Hello Thirty!

Wow, that's the first time I have typed that out today but it's true, folks, today is the day I turned 30. For real, I am thirty today. Well, actually this morning was the official time I entered the world back in the day in 1980 (on a frigid Monday morning). I can’t really believe it. Still, though, I must say that if my day since waking up is anything how the rest of the year will be, I am more than okay with that.

It started when Matt joined me on my annual “birthday run” (don’t worry, it wasn’t done in my “birthday suit” - it is way too cold and I am way too against public nakedness). I should say that I am a runner but I make certain that a run is scheduled specifically for my birthday. Ad above from Asics (my running shoe and running ad of choice).


Next for the day was having both of my parents call and sing a happy birthday to me as well as a call from INDIA from Kathy (how great is she?) followed by many texts/emails from friends and family here in New York to California to Virginia to New Hampshire and more phone calls from my best gals here in the city, Sari and Caitlin, and Katie home in Massachusetts. And my favorite people whom I share a desk with gave me some beautiful (and totally Spring-y!) tulips as shown above. I even think the guy who made my egg white omelet this morning made it with extra love. It really was extra puffy. Though I did have to do work all day, February 18th is ending with a (hopefully) delicious meal with Matt in a cozy Brooklyn restaurant.

As every year on my birthday, but more and more as I get older, I realize how good life is. I have the most wonderful friends and family and boyfriend and what could I want more than going into 30 with them by my side? I just feel truly blessed. This is a complete opposite to how I was thinking/feeling over the weekend when I was lamenting on my lack of permanent job position, not owning property, having no ring on my finger and no brood of children in my home. You know what though? My new manner of thinking is now, “All in good time”. Because as of now, I have everything I want.

I couldn't end this posting on a sappy note hence this following paragraph. Not only calls and emails and texts and hugs were given today, but I asked around for some advice for 30 from those who have already turned this lovely age. I thought I would share with you the humor and wisdom of some friends and loved ones:

"Are you happy? Then keep doing what you’re doing."

"It’s now officially okay to fall asleep early on a Saturday night."

"Its time to be a role model."

"Starting lying about your age. Today."

"Life only gets better. Live it intentionally."

Cupcake photo from none other than the Queen of party decor, Martha

Just A Little Something for the Summer...

Ahh, how my mind is going in a hundred places these days. Work has been crazy busy, I am about to hit a new decade (20? No dears, you are SO sweet to think that, however) tomorrow AND it's snowing almost every other day here in this northeastern city of NYC that I ponder why we shouldn't just pack it up and move someplace warmer. This last one has been on my mind all week. Well, not the moving so much but the wanting to go somewhere warm for a quick trip. Or perhaps ending this winter-coat-wearing. I just can't take it anymore! I can't leave the apartment these days without scarf, mittens, boots, winter coat and sanity. I just can't.

I believe that my mind escaped to thinking about the beach because this is the time of year (this WEEK exactly) when my family and I would head to the airport and fly to Florida to visit with my grandparents. I have many fond memories of building the best sandcastles on the beach, getting a sun-kissed glow, spending as much time at the pool as possible and looking for seashells. Not only that but I also got to celebrate my birthday in the warm weather. Being a February baby doesn't have many perks (your birthday party is canceled because of a snowstorm, etc), but when that date falls over school vacation and your Grandparents live in Florida, the world is your oyster (err, seashell).

That is what prompted me to start looking at fun summer clothes online. I just needed to catch sight of one bathing suit to remind that we do, fortunately, live in a region that gets seasons and soon enough (4 months!) it will be time to hit the beach or the lake or even just the park in just one layer. My first trip online took me to Old Navy and that's where I stopped (for now) as I found some cute little suits and fun dresses and accessories. A sample of what I wish I could wear this weekend to the beach and afterwards. How cute!

A Toast to My Favorites.

Thanks to Design*Sponge I am sure that these will be all over the blogosphere this morning via other blogs but I just had to personalize what I would get as my own set of these lovely JHill designs. She has a way of making you want to share what you love – in print design! Long live print design! Her latest series is "A Toast To..." and picks out various states and countries and showcases the year they were incorporated and a few things that are unique to them. Though she has a wide selection I can't believe New York isn't on there! Oh well, my chosen three are above and these are the reasons why:

Massachusetts
...because I was born and raised in the great Bay State in New England
...because it is the place that my parents still live in, in the home that I was brought home from the hospital to
...because though I have lived in NYC for 7 years I still root for the Boston sports teams
...because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it's always been spent here
...because the Boston accent (that I no longer have) cracks me up in movies when people try to copy it totally unsuccessfully

