Dana Burland

Man did the holiday stars align for us this year. This year we were able to spend our first Christmas in our house at home with the Blinders. While they were here we visited Frederick Meijer Gardens, shopped how-could-you-not-buy-that prices at the outlet mall and saw the Will Smith NFL biopic, “Concussion”. But the best parts of the holiday were none of those things. While out for a run with my brother on Christmas Eve we noticed East Grand Rapids residents setting up white luminary bags on the edge of their lawns. That night we joined the masses driving through miles of glowing neighborhood streets. It was so, so beautiful; I’m so glad we were home to see it. We also made fresh pasta together, my mom taught me how tom are our family apple pie recipe , and we ate our traditional beef tenderloin dinner. We lounged around in our pajamas watching TV and laughing—mostly about how my dad thinks all female singers are Celine Dion—went for walks to critique Christmas lights and caught...

Several years ago when planning a trip to Montreal, Ben and I got some advice from a friend/Montreal-pro; when waitstaff or townies greet you with “bonjour”, reply “hello” back so they know to speak to you in English, not French. And you know what? As much as I wanted to play little French lady while on our trip, I really enjoyed being able to understand the dinner specials. I give mad props to Montreal for mastering this cultural bilingual thing, right? French is their official language but if you don’t know a “je m’appelle” from a “voulez-vous coucher avec moi” that’s no prob, they’ll meet you where you’re at. I’ve been thinking of Montreal with another year’s seasonal greeting debate. This year, like every year, I wished friends “happy holidays” and got “merry Christmas”’ed repeatedly back. Jesus may be the reason for your season, but he’s not particularly the reason for mine . As a multi-holiday celebrator whose main December jam isn’t Christmas, I know I’m an outlie...

You weren't looking for a lovely, couple-y, frame-able photo or one you could show off to the ladies you play cards with (sorry Grandma), were you? This is the everyday us--especially with Michigan State's stellar football performance thus far.  Happy holidays, all.

Did I really not post my family's standard Turkey Trot photo? For shame! We all ran the 5K this year. My brother left us in the dust while me, my mom, my dad and my dad's No Shave November beard all kept a steady "trot" speed.  This race is always something... there's a million people, it takes a good 15 minutes after the initial start horn to actually make it to the start line and this year (similar to in years past) we came to a dead stop behind a herd of people about 40 yards from the finish line. Sigh. Despite all that, it was a good race and a fun time. Plus, it's a tradition. Here's proof: 2014 , 2013 , 2012 , 2011.

I’m back from Vegas—and man did I live it by passing out every night before 10pm, spending my days buzzed on coffee and betting on online multiple choice quiz questions! This trip wasn’t really about experiencing Sin City, though I did run the strip one morning (female calling cards littered across the sidewalk—ew) and watched the Bellagio fountains then got lost in the Bellagio and anyway… Vegas is a weird, surreal city. My trip was a work trip for a Nielsen Norman Group user experience conference and it was so, so, so great. User experience is what it’s like for a user to experience a design. We’re users experiencing design every day from the knobs on a stove to the TV remote to websites to so much more. The conference was all about how to test the design of products, services and websites to ensure they’re intuitive and efficient to use (similar to what I did in April ). It involves learning how to interview users correctly, how to measure their experience and satis...

Ben’s CrossFit gym has a slogan I toss around liberally in our house. Whether he’s on his way out to a workout or on his way back in (sweaty with new calluses on his hands) I ask—did you maximize your human potential ? It’s one of our many, many inside jokes. Our constant jokes keep us in hysterics and school-kid like grins throughout the day. It’s the same mood visible in almost every one of our wedding photos. This is a sample of married life six months in. There’s tons of laughter punctuated by moments of serious teamwork—reviewing papers from our financial planner, debating the pros and cons and ultimately winning pros of getting new windows, budgeting and preparing and dreaming. And honestly? It’s a lot like pre-married life—but with maximized human potential . We could—and have plans to—travel. We have—and continue to—make our house into a cozy, prideful home. We’re always—happily—hosting friends and family and making visits elsewhere to see them. We hope to—at a very...

Last week I saw an ad for a Cakabakery cake decorating class. Let me count the ways in which I said absolutely, undoubtedly—YES. I fell in love with Cakabakery somewhere between meeting the cute owner—Jason Kakabaker (true last name) and tasting their almond cupcakes. They baked for our wedding and I absolutely did not get to eat as many cake pops as a bride should. Such a shame. I (easily) convinced a new work buddy to come with me. She loves to cook and drink wine, I love to cook and drink wine—it worked. The class was at Cakabakery’s Holland location, so we hoofed it out there after work on Wednesday. The class was lovely . We drank BYOB wine and ate bakery provided crackers and cheese and so, so much buttercream frosting. We learned how to layer a three tier cake and then decorated it in ombre ruffles. Well, the goal was ombre ruffles. Mine sort of looks like a green avalanche, but whatever.

