I Heart SF! - Part 1

  It's been a few weeks since my visit to San Francisco - and we've been so busy, I haven't had a chance to share some of the great shopping and sites!
- Shopping - check!
- Eating - double check!
- President Obama was in town - it's true!
+ a tour of Chronicle Books HQ! So cool!

  Here is Part 1 of my San Fran trip highlights!

Walking *down the steep hills wasn't so bad.....it was the walking up that just about did me in.
For real: I almost died

The Painted Ladies!! The most famous row of houses ever!

LOVED all the San Fran Style homes - even this Barn roof style home was quirky and fun!
 PLUS! My favorite part = the sweet whale weather vane!

So much good food - including a quick lunch at Elsy's - a Salvadorian restaurant where I had my first Pupusa!
( a thick, hand-made corn biscuit-like flat bread that is stuffed with good stuff - Mine included carnitas + cheese!)

We grabbed some late night ice cream from Smitten  in Hayes Valley - an ice cream shop within a huge cargo-shipping container. The owner developed this great technology they call "kelvin" to make the BEST ice cream in 5 minutes. They keep it simple: only 3 flavors available at a time - I had Salted Carmel - YUM! - and it was packed with people! But the great part is, it's not a long wait, and you get to watch them concoct your batch right before your eyes! Only 3 - 6 ingredients total (depending on the flavor) and ALL locally sourced.

Random I know. In one shop, there was a little back room gallery space where I found this great needle-point sushi artwork. It made me smile :)

I picked these out for Kevin! A seemingly ordinary stool from the front & side - but Storm Trooper business in the back!

and I opened up a health spa - no. that's not true at all - but it's funny to see my name out there. I can't even find it on a souvenir shop key chain - so I take what I can get!

I did a lot of shopping while in SF - look for my I Heart SF! Part 2 and Part 3 posts soon!

Uninvited Guest @ The McBride's

  We've had a visitor! A few nights in a row, Kevin chased this little baby possum off of our deck. Not really knowing whether he might be a threat to our pups, especially new little Rigby, we didn't want to take any chances!

We learned online that:

  - Possums aren't dangerous unless you try to grab them

  - Possums have fleas! That is the biggest threat they pose to pets.

  He must have really liked our place  - despite all of the dog smells I guess - because, it finally took Kevin and Brian poking him with a stick (not hard! Just herding a little) out the side deck gate and out of the front yard. He was last seen going into the neighbor's yard across the street (not the cool neighbors, the mean lady neighbor - she's the one that last year yelled at Kevin for raking leaves "The Stupid Way" - and her garage was open, so hopefully he went in there)

 He's *kind of cute because he's a baby I guess. But kind of not cute too.

Can You Tell Me How To Get...How To Get To Owen's Birthday Party!

  We recently celebrated our nephew Owen's 2nd Birthday - and my sister-in-law, Anna, spared no detail when getting the Sesame Street theme *just right! Owen LOVES Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street crew - who knew their heads tasted so good? Anna's side business, Birdie & B's Sweets, really impressed us with cupcakes and cake pops!

   Party goers had a chance to play at the playground before the festivities were underway:

Owen & Brooke taking turns peeking for Uncle Kevin's photos

And then it was time for games and play dough!

The kids played with homemade play dough and Ernie's ducky game.

Yum!!

Anna asked me to make cute little Sesame Street signs for food labels (We found about 20 people doing similar stuff on Etsy for inspiration) + for fun = I printed Oscar and Elmo characters on card stock and taped them to color coordinating chip-clips to peek out of bowls

Anna really outdid herself with Owen's own personal cake and tasty cupcakes for all.

and as if the cupcakes weren't enough, Owen's favorite characters made an appearance as cake pops too!
Birdie & B's Sweets sure were busy!
 Big Bird + Cookie Monster were vanilla, and Elmo + Oscar were chocolate. Oh man, that Big Bird head was so tasty...

Anna knows how to treat us non-chocolate eaters: These Salted Carmel Cupcakes were hands down the BEST cupcakes we've ever had.

Anna painted buckets and filled them with lots of goodies as party favors

Presents!

We found this great Elmo book tote at Target that fit the party theme perfectly!

+ just for fun, I made these Sesame Street signs to show guests to the party.
I printed out the signs I designed, reinforced them with a second layer of card stock, taped them to wooden yard stakes and added some matching curling ribbons to blow in the breeze.

The weather turned out perfectly and we had a lot of fun! Happy Birthday Owen!
+ be sure to come see what goodies Birdie & B's Sweets has cooked up for Finch's Holiday Time Boutique this December!

McBride's go back in time....

....to yester-year @ the Minnesota Renaissance Festival! It's been a few years since we've gone - but it's a pretty fun time + so many tasty foods to try. We were joined by Jeff & Jenny and Brian & Amber on what turned out to be a lovely half-cool, half-warm day - sure beats super hot!

We watched the Morris Dancers perform!

+ Our brother-in-law Nick performed with Villification Tennis at the Bear Stage and kicked butt!

Kevin's sister Molly performed as well - looking all cute and getting all sassy - she totally schooled that lame-old "Sunshine" and won the match for her team!

While eating my beer cheese soup in a bread bowl, I spotted a familiar looking gentleman in the crowd - and I think he saw me taking his photo... My suspicions were right as I spied, when he turned around, that he carried a pink umbrella! It was everyone's favorite half-giant Hagrid from Harry Potter!! I was SO excited to see him!

Oh man this was a super creepy mime dude - when you put $$ in his basket, we wound himself up with the crank in his chest and moved around....

Kevin gave ax throwing a go - and he did really well.
It is important that I note that Brian ALSO gave ax throwing a try
and DID NOT do as well as Kevin.

