Last week I got to grab lunch and catch up with my old intern Shimon. After his stint at 3sixteen, he went on to intern at Unis and is now working at Nepenthes NY. I remember when I first brought him in for an interview; he shared that he  had graduated from college and got a job at an ad agency, only to find that it was not something he was not excited about. He decided to leave the ad world behind and try to gain some experience in fashion to see if it could work out for him. Two years later, I’d say that he made the right choice. Many of our interns really inspire me with the risks that they take to pursue their passions and Shimon is no exception.

Being that I haven’t seen him since I had my son Logan, Shimon came bearing gifts. One of them was a small box of cigars. During his internship, we had taken more than a few afternoon cigar breaks on the red benches at Allen & Stanton to decompress, and so he thought to bring something that would let me take a few “forced breaks” as I like to call them.  These particular cigars are dubbed “The Old Man and the C” – the single cigar is the old man, and there’s a strange bundle of three intertwined cigars to form the sea. I wonder how the bent cigars will smoke, but they came recommended from a customer of his at Nepenthes so I’m sure they’ll be good.

The other gift is a candle from Nepenthes to help burn off any lingering cigar smoke smells. Very thoughtful.

Some long overdue pictures from my trip to Chicago last month. We went to visit longtime friends of mine, two of which had a baby girl quite recently. For those who don’t know, I spent 7+ years in Chicago for both school and work. I love the city and the people there, and wish we could go back more often. Another milestone for the trip was our son’s first airplane ride – he performed admirably and slept the entire way there and back. Like father, like son.

Giordano’s stuffed pizza. While the merits of which Chicago-style pizza joint is best can be debated endlessly, I’ve had many a good spinach stuffed pizza here and have yet to be disappointed.  Call me a creature of habit.

Logan doesn’t like to be teased with food. He’ll grab.

I lived in Chicago’s south side for two years – specifically, in a blue collar neighborhood called Bridgeport, the home of the Chicago White Sox. When I had left, the area was still family-oriented, diverse and relatively ungentrified. I was pleasantly surprised during this last visit to find a small coffeehouse called Bridgeport Coffee Company flourishing, where they serve in house roasted single origin coffees and blends. The espresso was subpar (mostly due to the machine and the preparation) but the made-to-order pourover coffees were excellent. This place serves flavor shots – they’re clearly not trying to be a cool guy shop, but they do roast some good coffee. Right across the street is a bar called Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar; it used to be a neighborhood dive but has been transformed into a bar that serves up craft beers and liquors. Where were these places when I lived there?

Beyond all the good food and drink that Chicago has to offer (and there’s a lot of it), I was especially grateful to be able to reconnect with longtime friends who know me well. It’s also exciting to see us all growing up together and starting families together. Surreal, but exciting.

My good friends Wilson and Carol returned from their honeymoon recently with this generous gift for Logan. It’s a child-sized replica of the walnut Eames LCW that already resides in our living room… as soon as they saw it, they knew it’d be perfect for us.

There are a few design adjustments to make it more kid-friendly… most notably, the angle of the seat itself: the child-sized chair doesn’t angle down as much to promote better posture. It also doesn’t use rubber shock mounts on the seat or the backing, which results in the seat having less give. Otherwise, the construction and shape look to be just as nice as our existing one.

While it’ll still be at least a year or two before Logan is able to sit in this chair comfortably, it’s such a nice looking addition to our living room that I’m happy to leave it out until he’s ready for it.

At our SELA grand opening party last fall, YMFY told me about Timbuk2′s custom bag program, where they manufacture one-off bags at their San Francisco headquarters. He generously offered to make one for me outside of the realm of their usual (but still vast) design constraints. A few months passed and as Logan’s due date approached, I realized that there were no diaper bags on the market that I would use – I found most to be either extremely feminine or “duded out” (see here for prime examples). I asked Bin if he’d be willing to work on a bag for me with a few modifications, and he graciously obliged.

