what i'm working on : uncommon, update

Here's an update on a previous post. During my hiatus the hubby and I changed phone services so I got an iPhone. I must say I do miss my BlackBerry's physical keyboard. It fit the hand so well and was easy to type. But still, on to the dark side I have come. One good thing was that I was finally able to order one of the iPhone cases that I had designed for Uncommon for myself. I got the iPhone 5 Deflector case with my Woodland Friends design. I think if I could do it over I would have gotten the Black Bezel Deflector case to match the black bezel around the camera area. But whatever.

Another fun update on my cases is that four of them have been picked up by Apple Europe! The four below are sold on Apple Europe websites and I assume in stores as well. If you live by an Apple store in Europe check for me! I'm really excited about it and I hope they sell well.

pronto pesto: success!

Whole wheat pasta with homemade pesto topped with grated Parmesan cheese for lunch...delicious!

chicago : the update

***it has been kindly requested that i not plagiarize but give credit to the other photographers of this post (ok, mark i will)***

5:55am is when i arrived in chicago. an unreal hour for mark to pick me up AND an unreal hour for me to be awake considering it was 3:55am california time.

but we weren't about to waste a minute so we headed straight to the city to grab some breakfast at the tempo café. the chicago skyline was just beautiful as we drove in. the buildings were still hiding in the morning haze so all you could see was the silhouette of downtown. the tempo café had been recommended and it was pretty yummy even though we were both half asleep still...omelet and eggs benedict...how can you go wrong? can i just pause to say how much i love eggs benedict? so delicious...

this really set the tone for the trip which could only be summed up by the words: eating and other stuff.

first the eating in no particular order:
best coffee award goes to INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE, even though we had to drive to two because the first one was closed at a ridiculously early time.

best pizza award goes to, LOU MALNATI'S, for having the first chicago-style pizza that i've liked in chicago.

biggest grill award goes to, WEBER GRILL RESTAURANT, really good pork chops and damn good pretzel bread.

photo taken by random guy

best deep-fried turkey prepared in a bathroom award goes to DAN KIM, yes it was prepped in the bathtub of mark's apt and yes it was delicious!

best lukewarm milk tea goes to JOY YEE'S NOODLES, for having milk tea available but for some strange reason not being able to make it hot but could only offer iced milk tea with no ice.

photo taken by mark

best hot dog place (two years in a row!) goes to HOT DOUG'S. however, this time i learned my lesson...it's best to get the regular dogs because the specialty dogs are just a novelty. mark you were so right. one brat and one corn dog for both of us next time.

best fish sandwich and moreover best french fries (two years in a row!) goes to JIM'S ORIGINAL. fries to DIE FOR!



the other stuff in no particular order:
witness to bakery fail at meijer (market)...what a sweet cornucopia? i'm sure nadia is laughing her head off at this picture.

witness to parking fail in the parking lot of meijer, way to go meijer! (yes that is how the car was parked. mark and i were walking behind the people who got out of the car...you guessed it - old people.)

photo taken by mark

we also went to shedd aquarium with our friend genuine and had a really great time. we didn't get to see the sea otters but we got to see a lot of other cool stuff. bodies of water house scary creatures of unusual size. i have second thoughts about swimming in the ocean.

oh, and i got accused of taking flash photography by a white lady when i told her 3 times that i wasn't using my flash. way to go white lady, you win the award for the person i'd most like to punch in the face.

photo taken by mark

we also enjoyed the city lights under a clear sky. really beautiful stuff. genuine told us about the history of the rebuilding of chicago and the stories behind some of the buildings themselves. really interesting stuff.

photo taken by mark

honorable mention:
thank you LAX for not being a complete migraine like you usually are. no, in fact you rose to the occasion and were rather pleasant indeed.

random guy and mark for providing some of the photos in this post. sheeshamunga.

UPDATE: soft spoken

our industry has two major trade shows and a few weeks ago we had one in florida. at these shows companies launch new products and collections and buyers for small and big companies go around and make purchase orders from companies like ours who are the producers.

you can think of it in terms of agriculture. companies like where i work are the farmers and at trade shows the people who buy work for companies like grocery stores and restaurants. they decide what choices you, the consumer, will see at the market or eat at restaurants. then you, the consumer, will get to choose the products that have been grown by farmers at albertsons.

our sales department just let me know that my little movie sticker was the #5 product bought by buyers at the trade show and the #1 "soft spoken" sold to buyers. now it's up to customers to buy it. ;D

EXPERIMENT+UPDATE: i'm homeless

the homeless population is growing because of the economic crisis. it's a terrible problem in our society not to mention heart-breaking for people who were in a home one day and on the streets the next.

i did a piece in may 2007 that was based off of some things we were learning and being convinced of at cross. it really caused me to think about how i can be so quick to dehumanize someone just because they're standing on a corner with a sign asking for help. the piece reads, "i'm a person just like you."


yes, there are some out there wanting their next fix or their next bottle for sure and they're willing to say, claim, and do nearly anything to get the money they need to get it. BUT there are genuinely hurting people also.

two months ago a group at cross gathered supplies for the oc rescue mission and spent a saturday helping out the staff and residents at the village of hope location. it was A LOT of fun, honestly. the village of hope location is in tustin and the grounds are so beautiful. at first look you wouldn't think it would temporarily house homeless families because hell i'd want to live there myself!

i heard on npr that a lot of non-profits show a sharp decline in donations once they get to be a certain size because people assume that once they've gained some notoriety or size that they're set. not the case. so let those with give to those without.

this saturday i'm thinking of doing an experiment. i will stand on a street corner somewhere in orange county with a sign and see what it feels like to be in the shoes of a homeless person. i expect to feel WAY self-conscious and awkward and i better prep the sunscreen and hat! my sign will not ask for money but will advertise the oc rescue mission. we'll see what happens. maybe i'll see you on the street this saturday. stay tuned kiddies for an update!

***UPDATE 08.08.09***
"oh man, i really don't want to do this. maybe i should post a fake update. no one would know...no one even reads my stupid blog, who cares..."

that was going through my mind today. hahaha, i'll be honest. but i mustered up the courage and went through with it...for reals!

first problem: where do i stand?
there are a lot of homeless people who stand on the euclid exit off 405-N but getting there seemed to be an issue. in order to reach that median i would have to either cross a 405-N on ramp or the 405-N exit. dangerous stuff. homeless people are brave.

i decided to go with the 405-S on ramp by Guitar Center, FV.

second problem: how long do i do this?
so i forgot my watch. and i didn't want to keep checking my phone...that would be lame. so once i stood on my spot i decided to count cars. i counted over 400 vehicles and when i came back to my car only 23 min had passed! hahaha oh man...

so, things i noticed:

• some people have no idea what's going outside their car. i feel this might be one of the reasons why some people always seem to get into accidents.

• people in general have a real problem making eye contact with a stranger, even if that stranger obviously doesn't look homeless and is outside their moving vehicle.
  

• people hate smiling. i was smiling the whole time...no one smiled back, very depressing.

there are some other things that i thought while doing this experiment but if you want to know what those are, you'll have to ask me yourself.