My brain is so full of tile sizes and weird specifications that I couldn’t think of anything to draw today…
And then when I briefly emerged from my brain fog at lunch I heard this, and gave it a quick sketch
Thanks Lindsay for giving my something to draw!
-Lauren
Work is a very boring place.
It just is. Actually, it really depends on who is there with you to make it a great experience. But they can’t be with you all the times…
When I’m at my desk for example I really have no one to chat with. So, I am prone to daydream ,and sometimes I carry that to other places in the office.
Namely, the restroom.
Now I’m going to refrain from 97% of the gross things and stories I can tell you about our restroom.
But one of the best features of our lavatory situation is that… the toilets don’t flush.
They just don’t.
You have to wait and flush the toilet 2-3 times to make sure that all your business is history. (And honestly, most people don’t)
So you have a lot of time to decide what you want to do…
I know people fix their hair, write a few texts…
But not me… I daydream.
Sometimes I practice bellydance arms. Sometimes I count the tiles.
Sometimes I pretend the grout lines are a tightrope to walk on.
And boy oh boy, do you have the time to perfect your balance in there.
Happy Monday!
♥Lauren
This is the second in the my office as John Hughes movie.
My friend Mimi is always giving me advice, and listening to my romantic foibles that sound like only John Hughes could create.
Here we are as Andie and Iona… and I’m pretty sure I’m telling her about that cute guy who’s always staring at me…
But when he talks to me our conversations are always awkward and mostly about chicken.
♥Lauren
Can’t there be along weekend in October?
I know I shouldn’t complain… but I’m doing it!!!
It’s 5 days from Friday ice cream!
♥Lauren
I know its not exactly mid-week… but bear with me… I finally fit some internetting into my schedule that isn’t about the glorious world of sustainable design and bidding documents…
And then it happened. I was like totally clicking and clacking all over the internet and I found myself totally distracted by sprinkles.
And that’s what brings me to this (kind of) midweek confession:
It was like 20 minutes before I realized I need to get back to work….
Also reading this somewhere in the wild north my brother is not surprised that I said any of this.
♥Lauren
So in the Jolly United States. It is the days where we celebrate not being a weird large satellite of England. And yesterday the Fourth of it all, every inch of green space from coast to coast was filled with joy, barbecue, friends and marginally illegal fireworks.
I am saying this from experience. I lived the fourth of July dream that Thomas Jefferson was all about. I drank, I saw fireworks, I chatted, I wore a sweater, and saw people running through alley’s with launchers and scads of fireworks that are safer in less arid areas of the US.
Since a Holiday this year was on a Thursday there was many a possibility for a 4 day weekend. In fact, 93% of the population is still traipsing around in luscious weather, eating expensive sandwiches and drinking before happy hour. I am not a part of that majority. I am the people who had to go to work. Getting here this morning was legitimately one of the hardest things I have experienced in the last week. And I did bootcamp bellydance snake arms for 40 minutes. But once I got here I convinced myself it’s not too bad because I didn’t have to use my vacation time, and I am technically making money on a day where no clients would call at all…
But still being at work when you would rather be someplace else leads to things like this:
And I am inclined to think that nearly anyone would rather watch TV in a fort of legos while eating waffles is better than making PDFs for hours straight.
Happy 5th of July to everyone in every part of the world.
♥Lauren
I haven’t had time to draw lately.
It’s all work and well more work… and work on the weekend to make deadlines kind of work.
Needless to say the sun is not the only thing burning me out during the 8-5 of it all.
In fact all this work has made me feel uber dull. In fact I was feeling like when Spongebob stopped being silly and devoted his life to becoming more normal:
I had this terrifying dream on Monday night of me being in a beige blazer in a cubicle, doing spread sheets and i couldn’t get them to print right on my 80’s dot matrix printer. Basically I was Jane Fonda in 9-5 and I was hating my existence:
And I felt trapped. This horrible amount work is controlling everything do. I mean is was even in my dreams!
I was only really resuscitated yesterday by a day of severe office goofing off… my deadlines were over and the new guy is really fun to be goofy with.
… and making bottle launchers, and playing pranks on Amber. (Who I think secretly enjoyed the weird screensaver and Rick-rolling.)
So in a better state of mind from a less stressful work load. I decided to get back into a doodly state of mind. I looked in my vast archives to find a doodle I made when I was a completely joy enraptured state.
And I found this stunning brainstorming cloud up in my fancy notebook. It explains the perfect storm of my personal happiness:
And reading all my silly joys just brought me right back to my giggly self.
I am sitting here thinking about vinyl records, the beach, how very nice the blanket I have stuffed in my work desk feels. I have a feeling the rest of my day may just be awesome.
Also I think I have a great idea for a series of things that make me and others go “Oooh.” Be prepared. Tell me things that make you go “Oooh” too… and you never know what can be doodled from that!
♥Lauren
(All images that are not mine are courtesy of Tumblr)
I have been vacationing. Or as cool hip people say “Stay-cationing”.
And it was nice.
Got to see my family. Got a super cool tan on just my arms.
But let’s be honest. I am not Justin Timberlake and I must go back to work a lot sooner than in 7 years. The poor girl I am got more like 4 days (3 if you count one of them was a national holiday). And so I got into the office kind of keeping a low profile as I left the office last week with pretty cold feelings about the dudes I work with.
I got through to lunch by talking to Amber, getting my work done… and very seriously ignoring the other 2 like crazy.
And then I went to the bathroom, and I was engaged in small talk. With the more silent, but equally insulting person I work with. A person who before I went on my break called me “the weirdest person he’s ever met” without humor behind it and who had previously told me some pretty cruel unasked for observations on my personality. A real stand up kind of dude, if you would.
While I was talking to him about my family’s trip and a really strange day to pick at Disneyland. BECAUSE HE ASKED, I REMIND YOU! I notice another coworker giving him a look and then rolling his eyes at me. They both looked at each other and smiled. And I don’t know what that meant, but I knew it was about them being straight up not nice people.
To quote Stephanie Tanner:
Usually I try to take their insults with stride, trying to be the bigger person. But I am quite candidly done. I am not running for new Mother Teresa. After that special conversation I realized, I am not crazy about them, and I don’t find them to be respectful characters in my life. But seriously, I had only talked to them for about 3 minutes in a whole work day.
I cannot forgive their rudeness today. I mean they only have to see me for 3 days, why can’t they just be pleasant?!?!?!
Well at least this conversation left me inspired to make today’s doodle:
I hope everyone else’s day was a little less rude. Also, I have permanent marker all over my hands because I cannot handle pens…
Now I’m going to draw sections of buildings and be happy.
♥Lauren
We all have our protocol quirks in my office.
-Proper phone etiquette is a biggie. (I always tell people to have a nice day when I say my professional tidings.)
-Being more streamlined. (this is all the Professional.)
-Getting our deadlines done. (I think most people want this.)
-Not having a break-room full of ants (sane people.)
-Refilling the water for the Keurig (People who don’t want the world to end. My boss wants coffee.)
-Getting prints at a good quality (the printer is my nemesis )
-Using the tri-pod to take project photos (Ahem, Professional)
-Not having enough bullet points (it seems like enough, now :) )
And well now I know one of my new desk mates big professional gripes… incorrectly folding invoices:
So remember when you send us stuff, and you want Amber to not be mad… tri-fold it like you mean it.
Does anybody else have a serious office procedural quirk? Or just how you think things should be done? Are we just crazy in this office?
The world may never know.
♥Lauren
Viciously Sweet 