I’ve been wanting to grow a beard for a while now, so in honor of No-Shave November I decided to get my beard on. My first week past my normal stubble phase was a tough one…my face was constantly itchy and I had a couple of moments where it was borderline unbearable. It was time for some beardcare products. A big thanks to Killer Beard Oil for sending me my first set of beard oils! They sent me their sampler pack which includes all 5 scents: Weightless, Mint Tea, White Mountain, Tomcat and Liquid Gold. The bottles came packaged in a simple, but cool little drawstring pouch. The first thing I did was open each bottle to have a sniff to see if I had an immediate favorite based off of smell. The first one I smelled was the Mint Tea (my wife was excited about this one). It has a nice minty smell to it and kind of reminds me of the mint chocolates that are left on your pillow at a hotel. It has a very soothing and fresh scent. Liquid Gold kinda reminded me of a lemon head lol with a tad of pine. White Mountain has a bit of a woodsy smell, also with a hint of pine tree. It definitely feels outdoorsy and kind of made me want to go grab a bottle of scotch and be a man lol. The 4th oil is TomCat. This one is hard to describe – a cross between woodsy and spicy maybe? The last oil is Weightless and doesn’t really have much of a smell to it. These were my initial reactions just from smelling them all. Of course when you’re sticking your nose in the bottle, the scent is going to be much stronger. I initially thought I was going to like the Weightless, due to it’s lack of scent, but after using the various oils these past 2 weeks, I realized the scent is no where near as strong once it’s on your face! KBO also included the instructions on a business card (which was helpful for a newbie beard wearer), and the ingredients of the oils and essential oils, which are all-natural. The directions told me to apply a dime size into my palm, massage it into my beard with my fingertips and then evenly distribute with a comb. The guys at KBO told me to pick up a boar hair brush to use with the oils – the brushing with the oil application felt amazing! Since it was my first time ever using facial oils it was hard to tell when and if I had enough on. When I looked close into the mirror and noticed my beard and face was looking shiny, I figured that was enough! If your face is itching, the oil isn’t going to be a miracle oil and immediately take the itch away but it does eliminate it more and more as you use it regularly. I’m curious if the insane beard itch I had last week wouldn’t have been that bad if I started using these products right from the beginning – either way it’s starting to lessen thank god! Not being a huge fan of cologne I thought I was only going to like the Weightless oil, but after using them all and realizing how subtle the scent was after it was applied I don’t really have a favorite. They honestly all smell equally good – you really can’t go wrong. Jeff and Rick at Killer Beard Oil are just 2 blue collar guys, like myself, (a carpenter and bad-ass barber) trying to turn their passion into a business. With the few conversations we had back and forth – I could tell they were down to earth and extremely knowledgeable on crafting beard oils. They formulated the oils over many months of clientele feedback in the barber shop. They were also open to suggestions, feedback and filled me in on some new scents they were testing out! It feels good to be able to receive and review a product from a company you can relate to. Thanks again guys! In the market for some beard care products? Check KBO out!
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We’re always looking for fun, new things to do with my boy. He’s your typical boy who likes climbing, jumping and just being a maniac. Did some Googling and came across this place we’ve never heard of in CT. Compared it to a few others in the area and this one seemed to have the most activities, so we headed to The Children’s Movement Center in New Milford, CT. It was one of the bigger gyms we had taken him to. Inside it had 2 sections: one for little kids and one for older kids. We didn’t explore the older section but it had really cool activities like a climbing wall, large trampoline, zip-line and a surf machine. The younger kids section had a ball pit, bouncy house, trampoline, some creative swings and a McDonalds styles obstacle course. Nathan was so excited he didn’t even know where to start. The large obstacle course had a little bit of everything – ramps, steps, rope bridges, large yoga bouncy balls and 2 large slides. His favorite thing, though the least active, was the ball pit. This ball pit had a ball cleaning machine that they used at night, 3 days a week to clean and sanitize all of the balls. When playing in the pit, the kids are able to put the balls in this hole that shot the balls back out and then dropped back in the pit. This seemed to be Nate’s favorite thing to do…the process of cleaning the balls lol. Nathan gets so excited every time he sees a bouncy house – we both got our bounce on. He makes jumping and landing on his butt look so easy and painless – not so much for me anymore! We’ll definitely be going back to The Children’s Movement Center. We all had a blast – and it was only $10 for just Nate – even though mommy and daddy got to play too. Maybe next time he’ll give the swings another shot and spend some more time on the trampoline. Since it was a gym day I kept it casual. Got these new jogger sweats from Urban Outfitters – joggers are really the only sweats I like wearing at the moment. Layered my new UO Zanerobe short-sleeve hoodie over an extra long H&M long-sleeve tee for that casual streetstyle look. Thought these retro looking Adidas sneakers fit with this casual street style well. Topped the look off with a Carhartt beanie. Love these – my son’s got the same one!
