Welcome Laurie Smithwick!!

Hooray for Laurie! I'm so glad she's visiting Design Mom Blog this week. Laurie is another friend I know exclusively through blogging, which I get a big kick out of. I mean I get a kick out of the whole meeting friends through blogging thing. She's witty, an excellent designer, mother of double-darling twins and she has her radar tuned to all that is cool. And now that I've seen her cute pic, I'll even recognize her if our paths ever cross. I requested a bio from Laurie and she graciously sent the excellent one below. You can also fill your Laurie cravings at Upside Up, her terrific blog and Leap Design, her super-cool company website. I highly recommend a visit to both sites.

From Laurie:
Once upon a time, 12 yr old Laurie-who-had-always-loved-to-draw ran an errand with her father. His company had just changed its name and new business cards were in the works. He had to stop by the art director's studio to approve some proofs. Alas, the proofs were not approvable and a longer visit ensued, forcing 12 yr old Laurie to entertain herself. The assistant art director intuitively stepped in and showed Laurie-who-had-always-loved-to-write-in-different-styles how to use the IBM Selectric typewriter with interchangeable typeface balls. He gave her slick paper and showed her how to feed it through the waxer. He set her up at an enormous drafting table with a straightedge and an X-Acto knife. A lot of time passed quickly for Laurie-who-had-always-loved-to-draw-with-rulers, and from that day hence, the path forward was clear.

The career progression went well: Big fishness in small pondness at college; great heaps of likemindedness at design school in NYC; better-on-paper-than-in-reality jobs gave way to jobs that really actually were great; and eventually Laurie hatched LEAP Design, her own vanity design shop. Life was fun.

Then one day, Laurie found out she was pregnant with twins. She presumed, incorrectly, that once the twins were born her design life would continue as before. Ha ha, she now laughs, as she spends her days performing her version of that great balancing act we 3rd generation feminists get to perform in order to "have it all." I am woman. I am mother. I am career. I am designer.

Also, I've got this amazing husband who is tolerant of my not-always-successful balancing act, incredibly creative, sweeter than a sugar tree, and the best father I could ever have dreamed up for my twin 4-yr-olds, Zoe and Lucy, those lucky dogs.

Also, I've just moved back to my hometown, which I left 19 years ago without looking back. Now I'm back.

Also, in no particular order, I love music, movies, books, cooking, tv on dvd, french fries, and snowboarding. I love to be amazed by things. I love to laugh. I love my old friends. I love meeting new friends. I love my family. I love the first step outside into the heat of a n.c. summer. And I love to jump into cold water without feeling it first.

From Gabrielle:
Wonderful, Laurie!! Welcome! We look forward to reading you have to say.