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December 23, 2007
Christmas Begins
We celebrated Christmas here this morning since we are leaving for Seattle tomorrow. Although this is Finn's third Christmas, it is the first one he remembers. And let's just say that he's pretty sold on the concept. Last night before he went to bed, he was convinced he heard Santa on the roof. He started yelling up to him, "Santa! I would really like a Thomas set. Thank you!"
Here's Finn enthusiastically opening the generous gifts sent by Nana, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Clintie, Auntie Sudi, and Cousin Finn. As you can see, in many cases, his hands are a complete blur as he tears into the gifts with glee. He actually had kind of a meltdown after he opened them all, not unlike what happens when he has too much sugar. But we had a great time playing with them all afternoon.
Posted by lisa at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2007
Finn's First Snowball Fight
Finnter Funderland from Shawn Hazen on Vimeo.
Posted by lisa at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
we'd all like to flee to The Cleve
Although, as I previously reported, I did not get any photos of Finn with his Nana in Cleveland last weekend, I gratefully did get some of my college gals. Our visit worked well, as Mom had to work Friday and Katy, Herbster, and Tara all have playgroup at Katy's that day. Finn inserted himself cautiously into the unfamiliar chaos that was the Bay Village playgroup. Make no mistake--he's well familiar with playgroup chaos. But he was a little shy around the new cast of characters.
It was delightful to visit with these old friends and get to meet their great kids. And who could pass up an opportunity to flee to The Cleve?
Posted by lisa at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2007
what Lisa's been up to, November edition
Insanely busy as usual here at the corporate headquarters of Lisa Hazen Design & Editorial. As I wrap up my work for 2007, I'm on an article-writing, site launching extravaganza of sorts. Most significantly, the redesigned, ecommerce-ready site for Margot Madison Creative Stationery (MMCS) launched. The high priestess of MMCS, Margot Madison herself, is actually one of my best friends. There was a time when, freshly sprung from college, we chased boys together in Cincinnati. Margs is now a successful small-business owner, a wedding-invitation designer to the stars and now the purveyor of different customized paper product lines.
This site has been my most ambitious project to date. It involved customization, AJAX coding, ecommerce, and many things I don't really understand. Mad props to my multi-talented programmer, Alex Killough, who put up with the various incarnations this site went through over the months. Please visit the site at margotmadisionstationery.com and place a nice big order. Margot owes us some serious cash. Use the coupon code: baggermaniac and you'll get 20% off your order.
The second site was designed for a new client: the author Michele Weldon. Michele already had a best-selling book, I Closed My Eyes. (She even appeared on Oprah to promote it!>) Her new book, Everyman News is about the evolution of the daily newspaper in the Internet era. After all, no one is waiting for the morning paper to get the sports scores anymore— they just go online. She evaluates a shift to more feature-based reporting and how that will change how we receive our news.
For this site, I used a traditional newspaper grid and "black and white and red all over" palette. My friend, Samira, created an interactive Flash map to help deliver results by location. I'm really happy how this one turned out.
Posted by lisa at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)
a visit with Nana
Since Nana's planned flight the previous weekend got canceleddue to an ice storm, Finn and I made a last-minute visit to Cleveland last weekend. You won't believe this, but I totally forgot to take pictures. Well, not totally, but every time I would remember, I would have bedhead or Finn would be fussing or the like. So this photo from the last summer visit will have to suffice.
It was delightful to see Nana, and I was delighted that Finn took to her right away. He literally ran right up to her in the airport, took her hand, and immediately started chatting away about his airplane trip. Although he had his moments, he really made himself at home from the start, enjoying all the treasures of Nana's kitchen (and discovering the gastronomic treat that is Bob Evans sausage), chasing kitties, and playing with toys. He even said, "I love you, Nana!" a few times, totally unprompted, which is beyond sweet.
I got to visit Katy and Herbster at a morning playgroup on Friday, which was awesome. I loved seeing their kids and especially Finn playing with them.
Finn did miss Santos and Daddy, so he was happy to come home. But he had a delightful time exploring Nana's house and flying on the plane ride there. The plane ride home was another story. If 24's Jack Bauer ever wants to get one of those terrorists to talk, he should have them take a toddler on a flight. And then have that flight be cancelled. And oversold. With cranky people. And then have your laptop die with the soothing Dora cartoons no longer available. Those dudes would snap.
But we had a great time, flight nonwithstanding!
Posted by lisa at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2007
here comes Santos Claus
My friend, Katie, (who is Ella's mom) told me that she was recently trying to explain the concept of Santa Claus to Ella. And Ella was getting very confused because she thought that it was actually Santos who knows when you've been sleeping and knows when you're awake. And making all these judgment calls on who has been bad or good. It didn't quite add up, but she seemed willing to go with it.
Posted by lisa at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2007
carry on, Thomas!
Oh my goodness, does this boy love trains. We're on a first-name basis with Thomas, Percy, Gordon, and all the other trains on the Island of Sodor.
One of my friends with a son who is also obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine said the other day. "You know? The Island of Sodor is really a pretty messed up place."
And truthfully, judging from the show, it totally is. Sir Topham Hat is nothing if not a heartless railroad baron. Lady Hat obviously has a little thing on the side with the mayor. And in every episode, there is some horrible crash that is laughed off as carelessness on Thomas's part. It appears that the Island of Sodor is in dire need of stricter railroad regulation, due to the daily occurance of runaway trains. I can only imagine the body count.
Although the Island of Sodor might be a pretty weird place, I'll take it over Barney anyday.
Posted by lisa at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2007
eeeasy does it
Posted by lisa at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)