Headed back to Brooklyn this weekend for a kids birthday party that Nate was invited to. It was good to be back in Brooklyn – been a while since I’ve been there. Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time as we hoped for since Nate wasn’t feeling good in the morning. But, even the ride down passing the flea markets and food trucks was nostalgic for me and made me want to come back and enjoy those things again. The party was in Prospect Park…felt like we were in a mini Central Park. It was a beautiful day and I was able to run around with my son, climb trees, and race, all while drinking boxed wine and eating cheese. Lately it seems like every time I leave the house I’m wearing my Eastland boots. Looking forward to pulling the trigger on a pair of Red Wings in the next few weeks to change it up. Wore my Levi jeans and cuffed them up to show more of these dope boots. The green army style jacket is another piece I’ve had and havent worn in a while. My wife used to hate this jacket and she’s actually the one who suggested it. I paired it with my H&M short sleeve denim button down, which seems to look good with everything. I love mixing together the different denims. After the park we did have some time to walk around the neighborhood. We didn’t find the boutiques & vintage shops we were hoping for but still got to do some shopping.
Went out to one of my favorite spots this weekend, the Eleven-11 Bar & Grille, with a couple of my faves for some good food and drinks. I decided to wear my new green Goorin Good Boy Fedora from Urban Outfitters. Lately I’ve been really digging these style hats. The green color is very rich and the silhouette is much different than my rust hat. Rather than wearing a basic tee, I wore my French Connection short-sleeve Henley, to dress up my casual look a bit. I’ve probably owned this shirt for almost 6 years. For some reason this always used to be my vacation shirt and I used to consider this being dressed up lol. Once again I’m wearing a pair of my Eastland’s, specifically the Sherman 1955 Boots. I love that these boots are a classic suede and have a thick, rugged sole. They are also super comfortable – they kind of feel like a hard-soled slipper. Lately I’ve been on a bold sock kick. Since I’m all about the basics lately, rocking these patterned socks underneath makes you feel like you’ve got a little something unique going on – these are from Happy Socks. Threw on my timeless Timex watch. This watch, though inexpensive, still seems to look good with any outfit. It doesn’t have any bells and whistles like a more expensive watch, but it’s simple, clean and classic. Had a great dinner, got to drink some of my Dogfish Punkin Ale (with the cinnamon and sugar rim) and listened to some live music. Ended off the night at a bar next door with some more beers and some ping pong…where my wife kicked my ass lol
We’re in the middle of fall and Halloween is coming up soon. October is a great month for activities with your kid. Seems like every weekend you can find something to do. This Saturday we took Nathan to 2 different trick or treating events. The first one was kind of blah but there was a hot dog truck called Pippy’s Hotdog Truck that had amazing, creative hot dogs. I had the Monster Mash Dog which had spicy catsup, jalapeño mustard & crushed salt and vinegar chips. We did have a lot of fun jumping on and off of rocks though lol. He recently learned how to jump and now want’s to jump off of everything! We then moved on to another Halloween/car show event at his cousin’s school. Here Nathan got to play in a bouncy house – which he’s addicted to – and we got to see some really cool cars. We also got to trick or treat from car to car (he’s on a kick of saying ‘trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat’ lately). As always, when going to any fall event, you gotta get some apple cider donuts and apple cider. Nathan wore Johns Hopkins scrubs and a stethoscope with a pair of Air Jordan 11’s taxi, that every doctor should own. High hopes for the future! I wore another pair of GAP ripped skinny jeans (on a GAP jeans kick lately). I rarely wear all black, but with Halloween coming up I thought it fit. I wore a black long sleeve shirt, by On the Byas, which is very comfortable. It almost has a jersey knit feel. The jacket also happens to be by On the Byas. I really like the quilted part of this jacket and the no-collar look. I’m a big fan of quilted patterns. The Eastland Made in Maine Wildwood boots are very well constructed. It has horween leather, genuine rawhide laces and a Vibram rubber sole. As always with Eastland, I love the look and quality. The rugged silhouette mixed with the wood grain strip above the sole is the perfect mix of classic and tough. Every week I look forward to finally getting to the weekend so I can look for more activities to do with my boy. As he’s getting older, we’re finding more and more things we can do together – love seeing him smile!
