Quiet Weekend

Well my roommate went home for a couple days so it was pretty quiet around here. It ended up being a blessing because I got so much done. 

I finally got a new backpack! The last time I bought a backpack was five years ago. I finally decided it was time to get a new one when I discovered the gaping hole in the bottom. I carry my macbook pro in that bag. Whoops. A few of my friends have this one and it was a bit pricey but I really like it. I love the design, the deep blue color, and it has a laptop pocket and a lifetime warranty. I figure if I carry a backpack everyday I should at least have something cool looking, right? #designstudentproblems

 

Scaling your work is always important. In my case seeing my work scaled down= Aack!!! What's up with that "L" amiright??

Gift from the roommate- Lil Bub mug. She's an internet cat sensation, what can I say??

21!

More working on my project- I have decided to go in the small caps direction.

Birthday picture 1- One of my best friends who is studying abroad for a semester surprised me on my birthday by sending me cake truffles from Momofuku. She is in an area with very little internet or phone service so I only communicate with her once a week or so. We've known each other most of our lives so it's been rough. I totally cried when I got this! Miss you, M!!

Chocolate cake at Cafe Lalo! Mt roommate and another friend took me out for cake and my first legal drink. I had a Baileys coffee with whipped cream because of course. 

This is me pretending to be the mother of dragons. JK. But seriously, when walking home with two friends we caught the end of the NYC Game of Thrones premiere and got ourselves on the red carpet to snap some pics. 

Not fun birthday activities- just sketching some "B"s for my logo project.

Redesigning the "B"

researching recipes for the roommate's birthday cake. She requested a classic white cake. This is from Baking Illustrated.

ROSE RIOT!

Birthday brunch with my roommate!

We found out that the Ace Hotel has a real photo booth, like not digital! So we naturally had to take a couple. 

NEW BALANCEE

"E" is a really hard letter to draw.

Today I Am Loving...

...This business card/ punch card from Stumptown Coffee. I love the awesome lettering and the simple illustration. I'm working on my own business card design right now so I've been picking up cards I see that inspire me. Calligraphy-ish type is so great, so expressive. And this card is so old fashioned looking, that's what I like about it the most, I think. So many business cards I see look like they were made on a template using the fonts on everyone's computer. I need some great inspiration!

This Weekend In Fancy Lattes

 A to-go latte at Gorilla Coffee's new cafe on Bergen Street. I almost never go to Brooklyn but if I'm ever near either of Gorilla's locations, I make sure I get something.

Probably one of my favorite things to do on the weekends is go for a coffee. I make mine at home or drink gross Starbucks during the week (read: they have it at my school and it's free). But on the weekends going out to a nice coffee place and just really tasting the coffee as opposed to my system crying for caffeine, is a really great treat. Plus, a latte is like $4 so it's my cheap thrill. This week on top of my standing coffee date with a friend, I found myself in Brooklyn and so there was NO WAY I wasn't having Gorilla Coffee. 

My first time at Stumptown was not a disappointment! Hit up the West 8th Street location to meet a friend. I love the look and feel of this place, very old fashioned looking. It would make a great hang out spot. Their latte art is spot on which weirdly starts to matter when you drink a lot of these. Like if the design isn't good the designer in me is very unhappy. I really love their mugs the most. The beautiful script appears after you take a few sips- clever. And check out that insane "S." #designerproblems. Side note- had a really interesting rosemary current  scone there, as well. My first bite was ehh as I'm not a huge herb person. (rosemary, fennel, those types of things in my food gross me out) But I was just super in the mood for a scone today so I went for it and the flavor actually really grew on me. As far as scones go it was pretty perfect- dense but not dry, buttery but not greasy, and a little crumbly but not messy. I wonder where Stumptown gets their baked goods. I'm not sure I would eat another Rosemary scone but everything else was spot on!

Found it!

I am never in Brooklyn but I went all the way to down there for some birthday gift shopping for a friend and then as I was about to get on the train, I noticed I was less than one block from Target. And everyone knows Target is a magical place so I had to go in. And there was only one CORE B&J's flavor left so I bought it. (I've been to about 4 different stores looking for it, I'm passionate about my desserts) When I was checking out, the cashier told me that some guy from Queens came all the way to Brooklyn and bought like 10 pints. It's a pretty good thing he left some for me or I might have needed to go to Queens to track him down. I mean you do what you have to do for your ice cream ;)