Thursday, March 21, 2019

An Evening with Michael Bublé

I've wanted to see Michael Bublé in concert for a long time.  I even told Jimmy last fall that it would be a must see if he ever toured again.  The very next day, he announced a new round of shows.  He wasn't too interested in going, so I texted my friend Rachel to see if she would be interested.  Little did I know, she was already making plans to attend with her friend Amy, and she let me tag along.  We met for dinner at The Downtowner, then walked to Xcel Energy Center.  We were just to the right of the stage about 15 rows up.
 There was a large area for an orchestra, which made sense one I saw it.
 The "MB" sign turned out to be a video board that moved up and down and tilted back depending on the song.
 He spoke for a bit after the first few songs.  He shared that Minnesota was his favorite place to play (and he isn't lying because YouTube would call him out!)  He said it's because we are most like home (he's from Vancouver, Canada) and we are so hospitable.  He told a couple other stories and was a lot funnier than I thought.  He definitely made a big arena feel small and intimate, it was a great night!

Friday, March 15, 2019

Let there be light : Redeux!

Way back on 2012, we had recessed lighting installed in the basement of our old house.  One of the main pain points in our new house was the lack of ceiling lights.  None of the bedrooms or living room had them, so we were living with lamps.  It's functional, but not ideal.  The same friend, Travis, came over with another guy to install 6 can lights in our living room, a ceiling fan in the master, chandelier in Esme's room and ceiling lights in the laundry room and Parker's room.
 It was really fun to come home to a fully lit house!  Jimmy had to get some fancy bulbs for our living room.  They can be programmed to any white color temperature, brightness, and configuration.
We've already integrated them in to our Apple Home system, so they are a part of our coming home routine.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

February and March 2019 Hodgepodge

I've been slacking on blog posts as of late.  Life just keeps getting in the way.  Here are some other highlights from the last month.  We hit up Fogo de Chao for restaurant week at the end of February.  For $35 you get the full salad bar, most of the meats, and a dessert.  We've been doing this for a few years, but our friends, Brian and Rachel, joined us this time.
My work hosted a team building escape room event.  We had drinks and appetizer's at Lela, then had two teams at Escape Frenzy in Edina. My team completed the CSI room with time to spare and the other team was just one step away from completing the pirate room.  It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.
 Parker had a rough day last weekend, so I took him to SkyZone to burn off some energy.  It was my first time seeing it in person.  He had a blast jumping in the foam pit and just running around in general.
This week has been kicking our butts already as well.  Esme has a gnarly tummy bug, so I stayed home Monday, Jimmy was off Tuesday, and we tried daycare today. 
She ended up having a big blow-out just as we were headed to the dentist and the whole afternoon and evening were a HOT MESS!  I hope she will be on the upward swing soon and that she doesn't pass it on.

Saturday, March 2, 2019

T-Shirt Frenzy

I also just realized I never shared all the other shirts I may for the holidays.  I added some more recent ones as well.  We adopted a family for Christmas and I was so excited to make them shirts.  She is a single mom of two boys with one on the way.
I got the kids some plain striped Christmas pajamas and I added "Merry" and "Bright".
I offered up a custom made shirt for the youth group white elephant Christmas party and the lucky lad chose a 20-sided dice shirt.  This was a fun one to make.
I've been eyeing this Holiday Workout one for a few years and decided it would be a great option for Jimmy's family Christmas exchange.
My mom requested this one for my dad.  I chose a neutral color since this can be applicable all year long.
The next one was for my co-worker, Tyler, and his wife.  He mentioned this phrase to me and I immediately thought of the design.  It could be customized with any kind of dog.
A close family friend, Laurie, requested this one for her husband.
I made this one for my Secret Santa at work.  She listed "being magical" as one of her hobbies, so this was a perfect gift.
I made this one for myself.  I love that it is festive and highlights the real meaning of Christmas.
I made this face mask shirt for Parker and will be making one on a neon yellow shirt for my dad.
I used a retro Vikings font to make these Minneapolis skyline shirts for Jimmy and myself.
I took a break for a couple months and then added two new designs for church and Not For Sale.  The first will be for the Honduras mission trip team this summer and the second is for Yoro.  This was a prototype and we will be adding " redeemed" below the silhouette.
It was really fun making so many shirts in such a short time frame, but the break was nice.  Things look to be ramping up again for spring and summer!