Wednesday, July 31, 2013

MLS All-Star Week

Today is the Major League Soccer All-Star game, and it is taking place in Kansas City.KC has become a big soccer city since Sporting KC started so it makes sense for the All-Star game to be here this year.

The best part about hosting the All-Star game is that the city celebrated with several days of festivities prior to the game, including two free concerts the last two days. I attended both nights at the Power & Light district, along with 8,000-10,000 soccer and/or music fans.

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I got there early both nights to get a good spot. I was in the front row of this bridge which was the perfect place to see the stage without being surrounded by a ton of people. (That’s not me in the picture, I’m just showing you where I stood).

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Night 1 (Monday) was Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Awesome, awesome show. I got my free ticket Friday when I waited at a car dealership for an hour and a half to win tickets from a radio station. On Monday I got to P&L at 5:30 to secure my spot for the show. By 7:00 that place was absolutely packed! They actually stopped letting people in by that time. DJ Clinton Sparks opened the show and then Macklemore & Ryan Lewis took the stage around 9:00. The whole one hour set, which included “Thrift Shop,” “Same Love,” and “Can’t Hold Us,” was so high energy and fun. I loved it!

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Last night was not quite as crazy but still a lot of fun. The night started with a fashion show by Sporting KC’s own Aurelien Collin who showed his new menswear line modeled by some of KC’s soccer players. Watching sexy soccer players model sexy suits…not a bad night Winking smile

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The main event of the night was a concert by Silversun Pickups. I saw them a few years ago and they were really solid so I was excited to see them again. They definitely did not disappoint.

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I’m so grateful to live in a city with a venue like Power & Light that brings in so many amazing free concerts, not only for big events like the MLS All-Star game, but all year. I’m also grateful to my favorite radio station, 96.5 the Buzz, who sponsors a lot of the shows. And even though I’m not a soccer fan I’m really grateful to the MLS and Sporting KC for helping make Kansas City an amazing place to be this week.

The All-Star game airs tonight at 8:00 PM central time on ESPN2. I wish I could be there in person but I’ll settle for watching the game on TV. Who else will be watching?

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Chicago Architecture River Tour

On Tuesday I shared some pictures from my weekend trip to Chicago. Today I’m showing you some pictures from my favorite part of the trip: the architecture tour. We took a river cruise with Wendella Boat Tours and it was wonderful. Tickets were about $30 per person, which was less than some of the other tours in the area. The tour lasted 75 minutes and took us down the three branches of the Chicago river and up by Navy Pier and Lake Michigan. The guy that narrated the tour was very good: he shared lots of interesting facts and stories and was pleasantly animated without being annoying. I highly recommend checking it out when you’re in Chicago, whether it’s your first time in the city or your 100th.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Chicago Getaway

Hi friends! This weekend Ben had a conference in Chicago and I was lucky enough to go with him. The flights and hotel room were paid for which was really, really nice. That meant that while Ben was in meetings I had lots of time to explore Chicago and meet up with some friends I hadn’t seen in ages.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ve already seen several pictures from the trip, but here’s a quick photo summary of my weekend.

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There are so many beautiful places and things to see in Chicago, I love it. Tomorrow I’ll have pictures from the architecture boat cruise we took!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

What do the St. Louis Arch and this table have in common?

What do one of the U.S.’s most recognizable monuments and this pedestal table have in common?

Saarinen arch and table

They were both designed by the same person, Mr. Eero Saarinen!

Headshot of designer.

I told you all about my visit to St. Louis over the weekend, during which we spent a lot of time at the Arch. I was reminded during this time that the same person who designed several notable modern furniture pieces.

Saarinen was born in Finland and immigrated with his family to the U.S. when he was a kid. He studied architecture at Yale and later teamed with Charles Eames to design furniture for a home furnishings competition. He had a very successful career as both an architect and as a furniture designer for Knoll.

Saarinen Womb Chair (source)

Saarinen's TWA Terminal (Ezra Stoller)

The TWA terminal at JFK in New York (Ezra Stoller)

 

Saarinen Tulip Chair

Construction of the St. Louis Gateway Arch

 

Saarinen Tulip Side Tables

I hope you enjoyed my little design history lesson for the day Smile