alt recap

Gabby asked me a while back to speak at Alt Design Summit, which is a blog conference held in Salt Lake City each January. I'll admit I had mixed feelings. From what I had seen of Alt, it appeared to be kind of a three-day-camp for blog superstars and wannabe up-and-coming bloggers. Before going I had seen the posts by bloggers worried about what to wear each day, the "aren't-we-having-the-best-time!" photobooth photos, and the power list of speakers and presenters and really... I wasn't sure I could find my place in the whole thing.

But I like Gabby, and I have friends and family in Salt Lake, and plane tickets were cheap.. so off I went.

I don't quite know how to explain what Alt is.. now that I have come and gone and seen it with my own eyes. It was inspiring and thought provoking, and nice to visit with old friends I knew in NYC (like Merilee of mermag, Kelli Ronci from uber-craft, Melanie Falick from STC Craft, and Mara from A Blog About Love). And fun to talk face to face with people whose work I admire (like Stephanie from stephmodo, Grace Bonney from Design Sponge, the lovely Amy Butler, and Pilar Guzman from momfilter). And to make new friends, like those I spoke with on the Work/Life Balance Panel (Sarah from Sarah Jane Studios, Chrysula Winegar, and Kathryn from Snippet + Ink).

Though the parties are a big draw for many Alt attendees, I guess I'm just not a big party girl. Instead, I loved having dinner with Chrysula and Sarah the night before we spoke on our panel, ditching the Friday night parties to have dinner at home with good friends in Salt Lake, and sitting and talking with people one on one throughout the day.

If you're headed to Alt you've got to bring some pretty business cards.. and I was happy to hand out these little guys I had letterpressed by Bryce Knudson of Bjorn Press a while back. They are the perfect size, smaller and squatter than a standard card and printed on a nice thick Lettra stock in a warm gray and pale cream.

Some of my favorite moments of the conference were the keynote speakers, like this panel which included Maxwell from Apartment Therapy, Deborah Needleman (founder of Domino), and Pilar Guzman (formerly of cookie, now running Martha Stewart Living). There was a lot of discussion about new media vs. old (blogs vs. magazines) and though I see that traditional publishing is in trouble, I don't see magazines and books disappearing anytime soon.

I also enjoyed the roundtable discussion groups that were led by industry experts and covered categories ranging from tax issues to ad networks to legal concerns. You just pulled up a chair and started asking questions. I would have loved to have been able to sit at every table.

I think everyone at Alt now adores Ben Silberman, founder of Pinterest. He told the story of how he turned his idea into a product and it was absolutely fascinating. I love him for quoting a line from the movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley (one of my favorite made-for-TV movies EVER). "I think .. there's something going on out there in California." And I loved hearing about how his girlfriend (now his wife) after hearing his ideas for years finally said "So stop talking about it and just go and DO IT." And he did!

The third day of the conference is small hands-on workshops and I was lucky to get to attend two: a screenprinting class taught by Eva Jorgensen of Sycamore Street Press, and a calligraphy workshop taught by Melissa Esplin of ISLY. I create so much on the computer these days, it was really nice to remember how it feels to make something with my hands.

Since Alt, I've been thinking a lot about my blog and what I want it to be (and definitely what I DON'T want it to be). I've never thought of it as a commercial venture, so the discussions about ad networks and corporate sponsors and search engine optimization didn't really appeal to me. To be honest, because my blog is not meant to make money, I do tend to put it on the back burner from time to time, setting it aside for books and shoots and other projects I do get paid for. I hope you'll understand that though I may not post five times a day, when I do post you will know it is about something I believe in (and not something I am being paid to discuss).

Many of you have asked for a recap of our panel on Work/Life Balance. I am gathering my thoughts and will share them when I have a moment (but it might need to wait a week or two.. I've got a book design due and valentines to make with the kids!).

Bottom four photos from the Alt Flickr stream.

off to alt

I'm off to Alt Design Summit in the morning! I hear it's freezing in Salt Lake, so I'm digging out all my cold weather clothes and saying goodbye to my family for a few days. If you're headed to Alt too, please stop and say hello... I'll be speaking on the Work/Life Balance panel on Thursday morning. Wish me luck!

mikkel vang

I spent the last five days on a small island in the Bahamas working on a shoot with photographer Mikkel Vang. I've been a fan of Mikkel's work for some time now, but never had the pleasure of shooting with him during my time at Martha Stewart. He's one of those rare photographers who can shoot anything: interiors, food, lifestyle, people, landscapes. If you need a little burst of inspiration today, spend a few minutes on his website.

