Deck the Halls!

This year I decided to try online printing. I used overnightprints.com and uploaded my designs quickly and easily. I spent $30.00 for 200 cards (100 Chanukkah and 100 Christmas)! Definitely the way to go for a fun holiday send-out! Also, made latkes from scratch this year...they were delish! Eric and I enjoyed them while we lit candles and sang Matzor. Latke fact #1: MAKE THEM FLOAT. (and mix the applesauce with sour cream)

Christmas bar crawls invade Charlies

This is what happens to Charlies at Christmas time. Santas. Everywhere.

runner's hi

I bumped into a Santa 5K yesterday en route to work.

Santa?

Its the holiday season and things are in full swing here in Cambridgio. Best part: Mariah is serenading me wherever I go. Plus, all floors of the restaurant are set to the same christmas station--so as I lug PBR from the basement all the way to to top floor, I feel like Im in really cheesy holiday music video.

This is how I know Christmas has arrived:

a. Today it took me 12 minutes to cross Mass ave while hoards of various shaped Santas and Elfs ran past me- all in a race towards the finish of the Cool Running 5K.

b. My local CVS looks like a florescent lit version of Santa's warehouse.

c. Santa has not texted me in weeks.

d. I just finished decorating my wreath with holly and cheer!

To Beau: Bianca's Seed Paper!

Hey all!

My roomate Bianca http://www.biancapettinicchi.com has been working furiously on producing mass quantities of seed paper, which she is selling today at Mass Market at Mass Art. Stop by 12-6 and you can see all of her seed designs...maybe even buy someone a gift for the holidays! Every day our living room as produced more and more of this stuff--recycled paper mixed with various seeds. She has cards, ornaments, gift tags etc. And when you give the gift of a seed card, the recipient can plant it in the ground and before you know it--flowers will blossom. How lovely. I especially love Bianca's stitched design cards. (MWAH), where she stitched little beaded notes into the paper. The idea is creative and her designs are delicate and beautiful. Check it out!

-El

Howdy!! These are some sketches of rainy days past. I always find rainy cambridge really entertaining. Its as if the rain is falling bullets or something. Everyone looks really sad and depressed crowding under their $8.00-half-open umbrellas. BUT sometimes I spot some really adorable scenes. Like at bus stops. These are some reflections of people I see.

I hope everyone is starting to bake lots of christmas cookies and sing carols. I know I am.
Till next time, Tata!
Love,
El

Stephen Kronniger-Collage Illustration

Check out Stephen Kronniger. I noticed one of his illustrations while skimming through the NYtimes. His compositions, using magazine cut-outs and scraps are super fun and whimsical, but simple and sophisticated. To see his website, click on Michael Jackson on the right.

Some things Ive been thinking about...

Halloween Masks!

Ive decided this year...as part of my Halloween spirit- to make halloween masks. I stumbled upon the paper mache molds at The Artist Supply Store in central. They are hand-painted with acrylic, designs, characters etc....I am selling them for $10.00 each. After two nights of bringing them to work with me, my co-workers and customers gobbled them up so I only have 3 left! I think I may just keep producing them and start a mask business.

Enjoy!

Maine Marathon, October 2nd

Tomorrow morning I will be running my first half marathon at the Maine Marathon in Portland! My friend Eric and I will be driving up at 5am along with our zip lock bags of nuts and chocolate chips. Im deciding whether to eat a bagel for breakfast or a fried egg. Bianca tells me bagel.

This is actually a big deal for me, as I am realizing the closer I get to the race. I have been training for it, and now I feel myself needing to mentally prepare as well. I will blog about the race after. I am excited and nervous and anxious all at the same time. As this new year begins with Rosh Hashanna just having passed and Yom Kippur next week, I feel great that I will start this year off on a good note, by completing the challenge of running my first half marathon.

Wish me luck!
Eleanor

Lupe Fiasco at House of Blues 9/12/11

On Monday night, my friend Eric and I went to the Lupe Fiasco concert at House of Blues. We began at Jerry Remy's...a classic Boston sports bahh, where the Patriots were heading off their season in Florida against the...Florida....football .....team?
Anyway, I really love being in the Fenway region, especially when Boston teams are playing and energy is high. We skipped on down to the show and found our spots in the back of the hall, behind the sound board. Ive seen a number of shows at House of Blues, and have always opted for the crammed-in-the-middle-and-can barely-move- spots down in front of the stage. We stood way in back this time, where we could see the whole stage and all of the performers, instead of just flailing arms and the huge, sweaty heads of the people in front of us.

