my current project at the Field Museum

This is the identity Lori and I designed for a new exhibit opening this fall. Lori and I and a team of about 8 other people have been laboring over the design of the exhibit for over a year and a half already and things are really starting to be put into motion. The month of august is filled with deadlines for our graphics. This is when things begin to get really exciting.

The Aztec World opens October 31, 2008 at the Field Museum.

so much excitement

1. My first baby nephew, Noam Lee Groeneweg, was born last night, July 9, 2008. He is 6lbs 11oz. 20 inches. Congrats Becky and Brian! Can't wait to meet your new little one! (I'm already the favorite aunt, don't deny it Hope :)




2. Sister Dana is flying to Chicago after spending a year nannying in Germany and I get to be the first family member to welcome her back to the states! (she has like 4 friends coming to pick her up in Chicago and all 6 of us (plus my cat) get to spend 2 nights in my tiny studio.)

this is what 7 people and a cat look like trying to sleep in a studio apartment:


3. I just met Stacy London and Clinton Kelly from TLC's What Not To Wear. AND they know that I'm the genius designer behind the very important graphic used on the set.



Yeah, that's right. Be jealous people.

i wanna be an aunt...

...and I'm so close! my sister Becky has been in labor since 1:30 this morning. that's right, 1:30 THIS MORNING! That was 19.5 hours ago...

stay tuned...say a prayer.

We're going back

Let's just back the train up a bit. Is it seriously July 6 already? Cuz that's what my computer, ipod, wall calendar, cell phone, day planner, alarm clock, tv, dvd player AND today's church bulletin are all trying to tell me...

Yeah, I don't know where the month of June went either....can we back it up a bit and recap what's been happening? (That was a rhetorical question) good! here we go...

The month of May ended on a good note because, as I mentioned a couple posts ago, it included that road trip to Iowa to see my family. That trip was good because it included things like seeing my pregnant sister (due in just ONE week!), a memorial day parade, hanging out with a bunch of great friends, and everyone's memorial day staple: a pancake breakfast. When I got back to Chicago things seemed to be pretty normal, besides the usual after-affect of being home: homesickness. The awful feeling of homesickness got worse when, on June 2, I found out that my cousin, Angie, died very suddenly. This news came a little over a month after I received news that another cousin of mine, Kevin, had also died very suddenly. Kevin was 44. Angie, only 34.

It's hard to explain how I felt. devastation is close, but doesn't seem quite right. It really is beyond words when you lose someone so unexpectedly, someone you thought you'd share the next 40+ years of life with on this earth. While I wasn't very close to Kevin, nor did I know Angie really well, I am very close with Angie's family. Her parents and sister are my closest relatives and I hurt for their lost the most, and still do. I was able to make it home for the funeral. A completely different trip home than the trip I took just two weeks prior. Angie was such a beautiful person who surrounded herself with so many beautiful people who loved her. She will be missed, never forgotten.

A couple days after I returned from Iowa, June 12 to be exact, my good friend Sarah came for a visit from Grand rapids. What a blessing it was to have her here especially coming back from a pretty intense trip to Iowa.

The 10 days Sarah spent here in Chicago were filled with some great times. Birthday parties, street festivals, concerts, picnics in the park, game nights, good food, plenty of movies, and many many good conversations. A week after Sarah got here another great friend, Abby came in from Seattle for an architecture educators conference. Another blessing! So many friends! We had a great time hanging out at the Field Museum and going to see one of my favorite bands, Rue Royale play at Martyrs. More good food, good conversations, and plenty of laughs.

If you've been keeping track (or even if you're still reading this...) we're about up to the week of June 22. Which is the start of probably my two busiest weeks this summer....



June 22 (S): Sarah and Abby leave town

June 23 (M): work and then a picnic with friends in the park, followed by a concert (Brendan Losch, Weather Underground, and Cotton Jones Basket Ride) at Schubas. (a little too late for a school night but a good show nonetheless)

June 24 (T): Working late, followed by another AMAZING concert: Eef Barzelay, who is the lead on one of my favorite bands: Clem Snide. The show was amazing. amazing. amazing! :)

June 25 (W): After work I attended an art show by photojournalist, Ryan Spencer Reed (a former Calvin student). He's spent the past 4 years in and out of Sudan, photographing the genocide that's been going on in western Sudan. Very powerful work, very difficult subject. I encourage you to check out his website.

June 26 (Th): I visit Anti-Cruelty Society. I had decided to get a cat about a week before and on this day I found a new friend who I've already introduced you to: Lila (pronounced LEE-la). I didn't get to take her home that night because she had to be spayed, so Thursday night was spent at PetSmart stocking up on things I had no idea if she'd need or want: scratching post (doesn't use), toys (not interested), kitty treats (they make her throw up.) I did do pretty good on the basics though: litter box that she has had no problem using and kitty food that she really enjoys.

