Pre Birthday Bash

Ki loves hotels. He gets so excited when we get to go to a big city or a beach somewhere and stay in a hotel. This past weekend we surprised him with a little "get away" (only about 10 miles away from our house) for his birthday. There is a new aloft hotel in Leawood that is very trendy and really out of the norm for that area, I don't think I saw one Van Dyke Brown wall or Espresso colored matching tables or wrought iron spindles anywhere. Lots of cool decor and best of all....a pool.

We started the day at a holiday kids fest that had blow up jump play things, live kids music, and all the rude stroller pushing militant horribly dressed worn out suburban moms you could ever wish to see. He jumped and played and danced and got free candy and other swag and I kept a lookout for these evil four wheeled carts full of whiny children that kept running into my ankles.

Next stop was the hotel. As we pulled into the parking garage he got sooooo excited and said " YES! We are staying at a hotel!" We checked in, got our room, people watched for a half hour or so, went swimming for a while (really cool raised infinity type edge pool all the way around might I add), then got ready and went to one of his favorite places California Pizza Kitchen. Went back to the hotel and played some pool and then after about an hour or so and a 30 degree drop in the weather we remembered there was a new gellato place that opened up so we got bundled back up and finished the evening with some awesome gellato.

It was a fun day and he really enjoyed every minute of it. Happy Pre Birthday dude.

Artsy Weekend

This past weekend we went back to the homeland for what we thought was just a baby shower on Sunday but quickly turned into a packed day and a half.

We got a call from my sister in law saying that our niece was one of three to be selected to do chalk art drawings for an art and jazz fest on the uptown streets. They ranged from kindergarten to high school and then a few older area professional artists also contributed. It was amazing to see how some of these artists manipulated the chalk with brushes and water. Really cool.

Here is my niece showing off her artwork. I believe she called it Upside Down City or something similar to that.

This was one of the older participants. His use of shading was incredible.

Then there was this character. I had no idea what he created, however he was killing it in his bib overalls with no undershirt. Top notch artistry. 

There were tons of street vendors and of course Ki had to get his face painted which did turn out really cool. He sat there so patient and so still except for his hands which he kept lightly clapping in anticipation.

Here he is helping Gi Gi make a peach pie. A few of his teeth got wiped away after a few drinks and the classic shirt sleeve wipe

I guess Sunday wasn't all that busy. The guys hung out and watched football and let the boys swim while the ladies went to the shower. Oh and one more thing...I helped my brother in law make his first batch of American Wheat Beer. Very cool and involved process which smelled fantastic as everything boiled and cooked. Can't wait to bottle it up and enjoy it around a fire this fall.

We're back home and worn out but it was a lot of fun and relaxing at the same time.

So Looking Forward To This

This is going to be awesome, and they are super excited and pumped about it. KC needs this. Classic styles and no embellished back pocket flared out denim, graphic dragon climbing over your shoulder button downs....you get the idea. Just well thought out classic one white rivet american made style.

Baldwin Men's Shop from Baldwin on Vimeo.

Thank You Kansas City....Goodnight!

So for this holiday season, Standard Style a locally owned and operated clothing boutique, had a holiday give away each day leading up to Christmas. Guess what..... I freaking won!! I rarely ever win anything, an occasional free lottery ticket, maybe a free carwash because I spend a million dollars a year on cleaning my cars, or my once a summer golf outing when my foursome is so hungover that I get to win only because I was somewhat responsible the previous evening.

So what did I win you ask. A pair of Baldwin denim and an Ever hoodie. The denim are made by a company started by the owner of Standard right here in KC. The hoodie is a somewhat limited run that they won't even have in stock (or so I was told). Regardless it was a very generous gift that I was really impressed with. It's a way cool place with way cool people, so thanks Standard and Merry Christmas.

Rockin Rob.......tweet, tweet, tweet.

Ki has a little buddy from school who's dad plays little concerts for kids. At first it sounds kind of hokey and cheesy, much like the dreaded kids bop cd's. It is actually quite the opposite. He does sing and play the traditional kids songs, but with a cool upbeat twist and alternate arrangement. He's a super cool dude that truly enjoys what he does and really gets the kids involved.

Anyhow, Saturday he played a little show for his cd release party at a little winery in town. We got to witness his energy and watch the kids get completely wrapped up in the music. Cool stuff for a music lover like myself. We also got to taste some local wines that were brewed up basically in our backyard. Check him out at http://www.rockinrobsings.com/.

" Make it work people "

So on saturday Misty found out about a runway show that was being put on by Standard Style Boutique, a fashion forward clothing store in Leawood. From 1 - 6 they had a small carnival for the kids with a ferris wheel, face painting, and those big inflatable jump around things. All this was free mind you and I think they did a really cool job of " making it work ". At 8 p.m. the adult version of the party started. As you walked into the entrance a back drop flanked with sponsers names and a red carpet greeted you as well as paparazzi snapping pictures of the red carpet entrances. ( OK I made the paparazzi thing up, it was just one guy who took only one picture and we didn't even get to see how it turned out. ) All of this was accompanied by a gift bag filled with the sponsors advertising propaganda, cool none the less. Many of the areas restaurants supplied appetizer type food with the areas beverage companies keeping everyone relaxed and feeling good. The runway show called " AMUSE - A Fashionable Circus " started around 9:30 or so and this is when it got really cool. Great electronic music with an awesome back drop, cool lights, and very dramatic looking models. The runway seamlessly turned into a modern day circus with contortionists, fire jugglers, aerial & dance performances, body tattoos and a whole lot more than one could see in a 3 hour window. The venue was great, the kids carnival was great, runway great, music...well you get the picture. Standard if you ever read this, you guys put on an amazing show!!!!!

The only thing missing was Tim Gunn from Project Runway saying " Make it work people. "