Spain
...because I spent three blissful/educational/trying/enlightening months there in the fall of 2008
...because the architecture and design there made me take notice of everything, everywhere I went
...because it took me out of my comfort zone of the English-speaking, friend-filled, work-filled, hectic wonderful craziness that is NYC
...because it had me back in a classroom for the first time since college
...because I was on my own in a foreign country and I made it back in one piece
...because I fell in love with jamón after not eating meat for 10 years

Hawaii
...because I spent 7 weeks there the summer after sophomore year and before junior year of college taking classes (ceramics wheel-throwing and nutrition science. And yes, I got my credits for both despite the fact I went to the beach everyday)
...because the people there really are SO nice
...because the sun shines all day long, the beaches are amazing, the ocean water really IS the color of the postcards and you can wear flip-flops all day
...because I ate fresh pineapple almost everyday
...because I met people from all over the country who also fell in love with this tiny island that makes you feel like you are no longer IN the United States

7 Years Ago Today.

I remember that day 7 years ago today like it was, well, today! There I was, in the car with my Mom while my Dad trailed behind in the rented van full of almost all of my belongings (the remainder was in my Mom's car with us) driving south to New Jersey from Massachusetts. I bet when I was first born that my parents had never had moments where they looked at their baby daughter and thought "One day, we'll move her into her first apartment in New Jersey.". Well, whether they thought about it or not, that's what they were doing that first day in February in 2003 with me. Moving me into my 4th floor walk-up apartment with bright blue-painted stairs that were "steeper than you told us!" as my Mom first exclaimed when we walked into the small building on the main street in the one-square mile town.

The apartment my friend Jim (a good friend from school who shared the same Communication Design major and same love for college basketball) and I had found was surprisingly bright, surprisingly large, and a close walk to the PATH train that would take us into NYC (a short 10 minute ride under the Hudson River). Since it was our first apartment post-college, we didn't have much in the way of furniture or in the way of a budget, and so our first furnishings has to be modest. We first painted the place and then decided it was time to buy some seating for the living room (we had been eating dinner seated on milk crates). Scouring Craigslist we found a steal located just a block away from a guy who was moving out and looking to GIVE his couch to whomever would take it out of the place. Free? Yes, free. So ,Jim and I decided to check it out and after about a 5 minute discussion while looking at it in all it's emerald green velour gloriousness, (a slipcover was the way we would go) we decided we would take it off the guy's hands (literally) and carry it across the street. Well, it wasn't as easy as we thought and I ended up directing traffic as they barely made it out the door and down the stairs. The couch was a beast and the guy was so happy to have it out of his apartment that he even helped Jim bring it up our steeper than steep and windy stairs to the top and fourth floor that we lived on. It barely made it past the second floor landing and with some coaxing they got it up to four. But that, my friends, is where the couch stopped because it is there that we realized that the size of our door frame was too narrow to accommodate such a beast of an emerald green velour couch. And so there that couch story ends for a few weeks. Until my parents came back to visit and brought with them my Dad's saw so we could cut the legs off the couch and a few more tools so we could remove the door frame and get the couch inside and then replace the wood of the frame. I moved out a year later, and Jim a year after that. We always joked that no matter who moved in and out of that apartment, that that couch would always remain.



Moving to the city area was a bit risky at the time because I had no job. Yes, that's right. No employment. It wasn't as hard to find a job as it is for this past year's recent grads but considering it was just a year after 9/11, it definitely wasn't a time of "jobs for everyone!" being chanted on the streets of Manhattan. While shuttling my design portfolio to any and all companies that would look at it was my choice of work during the day, that didn't pay the bills so the day after I moved, I went to a neighborhood restaurant to get a job as a waitress. I figured I could pass the time waiting tables and making some good money before being hired as low woman on the totem pole and being paid peanuts. The restaurant was a favorite in the tiny 1-square mile town. The food was good, the service was great (I'm not just saying that since I worked there) and the atmosphere inside was just a place that you wanted to be at. The colors that went around in the decor were mostly golds and yellows with deep, rich browns. I must say that of the three places I have spent time delivering food and drink for tips, this one was by far my favorite.



