i haven’t been back to chicago for almost 4 years now… *sigh… and jami has never been. some of you know but for the others, i consider chicago my third home (so cal being my second) and i am very excited to be going back. 

jami and i are going out there for two weeks (july 2nd through the 15th) and we’re staying at the hard rock hotel right in the midst of downtown. we’re going to ‘the taste‘ and the navy pier for the 4th. we’re hitting all the museums and i think we’re going to a few concerts (wolf parade & feist). i’m also taking her to this quaint little town called long grove. they have a rad ‘main street’ downtown. 

i’ll also be taking a lot lot lot of pictures and will post as i can!

here’s a great track from one of my favorite local chicago bands,
the sea and cake

i’ve been working on this design for the past few weeks. it had recently given me some trouble. the colors, the layout and the elements just weren’t fitting right but i am really happy with where it all sits now. we’ll be reviewing this week and should be launching in the next few months.

project….. flossy stylish design
contact….. kelsey murrietta 
oneredkey product….. blogplusweb

i’m always working hard on new design techniques. this is a teaser of a the wedding & event networks presentation of soleil: the wedding event september 25th.

this design is a series blends and circles and gradients. i then make a few ‘magic clicks’ and it all looks like a brilliant set of paint strokes. accuracy within inaccuracy. having lots of fun with this - the final pieces will be out soon!

If you want a quick look at the steps followed in photoshop, then (more…)

miss mads had 80’s day at camp the other day and she loved it! jami was more than happy to open the closet and share the 80’s love. i think she looks flippin’ rad though. my, how the trends go round-and-round.

the calvin harris track ‘acceptable in the 80’s’ to help compliment the vision…

we’ll i’ll have to say the summer releases haven’t all been up to par. i’ve seen a good handful over the past few weeks and here’s a few 5 second reviews…

here we have the ‘a-squad’

…indiana jones 4: better than the 2nd but not as good as the 1st and the 3rd. he’s getting older but he held his own and it was really fun.

…iron man: fantastic. the only one who could have played him was downey jr. brought his personal celebrity into the character. and yes, the ladies will enjoy… jami is recommending it too!

…kung fu panda: best animated film since the incredibles. both of which have compelling, well thought out and complete stories. balancing of comedy, drama, action, emotion - excellence!

and now we have the ‘d-squad’

…the happening: saw this against my better judgement but tyler insisted it was ‘good’. i think if he had added that watching it as a comedy instead of a thriller - i would have enjoyed it. sorry becky & jami.

…the strangers: better than ‘the happening’ but fell short as the story was laid out to set up a sequel. the cinematography was excellent and it was a little ’scary’ but it just missed the mark.

whenever possible, i try to make my way down to central phoenix and go to one of my favorite coffee shops, lux coffee bar. so i figure, why not go to stinkweeds (independent music store). and yes, in this fantastic age of digital wonder, i still buy the occasional cd :)

after picking up the new ‘mates of state‘ & ‘joan of arc‘. i hit the listening stations and find two new bands ‘okay‘ and ‘fleet foxes‘.  i grabbed a few band t-shirts as well. top that all off with a trip to lux for a large latte and some homemade chocolate chip cookies and you have a fantastic sunday afternoon!

here’s the first track from okay’s album, huggable dust called ‘my’…enjoy!