Lupe Fiasco is from Chicago, signed with Atlantic records in 2005 and produces/performs hip-hop. At 29, he can put on a great high-energy show,; his stage presence felt more like a 23 year old. The set was really good, and although a lot of the songs sounded the same, they were all performed really well. Sarah Green was Lupe's badass backup singer, who-throughout the whole show remained animated and alive...and super badass. I would have liked to hear her voice better; "Daydream" is one of my favorite Lupe songs because of Jill Scott's crazy female solo in the middle, but I was disappointed when they performed it because I could barely here her. Some highlights in the set were "The Show Goes On, Superstar...in which the whole crowd joined in a monstrous chorus..., Superstar, Kick Push and and a bunch more from his album, "Lasers"

Instead of a DJ, which is what one might expect at a Lupe Fiasco concert, he had a full band- keys, bass, guitar, drums, three backup singers and a violinist. I liked how he involved his band during the show; many times he walked up to the guitar and bass players and danced along side them or mimicked their moves. At one point about halfway through the concert, Lupe made the crowd go silent and introduced the violinist (a Berklee Grad.) He proceeded to jump into the center of the stage and break out into an amazing hip hop solo. I captured some of it on video, but you will have to please excuse my language. It was so beautiful and I got really excited. Gosh, I love strings in hip hop (also Check out Miri Ben Ari, another really awesome hip hop violinist).

As the show went on, you could tell Lupe became more comfortable with his audience, and began joking around...particularly with an older woman in the front row--who just so happened to have been Fiasco's flight attendant on one of his trips. The rest of the show was sprinkled with his remarks to her-reminding her to hook him up with free plane tickets.

All-in-all, Fiasco was Fantastico and being there reminded me that I JUST LOVE hip-hop shows. I went to see Talib Kweli a few months ago at Paradise, which was smaller, but really really good. and before that, the almighty Miss Lauryn Hill in Atlantic City- a show I will never forget (see earlier post).
And so we all left, flooding onto Landsdowne street, me, shaking my ass like Rihanna and contemplating the start of my rapping career.

Cheers!

Pop-up Gymnastics Concert

Today I was walking down Magazine into central square; I had just come from from a meeting.. my mind was racing all over the place with anxiety about my day when all of a sudden two tiny voices popped over a garden fence. "Do you want to see a gymnastics concert?" I swiveled to my left, where two girls--probably 9 or 10 years old were jumping excitedly in their yard- bare foot and decked in floral summer shorts and pink tanks. "Yeah!" I said excitedly and surprised. They proceeded to hustle to the end of the yard and stood in ballet-like stances, preparing for their stage entrance. They giggled as they tried not to look at each other then with exaggerated and serious faces they nodded and began their routine. All of a sudden they were doing cartwheels, back turns, swivels, pivots and flips in front of my eyes, bending into synchronized bridges and crawling under each other. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at what I had just run into. My very own private gymnastics concert. It got me thinking of when I was younger and would choreograph dances with friends--we would set up the living room with a curtain and lights and perform similar concerts. We had so much fun!

These two friends had obviously spent all day creating and practicing their routine and they were having such careless and innocent fun. I was reminded of the unabashed energy of being young and how, as adults we can-at heart, enjoy being a child again. In fact, I might even say that as adults with more responsibilities- we MUST abandon our adult minds sometimes to once again love life like a child.

At the end of their stellar performance, the two girls bowed and smiled proudly at each other. I clapped and complimented their work. I gave them a dollar each to pursue their gymnastics careers. I was on my way to continue my days activities--only now my mind feels lighter and I have a delighted smile on my face.

Alien Invasion in Boston!

Did anyone else think we were being invaded by aliens a couple nights ago in Boston? I swear to god, ufo's were descending on our little city. I was walking through the Financial district, back from the waterfront with a friend when all of a sudden, a noise...way too similar to that of the sound effects in a multi-level computer game...encroached upon us from above. At first, I considered some sort of news helicopter. Then it came a second time and I thought it was a really BIG news story. Then it came again. and again. and again. At this point, people were huddled in crowds on street corners looking up at these steel, insect-looking motherships that were verrryyy slowly hovering directly above. What made things more dramatic- was the fact that we were standing ***smack -dab at the ground of Boston's most concentrated center of sky scrapers. So these alien jets appeared to literally be weaving in and out of John Hancock, State Street and the Prudential center.

Eventually by the time we got to Park Street, the aliens had finished their descent. No more noises were heard. The next day, I found out that aliens HAD NOT invaded Boston. It was a boring military test. (loud snore). I was mildly upset, as I was hoping tell my kids at school about my alien adventures. Coincidentally, this week at Build-It-Yourself, Marshall-my co-worker and I are teaching a workshop on how to design animated alien creatures and cartoon characters. Our mission this past week was to "Design digital artifacts that will make aliens want to be friends with our world". I have included a collection of the kids' work. I am really proud of what they came up with. And so after my alien encounter a few nights ago, I am CONVINCED that their artifacts have successfully attracted Aliens from the outside. Good Job kids...A++ for everyone.

***Where the hell did the expression "Smack-Dab" come from??