It's hard to believe that just 7 years ago I came to this fair city without a job, any furniture, and knowing only my close friends from college. I can't believe that this is the city I officially call "home" when I go away on vacation and someone asks me where I'm from. "New York City" is always my answer, unlike years ago when it was "well, I come by way of NYC but I'm really from Boston". I like to think in life we are in control of our actions and decisions, and I must say, that my move here 7 years ago was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Whereas that emerald green couch might be at the bottom of the list.

all photographs are beautiful wares from Anthropologie

Fantastic Mr. Fox & New York Magazine.

Retrieving my New York Magazine from our narrow silver mailbox in our apartment building makes my Monday (though as of recently, it has been coming on Tuesday. Anyone else?). Not only do I anticipate doing the crossword puzzle on the subway the next day (I know, I know. I'm a word geek) but I know the articles and other regular favorite sections (Dining Out and the Intelligencer to name a couple) will make my rides that much faster to and from work.

This week I was extra excited when I saw the cast of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" on the cover as well as an "inside the shooting of the cover". I love the behind-the-scenes information – one perfect single shot is not just taken, it is MADE. Hours of hard work (and in this case 6 hours of prep for these lil' figures) and a cast of specified creatives. I of course had to WATCH the behind-the-scenes which was conveniently on the NY Magazine website.

Whew!

These trees might look pretty, but watch for their droppings... (image from here)

Well dear readers (yes Mom, that includes you), I must apologize for this blog a-lackin' in material the last few weeks. I think since coming back from the glorious and refreshing vacation we had in Costa Rica, that I hit a wall with the blog and feel like I am scrounging around for design, ideas, things to post about. I mean I posted about Brussels Sprouts at the beginning of the week for goodness sake! Brussels Sprouts!

Dear readers, I am sorry. I have hit a wall as hard as I almost hit the pavement this morning walking to the subway. Yes, I was carefully trying to NOT step on those nasty smelling gingko biloba pods that are littered on the avenue I walk to get to the train in the morning (that article that I just linked isn't my neighborhood but makes me feel better that all of Brooklyn must share this). The irony being that I tried so hard not to step on them with just a tip of the toe of my beautiful brown boots from Spain that I almost ended up with my entire body/coat/bag/newspaper covered in them. Ughhhh. I can't even fathom that demise. Long story short I slipped, but caught myself before taking a nose dive into the guts of the biloba pods. Though entirely graceless, I managed to eke by with just a dab of nastiness on my boot toe.

Anyhow, I digress. Perhaps after the weekend I will know where I am going with this blog. It's been around for about 2 years and I can say that my greatest posts were the ones I put the most of my love into were the series from Spain. If I could find a way to bring back personal photography combined with real writing, I think that might be where this blog is going, but don't hold me to it.

Either way, thanks for bearing with me as I leave you SANS posts more days than with...

Townhouse: Miami

Of course the moment you are on the plane landing at your home airport from vacation you are already imagining your next getaway. This was literally happening on the first leg home on our flight from San Jose, Costa Rica to Miami International. I made a medium-sized list of "Places to Go to in the Next 5-10 Years" which now hangs from the side of our refrigerator.

Being at the Miami airport made me realize two things. One, flying in on an international flight and then leaving on a domestic one is quite a process! The second thing I realized is that I have not spent any sort of significant time actually IN Miami. Sure I have used the airport as a layover on more than two occasions, but actually exiting that airport door where the sign says "ARRIVALS" is something I have only done once. And even that was a 16 hour stay that consisted of 8 hours of sleep and 1 hour driving around and around the airport waiting to pick up a friend who was arriving and who then would travel to Key West.

Matt and I have been thinking about our next quick trip (4 day weekend perhaps?) for the winter and are throwing the idea of Miami around. In preparation I have started to do some quick searching for Miami hotels (which I imagine will be quite opposite of where we stayed in Costa Rica). Now let me be frank and say I know absolutely NOTHING about anything having to do with Miami. Nothing about the beaches, the hotels, so everything seems pretty new and exciting to me. One hotel I came upon recently is called Townhouse (in South Beach) and I just loved their graphic look (you know I was getting to something graphic design-related in this post, didn't you?). This is all photography from their website which is nice and clean and chic.

Julie & Julia.

Ahhh, I can almost taste the food that is on the screen in the scenes for this new movie, Julie & Julia. The book on which it is based has been on my "must read" list for the past two years and now it is SERIOUSLY on my list because I refuse to watch a movie unless I have read the book first. Now more than ever I want to get the book STAT because I must be ready for the August 7th premiere which is in only a week! Growing up I used to watch Julia Child's cooking show with wild amazement and especially looked forward to the end when she would sign-off with "Bon appetit!". For the longest time I thought she was French until I learned just a few years ago that she is American and actually from California. Who knew?!

