on the road: san fransisco adult spring break

Every spring, I like to take a domestic trip somewhere as my own version of a spring break - who says adults can't have one, too?  I had a family reunion in the San Fransisco area Easter weekend, so thought I'd just take the whole week! 

Some friends and I spent my first weekend there camping on the Sonoma coast at a place called Salt Point.  After a hard and long Boston winter, it was great to just be OUTSIDE and have some sun.  On the way back, we also had a lovely lunch at this place that had fresh crab sandwiches and a jazz trio right on the water - it was glorious and we hung there for hours.

Back in San Fransisco, I had a slow and relaxing week full of walking, yoga, coffee, reading, museums and all around chilling.

The other cool thing I did was get my tin type portrait done at Photobooth in the Mission.  It's traditional 19th century portraits actually shot on a metal plate.  I am normally a behind-the-camera kind of girl, so I was a little nervous, but the photographer, Kari, was so sweet and great and she even let me go into the dark room with her to see the process. 

A little intense for me... but Kari said she liked it - I look skeptical of the camera, which I am.

All in all, a lovely, slow-down trip, which is just what I needed.

J.Crew on Film & Radical Media

I love championing great work from friends.  Lately, I've been producing a lot of work for one of our clients with the amazing team over at Radical Media.  There is an insane amount of talent over there and they couldn't be nicer people, too (because life is too short to work with people who just suck).

On a call today, they told me they did some videos for the new content platform for J.Crew, J.Crew on Film (#jcrewonfilm).  The films take an insightful look into the craft and work J.Crew puts into their clothes and they are so beautiful and fun.  Here are two lovelies:

Newport Folk Fest 2012 Documentary

Anything that communicates the humanity & the spirit of the human experience is worth getting into

Newport Folk Festival 2012 from SöPa productions on Vimeo.

As I count down the days until the end of winter, I can't wait for summer and the joy that is the Newport Folk Fest.

Pop Up Shop: Warby Parker

I love a good pop up store.  They're always clever in design, fun surprises await and great content for a brand.  When Puma opened Puma City during the Volvo Ocean Race in Boston, I practically lived there for the two weeks it existed.  And you know I loved the nomadic museum. So when my coworker Clare told me about the pop up store for Warby Parker called "Class Trip" in Faneuil Hall, we hurried over for a visit.  For 6 months, this school bus turned store is hitting the road for people to try on all their frames, get measured for the right fit and there's even a photo booth.  I chatted with one of the marketing girls and the Warby Parker employees traveling around with the bus range from sales associates to the PR team to social media marketers for the brand.  Very cool.  And they are great glasses and shades!  I splurged on a pair of sunglasses.  Check out our little visit!

The shop will be in Boston until Sunday, so check it out if you're in town!

end of summer video round-up

Here a few videos I loved from this past summer that kind of stayed with me.  Enjoy!

(a video for Rue Magazine by Modshift, featuring their Gap styling - fun fun fun!)

(The Les Miserables Extended First Look - such a great behind-the-scenes piece that gave me chills on how they filmed the flick; especially geeked out on this as I used to be a behind-the-scenes producer for feature films)

I can't embed this last one, but totally worth it - A tale of two cities by Tony Miotto based on Vahram Muratyan’s brilliant Paris vs. New York illustrations

videos: crafting

I love making things and I so often wish I had the time or patience to pursue more craft.  I respect and admire people who can hand make beautiful things.  Here are a few videos I love as of late on some hand crafters.  Beautiful stories, beautifully told, making beautiful things.

The Sound of Dust from Hidden Notice on Vimeo.

(surfboard shaper Tim Stamps from Huntington Beach)

TEROFORMA "Whisky Stones" from Galen Summer on Vimeo.

(Whiskey Stones, shot by Hillary Spera, who was the DP on my Puma films)

Made by Hand / No 3 The Beekeeper from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

(Made By Hand, the Beekeeper)

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)