Angela la la la

Oops! I made a garden

2011-08-09T14:05:00.002-04:00

Despite my WORST efforts toward nurturing a garden this year, I have managed to harvest a few vegetable plants. I really do love gardening, but this year has been brutal. We have been away on vacation just about every other weekend, and I've been a little bit of a diva when it comes to working in 100+ degree heat. That being said, (and with the help of my husband and mother in law) I have grown a cucumber plant, 3 tomato plants, and a bunch of basil! woo!!! Oh, there are some hot pepper plants that survived too, but I dont have pictures. Everytime I tried to take a pic of that, a yellow jacket would buzz around my face! Jerk! I am also waging a war on the yellow jackets by my house, but that is a whole other story.

Lilianna's first birthday!

2011-07-07T22:45:00.003-04:00

Wow, a whole year, come and gone. I can't believe it! Lily's party was so much fun, nice and relaxing...just her style! So I will probably be updating my blog more, now that Lily's monthly newsletter wont be coming every month. This will be the best way to peek into our life to see what we are up to. :)

Hello!!!!!!

2011-05-21T16:55:00.005-04:00

Hi blog, I miss you!

It is my favorite time of year for blogging. Every year, I snap pictures of the flowers and plants around the yard to see how much they have grown. Last year, the results were incredible. It's so exciting to see how far the plants and trees have come. Especially our weeping cherry tree, I already see some cherries on it. When Darin bought it, it was sick, but I'm so happy to see it looking so healthy now. Last year, I combined ALL the tulips into one spot, and some smaller tulips bloomed already, but then these giant huge ones came and look amazing.

I am so impressed this year with the bee balm and lupine. I planted these as tiny baby plants last year, and they are about 10 times bigger this year (no joke!) I hope they attract TONS of butterflies this year

Baby plants, 2010

Just one year later!

Inspiration

2011-04-01T09:54:00.003-04:00

I searched the internet this morning for good advice and inspiration for life. And just to make sure I write these down somewhere...

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

Charles R. Swindoll

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you. Amazing things will happen.

Conan O'Brien

Bongos!

2011-03-09T22:58:00.002-05:00

Its about time I post some video for the out of town friends :) Lily loves hitting the table so much, we decided to get her some bongos :) She loves them! oh! The password is BongosFEB2011

Bongos! from Angela Ficorelli on Vimeo.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2011-03-09T12:20:00.003-05:00

Lily was an absolute doll this morning. Every month I send out an enewsletter featuring the growing-ups of Lily. At the end of each month, I go through and collect a bunch of Lily pictures and realize that I dont have ANY pictures of me and Lily!! So then I try to do a quick photoshoot with the little doll, and its not always easy.

This month, I'm starting early. One of my favorite things is to hold Lily and look in the mirror and sing, Baby and Mama, Baby and Mama! Cheesy, I know :) but you find yourself doing these things when you're a mother, but very few of us decide to blog about it. Anyway, I decided to snap some shots of this little moment so it would last longer.

Lunch time post

2011-03-08T11:55:00.003-05:00

Well, its lunch time, and as the junk mail rolls into my email box, I will sit and write a post. The time has come where Lily does not need to nurse at lunch time anymore, and Darin will be working more, so I thought...why not write a lunch time blog post while I'm stuck here at work?

So let's get to the life updates. Darin's sister got married last weekend and it was the best wedding we have ever attended! She looked BEAUTIFUL! It was so much fun, I think I might have spent the entire time on the dance floor, wait...did I just say that?! It must have been a good wedding :) I was so teary eyed to see them so happy together. They are a perfect match, and I feel lucky to call them family.

My parents and sister watched Lily over the weekend and they said she was great. She stayed on her schedule, and was happy and easy going. yay! What a champ :) I found this picture of Lily on my work computer, and thought I would share it. It feels like this could have been taken yesterday <3

oh how I miss her tiny-ness! She is still a little peanut :) hehe Okay, now its time to actually eat lunch. Until next time!

oh yeah, I used to make videos!

2011-03-04T00:06:00.004-05:00

I was digging through the ol' archives, and found this video I made. Sorry for the low quality, but you get the idea :)

AIGA Wish You Were Here postcards

2011-03-03T11:36:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited to share the my postcard is in the running to become a top 25 winner for the AIGA Wish you were here post card competition. yay! If you want to vote for my postcard, click here

Where did the time go?

2011-02-27T00:29:00.004-05:00

So, I meant to finish and cross off items 34–40 done on my To Do list...however, none of that happened due to internet. Ugh, my computer is like a time warp. And it doesn't help that after looking at the internet, it makes me want to tweak every single website I have out there. So now, I'm back at item 34 and its so late, my computer says its Sunday. At least I folded the laundry, but it looks like 'take a shower' will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Is it too late to start drinking wine??

Goodnight

2011-02-12T01:21:00.003-05:00

Whew! I just finished making goodies for a craft show tomorrow at the Crofoot in Pontiac. I hope there is a good turn out, I'm excited to see the bands and to check out the stand up comedians. I'm going to be making custom valentines while I'm there, which means an entire night of lettering! Woo!

I feel exhausted after working, playing with Lily, and crafting, but its so hard to sleep when there are new episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. haha, I am so addicted to this show. I should follow the lead of my little pups and get some sleep...

calm cupboard

2011-02-02T22:00:00.002-05:00

here is a nice calm picture to even out the mood from my last post :)

starting to...lose......steam.....

2011-02-02T21:46:00.002-05:00

Today has been quite a day! This morning I was featured on a great blog called Many Hats Mommy. I worked from home today because of the snowstorm, however, I am so sick :( so it wasn't all that fun. Darin is sick too! Is that even normal for both parents to be sick while baby is just as happy as a clam? I'm just waiting for Lily to get sick, any day now, maybe? It's been 7 months and she hasn't gotten anything! (is it really necessary to knock on wood at this point?).

I just hope, if she does get sick, its after I start feeling better. I'd hate to have to take care of her while sneezing all over her. :/ poor baybo!

Anyway, after work, I was motivated to put a newsletter together for Moving Beauty. If you would like to get that newsletter, you can sign up for it here. I really enjoy putting newsletters together, so this was fun work :)

I'm also very excited because I sold a wine journal today! It was in my etsy store for about 5 hours or so before it sold. yay! The wine journals are my first project with my screen printer, and they turned out great, I'm really proud of them. Man, I felt supercharged doing all of this stuff today, but now I'm just tired. whew! Time to lay down and fall asleep to TV. Goodnight.

Picture of my bathroom...don't worry, its not what you think

2011-01-28T14:35:00.003-05:00

I really would like to get better at photography, especially now that I have to take pictures of Lily growing up so fast! I'm not sure what kind of photography you would call this shot, but I enjoyed shooting it

A new year!

2011-01-24T19:35:00.005-05:00

It's been a happy new year so far. Just wanted to make a post and say hello to my online world. Do people still make new years resolutions? I haven't really made any resolutions, but I have been taking on new projects that have been keeping me busy. I realized how many awesome tools I have laying around in my basement. For Christmas, I got a screen printer (YES!) This is the most awesome gift ever!! I really really wanted my first print to be some red wings logos on stuff for Lily haha, but my printer is being weird, so I might just end up drawing something on the transparency to screen print it on EVERYTHING. muh haha I'm kind of leaning towards screening this little drawing of lincoln I made a while back.

I started a project for my sister in law, cutting some numbers out of MDF board with my scroll saw. I forgot how much I love building and making things!! I'm really happy with how the numbers turned out, this could be the beginning of a beautiful obsession of cutting things out of MDF.

Another fun thing I'm working on is a postcard for AIGA Detroit. I made these two with some photochrome images from the LOC archives. I'm working on a final (more personal) one that I will submit to the AIGA Detroit Wish You Were Here design competition. Lots of exciting projects!!

Getting the Blog Back Together

2010-11-29T18:28:00.003-05:00

okay, its been a while since I've posted. Even longer since I have written about Lily! Last post was back in August, a couple days before I went back to work (ugh). I also was a little lazy about the blog since I made a monthly newsletter for Lily updates. If you are not on the email list and want to be, let me know! I will add you :)

Anyway, Lily is your classic 5 month old. Laughing, babbling, eating solid foods, etc. So, it's true, having a baby changes your life. It's challenged me to think about the way I feel about free time, working, friendship, marriage, love, and life in general. There were some personal struggles along the way, probably due to all these changing hormones, but I have never felt better. (sorry to get so cheesy, but sometimes the blog is the only place to do it!)

And if taking care of a baby wasn't time consuming enough, I picked now to start a side job. More about that later! Feels good to start blogging again.

ahh the day Lily found her feet...

More memory lane!

2010-10-06T11:20:00.003-04:00

This is so cool! Here is a picture of the house my dad grew up in AND a picture of what it looks like now! A new garage and a white picket fence. Its so nice to see that the neighborhood has been kept up.

Memory Lane

2010-10-06T10:38:00.004-04:00

A couple years ago, my aunt gave my dad a TON of family pictures that she almost threw out by accident! I am so glad that she didn't because I love going through old family photos. I found my flickr set and decided to look at them again. There are pictures of the cottage that I used to go to when I was little. I remember filling pie pans full of mud and setting them out by the back porch to cool. I also love the picture of my parents with their DIY paper cut out Christmas tree that they hung since they didn't have a real tree. Baby pictures of my dad! And a picture of him with the dog he won (his parents said he couldn't have a dog, but he had to keep this one since he won it, right?!)

Astro Wheels!