This NY Times article about the food styling of the movie (something I am particularly enamored of, and why my coworkers find me eying Tastespotting.com and Bon Appetit with more awe than hunger...though when its close to lunchtime it's usually hunger) was so interesting and left me even more excited for the movie and jealous of Susan Spungen, the film's food stylist (who has also had the enviable job of working as a food stylist for Martha Stewart). So much curious behind-the-scenes information about the food that was actually cooked for the movie as well as cooking techniques and lessons that both Meryl Streep (who plays Julia Child) and Amy Adams (who plays Julie) needed to learn in order to shoot the film correctly. Some images above from the NY Times sidebar (from the article) which is definitely worth reading - you will watch the movie with a different perspective now.

Plus, how great is the movie poster above?

A US Design Policy.

What a fantastic idea to be implemented as new bills are getting passed and new programs are going forward with our new administration. Countries around the world already have them in place. Why don't we? A most interesting article from the New York Times about the redesign of the government including money (examples above from the Dollar ReDe$ign Project), mortgage and health insurance forms (the recent is one I can definitely attest to and agree with a need for some information architecture).

Our Logos Are Getting "Softer".

Great article in the NY Times this weekend about some big-name brands and the facelifts they have done on their logos. Mainstream companies want to make themselves feel a bit more friendly and approachable (in this angry recession) so they are doing things like changing from upper to lower cases and adding a bit more flair to their staid and solid color icons.

How Do I Get Into This Event?!

I just emailed the RSVP contact to find out more information about this event, but how amazing would it be to sit among 100 of the most Creative People in Business!? The energy floating around the room would be beyond inspiring, I am sure. At the top of my list that I would LOVE to hear speak? J.J. Abrams and Gary Hustwit!

Typography Underground.

Okay, so here is one more post before I leave (clearly this cold has gotten to my head). This posting is all about typography down below the street; in the subway system!

On Sunday it was raining cats and dogs all day and Matt was itching to get out of the apartment and do something so we took ourselves and our umbrellas and made our way to downtown Brooklyn for a little field trip – to the New York City Transit Museum. This is actually a place I have wanted to visit (as geeky as that sounds) but just never got around to and to be honest, I had always thought it was in the city, not Brooklyn. Anyhow, we arrived and wouldn't you know, the entrance actually LOOKS like you are going into the subway; as it turns out, the location of the museum used to be a real station. It was an interesting look into the history of the building of the subway in the early 1900s as well as the bridges that connect the boroughs of NYC. There were some fun things to play with and learn also about the history of the actual turnstiles where they had all of them from the very first to the current one used that you could "go through" to see the difference in the weights of the materials used. They had old subway train cars that were actually ON the tracks to walk around in (I loved seeing the old advertisements that lined the cars. For some reason, I thought subway ads were a newer thing of the past couple decades). There were some other interesting things to see and touch and walk through and I recommend adding it to your list of "to dos" next time you need a rainy day activity.

Of course through all of this, I noticed the typography used and the old signage of which there were many samples. Above is just a small selection of those I photographed.

New West or Nine Balance?

Just popped into Nine West because my current black heels have been killing my feet in ways that this runner does not want to have her feet hurt. I am convinced either the shoes have been enlarged by half a size or my foot has shrunk. Either way, my puppies are not happy. I did not find any shoes that I wanted to even try one BUT I did see that New Balance has partnered up with Nine West for a new athletic-inspired shoe line. They even gave themselves a mascot, Nwbi, who is a bit Japanimation-looking (not sure how I feel about that).

Not sure if New Balance has plans to do more than sneakers with Nine West but I would LOVE it if they could find a way to put their cushy souls into some of those pointy toe heels or rounded open-toe. And maybe while they are at it, take the height of the heel down by an inch?

Jen (to the 11th power)

I both love and am jealous about this. I want in the club (I am an artistic Jennifer, too)! What a great concept and it makes me think about what other commonalities there might be about other names (ie. are most Tiffanys fashionable? Do most Caitlins paint exceptionally well? Do Saris like to hand-make crafts? etc, etc).

From the site:

"The exhibition was born from both a serious curiosity and a simple novelty. Have members of this Jen-eration unknowingly grown into a common artistic sensibility? Have they become creators of culture in in their own particular way? The following show can be understood as a unique experiment or as commentary, by Jennifer on Jennifer. She began with the fashion of a name and now moves through a rather complex like, always shaping and being shaped by her culture."

