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366 Bow Ties: Day 173

After a week of hawking bow ties to Presbyterians under fluorescent lights, generally keeping legs, arms and tattoos appropriately covered, it was time to get some shorts and short sleeves on and get some sunshine.

It was also the penultimate day of my and my right hand man's juice fast. So we decided to go hard core and hit some wheatgrass shots. I expected it to taste like grass clippings, but it actually tasted very sweet, and quite delicious. (Apparently this depends on the variety and the quality of the shot.) We're weird. Oh well.

I really like this bow tie. A very handsome pattern that remains--in my reckoning--masculine, despite the pale purples and dusty pink.

As I've said before, there's definitely a clowny element to an outfit that includes short sleeves and a bow tie. Add shorts ('short pants') and you're really just one foam ball nose away from actually being a clown. But then there's the tattoo! Saves the day! You're a bad mother after all.

So shall I tell myself.

Run and grab. Do hurry. 

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 177

Jump on this chance to get a never-before seen Cordial Churchman bow tie. 100% cotton awesomeness. Handsome, complex pattern in striking colors. Yours in exchange for 29 bones, all of which will go to Haiti to enrich the lives of school children. That's something you'll want to be a part of.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 174

Travel Day. And a gorgeous one it was. Akron to Pittsburgh to Rock Hill, mostly via West Virginia. Usually we're strictly an I-77 family, but a stop in Pittsburgh meant some unfamiliar road, which is always welcome.

Pittsburgh is really fantastic. After dropping honorary Churchman Casey Mink off to catch a bus to DC, Deacon and I headed to the Strip District for some coffee and doughnuts.

21st St Coffee was the joint. Intelligentsia coffee. $5. I have no problem spending $5 on regular coffee when the regular coffee is anything but regular. Single-cup brewing by pour over. Rare Kenyan beans. Mmmmm....

(St. Stanislaus church in the Strip District. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam)

The New River Gorge. Possibly the oldest river on the continent. Definitely one of the eldest in the world. Definitely also not new. The bridge is the 2nd tallest in the world. A Washington Monument and two Statues of Liberty tall.

Short sleeved madras - Vintage Gant. Grantham bow tie in straight batwing shape. Great texture to this bow. 100% linen. Kind of looks like vintage UNC-Chapel Hill. Get it while you can. Just this one is on sale.

You've got to make the best of your road trips. Especially if you have the luxury of not having a 15 month old baby and a 3 or 4 year old, stop and smell both the coffee and the roses.

Coming Soon: photos and info about our project in Haiti. Don't forget that 100% of our revenues from the 366 Bow Ties in 2012 project go straight to this project, which directly benefits children in this still-very-much-hurting country just a short distance south from the USA.

Also Coming Soon: a round-up of our week at the PCA General Assembly.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 164

It's already spoken for, but I thought I'd show it off anyway.

All kinds of bizarre stuff at the Dells. Like upside down White Houses. But also, apocalyptic sunsets.

Cordially,
Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 159

That's my boy. When he last swung on this swing on the church playground at Draper's Valley Presbyterian Church, he was but 2 years old. It was a delight to give him a push and watch him fly above the Virginia cattle country landscape.

It was a travel day. Shorts: red chambray. Blue oxford.

And a red gingham // blue & white reversible cotton classic-cut bow tie. A pretty stellar creation by our Churchbelles, if you ask me.

I'm going to leave it at that, and let you peruse the slide show. Baby deer; swings, swings, and more swings; the manse we lived in for a summer; it's view down the valley to the church and graveyard; our children; etc.

Enjoy.

Cordially,

Andy

[slideshow]

366 Bow Ties: Days 161-162

Wisconsin indeed.

We've got ourselves a nice little set up here in the Dells, complete with a ZipLine right behind our dwellings. They even zip at night, with headlamps and lanterns and all the rest. Cool stuff. And that skyway will take you all over the county, it seems, from one water ride to another.

The bow tie is cotton, patchwork in diamond point. The obvious uniqueness here is the stitching zig zag thing. Pretty great. I think it went well with the pale green oxford button-down.

It's odd being away from my work, especially when the enterprise is technically little over 2 months of age. I was able to sneak into the Courtroom and catch a glimpse of the Sunday evening service via FaceTime. Did my heart good. They are in good hands.

It was mighty hot yesterday, which means chambray shorts, green classic cut seersucker bow tie, and a plaid shirt.

In case you're ever in an indoor play land and your children don't have on the requisite socks: behold. I was thinking I'd grab a mid-morning snack, but this is not what I had in mind. Ah well.

(Tough Guy Pose) (You have to muster up a little 'Tough Guy' when you're wearing as ridiculous an outfit as I was.)

Vacation has been good so far. Good times with family. Good Wisconsin brew. Good journaling. Good reading in Genesis. Good reflection on prayer from Paul Miller's A Praying Life. Good times.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 152

How do you celebrate having made it through a 2-hour timeshare sales pitch in order to get free tickets to Disney? By eating at "Indian Restaurant", of course.

I quickly distinguished myself among the vast timeshare sales staff as the "guy with the suit and the bow tie" and "the best-dressed guy in the building". Of course, I wasn't wearing a suit, but blue jeans and an all-weather blue blazer. But they were correct: I did, in fact, have on a bow tie.

