Nice Package

How friggin cute is this? Love the styling, simple clean and effective. If only this was available in the US... overnight shipping perhaps?

via Lovely Package

Why thank you, I will

S A S Q U A T C H

Sun burns and no sleep is what it's all about. We're home and exhausted, but had an amazing time, surrounded by some of my favorite people.

W A N T

So I've been sort of a sad-sack about Seattle lately. I know most of it is because we've had possibly the greyest/most depressing 9 months ever, and this is the first time I haven't had a yard, or any outdoor space of my own, but seeing houses like this just make it that much worse. In my dream world Seattle suddenly has actual seasons and I get off work and sit by the pool and relax, and sitting in this house, by this pool would certainly be ideal.

Via Desire to Inspire

House Prints

House Industries, my ultimate type crush, has just released more of their gorgeous hand printed typographic posters, that I'm still slightly in shock that I don't own. I think I may have to get order one this afternoon, I just can't decide which one...

The Bar

I set out to make a bar last week and after actually stocking it (sort of) yesterday, it's ready for it's close up. I've been battling the kitchen layout for some time now, but this little update seems give the kitchen a nice little refresh. The crate I found in our entryway in a free pile, and was previously on top of the fridge as a junk drawer. I swapped it's place for the microwave, which we rarely use, and it looks much better. I hated giving such a prime spot in our little kitchen to something like a microwave. Although it's still a work in progress, I'm happy with it so far.

Inspiration

So I saw this on D*S today and was very inspired. I've always wanted to design snowboards, and had a long lived dream of hanging those snowboards on the wall as art. I know, I know, I'm a little ways away from this, but seeing this image made me think, maybe I could do something similar. My new idea is to paint old skateboards... of which I have no idea where I'll find, but it's an idea, and it's a start. More to come...

New Rue!

Can't wait to flip (virtually.. I guess) through the new Rue!

New!

They say a designer's work is never done, and here is a perfect example. I'm a huge advocate for updating, whether that's a website, a logo, or a wardrobe, I think there is always room for an update. Not that their aren't timeless looks that should not be touched, but a lot of the time, it can be, and should be.

G O T C H A

Oh ya, she's all mine. I finally broke down and bought the chair I've been obsessing with, and I'm pretty jazzed about it, so much so I'm sitting in it now with an ear to ear grin. Honestly, it's a knock off, but a pretty damn good one. I bought it online here, and although I can't speak to any of their other products, my chair is great quality and shipped in a few days, so I'm a happy camper.

Curry Turkey Burgers with Heirloom Tomatoes

Last Sunday I made some pretty amazing turkey burgers and haven't gotten a chance to write about them until now. It's been that kind of week. When Sarah was in town I had dinner with her family and her mom made these awesome burgers I've been wanting to recreate. I cruised down to the farmers market, picked up some heirloom tomatoes, fresh bread and arugula, and stopped off at the store for some ground turkey. I minced green onion and garlic, and combined with the turkey, curry powder, fresh ginger, salt and pepper. Simple as that, although I'm sure you could go nuts adding other stuff, like red bell peppers which I had planned, but forgot to pick up. I cooked the formed patties in a pan for maybe 15 minutes and served on hearty bread with the tomatoes, arugula, and a julienned carrot and fresh ginger mixture. Overall I was really pleased with how they turned out, but there are a few things I would change next time. For one, I think the burgers needed way more curry powder, and I felt like I had added quite a bit. Also, as yummy as the bread was, I think a simpler whole-grain hamburger bun would have been better, and made it easier to eat. It's a simple yummy summer dish though that I'll definitely make again, and highly recommend!

Grow Baby, Grow!

B L A C K & W H I T E

I love how clean and simple monochromatic rooms can be. Although I do like a pop of color now and then, the wood tones mixed in provide a nice break. I will have my black wall... one of these days.

Nice Package

Maybe it's because I'm drinking a beer right now, or I so desperately want to design beer packaging and labels again. Either way, here are some beautiful beer packaging designs. Man, get your mind out of the gutter..

Beer to go? Yes please! Ahh remember when you were in school and could make up a project with no budget and no client? Yeah, that was awesome.

