Happy Birthday Mattingly!

Happy 5th Birthday man!

How has your day been?  What have you done?

Do you remember all of these pictures?

Hopefully Katy and I can come see you soon!

Love you Mattingly!

Birthday Ideas *Update

1. Flight to NYC for a couple day trip to wander and shop and tour 

2. Flight to Chicago for a couple day trip to wander and shop and tour 

3. LV Cabas V Tote. It's from the 2012 Mens Spring Fashion Show if I remember correctly.

What would happen if I could get my hands on this tote?  This would be the ultimate statement bag, something I'd use every day carrying to work.  The Gaston V logo would be awesome to have making me known but only to those who know LV.  If not, I can always hope for the F/W bags from the fashion show next time this year.  This look like this.  :)

This bag.  

All of these. 

This coat.

This bag.

More unique, less usable but this bag. 

This makes me want a cape.  This is supposedly part of the women's collection next fall.  And this makes me want a cape.  I'd wear this even though it's women's.  And it's something I'd buy all of you.

This was from F/W 2012. And I'd wear that in a heart beat.  

And since I'm cold all the time you know as well as I do that I'd wear it. 

Masai Rug

At training in NYC I was decorated with a Masai rug folded and styled on my like this one on the right. The pattern is different, the one that connects to the link above.

Well, what else could I possibly want.

Gift Card to Martin Patrick 3
Gift Card to Black Blue
Gift Card to Len Druskin
Gift Card to Nordstrom

I mean this pretty much covers it.  There's so many other things I would want or take but it's mostly a time identified by me at a fairly specific time and place.

Gant Rugger, Tommy Hilfiger, J.Crew, Billy Reid, Todd Snyder, Band of Outsiders, Shipley and Halmos, ...

A plane ticket to run a road race somewhere--Chicago, New York, Connecticut, Boston...
A trip to watch the NYC Marathon in the fall?

A MacBook Air

Tons of money for a new car for Katy in the fall.
I want this, Jeep Wrangler 4x4.  Katy probably doesn't.  :)

Who knew your son, brother, friend and stranger would be this high end luxury driven and interested.  

Tell me if you guessed it.  Or if you saw it somewhere in childhood or adult hood.  

2012 and other news

As usual I thought I did something wrong or a client was calling to chew me out.  

This time it was different.  

This time Katie called with responsibility news.  I'll be heading to California for three days at the end of February for some Leathergoods business meetings!  That was a fun thing to hear; I'll be able to meet more LV employees and see how well I can relay information, tasks, business and more to Katie!  I'm looking forward to it but am nervous for it too.  It's a good amount though.  When I was in college we used to say if you weren't nervous before a race, no matter big or small, you didn't care enough about it.  I think the same applies here.  

2012 Review

How cool is it that Katy and I both got new jobs this year within the span of a month.  

Now if the next step happens in the next couple of years for each of us maybe we won't have to retire at age 78.  

I don't think about retiring much but at some point we might want to have some money put away for it.  I'm not saying we don't.  I'm just saying ensuring we're okay is important.  

I didn't run any road races.  Lame.  Loserish.  But I got a new Garmin watch in 2013!  Because the last one I had just died.  Thanks to REI for taking care of that.  

I didn't have many written goals.  This year I might have more.  I'll just need to put them where I see them.  

I must read more.  I must write more.  Wait is this becoming my goal list?  

Randomness over.  This was a short year in review.  Really I'm just sitting at Dunn Bros.

  

We're Alive

Hello 2013.

Katy and I are alive.  In fact we are alive and well.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Bob & Deb, Bob's mom Gerry, Josh, Laura & Malin and Bopa.  It was a great mix of family and relaxing.

I will try to get better at blogging.  What kills me is the loading of pictures and the time it takes up.

I didn't work until 1pm the day after Thanksgiving so it was quite the normal day.  In fact, the season was quite normal except for the last ten days which got pretty intense.  But we had many more intense days at Herbs throughout the season.  And now, they're doing inventory.  And that's nasty compared to ours.

Christmas Eve was great.  I enjoyed two four day weeks back to back.  At Herbs it was 5 long days each week.  We were again at Bob and Debs with the same group of people.

