Grand Rapids, Michigan

The next day of our Michigan sojourn was spent in Grand Rapids. The only thing I knew about the city before visiting was that my Mom went to college there. We ended up driving by the school at one point.

We started our day by walking around the extensive Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. I loved the juxtaposition of natural, plant life with man-made sculptures. There were so many amazing pieces throughout the gardens!

This sculpture is by Kiki Smith. The name immediately sounded familiar and it's because one of her pieces, Wolf Girl, was shown in a Gilmore Girls episode. I also featured Wolf Girl at my Gilmore Girls themed birthday party.

After the Gardens, we headed to Robinette's Apple Haus for lunch. Walking in, it smelled amazing from all the apple cider donuts and other goodies. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed sitting outside at one of their picnic tables and did some people-watching. Later my mom was telling us she would go here for lunch while in college.

Easy Scrapbooking: Gilmore Girls Birthday

As you all know, my 30th birthday party was a Gilmore Girls theme.

For the scrapbook spread I used a yellow patterned paper that reminded me of Luke's Diner. The umbrella paper was another one that I have been holding on to for years. I bought it because it was very cute, but I did not have an intended purpose for it. It works great for a Gilmore Girls theme. One of the most iconic or popular episodes of Gilmore Girls is when Rory discovers the Life & Death Brigade and jumps off a tower while holding an umbrella (also harnessed, by the way).

In keeping with the Life & Death Brigade, I used their motto and a quote from that episode in lieu of a title.

A visit to Stars Hollow

Another reason I wanted to visit SoCal is to step into the world of Stars Hollow. I saw a post on Pinterest once that said "Visit Stars Hollow" and linked to the WB Studio Tour. I knew I had to go!

The Starbucks barista at the WB lot spelled my name right!

The WB Studio Tour is pretty cool and very informative. Our guide, Jose, was excellent and pointed out all the cool things about the studio lot. You can tell he loves movies and TV. Before coming on this tour I felt like I watched a lot of TV. That was not the feeling afterward.

Well, because they are in the midst of filming the Gilmore Girls revival for Netflix we were not able to see as much of Stars Hollow as I hoped. I was pleased with the small parts I did see--Luke's diner and Lorelei's house and car.

Just a small piece of Luke's Diner

This was the Pie Hole from Pushing Daisies at one point

Everything was Batman vs Superman theme for the new release

The prop house

I've never really watched Friends, but this photo op was a must.

Oscars are quite heavy!

We also went to Medieval Times! We had the blue knight. He ended up dying, but he lasted awhile. It was a fun show and good food!

Gilmore Girls Party: Coffee Punch

Coffee is a must at any Gilmore Girls party. They drink it morning, noon and night on the show! I am not personally a fan of black coffee, so I knew I had to make something a little tastier with a coffee flavor. I came across a recipe for Coffee Punch in a cookbook I purchased around the holidays. It was a cookbook fundraiser for the Officer Spouses Club and it is filled with great beverages, appetizers, entrees and dessert recipes.

The punch is amazingly easy and so delicious. You just need a big container, a coffee maker and the ingredients. So simple a Gilmore Girl could make it.

Coffee Punch

Ingredients
1 pot of brewed coffee
1 gallon of vanilla ice cream
1 pint whipping cream

Directions
Make coffee.

Put ice cream in a punch bowl. Let it soften a bit. Put metal spoon in the bowl to keep punch bowl from cracking as you pour the hot coffee over the ice cream. Stir continuously and slowly add whipping cream to thicken.

Gilmore Girls Party: Burgers from Luke's

I love planning parties. One of my favorite things to pick out is the food that will be served. Pinterest has made this both easy and difficult. Easy in that a myriad of recipes are available at your fingertips. Difficult in that sometimes it is hard to choose because there are just sooooo many options out there!

In planning my Gilmore Girls 30th birthday party, food was a big consideration. The Gilmore Girls ate so much junk food throughout the series. They also had the weekly Friday Night Dinners. Sooke St. James is a chef and made a bunch of delicious dishes. What to choose???