Photos from Mikkel's website - www.mikkelvang.com.

back soon

JR and I are taking a little trip to New York this week. A few days to spend in the city we love.. which also happens to be the city where we fell in love. I'm excited to see New York in all its glory in the springtime, visit my favorite little shops, eat at some of the restaurants I've been missing, see Purl Soho's beautiful new shop in person, visit with some of our old friends, and most of all, spend some alone time with JR.

NOTE: My break here will have to be a little longer than I expected. JR and I had a great time in NYC, and since then have taken the kids camping, had my brother in town visiting with his family, took the kids to Disneyland for the first time and now I am flying away to a photo shoot. I have so many things I'd love to post, but life is just a little too busy right now and they will have to wait until I get back. Back soon!

image from here (if I remember correctly!)

hello wedding

Last year I mentioned going on a photo shoot for a lovely wedding in Northern California. Nine months later, it is finally featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. I was pleasantly suprised to see that it also landed on the cover!

The wedding was for Hello! Lucky stationery creative director Eunice Moyle, and it was ridiculously beautiful and a bit quirky and seriously fun. One of my favorite elements was the stationery, from the invitations themselves to the labels on the jelly jar favors, every piece was beautiful... and that pepper jelly, amazingly good on biscuits. Eunice also designed a set of playing cards with the motifs from the wedding, such a nice keepsake for each of the lucky guests. You can see more of the stationery suite here. (We had to wake up at 5 AM in order to get this shot of the stationery in the clover before the sun came up over the mountain... but I think it was worth it.)

Eunice and her sister Sabrina were so calm, great examples of grace under pressure. And I loved meeting their sweet father, who I chatted with between shots. He told me how he always read to the girls every night when they were little. "And not kid books either.. real books like Treasure Island." It was after speaking to him that I started reading more chapter books to my kids each night, instead of only picture books. Great advice!

Congrats to Eunice and Daniel..

nina is ninety

This is my grandmother, and this is my favorite photo of her. It also happens to be the photo she gave my grandfather when they were dating. "To Bob: With all my love, Nina"  He liked it too. They were married for over 60 years. My grandfather passed away five years ago, but grandma is still chugging along.

My aunts decided to throw grandma a big party for her 90th birthday. We sent out save the dates, using another favorite photo of mine, back when she was a young mother of three. Somehow she still managed to look amazing (I'm loving the dress, the necklace, the hair.. so beautiful, my grandmother).

The invites featured three different photos of grandma, when she was a young girl with her pixie cut, when she was in high school, and on her 25th wedding anniversary (still gorgeous, and that was while raising 10 children!).

We decorated with more old photos, with paper circles in different sizes and shades of green. Just punch a hole in each side and thread onto some embroidery thread.

Instead of a guest book, we printed out cards with different photos from grandma's life.. (there are so many beautiful old photos of my grandma, this seemed like a nice way to showcase them). As people came to the door we asked them to take a minute and write a quick note to Nina.

And then we hung them from green embroidery thread with paper clips. It was fun to watch the wall grow as the party went on and to see all the photos there together... a life in pictures. We'll make these into an album after the party so grandma can read through them whenever she likes.

My favorite note, from a boy who grew up with my grandmother. "Nina - If I had been five years older, Bob wouldn't have had a chance." (Bob, of course, is my grandfather. And yes Don, I'm afraid you missed out!)

happy friday

Alt Summit is in full swing today, and I woke up a little sad to be here in California and not enjoying the snowy slopes of Utah. I had hoped to take part in one of the panels, but couldn't make it this weekend due to a family event. (A rather big family event.. my sweet grandmother is turning 90! And my family is gathering up in Sacramento to throw her a big party and take her out for a fancy dinner.. how could I miss that?)

A full report when I return. Have a lovely weekend!

a letter to mrs. gray

Dear Mrs. Gray,

You don't know me, but I wanted to write you a letter.

