Summer of new beginnings

Over the course of four months, I’ve managed to handle a lot of life changes. I got married – twice! First, Amar and I were legally married on May 14 in Grand Rapids at gorgeous Frederik Meijer Gardens, and second, we got married at our traditional Indian wedding on July 9 at the Renaissance in Schaumburg (photos to come). I spent time with family and friends at my lovely bridal shower in Naperville. My family and I flew to New Jersey for our wedding garba. We had an incredible time in Greece for our honeymoon. Most recently, we moved to a new two-bedroom apartment in downtown Grand Rapids that has far more space and light. We love it.

Our wedding on May 14, 2016. Photo by Dionel Fisher of The MittenTog.

Today, August 11, marks three months of me living in Grand Rapids. All of our spring and summer celebrations meant lots of trips to Naperville, Chicago, New Jersey and Michigan. In between all the excitement and traveling, I haven’t had a tremendous amount of time to focus on Grand Rapids and getting adjusted. Considering past experiences, the best way for me to do this is through experiences, developing my own connections and taking time for myself. Recently, I’ve truly immersed myself in this community.

On June 28, I attended my first social for new members of Junior League of Grand Rapids. I was nervous prior to going because it’s so much easier to stay in your comfort zone and not venture into the unknown. But I knew, the longer I delayed meeting this new group of women, the longer I was putting off making this transition. I am so pleased to report that I had a great time. We were at Brewery Vivant, a brewery near The Rapidian’s office on Wealthy Street. I had some authentic conversations with the women in attendance. I got the chance to introduce myself and share my story. And, I had fun.

This past weekend, I had another chance to socialize with prospective League members and other transfer members like myself. We had a social at Le Bon Macaron where we sampled macarons while sipping iced coffee.

Macarons at Le Bon Macaron during a Junior League of Grand Rapids social on August 6, 2016.

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Last week, I spoke to a League member here who helped place me on an official committee. I’m excited that I’m serving on the Community Impact committee. We already had our first meeting and are pursuing a new project pertaining to JLGR’s project – children’s physical health.

In addition to digging into Junior League of GR, I’m getting immersed in a number of projects taking place at the Community Media Center and at The Rapidian. We are preparing for a series of social and community events, beginning with our Intro to Community Journalism on August 18. Getting a chance to lead meetings, develop a curriculum for our programs and attend manager’s meetings have all been incredible learning and growing experiences. Our events are also a ton of fun! Meet the Editor Night, held on June 23, also at Brewery Vivant, was a huge success. I hope for a similar feel and environment at our upcoming events.

Grand Rapids is slowly growing on me. As Amar and I develop our own routine and rhythm, it helps me feel like this is home. We are having more and more fun local experiences, completely unique to this town. We were in the neighborhood near his office on our way to run errands recently and stopped for a fabulous Italian meal at Licari’s Pizza Kitchen, complete with mint chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert.

Mint chocolate chip cheesecake from Licari’s Pizza Kitchen on August 3, 2016.

We went to the Gaslight Village neighborhood for a while and I sat outside and read my book on a park bench. We’ve also embraced a Sunday night tradition of late night pizza from Grand Rapids Pizza Delivery, which happens to be across the street from our new apartment.

I’m already plotting out our fall adventures in Michigan. The state is beautifully adorned in leaves and trees of every color each fall. It’s truly postcard worthy. As I know from the past, each memory I create here helps ground me to this place and connect me to this community. So far, we have volunteering scheduled on our calendar and ArtPrize, a huge gathering of art and artists from around the world that turns the city of Grand Rapids into one giant gallery. Last year, I only had one weekend while visiting to take in as much art and community as I could. This year, I’m already looking forward to gaining far more from the experience. After all, I’m a Grand Rapidian now.