I have lived in Detroit for  8 months now.  It has been a lot of fun and I have been to some really cool places.  However, this past month I stumbled upon some new treasures in the city.

West Village fun | Recently my mom and two of my sisters came to visit me in Detroit.  We ended up exploring in West Village, which I had not spent much time before.  The four of us started at Parker Street Market where we got some local honey, then stopped for cold brew coffee at Red Hook, looked through records at Paramita Sound, grabbed a smoothie at Vegan Soul and then ate some pie at Sister Pie.  Not only did these shops have a lot to offer in terms of products, but the people working at each of them were kind and helpful.  It was a perfect afternoon!

UFO Factory | My co-worker (and friend) Alyssa and I carpool to our office.  For the past 8 months, we have driven by a retro-looking building off of Michigan Avenue in Corktown called UFO Factory.  A few weeks ago we finally decided to check it out.  I’m glad we did!  The atmosphere is eclectic, classic and relaxed.  The bartender was kind and conversational.  We had a drink and some complimentary popcorn that was accompanied by “fun” seasoning, including some sort of Curry Powder.  We also found out that the UFO Factory does weekly movie screenings, which we definitely want to check out!  They are in the process of developing a food menu that will feature gourmet hot-dogs (which I am looking forward to!)

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit | My Challenge Detroit co-fellows and I recently had the opportunity to see the Mosaic Youth Theatre present The Tempest at the Detroit Film Theatre.  After the performance we got to talk with the Executive Director, Rick Sperling.  It was an incredible performance, filled with a lot of passion and professionalism.  I definitely recommend getting on their website and looking for their next performance.  Beyond the entertainment of their productions, the Mosaic Youth Theatre has a lot of heart.  giving youth from schools across Metro-Detroit a safe and fun space to be creative.