Freebie: Printable Map Puzzle
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 6:34PM Although this jigsaw puzzle may have been intended to help kids learn a little U.S. geography, I'm printing out my own, because I adore it... and it will look very nice above my desk.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 6:34PM Although this jigsaw puzzle may have been intended to help kids learn a little U.S. geography, I'm printing out my own, because I adore it... and it will look very nice above my desk.
Friday, March 1, 2013 at 7:01PM Hello everyone and happy Friday! I'm so excited to announce a new section here on MDP called Weekly Writing! Let me introduce you to my incredibly talented friend Katelyn, who is the creator of the brand new blog Too Pretty for a Cubicle, and our new guest writer! I've illustrated a snippet of her latest piece entitled "OK Fine, Cupid"... Today's topic: online dating!
If scoffing at Match.com commercials while I watch my Thursday night lineup of NBC comedies, one hand in a bag of chocolate chips, the other on a spoon in a jar of peanut butter is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
Okay so maybe that exact scenario has only happened once or twice, but you get the idea. I thought online dating was stupid, pathetic, weird, etc. But as I near the other side of 25 and find myself unattached to anyone again, my also newly-single girlfriend changed my mind.
I’m not necessarily looking for my soul mate, or even a serious relationship online, but the way my girlfriend put it was, “Just get out there and date! Meet new people and expand your circle.” The more I thought about it as I looked over the sea of mustaches and plaid in the Silver Lake whiskey bar we were in, the more sense it made. I mean, she had a date that weekend after being on the site for just a few days.
Expanding my circle is the best description of what I hope to get out of my time online. See, I grew up, went to school, and now work in the same town about 30 miles north of Hollywood. As much as I love “Awesometown” (please don’t judge, that’s seriously what City Hall has deemed it) it’s a little too family-oriented for a twenty-something trying to date. My town, as populated as it is, is still too small a world to meet someone truly “new”. It seems like every guy I’ve met since college either knows, dated, or slept with someone I know…blah! So the first thing I did when I created my OKCupid account was set my location as the broader, Los Angeles.
Almost instantly I was met with a barrage of messages from guys that ranged from, “Hey, what’s up?” to, “Hey sexy do you model?” But the one that takes the cake has to be, “How many pairs of shoes do you have? Do you like to cuddle?” Ehhh… Luckily about 90% of the messages are somewhat normal so after weeding through the creeps, I chose a few guys to respond to.
The first thing I discovered about dating in LA is that I am the only person who was actually born here. Fine, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but seriously, you moved to LA from Nebraska, Ohio, Kentucky, because you want to be a director, writer, actor...more power to you, but it gets a little old. Unless you are Ben Affleck, I’m not impressed by your aspirations to produce a film.
And where are all of the Mikes, Christophers, and Sams? My first date was with a struggling stage actor-writer-director named Giorgio; then there was Ruben, and finally Hamilton…huh? Well regardless of their interesting names, it seems like most of these guys are looking for pen pals as opposed to dates. Perhaps it’s the curse of our instant-gratification generation, but I don’t want to tell you every detail of my life before I’ve met you in real life.
So far I’ve been on OKCupid for a little over a month and have seen more shirtless-in-the-bathroom mirror pictures than I’d like to admit (the ones with toilets in the background are my favorite…classy, gentlemen!) I haven’t made any love connections, but I have been semi-wined and dined and am on the road to successfully expanding my circle, getting over that first-date awkwardness, and definitely meeting truly “new” people. I still prefer to carouse North Hollywood’s dive bars and downtown’s hot spots with the girls to meet guys in real life, but I think I’ll keep up with my online extracurriculars for the time being as well.
Spoon,
Writing,
dating,
katelyn,
love,
quote in
Graphic Design,
Inspiration,
Weekly Writing
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 7:43PM Move over Thursday, Friday is ready for me! This week has been a challenging one, to say the least. I've been juggling a million projects at work... not to mention everything around me seems to be falling apart- light bulbs going out, tires going flat, the kitchen sink deciding not to drain... ugh! But I do always say I would rather be busy than bored. I guess it's in my nature to stay positive. After all, it is going to be in the 80's this weekend! I certainly can't complain about that. One more day, Friday...
focus,
job,
wekend,
work in
Graphic Design,
Inspiration
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:41PM Did you see these on FAB.com today? Because I did, and fell in love.
"Even if the city never sleeps, it doesn’t mean you can’t sleep on it. Designed by Brooklynite Patrick Chirico, the BuildYourBlock pillow sets don scenes from New York and one from San Francisco. Pizza shops, delis, buildings, and bridges fill a collection so you can sleep soundly on your own little slice of the city."
Cushion,
House. urban,
Pillow,
cityscape in
Accesories,
Decor,
Product
Friday, February 22, 2013 at 6:12PM As inspired as I am by this 60's office fashion shoot by designer Orla Kiely, I'm totally ready to ditch my pencil skirt for tonight's leather jacket... yay for Friday!
{Orla Kiely London Fashion Week Video}
{photos via betty magazine and memoirmode.}
60's,
Designer,
Fashion,
Office,
Orla Kiely,
desk in
Fashion,
Inspiration,
Photography
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 6:32PM This gorgeous collection of typographical fibs can be found over at Daily Dishonesty. I would have every single one of these framed and hung up if I had the wall space to do it...




Daily,
Dishonesty,
Fibs,
Typography,
funny,
poster in
Art,
Graphic Design,
Inspiration
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 7:45PM Dawn Gardner specializes in print based Graphic Design & Digital Illustration. She creates collages both by hand and digitally by using her collection vintage magazines, books and other ephemera. I absolutely love it all. Check out her collection of products on Society6.
Art,
Dawn Gardner,
Design,
Digital,
collage,
print in
Art,
Graphic Design
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 7:26PM Best part about being single? You can buy yourself a Valentine's gift... and I think I've found mine.
Monday, February 11, 2013 at 6:41PM It's always just a little bit harder to get up on Monday mornings, isn't it?
Images VIA Toast 2013 Spring Lookbook