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this past weekend was quite lovely. thursday night steve's family arrived in chicago to visit with us. friday we all got up early and headed over to wicker park. we stopped in a couple of thrift stores, an urban outfitters (where i got a cardigan and a cute little pair of shoes), and a bike shop.  after that little bit of shopping we went to have lunch at the handlebar. it was delicious! after lunch we went back to the apartment, relaxed for a few hours, then got dressed to go to the chicago symphony orchestra. 

this is what steve had.

this is what i had. yum!

saturday was pretty much a day dedicated to good food. steve, joe, and i spent most of the day together. the rest of steve's family headed downtown to michigan avenue.  once steve, joe, and i woke up, we walked on over to the chicago diner for brunch! after brunch joe rode his bike around. he had a lot of fun riding it in the city. steve and i met up with him at whole foods, where we bought vegan pizza ingredients! we came back home and rested up a little bit. joe went out to a bike shoe shop. once he got back we began making the pizzas! while joe finished up the pizzas, i began making two apple pies! like i said, this day was totally dedicated to good food. 

it was a nice weekend. 

all photos in this post were taken by andy roggenbuck.

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i love...

i played around in imovie for the first time yesterday and this is the result.

i love from jk on Vimeo.

renegade craft fair

less than a month away...

sunday spotlight v.6

name/blog name:  steve roggenbuck

please tell us a little about yourself:over the past 5 years, i have considered myself mainly a poet. recently, i started making visual poems with large fonts and images. with some of my most recent projects, i realized they were quite a bit more "visual" than "poem," so now i consider myself a poet and a designer. also i have considered myself vegan since 2007 and have worked on different activism projects, including the video at youcanhelpstopthis.com (warning, graphic footage). and i consider myself a buddhist, or very influenced by buddhism. and i am your boyfriend. :) and we live with a dangerous mountain lion in chicago.

please tell us a little about your etsy shop:
right now i am selling minimalist ironic greeting cards, so they are white with black text in bold helvetica, and it says "card," "birthday card," "thank you card," and so on. the cards are letter-sized card stock folded in half, blank on the inside. i have around 10 different card designs and some packs of 3 or 5 cards. i just launched it, but i'll be expanding with more ideas in the upcoming months, including some stickers, wall prints, and t-shirts. http://www.etsy.com/shop/steveroggenbuck.

where do you get your design inspiration? 
i like a lot of the minimalist design on aisleone.net. for other visual art, i really like the painters mark rothko and franz kline. i like art, design, and writing that is simple and feels good to me immediately when i see it. i think my art taste has been influenced a lot by zen buddhism and reading shunryu suzuki.

what direction do you hope to move in the future? do you have any big plans? 
you know my plans, i think. :)  i am in an mfa program for poetry right now. i am using my program as a time to focus very hard on my writing and art, as well as promoting my writing and art. i have a lot of ideas for poetry (e-)books, more etsy items, and touring and other things. i would like to make an income from my writing and design eventually so i can spend even more time on them. in general, i will keep making things i like and trying to share them with as many people as possible.
 
what is the best perk of being a designer?
my favorite thing is that i think i'm creating culture for like-minded people. as a vegan who grew up in a rural area, i sometimes felt like all the cultural options i had were for mainstream america but not for me. i got annoyed or bored with most movies and tv, and there weren't many stores or restaurants i felt like supporting. when i eventually found some writers and artists that presented alternative ways of doing things, it was very inspiring to me. with my writing and art, i would like to create something fun and sustaining for other young(-at-heart) people who are questioning mainstream values.

thank you very much for interviewing me jess, and thanks to everybody for reading it. you are all wonderful and cool.

we carry on

i have successfully completed phase 1 of my hair school program! 

i am so happy to finally be finished with phase 1, only 6 months to go! my instructor said i have perfect attendance, which i am very proud of and i hope i keep up with it through the whole program. i cannot believe i've already put in 3 months at this program. the time is just flying by! my wellness break starts on sunday. i have a much needed week off from school. over break i want to work on some hair designs to photograph. i'd really like to get a portfolio of my designs built up so i can start working on set at photo shoots for other photographers.


below are pictures of the pixie cut i had to do for finals. we were given a certain amount of time to cut, air form, and style. i really liked how mine tured out!

hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

happy birthday

happy 23rd birthday, steve!

i love you!

november

the past month has been wild! i've been in school morning to evening--five days a week. it hasn't given me much time to blog, so i do apologize to my readers for my absence. 


things are starting to wind down a little, though. this week is my last week of phase 1 at school, after this week is over i get a 1 week wellness break! i'm excited, especially to catch up on sleep! when i return to school i will  be starting phase 2 and i will begin working on the salon floor. i'm very excited!


i've also been thinking a lot about my future. i know in my late twenties i want to open up my own photo studio, but i think it would be neat for it to be a photography and hair studio. i think it's an exciting idea! 


this week is my darling steve's birthday! he is going to be 23 on thursday! i'm going to be featuring him in the next sunday spotlight, which will be on 11/14. 


hope everyone is staying warm and cozy! 

(photo from weheartit.com)