2010-09-10T11:10:00.003-04:00

Sorry twitter friends, but I found a twitter account that I think is amazing and beats all the rest! Quick, everyone follow @Astro_Wheels. He is a real astronaut (no offense) that tweets from space!! The pictures are amazing, I suggest you follow him now.

Check out this amazing view of The Isles of Greece

Hurricane Earl

Italy

long weekend

2010-09-07T00:18:00.002-04:00

This weekend, I gave the laundry room area a deep clean. It is an often forgotten part of the basement that also has the litter box near it. I decided to make the space around there pretty for Merle. I dusted and cleaned the area around the boxes, put a little rug down, and painted the entrance pink. I even made a special sign for Merle. I guess I like her more than I thought I did!

Doggie hangover

2010-09-02T09:23:00.003-04:00

Darin and I bought Lincoln a nice $8 bone yesterday. We bought him this so he would have a nice bone to chew on for a while. It would also give him a little entertainment now that Pongo went home. Yes, this bone was edible, but we thought it would be nice to get him the edible one, so when he chews bits off, he wouldn't be eating plastic, or whatever those other bones are made of. It still looked sturdy enough to last a while.

Lincoln ate the WHOLE BONE in 10 min. I saw him bite it in half, and I thought, I should take one half and save it so he has two. But nooooo, the next time I looked, the bone disappeared! It was as if it melted away and Lincoln was licking any kind of bacon taste left on the couch. UGH! Here he is, sitting in his pillow sandwich, in a food-coma-state with the packaging for the bone (because it's all that remains!).

Pongo week!

2010-08-29T11:20:00.003-04:00

This past week has been declared PONGO week. Pongo is a cute little BT that belongs to Darin's Aunt & Uncle. We got to watch him this week while they were on vacation. You may think, "Angie you are crazy for watching a dog for a week, don't you have a new baby at home?" Yes, I do have my hands full, but you guys, look at the pictures below and I think you will understand. Pongo is our favorite dog to watch because not only is he a good dog, but he's really good at fetch, listens to commands, and looks super cute playing with Lincoln. Two boston terriers! there is just too much cuteness going on.

Pongo leaves today :( See you next time, buddy! We will miss you!

My first night out!

2010-08-27T10:00:00.007-04:00

Last night, I did something I haven't done in a long time... I went out! Darin had a night with Lily, while I went to see Aaron Draplin speak in Detroit. It ended up being a great night out!

I traveled down to the lecture with Veronica & Shawn. We parked the car and mozied on down to the lecture. On our way there we stopped at Gourmet Hotdogs, a little hot dog stand that was amazing! I had a Detroit Chili Dog (Hot dog with coleslaw, chili, and cheese..did I mention it was amazing?). Everyone should go down there and try one, right now.

Back to the lecture...

First of all, I really miss going to lectures and I was so happy I went to this one. He started the show by having his Dad come up on stage and tell a handful of jokes. His Dad was a great character, bright hawaiian shirt, BIG white beard, and so jolly you just wanted to give him a hug! It was very sweet seeing how happy Draplin was to be back in Michigan to see his family.

The more he talked, the more he reminded me of a lot of me and my friends. He travels to estate sales and collects old junk for design inspiration, just like all of us! He said he goes to 'rescue' these old artifacts. So true! I couldn't wait to get home to look at my collection of things I've rescued. He even talked about how he takes pictures of things at estate sales, which made me laugh because I do this too! (which reminds me, we HAVE to take a family trip to Ludington, maybe next summer).

Draplin is somewhere in the middle of his career and already has a ton of exciting stories and projects to share. He told some amazing stories or tall tales as he called them. Most of which he did not want anyone to videotape and share with the world. He kept it intimate, and made sure these stories were only shared with the 100 or so people in the room, it was our thing (and I'll keep it that way out of respect for him). I loved that he had a personal story about each project. Most lectures are just a portfolio review, but I really loved that his life stories and work stories went together hand in hand. I guess that's something I've always wanted or assumed I would have, and didn't realize how much I'd have to work at it to make that happen. Somewhere along the line, my passion for incorporating design into my personal life has dwindled, but its coming back now! If anything, Lily has inspired me to finish a ton of projects already, and now I am inspired to keep the momentum going. Its time to have fun with design again!

We couldn't take any pics during the lecture, but I snapped this one as he was setting up.

Happy Birthday to all the Grandmas out there!

2010-08-21T11:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a big day, and I just didn't get around to writing about it. First of all, it was my moms birthday. I love my mom! I feel so lucky to have her in my life, she has taught me how to be a kind and loving person and I don't know what I'd do without her. I am so happy that Lily has a Grandma like her. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you always.

Yesterday was also my first day back to work. It went well, I think. I was very busy at work, so that helped keep my mind off home. It was really nice to see my co-workers and joke around with them all day. I missed that. I was lucky enough to come home for lunch to nurse Lily, a wonderful bonus to working close to home. The best part about being back at work, was coming home at the end of the day. Darin and I both came home at the same time, and Lily was soooo excited and happy to see us. The three of us sat on the couch and poked at Lily to get every last smile and giggle out of her. She looked so happy to be with her mom and dad again.

Lily was lucky enough to spend the day with her Grammie while I was at work. Her birthday is today, Happy Birthday, Grammie! (I still can't believe how close my parents birthdays are to Darin's parents birthdays.) I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law. She is so wonderful with Lily and I'm so amazed at her generosity and kindness. I am lucky to have a second mom like her. Happy Birthday!

New Frames

2010-08-20T23:16:00.003-04:00

I found these frames at a resale shop (50 cents each!). They were a really ugly brown color, so I spray painted them white and framed these cute graphics from a French Paper sample book. Perfect for the nursery! I'm very happy how they turned out :) Pretty good for under $5.

Lily's Mobile

2010-08-19T13:28:00.002-04:00

I made Lily's butterfly mobile for her crib! I tell you, this nursery will be an ongoing project :) Its a fun project though. I was so excited to make this mobile. I bought an old beat up copy of Little Women months ago, specifically for this purpose. I've always loved die cuts from old books, but I was never brave enough to cut up a book. I took the plunge and I am glad I did. I hope Lily likes her new mobile.

Good news, bad news

2010-08-18T23:09:00.007-04:00

Today has been full of ups and downs, well actually one big up and one big down. A couple weeks ago, Darin found the warranty to my old camera about 5 days before the expiration date. I took my camera in because sometimes the shutter would not open when I turned on the camera. Best Buy said they could fix it, and sent it out through their Geek Squad thing. Yesterday, they called me and said they couldn't fix it, so I should come in to get a new camera. YES. This is the first time I've ever had a warranty work out!

I went in today and got a new Nikon coolpix p100 (up!). It is awesome and I love having a new camera! Perfect timing because I liked my old camera, but my phone takes better pictures than it, and that is not a good sign.

The down side is that the battery on my computer blew up (which is a normal thing for mac batteries to do), and I do not have a warranty on that (down). So, I'll just keep my lap top plugged in for a while. I wish I could get a new computer...a desktop maybe? Anyway, I was freaked out for a minute because no matter how much I complain about my computer, it is allowing me to work from home on Mondays to be with Lily and I can't have it break down right now. And it reminded me how much I wish I could just work from home everyday or have a million dollars and not have to work at all. Ugh! I can't decide if I should have a bowl of ice cream, or a glass of wine!

(New pics from my new camera. Don't worry the pictures will get better. I took these before I read how to use the camera, so the pics are blurry, but appropriate)

Summer fun

2010-08-15T22:30:00.005-04:00

Lily and I had a big day Saturday. Lily got to experience the joy of waking up really early and going down to eastern market. Well, she experienced sleeping in the baby bjorn while I went to eastern market with Grammie, hah. We bought corn, zucchini, doll watermelon (Rebecca got me hooked!), and fresh basil (with which I made pesto for dinner tonight, yum!!) I just love eastern market! I can't wait until Lily is old enough to enjoy it too!

Saturday night, we went to a surprise party for my cousin, who was celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary. It was a ton of fun, and they were very surprised. It was really fun to hang out with my extended family during the summer. We usually only see each other on the holidays. We had a blast and ended up staying there all day. Lily swam for the first time, it was the cutest thing ever! She got to wear her new bathing suit, a little bikini. She did not like the cold water on her belly, but didnt mind having her legs in the water. I have tons of video of the pool, but here is a still from the video.

Mama & Lily @ eastern market and swimming!

p.s. can you tell how much of a mama's girl she is?! She must be held by her mama! <3

books!

2010-08-12T14:02:00.003-04:00

We finally made an amazon wish list for Lily. It is very important to us that we have a ton of good books for Lily, so we made a list of the best books we could think of. It was so fun to go through and remember all the books I loved when I was little.

Click here to see her wish list

Some of my favorite books were the Sweet Pickles books. Darin and I looked for them online, and they are rare and expensive! One mint condition copy of Stork Spills the Beans is selling for $90 on Amazon.com!! I couldn't believe it. I had ALL of these when I was little, I wonder if they are still around...

zen lincoln

2010-08-11T10:39:00.001-04:00

I'm glad someone found a way to sleep while screaming baby is on. (warning: turn speakers down)

Getting ready

2010-08-11T10:04:00.002-04:00

Lily and I are getting ready to go to Aunt Candi's house today! its going to be a fun day!!

Lily & T-Rex

2010-08-10T19:11:00.002-04:00

Lily! Watch out for T-REX!

Wanna go for a waaalk!?

