Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Finally, a weekend of fun!


I love what I do, but I also put in some veerrry long hours. An online business is pretty much 24x7 and even with my incredible staff, a weekend off doing fun stuff with my 'honey man' doesn't happen often enough. I recently commited to a "just for fun" long weekend and it was awesome. My husband had a business engagement on the west shores of Michigan. We hopped in our little red roadster, top down, music blasting, and cruised two hours to the city of Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids offers all the big-city excitement you expect from a million-resident metropolis like a bustling downtown featuring more than 60 restaurants, nightclubs, theatres, museums and sports venues within a five-minute walk. Yet for all its sophistication, the city prides itself on such small-town virtues as friendly people, safe streets, minimal traffic and good old-fashioned Midwest value PLUS the sugar-sand beaches of Lake Michigan.

While my husband attended to his business (hosting an afternoon wine tasting at a chic downtown restaurant), I put on my walking shoes and set out to see the city. I discovered one of the coolest shoe boutiques ever, and a great clothing boutique called the
Little Bohemian where all the clothes looked much better on the mannequins than on me. I must say, if you ever plan a trip to Michigan, put Grand Rapids on your agenda and plan to stay at the Amyway Grand Hotel in the heart of downtown. WOW!!!!!!!! That's the only way to describe this 682 guestroom hotel. It's a destination in itself.

The weather was spectacular. We had late afternoon appetizers at an open air cafe and then headed off to a 5-course wine dinner with two winemakers from Chile and Argentina who flew in just for the dinner (a business event for my husband... geezz, what a job).

It was an amazing, relaxing weekend with my honey. We laughed, talked, ate, and then laughed, talked and ate more. Life is good. I need to be reminded of this as I watch my Dad battle with cancer. We need to make time to enjoy life and spend time with those we love the most. Thanks to all my loyal staff for holding down the fort on Friday and making sure orders went out timely
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