June 27 (F): Day 1 with Lila. Kinda weird, but it's gotten so much better since then. It's taken her about a week to come out of her shell and now I'm discovering she has what most cats have: a bit of an attitude. aka: she's a bit of a Diva. About 99% of the time she's the most lovable cat ever and insists on sitting/sleeping as close as possible to me. But the other 1% of the time she has no problem letting me know when I've left her alone too long or when I'm not giving her the attention she wants: she sits in the middle of my apt the floor and intentionally faces the opposite direction from me.

June 28 (Sa): Another picnic with friends in the park (gotta love free concerts downtown!)

June 29 (Su): Brunch with Paul, Joanna, and Laura at Twisted Spoke. Yum!

June 30 (M): White Sox game with 15 friends!

July 1 (Tu): Nothing! stay home...

July 2 (W): Sarah Pegman's birthday dinner at Joy's Noodle. Happy birthday pegster!

July 3 (Th): Work, followed by a shopping extravaganza with Sarah Pegman. We're throwing a 4th of July Party by the lake! Thursday night we also went downtown to the Field Museum Campus to watch the fireworks show.

July 4 (F): Happy fourth! Our all day party in the park. It was a beautiful day and was even more beautiful to spend it with some of my best friends. We played frisbee and 500, and ate lots and lots of delicious food. The perfect day was completed with some more fireworks and then probably one of the most graceful wipe-outs i've ever had. There was a really big crack in the sidewalk....and now i have 11 really intense bruises all up and down my legs. doh!

July 5 (Sa): Relaxing in the morning, then out to Ravinia Park to witness a live taping of Prairie Home Companion with everyone's favorite, Garrison Keillor. More food, more friends, more picnics.....please, can we hold off on the picnics for a while?

And now here we are, Sunday, July 6. If you've made it this far through my post you must really love me, or just be incredibly bored right now. Hey, it's ok, I've gotten really good at distracting myself too... Today I went with Becca to Loop Church because she was ordained as an elder in the church. A very exciting day indeed. Following the service and brunch at The Bongo Room, I came home and immediately took a 4 hour nap (I know it was beautiful day, but have you noticed how many picnics I've been at lately??) I'm a little concerned that Lila is not going to sleep a wink tonight. She's still napping...

I could probably give you a rough draft of what the rest of my July is looking like, but I know you've enjoyed yourself enough already, just by reading the above, so i'll let you wait in anticipation for the next play-by-play. I'll try update more frequently than once every 2 months....

goodnight

PS: I know how much you guys love pictures, so click here for a few more pictures.

Introducing: Lila!

I just got home from the Anti Cruelty Society where I just adopted a new cat! Isn't she cute? I have to wait until tomorrow to take her home, but it's official :)



This is what the animal shelter said about Lila (the shelter had named her Precious, but I renamed her Lila):

"Precious is a super sweet and friendly 3-year old brown tabby. Her fur has gorgeous and unique markings that almost appear swirled, she is quite awesome looking! Precious also has the most amazing bright eyes! Precious came to us when her family was moving and couldn't take her along. With her endearing personality and calm demeanor, we are sure to find her a home in no time. Precious deserves to have a home where she can play the days away and snuggle up close to you each night. Please come and meet this very beautiful and sweet girl."

good music is cheaper than therapy

and almost just as effective...especially when my favorite music includes the vocals and musical genius of Eef Barzelay.

I got to see Eef live last night at Schubas. This was the first time I've seen him live and I was blown away. He was funny, entertaining, and his music....well....his music speaks for itself (there's a reason why he's my favorite). Eef just released a new solo album, Lose Big. (He's also lead vocals for Clem Snide.)

Here's the music video for Lose Big. He performed this song last night, and it's even better live. awesome.



Here's a little video about Eef behind the scenes. I love his quirky personality.

Illinois to Iowa

I finally got to see my sister's pregnant tummy this past weekend. Finally. It was the first, and only time that I'll get to see her pregnant with my first nephew and that makes me sad. I'm already wishing i was back in Iowa so i could spend more time with her and everyone else. Even though it went really fast, the long weekend with family and friends was spectacular.

That was the first time since moving to chicago (exactly TWO years ago this past monday!!) that I drove to Iowa instead of flying. And let me tell you, that 9 hour drive is just as long as I remember it being. Thankfully I didn't have to make it alone, Becca's company made it a great roadtrip. I even mixed us a soundtrack for the occasion (which we probably listened to 11 times) :P

The drive was really pretty, especially crossing the Wisconsin/Minnesota border:

color me happy

I bought myself a brand new box of colored pencils this weekend. I like colored pencils, a lot. Just looking at all the colors makes me happy. And since I got the big box, I'm pretty much beside myself with glee. They've already begun to spur the creativity and inspiration I was looking for.

Parisian excursion

One more post about my trip to Germany and France and I'll promise I'll at least try to be quiet about it for a while.