2010-08-08T14:58:00.005-04:00

The other day, I decided to take Lily AND Lincoln for a walk. Lily decided to hate her car seat all of a sudden, so the stroller was out of the question. Since I already promised Lincoln a walk, I thought it would be the perfect time to try out the baby bjorn. Lily enjoyed it, so I got to keep my promise to Lincoln. I tried to get a picture of it all and just got this, I think it captures the moment...hah

Lily's nursery

2010-08-08T13:34:00.004-04:00

Ugh, my computer is being so difficult right now. I think its taking me an hour to make this post. But after much frustration, I stuck to it and actually made it through this post. Its a fun post too...Lily's nursery!! (About time, right?) Lily's nursery is always a work in progress, but its finally at a point worth taking some photos. Darin just added the shelves in to create a little reading nook, and I have a bunch of more frames to add to the frame wall.

Back in the saddle again

2010-08-03T12:24:00.002-04:00

The sleeping through the night was a one time thing, which I assumed would be the case, considering she is only 5 weeks. It was nice sleeping for 7 hours in a row though!

In other news, look who took control of the boppy!

yessssssssssss

2010-08-02T13:50:00.002-04:00

Lily slept through the night!! She went to bed around 11:45 and didn't wake up until 7am. I couldn't believe it! She had a big day and was awake and alert for most of the evening. Lily got to meet our good friends, Jackson and Evelyn, on their way from NY to Chicago.

She also got to go to her first hockey game to see her Daddy play. She started to cry from her way from the car to the rink, but once she got in the rink, she was happier. I even got to experience changing a poop diaper in public, not as bad as I thought, even though she cried the whole time. Lily loved being in the rink, she watched most of the game and probably liked the noise of the skating. She was in awe. Of course, I forgot my phone so I didn't take any pictures, maybe next time. :)

All that excitement must have exhausted Lily, because she slept through the night and has been sleeping for most of the morning/afternoon. Here is Lily waking up from a nap. I love when she wakes up, she is so cute with her squeaks, grunts, and stretches!

sleep

2010-07-31T16:14:00.002-04:00

I cannot WAIT until I can sleep for longer than 3 hours at a time! Its been a month or so now and the not sleeping thing is finally catching up to me. No matter how many naps I take, I still feel tired when I wake up. Coffee helps a lot, but it can make Lily gassy, so I've been avoiding it the past couple days. I think I might have to give Lily some gas relief drops and drink some coffee cause I need to get stuff done!

I got to go out yesterday while Grammy Ficorelli watched Lily. I'm so thankful for our family! I always know she is in good hands, and I'm so thankful they love being with her so much, even if she cries a lot!

Time to get some cleaning done, this house is a mess!

carpe diem!

2010-07-28T09:36:00.007-04:00

Lily is finally sleeping. She was up more than usual last night. I really hope she will get back to her other schedule soon. She woke up at 6am, ate, and then cried off and on until 8am. Ugh, it was a little much for me so early in the morning, especially since I had been getting up every two hours to nurse her. My mind was filled with everything I have to do today and I was upset that now I had to do that all on a bad nights sleep. Thank goodness for Darin, he watched her while I took a relaxing shower to get my sanity back.

Of course, when I say I have a lot to do, it is because my mom and sister will be over today, which means I can run out and get some errands done! I never thought I would be day dreaming about all the wonderful things I can do when I have a car and a babysitter haha. This is what excites me now.

One of my errands is to get some pictures developed. I don't remember seeing this picture before, but I love it. It's Grandma Lehman holding Lily at the hospital.

Hippo!

2010-07-27T12:31:00.003-04:00

This is Lily's Hippo onesie that we bought on our way up north. It's a favorite of mine, but I think this will be the last time Lily can wear it, shes starting to grow out of it while its still on her. I thought I would take one last pic before she busts out of it hehe

1 month growth spurt

2010-07-27T11:38:00.004-04:00

Lily is going through a MEGA growth spurt. She sleeps all day and eats allllll night, she is an eating machine!! She starts at about 6pm and eats for 20 min every hour until she falls asleep around midnight. ugh! It was a little stressful to deal with at first, but now that we know its a growth spurt, its not so bad. Hopefully, she will be done soon! Also, my heart goes out to people who have babies with colic. Its crazy enough to hear a baby cry for 10 min, I can't imagine hearing it for more than 3 hours!

Here is some video I shot last night while Darin was helping Lily in-between feedings :) Her hiccups are the cutest!

sigh

2010-07-26T11:42:00.003-04:00

I wanted to lay her down so I could make breakfast, and now I guess its time for lunch. It is so hard to do stuff when she is so cuddly!

Getting domestic

2010-07-24T09:51:00.008-04:00

Watching the real cooking shows all day is one of my favorite perks of being home all day. My favorite show is Giada at Home. It has inspired me to start learning how to cook delicious meals. Two days ago, I started making home cooked dinners. I'm off to an okay start, I don't expect to be awesome at first, but practice makes perfect, right? :)

The first night, I made grilled salmon with a lime butter sauce. Delicious! I love salmon, and I really love cooking on the grill. I had to grill in the rain though since I have such wonderful timing. Last night, I made a potato & zucchini pancake, grilled chicken, and a cucumber salad. I don't think I will be making the cucumber thing again, it was kinda gross. I would like to find a good cucumber salad recipe (suggestions?), I love how fresh cucumbers are! It goes well with the grilled chicken and heavy potato side. Maybe cucumber and basil and fresh mozzarella? does that go together? hmm...

The thing I am most proud of are the peanut butter banana crepes that I made for breakfast this morning. These were so much easier to make than I thought, and they were delicious and filling. Can't wait for Darin to try them! He has been a trooper, tasting all this food I'm making :) He gives good critique though and maybe I'll be really good by the time Lily is old enough to eat dinner with us haha

Family Weekend 2010

2010-07-22T11:46:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, we went on our first family vacation up north to Gaylord. We had fun and it was so nice to get away from the house. It was also so nice to have a million arms that would hold Lily all weekend! She had many Great Aunts that wanted to see her, and she loved every minute of it :)

Here are a few pics from the weekend. Note to self: Must get better at taking family photos! I don't have any of us! :(

A wonderful full (kind of) nights sleep!

2010-07-22T10:36:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it, Lily only got up once the past 3 nights!!!! She went to bed around 2:30am and didn't get up again until 7:30am! I really hope this schedule sticks, that would be amazing. (also, please say I didn't just jinx this wonderfulness). Hopefully, this is how she will sleep by the time I go back to work. I decided I would get up and see if I could 'work' all day on this amount of sleep, no naps until 5:30pm. Here goes!

Staying up this morning has been pretty good so far. I am enjoying that 'me' time I hear every mother talk about. Darin and Lily are asleep, and I get to sit here in a quiet house and enjoy my coffee and look at the internet (my google reader has been so neglected). Speaking of neglect, the yard outside is getting very unruly from weeks of neglect. Although, somehow I managed to grow a strawberry!

One Month

2010-07-21T18:34:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it! It's been about a month since we brought Lily home. The time has gone by so fast, and I love maternity leave. It would be so awesome to just be a housewife, even better if Darin didn't have to work either. Is it possible to get someone to sponsor you to be stay at home parents??

In the past month, we have been trying to get into a schedule. I've been able to get sleep, but because Lily is awake at random times, its tiring to cater to her eating needs. The past few nights have been great, we'll usually put her to bed around 12 and then she gets up at 4am and then at 8am to eat, which I can live with. I think my years at art school helped prepare me to sleep for small amounts of time at random times of the day. Of course there were days early on where Lily would get up at 4am and be wide awake until 6am, or those days where she would wake up every hour to eat, OR those days where she would get up at about 4am and cry until 7am. ugh, those days were exhausting, but (knock on wood) we haven't had a night like that in a while.

We have been taking Lily out and about, and its been great so far. We just got back from a long weekend up north where she got to meet more family members, sit on a boat, and experience being in a house with no air conditioning haha. Luckily, it wasn't too hot, but man did I miss nursing in a room with a/c!

okay, back to organizing photos, there are so many! Here are a few from the past month:

Lily's Birthday!

2010-06-26T20:40:00.010-04:00

12 days ago, our daughter, Lily was born. Thursday, June 24th, Darin and I went to our doctors appointment to see if my body was ready to have this baby. I was already 5 days past my due date, so we were really hoping they would tell us we could go to the hospital that day. I had been having contractions all morning that were more regular than they had been in the past. They kept coming every 10 min or so, but they were really light and not painful at all. I wanted to believe I would go into labor that day, but thought if I said it, then it wouldn't happen.

We went to have an ultrasound and they told us that the amniotic fluid level was very low. Our midwife came in and said, "How would you like to have this baby today?!" YES! Darin and I were so excited and relieved. I think we would have gone nuts if we had to wait another day for this baby!

Before we went to the hospital, we went out to get a bite to eat. Once I started labor, it would be ice chips only, so it was important to grab a bite before we went to the hospital. We went to subway for something light that I wouldn't throw up later. It was nice having our last meal together before our baby was born, even if it was at a subway. The contractions kept coming and were getting a little stronger, but still didn't hurt. We ate quickly and went over to the hospital (good thing we had our bags packed in the car!!)

After we were admitted to the hospital, they gave me Misoprostol to try to induce labor, although, I think my body was starting to go that way anyway. After seeing how I was progressing, they decided not to induce any more because my contractions started to get more and more frequent so there was no need to induce any more. The nurse hooked me up to a million monitors. I had 2 fetal monitors, a heart rate monitor on my finger, and after a while, they hooked me up to an IV, and an oxygen mask. The IV and mask were put on because the baby's heart rate was kind of irregular, so having these two things was going to help that. Healthy mom, healthy baby.

I kind of expected the IV because I've read that they usually will do that if you want to have an epidural later. It was a pain trying to get up and go to the bathroom, not because it was painful or anything, just because I had to unhook myself from ALL the monitors and wheel my IV stand in there too. I got really good at it after a while since I still had to pee every 30 min.