Boys will be boys! From picking noses to riding tractors…there’s no better feeling than watching your son enjoy the outdoors and cruising around on a John Deere tractor. Something about it just feels all American. We recently went to Maryland to go pumpkin picking and there was a John Deere vendor selling adult tractors. Nathan kept telling me to get one and cut the grass. He couldn’t help but want to play on every single tractor they had – jumping from one to the other. On the way out they had set up some John Deere kids tractors and toys. Nathan saw this one and fell in love. We’re in the midst of trying to potty train Nathan – he did as requested and went on the potty. A couple days later he received his tractor. Though the tractor came in a lot of pieces, Nathan enjoyed helping me put it together and it was still fairly easy and quick to assemble. Looks pretty authentic. It’s actually a lot faster than I thought it would be. It has 2 speeds…in speed 2 you actually have to jog to keep up with him! Now Nathan is able to walk around with his mother and pick up twigs in the yard. If you have a son, I def recommend one of these. Your son will love feeling like he’s one of the guys working on the house. It also has cool features like reverse and a radio – so he can jam out while driving around!
We stayed over night in MD so that we could hit up some fall festivals and take my son Nate pumpkin picking. We went to Fifer Orchards and had a blast. He was able to go on a train pulled by a tractor, played in a corn-box (a giant sandbox filled with corn), go through a corn maze, and then we moved on to my son’s favorite, the slide – which I also joined him in! He must’ve went up and down at least 20 times, I must’ve went up and down about 10. Thinking about building one of these slides at my house! I had an amazing pork taco with all fresh ingredients but unfortunately I ate it before I could take a picture…had some amazing apple cider donuts and also got to swing down a zip line – which was pretty cool. This was one of the better farms we’ve been to – the food was awesome…lots of activities and the donuts were the best ever. For the day I wore a plain grey tee with a pair of GAP ripped denim jeans, a POLO denim button down, black Adidas shell-tops, my burnt orange Felt Porkpie hat from Urban Outfitters and a necklace my wife bought me. I know a lot of people don’t think GAP is a good brand, but I always seem to find things that fit well, look good and at a good price. Bought these jeans for $15 – love the way they look and fit. I say buy what you like, and what looks good – don’t just buy a brand. This is one of the nicest denim button-downs I’ve come cross. The ivory buttons add a sick detail. I have about 4 Adidas pro model high tops and I’ll probably be adding more in the future – love the way these shoes look…straight hip hop. So this is one of my first hats in years – I have a small peanut head and most hats don’t fit my head good lol For most hats to fit me, I’d have to tuck in my ears – not a good look – so when I came across this hat that fit my tiny head it was a score! I’m hoping to add more style hats to the wardrobe in the future – and already have 2 on order. Besides my wedding band and a few watches, I don’t have any accessories – never was really into it. Lately I’ve been trying to expand my style and add some new pieces. I used to think the only accessories for guys were watches and gold. Unfortunately it’s hard for me to afford the watches I like or heavy pieces in real gold. I’m starting to realize that you don’t have to feel cheesy wearing fake gold as long as your not trying to pass it off as real – but if you’re comfortable with it – own it! My wife helped me out with this sick Lovebullets Arkansas Crystal Necklace from Urban Outfitters (it’s a bullet with quartz coming out of the shell). As we were leaving Fifer Orchards there was a John Deere vendor set up. Nathan got to check out some of the tractors – told daddy to buy a new tractor and cut the grass lol He also noticed a little tractor for himself and fell in love. We’re in the midst of potty training and told him if he went on the potty we would get him the tractor. A couple days later, poop in toilet, tractor delivered! #Imabigboynow. Tractor review coming soon…
