anatomy of a birthday box

My mother sends some pretty strange care packages. Not strange in a bad way; quite the opposite in fact! I caught her at the grocery store right before she sent it so I was loaded up with all the random items I was running out of in addition to all the birthday goodies she was sending.

Two boxes came within the same week and I do not get mail easily at my apartment. My mailman is not the most proactive deliverer, therefore, I have to anticipate his arrival and track down anything larger than my mail slot. I got to know my mailman quite well this week!

Pixar stamps
White cake mix and frosting – my fave!
Contact solution
Filter for my water pitcher – I'm TERRIBLE about changing those
Peanut butter – she singlehandedly keeps me stocked with pb
Candles – for the cake
Coffee – lots of it!
Butterfingers
A bag of mini snickers
1 box of thin mint Girl Scout cookies
A bag of chocolate chips
A bag of Reese's peanut butter chips
Cheez-its
Toothpaste
Soap
Band-aids
Neosporin
Ibuprofen
Paper towels
BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!!!

Now that was just box one. Box two was a little stranger. I can only assume that she just started loading it with random stuff at a certain point to fill it up.

Another box of thin mint Girl Scout cookies
Lofthouse sugar cookies
Lettuce wrap sauce – ???
A large can of olive oil
Lysol wipes
Peanut butter
Buttons
Chocolate chips
Granola bars
Peanut butter M&Ms
Random make-up samples
Dried mushrooms – ???
Crispy caramel apple chips

I'm not sure what this list says about me?

my 365: week seven

1. Valentine's Day on the alley chalkboard  2. My favorite new coffee shop Foxy Loxy  3. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ganache Cookies  4. Late night homework and coffee  5. Crosswalk  6. The beginnings of a typeface  7. Game night! Phase 10!

music monday: cults

For Valentine's Day my friend made me a really thoughtful mixed cd of new music which I've had on repeat for over a week now. I've been hooked on this one song in particular.

10 things i'm loving: yellow edition

1. R from vintage signage  2. Urbanears headphones in mustard  3. Orla Kiely coat  4. Hand-Tufted Yellow Stripe Wool Rug  5. The Great Gatsby  6. Silhouette Sofa  7. Gold Card Dress from ModCloth, I'm very sad that it is no longer available  8. Yellow Tea on the Go Mug  9. ASOS Pintuck Front Shell Top  10. Wedges from Ruche (also, sadly, no longer available)

my 365: week six

1. The letter O  2. Working on my floral typeface  3. Handwritten hello  4. Inside the library during an early morning of research  5. Krispy Kreme donuts brought into class by my prof  6. Skee ball and laser tag  7. Frozen Thin mints; the only way to eat Girl Scout cookies.

happy valentine's day!

(This is the valentine I sent out this year.)

mega veggie pizza

Who can resist pizza?? It has become a staple for me. Primarily because it typically uses up all my stray ingredients and then provides me a few days of leftovers. In an effort to keep it somewhat healthy, I typically include every veggie I have in my fridge and leave off the sauce. This one sported mozzarella cheese, onion, grape tomatoes, jalapenos, banana peppers and broccoli.

Broccoli has became my new favorite topping.

Left: Before baking  Right: After eating

my 365: week five

I'm a little behind posting my photos. 

1. The Colonial Park Cemetery across the street from my apartment on a foggy morning  2. Vintage bottles in an antique store  3. My mess  4&5. The cemetery, again  6. Playing video games at the movie theater  7. Bundle of flowers

awesome video

What could it possibly be about...TYPE, of course!



The creator (Alessandro Novelli) even showcases the animation's process on his blog.

embroidered iphone case

For Christmas I got my mom the cross stitch case with the promise that I would actually finish it. The 33 x 69 grid was time-consuming but my mom finally got her Christmas present about a week ago.
Here's the finished product.

introverts are underrated

I read the cover story of the most recent TIME Magazine just one day after having a discussion with some fellow design students about the positive and negatives of introvert and extrovert personalities in our field of study. This really resonated with me because back in my undergrad one of my professors was adamant that introverts could not succeed in our industry because of the necessity for self-promotion and constant client interaction. In this class we also took a questionnaire that gauged our societal tenancies and I remember falling smack dap in the range of introvert and feeling momentarily panic-stricken. Was I headed into a career in which I was destined to fail?

However, I quickly recovered and realized that this was not news to me. I've always known that I am more a listener than a talker, that I have my limits with it comes to socializing, and that hiding in the bathroom for a moment to myself (like the author of the TIME article describes) is an experience that I can relate to.

The article hits the nail on the head when it talks of the challenges introverts face in today's world where everything revolves around the loud and the talkative. However, I feel my skills as an introvert are often overlooked. My introvertness is often misinterpreted as shyness, or worse, snobbery, and I get the question "Why are you so quiet?" pretty incessantly. Instead I am watchful, attentive and contemplative and while it took me most of my adult life to come to terms with, these are qualities that I appreciate in myself.

Another point the article focused on was the ability of introverts to fake extrovert-ness in some situations. Prior to reading this I thought my ability to do this just made me a little confused but who would have guessed that this is just one of many ways we introverts adapt to our environment. We can BE extroverts, but only for a short amount of time before we're exhausted and ready to turn our attention back to the good book we left at home.

So what does this mean for my future as a designer? I think it just means that I'll no longer feel guilty for rewarding myself with a night in after a taxing day of charming clients, or when I find myself alone in the kitchen for a moment to myself at dinner parties, or when I bribe myself to talk to a stranger (yes, I've done that).

Image from Toothpaste for Dinner.

365: week four

1. Just outside my apartment during a nasty rainstorm  2. My sewing table turned desk during a stressful week of homework  3. Some pretty shadows in the alley next to my apartment  4. Eric Baker lecture that I attended  5. Laundry day  6. The Presbyterian Church on Hull and Bull Street  7. A cute little walkway that I passed with a 1/2 address which I have a fondness for.

muppets!

First, play this song before continuing.



A truly spectacular alphabet featuring the muppets.

Designed by Mike Boon.

background noise

I am rarely not surrounded by some sort of noise; I am your typical twenty-something in that regard. I wake up to music, I walk to class with headphones, and then have an assortment of ways to be auditorially distracted while doing homework. As I write, my favorite Pandora station—Ben Folds—is playing. I am lucky enough that a large chunk of what I do can be improved (or at least made more enjoyable) by having these distractions. Laying out type can get tedious otherwise.

I have quite the system for deciding my distraction of choice so I created a little flow chart of my thought process.

 

Yes, that's right, news. 

I've compiled some of my favorite podcasts that I regularly listen to.

This American Life / Stuff You Missed in History Clas

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me / Radio Lab

Podcast images from iTunes.

music monday: gotye

I think the video is just as good as the song! Enjoy!