Dana Burland

Ask me what I do and I’ll probably say “marketing”. It’s a nice catch all—but it doesn’t really catch all of what I do. Lately, I’ve been doing much more UI/UX (user interface, user experience) stuff. This means I take problems mostly from our product and customer service teams and figure out the best way to solve them for our on-site shoppers. Problems like opting for the larger size conference table means the package won’t fit through a standard doorway when it’s delivered—how do we explain that before someone buys? Then there’s testing. Does this link really get the attention we think it does? Are users moving in a clear path from browsing to checkout? Does anyone know what “merle” means? To be honest, it’s more fun than marketing; it’s like solving a new puzzle every day, in a web geek sense. The crispy black bean tacos I made last night reminded me of the good user experience I strive for at work. First, the ingredients of this recipe are simple and straight forward. The sp...

I have a strong feeling we’re in the thick of winter already , friends. It’s cool though—I’m bringing my A game and battening down the hatches early. I bought a new winter jacket that’s essentially an arctic parka. I busted out my trudge-through-the-snow winter boots. We put up Ben’s bike on the trainer for some indoor cycling. Also, I’ve altered my grocery shopping game. 'Tis the season for hearty, long lasting ingredients that will stay well past a week. It’s extra awful to go on a mid-blizzard grocery run. Have you ever pushed a shopping cart through 4 inches of parking lot slush? I’d rather ride the bike trainer in my snow boots and arctic parka. This soup recipe has a lot of ingredients, but most of them are items I regularly have on hand. The directions are simple, too. But to be honest, it had me at lentils. Lentils are my jam, yo. I’m also partial to curry and coconut flavors. They’re tropically soul warming in a way that I won’t be experiencing for a while. A lon...

DOH! I’m late with my Friendsgiving post! For shame I didn’t share how fun our night of hosting went. Will you ever forgive me? Good. Now on with the story of our dinner. Last year we did a small Friendsgiving with two other couples. This year, we, ahem, expanded. We had 12—tah-whelve— people at our apartment for a pre-Thanksgiing feast. I (again) roasted two chickens and made a vat of roasted vegetables to go with it. We also had pizza roles, cheese and jam crostini, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, tomato and basil and avocado salad, spinach pies, sangria, beer by the plenty, Oreo balls, apple pie and drunken gummy bears. Are you full just thinking about it? I’m 4 pounds heavier just thinking about it. The best part, I think, was the set-up. We hauled in a desk and office chairs to “extend” our kitchen table, seated two at the kitchen bar and set the coffee table and couch to accommodate more place settings. Co-zay. Post-dinner we played Catch Phrase (denoting team ...

Happy winter, y’all. We’re staying warm and moving slow under a blanket of 12-18” of snow. Since Sunday, weather radar maps have shown a consistent 6-10” circle around Grand Rapids. Since Sunday, it hasn’t stopped snowing for more than 15 minutes or so. We’re no Buffalo, but we’re in full lake effect snow mode just the same. As of November 16, I heard Boyne Highlands is open for skiing. Skiing! Before Thanksgiving! The horror! The fleece pajama pants have come out and the Christmas music has been turned up. Bring on the holidays—assuming we can get home for them.

Armed with a butter knife and a bottle of Goo Gone, Ben spent a few nights last week scraping stubborn labels off glass bottles and jars for me. Cleaning jars for centerpieces is one of several wedding related jobs I’ve tasked him with, and one of several he’s taken on with no complaint or questioning. He did most of the bottle cleaning work while I was in bed—reading my usual two pages from a bedside novel before I toss it onto his pillow and conk out cold. By 9 p.m. I’m drained from a big, huge, ginormous work project; wedding work (currently in the form of designing invitations) and household chores. But each morning I wake up recharged, my book magically relocated to his nightstand, my limbs tucked in to our warmest purple blanket and more clean bottles drying on the kitchen bar. It’s not entirely glamorous, but it's life right now. And on our fourth dateiversary, I'm relishing the simple and quiet moments of caring for each other that come far more often than the bi...