...Finn and Lilah.
]]>...Finn and Lilah.
]]>Heather is one of my best friends from California. Every summer, she comes to Michigan for about three weeks to visit her family. We crashed her family reunion in South Haven, MI just for a night. Finn loved playing with Fiona, but loved Auntie H even more. She had him when she taught him the song "The Teddy Bear Picnic," but he went positively over the moon when she introduced him to marshmallows.
Finn was so excited by his first trip on the train, that he forgot all about the fact that he had to go pee the minute we got to the station. In fact, we'd made it all the way downtown and through the ticket line for the Sears Tower before he remembered he had to go. Look at me--I'm beaming at my son's bladder control. Anyways, we had quite an adventure. Bedtime story fodder for the week.
(The very last shot is my favorite.)
]]>Especially those ears!
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Our very kind and generous friend, Howard, is the manager of The Swell Season. Not only did he commission Shawn and me to design and launch the bands' site (our most high-profile project to date--and possibly ever), but he provided us with amazing seats for the show. Then, he set us up with backstage passes.
Baggermaniac (since the Cincinnati days!) and kindred spirit Margot Madison drove up with her husband for the night. Glen Hansard is her personal obsession, so this meant even more to her than it did to me.
Turns out that pregnant women and mothers of three make the most endearing groupies. Glen spoke with us for several minutes and even allowed Margot to grill him about everything from how he feels about touring to whether he is an introvert or an extrovert (answer: a combination of both). We also bonded over the election (note the matching Obama pins!) And in all, he was very gracious and disarming.
P.S. Don't you think Shawn could totally be Glen's stunt double? Shawn's opening line was going to be, "I'll bet you get mistaken for me all the time." Shawn actually took the photo.
P.P.S. The baby loved the concert. He was in my stomach, kicking away all evening. I think he might grow up to be a drummer.
My favorite project just launched--the Web site for The Swell Season. Maybe you know Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their music. Or maybe you saw (and loved!) the movie Once. Or perhaps you saw them on the Oscars when they won the award for best song. (Eat that, Enchanted.) We are very lucky to have this talented duo as clients. A true group effort, this site came together with Shawn's design, Kim Flournoy's programming, and Quentin Fountain's Flash programming.
This site looks pretty straightforward, but there were lots of little details that helped it come together perfectly. The client wanted a content management system, so we set up Wordpress as the backend to facilitate easy updates. To manage ever-changing tour date information, we used the Gig Press plug in, which allowed easy date entry and automatic archival and updates for passed dates. And to allow the users to experience both the music and video on the site, we commissioned a custom built media player that plays both music and video, integrated seamlessly into Shawn's design. You can also launch this player to take the music and video with you even when you leave the site. This was such an exciting project--we were thrilled to work on it.
The most recent issue of HOW features an article I wrote on Von Glitschka, a Salem, OR-based designer who specializes in what he terms "Illustrative Design." He outlines a method that encourages designers to step away from their computer and pick up their notebook, returning to the roots of design. He argues that taking a pen to paper will help designers restore their creativity and enhance their craft. You can download and read the entire article here.
I also designed another email newsletter for Pilates-Pro.com. I love creating email newsletters for clients because there is so much strategy involved. It's necessary to not only think about the content and how recipients read newsletters, but also how to subvert spam filters and stand out among the millions of other messages. Also, knowing how to design around the various email clients makes troubleshooting Web browser issues seem easy.
I have two major site launches coming up next month, so stay tuned!
Here's evidence of Finn's most prominent genetic makeup. Take grandpa, plus daddy, and you pretty much have it!
]]>Congratulations to Kirsten and Bryan, who welcomed their third little one on June 6th. Molly Vera joins her big brother, Owen, and big sister, Ellie, in the annals of absolutely adorable Pickel children. (Seriously, the Pickels have some darling little ones.) Best wishes to our D.C. friends!
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Had a fun visit with the family in Kalamazoo. These shots were taken at the "275th Annual" Do-Dah Parade.
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Oh, ice cream man. To me, you once were an innocent harbinger of summer. A quaint warm weather tradition. I once loved seeing you travel around the neighborhood, ringing your bell, and inspiring glee wherever you went.
But now you only seem to show up right before dinner. (And I do mean at the park, 5pm.) When blood sugar is low, and when tempers can flare. (Believe me, I know from experience.) You ring your bell incessantly, daring the parents to deny their kids your summery sweets, and in this, inciting chaos wherever you roam.
Ice cream man, I want to go to your house, and dangle luscious confections before your kids right before dinner and see how you like it.
(Here is Finn, after consuming an aptly named "chocolate ice cream bomb.")
We're very excited that Obama has (finally!) clinched the nomination. (For real, Hillary.) We're counting down this pregnancy in time with the election, as the baby's due date is November 8th. I totally picture myself being in labor, watching election returns.
If Obama wins, you better believe we're naming the boy (yes, it's another boy!) Barack Obama Hazen. I think it has a certain ring to it! (Note: the same offer does not apply to McCain.)
When you're pregnant, you spend a lot of time comparing your pregnancy to other famous people who are pregnant at the same time. The first time around, I was lucky enough to have Britney Spears as my celebrity doppleganger, which set the bar pretty low. All I needed to do was to keep my footwear on in public restrooms, and I would come out on top.
This time, I get Angelina Jolie, which is so not fair. She embodies the ideal of (very!) fecund womanhood. Radiant, fashionable, the entire package. It's especially hard when you're feeling not so radiant, nor so fashionable.
To make matters worse, I got perhaps the world's worst haircut today. I went in for a trim, and came out with (no kidding) a three-inch CHUNK out of my hair in the name of layers. In order to get it evened out, I ended up looking not at all like Angelina, but more like the Pregnant Man you've all seen on Oprah. I seriously could have killed that inept "stylist." It's one thing to have a horrible, awful, very bad haircut on a normal day. It's quite another to have another 10 pounds on you and the CRAPPIEST haircut known to man. I might even have a little bit of a mullet in the back.
Somehow, I think Britney would understand. Not Ange.
"Daddy, if I keep growing, will my head hit the ceiling?"
"That guy looks like a peacock!" (Said about a punk guy with a spiky mohawk.)
"I love you three!" (After I told him, "I love you, too." This is always followed by four, five, six, and eleventeen.)
