The BIG Announcement

The last few weeks you have seen some logos posted on our blog and we've asked you for your feedback about them without letting you know why! It's time to tell you (if you don't already know) that I (TB) am starting an online golf business similar to daily deal giants like Groupon and LivingSocial and leaving behind my Golf Professional position at a local course effective November 1st (this Sunday!!!). Here's the logo we're going with.



What is a daily deal website?

It's an online company that sends out one e-mail each morning listing a deal for that day. The "deal" is a special that a business is offering. For example, my course did a Groupon deal this last Spring. We offered a round of golf and a cart for $36, which is 60% off our normal rate. The cost for the daily deal is 50-80% off the normal price of the item with the thought that it will add incentive for customers to purchase the deal. The deal only being listed for 24 hours also creates a sense of urgency.

Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com currently target all types of businesses: gift shops, restaurants, spas, dental clinics, golf courses, etc. The website I've created (with a business partner) is different. At MyBackSpin.com, our daily deals are entirely golf related. So, we will sell rounds of golf at golf courses, range buckets in the golf domes, golf simulator hours, etc. The cities we plan on launching in are Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities. As a test run, we will be selling daily deals in the Twin Cities from November 26th to December 24th for the holiday season. During that time, we will focus on the indoor golf simulators, indoor golf domes, and some of the more well known golf courses, as it will be tough selling greens fees when it is freezing outside. We will then launch in Austin and Dallas beginning February 1st, 2011 and the other three cities (Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities) beginning March 15th, 2011. Details are still being worked out, but it is likely that daily deals in all cities will end for the year near Labor Day, as the golf season will once again be slowing down.

The website is a huge risk for the Brew family, but we really believe in it and think it's a risk worth taking. The next six months will be fun months because I'll be focusing on getting it off the ground and hanging out with my girls a lot. Nothing I'd rather be doing. So...in addition to hearing all about our gorgeous daughter over the next several months, get ready to hear a lot about MyBackSpin.com too!

If you want to sign up to receive our daily e-mails or learn more, check out MyBackSpin.com

Wordless Wednesday

The My-Feet-Finally-Touch-The-Ground! Edition

About Those Creepy Baby Products...

Remember this post?

Well, I take it back. At least a few products.

Now that it's officially fall in the Cities, we have to dress Emma a lot more warmly when we take her out for walks in the Bjorn. The layers only go so far.

Cue, Baby Snuggie.


Now, I would never in a million years buy one for the sheer embarassment it would cause me and my hubby but, seriously, I'm beginning to see its utility! That little man looks pretty cozy in there.

And I recently had a friend tell me that this nasal aspirator is the best baby product she's invested in. She said its a more gentle and efficient way of clearing snot out of a baby's nose than the traditional bulb, especially in the case of, say, a nasty cold.



Maybe, just maybe, I would buy it if the need arose. However, in all honesty, it still freaks me out a little.

Generation Z

I read that Emma is part of Generation Z, which is known for its use of technology. To live up to the reputation, Emma created a little something for you. It's her first piece of "art" in Microsoft Word :)



Apparently she has a soft spot for the letter N. Who knew?

What's truly amazing is that in the matter of one minute she not only typed this but also saved it and ran a spell check. I think it's safe to say I birthed a tech genius.

My BFF

Remember our friends Steph and Matt?

As a reminder, here's Steph with Emma at her baby shower a few months ago.


Well, the big day came and their daughter, Madelyn, was born! Yay! On Friday, Emma and Maddie had their first play date. It was almost 70 degrees in St. Paul so we took the babies on a walk up to Grand Avenue where we shopped and grabbed Chipotle for lunch.

There's a spot in Emma's baby book for a picture of her with her "first friend" so I took some pictures of the girls together. So cute!


Emma is very into grabbing her friends these days so I had to intervene a few times to make sure her hands didn't scratch unsuspecting Maddie. See what I mean?


Welcome to the world, sweet Maddie.

Knitwear

Two words go together like peanut butter and jelly: babies and knitwear. Almost nothing is cuter, unless the baby we're talking about is Emma, of course ;)

I took these pictures of her after a walk we took together the other afternoon. Hope you enojy them as much as I do.

Vote Part 2

Alright loyal followers, I need your vote one more time. Yes, it's about the mystery logo again. Don't worry, I (TB) will write a "big announcement" post in the next week so you know what you've been voting on. In the mean time, tell us which logo you like the best in the poll on the right.

Note: We do not own the logos so please don't remove them from our blog.

Sunflowers

Whenever I'm cooking or eating something I put Emma in her bumbo on top of our island so she can watch and we can "talk" to each other. In the center of our island is a little bouquet of sunflowers. The other day she spotted them and just had to touch them. These days it's what she does. Everything is grabbed and, if possible, put into the mouth. If I had to put a name to the phase she's in right now it would definitely be exploration. The world is so interesting to her and she's constantly trying to figure it out!

Here she is checking out the sunflowers. Please note the cheeks that make it impossible to see the lips. And the chin. Let's not forget the chin for crying out loud.

Grandpa In Town For The 'Boys and Girl

This last weekend my Dad came up to see me, Katie, Emma, and the Cowboys. We had some laughs, played a little golf, and drank some Miller Lite.

Here's Emma warming up to Grandpa and watching the Rangers play.




The Cowboys game didn't go so well on Sunday, but we had fun and the Vikings fans redeemed themselves a little bit from last year. Dad and I have now gone to five games together since we started our tradition of going to a different stadium each year.