~ Jennifer Khoshbin

An Oxymoron?

From TheDieline

Natural Pepsi? Huh? I am slightly mortified. Slightly disturbed. And slightly curious...

The Little Celebrations.

Happy blue starfish from a field trip Matt and I took to the NY Aquarium last summer

A cheery coworker of mine forwarded this to me 10 minutes ago and I can't help wanting to share it. Especially on a Friday morning after a long, busy week. Enjoy!


10 Things We All Celebrate Subconsciously

Making the Yellow Light
It’s one of those simple pleasures, the act of beating the pack. As you blaze through the yellow light, you glance in your rearview to see all the cars behind you stopping at the red light. You made it! Hoorah… You will now arrive at your destination 1 minute sooner! For some reason it just makes you glow inside. Life seems great in that moment of celebration.

Lunch Time
“Yes… its Lunch time!” It happens every weekday at the same time with the same crowd. You know exactly what to expect, and yet you celebrate its arrival with eager enthusiasm. That turkey sandwich tastes better at noon on an idle Tuesday than it would in any other setting, under any other circumstances.

Friday Afternoon
Okay, so you probably consider this to be a bit more of a full blown conscious celebration, but it actually does creep up slowly in the subconscious. It starts on Friday afternoon around lunch time. Productivity gradually slows down over the course of a couple hours, and then by 3PM it hits a brick wall. Pretty soon you’re happily chatting away with colleagues that you deliberately avoided all week long. But that’s okay, because you can almost taste the 48 hours of freedom that lay ahead.

The First Sip
…of a beer or mixed drink that is! As long as you are not an addict, there is nothing wrong with having a couple alcoholic beverages in your off-time. And when the events leading up to this breath of spare time are hectic, that first sip is sheer bliss!

Music
There is no better feeling than hearing the right song at the right time. It doesn’t matter what the setting is, hearing the right song in that moment is one of those simple pleasures in life that instantly lifts your spirits. You could be driving home from work, hanging out at a bar with friends, or jogging. When the right song for that moment rattles your ear drums, the entire meaning of life momentarily makes complete sense.

Post-Workout
Regardless of your fitness level or fitness goals, I have no doubt that you subconsciously celebrate the completion of a solid workout. It’s a giddy feeling of self accomplishment; the one true activity (without taking hallucinogens) that actually makes you feel better and look better simultaneously. When you walk out the front door of the gym you are on top of the world!

Getting Things Done
Getting a task completed, no matter how big or small, is a conscious endeavor that usually brings you closer to some outstanding objective. However, this endeavor comes with a huge bonus! The bonus comes in the form of a warm subconscious feeling of accomplishment. Getting something done is like hitting 2 birds with one stone… the most important being the feeling of self accomplishment.

Sleeping In
Whether you can admit it or not, sleeping in is a celebration of vast proportions. People usually feel guilty for sleeping in because they think they should be out conquering some vital chore. But, you know what? Sometimes it just makes sense to stop and relax. And there is no better feeling of relaxation than sleeping until your eyes just pop open on their own.

Friendship
Friendship is something we persistently celebrate, yet somehow fail to consciously appreciate. How does this make sense? Quite simply, we are always in a rush to socialize, and we celebrate the act of doing so, yet we are not necessarily conscious of its fundamental importance. Friendship is always celebrated; consciously when we are aware of its importance, and subconsciously when we are not.

Telling a Story
One of the most exciting gifts in life is that of a new experience. One of the most enticing roles we all lead in life is that of the storyteller. What good is a new experience if we cannot share the story with others? We are consciously aware of our new experiences, but that’s only half of the thrill. Subconsciously, we can’t wait to tell everyone we know.

A photographic treasure hunt!

Two of my favorite things come together – taking pictures of random things and exploring; Snap-Shot-City! All part of the "Come out and Play Festival 2008" in NYC!

A day without email is like...

Honestly, I can't think of something that comes close to comparing what a day without email is like when you sit at a desk with internet capabilities. Is it like having vanilla cupcakes in front of you but you know you are allergic to the eggs that are in them (I'm not, thank goodness)? I can't even think of anything that would equate to what it's like so I will just tell you this. My new freelance assignment is at the largest company I have ever worked for (and I do love it)and therefore (as is the way of large corporations, or so I have heard and now recently experienced) have a major internet blocking in their system. Gone are my days when I had a lot of down time and no red tape to get through on Firefox or Safari; where I spent hours writing to friends and family and to this blog.

