Nine Rhymes with Wine. Just an Observation.

Nine years ago today, Kathy said, probably in a blog comment, "I like you, let's be friends and make pretty things on the Internet."  And so it went... nine years, well over 500 sites, one book, six cities, two kids (hers), one bunny (mine) and a whole lot of coffee later, here we are... and I couldn't be happier.

I never really knew what I wanted to do "when I grew up".  Well, I take that back. I wanted to be a vet, a singer, a ballerina, an artist, a choir director, and back to a singer again. But I never really picked one. Then one fateful day in the late 90's, I started a hokey website on Angelfire.com and lo, the internet bug bit me.  HARD. A few years later, I started a blog, met Kathy with whom I became instant friends and ta da! Blog Moxie was born.

Lucky for me, Kathy knows unabashed raw talent when she sees it.  And, of course, modesty. ;-)

I am so grateful to be doing this job. I'm grateful for Kathy. And I'm grateful for the design and development communities, especially the Expression Engine community, for supporting us and being so awesome over the years. I love my job and our clients. I love how each day brings something new and the ever-evolving technology keeps me on my toes.

We're going a little retro today and re-posting our signature cocktail we developed one night in Palm Beach in 2005.  After several cocktails, I mean attempts, this is what we came up with, photographed here next to Buddha. Because that's totally normal.

The Moxie-tini

• 1 part Raspberry vodka (We used Three Olives)
• 2 parts Vodka (We used Grey Goose)
• 1/2 tsp of Raspberry liqueur (we like Chambord)
• 1/2 tsp of White Creme de Cacao

Fill a big martini glass with ice and water, set aside.  Fill a martini shaker with ice and all your liquors. Shake well, vigorously, but not so much that the ice becomes a crushed mess.  Empty the ice water out of your martini glass and strain your cocktail into the glass. You could rim the glass with pretty pink sugar or cocoa, or drop a fresh raspberry in the bottom of the glass, if you desire.  Drink. Repeat if you've got a snack and a designated driver.

Enjoy!

Who knows what the next nine years will bring... but there's no doubt, we'll be doing it with moxie!

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R.I.P. Fax Number

Given that we’re a good 11 years into the new millennium, as of today, September 1st, 2011, I bid my fax number a not-that-fond farewell.  You might still find it on my business card, but know that it won’t work.  If you try to fax me something and it doesn’t go through, drop me an email and we’ll hash it out.

Goodbye, Fax Number. Don’t let the door hit ya.

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Are you there, Moxie? It’s me, Summer.

So, it’s Summertime, which always makes for an interesting time of year for business. Clients are often out of town, we try to take some time off, as well and if there are any monkey wrenches thrown earlier in the year, Summer can be a great time to catch up on projects that may have run long, for whatever reason.  This year, it all seemed to pile up around the annual BlogHer conference, which is the weekend of August 6th in San Diego.

We’re not technically attending this year—Kathy’s eldest son starts school that week and I have my 20 year reunion that weekend. (I’m not sure when I got so old. I feel like I was just sporting my Guess denim miniskirt, and slouch socks yesterday.)  But since my 20 year reunion is in my hometown of San Diego, I will be in town that weekend, and may get a chance to meet up with a colleague, friend or client or two. Hopefully!  It’s also my boyfriend’s 43rd birthday that weekend, so we’ll likely crash the Marriott lobby Saturday night and hope to run into people we know. I’m not above this.

So here’s a little highlight of what we’ve got going on over here and what’s coming down the pipe:

• We’ll be launching a new site for Giant Fire Breathing Robot over the next week, which we’re really proud about. All you geeks and gamers out there, check them out when you get a chance. We’ll announce the official launch on our Twitter account.
• We’re also almost finished with the development on a major overhaul to Pawcurious, which we’re super excited about. We designed their site a few years ago and they’ve continued to grow. Dr. V was selected as BlogHer ‘11 Voice of the Year, too. Yay, Jessica!
• If you’re into romance and snark, our favorite Smart Bitches are also in development on their new site, which brings 94% more bitch.

In totally new sites, we’ve got a fabulous Fort Worth boutique spa, an adorable super-kitsch Fayetteville, GA salon, a fabulous beauty site for women of color and an Alexandria, VA wine and cigar shop all launching in early Fall.

