Sunday, May 29, 2011

Updates

Oh wow, it's been two weeks since I last posted?! I'm currently sitting in my room watching the lightning crack, the thunder roll, and the rain come down... and hoping it stops soon because I have a flight to catch! I'm off to the Pacific Northwest this week for some much needed vacation with my family! I cannot wait.

I'll be back with photos and stories of our adventures, but in the meantime, here's what's been going on lately...

There have been some weekend coffee dates.

Kate and I ventured out to Michigan Ave for a movie and it was a gorgeous day!

Hyde Park turned green and leafy!

Work has been really busy, as is evidenced by my overflowing inbox.

I almost walked into traffic in my efforts to snap this photo of a shiba inu.

I designed this cover and was thrilled to receive the printed book! (The cover was even more awesome before the author rejected it, for the record.)

Kate, Melissa, Dave, and I took in a Chicago Fire soccer game. We had a great view!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Dispatches from the kitchen

Two things.


First of all, Ashley and I made this asparagus, goat cheese, and lemon pasta for dinner a few weeks ago and it was amazing. Amazing! And really simple, too. The hardest part is really just having all the right ingredients available. You should try it out.


Second, that same night I decided to make another loaf of beer bread since it was so easy and I still had some beer leftover. So I got busy mixing away and consequently mixed up the instructions. The recipe calls for 1 tsp salt and somehow, in classic Ashley fashion, I got it confused and added TWO TABLESPOONS of SALT to my flour and sugar mix. OOPS. I've been informed that that is six times too much salt. Oops x 6. So I quickly scooped out as much as I could and hoped for the best. It turned out to be pretty salty, but still enjoyable. Whew.

Out of town-ing: Michigan

Giant rolls of paper to be made into books!
Last week I went on my first business trip to visit one of our book printers! I'll admit it, I'm a big nerd. We got tours of the printing presses, the folders, the gathering machines, the binders, the stampers... it was really cool. I took so many pictures and asked my fair share of questions. It was fascinating to see how much work goes into the actual printing of a book--work done both by machine and by people.


The color mixing room.


Books go by on the belt after having the covers applied.

It was so cool. Yep, I'm a nerd.

Out of town-ing: South Carolina

I've spent about half of the last 10 days out of town, for both business and pleasure. So let's catch up, shall we?

First up: pleasure. I went home with Dave to spend a weekend with his family...


Remember how Dave and I take a photo on the bridge in downtown Greenville whenever we're in town? Here's the newest shot for that album.


Doesn't everything look green and beautiful?


And check out this tree that has had its roots exposed over the years. Cool view, huh?


The reason we picked the weekend we did was that Dave's little sister was doing an end of the year reading for one of her creative writing classes. I was really impressed with her, and her classmates', work.


A highlight of the weekend was spending a few hours outside playing putt putt. I did terribly, awfully. However, I got a hole in one towards the end and it definitely lifted my spirits! I did a little happy dance. (Okay, it might have been a big happy dance.)



I'd also like to note that I got a sunburn one day. I guess it's been a long time since my skin has seen the sunshine?

It was a wonderful weekend and I was sad that it had to end and work had to begin again on Monday! Isn't that the story of most vacations, though?

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I'm inspired...



I saw this video pep talk by Ira Glass today and was thoroughly inspired. Inspired enough to listen to it several times through. This was so good for me to hear right now:


"It takes a while, it’s gonna take you a while, it’s normal to take a while and you just have to fight your way through that. OK? You will be fierce, you will be a warrior and you will make things that aren’t as good as you know in your heart you want them to be, and you’ll just make one after another…"


I'm going to repeat that to myself over and over, even in -- especially in -- the midst of feeling inadequate and impatient with the work I'm producing.


[via the donut project]

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Sunshine? Yes please.

Forecast for this weekend in South Carolina? Perfect. So excited to go on a mini vacation!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Half Acre Brewery

 Our very own Lee is a dedicated worker at Half Acre Brewery here in Chicago, and tonight he gave us a tour of the place!

We were celebrating the beautiful weather and weekend at a burger place right next door to the brewery when Lee offered to show us around. So we jumped at the opportunity.

Cheers!