Jack's First Photo Shoot

  We had a great time visiting our pal Erin of Erin Smith Photography over at her studio in NE Minneapolis. The shoot included great shots of Jack (3 weeks old at the time), a few wardrobe changes, a few diaper changes, some sweet tunes, and some shots of me, Kevin & Jack - family-photo-style!

Here are a few of our very favorite shots. Thanks Erin! You're the best!!

Erin Smith Photography

Christmas at the McBride's... kind of...

With all of the new, larger space that the new house offers, we just don't yet have enough to fill it up with the Christmas Spirit. Just a few little odds & ends + a skinny, narrow artificial tree.
  After we got the boutique taken down and everything put away (well, almost everything...), if was mid Dec. and time to get holiday shopping done - so decorating the house, OR purchasing more holiday decor, was not top priority.
  Of course we spent the holidays with family - over at THEIR festively decorated homes, so that kind of counts... Maybe next year we'll get the place decorated......?

On our brand new mantle sits a cute holiday Fairy House from Kevin's Mom - creator of Enchanted Houses -  + a collection of little wooden penguins that are fun to arrange in little clusters of what is sure to be intelligent penguin conversation and discussion

+ Progress in our front entry way = wall shelf to display our lovely finds + photos

 + these 3 framed photos that Kevin took on our honeymoon.

1: Amazing clouds from the balcony of our state room on our cruise.
    Off the coast of Honduras

2: Our favorite photo of classic New Orleans building with ornate iron railing and gas lamp from Jackson Square,

3: Tree from the rain forest surrounding Mayan Ruins in Belize - that was a REALLY hot day!

LOVE that we have these pics right here to welcome everyone to our home :)

Okay. The Mpls House is Ready

 So the Mpls house is looking good. Sure we've stashed a few things so they're just out sight, but for the most part this place is super clean and def the most de-cluttered its been in the last 7 years.
  Photos were taken of the house this afternoon - hopefully potential renters will be enticed. Fingers crossed that we can rent ASAP!

Things the Mpls house has going for it:
- cute, lots of character
- 3 bedrooms *technically (I say 2 bedrooms, 1 office)
- hardwood floors throughout
- updated kitchen
- 2 car garage
- close to light rail station (the 38th St. Station is exactly in the middle of the light rail line: Right in between Target Field/Down Town and the Airport/Mall of America)
- paver patio + covered patio space with countertop bar
- fenced in backyard - the yard is large enough for an 83lb dog like Finch, but small enough that mowing only takes 10-15 min.
- lots of flowering plants and bushes

come along for a photo tour of the Mpls House!

living room + original archway

guest room + bathroom 

kitchen hallway - complete with wine/wine glass wall cubby

kitchen with LOTS of creative storage...

head on up the stairs to find some built-in storage cabinets we added
+ a view of our loft-style upstairs bedroom 

1. Our Bed
2. Finch's Bed 

... and out the back door - nice and homey 

covered patio area complete with bar/countertop area that Kevin built

backyard, garage, and never fail: a friendly face to greet you at the fence