I love providing these updates about the summer I’ve had. It serves as a mass text message to those I care about (or those who care), but also as a personal journal and a document I often look back on when I want/need to reminisce about a particular event or chapter since I’ve moved to New York. In no way do I want this coming off as a written version of Instagram where I’m aiming for likes and trying to display the highlights of my life. Quite the contrary, I feel insanely lucky to travel, experience NYC, and write about it in a (sometimes) funny and lighthearted manner.

I also want to add that even though I’m providing a highlight reel of the chaos of summer, in between the flights, concerts, weddings, and visiting friends, I’ve really been enjoying work. I’m getting deeper ingrained in our go-to-market team and I’m enjoying the excitement of trying to close business and help the company grow.

Anyway, after Lynn and I returned from the Italian wedding on Sunday, June 12, we had one week in New York before getting back on an airplane for a combination of fun and work. To help get through the stories and updates, I’ll attempt a bullet-point format with a picture (or two) for each main segment.

• Friday, June 17: Dave Mowat surprises me with an extra Lumineers ticket as they were playing their NYC tour-stop in Queens at an incredible venue: Forest Hills Stadium - the former home of the US Open Tennis Championships. The concert was amazing, so much so that, I had to take Lynn to their final tour stop later in the summer.

• Saturday, June 18: Rather than get some rest, Lynn and I headed to JFK airport for a 5.5 hour flight (we got upgraded which made it easier) to Las Vegas, NV in the middle of the summer heat. The reason for the trip was that Lynn had a conference at The Wynn from Tuesday through Thursday, so naturally I suggested we tack on the weekend. Plus we had the Monday as a holiday (Juneteenth). This way, Lynn got to experience a sliver of what “Vegas Mike” means, we hit a couple awesome restaurants, walked all over the strip, experienced the Wynn pool, and even did a little gambling during my 18th official trip to the City of Lights.

• Monday, June 20 - Tuesday, June 21: I flew out of Vegas Monday afternoon to Minneapolis, then connected to St. Louis, MO for a conference I was attending for work. I got to my hotel after midnight, woke up for some early meetings, then checked out and went to the conference until 4pm when I rushed out of there back to the airport. I barely caught my flight back to MSP and then onto Winnipeg, where I landed near midnight. A crazy ~30 hours!

• Wednesday, June 22 - Sunday, June 26: I came home to Winnipeg for a family-based trip, but fit in some additional friend hang-outs as well. On Wednesday, I worked from my parents, Dan and Finn flew in, and then I joined my buddies for 9 holes at Breezy Bend before going back to Britni and Eric’s house to hang with all the couples. On Thursday I worked and then picked up Lynn who flew in from Vegas very late. On Friday, I spoke at my Granny’s funeral alongside my sister which was a really special moment I won’t forget. On Saturday, I took Finn to the playground and then the whole family headed out to rural Manitoba (Glenora, to be exact) for my cousin Josh’s wedding. It was nice to see everyone together in a part of Manitoba in which I’m quite confident that no other Luxembourger has ever set foot. On Sunday night, my buddy Derek (Lanks) and his wife Kate had all the high school guys and WAGs and kids in the backyard for a potluck. It was the perfect way to end a quick, family-oriented trip before flying out early Monday morning. Thanks to everyone who made it memorable.

• Friday, July 8 - Sunday, July 10: After a couple chill weeks in New York, we were lucky enough to be invited by Dave Mowat and his fiancee Leonie Stevens to their lake house, just outside Danbury, CT. It’s a beautiful house in a gated community, sitting high in the trees above a peaceful, man-made lake. The weekend featured some great conversations, some wine journeys, incredible team-based cooking (homemade pasta night, and a Mediterranean grill night), and some fun activities like swimming and tennis. They are such gracious hosts and have become such good friends of ours - can’t wait for their wedding in October!

• Wednesday, July 20 - Friday, July 22: The final trip of July was a work trip where I joined our sales team in Chicago. It was actually more of a coincidence as I was heading there to meet with some senior leaders from the partnership I manage, and it just so happened that Hello Heart’s sales team was doing a training / team-building during the same few days. They were kind enough to invite me to join their social events at night which featured snacks and beers at a pub followed by improv at The Second City on Friday. Then we went on a beautiful sunset boat cruise on Lake Michigan on the Saturday.

More to come in summarizing August, but if you have any questions, comments, or reactions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thanks for reading,

Mike