Kansas City Lore - Municipal Stadium

Today's post goes a little "off the menu," but it relates to old Kansas City — a time when our house was only a twentysomething and 18th and Vine hosted a grand structure called Municipal Stadium.

Last weekend, I bought a dark green baseball hat with nice "KC" lettering on the front.

As a graphic designer, I have a weakness for cool fonts and lettering. This is an example of one of those moments where the logo won me over before the team.

So I buy the hat and realize that the Oakland Athletics logo is also on the hat in the back, very small. Thanks to google, I find out that before Oakland, Kansas City was home of the Athletics, from 1955-1967.

They played in a place called Municipal Stadium, located at 18th and Vine, which was the heart of the action way back when.

I dream of walking to a Royals ball game in downtown KC. This will never happen, at least maybe not in the next 50 years, but this stadium really looks cool.

Below is a video with some footage.

Turns out that the Athletics were never really good at baseball in the midwest. They played about as good as the Royals do, average to below average. The history however, is just as sweet to me — and I love thinking about the bygone era of attending a KC Athletics game in downtown Kansas City.

And one final surprise, the owner of the Athletics, Charles O. Finley, paid $150,000 in 1964 to bring in the Beatles for a 1 hour show at their Stadium. They opened with a medley of "Kansas City" and "Hey, hey, hey, hey."

Two surprises - 1. Apparently, only half of the tickets sold to the show because Mr. Finley had some serious PR issues with the town. 2.They managed to bring them in last minute on a scheduled rest day.

The Man Cave

Tea tins as tool organizers.

So, I have to take a moment to brag about my husband's handiness, which benefits our little house very much because he can make us cool, custom things like this amazing alarm cover. I love that I can say "I wish we didn't have to look at that ugly alarm" and a few days later a perfect little frame just magically appears on the wall.

Chris has talked about wanting a wood shop since we moved into the house, and this winter we finally got around to getting it set up. The purchases of a woodworking bench and some must-have tools, and the cleaning out of our basement, allowed us to get his shop started.






It wouldn't be a designer's woodshop without some well organized wall decor.




One of C's favorite things - vintage Kansas City postcards.

Every once in a while Chris disappears from the house, and then after a few minutes I can hear a saw fire up in the basement and know we're in for a treat. I'm heading out of town for the week, and he's hinted that there might be a surprise project brewing while I'm gone. I can't wait to see what he makes next!

Five

Remember that oppressively long paper chain we've been using to count down the weeks until we're ready to begin remodeling the kitchen? Well, it's looking much less daunting these days.



In addition, the beginning of the month of March means the project start is only 5 months away. So, since it's almost March (and it's Friday so what the heck!) I'm rounding a few days to make the big announcement . . .

I'M GOING TO HAVE A NEW KITCHEN IN 5 MONTHS!

Here's a bit of history on the planning process:
- Elephant in the Kitchen
- Architects Beware
- Bathroom Reading

The project has changed (ahem . . . grown) a bit over the past few months (if you can call throwing in a bathroom renovation growth), and we're planning a contractor meeting very soon, so we'll have lots more details in the very near future.

Almost Spring!

Something feels wrong about writing about spring as I watch it snow outside. Nevertheless, we're almost out of winter and I've begun preparing for this year's garden. You may remember, we turned a neglected, overgrown old alley into a garden patio last year. All winter I've been planning this year's crops and earlier this month I began growing some of them in the basement.

Yes, I have crops in the basement.

I started some seeds under a grow light a few weeks ago, and now I just love going downstairs to see the progress of the little sprouts every day. So far we have tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, celery, basil, rosemary, marigolds and nasturtium sprouting. Broccoli gets planted this weekend.




Tiny basil sprouts, reaching for the light.


Tomatoes are taking off.


Little bitty celery plants.

According to Farmer's Almanac, I should be able to move these outside within the next month or so, and at the same time will begin planting seeds into the ground outside. I can't wait!

How to hide your ugly home alarm

Hinged picture frame with hidden alarm system box

As shameless design snobs, we admit to being super picky about what hangs on our walls.

At our house, one eyesore that has been bothering us for a while was our alarm system. While I appreciate the false sense of security it offers us every day, I do not care for the way it looks.

Basically, its a clunky white plastic box with buttons.

Solution? Make a hinged box.

With some old stair tread material, I utilized my new table saw and wood clamps to build this trap door picture frame. This trick could work with many eyesores, such as thermostats, panels, alarms — anything that can be concealed and still function properly.

Photo documented process below.

Materials used:

2' red oak

8 nails

2 brass hinges

2 magnets

wood glue

stain

Happy Friday from our Abominable Snowdog

This has been the snowiest winter I've ever seen in Kansas City. While all the snow can be a bit of a drag, we have some help staying entertained. Wrigley LOVES the snow, and we think he is hilarious to watch. Here's a peak.



Too bad he often looks like this when he comes inside.


Photo courtesy of our favorite dog-sitters, Jeremy, Laura and Chloe Thomas.

Eureka!

Anyone who's read many of our posts has probably figured out that Chris and I are suckers for old houses. We love the craftsmanship, the history - we're just hopeless romantics about the whole thing.

For my birthday this year, we spent a weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We were amazed at the very cool old houses there, and came home feeling refreshed and inspired. Here were some of our favorites.


How's this for a before and after? Wow!






My personal favorite. Notice all the copper accents. Detailed view below.










Best paint job I've ever seen.


And even one for the birds!