My contractions started to hurt at this point, really bad. Darin helped push on my back and held my hand, it seemed to be the only thing that helped. We were admitted at about 5:30 or 6pm, and I think I remember looking at the clock around 11:30 when the physician that was on call came in to talk to us. I had expected to deliver with a midwife, but at this point it didn't matter, its a good thing we did not have a birth plan! We met the physician that night, she was so nice, I liked her right away. She said that the baby's heart rate kept dipping a little, so she was going to break my water and put a monitor on the baby's head to get a closer reading on her heart rate. She tried to break my water, but there was so little fluid in there, it may have already broken. They got the new monitor on, and I could hear the baby's heart rate beeping on the machine next to me.

My contractions hurt SO bad at this point, it was so hard to talk during them. It felt like bad cramps, so bad they made my legs numb. I told Darin it felt like someone was blowing a balloon up in my pelvis, so much pressure. I was only dilated to 2.5 inches, so it was too early for an epidural, and they told me I couldn't have any drugs because her heart rate was so fragile. The physician asked me if I could bare the pain just a little longer, I said yes, what else could I say?

The next few bits become a little fuzzy, but here is what I remember. I had a really bad contraction and heard the little beep on the monitor slow down. Then tons of nurses rushed in and I saw one of them hand Darin some scrubs. I figured I was having a c-section. Then I was rushed to the OR. The room was bright and there were a bunch of people in there, and I heard of them say they were going to knock me out. I wanted them to hurry up and knock me out, because I was in so much pain! I was laying flat on my back and having contractions, ugh! Finally I was knocked out and next thing I knew, I woke up and saw Darin sitting by my side, holding our daughter.

Darin said that they handed him scrubs and told him to change and they would have him come into the OR. He changed, and then they said he couldn't go in because I had to go completely under, since it was an emergency c-section which is very rare. So, Darin had to wait by himself. He called our family members to tell them what was going on, and then a doctor came out to let him know that the baby and I were fine! He said it was only about 15 min and they were done with the surgery. He had to wait longer to see us, he didn't even know if we had a girl for sure, just that we were okay. Then they brought out Lily and wheeled me in later.

Our daughter was born at 12:48am on June 25th, 2010. She weighed 5lbs, 12oz and was 20inches long. Our parents and sisters came to visit us around 3:30am. I was so drugged, so I remember very little, but I remember seeing Lily get her first bath, which we have on video hehe :)

The next four days were spent in the hospital. A few ups and downs concerning her health, but nothing serious. She was able to stay in our room for the most of the time. It was so nice to spend time together as a family, but the best was when we got to go home. Our moms were at our house and helped us settle in, I even got to drink my first glass of wine since being pregnant!

So there it is! I thought we would have a midwife, epidural, and lots of pushing but I didn't have any of that! I still can't believe we have a baby and that we are parents. It is so awesome being able to spend all day with Lily. I'm so grateful that she is finally here, happy, and healthy. <3

41 weeks!?

2010-06-21T15:32:00.004-04:00

I'm starting my 41st week of pregnancy now! I still feel great, just so anxious and tired of waiting. I'm getting a little nervous because this baby is getting bigger and bigger, I don't want to wait too long! I can't wait to meet our little girl. It's a little weird now because she will no longer be a gemini. I was so prepared to have a gemini, but now we are having a cancer. I've been reading up on cancers because I didn't really know anything about them, but it sounds like its still going to be okay. It says cancers are moody, but aren't all little girls? It says they speak their minds too, and I like that. It also says they usually end up working in the art or music field, yay! but we'll see what she likes to do, right? :) Cancers are also caregivers and are compassionate for their family, also a plus.

It would be great if she was born today, June 21st, the summer solstice. My Dad was born on the winter solstice, so it would be neat to point that out every once and a while. Maybe it would give them a special bond :) Today is also the longest day of the year/most amount of daylight, so it would be great for summer birthday parties. I've been trying all sorts of ways to help start the labor process, but still just feel good and normal, not a lot of movement from Lily, and no contractions yet. Well, no, I had one this morning, but it was the fake kind of contraction. ugh.

I just really hope that she comes this week. If she doesn't they will have to induce the labor. Which, I know that it is the healthiest thing and there is nothing wrong with induced labor, but I really like the idea of her coming out on her own terms. Come on, Lily, you can do it! I'm rooting for ya!

Week 40 & 41:

First Bracelet!

2010-06-14T14:03:00.001-04:00

Lily officially has her first Aunt Joan jewelry! Isn't this bracelet just the cutest thing? It's so little, cant wait to get a pic of her wearing it :)

Home stretch!

2010-06-09T11:45:00.004-04:00

whoa baby! I'm in the home stretch now. 10 days until my due date, ahh! I am anxiously awaiting our little Lily. Technically, she can come at any day, so hopefully sooner than later, as long as she is healthy and ready to go! We're putting the finishing touches on everything, getting all the artwork up in the nursery. Darin made room for all the baby stuff in the rest of the house so the nursery is no longer a storage area, yay! :) Which means, I should post pictures soon.

We took a tour of the hospital last Sunday. It was nice seeing the rooms and getting familiar with the hospital before we go. There will be so many unpredictable things happening that day, at least we know where to go and what to bring. I've been a researching machine, watching videos, reading articles, message boards, etc. It's all helping me prepare and feel ready, but I know when it happens I will probably think, "wait! I'm not ready!!"

Here are some more pics along the way. Yes there are missing weeks :( and yes they are blurry :( but nothing can blur out that big belly! haha :)

Flowers!

2010-05-20T17:06:00.006-04:00

A few snaps of the first climatis bloom this year over the course of the day (top left: Clematis at 9am, top right: Clematis at 12pm, bottom: days later, tons of blooms!!)

some other flowers (left: Iris, right: columbine)

35 weeks, 5 days

2010-05-20T09:44:00.005-04:00

I'm almost to 36 weeks! Ahhh! Yesterday was the one month marker before our due date. I feel prepared (mentally and physically), although I'm sure when it happens, I will not feel so prepared.

The past few days have been somewhat stressful, just trying to iron out the details of what my life will be after the baby. From making sure everything is clean and prepared at home to negotiating a work schedule that will work for me has left me exhausted (mentally and physically).

Trying to stay focused on some good things like:
• Packing our bag for the big day! I think I have about 4 different outfits for a 'take home' outfit for Lily, I couldn't decide!
• I made a date to take a tour of the hospital
• The weather is nice and I have been able to do lots of yard work with Darin <3
• Just planted herbs in my herb table
• When I woke up in the middle of the night, Lincoln AND Merle were both in our bed! Family cuddle!!
• The climatis flowers I planted to cover up our fence started to bloom this morning!

Garden weekend!

2010-05-17T11:47:00.003-04:00

We bought some new plants and flowers this weekend. Trying to get the yard looking great before we are busy with the baby :) We bought perennials that will get bigger and grow over the years. Can't wait to see it all fill in! I also got to plant some flowers in the big flower pots on our front porch for some colorful decoration.

Early Bloom Progress!

2010-05-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

I came across some pictures of our flowers from last year, and I couldn't believe how much better everything looks this year! Here is a little comparison of the early blooms, can't wait to see the rest of the flowers this year!!

Made in 2010

2010-05-11T16:18:00.003-04:00

Something has come over me, I have this new motivation to actually finish projects that I start! It's kind of a first for me, and has been most satisfying so far. Below are some shots of an Address box I made this weekend. I updated all the addresses from our friends and even put a red emergency card section in the back!

Up north 2010

2010-05-11T13:40:00.005-04:00

Darin and I just got back from our trip up north for our 2nd anniversary. Can't believe its been 2 years already! This last year has gone by fast. It was so nice to get away for a nice relaxing trip, pre-baby. The first day we were there, it was really cold with flurries! We spent the day inside watching the Simpsons, eating delicious food, and napping whenever we happened to fall asleep. The next two days were sunny and it warmed up enough for us to go into the downtown area to browse the antique shops. I got a really cute apron, which is much needed! You should see my big belly when I'm done cooking, it is always covered in ingredients. I also got a sewing book filled with projects for pregnant moms and babies. There are so many cute things to make, I cant wait to start making them!! Darin got an awesome DIY sustainable type book that got us really excited about new projects we can start this summer.

I spent the early mornings with Lincoln. Its really the only time of day he isn't sleeping. He got me up every morning to get food and some quality out door time. Even though it was freezing in the morning, I bundled up and went out there with him anyway. How can I say no to those big buggy eyes? He loved running up and down the dock, I think he did that about 10 times every morning.

Overall, it was really relaxing and it was so nice to spend the whole weekend with Darin. We took turns cooking for each other, and got to continue our Simpsons marathon (trying to watch ALL of them, we are almost done with Season 3 now). I think I cried every day because of pregnancy hormones, and always because my body ached, or I ran into something, or did something clumsy (sidenote: when I got home, I dropped an egg, and dropped a big container filled with pens and markers. Both spills were messy, and left Darin helping me clean up my mess and reminding me that I can't do certain things I normally could do, like carry 6 eggs at once, haha).

Here are some pictures capturing the wonderfulness of up north at the cottage (including my new apron!!).

wait, what? 6 weeks, 5 days? really?

2010-05-03T11:33:00.002-04:00

Can't believe that in about 6 weeks, 5 days, I will have a baby.

So, lets see whats happening now? My wedding rings don't fit anymore :/ but my grandmas wedding band now fits on my ring finger, so that will do for now. I haven't slept through the night in god knows how long. Starting at about 3am I will get up every hour to do something, bathroom, blow my nose, flip sides, stretch legs, etc.