I always love a simple typographic solution, and this is one of them. All found here

Stacked Wood

Loving this trend lately. If I ever have a fireplace again I love the idea of using the stacked wood as form and function, and not just hiding it. Or, if you're really feeling adventurous, using it as an entire wall, as Parliament does.

1, 2

P I C T U R E

Might have to go home and paint

I'm inspired by these. I love simple they are, and because of that; awesome. One of Will's biggest pet peeves is when people paint on wood, but he might come around...

I love type and I love maps

So I love this. Very similar to the poster Heather got me for my bday, which I also love :)

New Work

I've been working on a project for quite some time that just went live. It was something completely out of my comfort zone, and honestly was a bit of a challenge to wrap my head around. DEI recently landed Disney (well a company who works for Disney, sort of as the middle man) as a client. Specifically work on Disney's "Magic of Healthy Living" campaign which encourages kids and families to get off the couch and out of Macdonalds. One of the components, the biggest yet, is a "TRYathlon" toolkit for kids, filled with games, gardening and recipes. I was a little nervous at first, given my design aesthetic doesn't usually fall in the 6 to 10 year old realm, but I think it turned out really fun, and made me challenge myself to design something completely different. Click here to check it out, and when you get to the page, click on "TRYathlon Try Kit".

Stop Motion

I'm on my old laptop I haven't used in over a year and it's sort of fun to look through old bookmarks, sort of a trip down memory lane. I stumbled upon this video I had saved this evening I had completely forgot about. I love stop motion, and I can't help but feel this sparked the love long long ago.

Life on the hill tastes good : 'Zaw

Perhaps you're like me and have found yourself in this situation before; hungry, lazy, and not in the mood to venture out into the rain. The cupboards are filled with cans of chili but you just want something a little, I don't know, fresher? On top of that, you're in the mood for a glass of wine, or perhaps a beer. Sounds like hell, right? So maybe my definition of hell is a bit warped, but sometimes you just want someone to put something delicious in your face, and you're more than happy to pay for it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a solution: 'Zaw artisan bake at home pizza. They will deliver you not only a fresh, organic, healthy(ish) pizza, but an amazing salad and bottle of wine for $33. That my friends, is an amazing deal, and a genius business modle if you ask me. Perhaps it makes us all just a little bit lazier, but I'm all for it. It's about time businesses cater to not only the hungry, but the thirsty, and something somewhat healthy at that! The pizzas hare loaded with veggies, on flat bread and not at all greasy. They have quite a few locations, so you can order and have it delivered to just about anywhere in Seattle, and they only take about 12 minutes to bake. So the next rainy day you're not in the mood to cook, and amazing pizza and a glass of wine (or beer!) sounds pleasing, I highly recommend you check out 'Zaw.

Salt my Salt

It's no secret I'm a bit of a salt freak. I know it's not the healthiest habit, but damn if salt doesn't makes everything that much better. Sarah gave me truffle salt for Christmas and I use it on just about everything, from pasta to popcorn, and although it's amazing on everything, I've been wanting to expand my salt horizons. Wandering around the hill today, Will and I finally checked out Sugarpill, a boutique salt shop (and marijuana dispensary, apparently) that I had assumed sold sugar-related products this entire time. To my pleasant surprise it's an entire store dedicated to salt, with varieties to both eat and bathe in. I was a little overwhelmed at first and had to do some roaming, and sniffing, before I could pick a few out. I settled on two tins, both small and perfect for sampling, smoked applewood and rosemary. Both smell amazing and I'm excited to experiment with them... more to come later on that.

Friday

Joey's good friend Sam played a show Friday night in Ballard, which was awesome as always. Formally the Native Guerrillas, now Morton and the Saltines, they're the kind of band you could listen to for hours. If you haven't hear them already, I highly recommend you check them out. I unfortunately didn't think to get a picture of them, but I did get a cool one of the chandelier/headliner.

Font Fun

Free fonts, collected on a cool site with an awesome design, who could ask for more?

Life on the Hill Tastes Good : Marination Station

I'm currently stuffing my face with one of the best lunches I've had in my life and thought it was only appropriate to share. The Marination Station opened a store font (previously only a food cart) and it's blowing my mind. Hands down the best pulled pork slider I've ever had, and possible the best taco. The flavors are really interesting, combining Hawaiian and Mexican, it's an entirely new look at the food cart taco, which although good, we've all had a million times.

