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...