I knew immediately that burgers of some kind would have to be made. They ate countless burgers at Luke's Diner. I saw a recipe for easy cheeseburger sliders and this was the perfect chance to try it out!

Luke's Cheeseburger Sliders

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
1/4 cups oatmeal (or seasoned bread crumbs)
3/4 cup chopped onions (I just used dried onions from the spice aisle because I hate chopping onions)
1/2 t garlic or regular salt
1 package Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls
6 slices cheese of your choice

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine beef, oatmeal, onions and salt. Gently press mixture in a 9x13 inch pan so that it makes one large patty of even thickness. Poke holes throughout the meat using a fork (I forgot to do this and it turned out fine). Bake for 30 minutes. As it bakes, the meat will shrink away from the sides and the liquid will accumulate around the edges of the pan.

When fully cooked, remove pan from the oven (keep oven turned on) and carefully drain off the liquid.

Top the meat with an even layer of sliced cheese; return pan to oven for about 2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes. Cut into 2 inch squares (or the size of the buns used).

Gilmore Girls Party: Founder's Day Punch

Every Gilmore Girls fan knows that a beverage staple at any social gathering would be Miss Patty's Founder's Day Punch. The show never mentions what exactly is in this infamous punch, but it is filled with alcohol and is quite powerful.

There is a recipe on Pinterest, but I didn't end up using it. I had rum in the cabinet, so I thought I would make a rum punch instead. I found a great recipe from Hopelessly Ever After.

Caribbean Rum Punch

Ingredients
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
1/4 cup grenadine
1 1/2 to 2 cups rum
1 cup Sprite
1/4 cup triple sec (I omitted this)

Directions
Mix all ingredients, except Sprite, together in large pitcher. Top off pitcher with Sprite. Enjoy!

Where you lead, I will follow

I don't know if you know this about me, but I am a HUGE fan of Gilmore Girls. I have been watching the show pretty much since the beginning. I have seen the whole series at least 7 times since then. I am currently re-watching it on Netflix just for the heck of it. Even though I have watched it sooooo many times, I still laugh and cry. I have so many favorite moments from the show. When it ended, a hole was left in my heart. I am BEYOND excited for the Revival.

One day Charles and I were driving "to town" (we live in the middle of nowhere) and I was thinking about my big 3-0 birthday. Charles had mentioned months before having a party for me. He was thinking we could do an Alice in Wonderland theme (another thing I love, love, love). But all of a sudden, while sitting staring out at almond trees, it hit me! I will have a Gilmore Girls themed 30th birthday party! It was a moment of pure genius.

Thus work began on my party. And what I mean by that is I searched Pinterest for ideas. There were several ideas out there, so I'm not the only super-fan thinking along these lines. Check out my Pinterest board.

Gotta have the Luke's Diner sign

No Cell Phones, of course

Fun graphic with a bunch of Gilmore Girl quotes

 I think I was the ONLY person at my party who got this. Wolf Girl! If you can't remember, Richard & Emily gave this piece of art to Lorelei and Christopher after they got married as a wedding present.

I love this graphic! It shows the numerous jobs Kirk held over the series.

I made Pro/Con lists for each of Rory's boyfriends. Everyone voted on which they liked best. #TeamJess did not win, but he's my favorite!

My photo backdrop. I had to incorporate snow somewhere!

Harvard vs. Yale with life lessons from the show

Not quite 1,000 yellow daisies, but it's the thought that counts.

I feel like if fruit were skewered, the Gilmore Girls would eat more of it.

We enjoyed some mini cheeseburgers. They probably were not as good as Luke's, but on Hawaiian rolls almost anything is amazing.

For our beverages, we enjoyed Founder's Day Punch (aka rum punch) and Coffee Punch. The coffee punch was DELICIOUS! I'll share the recipe soon.

My cake was super chocolately and yummy! In the middle was a layer of straight up chocolate fudge. I think I just gained a few pounds thinking back on the deliciousness of it.

My gal pals and me

Me and my "Luke". I'll have you know he purchased this flannel shirt just because of my party. He's so sweet. And my shirt is pretty awesome, too. I ordered it from the WB shop.