For most of our excursion to Paris and Munich Dana and I were pretty good about knowing where we were and how to get where we wanted to go. But there was this one night in Paris....

It was Friday night and we had spent ALL day wandering around the city. Climbing the eiffel tower, searching for food, exploring the Louvre and Musee de Orsay, the arc de triumph, Notre Dame, Pompidou Centre. We were exhausted but it was almost dark and we really wanted to see the eiffel at night. So to kill time we picked up some beers and hung out on the plaza of the Notre Dame. Here's a tip: if you're looking to relax after a long day, it's best not to be a couple girls drinking beer in public. It didn't take more than 2 minutes for us to be approached by a nice looking French fellow, who actually was really nice and really funny and just seemed like he wanted to talk to us in English. Two minutes after we said "au revoir!" two other guys approached us. Their names are Kristoph and Philip and they barely speak English. Somehow, and by total accident, I may have told them (and they somehow understood) that we were planning on going back to the Eiffel tower to see it lit up at night. Perfecto! they would join us! But...they didn't have a metro pass so they insisted that we WALK all the way back to the Eiffel tower. A mere 3.6 miles on feet that had already seen way too many miles that day. But, they were charming and sweet and since I wasn't about to get in a car with them, we set out.

Did I mention they barely spoke English?? Yeah, and we don't speak french. So not only was the physical distance exhausting but most of the time we had to rely on hand signals and sign language to have a conversation with these guys. Pretty soon I was just nodding and saying 'oui' not at all sure what I was agreeing to.

We finally get to the Eiffel somewhere around 1:30am. We half-heartedly take some pictures because by this time I couldn't have cared less if we had been staring at a brick wall. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration. The Eiffel at night is a breathtaking sight.

I think Kristoph and Philip got the hint after we repeatedly ignored them and pretty much told them that nothing more was going to happen between us that night. So we said 'au revoir' and Dana and I walked over to a piece of lawn and collapsed.

No, the story is not over yet, remember when i said we had been really good at knowing where we were, where we were going and how to get there? Sit tight.

Around 2am we decided it was definitely time for bed. We walk 10 minutes (kill me now!!) to the metro, validate our tickets and promptly find a seat on the platform with a handful of other night owls. After 5 minutes, an announcement is made telling us that the trains are no longer running. It is 2:15 after all. We sit there expressionless, neither one of us knowing what this means for our commute home.

Enter in French men #1 & #2 (I don't think we ever got their names...)

Apparently these two fellows saw our blank expressions and asked if they could help. Turns out they were headed in the same direction we were! Perfecto! They would help us get to the correct bus and help us get home. Fabulous. So, we left the train station and walk out to a bus stop that I mistakenly thought was a shuttle bus. I don't know what made me think this. I blame the pure exhaustion and lack of knowledge of French terminology. Whatever it was, I thought it was free, or I thought the train tickets that we validated would be good on the bus system as well. Nope! Totally wrong. We were on the very packed bus for maybe 10 minutes before it stopped and 8 large men in uniforms got on and ask to see everyone's tickets. I don't know about dana, but I was trying to make myself as invisible as possible. No luck. Our tickets were deemed "No Good" on the bus and we were fined 40 euros ($60). The whole situation created quite a scene considering it was now about 3am and we were 2 young american girls on a bus filled with african and french men going home after a night out at clubs. I held it together for a while before I started tearing up. Nothing too serious, just enough for me to create an even bigger scene and to cause Dana to be completely embarrassed that she was traveling with me.

#1 & #2 were still on the bus with us, but they weren't offering any help until they decided it was time for us to get off the bus. We got off but we're not home yet, we just have to wait for another bus. Amazingly, the SAME group of bus police end up on that bus and ask to see everyone's tickets again! of course they remembered us so they pretty much left us alone. The night continued on like this. i think we ended up taking 3 buses and on our trip home we were able to see the Arc de Triumph, the Notre Dame and the Pompidou centre for a 2nd time.

We finally collapsed on our beds at 5:30 am.

Ahhh.... Paris....


I finally got all of my pictures posted to my flickr site so please check them out and let me know what you think. I also created SIX albums on facebook so if you have something against flickr you can check them out here and here for Germany. Here and here for Paris. And here and here for Munich and castles.

Germany and Paris: A Summary

What an amazing trip.


I'm reeling with memories, happiness, and unbelievable exhaustion, as is my sister I'm sure. I have yet to figure out how to best explain my trip on this blog, so for now, I'm going to leave you with a very brief summary:

• cathedrals
• stairs
• museums
• chocolate
• architecture
• art
• food
• walking
• pictures
• laughter
• trains
• castles
• mountains
• parks
• beer
• shopping
• heights
• coffee

I'm working on getting my photos organized and will be posting them to my flickr site soon. I can't believe I took some of these (including the one you see above!)