Over at the pretty disappointing attempt at Oktoberfest, we played a round of Hammerschlagen and Kevin won!
Again, very important to mention that Kevin did in fact beat Brian.
Kevin's prize was a free beer from a super long line only to be told that they were out of Schell's Okoberfest and was given a Grainbelt Premium instead. Needless to say, Kevin was very displeased.

Here are the happy couples! Jeff & Jenny on the left, and Brian & Amber on the right.
Kevin and I were happy too I assure you, just not photographed.

We had a great time at the festival! Huzzah!!! Thanks to Molly & Nick for the free tickets! You guys rule!

+ in case anyone is keeping score - I can't think of who... - but Kevin won his lady a prize in dart throwing as well. Brian did not.

* special thanks to Jenny for snapping most of these pics!

McBride's Heart Junk Bonanza!

  This was our very first trip out to the Junk Bonanza event located in Shakopee @ Canterbury Park. Along with Kym and Travis, we found some great treasures. WHENEVER I shop with Kevin - or Kym! - we always say "I picked this out for you" - and it's usually the tackiest, clothes, opposite of cute color, etc. Well we managed to "pick out" some goods for some friends, but this time not due to tackiness, but because we were really reminded of them. Promise!
  Let's take a peek then shall we?

SO much to see...

Tin Ceiling Tiles Galore! I love all of the cool patterns and worn enamel.

Kevin found some new abs....and then he found the bar. It was a lovely day for a bloody mary.

Too bad we have already found all of the storage for our new office and mudroom - these pieces would have been pretty sweet. Perhaps the old Tampax dispenser box could be part of a future bathroom remodel?? Kevin disagrees.

We picked these out for Jason!

We picked these out for Glover!!

Kym picked out a new kitchen island...for herself! "Wouldn't this be cool....."

We picked these out for 1) Kim B!  2) Crista  3) Melissa

We picked these out for 1) Sara *not quite the right model, but still...
2) Kelly Herzog!! from Everything In Between By Kelly

We picked out this funny sheep for Molly! And Kym was nice enough to pick out this crazy yellow dress for me! Complete with lovely yellow feather sleeves and even an 'E' on the tag! It was meant to be!

Here we are!!

+ We met up with friend and fellow blogger, Carla from Hammers & High Heels, and her husband Alex - THEY know how to spot a deal! Take a peek at Carla's Junk Bonanza post to see what fabulous treasures caught her eye!

Here's Kevin and I looking pretty derpy with our eyes closed! with Carla & Alex who look perfectly normal and cute as per usual :)   + I picked out this wooden panel with a cool 'Z' shape in it for Carla & Alex!

Here is what we came home with:

We found these great old grain sacks with "Bemis" printed on them - why you ask? Poppy, Kevin's grandfather used to work for the Bemis Corporation for MANY many years - so we thought they were really cool.
Perhaps we can make something out of them?
+ We picked up with sweet multi-tin-tiled 'M' - for McBride duh! - that we have a home for in our living room.
+ Lastly, here are a few assorted letters and number I dug out of some bins to use for a few projects: the M's because I am apparently collecting M's. and the the other letters + 2010 in wooden block type for a project I've had in my head for a while - more on that later...

Kym and Travis pick up this cool old lantern - Travis saw the potential in it, got home, cleaned it all up - and what do you know?! It's blue and pretty darn awesome!

Junk Bonanza was pretty cool...and exhausting! So much junk = overload on the brain!

Until next year...or April 2013 for the NEXT Junk Bonanza!

They say the first two years are the hardest....

  So it turns out, Kevin and I are the only ones who says that - then again, we say that about ANY amount of time....

Today is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary! Hooray!!

....And we have been On-The-Go ever since! What have we done since then?

- Honeymoon in New Orleans + cruise to Belize & Cozumel

- Kevin started school

- Packed up the Minneapolis House and rented it

- Bought the Minnetonka House

- Ripped out a kitchen, planned, built and installed a new one

- Remodeled a Master Bathroom

- Weekends at the cabin

- Kevin graduated from school

- Made it through another Finch's Boutique

- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

- Kevin has surgery on his back and started a new job a week later

- Remodeled a basement...so much house work...

- Brought home a new puppy - and training him is the most challenging task yet!

...this list doesn't even seem to cover it!

Love you Kevin!
Sheesh! 2 years! Remember what a whirlwind day this was??

Looking forward to many more years!

Welcome Home Rigby!!!

   It's official! The McBride's are now +1 more pup. Baby Rigby came home this past weekend - and he's so tiny!!!
  Sat. Sept 1st, Kevin and I were to meet up with the breeders from Brewster Boxers over at Dred Scott Fields in Bloomington. We were a *little too excited - and arrived like 40 minutes early. So! What to do! 7$/ea. mini golf it is! We killed some time and putted 18 holes. By hole 16, we could see the puppies arriving across the parking lots and started to get pretty antsy- so on the 18th hole, Kevin jokes, "okay, get a hole-in-one, or no puppy" - so what do I do? I sank it in one - the only hole-in-one of the day! Hooray!!

  Then it was off to meet Rigby!!! We found him and several of his litter-mates playing and boxing each other - SO stink'n cute. I wish I had snapped a few pics of all the pups.

  Well here he is! Rigby "Riggs" McBride - 8 weeks old, fawn black-mask boxer pup :)

After several stops to visit a few of Rigby's grandparent's it was time to head home to meet his new big brother Finch - aka more playtime

Off to a good start - fingers crossed that these two continue to get along :)
And here they are now...

more to come!

p.s. looks like I needs to update my "McBride's On The Go" title illustration to include our newest family member. Hope he's ready to go Go GO!