I had originally planned on reading today, then working on some detail work that needed to be completed but ended up heading over to the Country Club Plaza to go to the Apple store with my parents and sister. It turned into an entire day outing, which was wonderful. Here is my day in pictures.
We spent the day at the Country Club Plaza so my mom could get a new Apple TV. It was beautiful outside. You would have thought it was late spring by the temperature, not entering autumn.
You know I can't help but take a picture of the American Century mutual fund towers. They manage more than $1 trillion (with a "t") in assets. It is amazing.
We passed the Kansas City Life Insurance Company corporate campus. The firm has more than $4.1 billion in assets. I've watched it since I was a child.
My first stop upon arrival was, where else, Barnes & Noble. The store is four levels high and has a great layout.
My mom saw a costume she wanted to get for her granddaughter. Unfortunately, they didn't have the size she needed!
Williams Sonoma had a really cool Halloween Haunted House Ginger Bread kit. I should have bought it.
The Mauviel copper pots I want for my house. It just wouldn't make sense to buy them right now but I told my mom, it takes all of my self control not to get them. They are beautiful. They make me want to throw holiday parties, bake homemade candies and give them away as gifts.
I really liked this espresso machine. I'd like a bigger one ... and in copper. But, as Aaron said when he saw the picture, "What's the point? Douwe Egberts is better." He's right.
We passed Aaron and my favorite department store, Halls. I made a quick stop in the men's dress shirt department hoping to find a beautiful blue twill shirt. They had some great designs, including a Canali blue and white shirt for $395 (which would have been 20% to 25% off due to a sale but it wasn't what I came there to buy).
A small part of the men's shirt section at Hall's Department Store. The Canali shirts were what really got me ... oh, and Eton. My mom was crazy about Eton. I can't wait to be able to wear Brioni, but, God willing, that won't happen until I'm 40 years old managing a publicly traded company in a skyscraper somewhere. There is no way I'm parting with investment capital for clothes like that yet. It isn't going to happen. I have no idea why I took this particular shot because I don't like any of these shirts. They had much better ones on the wall over to the right and in the bespoke suit section behind me. Anyway, Halls didn't have what I needed so I asked my parents if they would mind if I took a few minutes to go design a custom made-to-measure shirt at Brooks Brothers before we went to dinner. They happily accompanied me.
We made it to Brooks Brothers about 10 minutes before they closed. These are some of the fabrics I went through for my shirt before settling on a deep, rich blue in a herringbone pattern.
After choosing the fabric I wanted for my made to measure shirt, I had my dad examine it. I wish you could see the texture. It is amazingly soft and almost changes color with the light. The picture does it no justice.
I ended up going with a tennis collar, double barrel American style buttons, traditional shirt placket (although I'm wondering if I should have gone French edged now), stitched in from the collar not at the seam, front pocket, pin-back button on both sleeves, no adjustment for my watch, tighter under the arms (I hate when a shirt is too loose so it feels like there is fabric everywhere), and a monogram on the cuff with my initials. The total price was around $200. They require 50% at the time of order and you pay the remainder upon picking up the shirt in 4 weeks, and making sure you are satisfied with the quality.
My mom was crazy about this shirt. She wanted me to buy it but by the time I was done with the made to measure service on the blue twill shirt I designed, the store had already been closed for 10 minutes and the sales reps seemed like they wanted to get out of there.
Walking out of the store after placing my order for the shirt I wanted.
We went to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.
Some of the cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory
More cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory. The strawberries looked beautiful.
More delicious cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory
I had the fettuccine alfredo with sundried tomatoes. It was great.
After we ate, we had to take the short drive home to install mom's new Apple TV. We were walking to our car in this picture.
We passed a radio station and I liked the logo on the outside of the building. It reminds me of the old RKO logo.
