phew!

the crazy swamp of work that i've been living in for the past few weeks is starting to show signs of giving back! i've been working hard on getting holiday product ready and in the shop: our 6ft tree is back and we're excited to be offering a 3ft. tabletop version that, i must admit, has stollen my heart! i really feel like this baby has the best of everything: a beautifully tapered {and proportioned} trunk, a hearty base and dainty dowels ... it's flexible for small spaces and extra special in large ones ... and the price tag is proportionately smaller as well! i've also been working on expanding our offering of ornaments: including some in raw plywood, some entirely new designs and a smaller flake {perfect for the 3ft. tree} will be added in the coming day or so. {will share images then}

on the architecture front, i've been working pretty hard on a long list of design award submittals for my dad. last thursday the AIA-MN honor awards were announced and i am happy to report that 2 of the 3 projects that we submitted won awards! HawksBoots is the headquarters for LOLL DESIGNS which is based in my hometown of Duluth, MN. the YINGST RESIDENCE is a fantastic house in michigan that could very well be my father's best project to date .. but i guess it does depend on how you look at it, because there are so many other good ones! anyway, receiving these 2 awards is icing on a very big cake for him this year. the Minnesota chapter of AIA is honoring him with the Gold Medal, which is the highest honor that the AIA can bestow upon an individual for their acheivement in architecture. HUGE huge honors for him. i couldn't be more proud!