My family and I are from Southern California, but we were visiting Utah last week for Thanksgiving. Last Sunday night we were trying to drive from Salt Lake to Park City, where we were staying with friends. A snow storm had blown in and the highway had several inches of snow by the time we made our way up the hill to Park City. The snow plows had not yet made their way to our stretch of highway and quickly we realized we were in trouble. Our California tires were no match for the snow and of course we didn't have chains. We were following in the tire tracks of a big semi for a while, and so we were making progress up Parley's Summit, but then our semi got stuck and we quickly came to a stop. Once stopped we couldn't get the car moving again. There were cars all around us who were also getting stuck. If you didn't have four wheel drive or some really good snow tires, you were out of luck. We thought we would have to wait a few hours until the snow plows came through and then have someone tow us into the plowed path. It was getting late, and our kids were tired and ready for bed.

You might wonder why I am telling you this story, but at this point your son Ben came to our rescue. He was driving behind us in a red pick up truck and when my husband got out to see how badly we were stuck, he asked if we needed help. Your son tried to give our bumper a push but we just got stuck again, the tires spinning and spinning. He could have just driven around us and been on his way like the hundreds of other cars, but your son pulled his truck in front of ours and grabbed a strap out of the back and tied our front bumber to the back of his truck. And then he pulled us ever so slowly up to the summit. Once we got to the top, he untied the strap (we were worried about braking on our way downhill and didn't want to slide into his truck). But then he offered to follow us all the way down the hill to our exit in Park City, to make sure we didn't get stuck again.

And so I wanted to write and tell you about your son, and the kindness he showed my family. I'm guessing, in typical teenage fashion, that he didn't tell you what had happened that night. I'm betting he just came home and mentioned the storm in passing on his way to the fridge to grab a snack. 

But I wanted to make sure you knew, and to thank you for raising the type of boy who would stop to help a stranger, even when it delayed his drive home by an hour or so on a dark and snowy night. My family and I are so grateful.

Sincerely,
Brooke Reynolds and family

happy thanksgiving

I'll be away on vacation all next week and I'm afraid I won't be able to post while I'm away. I'm looking forward to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with my family, a fall leaf or two, and maybe even a little snow. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Happy Thanksgiving!

photo by the lovely Anna Williams

the cabin

My father's family gathers together once every two years for a reunion at our family cabin in Northern California. I'm not sure how long the tradition has been going.. 30 years? 40 years? When I was a little girl the reunion at the cabin was the highlight of my summer. I got to see my grandmother and grandfather, who I adored and spend time with my cousins, who lived far away.

We'd camp outside the cabin in tents because the cabin couldn't fit everyone. We'd run down the hill to explore the creek and skip rocks. We'd walk up to the clearing to watch stars at night. We'd head into town to visit the pool and grab an ice cream. We'd play cards until it was late at night and grandma's toffee nut bars were gone. Oh, I adore this sweet little cabin.

My great grandfather, who was nicknamed "Heavy", ran a grocery store near Sacramento back in the 1930's. During the Great Depression, many customers couldn't pay for their groceries because they were out of work. Heavy understood that people needed to eat. So he rented some forest land and put the men to work building a little cabin. He would pay them wages, some of which they used to pay back their debt to the store.

The cabin is nothing fancy. No TV. No radio. No telephone. No internet. It has one little bathroom that was added onto the back deck and a tiny shower. This summer we camped down the hill from the cabin, and it was Bee's first time sleeping in a tent. One morning she woke up around 6 AM and yelled "This is so much more fun than sleeping in our beds!" Do kids love anything more than camping?

We spent a few hours each day in town at the community pool. It's such a lovely spot to take a swim and stare up at the beautiful trees surrounding you in every direction. It brings back all kinds of memories when I was a little girl playing with my cousins or trying to jump off my dad's shoulders into the water.

The kids loved the creek just as much as I did when I was their age. Rushing water is endlessy entertaining and the creek is gentle, shallow enough that even Bee can cross it without too much trouble. We raced sticks and piled up rocks and tried to see how far we could throw our pebbles.

My grandfather passed away a few years ago, and I miss him, but especially so when I am at the cabin. I see him sitting on the deck under the trees with his flannel shirt and his fisherman's hat. I like to think he would be happy to see us still gathering together as a family, playing the card games he loved, talking and visiting, eating the tomatoes from his garden, and just enjoying the cabin.

Such a gift my great grandfather gave us. Here we are, four generations later, bringing our children to the cabin so they can enjoy it as well.