First up was choosing a unique fabric for the body. We went with deadstock Pendleton wool that was provided by my good friend Sam at Tanner Goods, who dug this out of their archives.

Timbuk2 bags are extremely well organized to begin with, but in order for it to function as a diaper bag, I asked Bin to add a few bottle holders to the interior.  It turns out that they’re also very useful for storing spare diapers, clothes, etc.

I love these zipper pulls.

This denim changing pad was a gift from Kiya and Demitra. The red tab is still intact on it…

Thanks guys!

Visited Menchanko-Tei with some friends two weeks ago… their hearty bowls of ramen did not disappoint on a windy and rainy day. I opted for the Chige Miso Menchanko, which is their house special in a spicy miso broth, served in a cast iron bowl.

Menchanko-Tei
145 E. 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

As I may have mentioned previously, my wife and I are anticipating the arrival of a baby boy very soon. While there is much that I hope to impart upon him as a father, I’m especially looking forward to introducing him to good music. I decided to call upon some of my talented friends to put together some music mixes so I could play them for my son as he grows up. In the spirit of education, I asked that they use music that was formative in helping them to develop their own tastes – and to use classic songs, nothing too modern.

My buddy Aaron Lopez, aka DJ Moral One, came through with a world music mixtape with some distinctly latin leanings. He told me the common thread amongst them were strong drums and grooves. In addition to djing and producing, he plays drums for a Chicago-based hip hop band called Alert. They recently signed to my friend Braille’s label Humble Beast and released their first single: “All I See is Red.” (you can check out the video here). The mix and tracklisting are below; or you can download it directly here. Many thanks, Aaron.

Tracklisting:
1. Tema De Batman by Celio Balona
2. Pontos De Luz by Gal Costa
3. Che Che Cole Makossa (feat. Mayra Vega) by Antibalas
4. Laranjeiras (4 Hero Remix) by Azymuth
5. Soul Bossa Nova by Pretty Purdie
6. Rico Suave Bossa Nova by JayDee
7. Zip Zap by Bobby Valentin
8. Me Libertei by Toni Tornado
9. Dirty Old Bossa Nova by Visioneers
10. Cascavel by Antonio Adolfo
11. Grains de Beauté by Céu
12. No Hay Nada Mas by Mos Def
13. Tereza Guerraira by Antonio Carlos & Jocafi
14. Dre en Cumbia by Quantic y Conjunto
15. Caetano Veloso by Joia
16. Talking Drum by Africa Messengers/ Ginger Johnson
17. Joe Cuba’s Mambo by Joe Cuba Sextette
18. Quimbara by Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacecho
19. Micaela by El Conde Rodriguez
20. Hit The Bongo by Tito Puente
21. Suadade Vem Correndo by Stan Getz Luiz Bonfa Maria Toledo

Singularities, the project that I wrote about previously, was officially launched last week. We’ve put together a dedicated micro-site for the initiative; there you can watch all the videos, read more about the people we covered, and find out about how to submit your own work for consideration. We plan to select one individual by April 1st and will film with him or her free of charge – the resulting video will be used to help bring some well-deserved recognition to an up and coming talent.

http://www.3sixteen.com/singularities

Cake photos courtesy of Sidney Lo.

Lily and I threw a baby shower last weekend to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our son. She came up with the idea of a denim/western theme for the party… events like these are usually planned exclusively by the wife and her friends, but I had a lot of fun getting involved with it. We got some good help from friends: Cheryl did the graphic design for our invites, signage and thank you gifts, and Jenny (Cupcakes in Heels) surprised us with an unbelievable cake. Even the cupcakes are indigo colored… we were floored with the amount of detail and work that she put into everything.

Beyond the event, though, we’re definitely thankful for the support from family and close friends. Having a kid is going to change our lives in a major way, but Lily and I are looking forward to the ways that it will shape and teach us. Being married has taught me a little bit about being selfless, but I’m pretty sure that becoming a parent takes that to another level. I’m looking forward to the challenge.