Grand Rapids' Own Sparkling

The JW Marriott's six.one.six restaurant is proud to offer M. Lawrence's GR Demi-Sec Sparkling Wine. This is a fresh tribute to the city that continues to sparkle despite the economic woes of the state. This sparkling is soft and stylish and is a good representation of the emerging world-class wines from Michigan.

Pure Michigan Governor's Conference photo highlights

An Italian Gem in Kalamazoo

Zazio's inside the Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo deserves a lot of kudos for spearheading the restaurant resurgence in this college town 45 minutes south of Grand Rapids. This Italian eatery offers an extensive Italian wine list, a burst of bright colors for its interiors, a quaint lounge, an open kitchen and a very impressive chef's kitchen featuring stadium

Asian Gala Unites WM Asian Community

The West Michigan Asian community gathered for its second annual Asian Gala in the International Ballroom of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids.  It was a historic night for the community as the prominent Asian organizations in the area

The AIsle Seat: College visit a great excuse to explore

Typical Filipino breakfast

Read my monthly travel column in the Grand Rapids Press by clicking HERE. 

To view all the photos, just click below.

The Night James Taylor Brought Everything Back Home

Below is the concert review I wrote for GRNow.com. Click here to view the original article.

“ I must have written about 150 songs,” according to James Taylor as he addressed the largest capacity crowd in DeVos Performance Hall on Tuesday evening. “ I feel like I have written the same 5 types of songs 20 times,” as the crowd laughed in acknowledgement.  “ I love to write about songs about going home,” he noted.” From Carolina to

Salsa Pachanga Kicks Off the 2011 Dance Season

The JW Marriott Pachanga season officially kicked off last Saturday with Salsa Pachanga inside the International Ballroom. Several hundred guests came to support the CD-Release party of the JW's official Latin Band, Grupo Aye, who performed salsa and other Latin classics and some of their original composition. 

WYCE's Gabriella de la Vega emceed the first of quarterly Pachanga's hosted by the hotel. Laura Armenta of Armenta Studios headlined the dance component of the show with dance lessons and a Mexican salsa dance exhibition. Avanti

Lady Gaga Delivers A Monster Performance in Grand Rapids

March 1 will always be remembered as the night Lady Gaga turned this Midwest city upside down. It was an evening where the dark suits in jeans hob knobbed with tattoo artists in lingerie, salon keepers with giant bows with bank presidents, local style icons with Gaga make-up with soccer moms. To say that Grand Rapids hasn't arrived as a major entertainment destination is a true understatement. "G-Rap," as Lady Gaga said at the top of her lungs, "is the place to