masculin/feminine

I have been feeling a tad stifled at work lately, or just a little unloved or maybe sick of peoples' horrid ghastly egos? Yeah, that might be it right there. I find when I am not feeling it at the office, I branch out and do way too much freelance. I once heard a wise woman (an executive at our company with a little boy and myriad other commitments) say that the more you do the more you can do and I find that to be true. Woo hoo. Don't you just feel great when every stinking minute of your day is predetermined? Fifteen minutes of down time with your honey is penciled in between coffee with a client and late night retouching.

I might sound sarcastic but I am totally serious. And... those packed days make downtime So. Much. Sweeter.

Like tonight! I blogged a few posts back about hell month, as if I were pledging a sorority for women with something of a creative void to fill. Lucky me, I was initiated and I feel like tonight is like the first big kegger after all those nasty sorority girls are really mean to you and smack you on the bum, only now you're besties and it's cool. Except there is no beer at my party and I am by myself in a tidy condo with a cleared to-do list. Oh, and a thunderstorm. Bliss.

Out of all that work has come some really cool, well, work. Looking back over the past few weeks' worth of projects, it's funny that they don't relate at all. All over the board.

First, la feminine. Really cool product shoot for Goody's new trend line that will be out this fall. I think this is one of my favorite kinds of jobs, prop styling and art direction for photography. A shoot I do all alone with just the photographer, his assistant and THINGS. I love things. No models, no drama. This shoot was focused on vintagey stuff, so poor me had to go antiquing. I even stealthily asked Katie if we could go shopping on her birthday... didn't mention it was prop shopping. But we did have some fun times and overhear an older gent gossiping about humping at a fabric store and encounter a 100% authentic Bal'more accent. I loved how this shoot turned out and am really excited about the final piece. Here are some of the lovely, moody shots.

Act II : le masculin. Ahhhh, men. Specifically, guys. More specifically hockey guys... My brother-in-law asked me to design a logo for his hockey team's new jerseys. Their name? The Fockers. Lucky me. So from prim and proper to rude and raunchy. I'm not claiming that this is my best work or anything, and in all honesty, I didn't devote as much time to this as I should have since I love Kyle, but whatever. We all love fake swearing.

Note: this is looking yellowy, it is punchier.

I like the one with the pink asterisk, Kyle chose the second from the top. Thanks, Kyle! The Focker Files were a fun distraction.

Other projects right now are work for a solar farming start-up, work for a mountain biking group (tagline - we play dirty) and a painting for a baby's room. Never a dull jpeg, er, moment. Sorry, bad design joke.

tiny coworker

My cube mate's 4 year old son is in the office today. He is the sweetest. My heart is literally melting and slowly dripping down my chest.

square edged to space aged

I just saw a new Honda commercial on tv, and had major flashbacks to my life in the 90's. This commercial showed Honda models throughout the years, from square edged to space aged.

Two cars come to mind :

'88 Accord : I think this was my parents' first truly new car, or at least the first one I remember. Lots happened in this car, including cruising around the 'hood with dad and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack; being trapped during a long car ride with mom, desperately wanting to escape as she gave me the birds and the bees talk; learning to drive stick and failing; and that fateful day when I opted to skip church and decided instead to go for a drive to calm my fried 17 year old nerves, flipping the car into a ditch. Then hanging there upside down, Honda certified seat belt keeping my bratty butt in that bucket seat, wondering if a tree trunk skewering a car from windshield to tailpipe qualifies it as totaled, and hoping not.

'88 Prelude : A's mom's car. We all loved it. Seems like yesterday we were riding around, finding excuses to use the awesome car phone, driving past a boy's house or to Massena for swim practice. Can I tell you how cool I thought A was, driving that car?

mmm hmm, that's the stuff

Hondas made all the same sounds. Deet deet deet, deet deet deet, deet deet deet when the door was open with the keys in the ignition and something like a minor sonic boom when the car started.

okay, not a Honda brand ambassador or anything, just thinkin' 'bout happy times and cool cars.

wallpaper disappointments and other minor details

My life has been insane lately. And so, it seems, has everyone else's. So many of my little tasks have gone undone. My cabinets are indefinitely sporting casual Friday attire, without their jewelry (drawer pulls) installed. My wallpaper front runner turned out to have broken the most important tenet of the online honor system and posted a picture of himself as a much younger, slimmer man (I ordered a sample and let's just say it was not as pictured). I haven't had time to look for something better. The bedroom situation is remains uneven, Brett still has the lone bedside table and lamp, and I drop whatever I'm reading in a messy pile, Chelsea Handler and Alexandre Dumas vying for the top of the heap. And the list goes on. But I am hopeful! Next weekend I got nothin'. Or the weekend after that, or after that... Bliss. Chores. Décor. Workouts. Something other than Kashi frozen meals...

Must. Get. Through. The. Week.

a happy milestone

Sunday was the year anniversary of the day Brett proposed to me :) What a sweet little milestone.

It is sort of weird, I already feel like we've been married forever so it's funny to think about the engagement. When I say forever, I mean it in a good way, not in a bad ball and chain way. I can honestly say I love being married. All of it. And I have been surprised by how different it feels to be married than to be dating, even if you spend every night together and pretty much live as a couple. On our wedding response cards, we asked our friends and family for bits of advice to sprinkle into our ceremony. One of my favorites came from the lovely L, she said something to the effect of finding small reasons to celebrate and celebrating often. I don't think she said to use the nice dishes and cloth napkins when she wrote that but I'd like to think she meant to :) Anyway, sometimes I feel silly thinking about all of our lesser anniversaries. First date, first kiss (no, not the same day as our first date thanks to Brett and his morals), engagement, etc. But Leah's advice gives me permission to do that, and I'll take it!

Happy Anniversary, darling!

a spring wedding

Oh, did I say a spring wedding? Because I meant a spring wedding in the north country. Which, as most of you know, could be accompanied by lovely, bucolic*, spring-like weather, or a freaking hurricane. *Can you use bucolic to describe weather? I love this word. I'm using it.

My whole family got together last weekend to attend the wedding of a good friend on the St. Lawrence River, complete with a cocktail cruise through the islands, which sounded charming and romantic on the invitation I received weeks ago. It conjured up visions of guests in stylish sun hats and seersucker, not mismatchy umbrellas and garish gore-tex. Take a look at my mom as she is whisked away by the wind, her husband and sheer vanity to get out of the gusty wind and hail.

Yes, hail.

Ominous view from the boat. Yikes! The word "foreboding" comes to mind.

Mom caught in the storm! Not pleased. But still looking cute.

What did we ever do before pashminas?

Dave to the rescue! Note the angry willow in the background.

It's not just weeping, it's sobbing.

See mom run. Run, mom, run!

Shel finds shelter!

I like weddings that come with a workout. Then I don't feel guilty eating cake.

They say that a little rain during a wedding is good luck. I think Matt and Sara are the luckiest couple I've ever met!

wife porn

I came home to this today...

me likey

derbylicious

derbylicious

I wanted to buy some mint julep cups - they are expensive! So these cute glasses from Pier One will have to do. Super Savers. wink wink. We are watching the Derby with some friends, macaroni and cheese, a bourbon marinated flank steak and roasted tomatoes. Good company. Er, the friends, not the food.