Hello, I am Annie! I am a married, working mom of two (soon to be three!) boys. I was born in Detroit, raised in Northern Michigan and moved back to the Detroit area after high school. In 2007 my boyfriend and I decided to get adventurous and move to Las Vegas. We lived there for eight years and loved it. We married there, had two babies and decided that we wanted to be closer to family while raising our kids. After a lot of thought and many hours of discussion… we came home.
When we made the decision to move back to Michigan, I wasn’t exactly sure about where we would end up. Prior to moving to Nevada, we had bounced all over the metro Detroit area. I had lived in Sterling Heights, Fenton, and had spent a lot of time with extended family in Livonia. My husband grew up in Roseville and had lived in Clinton Township. Together we had rented houses in Hazel Park, Madison Heights, and Rochester Hills. There were a lot of great possibilities but we had been gone a long time! Not only were we unsure about changes that may have occurred to some of our favorite areas, we also weren’t sure about how those areas fit in with our new lifestyle. When we left we were “just dating” twenty-somethings and now we were tired, married people with two small children. We also had to think about how far away we wanted to live from our places of work, and where we would find daycare for our boys. Just the thought of choosing a house online was giving me nightmares.
As things have a way of doing, it all kind of fell into place when a family member’s rental property became available right at the time we were moving. We had been to the house before and knew it would work for us.
So, we became residents of Eastpointe. It has been less than a year but we’ve already found a few little gems around us:
Urban Seed…
Is a cute little urban garden on 9 mile. We walked through a number of times last summer just to see what was growing. There are beds that are private and beds that are public, plus tons of fresh produce available for free. I love seeing what others chose to grow. There are flower beds, herb gardens and of course vegetables. Urban Seed accepts donations and gardening supplies, but there is no charge to walk around. Plus, you can skip a trip to the grocery store for tomatoes and carrots!
Eastgate Early Learning Center
Technically in Roseville, located on Gratiot in Bethel Baptist Church, we found Eastgate while searching for affordable, reliable childcare. Our boys have gone there for nine months so far and couldn’t love it more. Every teacher is friendly, caring and fun. They supply nutritious food including breakfast, lunch and two snacks. The teachers were very supportive of potty training efforts and they always help enforce good manners and friendly behavior. In addition to pizza parties, holiday activities and crafts, Eastgate also teaches “awareness” topics in a fun way such as fire safety week and dental health week. Our three year old has learned so much and we have complete peace of mind knowing our babies are well taken care of.
Cloverleaf
My husband’s family has been eating at this restaurant for years. They have one of the best pizzas in Metro Detroit (well, in my opinion!) and a great selection of other menu items if pizza isn’t your thing. Cloverleaf offers a lunch buffet, a nice bar area and banquet areas for small functions like bridal and baby showers.
East Detroit Bakery
Conveniently located at the end of my street, East Detroit Bakery is so good I wish it was farther away! Doughnuts, pound cakes, bread, bagels, pastries, cheesecake… oh, the list goes on and on. They have coffee and other drinks available as well as deli meats and cheeses. There is seating if you want to enjoy there or if you are worried about embarrassing yourself, you can take your treats home. Don’t go in too hungry!
Lake St. Clair
A perk of Eastside living is the water. Whether you have park passes, a fishing boat to launch from 9 mile pier, or just like to drive down Jefferson, Lake St. Clair is there to enjoy. It may not mean much to everyone, but living in the desert for eight years has made me very appreciative of water!
I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of things to do in our corner of Detroit’s East Side. I look forward to exploring more as time goes by. It is good to be home.