We don’t go to a ton of weddings, but when we do they’re really unique ones. Like my cousin’s in a Detroit museum, or a girlfriend’s who turned her girlfriend into her wife, or a farm wedding at the base of a Colorado mountain range , or my college buddy’s Egyptian wedding to his stunning Egyptian bride. Kyle and Mariana’s wedding this weekend was so many things—beautiful, cultural, spectacular, confusing, musical and joyful all at once. So many of those adjectives apply to Kyle himself, so it makes perfect sense. This quick video sums it up so well—especially because Kyle’s wedding dance move is the same as Kyle’s college dance move if only Beyonce was playing and he was air thrusting a beer instead.

The theme of my Tuesday morning was canned beans and chicken bones. When I woke up I wandered into the kitchen in search of two cans of beans. Then I sat on my yoga mat, tied the cans to my hip with a stretch band, and did some clam shell leg lifts . After two reps I wandered back to the kitchen and popped open the lid of my night-cooking Crockpot to fish out the chicken bones from within. All at 7am. I haven’t decided what’s more absurd—attaching canned beans to myself or pre-sunrise bone sifting. The can bean weight exercising is related to my hip, which is related to my calf, which is related to an injury from a car accident over a year ago. The calf injury is resurfacing since I’ve tried to run again. I’m back in pain and back to weekly meetings with a physical therapist. It’s going to take a long time to strengthen the muscle and break up the scar tissue, he says. I hear this just as the sun starts to set before I get home from work on weekdays and I wonder how I’ll keep t...

Maybe this should be filed away in a you-had-to-be-there box, but I'm sharing anyway. I work with a lady who is a total, total character. Deb has been with Steelcase for a million years, and she's a down to earth, to the point, personable yet no-nonsense kind of leader. I joked with her several weeks ago about how I should be her for Halloween and she said "DO IT!!!" She has such a simple and predictable style that I immediately knew I could duplicate it--as long as I got the hair, glasses and the coffee-cup-in-hand down. So I did. And to my surprise, my co-worker Lois did too. We had people cracking up all day, mostly Deb, who couldn't get over Lois and I. Actually I should say I think we had people cracking up all day--I actually couldn't make out any faces looking out of my reading glasses. By the way, the leopard shirt was a gag gift for Deb about a year ago. She carries it in her work backpack so had me model it as well--which spurred a b...

I love listening to a good podcast while I'm cooking, workout out or picking weeds from the yard. Life is glamorous, what can I say. One of my faves is Note To Self , which has quick episodes on how to manage living in a digital world (and I am a material girl). Cough, anyway. While doing a quick workout and pulling the remainder of my green bean plant from the side garden I listened to the most recent episode--" It's Time to Deal With Your Photo Clutter ". And while I so get why this is a topic, I also realized it didn't really apply to me. Because I have been dealing with my photo clutter. For 12 years. And it's been working beautifully. These days almost all my photos are taken on my iPhone. It's just a darn good point and shoot camera, and it's always with me. Even when I'd haul another camera around, my technique worked well. I keep a folder on my laptop of photos. In it is a folder for every year--2003 to 2015. In those folders are ...

I bought canning equipment more than a year ago, and have been terrified of it since then. There’s just something about the danger of the recipe, can seals and massive pot of boiling water that got to me. When I found out a friend of ours is a canning pro, I asked if she’d teach me how. On Sunday I drove over to Robin’s house with my huge canning box for a lesson. And you know what… it’s not that hard. At all. Here’s what I learned: 1. Get boiling Your canning pot should have enough water so when all jars are submerged they’re covered with at least an inch of water. It’ll take a million years to get that much water to boil, even with Robin’s technique of placing the pot between two burners and cranking them both up to high. 2. Jar sterilizing Place all jars (not lids or rings) in the top rack of your dishwasher and set on sanitize or sterilize. 3. Find a recipe Robin’s technique is simple—Google for a recipe. Canning has finicky (cough, scary) rules about acid and proc...