This non-sleep, along with the increase in anxiety levels has made me incredibly clumsy, forgetful, and hot tempered, all in all a wonderful person to be around haha. I love my husband for his incredible patience with me, I can't even think how many times we have this conversation:

Darin (in his most calming voice): *sigh* "We already went over this"
Me: *sigh* "oh yeah..."

Even though this has been the most un-enjoyable trimester of my pregnancy, its still pretty good. There are some great parts like seeing my belly move all over the place (weird, kind of like alien). I can't wait to meet our little daughter, I'm hoping this last month or so will go by fast. <3

Transition

2010-04-20T13:00:00.003-04:00

For the past 6 months or so, I have been trying to transition from 'burning the candle at both ends' to getting a whole new set of candles ready to light. (does that even make sense?) Pre-pregnancy, I had many obligations like a full time job, programming for AIGA Detroit (a.k.a. my second job), designing a magazine for a non-profit and being actively involved in that non-profit (a.k.a. my third job), helping Ferndale start an entrepreneur support group/networking event, oh yeah and of course spending quality time with my wonderful husband, dog, and cat, oh! and friends, spending time with friends.

ugh! Too much, no? I was worried how I would juggle all this during the pregnancy, and I have actually succeeded in only keeping the time for family and friends part. Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I didn't really walk away from any of those completely, except for maybe the Ferndale thing.

True, I am still giving my time to AIGA, but not as a programming director. I am in charge of Super Script, the new AIGA Detroit blog. I am so excited about this because I can update from home, write things in advance, and its the AIGA Detroit blog! I will be more of a director than the author. We have many writers for the blog, including almost all the board of directors. I'm very excited and I know I will be a lot better at this than programming huge events.

The magazine and non-profit I was working on has taken a small break, so I'm sure when that is ready to go, I'll try to jump on it. If I have a newborn though, I will have to ask someone else to take over the next issue. I love the non-profit though, its called YE 313 Magazine. It gives kids the chance to create a magazine, interview local celebrities and politicians, and helps them get involved in solving social problems in their community. The magazine content is completely done by the kids (photos, interviews, articles, etc.). I also get the chance to teach the kids about graphic design and how it can help push their messages and help give them a stronger voice. Read more about it here

Perhaps that still sounds like a lot, but I've already felt like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am only giving my time to the things I love the most which is the best feeling. I know when we have the baby, I'll take a break from all the 'jobs' until I'm in a comfortable spot taking care of our little one. It's going to be a nice summer if my only obligations will be family and friends. <3

The Dia-beet-us (30 weeks)

2010-04-16T10:58:00.005-04:00

This week I got the results back for my gestational diabetes test. I had failed the first one, so I had to go to the three hour test, ugh! This involved fasting for 12 hrs, then drinking a sugary drink that tastes like flat sprite, but sweeter. No pregnant woman should ever have to do that. Oh then they take a sample of your blood every hour for 3 hours. After the first blood draw, I was so nauseous and sleepy, I almost fell asleep in the waiting room. After the second, I passed the time chatting it up with the other 2 pregnant ladies getting the same test. It's always fun to talk to other pregnant women, so that was fun :)

At my doctors appointment, they told me the results of my test. Before the midwife came in, I started to feel light headed and hot. I took off my shoes and laid down, but still felt weird. The midwife came in and I sat up trying to shake off whatever it was my body was doing (probably not the best idea). "Your test results were abnormal," she said. Gestational diabetes, ugh! She went through the whole speech of what I had to do, take a class the next day, get a monitor, poke my finger 4 times a day, talk to a nutritionist, visit with the doctor 2 times a week! At some point, it got hard for me to listen to her and I asked her for some water. She had me lay down, and she took my blood pressure, it was way low. She felt so bad, she thought it was the news that made me freak out, but I told her I had been trying to shake it off since I got there. She gave me some juice and told me not to worry, it was a lot of info to take in. She had me rest for a while until my blood pressure got back to normal.

I knew gestational diabetes was serious, and that it was not the worst thing to have while you're pregnant, some women just get it. As long as you eat a good diet, the only side effect can be having a big baby, (ouch!) The thing that scared me the most was when she said that if you have gestational diabetes while you're pregnant, you can often develop Type 2 diabetes when you are older. I do not want diabetes when I'm older. My grandma had it, and all I could picture was my fridge being filled with insulin and orange juice. Poor Darin would have to help me get shots 4 times a day! Thank goodness there are ways to prevent Type 2 Diabetes, I feel like I have to start prevention starting now! Diet and exercise, ASAP!

The midwife came back in and told me that I was going to hate her. I guess someone had stapled the wrong test results to my chart, and I did NOT have gestational diabetes. YES! I was so happy, but she felt awful. I told her that it was a good thing, and not to worry, I still like her. At least it wasn't the other way around!

I guess seeing my grandma go through diabetes effected me more than I thought. This was a big wake up call, it was really scary being that close to diabetes, even if it was just gestational. On the drive home, I looked at my belly and thought about Lily. I felt that she was safe and it made me so happy that I was getting teary eyed. She wasn't going to be effected by any bs my body was going through. I think it might have been the first time I felt like a parent. I told Lily how happy I was and that we're going to be okay. <3

30 Weeks, 6 Days

Bird Houses

2010-04-02T15:19:00.004-04:00

oo! I just love these bird houses by Luke Bartels & Jeff Canham.

Read more about them.

Third Trimester

2010-03-23T10:48:00.002-04:00

I am now into my third trimester. I think this is when the reality is setting in. So far my pregnancy has been awesome so far, I love being pregnant. For the first and second trimester, I've been surrounded in a fog of bliss and happiness. I am still happy, but just slightly more uncomfortable. I notice that little things bother me, and its harder to let some small stuff go. I've managed to not make anything a huge deal though, avoiding conflicts over small stuff has always been easy for me (even though its just too easy to shout my anger outburst on twitter). I have started many tweets recently, then asked, do I really want to send this? no. delete.

I also have started to have some outbursts of anxiety. One night I stayed up until 5am worrying about the dumbest things! I was worried I was losing touch with people since I don't go out to the bar anymore. Losing touch with AIGA because I haven't been to an event in a while. Not only about losing touch, but that the people involved were mad at me for not going. I could picture people saying stuff like, "Angie is a mom now, she only has time for herself, blah blah blah." WTF. This was very upsetting. I finally fell asleep and felt way better when I woke up. None of those thoughts worried me anymore and I felt like it was a bad dream. I laugh at it now, and think it was silly for me to even start thinking those thoughts.

I haven't really had any more worry sessions like that, but things are starting to pop up in my head that make me worry. Will I be able to take off 12 full weeks of work since half of it would be unpaid? What will our schedule be when the baby is here? Will I be able to work from home at all? Will I finish reading all the books I'm supposed to read? What if I don't? oh what if!

Luckily, I have the most supportive family a girl could want. It always makes me feel better after talking with family about all of these questions. If it really takes a whole village to raise a child, then we are in luck!

Wood is Good!

2010-03-17T09:49:00.004-04:00

I love these wood toys from Velocity Art and Design

Wooden Dolls by Alexander Girard

Stamp Sets

Wood bear toy

Happy Monday

2010-03-08T12:41:00.003-05:00

Good ol' Monday. Its a beautiful day here in Michigan. I am so excited for Spring! Springtime means planting flowers, planting a garden, estate sales, early morning trips to Eastern Market, trips up north, craft fairs, riding my bike to work, and so much more! This summer will be extra special because there will be a lot of firsts. I have a feeling our camera is going to be on overload this summer!!

I'm also excited because I finally set up my etsy store. I made a real banner and everything! I hope that I can continue to make stuff and eventually try out another craft fair this summer. I've got to make everything before this baby arrives, because I will probably have some other things to do besides make crafts all night :)

Here is my front store. I don't have much in it, but I'm very excited that its actually up hah

24 weeks and counting

2010-03-04T10:41:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, I will begin my 25th week of being pregnant. The second trimester has been exciting because I can feel our little one moving around in there (she is the size of an eggplant now, woo!). I always try to keep a hand on my belly to see if I can feel her kicking on the outside. I can't wait until Darin can feel her kick.

My belly is starting to get a nice little baby bump, so its finally time for maternity clothes. Christie and Veronica took me on a shopping spree last weekend and I am much more comfortable sitting at work all day. I'm slowly adjusting to wearing maternity pants...they are kind of weird. Maternity pants feel like they are falling down because there is nothing tight at the waist. I understand why there are no belt loops, but couldn't they just put a couple on there so a girl can pull up her pants when they are sagging down?!

The nursery is almost fully painted! We get the rest of the paint tonight, I am so excited to have it finished. Our house is usually pretty tidy, but since we started painting, it has been a mess that does not work well with my clumsy nature and I just end up stubbing my toes on everything laying around. Not to mention my ever growing body that seems to run into any kind of wet paint in the room, even if I am not the one painting! Lets just say, I've made a couple new 'painting shirts.'

I can't wait to finish painting, that means I can start decorating! I started making some wall hangings to hang in her room to fit the alphabet theme. I also opened my etsy store to try to sell some of the room decor I make, why not try to make a little money on the side, eh? :) Can't wait to post pictures of the nursery!

a new obsession

2010-02-27T00:21:00.002-05:00

My friend Chris sent me a tutorial the other day on how to make flowers. I watched it, was hooked, and now I am addicted to making these things. I've made them out of paper and felt. Felt is my favorite because its cute, but paper is nice because you have a wider selection of colors. I started out making them just for fun, but now I've been thinking about trying to make some accessories with these (shoe clips, headbands, broaches, etc). Right now, I'm just happy making little compositions, maybe one day I will frame these and will actually get these up on my etsy store haha.