I am still into fashion.  Style.  Big time brands and unique clothing.  I need to get a blogging and twitter thing going.  I'd love to explore retail consulting.  But I need to know more.  I'm still apprehensive about becoming a "store manager" or something like that.  Nothing will prep me.  You just have to do it.  I've found that there is no being prepared in a job.  You just get entrusted to doing it and you have to come through.  I just want to know someone knows I can do the job or will be there to back me up.

I want to curate something.  Decide on what is cool and what is not.  Be credible or something.  

That is a jumbled up paragraph.

Should I run Grandma's marathon?  OR Twin Cities?

Will anyone volunteer with me at Twin Cities in Motion?

Should I get an MBA or a new job.  Or what classes should I take to gain knowledge and confidence.

Confidence is huge.  Teach your kids to be confident.  Somehow.  Failure is not bad.  Getting it right and progress is just fine.  Don't take critique personally.  How early you can do that in high school and college effects that.

Katy is busy with work at work and at home.  But she is killing it.  I think she's doing a great job right now.  I love her for all the work she does.  It's wonderful to see.  It makes me want to keep up.

But another life lesson comes out here.  I don't take life competitively.  Why?  I wasn't taught that.  I was taught to be competitive with sports and select activities in life.  How can you be competitive in life?  That must make life suck. Or stressful.  And you know what?  Look at my face when I get stressed out.  Exactly.  Pick and choose your "life competition."

2013.  Gotta go make a list of things to get done.  

Chicago October

Once again Paul and I semi-spontaneously committed to Chicago.  For a day.

For the second year in a row Paul and I decided to make and take a day trip to Chicago.  And at the last minute we were able to add our chief financial officer-Lance.  

Spirit took us there nickel and diming us all the way.  It wasn't all that bad but if we stayed more than a day the costs would add up for packing a bag to carry on, to check, to print your boarding pass, to buy your ticket online.  It was a great price but then again, Paul said, if we booked the tickets at the counter at MSP we could have saved even more!  Well, maybe next time I scoot from work to buy tickets.  

So we went with no plans.  Plans were to be found.  I have had plans to shop Chicago for months so that's what I wanted to do.  But since I recruited Paul as the logistics coordinator and booking expert I had to broaden my horizon.  

After a few days of thinking plans found us.  We decided a train trip from O'Hare to Clark and Lake (I think but I'd have to check with our logistics coordinator) and from there jump on the red line to Addison.  We found our way up the red line to Wrigley and enjoyed a two hour tour of the old ballpark.  

I must say that Wrigley Field is in need of some updates.  The halls are narrow, old, stark and cold.  The press box looks and feels ancient.  In fact, you can see the wear on the tables where the typewriters were just lifted out and stored for the winter.  The locker room thinks baseball players are no bigger than 6'2" and 205 pounds.  And there's not much room to expand.  So, we know CC Sabathia will never sign with them for the clubhouse alone.  He doesn't fit.  

However, the tour as a whole was very enjoyable, interesting and informational.  It was fun to see the grassless field as they were leveling the field and doing maintenance before winter.  

After the tour we took the red line back to the loop where we eventually found Chick-fil-A for lunch.  It was the first time I'd been to one and it was good.  Soon they'll be open in Coon Rapids.  

Then I took over as the pseudo-entertainment coordinator.  

We hit the Louis Vuitton store just off of Michigan Avenue, took a look at the Kusama windows and went in.  Katie told a manager there, Preston, that I was coming so I stopped in and introduced myself to him.  It was nice to see the store, meet Preston, and understand a little bit more about Louis Vuitton.  

We also went to SuitSupply.  It's a great looking, newly opened, well merchandised store from the Netherlands.  It was apparently in the space that was formerly occupied by Barney's corporate offices.  So the "penthouse" really attracted to Paul's and Lance's lifestyle.    

I also dragged Paul and Lance silently kicking and screaming to Zara, Gap to see the GQxBest New Menswear Designers in America, AllSaints, Haberdash, CityTarget, Ralph Lauren, Bottega Veneta, J.Crew, Topshop/Topman and probably more I'm not remembering.      