We had a pretty good weekend over here. In case you missed it, MSU won their football game. We heard about the win while walking the frozen Grand Valley sidewalks en route to the stadium to watch them smush Michigan Tech. Grand Valley shoots off fireworks for every touchdown the Lakers score--I think Ben considered every firework a celebration for his beloved Spartans, though. Somewhere around the third quarter GVSU's beloved president, T-Haas, walked up the steps right next to where we were sitting. Behind Ben, he's probably my second choice for husband, so I immediately grabbed my coworker Lindsay and abandoned my seat to get a photo with him. Whada sport. Sunday we had all sorts of fall plans--a long drive to check out all the changing colors on the trees and a stop at a new cider mill. I figured we'd tackle a little yard work first and then get on our way. Well, "a little work" turned into a five hour cleaning spree and 11 yard waste bags later o...

Most weeknights we tune in to at least part of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Soon after he took over from Brian Williams, Ben announced he was certain Lester had a hidden pony tail trailing down his back. I mean, look at him. You can see it, can't you? In fact now you can't un see it, am I right? Now that the possibility of a PT is on the table, it's unreal watching how NBC never shows Lester from the back or side. #coverup For reasons I can't explain or remember, I got on the topic of Lester Holt and his possible PT with some coworkers. One coworker did a Google search for "Lester Holt pony tail" and this was the first hit : Emily, we feel like "YES tho!!" too.

A year and a half ago Chelsea, Ashley and I girls-weekend'ed in Nashville --this year with a new mama among us and less vacation time available than we'd like, we took our antics up north. Our girl's weekend outside of Traverse City couldn't have been better. We slept in and stayed up barely that late at a cozy family cabin 30 minutes outside of downtown. We wine tasted--I sipped a cider as the DD. Fall coziness outside Tandem Cider in Suttons Bay The view inside out from Leelanau Cellars winery And then, to the joy of all of us but utter bliss of Ashley especially, we stumbled upon a picture perfect U-Pick flower stand by the side of the road. Can you even? And we ate chocolate. And the best quiche of my life at a fancy French cafe. And shopped. And giggled. And whined. And ooh'ed and ahh'ed at the beauty surrounding us.

ArtPrize is a busy time for our humble adobe. This year we’re hosting both families and a one night stay by my cousin/his girlfriend. Never have our guest sheets been washed so much or our air mattress remained inflated for so long. As for the art I’d give it a solid B. There didn’t seem to be as much big art outside, and what I did see this year seemed to be strangely similar to what I’ve seen in years past—pencil drawings, animals made of silverware, jewels dangling from fishing line to create a 3D scene, large quiltwork/painted landscapes and of course a Moses mural that was poorly done but still made a top 25 list because #biblebelt.   Aside from the art I took my family to the outlet mall (a hit), The Old Goat restaurant (a flop) and Grand Valley’s main campus for some exploring. While my mom and I scoped out the new library the boys went indoor rock climbing. Yes, the boys, including my dad who scaled up that wall like it was no big deal. Color me impressed. ...

While in Milwaukee, I tried one of my pal Ashley ’s veggie spring rolls and Thai dipping sauce. And DANG. They were really good. There’s that crunch factor that’s really satisfying, the sweet nutty flavor of the dip and the fun factor of eating spring rolls. To be honest, I’m not totally sold on the spring roll rice paper. It’s a little rubbery and tasteless for me. Next time I find myself at the tail end of a beer and cheese bender (cough a la Milwaukee ) I’ll reach for this recipe—and maybe toss the rice wrappers aside and eat it as a salad. Since the recipe is from a Healthy Grocery Girl video , here it is in written form: Raw Veggie Spring Rolls with Almond Thai Dip Ingredients Rice paper spring roll wrappers (I found these in the Asian shelf section of my grocery store) Romain lettuce Red bell peppers Carrots Cucumber Purple cabbage 1 cup canned coconut milk 1/2 cup almond butter 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup lime juice 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon garlic...

I’m gonna make a bold statement here: Milwaukee is the new Chicago. Our double-date trip to Wisconsin was so, so worth the drive. We packed so much into our two days and three nights… …we circled around a sketchy part of town convinced our AirBnB was a boarded up duplex. …we rejoiced when we found out we finally found our bungalow on the east end of the street, not the west end. …we toured and tasted beer at Lakefront Brewery where Ben formed an addiction to their pumpkin lager. …we ate face-sized hot pretzels and played hammerschlagen —a hammer-nails-into-a-tree-stump bar game at The Old German Beer Hall . …we explored The Safe House , a spy-themed bar/restaurant with a secret entrance and hidden/spooky exit that made both me and Ashley scurry out of like frightened cats.   …we drove through an old mansion-packed neighborhood, debating which were still single family homes and which were split up apartments, and walked around a marina/park with...