I decided to use these little bits of cuteness for my lettering to the alphabattle 2.0. I've always wanted to construct type and then take a photo of it. Turns out its really hard (for me at least) to photograph felt, it just ends up looking dirty. Maybe the light is too strong, who knows. I guess if I start photographing type, it will help me learn to properly light things and take good photos. Anyway, below is what I sent off to the alphabattle, along with a sketch I made before I started crafting. Enjoy and plan to see more.

I'm on LetterCult

2010-02-03T11:27:00.002-05:00

It's always satisfying to have a friend send you a link to a site that has your lettering (thanks to Jackson). Not sure how they dug this up on the internet, but my lettering for my aunts invitation is featured in the CUSTOM LETTERS 2009 post on LetterCult. Be sure to check out all 15 pages, there is some amazing work on there by some of my favorite letter artists!

Bio's Galore!

2010-01-29T17:42:00.005-05:00

In a couple weeks, I will be leading a breakout session with a couple friends of mine at the AIGA Student Portfolio Review. For this type of event, its customary for the speakers to write a little bio about themselves, so the students know what they're getting themselves into.

It's not easy writing a bio for yourself. Just deciding whether or not to write in 1st or 3rd person takes forever to decide. I try to write as natural as I can, but it all sounds so cheesy.

While writing this bio, it got me thinking, how many do I actually have out there? I decided to search the web for ALL the bios or about pages I have written for myself for various events and sites. You would think I just have to write one and use that for everything. It never really works out that way for me, just because the audiences have been so varied. Either way, here they all are. ALL in one spot. Enjoy:

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Angela Ficorelli is a graphic designer born and raised in Michigan. She graduated from CCS in 2005, and has also traveled to Maine, Berlin, and the Netherlands to study design. She currently works in Ferndale at Big Communications as a print designer and also enjoys doing freelance work for local non-profits.

Angela has been an AIGA member since 2002. She was president of the student chapter at CCS and now serves as the Programming Director for AIGA Detroit. Being involved in AIGA has led Angela into some unforgettable moments like eating lunch with Ed Fella, chatting with Debbie Millman over wine, shaking hands with Doyald Young, getting life advice from Elliott Earls, talking type with Ellen Lupton, and many more! This year, she is looking forward to adding another unforgettable moment when she will get to meet her design hero, Marian Bantjes.

When she’s not working, she enjoys spending most of her time with her husband, cat, and Boston terrier. She also enjoys writing in her blog, knitting, and watching TV. Favorite shows include Jeopardy, the Simpson’s, LOST, just about anything on Bravo or Food Network, and oh how she misses Conan O’Brien!

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Hello! This site belongs to me, Angela Ficorelli. I am a graphic designer living and working in Detroit, MI. I was born and raised in Michigan, and live here with my husband, cat, and dog. I went to school here and got my BFA in Communication Design from the College for Creative Studies. This site serves as an archive of my design work, and helps me keep track of my body of work.

I have attended many design workshops all over the world that have also added a huge impact to my design education. These experiences have given me a unique outlook on life and design and makes me want to learn more.

Thank you for visiting <3

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I am a graphic designer from Michigan. My day job keeps me doing work for big companies, and my hand-lettering hobby, allows me to design special things for individuals. I also serve as a board member for a design non-profit called AIGA Detroit. <3

To see my typography work, visit
movingbeauty.wordpress.com

To read my blog, visit
angelaficorelli.blogspot.com

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I am a graphic designer from Michigan.

*NEW* Have a peek at my blog
http://www.angelaficorelli.blogspot.com

Here is some of my work
http://www.angelaficorelli.com

Amazon Wishlist
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/K41H6R6GVH7R

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Hello! Thank you for visiting my etsy shop. I am a graphic artist from Detroit, MI. I love love love typography, drawing, collage, and relief printing.

I love making custom designs because I enjoy working closely with clients to create a unique and special artifact that they will keep forever!

More work: http://www.angelalehman.com/
Stuff I like: http://angelaficorelli.blogspot.com/

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I have been practicing graphic design for almost 10 years now. I started Moving Beauty so I can use my talent and love for hand lettering to create special personalized keepsakes for people. There is nothing more special than getting a hand written letter, it can instantly warm your heart. Hand lettering is a simple way to customize something special and create a unique one-of-a-kind treasure.

I can provide lettering for just about anything, including monograms, logos, and invitations. I always bring my professional and heart-warming approach to create custom-made pieces, just for you.

Please contact me if you would like to work with Moving Beauty to create a special artifact that you will keep forever. I update my site regularly with new projects that showcase my capabilities, be sure to keep in touch!

—Angela Ficorelli

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Hello, this is my blog filled with images and stories about my life as a graphic designer in the Midwest. Enjoy!

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(old, but still on the internet)
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Angela Lehman is a graphic artist born and raised in Detroit, MI.

She received her BFA in Graphic Communication from the College for Creative Studies. She recently studied design in the Netherlands, where she worked with design studios such as LUST and NLXL.

Her work is often highly conceptual, and she enjoys exploring book design, illustration, type design, photography, and costume design for both cultural and commercial clients. She is a graphic designer in an agency in Detroit, MI and serves on the board of the AIGA Detroit Chapter.

For more visit www.angelalehman.com

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We're having a girl!

2010-01-23T23:28:00.002-05:00

It's happened. The happiest moment in my life so far. Darin and I found out we are having a baby girl. I feel like I am in a magical-dream-land part of pregnancy, is there such a thing?

The reason I say that, is because I have been reading through mom blogs and podcasts, and most of them are honest and up front about all the trials and tribulations of motherhood. None of these blogs ever describe a fairy tale version of being a parent, but for me, its been too good to be true. Now that all the big secrets are out, its just waiting from here on out. Naturally, we will pass the time decorating and getting this house ready for a baby girl. It has been fun so far looking at nurseries, baby clothes, and picking out names with Darin.

I will also spend some time reading about what to expect and prepare myself for motherhood. We are one of the first of our friends to have a baby, and its been about 8 years since I have had someone really close to me (my sister) go through a pregnancy. I know there is a lot to learn, but I have found some wonderful resources. I have become closer with the few friends who are moms/soon-to-be moms, and it's really comforting knowing they are there. It's nice talking with other moms, not entirely for advice, but just to find out that what you're going through is pretty normal, no matter how strange it may seem. I hope that one day, I will be able to give comfort to friends in the future when they decide to become parents.

Baby Talk

2010-01-21T13:42:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow, Darin and I find out the sex of our baby. I can't even describe how excited I am. The last time I was this excited was right before my wedding. I am taking the whole day off from work! Darin and I will find out around 10am, then celebrate the rest of the day!

A lot of people have been asking me my gut feeling if its a girl or boy. It's so hard for me to make the call. Darin and I both want a girl, and sometimes I feel like I'm having a girl. Sometimes I think we'll have a boy, just because we both want a girl. Either way, I'm so excited and can't wait to start decorating the nursery.

My pregnancy has been pretty great so far. The first trimester was a breeze, and it was over before I knew it, literally. By the time we went to our first doctors appointment, I didn't have many symptoms and I thought I was at 8 weeks. When we had our first ultrasound, they told us we were at 13 weeks! Whaaa?! We were surprised and excited to get rid of a month of waiting.

The only cravings I have had are foods filled with protein like peanut butter, milk, cottage cheese, etc. Lately I have been craving raw veggies, there's just something about that crunch! I am probably eating healthier than I have ever have before! Also, after getting rid of alcohol, caffeine, etc. I feel so healthy and energized. All the little things that bugged me in any given day, don't matter so much anymore and its easier to have a good attitude...its all been pretty nice. (I really recommend the NO alcohol/caffeine/smoking diet to anyone who is feeling down and out, it's unbelievable how good you will feel!)

I would have to say the worst part so far was having a cold for a week. Mostly because I can't take anything to relieve the symptoms, which led to many sleepless nights. And randomly crying about once a week, that is weird.

I hope the rest of my pregnancy will go this well, and I hope I can continue to feel this great forever! I'm 18 weeks, 5 days and counting. Tomorrow will be another exciting memory that I will never forget. I've been trying to make sure I document all of this, because it is unlike anything I have ever gone through before. Every part of it seems so important and new, I don't want to forget a single thing.

YE 313 Magazine

2010-01-20T10:12:00.002-05:00

Ever since December 2009, I have been involved in a publication called YE 313 Magazine. This is a magazine for kids, by kids. I was contacted to help design the magazine and did it in a quick 3 day turnaround.

I really think this is the design project I have always wanted. The production from the magazine teaches kids how to write, photograph, etc, but also gives them the experience of interviewing local and national political icons. I love love love being a part of this magazine and cant wait to help develop an identity for it. It will give me an opportunity to teach the kids about graphic design, and will give me an experience working with a great client that will be excited to collaborate with me on making something that matters. I cant wait to start the next issue, it should be coming out in March and may even feature the kids interviewing Obama! If not this issue, the next one.

Here is the issue we whipped together for December.

More Alphabets!

2010-01-15T14:46:00.004-05:00

inally realized Jessica Hische is selling prints of her Daily Drop Cap alphabets! I want them all!

