This Past Week....

I didn't get around to much progress on my cards as of late, sorry about that :( Work has been somewhat hectic, and with a few other things that I'm juggling outside of work (i.e. going out for dinners, small errands I had to do for other people, etc etc), I felt like I didn't have that much time to unwind or anything.

BUT, my week wasn't terrible at least.

As you can tell from previous posts, I was scrounging the internet for inspiration on my Valentines Day card. This is what I came up with:

The blue outline is an Illustrator guide — it's not actually supposed to be there....

Nerdy/geeky AND Chinese. How much more personalized can you get? :P I'm not Mandarin, but I at least know how to say "I love you" in that language, so that counts, right?

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I know that a) it's kind of a phony "holiday" because it's pretty much a ploy for consumerism, b) as the cliché saying goes, everyday should be Valentine's Day and c) single people despise this day most of the time, but it shouldn't be just about couples in love. I used to grumble about that day too when I used to be single, so I was guilty of that mindset. It wasn't until I received a small gesture from Jody Ann that I was reminded that Valentine's Day could also represent the appreciation for platonic friendships and family as well.

So thanks Jody, for this lovely snack :)

While my boyfriend and I are not the type to shower each other with extravagant gifts for this "holiday", he still wanted to go on a food adventure so I gave him a few choices. Of course, knowing him, he would choose to go to a different ramen place. Har har. I'll post about this place next week.

Hmmm.... what else happened this week...?

I also started modifying Jody Ann's blog to her dream layout. Why you ask? Well, I like to keep my skills in check sometimes, and also get better for a sense of achievement and fulfillment. Plus I feel like I haven't coded in awhile (with the exception of this blog), so at least there's that.

I'm still in progress though, but it's a start. I will probably take advantage of the remaining long weekend that I have to make further improvements/OCDING about little details like I always do. 

Then this weekend, I had a belated birthday celebration with my close knit group of university friends, my homeslices basically :) Will also have a compilation blog post about that later! 

Design Inspiration: Joanna Behar

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I share with you guys something I saw a few days ago (granted, I'm a year late, but whatever) to inspire my own valentines day card! I will post my own creation sometime soon, but for now, enjoy the witty/nerdy/geeky humour of the New York based designer, Joanna Behar in the form of her valentines day cards :)

Trying to come up with a "creative/personal" Valentine's Day card

Birthday Happenings PT 1

Since my birthday was in the middle of the week this year, I chose not to do anything during the week because I don't want to get too tired and not be able to wake up in time for work the next day. However, that's not to say that it was nonexistent, because I was still given lovely surprises and smiles my way on that day.

First off, Tuesday night dinner with the boyfriend wasn't exactly a surprise, but still lovely nonetheless. We went to Chop Steakhouse thinking we would be ordering from their Winterlicious menu, but we ended up not doing so (sorta). My boyfriend is not the fondest of dessert or starter foods, so ordering from that particular menu would not be the best thing to do since they are included. I'm the type to lean more towards sweet food than he is, so I could've ordered, but I wasn't entirely feeling dessert that night. I don't know why. Either way, even though I never got to try their raspberry crème brûlée, I have no regrets.

Maple Bourbon Haddock with seasoned vegetables

I've been feeling seafood lately so I ordered fish. My mother makes really good Chinese-style steamed fish, but this Maple Bourbon Haddock was just nothing like I've ever eaten before (or maybe I'm still really sheltered? haha). It was sweet, soft and savoury all the same, and pretty much perfection in every bite. I now understand how Jody-Ann feels when she was on her last bite of my mother's tiramisu :P Sucks that the portions were kinda small (for my plate that is), but it definitely helps that my boyfriend ordered steak to share, along with this little dish too:

"Mac and Cheese for Two"... Har har

If you saw this in real life, you would probably agree with me that this is not a side dish that could satiate two people, let alone one. However, because my boyfriend and I were sharing food, we actually left the restaurant with our stomachs full, surprisingly.

Even this side dish left a memory of a distinct taste not quite like the other Mac and Cheeses I've had. Usually it's either too salty, too filling (too much cheese maybe?) or not tasty enough (my somewhat fail as a cook). This one, I can't put an exact word to it. I'd like to say that there were traces of garlic but my taste buds could be wrong. #notgoodenoughtobeafoodcritic

Regardless, good food and good company would definitely make this girl happy

On my actual birthday, I came to work finding this:

A simple gesture that brought a smile to my face

I guess it's because as a kid, I'd be the one making locker birthday greetings and it's been so long since I had received something similar to it. I mean ya, there have been birthday cards every year, but this is different, you know? So thanks Talisa for this :) I also gotta thank Julie and Jody-Ann for their surprise as well. Unfortunately, I was so famished that I devoured their red velvet muffin like no tomorrow.

Ya, no actual food photo. Sorry guys!

I also failed to get a photo of the crab legs that my mother prepared for my at-home birthday dinner, oops! Another thing I failed to capture was another sweet gesture a friend of mine had done, in which he wrote happy birthday on a piece of paper, blew confetti and got me to play the party horn sound effect on youtube to go along with it all, haha. All in all though, good birthday so far :D

WIP Update

It's been awhile huh? Between the last time I wrote about my progress till now, I've actually gotten a decent portion done. One of the highlights of this week? Going from this:

To this:

The joys of fine tuning forms through digital software and your tablet... 

Here's the original for reference...

Ehhh... close enough.

The type definitely looks more like the one found on the vending machine. That's for sure. Granted, I still have a long way to go, in terms of the vending machines at least. I spent the last two days just pining over the card as if it was the only project in my life. Needless to say, even if my eyeballs felt like falling out, it was worth it.

FINALLY.

Now it's just the matter of the last 8-9 cards for me to complete? While that's going to be taken care of next week (I think), I've also started implementing the illustrations onto a template I set up a while back:

Ace of Diamonds

I can't wait to get these done and printeddddd :D

Finally bought the necessary material for an upcoming DIY