As mentioned, I will be out of the office for my reunion and the like and will be mostly unavailable August 5th - August 12th (I’ll be checking email for emergencies.). I’ll be back in the office on Monday, August 15th, ready to launch sites and take names. Or something like that.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful, safe, SPF and A/C-laden summer filled with watermelon and margaritas.

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What’s the Dealio, Yo?

We’re very cool and hip with the kids. Can you tell by our title? Word. :)

Things have been, as usual, super busy around these parts. We’ve not updated our blog or our portfolio here in quite some time because we’re in the process of revamping this site. It’s long overdue and this being our 8th year in business, we figured it was a good time. The new site should be online within the next month or so, but we naturally have to put our client projects first… and we certainly have!

We recently launched some new sites, including a huge redesign and redevelopment for bestselling author, Jennifer Chiaverini.  Jennifer had us design her first website in 2005 and returned last year to start work on a new look to coincide with the release of her newest book, The Union Quilters. I always enjoy working with Jennifer and this time, her project was challenging and rewarding.  It was a large project, as her site contains information for over 23 books and has almost 30,000 members!  We created a lot of new features, including a private, members-only Readers’ Circle community where users have personal profiles and can create discussion groups—especially great for book clubs.  If you’re into quilting and haven’t read any of Jennifer’s books, I encourage you to check them out!

Speaking of handcrafted items, we also recently launched a redesign for a Richmond, Virginia yarn shop called The Yarn Lounge.  We took her site from a handful of static pages into Expression Engine to create a dynamic website that Stewart, the owner, or her staff can manage on their own. While Expression Engine does, of course, allow for blogging, The Yarn Lounge had a considerable following within Blogger and it was an environment the client and staff were comfortable posting in, so after some discussion, we decided to keep The Yarn Lounge blog in Blogger, styling it to match her primary business website. Stewart was great to work with and their shop seems really comfortable and inviting.

I don’t knit, but someday, I’ll make a trip to that area so I can meet all my VA/DC clients—I have 10 from that area alone. Mostly fabulous yarn shops (like Fibrespace, Looped Yarn Works and of course, The Yarn Lounge), but also some cheese and wine businesses, too. (Mmmm, cheese….) Thanks for your referrals, Richmond, Alexandria and D.C.!

We have a whole slew of sites launching over the couple months, including a redesign for Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, a business site for a beautiful new spa in Fort Worth, Texas, a podcast and small business site for some fabulous fitness divas, a vintage craft shop, a business site for some lovely Florida attorneys, a redesign for the adorable Dr. V over at Pawcurious, a podcast for a popular relationship expert, and a unique beauty site for a niche audience.

(This is the part where we flop dramatically on a chaise, ask for mint juleps and fan ourselves like we’re in Gone with the Wind.)

In other news, we’re booking for Summer now—our Spring dance cards are beyond full and Summer will fill quickly, so if you’re interested in working together in 2011, please take a moment to fill out our Request for Proposal form as thoroughly as possible. We’re only able to take a limited amount of projects, but we’d love to learn more about yours!

Kathy and I are grateful for all the wonderful new and return business we’ve received this year (and every year). Thanks for choosing (or considering!) Moxie Design Studios for your web presence. We appreciate it and look forward to working with you soon!

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Moxie on the Move!

What happens in Vegas… is Moxie, baby. Who’s the big winner? I’m the big winner! That’s right, yours truly is moving to Las Vegas in the next few weeks. I’m so money.

Ok, I’m done with my Swingers references.

So this is just a brief update of my schedule:

I’ll be in n’ out the first week of November (11/1 through 11/7) making the mad scramble to pack and get my ducks in a row before the movers get here. I’ll be around and will check in on email and do whatever work I possibly can, but please bear with me.

I’m going to be out of the office the 2nd week of November (11/8 through 11/14) actually

moving

, complete with moving truck, boxes and bunny. As soon as my internet is turned on, I’ll be online checking email and will get back to you as soon as humanly possible.

Looking forward to wrapping up the year and launching the new one with some awesome projects on deck… if you’re interested in working with me in 2011, please get your requests in ASAP. I’m accepting inquiries right now, booking for January 2011, so please put your requests in soon so we can get started on your estimates.

Thank you and I’ll catch you in Sin City!

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