In the end, The Cordial Churchman did more business with these folks than they did with us. We took free tickets, and didn't even ask a question about the pitch. And many people wanted business cards or To-Tie-Your-Bow-Tie cards.

We win.

It's a pretty handsome bow tie, you'll surely agree. Colorful, but in a checked pattern that keeps it in the ballpark, style-wise. Made from leftovers of a customer's custom bow tie, the material of which came from a brand new Gant shirt. Yours for a song. 

The most amazing thing of the day was this stork, who crossed at the crosswalk, while the 'walk' sign was lit up. But he was so slow that the traffic had to wait for him to finish crossing. Crazy.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 152 -- Disney

Walt, Minnie, and I started the day right: by posing on Main Street, USA. I just now noticed that was Minnie and not Mickey. Bow on the the top of the head instead of around the neck---that should've been my clue.

I bought some chambray shorts in red, blue, and gray at the Levi's outlet in Orlando---and I'm very happy with them. There's no way that I'm not going to wear shorts all summer, just because I'm wearing a bow tie every day. These are cool because they can be worn full-length and they're long and straight--kinda 'hipster' or whatever; or they can be rolled up a few times and they look more preppie.

The Belles made me this necktie specifically for Disney----black silk with red/white ovals on them. Very fitting. A good use of an old necktie.

These photos all look like I'm having a horrible time. I'm not. It did rain all day. But I think I was just squinting or something. It was a fun day.

Now that I look at it, the above photo makes my shorts look stupid. I don't think they actually look that stupid. Oh well.

Even if I looked stupid, I still got smooched.  I'm married to a beautiful lady who is also my best friend, and I have three delightful boys. I'm blessed.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Couple days at Synod

The week started off with a rainy, slow, relatively back roads trip characterized by trucks like this plodding along. Kind of an apt metaphor for how the proceedings went this week. You can rock a bow tie (as, I'm happy to report, many delegates did), but zippy style by few doesn't make for snappy procedure by the many. Even if Robert himself was rocking the bow, his Rules don't lend themselves to much but plodding. Probably wise in the long run. But slow.

Turns out even Mr Snappy Bow Tie Guy wasn't so quick to snap the day's bow tie picture. So the mirror of the Black Rose Pub in historic downtown Hendersonville will have to do.

Straight batwing bow tie. Madras on one side; brown chambray on the other.

It was probably worth all the plodding of Tuesday to experience the sunset.

Wednesday found me downtown for a long afternoon break. I found a fellow bow-tie-every-day wearer downtown and he agreed to have a photograph made with me.

The bow tie is actually a gingham / silk reversible. The silk side has this cream and sky blue striped pattern with yellow flowers.  It can be had here. 

The evening's proceedings included reports from fraternal delegates of sister denominations. Dr Roy Taylor, the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America, rocked his custom Cordial Churchman bow tie, which was designed for him, and named after him. The Cordial Churchman will be at the PCA's General Assembly in a few weeks, where we hope he'll rock this bow tie again. If you'll be there, you can get them there. If there are any left, you'll see them on the webstore afterward. It's a cotton blue and white stripe bow. More later on this.

We finally seem to be getting down to business here on Thursday morning. As you can tell by the above photo, it's moving at lightning speed! [Psyche!]

Red linen and Vito Madras. Two toned.

I love my friends in this denomination, and I kind of like Roberts Rules, a little pomp and circumstance, and even a little bit of controversy. So all in all, a good week.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Days 142 & 146

Every now and then I goof up and wear the same bow tie twice. Sometimes that even happens in the same week. How could that happen, you ask? Because I'm wearing a bow tie EVERY SINGLE DAY. Look: one loses track.

The other way that it happens is that I subconsciously convince myself that I have not yet worn a particular, favorite bow tie, and so--on it goes for a second tour.

It's a little more subtle here, but this is a double-gray reversible chambray classic cut bow tie. When you've got a wild shirt (like this all-the-colors-of-the-rainbow seersucker Brooks Brothers score from the thrift store [the collar of which disintegrated upon one wash, very sadly]), the gray solid bow tie anchors things down.

This was Day 146, the 2nd go-round for this bow tie.

Day 142 was the first--also worn with seersucker (also part of the subconscious double-draw to this double-chambray bow tie).

Double-gray chambray reversible bow, short sleeved blue seersucker button-down and Bill's Khakis M3s: a winning combo to looking simply stylish and stylishly simple, while allowing for increased freedom of movement to chase kids around at the farmers' market.

The convenient thing about my having worn the same bow tie twice is this: as soon as I posted the Day 142 photos, my man Rev. Bobby Griffith (a fellow Presbyterian church planter) hit me on Twitter indicating his sincere desire to own the pictured piece of haberdashery. I aim to please, so I saved it for him and didn't post it to the store right away. (Note:  not posting these things to the store right away has NOTHING to do with my procrastination.) (Note: I just lied. How uncordial of me!)

The good news for you --- if you're still reading --- is that now you have a shot at your very own double-gray reversible chambray classic-cut bow tie. The Churchbelles indicated that the fabric is in inventory, along with their willingness to make another. Now you just have to slap down a mere $29 (all of which will go to our project in Haiti to help build furniture for a school), and it's yours.

Cordially,

Andy