Alphabets

2010-01-15T11:58:00.003-05:00

Next Friday, Darin and I get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I can't stop thinking about nursery themes. One of my favorite ones so far is an alphabet theme. Just simple fabrics, and lots of artwork and toys of letters :)

Here are a few of my favorite alphabet things so far:

Alphabirds by Andrea Kalfas

Birds on a wire alphabet by boldandnoble

House Industries Alphabet Blocks

Hooray for 2010

2010-01-07T22:34:00.003-05:00

I am already excited about this year! I have set up some personal goals and I am happy to get started on actually achieving them. At the end of 2009, my husband and I found out we were going to be parents. Since I found out I will be a mom this June, I have officially subtitled 2010 as the year of no complaints. So far, it has actually made my life easier and much happier.

I have also decided to start a lucrative hobby, its about time I start selling stuff I like to make! I started knitting again, a craft my mom introduced to me years and years ago. I have had so much fun so far, and I feel like it is a hobby that can keep me busy for the rest of time! haha Here are some of the first things I've made this year:

Here's to a great year!

Our Little Lincoln is Famous

2009-12-18T18:35:00.002-05:00

Check it out! Someone I don't know posted a picture of our dog on f*yeahbostonterriers

Here is the pic, taken by Christine Edwards.

Library Treasures

2009-12-04T10:42:00.005-05:00

I love love love love virtual libraries! Especially when I find wonderful type specimens and manuscripts like the ones below! These are found from the Cincinnati Virtual Library. This site was a gold mine to me, and I downloaded a ton of pdfs but only featured a couple here. If you want to see more, visit my flickr set or visit the virtual library for yourself! They have WW2 posters, maps, children's books, manuscripts, and more!

Peter Bilak

2009-12-03T12:18:00.003-05:00

While doing some research on Modern Dance for a project coming up, I started to think about Peter Bilak. A couple years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit Peter Bilak's studio in The Hague with some friends of mine. While we were there, he showed us some performance based design projects he was working on. I was blown away! It was new to me, at the time, to see a designer collaborating with a dance studio to create a performance. I was so excited to see he has the videos up on his site!

He partnered up with a modern dance studio, and worked with them to design a few highly conceptual performances. One performance, Twenty, has a countdown clock behind the dancers. The clock starts at 20 min, and counts down. It speeds up and slows down according to the tempo of the dance beat, but the whole performance is still 20 minutes long.

Here are some pics from a performance where the dancers shadow is delayed a couple seconds. Be sure to check out the video too.

And of course, some pictures of us visiting Peter in his studio. (photos taken by Curtis Flanagan)

Stamps!

2009-11-30T13:53:00.002-05:00

Every now and then, I think about starting a stamp collection. I have a few from the Netherlands that are so beautiful. While the U.S. post office isn't really known for having the best stamps to choose from, I found these that were not super terrible. I really love the King & Queen stamps. I wish they had this when we sent our wedding invitations.

Winter Village

2009-11-23T13:28:00.007-05:00

I have never really wanted to start collecting my own christmas village, until I saw these at Target yesterday. My grandma had ones just like these! Now, I want to collect them all! Also, Martha Stewart has a tutorial on how to make them, so I think this would be a great project do do with my mom. I would love to be able to make little houses of all the buildings that are important to me, our house, my parents house, the place we got married, etc. It would be the cutest village! <3

Buy them Online

Make them at home

Wha????

2009-11-17T14:11:00.002-05:00

I can barely find the words to express my feelings for seeing this on my google reader:

Really Chrysler? How can it be that in the same day, the news went from BBDO closing their Detroit Office because Chrysler is breaking up with them, to an article about how Chrysler is going to spend more money than they ever have to market themselves. Reading this as a designer and a lifelong Detroiter makes me furious.

Looks like Chrysler is sending their business over to other states. There are a ton of Michigan companies that go outside of Michigan for design work, but this one makes me so mad just because it directly led to the closing of BBDO Detroit offices.

Way to go, Chrysler.

cyan

2009-11-09T11:06:00.003-05:00

I just came across the website for the amazing Berlin based design studio, cyan. A couple years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit their studio and hear them talk about their work. Their posters are like candy for any designer, but they have got to be my favorite book designers. On their site, they display each spread of their book, which is why I love them.

Life Clippings

2009-11-06T16:52:00.004-05:00

I just found a new favorite site! Not sure if you can really call it a site, but google has archived a bunch of LIFE magazines. I own a few of old LIFE magazines that I found at estate sales, but this is even better! It makes me wonder how long it will take until every physical form of media can be accessible online. Will we even need to collect magazines? or will they all just be something we browse online. I don't hate that idea, but I do still love having the physical pieces. These magazines are rich with type samples and amazing illustrations. I have started to collect my favorites, here are some of the ones I have so far:

Color Theory

2009-10-22T17:39:00.002-04:00

Below are some color studies I made with a sketch for a friend. for each set, the color of the letters CG are exactly the same, but because of their background, they look different. I forgot how much I love color theory :)

TEDxDetroit

2009-10-20T11:14:00.004-04:00

I am SO excited, I just got my boarding pass for the TEDxDetroit conference for tomorrow. Out of 350+ applicants, somehow I managed to get accepted! I know this is a local event, with our own local celebrities, but I am so excited to hear and meet the people around town that share the same mind set as me.

My list of presenters that I really, really want to meet:
• Dan Izzo, Training Leader at Bizdom U
• PJ Jacokes, Producer/Lead Instructor at Go Comedy!
• Terry Bean, Author, Speaker and Founder of Networked, Inc
• Terry Barclay, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inforum Michigan
• And of course all the people who organized this event!

I think by the end of it, I will want to meet EVERY presenter. I'm interested to see if I know any other attendees. If not, I guess I will have to make new friends, which is always good!

Blog in a blog!

2009-10-12T15:08:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to launch yet another blog, Moving Beauty. This blog will be a collection of all my lettering and typography work. Here is a little preview:

Business Card History

2009-10-09T22:53:00.004-04:00

Here is my collection of all the business cards I have made in the past. Every single one (except for the rainbow one) has an element of chance in it. For the top set, I drew letter A's on a large sheet of paper with poster markers, then printed my info on the other side and cut down the cards. Each card was entirely unique from the next. I gave away a lot of my favorite ones :) but these are the ones I have left.

The next set is the same thing, but the A's were not drawn, these compositions were generated at random using flash.

The next rainbow set are the cards I use to promote my etsy store.

And finally, the last is my newest set!! I made these to give away at the TEDxDetroit event coming up in a couple weeks. These cards are all unique, my favorites are shown below. I cut these from an old paper sample book. yay recycling!

Nate Williams Patterns

2009-10-06T10:21:00.002-04:00

I am totally loving these patterns!

See more of Nate's work

Letters & Numbers

2009-09-21T15:30:00.004-04:00

Here are some pics from my new photo series, Letters & Numbers (all photos taken in Michigan so far) Keep an eye on my facebook album for updates

I love!

2009-09-10T10:26:00.004-04:00

I love these and want them ALL! These are hand painted by Portland based artist, Trish Grantham. These pictured below are available on her etsy store.
To see more, check out her flickr

Meeting Notes

2009-09-03T16:31:00.001-04:00

Detroit, Detroit

2009-09-03T09:44:00.007-04:00

Last Thursday, I attended a new event series by AIGA Detroit called Design + Business. The topic this night was Non-client based work. The discussion was led by a panel of experts, at this one we had Stephanie Tardy, from Handmade Detroit, Nina Bianchi, and Ryan Molloy. I think there were about 12 or 15 other people in the group, which was nice and cozy. We all gathered round, while each panel expert talked about their own work and design process, which lead into a group discussion about non-client based work.

All of them agreed that the best work comes when you start creating a need in the culture around you. Stephanie Tardy explained that Handmade Detroit started because her and her friends needed somewhere to sell their crafts. Nina talked about A People's Guide to Detroit made by the people, for the people. A collaboration with the Detroit Miscellaneous Society and Design 99., "... a collection of personal narratives and clipped entries based on individual experiences living here in the city of Detroit, bound together for ease of use and enjoyment. This is not a comprehensive guide to the city; instead we present a character study of the city based on personal experience. We offer our impressions of places that hold our interest, places that we'd like to share with you, perhaps where we would take you if you came to visit." (statement from Nina's site). Looking at it quickly, as it was being passed around the room, I learned about a collectable shop that has a large collection of records and porn magazines from the 60s! You would NEVER hear about that place in a typical guide, it made me want to buy it to read about other cool places to visit in Detroit. Ryan Molloy said he got the idea for his publication, Redaction when Emigre stopped featuring experimental design work. He decided to put out a publication that only features experimental design work and gives exposure to some great work. All of these projects were funded directly by the creator, but each project created something that was missing in our everyday life.

Listening to the three of them talk, I slowly realized how motivated they all were. I know what that feeling is like, and I think I lost a little bit of it from keeping the same routine everyday. I got it back that night and started writing tons of lists of projects I want to start AND finish! Nina made it sound easy, to just stay active, do something everyday that helps advance a project. I have a few old projects that need finishing, actually, one is so old that it might turn into a new kind of project haha. Either way, this stuff has to get done. I think sometimes people forget that if they are missing something, or if they wish something existed, they have the power to make it.

And, just like the last lecture I went to, I got to explore the building we were in a little bit and discovered a load of surprises! This D+B was hosted by Gyro Creative Group , in downtown Detroit. After the meeting, our host gave us a little tour of the building. The studio space is AMAZING. Beautiful hardwood floors with exposed brick and tons of artwork up on the walls. I learned that the room upstairs was the home of The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection, one of the largest Fluxus collections in the country! (wow, I wish I took pictures!). There are still a few permanent pieces hiding in the nooks and crannies of the building. And speaking of nook and crannies, we got to see a classic fluxus wallpaper display. At the top of the stairs, there was a wall that was covered in wall paper. As you made your way up the stairs, you notice that its not wallpaper, its 11x17 sheets of paper, pasted on the wall to create a DIY wallpaper. THEN as you approach the top of the stairs, it becomes clear that the pattern is made of curves of a body...(closer..) Curves of a BUTT! the whole thing is a black and white photocopy of a butt. Not just any butt, but Yoko Ono's butt. Amazing. I wish I knew about this building while going through my Fluxus artist phase in college :)

What a weird discovery to realize the history behind the building I was sitting in for an hour talking about design and creation. I wonder how different the experience would be had I gotten the tour at the beginning of the discussion.

