Out of Context: Little of This, Little of That

I've been compiling new "Out of Context" doodles for the past few weeks waiting for a theme... since I keep promising you guys themes (sorry, I can be such a liar when it comes to blogging). But no such luck. So here's a smattering of various random things people have said, illustrated and (as always) taken completely out of context.

True. Story. But let us not discount those who order sheet cakes because cake is one of the most delightful things.

Don't judge. How many bars of soap have you eaten recently?

Speaking of things you shouldn't be eating. This quote came from my high school notebooks. Ah, teenagers.

Insta-Quotes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! On Friday our kitchen island was feature on the DC Goodwill blog. Debating whether I need to start a "featured on" section somewhere so people know how cool we are. Which is a good segue to this lovely, self-deprecating quote...

I've been continuing to practice my hand lettering. I've been sharing them on Instagram as I finish (ah, instant gratification) so sorry if these of repeats for folks.  Also, inspired by my high school doodles, I went out and bought a graph paper notebook which really helped me with spacing. Kind of nice not to have to re-do the whole thing five times. 

I hope this is self-explanatory.

Version one.

Version two after I got extra bored and added some extra doodle. Which makes everything better! Yay. Anyways, I'm alone for the weekend as Kevin is at Spring Training in Florida so I'll try to get back on my game blogging wise but if you need more frequent updates (Mom & Dad), then you can follow me on Instagram. (I'll teach you how to download it.)

Highschool Doodles & The (Claymation) Crucible

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented here and on Facebook/Twitter/G+ about our kitchen island. As I said, Kevin deserves a lot of the credit and we're just super excited to have more counterspace. Thanks for the love! Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programming... sometime around 9th or 10th grade I started doodling madly in my classes instead of taking notes.

Like many a teenager, I dragged around countless composition notebooks and scribbled down my angst-y teenage thoughts. Gems I assure you. However on a recent trip home to Florida I riffled through to grab a few snapshots of blog-worthy doodles like the above.

Above are about half of the notebooks.

This makes me want to run out and buy graph paper. Not just good for plotting points!

Here's a happy looking crab. To be fair I think this actually was for my Marine Biology class. Oh yeah! Florida education!

An early one, full of angst-y symbolism.

In case you can't read this it says, "I saw Goody Gumby with the devil." Brought to you by Arthur Miller's The (Claymation) Crucible. That's probably not a thing but I wish it was. It would be almost as amazing at The Crucible: A One Woman Show in One Act. Yep, highschool was pretty silly.

Graph paper! Ok, so that's most of what I found but pretty much all I captured as I was rushing to bed before my 7 am flight the next day. In my next post (or a future post... I make no promises), I'll do a mash up of my Out of Context series with random thoughts I wrote down in one of the notebooks circa 2002. If you thought I said random things now, you didn't know me when I was 17.

I Was An Island

I read A LOT of home design and DIY blogs. A LOT. So even though it isn't really my usual focus, I couldn't help but share this project we just completed for our kitchen.

We took a $30 Goodwill dresser and turned it into a kitchen island. All it took was paint, an on-sale piece of Ikea butcher block and various hooks, etc. Oh yeah, and a lot of elbow grease. We picked this dresser because it was $30, in good condition, had solid wood construction (dovetail joints woo!),  and it was counter top height.

We relied heavily on these furniture refinishing instructions via Young House Love. We started by sanding off multiple layers of green, white and (in some places) red paint. In our family, I'm the Queen of Tedious Projects such as sanding (also pulling weeds).

Here's me after several hours. Don't worry, this is posed, because most of the time I was wearing a big ugly respirator... but I don't want pictures of that on the internet.

Then Kevin removed the drawers and took out the middle wood piece thing (technical term) to make a big open space to store small appliances.

Next we cleaned it up primed and painted. We chose Behr's Yellow Brick Road. We loved the cheery color and it really brings out the warm tones of the butcher block. The counter top is Ikea's Numerar butcher block in Oak. For some reason the size we needed was marked down from $89 to $49. No idea why but we were pinching ourselves!

The butcher block was a little too big, so Kevin bravely sliced off about two inches from the long size. He expertly sanded it and you would never know! It's attached to the top of the dresser with L-brackets that came with the counter. Here's a picture of me looking cold getting ready for the big cut:

We also purchased hooks for one side and a hanging bucket for the other side for our herbs and spices which had hitherto been living in a cardboard box in the dining room (not AT ALL convenient).

We put a clear plastic non-slip mat in the bottom of the big storage area to protect it. I sewed a curtain so I don't have to look at the appliances underneath. The fabric is Chipper Storm Twill I bought online from Warehouse Fabrics. We used grommets and little hooks to hang it.

In the end, we are absolutely giddy about it! The extra storage and food prep space was sorely needed. I'd put a picture of our whole kitchen in here... but it's noooot quite ready for a close-up!

I'd also like to mention that we were inspired by this beautiful dresser/island I found on Pinterest via Apartment Therapy. The lovely baked goods pictured are Chocolate Chip Brioche Pretzels from the AMAZING Smitten Kitchen cookbook. 

We are Red Line Riders

As residents of the D.C. metro area, the Metro holds a special place in our lives. Which is why I'm finally ready to unveil the latest version of the Weaver Home Metro Map!

(Click to expand) As opposed to the Metro map of our first apartment, I decided to do this one all in Photoshop to make it look more legit. My plan is to get it printed and framed for the living room :o)

BONUS: Early in our relationship, Kevin and I inadvertently started a haiku contest when I posted a random haiku while riding the Metro late one night. Here was the result:

• Train out of service/ Don't attempt to board this train/ Train out of service
• The Red Line is bust/ We're sharing a single track/ Wait wait wait wait wait
• Winter Metro rides/ Are sometimes a cold affair/ When the doors don't close
• Ugh, just missed the train/ Aww come on, 18 minutes?/ Sort of have to pee
• There's a greasy mark/ Smudged onto the train window/ Where you fell asleep
• Empty cement bench/ Think I will rest a moment/ I just sat in what?
• Closed eyes a second/ Woke at the end of the line/ Have to call a cab
• Cellphones only work/ In certain Metro stations/ Can you hear me now?
• Whew, red and blue seats/ The Yellow are stained and torn/ And they were once white
• Too many people/ Trying to cram themselves in/ I'm stuck in the door
• Know I shouldn't stare/ Just can't believe what I see/ You think they notice?

Riding the Metro is always an adventure! My 8th grade english teach would be proud :o)

And THAT's my new Philosophy

Work in the corporate world can be hard some times. (Hi co-workers, am I shocking anyone here? No? Ok good, read on.) But this week I thought a lot about how staying positive and enthusiastic, even when times are crummy, makes everyone feel better. And that's my new philosophy! Don't get the reference? Not a closet Broadway nerd? Check it out here and I guarantee you won't be able to stop humming.

Today is a great day!

I was really inspired this week by this interview with designer Lisa Congdon, a kick-ass illustrator and surface designer. So I've been spending some time practicing my hand lettering. It's something I end up doing a lot naturally when I'm doodling, but I haven't really thought about combining them.

Here's a tasting of some practice alphabets. True story, I love writing the alphabet in script over and over. As demonstrated here. I know that's weird but maybe weird in a good way?

Here's another example where I combined lettering and my usual eye-melting handmade patterns. Too bad I didn't have anything more interesting to say... hmm.

Oh wait, here's something more interesting to say... its a theoretical logo for my blog if I was more grown up and less snarky. My alter-ego is so sophisticated ;o)