I'll tell you what my Monday was like (and hence why it has taken me so long to post something this week) and maybe you will feel my pain. Or maybe you yourself work in an environment where all "fun" sites or photos are blocked by your company? Call me naive, but up until four months ago I had never worked at a company larger than 30 people so I had never experienced this. I thought it was just an urban work myth; told by investment bankers who work at highly secure financial firms. I never thought it could happen to me; just a graphic designer trying to make her way in this creative world.

So, Monday I get to my new assignment and meet my new creative department I will be working in and then am left alone for about 20 minutes while they were all in at a meeting. They knew that I had no work to do thus far (I mean I had just showed up 70 minutes before) and therefore I didn't feel bad about getting on some Hotmail with maybe a side of Blogger and Gmail in the mix just for kicks. And I don't know, if I was feeling crazy, possibly check out Evite? Well, folks, as they say "the best laid plans...often go awry", they say it for a reason. There was to be none of that, for each of those sites I just mentioned were BLOCKED! BLOCKED? I had never seen such a thing.

At lunch I decided to take matters into my own hands and signed up for a month of internet on my cellphone. I have only checked my email on my phone two other times and that was because I was on a Greyhound bus and bored out of my mind. So sign up I did and then turned my phone off (as they tell you to do) for a few minutes, then turned it back on. I fully expected to be email ready within minutes, but no. Plans foiled again. Not only was my new company out to steer me clear of email, so was Verizon! I refused to give up and therefore kept turning on and then turning off my phone, trying to get onto the internet but with no luck each time.

The end of the day came and I was meeting a friend for dinner but not for another hour and a half. Instead of going back home and then going out again, I decided that I could not take one more second without email and bit the bullet–I went to the midtown (read: largest) branch of the New York Public Library. I figured I could get on the internet there withh zero problem. Ah, silly me, did I not learn anything that day? Email was not to be had! I rode the elevator up to the 4th floor with a B.O.-emanating man and 6 other strangers, got off the elevator, got in line to inquire about internet computer signups, witnessed the librarian tell the woman in front of me that they would call security on her if she didn't calm down, got in another line, watched an old woman print out 80 things, got back in the first line, watched security come to the desk to apprehend the woman they had been called about 5 minutes earlier, swiped my card at the computer to sign-up for some internet (finally...Hotmail, here I come!), and then found out that the wait would be 55 minutes. Clearly, the universe did not want me checking my email today.

Don't you fret, though, Verizon finally got its email working on my phone and now I am back to being connected to the world. Via a one inch by two inch screen, of course.

Type away!

What is it about old-fashioned typewriters that I adore...Is it because I sometimes hate technology and the fact that everything we do becomes digital and I long for real papers printed with real hand-writing without the ability to quickly reproduce it? Is it because I remember actually typing papers in elementary school on a typewriter and using that white-out paper that you would have to slide between the paper and the mechanism that popped up with the letter punch; making sure it was completely accurately in the correct place or else what you wanted to erase would not work? Is it because I just love the LOOK of the typewriter because I LOVE what comes out of it...typography? Or maybe it stems from the fact that one summer I came home from college to find out that my parents did some spring cleaning and got rid of *gasp* the typewriter I had grown up with! Whatever it is, it is my life's mission to buy one once I have a home that has extra space for things like typewriters. And I want a turquoise one just like this (above) from Three Potato Four. Does anyone else share this crazy obsession?

Crayola and I made a fine duo.

I have and have always had a slight obsession with crayons. Crayola to be specific. Well, now I preferably use PrismaColor markers but lets be honest, most of us artsy types started out on the Crayolas. There was something so magical about getting a new box. I don't remember my first, but I know it was one of those 8-packs with just the basics. Soon after that, it was the 64-pack with every shade you could possibly want; with orange-red AND red-orange; burnt sienna AND burnt orange. Whenever I got a new box I would immediately take each crayon out and then organize them all in color order starting with pinks and reds and then make my way through the rest of the warm colors through to the cools until I ended with brown, black and then white; putting each back in the box in order from left to right. Was this a sign of my graphic design future and making order out of chaos? The new paper carefully and tightly wrapped around each stick of colored wax had this amazing smell. This smell that I can't describe as anything but pure childhood and creativity packaged into this perfect drawing instrument that fit magically into my little elementary hand. Pictures would flow from this hand to the crayon and onto my construction paper and I would excite in taking a new color out of the box and using it for the very first time. I would like to say that I think Crayola had a small part in making me the artist I am today and for that, I would like to thank them and their clever crayon names and colors for being a part of my life.