AIGA is My Funday

2009-08-28T18:41:00.008-04:00

A few projects I have done for AIGA Detroit lately:
the buttons (top) made for the 2009 Leadership Conference. Sadly, I did not save any for the chapter, we handed all of our buttons out. Well actually, we exchanged buttons, so we ended up getting tons of other cool ones! anyway, I'd like to make more of these :) The next image is a foam hand of Michigan that I made for the conference. We had to make something to hold up during a vote on the new AIGA mandate.
The rest are some quick logos made for our event series. If you are interested in attending, keep an eye on our website

My Early Lettering Years

2009-08-27T10:33:00.003-04:00

I've been on a mission to track down some of my biggest design influences throughout my life. I'm looking for the resources I grew up with, or used that helped shape my artwork or design work. All the stuff I looked and and kept around me before I knew about design, before I went to school, and before I saw work of famous designers.

When I was about 11 or 12, I remember having this book, The Do-It-Yourself Lettering Book. This was my favorite book at the time, I carried it around EVERYWHERE. Surprisingly, it is still in decent shape and well preserved. I view this book now as my early introduction to lettering and the beginning of my lettering obsession. I can remember drawing just about everything inside of this book, and viewed every project, poster, or report as a chance to do some unique lettering. If only I had some of those reports! (Specifically, a poster about Rhode Island I made in the Second Grade. I loved RI, so much that I started a mini singing group called Rhode Island Rats with my friend Laura. The only words to our song was, Rhode Island.)

Anyway, in high school, my notebooks and book covers were completely covered in lettering. Mostly bands that I liked (which are probably embarrassing to mention now :) ). Each word was written in a different way and were probably 100% inspired by this book. This style of lettering still shows up in my meeting notes

A few pages from The Do-It-Yourself Lettering Book:

Can it!

2009-08-24T10:02:00.003-04:00

Saturday morning, Darin and I went to his parents to participate in their annual canning party! Every year, they get bushels and bushels of tomatoes from eastern market, and can puree to use for sauce for the rest of the year. At about 7am, we made our way down to Eastern Market and bought 3 bushels of tomotoes (Darins dad had already bought 3 bushels from another farm earlier in the week). Its good to mix up all different kinds of tomatoes.

When we got home, we washed and cut out all the bad parts from each tomato. I have never seen so many tomatoes all together in my life! After the wash & cut, they get squished and thrown into a pot, then onto the stove to soften up. Then its off to the juicer! The one we used was once a hand crank, but due to the massive amounts of tomatoes to be shoved through it, an old fan motor was hooked up to it to keep it going strong. We had to leave around 1, so we didn't get to pour the puree into the jars. We ended up taking home about 20 jars, I think they made about 70 jars all together :) Hopefully this will last us the whole year!

Ain't nothin better

2009-08-20T13:46:00.006-04:00

Last Tuesday, I went to a lecture at the Johanson Charles Gallery in Eastern Market. Jim Griffioen, of Sweet Juniper spoke to the theme that goes something like, The Afflatus of Ruin: Talking Differently About Detroit’s Unique and Endangered Assets. He told stories and shared rants while he showed a slide show of his amazing photography of Detroit. It was really great to just hear an opinion and not hear someone talk about how to fix Detroit. It gets tiring going out to lectures designed to spark conversation and then listen to people talk and talk about the good parts of the city. It is starting to sound like blah, blah, blah. This lecture was different, I think, because it was a lecture written by a writer. I wouldn't event hesitate to call it a reading rather than a lecture. I think we need more events like this one, just poetic points of view that could inspire people to take matters into their own hands. To stop talking and just fix it! I swear this lecture made me leave looking romantically and EVERYTHING around me.

As a side story, on my way out, I was so excited to be immediately confronted by a bright yellow truck with hand painted lettering, parked in front of a bright yellow building! I know! I also snapped some other hand drawn lettering between that and the car. Between this lecture and revisiting the TypArchive, I think its time to start snapping some more lettering, at least more refrigerated type :)

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Random Addition! I knew this building reminded me of something...it was the hostel we stayed at in Berlin:

ooooh yeah!

2009-08-19T11:58:00.004-04:00

I almost forgot about Ben Shahn. I remember, back in history of graphic design class, learning about him. Well actually, I remember falling in love with his illustration of the shopping carts. I came across it today and decided to share my love for these wonderful carts <3 Oh, and I found what I believe is a picture of Ben Shahn himself, and he is super cute! The Walter Matthau of illustration!

If Tom Helland can do it....

2009-08-17T10:58:00.007-04:00

so can I! Here are some meeting notes, important nouns have been blurred out for my safety :) If you're wondering about Tom Helland, I am referring to the Tom from Organic that doodles during meetings. He says that it helps him concentrate and I completely agree! If I didnt write things like this, I would not remember them, plus every now and then I hear an awesome phrase or new word that is noteworthy. Doodling helps me think about the project creatively with all these notes on my mind. Some of the doodles go into a stream of consciousness, but its all part of the process :) You can also see meeting notes from the past on my website.

Perks

2009-08-13T15:06:00.005-04:00

For a while now, I've been going to an event hosted by AIGA Detroit called Third Thursday. Its a social event that is usually at a bar, and its a good way to have a drink and chat with local designers. I have met a lot of designer friends from going to Third Thursday, and its made me realize that I love my design community :)

Somehow, I am now the AIGA Detroit Programming Director, and it has become my responsibility to create events like that, but change it a bit to reach a different audience because, surprisingly not everyone loves going to the bar and staying out all night! Some other AIGA Chapters have created things like this, one is called Buzz, a morning gathering at a coffee shop to discuss favorite typefaces, debate over re-branding campaigns, and whatever else it is that designers talk about in the morning. Our chapter will be introducing its new event series, Stew! Where designers can sit and stew over a range of various topics. I would also like to use this opportunity to bring some new business to local luncheries :) (suggestions are welcome!)

For each event must come a logo, so here are some initial sketches (Yes, thats right, I was considering calling it 'Lunchy Lunch' or 'FUNCH')

Now that you are part of the process, stay tuned for the official unveiling of the event series! :)

Lemonade

2009-08-11T16:55:00.003-04:00

A couple months ago, I was obsessed with self-help lectures. Every time I brought up the topic of self-help into a conversation, I felt like I should be embarrassed that I brought it up. I often times get weird looks or silent nods about it, “oh yeah…uh...cool.” The only time I’ve had a long conversation about it has been with close friends. Anyway, I didn’t get into the self-help thing because I needed answers or because I felt stuck in life. I got into it because it seemed to be a source of inspiration for some of my favorite designers. Since I was in need of a little inspiration that did NOT consist of looking at the work of other designers, I thought I would investigate.

Since I am a better listener than reader, I signed up for the LearnOutLoud’s Personal Growth Podcast, that offers a small taste of every famous self-help book out there. I listened to all of them so far, and I have to say that they are either super good, really weird and creepy, or just entertaining. As hard as it is to listen to Tony Robbins, it was entertaining listening to him explain how to “Awaken the Giant Within.” For the most part, I enjoyed listening to each one, but I thought they were a little cheesy and moved on.

The other day, I revisited those podcasts, as I will do every now and then. Most recently, I listened to He Said–She Said by Deborah Tannen. I ended up having Darin download the entire book for me and then listened to the whole thing the next day! I think it was too much in one day, since it became all I could talk about for the next few days. She talks about the language patterns of men and women and pointed out how even though we assume our reactions and conversations with each other happen involuntarily, they are not, and the reactions between men and women (most of them anyway) are pretty constant in all different ages, time periods, and regions of the world.

Now this has become the-podcast-that-I-try-talking-to-people-about-but-they-are-not-into-it, haha. I’ll tell you what though, it makes my day so much more fascinating to study the way people talk in different situations. It makes so much sense! Its like finding the key to life (NOT the Secret, for goodnessake). I liked her book because it just states the facts, no judgments. She gives examples of conversations, but never says if either person reacted correctly or incorrectly, but it’s just a pure translation of the conversation and then an analysis of why those particular words were said. I love the idea that reactions and feelings are not involuntary, and its somewhat comforting/weird to know that men and women have been having the same conversations for generations! It means that a person has control over his/her feelings and that is so much more reassuring to me! This way of thinking makes it easier not to judge or hold grudges, and I like that. Blah blah blah. ☺

So I guess, in a way I was inspired by the self-help stuff. It hasn’t shown up in my work yet, perhaps it will once I start producing some hahaha. It has helped me to start writing about my own identity and point of view though. I guess once that is out on paper, the work will be easier to get down on paper.

Soooooo Cute

2009-08-10T22:58:00.007-04:00

Some cute gocco prints from boygirlparty

This one reminds me of Lincoln & Girl Cat (a.k.a. Merle)

I love this fat little deer necklace!

Chalkboard paint!

2009-08-10T14:53:00.007-04:00

fun colors for chalkboard paint from Hudson Paint!!! I love the packaging too, so cute!

Signs!

2009-08-07T21:18:00.009-04:00

Awww these signs make me miss working at the sign shop! I <3 these!