan for life in me.

Another gorgeous reflection.

Grand Rapids is a really nice city with or without Art Prize, and the crowd was, too.  But it wasn't really too crowded at all, it was just right.  Mellow!

In this post, I will introduce you to the city and to Art Prize.  I've been editing a ton of photos and will show you more in the next few days.

Art Prize was started by the DeVos family, a prominent and generous Grand Rapids family with many businesses.

Here is a podcast of Rich DeVos telling about the origination and goals for this most unique art show is here.

All I had with my was my iPhone.   However, I got some decent photos anyway.

I was actually happy for the cloud cover because it's too hard to take pictures with the sun glaring on the screen of your iPhone. 

Conditions were perfect:  jeans and a jacket and comfortable walking shoes were what we had and turns out it was just right.

Artists come here to compete from 21 countries and almost every State in the Union.  If you listened to those around you, you could hear different accents and languages.

More than 1,500 entries, 161 different venues to see it all, it's free for anyone that wants to come and view the art, and the venues are scattered over three square miles!

Who decides the winners of this contest?

What are the prizes?

Well, the winners are chosen by those of us that view the art.  We vote for our favorites online!

The prizes are huge cash prizes-- and first spot gets $250,000!  Second is $100,000 for second, $50,000 for third!  Then there are other smaller prizes.

There is no way to see it all even in a couple days.  You could even spend days, JUST ONLINE, looking at all the entries, which are here.

Good Morning America came to town to cover it, too!  It's a very unusual and unique art show and something many know nothing about.

The J.W. Marriott.  A beautiful building outside and just as gorgeous inside.  

The Art Prize has displays throughout the beautiful downtown motels!  It's an easy way to see a lot of the city's most wonderful buildings.

Several bridges had artwork displayed and were for pedestrian traffic only!

Artwork is tucked into many unique places, this sculpture of Albert Einstein was in a courtyard of a hotel downtown!

Again, using the natural elements as a backdrop, fish sculpture in the water.

Tomorrow I will bring you some of the actual artwork and you will be surprised, I think at the size and the quality of some of the pieces, a truly wonderful appreciation for the creativity we have to share with each other.

Today, I brought you a piece of what my loved art is:  photography and beautiful buildings.


Come back and see me for more about Art Prize!