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August 30, 2007
The Finnie Shuffle
Finn does this funny little dance move that we like to call "The Finnie Shuffle." Here he is showing it off for his Internet audience. My favorite part is when he stops to point out an airplane, then immediately picks up again.
The reason he keeps stopping and running away is because he wants me to immediately play back the video on my camera for him to watch. A narcissist, he is.
Posted by lisa at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2007
practicing for his birthday
The boy's already talking like he has a fake ID.
By the way, every time I take his picture, he says, "I see! I see!" and wants me to show him the photo in my camera.
Posted by lisa at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2007
Margot and Matt visit
We were so thrilled to have Margot and Matt in town from Cincinnati this weekend. Margs is my best friend from Cincinnati, a gifted designer, talented businesswoman, and current client. (Margot's interactive stationery site is coming this Fall!) Matt is her awesome husband, a one-time mushroom farmer, and current gelato entrepreneur. (He has his own line and is catering to restaurants in Cincinnati.)
It was great to spend so much time with them and introduce them to Finn. We went to the farmer's market Saturday morning (of course!), then to Lincoln Park Zoo. Then they came by our house Saturday night and all of us grown-ups went out to dinner in Bucktown that night.
Finn loved his Auntie Margs and Uncle Matt. It's such a treat that they're closeby now. And Margs will be back when I can score some Oprah tickets!
Posted by lisa at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2007
What Lisa's been up to, August Edition
Things are busier than ever here at the world headquarters of Lisa Hazen Design & Editorial, as I tackle projects both big and small. For those who might be interested in such things, I thought I'd tell you that in the last month, I've designed a blog for Yahoo (my biggest client yet) named Help Yahoo Help You that is designed to help them collect feedback on their customer service practices. The site hasn't officially launched--they're still working out the content. But the design is pretty much in place.
Next, I designed the bookstore portion of the redesigned site, Mommy Track'd. I used Amazon's aStores module to seamlessly integrate the store into the site's redesigned architecture. In other words, the transaction is actually taking place on Amazon, while it looks like you're still on Mommy Track'd. Pretty snazzy.
Next, I designed a pretty little site to promote a cottage for rent in San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood. Quick and dirty, this site took just three days to build and launch. Check it out at Studio on Sixth. Just goes to show, dear readers, that there is no job too big or too small!
Another small job was designing a placeholder page for a fantastic site that is coming in a few weeks named The Red Room. This site will be an online home for all of the world's best writers--a place where they can post information directly to their readers and easily host their online presence. Writers including Salman Rushdie, Norman Mailer, Amy Tan, and Po Bronson are already committed to participating. I'm hoping in the future to do more work with The Red Room and the fabulous founder, Ivory Madison.
Lastly, I built another Wordpress blog for Sarah Browne, a digital strategist and market researcher based in Carmel, California. Sarah wanted a site with a charming retro feel that she could use as a place to profile what hot new products and trends live up to the hype, and which do not. Thus, Guru of New was born.
Another incredibly busy month, with even more to come in September. Stay tuned!
Posted by lisa at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2007
the upside of this crazy weather
You've probably already heard about the wild storms that Chicago has been having if you haven't already experienced them first-hand. The rain, wind, and storms have been unlike anything I've ever seen. My neighbor one block away currently has a huge tree bisecting her house (and a demolished front porch). Everywhere you look, trees are down, power is (still) out, and there's the general debris associated with heavy storms.
This means that the neighborhood playground is flooded. If you think this is a bummer, you're not under six years old. I have never seen Finn and the neighbor kids have such a blast. The slide emptied into a big puddle, there was a veritable lake in the middle of everything. Here are some photos of Finn and Laila and the crew that I took with my cell phone.
Posted by lisa at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2007
Finn has a request
By now, you already know Lisa J. She's Emma's mom, my friend, and Finn's fantasy mommy. Never was the latter more clear than when both Lisa and I were walking up to collect our kids from daycare the other day and Finn came running, arms outreached--to Lis. I've gotten over the fact that Finn calls her mama, cries when she leaves, and talks about her incessantly. Because she's that great.
Lisa lost her mother to lung cancer just over a year ago. There is a general lack of funding for this disease due to the associated stigma that all lung cancer patients are former smokers. In fact, 50% of those diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked or are former smokers.