If you're in the area for lunch, and you're looking for something a little different, I highly recommend checking it out!

Side Note: I had already devoured one taco (chicken) before I took the picture. The other taco is pork, and the slider is pork as well.

Mini Before & After

I've had this bench for about 2 years now, and have been wanting to do something with it for just as long. What took me so long? Grand illusions of sewing a fancy cushion cover like this which intimidated me too much to ever start. So finally last week I was sitting around the apartment after work and though you know what, I'm tired of staring at that damn thing. So I ran down to the fabric store, picked up some fabric, batting and pins and viola! Should have done that years ago...

W A N T

I'm in love with a chair. I feel like a little girl with a crush I think about this stupid thing so much... I think I need to break down and buy it.

Saturday, is that you?

I had a lovely time in B-town, I'm really glad I got to spend some quality time with the fam. Becca and I went mead tasting and Mom and I worked in the garden and got a massage. Not a bad weekend at all.

Happy Friday

Don't forget to hug your momma this weekend

Wouldn't it Be Nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if designers were given full rein to redesign the world? I think everybody would be a little happier if the world around them looked a little prettier. This project is a perfect example of how stuffy, boring and unnoticed branding could take on an entire new feeling. Quick, think of the current USPS logo? Can you picture it? You're thinking "There's an eagle I think...it's blue maybe?". NOBODY cares, because it just sits there, old stiff, and easily ignored. Sadly, I think this beautiful branding would be a tough sell, as it's very stylized, and I can't see the higher ups at the post office being particularly exciting people to work with. But I can honestly say I would look forward to going to the post office if I had this to look forward to. One can dream...

{Branding by Matt Chase}

Design Love : Tilt-Shift Photography

I have a new photography obsession; Tilt-Shift. For those of you who say last month's Seattle Met, you were as blown away as I was, and wanted to learn how to make the world look miniature. I started researching it and found a great tutorial on how to make photos (arias work best) look like toy model. I'll have some to show once I have more time to play with it but for now here is one I made with an app for my phone:

Mini-roller derby!

Smooth as a Baby's Bottom

Heather and I ventured to Lynwood on Saturday for a full body scrub down I won't soon forget. We went to the Olympus Spa, a Korean bathhouse hiding in a strip mall. From the outside it looks like a place you would get a pedicure and maybe a cheap facial, but when you walk past the front desk you realize there's a lot more to this spa than nice nails. It is in fact, enormous, with 4 pools, 8 or so steams/saunas/relaxation rooms, a manicure/pedicure room, massage rooms, tea room and cafe. The most interesting place though, is by far the scrub area. Just off the pools are a line of massage tables full of naked ladies getting a full body rub down by tiny asian lady with the strength of a 200 pound man. And I, was one of those ladies. When my number was called I laid on the table and for 45 minutes was scrubbed by what felt like sandpaper, and it was amazing. Sure it was uncomfortable at first, but after a while you forget how strange it is to be lying buck naked among 30 or so other women, and realize it feels pretty damn good. I don't think I've ever been so clean in my life, and am now a little grossed out as to how much dead skin we normally tote around, something that had previously never crossed my mind.

The whole experience is really something writing about doesn't do justice, so I highly recommend you check it out for yourself. Just to note, it's not for those who aren't afraid to show some skin, or all of it for that matter, because you rarely wear more than a bath cap. But t is amazing to me how quickly one can adapt to their surroundings, and how quickly your definition of normal can change. Within 10 minutes I had almost forgot what it was like to be at a spa where people were clothed. So even if you are timid, I would still say give it a shot, and you'll soon realize it's not like that nightmare of being naked in public, but that strange dream where everyone is naked and no one seems to notice. Plus, you'll be incredibly relaxed, and your entire body will feel like a baby's... well you get the idea.  

HELLO Poster Show

The Hello Poster Show is tomorrow April 4th from 6-8 at Eliott Bay Cafe, so if you're in the area check it out! Most of the posters are designed by UW alums, some of which I was in school with, and there are some really awesome ones. One of these years I swear I'm going to submit something... All the proceeds of poster sales benefit a non-profit, this year Youth in Focus, so your awesome poster does something besides looking awesome hanging on your wall.

Sunday, is that you?

Parks, sunshine, burritos, farmers markets, oh my!