After the afternoon of shopping we hit the green line to Oak Park where we called on Emily and Eric to pick us up.  Luckily, Eric was available and he took us on a quick tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright neighborhood before we ate Giordano's deep dish and apple crisp that Eric made.  

As always it was fun to see Eric and Emily and it was especially fun to play with Edie and have her excited to see me.  Ella played it cool and had to finish an episode on the iPad before saying hi to me. 

I must say, it is something that I should do every other month or at least 3-4 times a year with how fun and easy it is.  It felt like we were gone for a couple days, packing more of the punch into a short time.  

I think Lance and Paul had a good time and that we'll have to anti up to do it more often, make it more of a routine and see E4 more!  And get my hands on some great fashion.  :) 

And another visit by family & friends

Last weekend, the 5-7th of October was a fun one!  

Mom & Dad came in for Bethel Alumni events and for homecoming and a 40 year reunion.  We were able to enjoy Old Chicago with them on Thursday night before they were off and running with their plans.  

Friday night Katy and I went to Bethel for her own five year college reunion.  It was a night of small food, snacking and chatting with some of her classmates.  They also organized a small program which took up a little bit of the evening but it was mostly chatting, socializing in smaller groups.  

I appreciated that it was more informal and more chances to mingle with more people than mine was, as it was a more formal table style meal, but she didn't nearly have as many people turn out as my five year reunion.  Nonetheless it was nice for Katy to catch up with a few friends.  

Saturday was a very nice day to get things done around the house.  Katy and I went to Ace Hardware in the morning for their second fall festival.  That's where I won the leaf blower last year.  This year I think we registered to win a yard treatment package.  But we bought a couple things to help me trim some branches away from the driveway so they don't fall down a few a day for the whole fall and winter.  It was annoying last year to pick up all of the weak, dead and dying branches during a rainstorm or snowstorm.  

However, the highlight of the morning at Ace Hardware might have been the petting zoo!  It was quite the attraction.  They had a camel, donkey, goat, bunnies, snakes, small alligators and probably a couple other things but the highlight was the kangaroo and the nine month old bear!  As we were walking there I was looking at the animals and as we got closer I was like, "is that a black bear!?"  It was awesome watching it.  We talked with Mike, the owner, for a few minutes before heading in and finding a few things to pick up.  I only hope that his event has been a success not only from a community aspect but from a business perspective as well.  I know I appreciate seeing him drive in and out of work as he's always one to wave and smile on the way by.  

Saturday afternoon we got together with Paul and Lance.  We then met up with Kristine and Liz who came in from Michigan and Texas (and the world), as well as Laura and Abby.  We thoroughly enjoyed a night at Brasa as it was a first for everyone except me, Katy and Paul.  

After Brasa we went to Old Chicago for dessert and a couple drinks and another place to hang out and catch up.  We unofficially and officially made plans to take a trip to Las Vegas next spring to hang out and have fun.  I think that would be a blast to hit Las Vegas with college friends!  We'll see if it happens!

We met up with Kristine and Liz again on Sunday morning (with Lance and Paul) to enjoy a few more minutes and some Breuggers and Caribou before they both took off for home.  It was great to see them.  

After that-Katy and I hit the Twin Cities Marathon and watched the marathon finishers for a few hours. Unfortunately, we missed the TC 10 Mile though.  

Later on Sunday, we watched football and then welcomed Mom and Dad in for the night.  We went to eat at Granite City and hung out at home for a little bit before Monday morning work arrived.  

It's nice having an extra room available and it's proven to be very useful this summer.  I feel like we've had a steady stream of visitors since July and it's been fun!  

A Weekend With Megan

Catching all of no one up; Megan visited two weekends ago and we had a good time visiting with her and Myla.

She landed in the afternoon and I met Meg, Myla and Katy at the Mall of America for dinner.  We enjoyed some good food at Crave.

Saturday I had to work during the day but after work we ate dinner at Noodles, enjoyed a malt from Snuffy's and watched a movie to hang around at home.

Sunday we went to church and had a great afternoon hanging out and celebrating at Heidi's wedding.

It was alot of fun having her here and it was fun seeing Myla even though she didn't really warm up to me at all.

Reference the pictures that Megan put up on Facebook to see how the wedding went.

Thanks for coming Megan!