Upcoming games we're going to include the Cowboys vs. Packers at Lambeau in 3 weeks and the Cowboys vs. Saints at T-Giving (where we'll get to see lots more family). Both should be a great time.

Wordless Monday

The My-Thumb-Is-Really-Pretty-Tasty Edition

Walks

Around here we love taking walks with Emma. We take probably three a day. She always rides in her Baby Bjorn and loves it because she can watch what is going on around her. People also interact with her a lot when she's in it.


I brought our camera along for our walk the other morning. These sunflowers are a few houses down from us. I always show them to Emma since they are the Kansas flower and all.


After we walk by the house with the sunflowers, we pass by one with a living room outside. It's like they took all of their furniture and decorative things and stuck them in the backyard, but in a good way versus a tacky way. Then we walk along Grand Avenue and stop in all our favorite shops. Oh, there's so much I could tell you about our walks.

We've gotten to know some people in our neighborhood being out and about like we are. For example, in all my pregnant glory looking mighty special (37 weeks and beyond), I would pass by a woman's house between 5 and 7 in the morning most days of the week. I just knew Emma was going to come soon and I wanted to walk, walk, walk to get her moving down. When I'd walk by this woman's house, she'd be sitting in her chair on the porch reading the paper. She'd look up from her paper and smile at me just so. Her smile said something like, 'Oh honey, I've done just what you're doing a time or two.' If I had to guess, I'd say that was probably over 50 years ago. Now Emma and I make sure to smile and wave at her whenever we walk by. I think her husband's gone, and there are times I think she sits outside hoping to see us. Maybe not, but maybe.

I love our walks and hanging out in our neighborhood, which is why it makes me a little sad that winter is coming. Sure it'll be great having more family time. And it's kind of nice hunkering down, making soup for dinner, dressing warm, making fires in the fireplace, and watching movies. But there's also something about getting a little sunshine on the face that makes life better. I've told a lot of Minnesota women, including Emma's doc, that I don't know what I'll do when winter comes and we can't walk with her. And every last one of them has said to me something like, 'Well, you bundle up that baby of yours and you take her out anyway.' So true. They and their moms and grandmas did it and so will their children and grandchildren. They're a tough bunch, these Minnesotans.

Logo Design

Tonight is an exciting night for us and we need your help to make an important decision. You can think of this as another teaser before we make our big announcement.

Below I (TB) have posted a few logo designs. Note: We don't own these logos so they can't be taken from our blog.

Would you take a minute and vote for the one you like the best? We created a poll and put it in the top right corner of our blog.

My Friend Elmo

Have I told you I love Elmo?

I haven't?

Ok, I love Elmo.

He's red, which happens to be my favorite color and the color of my hair. He's always smiling. And to top it off, he talks in a cool voice that makes me want to talk back.

The Season Is Turning

With football season here, we know snow is just around the corner. The trees in our neighborhood are turning colors and the leaves are falling.


Although I (TB) love the perfect weather Minnesota has to offer in the spring, summer, and fall, I have never looked so forward to winter. It'll be our first winter with Emma, my first winter without... .(teaser - coming soon), and a winter spent traveling across the country for the holidays.

Trips planned for the next few months include...

1) Thanksgiving in Texas where we'll be watching the Cowboys play the Saints. We have family from New Orleans and Dallas meeting up for turkey tailgating before the game.

2) X-mas in Kansas and Missouri. Santa is going to follow Emma this year.

3) This December 31st, my beautiful bride and I will have been married for 5 years. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? We're talking about taking a trip, but haven't decided where to go yet.

A Cowboy Fan's Dream

I'm pretty sure one of Tyler's biggest dreams came true today. If you know him, you know he loves the Cowboys. A lot. Like, I'm pretty sure there's no guy in all the world who loves them more.

He and his Dad, CB, go to as many games as they can together every season. They do a lot of bonding over the Cowboys. As I'm sure you can imagine, then, TB has been dreaming of Emma in a Cowboys jersey since the day she was born. Scratch that, since before she even existed. There's just something about passing "loves" on to the next generation that mean so much. You know.

Well, today was the day. I played photographer while the big Cowboys fan and the little Cowboys fan hung out together.

Before the game:
















During the game:














It was a perfect afternoon minus the outcome :(

Playroom Revisited

After I posted the picture of Emma watching the Twins play last night, I realized you could see a glimpse of the playroom. We've done some more work in there since you saw it last so I thought I'd snap some pictures of it tonight and show you what we've been up to.

Ta-da! This is from the door leading into the room.


We bought the foam flooring on Craigslist for just $20. It was a steal. Maggie said she would have paid way more for it.


On the left when you walk in is her exersaucer, which she loves more and more each day. We also hung a window panel to add texture to the room and prints of us playing with our girl.


On the right when you walk in is a rocking chair. In the chair is a cow that TB won Emma at the fair this year and hanging over it is a special blanket that her honorary auntie, Chelsea, crocheted her. We found the rainbow hanging at Ikea. Seriously, Ikea is the best place to buy unique decorative stuff. Their kids department, especially, is amazing.


And here's a closer look at the shelf that's on top of the heater. It holds some of her favorite books and blocks.


Well, that completes the tour! Hope you like it. We sure do. It's such a happy room to be in and we have so much fun in there with our sweet Emma B.