It's beginning to look a lot...

...like Christmas in Old Town, Alexandria. You couldn't help but hum christmas carols as you strolled down King Street Saturday night. This will be our first Christmas in the area and as you can see it was quite a festive night. Holiday shoppers, families, dogs of all sizes, and men of all ages in Scottish kilts, made for a surprise around every corner. : ) Of course, I had to throw a pic of Spencer into the mix. I hope you're experiencing a little 'magic of the season' where you are as well.

The Christoph's: Grandpa

The Christoph's of Erie, PA, are an untapped literary goldmine. You wouldn't believe the stories... But before we get into that, I want to focus on the cast of characters. I introduce to you Frank Christoph, the patriarch of the family, avid train enthusiast, and honorary city council member. He prided himself in his collection of stamps, lps, model trains, and lava lamps. Stern, Teutonic (I know I'm being redundant there), and possessing a biting wit, Grandpa was a proud union man and FDR Democrat. I knew him at the end of his life, when diabetes had taken his eye sight and hardened his shell, but deep inside, pumping insulin throughout his giant frame, was a heart of gold. In addition to raising eight children, he and my Grandma cared for 63 foster children. More to come!

Blue Sky and Gleaming Monuments

A couple weeks back we headed down to the National Mall to check out the newly restored District of Columbia War Memorial. It's long been one of my favorite spots, tucked away in a grove of trees off the main strip. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves as to the beauty of this little temple glowing in the afternoon sun. I will just say, you half expect to see the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream prancing about and that I wish I could have one of my own.

Letterbox remix

The other day I was playing around in photoshop, reformatting recent jobs to look like scenes from old movies. It was fun seeing them take on an entirely different context, just by dropping in the two black bars and adding the 'out of focus' background lights.

Jennifer the Unspecial

The latest poster for my friend Brian at CCCT. From what I hear, it's a brand new production and has a little of everything, from dinosaurs to Shakespeare himself. Sounds like a fun one for the kids, break a leg guys!

two things...

original version (they flipped her in the magazine, so glad she still held up! ; )

There's finally a nip in the air and the leaves are just starting to show their colors. On that note, I thought it would be a good time to show these. The first is the latest little fashionista for Family Circle, I believe it's out on the racks now (a fun fashion tip for all you ladies and cross-dressers out there). The second grouping arrived in the mail earlier in the week from Berlin. It's part of a funny named calendar produced in Germany featuring illustrators from around the World. I believe they found me on here through Tumblr. It's truly becoming a smaller world, so happy to have been included in the collection! You can see more illustrators and buy copies at Gestalten.com.

the latest from Washington...

Somehow it's all ready Fall again. Although it's my favorite time of the year, I have dreaded posting anything new. How do you move on? ...from that last post and in general? My dear Mom is one tough act to follow but as some of you have kindly expressed to me, Mom's creative spirit lives on in my own work. (and Sarah's too!) I really like that concept.

While I was in Florida I had plenty of time to think back on the world I was just getting to know in Virginia/ D.C. I began working on these at that time and so I thought I'd share them today. You probably know by now how fascinated I am with George Washington and his story, but what you may not know, is how fascinated the first President was with architecture and interior design. George was the sole designer behind Mt. Vernon, overseeing extensive renovations and making furniture purchases from the front lines of the Revolutionary War. The White House design was a sort of pet project, he took up on the side while serving as President. In selecting architect James Hoban's design, Washington set the aesthetic standard for all government buildings in the new Federal City. In contrast to the palaces of Europe, The White House's humble yet stately size was also attributed to Washington, as was it's color, white stone instead of the fashionable red brick of colonial Virgina. I know I'm crazy but for some reason I've always gotten into this stuff and Mom was always right there cheering me on.