Headed down to Infamous Tattoo in Delaware this weekend to get some more ink added to my sleeve in progress. I went down there not really knowing what I 100% wanted, but knew I wanted something to represent NY. I had saved a bunch of tattoos I liked…one of them was an Indian taking a mask off. I was looking through some NY pictures and thought about trying to incorporate some Brooklyn into it. I didn’t want to get a normal statue of liberty and I wanted something with a twist to make it a little different. I thought it’d be cool to incorporate the Luna Park Coney Island mask into the tat, so Steve mocked it up with lady liberty taking off the mask. I was sold. Because I had to drive so many hours away we had to leave at 4:30 in the morning. The tattoo took about 7 hours – while my wife and boy explored the area. Out of all the tattoos I got so far this is the most painful one because of the bicep and elbow area. I’m real happy with the way it came out. I was nervous about the hand (because I’ve seen a bunch of other tattoos with hands that just don’t look in proportion to the rest of the tat)…I thought he did a good job executing it. It’s still unfinished, but I’m looking forward to adding a few more things to rep Brooklyn and Coney Island and to bring it all together. Day 2 of our Delaware weekend coming soon!
Before heading to the bar for football, me and the fam went apple picking. I’m not really a jersey guy, but still wanted to rep my team so I went with the NFL Team Apparel short sleeve polo. Being today was a little chilly and it felt like fall, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to short-sleeves so I layered it with my wool insulated plaid GAP vest. Lately I’ve been having a harder time finding a decent pair of jeans. My wife is a big fan of American Eagle, and she kept suggesting I try there. I was totally against it because I felt like if I shopped at American Eagle it would be nothing but clothing for a teen. After being reluctant to shop there I finally gave in and tried on a pair. These have a decent fit and give off that distressed look. They have a slim cut leg and fall on the boot nicely. This is my first pair of GRAVIS Shoes. These are the trekker boots. GRAVIS is a Japan based extreme sports brand. I was a little reluctant buying a boot from a sneaker company but turned out I really like these a lot. I like the rugged look and they have the comfort of a sneaker. These don’t have the premium materials you might find in a high-end boot but they are waterproof, which will hopefully help them last. Wifey picked me up these neon camo Under Armour socks to keep up my sock game. This is a Victorinox Swiss Army CHRONO Classic Men’s Watch Model 241123. It has a swiss quartz movement (battery operated). The dial is blue with gold subdials, and the case is stainless steel and Gold-PVD. I really like how the gold and silver look with the navy blue. This is my first Swiss Army watch. It came with a silver and gold stainless steel band and I switched it for today with a Crown and Buckle NATO strap.
I really like the drawstring on these Rake Shorts by Cotton-On…so much so, I bought 4 pairs in different colors right at the start of summer. I like the fit and the fact that they’re cut right above the knee. The style of them is a little preppy with a frayed cut giving them a little bit of edge. They’re super comfortable (almost feels like a pair of sweat shorts) but look clean. This graphic tee by OBEY is thin with a super soft cotton. I love the gym-style cut of the sleeves and neck with the distressed graphic on the front. Love this Casio x In4mation G-Shock GLX-5600XA. I have quite a few G-Shocks, but the hawaiian inspired color sold me on this one. The G-Shock iteself will never go out of style and are built to last forever. To be honest, I don’t really use any of the functions that these watches have but I love the fact that it’s solar powered and I never need a battery – and that it’s water proof…great for the beach, gym or poolside. These are the Ronnie Fieg x PUMA Disc Blaze “Coat of Arms” sneakers. I’m a big fan of the PUMA disc silhouette and like most of Ronnie Fieg’s collabs. With the nubuck coral toe box accented with the black leather sides and 3m paint splatters on the sole, the materials are premium. These were a limited release – happy I was able to get a pair.