on the road: SXSW

PHEW.  I returned from SXSW a week ago and only now feel like I've recovered. It was my first time and I went during the film and interactive portion.  Why you ask? To do some learning from some killer presenters and because... we had a film premier there! Yes, my team made a film called THE HOME TEAM for one of our client's last year and we decided to submit it to SXSW and it was selected.  We were very excited and I was excited to attend.  Check out the trailer:



But boy, was I exhausted.  There are so many things happening that you're racing around from one event to the next and you're not really sleeping much and there's so much to do and it's just GO GO GO.  But it was a great time, the film was received well (we didn't win, but oh well), I met some great new friends and caught up with old ones, and I even snuck in some awesome barbecue.  Here's some fun shots from the trip:

 (a friend was part of the Game of Thrones exhibit, so Mike and I snuck in on the first day and I had to pretend to be Joffrey. Mike doesn't watch the show, but I think he got it).

 (really fun beer garden over on Rainey St. It's been two years since I've been to Austin and this whole neighborhood has been built up).

 (damn I miss Jo's breakfast tacos...)

 (THE HOME TEAM team - well, those of us that were in Austin - at the premiere)

 (director's Q&A at our short doc screening)

 (oh hey, our poster out in Austin!)

 (a great NPR #Storied event we got invited to)

 (incredible barbecue at La Barbecue...take me back)

(Silicon Valley screening and Q&A with creators and cast - it was hilarious)

kick off: summer start

Did you have a good unofficial-summer-kick-off weekend? Summer is my favorite season and it brings me back to fond memories in Maine (as do these images).  I have adventures ahead in the coming weeks - my little brother is graduating high school in Las Vegas, my best friend is getting married in Maui, I have a long trip to visit my father and family in Laguna Beach over 4th of July weekend and plenty of other fun weekends skirting around New England... and hoping to escape to Maine for one or two of those.  Happy summer and happy exploring to you all!

Images courtesy of Bippity Boppity Boo.

did you enjoy your story?

A friend recently shared this video, documented by a couple traveling through Chile and I really loved it so I wanted to share. Enjoy the adventure, story & travel...

a story for tomorrow. from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

on the road: Iceland, Copenhagen & Sweden

For my big, visit-a-new-country-every-year trip, I off and went to Scandinavia and visited THREE new countries with my dear friend Lisa.  I've been wanting to see that part of the world for a while and it turns out Lisa has some family in Sweden and also wanted to travel there, so it was perfection.  We had a couple whirlwind days in Iceland and Copenhagen respectively, and then traveled to Sweden for a week for midsummer, the first few days in Stockholm and the rest out in the country.  It never got dark - never.  A lot of beautiful sights, warm people and unforgettable memories.  Here are some photos.

Iceland

 (church on top of the hill in Reykjavik)

 (horseback riding through a volcano field)

 (Þingvellir National Park - home of the world's largest glacial lake and where North America and Europe meet)

(Lupin field)

 (beautiful falls)

(blue lagoon)

(sunset - at 11:56pm, and then the sun comes right back up)

 (goodnight and goodbye, Reykjavik)

Copenhagen

 (Tivoli Garden in Copenhagen)

 (down by the waterfront)

 (Little Mermaid statue)

Sweden

 (Gamla Stan, the old part of Stockholm)

 (Drottningholm Palace, the summer palace for Swedish royalty)

 (any place I go, I always want to visit the food market)

 (The Vasa Museum)

 (Cathedral out in Uppsala)

 (old viking stone)

 (the house we stayed at for midsummer in Leksand - yeah)

 (making midsummer crowns with Lisa's cousin)

 (I wore mine all day)

 (traditional midsummer feast - lots of pickled fish, vegetables, cheese and flatbread)

 (during midsummer, you sing and drink snaps)

 (another midsummer party, in a barn, no less!)

 (midsummer processional)

 (raising of the maypole.  It's the largest midsummer maypole rising, and it's massive - it took over an hour and several men to raise it!)

 (dancing around the maypole)

 (gathering flowers for the neighborhood maypole)

 (our amazing hosts)

 (dala horse museum, which this region and Sweden are famous for)

 (Anders Zorn's home)

(Carl Larrson's home)