I admire the fact that Lisa--who is a breast cancer survivor herself--is honoring her mom's memory by co-founding the Chicago 5K Lung Run as a fundraiser. Last year, this run raised more than $75,000 in donations. I encourage you to make a donation in Lisa's name to this wonderful cause: www.lungrun.org. Believe me, Finn wants you to!
Posted by lisa at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2007
boy and his dog
Right now, Finn is a study in extremes. For example, this morning, Finn vehemently objected to wearing pants. So much so that he surrendered all muscle control, collapsing into a bag of bones—a screaming bag of bones. A bag of bones that took convincing, pleading, and outright manhandling to secure those said pants.
But tonight, there was a thunderstorm. And that little spitfire attached himself to me like a koala bear. He insisted on burrowing his head under my chin, getting under the blankets, and watching Sesame Street, with Tivo replay privileges.
Finn asked me in a tiny voice if Santos was scared of the thunder, and I told him that, unfortunately, yes, Santos was scared. (He was snuggled up against me on the other side.) That there was nothing to be scared of, but that he could cuddle with me as long as he wanted.
The snuggly moments with Finn are too few and far between. Most of the time, he has way too much energy to settle down for cuddles. It was heaven while it lasted. But as the storm passed, Finn got more restless and so did Santos.
The two eventually lost interest in cuddles and started wanting to play. Finn suggested that I take a photo of him and Santos and then ended up posing with him in these simply adorable photos. After each photo, Finn insisted on seeing it on my camera and then showing the shot to Santos.
Finn looks like a little ragamuffin here because right before the thunderstorm, he spilled an entire glass of juice on himself. But I was surprised that he actually knew out to pose for pictures. And how large Santos' head is. So, here are my two little brave boys.
Posted by lisa at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2007
And a couple from Daddy...
Here's a few cute things Finn said during a weekend of driving around with Daddy:
* Pointed out "Daddy's iPod" when I pulled out my iPod in the car.
* Shook his head vigorously side-to-side to Daddy's music in a kind of lateral headbanging.
* Told me "too loud, Daddy!" when I was clapping along to the iPod in the car.
* Laughed hysterically when I started clapping super-softly after the previous comment.
* Sang along with Daddy's music in what was either mockery or a very tired, atonal rendition of the ABC's.
* Agreed with me generally that farting, and fart-like noises, are the purest, most awesome form of humor.
Posted by shawn at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2007
cute things Finn has done lately
... against the backdrop of Seattle
* Said, "Mommy, you're a good boy" when I gave him a toy he wanted.
* When at the zoo, and a monkey came up to the window and put up his paw, Finn said, "Hey, monkey! High five!"
* When I said, "I love you, Finn!" He replied, "So much!"
Posted by lisa at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2007
those cheeks!
Posted by lisa at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2007
weekend in Seattle
Last weekend, we took a long-overdue visit to Gramrene, Auntie Julie, and Uncle Mike in Seattle. Finn enjoyed playing with them, chasing new dogs and kitties and the joys of Elmo in a different time zone. It was a delightful summer visit!
Posted by lisa at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2007
for Finn, some things are better in theory
It has been so hot, I thought a little run through the sprinkler would appeal to Finn. But he wasn't so much of a fan.
Posted by lisa at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2007
Welcome Jett Olivier Diaz!
This is a belated birth announcement as I didn't have a photo to post until now. But behold the gorgeous Jett Olivier Diaz, born May 19th to our Australian friends, Vivien and Joe. True to name, Jett has jet-black hair and eyes, and is keeping his parents and big sister, Luna, busy.
Congrats, Joe and Viv! We're sending our love from Chicago.
Posted by lisa at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
Finn and Quincy
Frieda, a friend from my Oakland First-Time Mom's Group, just moved to Chicago. She was one of the ten or so of us who sat around in a circle once a week, with our newborns, all of us looking (and feeling) somewhat terrified.
Gratefully, that seems like a long time ago. I honestly can't believe that our kids are all turning two now. Frieda and her son Quincy came over last Friday--I hadn't seen either one of them since we moved over a year ago. I can't believe how big Quincy is now! To rewind, Quincy was one of the eldest babies of our group, but also one of the smallest since he arrived a few weeks early. He's more than made up for it, as he is a handsome fellow who is now taller than even our tall Finn.
It's so fun to see these two playing together as big boys again!
Posted by lisa at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2007
is he Itchy or Scratchy?
Posted by lisa at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)