Black Out

If you were paying close attention to the shots from our Fabulous Mad Men Themed Birthday Extravaganza of the Year (that's what the associated press are calling it I bet) then you may have caught a glimpse of  our latest project.

After much debate and countless hours of staring at the walls and trying to decide what that room was missing, we went for it.  We painted the dining room black.  Why you ask?  Well, no one really knows for sure, but it seemed like a good idea.

It was a heavily debated decision, especially because I initially thought the room needed black and white horizontal stripes.

I now realize that was more than likely a slight error in judgement.

It took a while but we (and when I say "we" I mean "Evan") got started and painted the entire room white.  We (I was involved in this) taped up some paper stripes.  We stared at them.  Took them down and rearranged them.  I wasn't convinced.  For a moment I thought the room could just stay white.

But that moment was fleeting.

In the end, we had the black paint and we decided to just go for it.

We started with one wall...

Then added another...

And then a lot more staring ensued.

The weekend of the party sneaked up on us and we decided to put the room back together.  We figured we could decide what to do with the remaining two walls later on.  But once everything was in place, we were kind of digging the half&half look and so for now, it stays.

(the view from the living room) 

(the other white wall)

A little crazy.  A little cool.  But a lot of fun for sure.

A Warm December

It was almost 60 degrees over the weekend and no one is complaining. We took full advantage of the amazing weather and hit the streets. Well, the street corner anyway.  One hour and 30 boxes later, it's safe to say there are benefits to living on a busy street.  Bam!  Cookie gangstas.  That's right.

Even bus drivers love Thin Mints!  

(And yes, in case you were wondering, Alex did tie me to my seat with banner flags.  Why wouldn't she?)

To complete the weekend we hit the ice terrace at Crown Center.  I've been taking Alex ice skating since she was 2!  That was then....

  This is now: 

In a little under 5 years she has learned to not be so angry when she has to take a break for ice resurfacing: 

But it does appear that she still rules the world. 

And now it's Monday again, which normally I would be unhappy about, but the week is a short one and I'm off until after New Years so again, no complaining on our end!  Now, if only the weather will cooperate for a little bit longer..........

Real Friends. Fake Cigarettes.

We are huge Mad Men fans.  If you don't watch the show then you have no idea what you are missing and you'll have no idea why we look the way we look in the following photos.

For the past year or so we have been NetFlix-ing all four seasons with our good friends Erik & Stacey, almost every Wednesday night after the little one goes to bed.  We are all obsessed. So when we decided to help Stacey throw a surprise 30th birthday party for Erik, we knew a Mad Men theme would be a huge hit...at least for us.

We were a little nervous considering we didn't really know anyone on the guest list and we weren't sure if anyone actually watched the show or would dress the part, but we were pleasantly surprised!  Almost everyone dressed up and a good time was had by all.

Below are a few shots from one of the coolest events that we have ever hosted, complete with a whiskey bar, candy cigarettes and some pretty impressive powder-filled fake cigarettes along with a John Deere riding lawnmover.

Again if you don't watch the show, those things mean nothing to you, but either way, some highlights of the evening are below: