Since I left college, my summer has never been without a job. I’ve worked immediately after college with a short 2 week vacation. The best ever vacation. One which I will always remember.
So this year, I decided to take a sabbatical to work on projects I’ve been wanting to do. Despite only having 3 months off, I did a lot of work and play, but mostly I wanted to work on the things I loved, which often feels like play. In reality, the sabbatical was more of a journey to a healthier life style and a break to enhance my portfolio for a better paying job.
My first goal was to lose weight. They say after 30, your metabolism goes down. They are not lying. I gained more weight than I should have so I had this idea of trying to lose 10-15 pounds even though in reality, I should have only set my goal to 5 pounds.
Start Weight: 127
End Weight: 125
Unfortunately, weight stayed the same but at least the gym and healthy eating is now a regular scheduled habit.
Some of the projects I finished were client work but also works that enhanced my type and design skills.
Portfolio Projects
- Sweet Sincerely portfolio website SITE | PORTFOLIO
- Bitwise Samurai business card
- Samui Blue Orchid resort website SITE | PORTFOLIO
- LVNZ concept mobile app
- Cinque Terre photo album
Passion Projects
- 365 days of calligraphy – May | June | July
- 5 calligraphic hand sample for envelopes and name cards
- 30 days of hand lettering
- Alba, first draft
- 10 letters to my future self
- Children of the Future last 5 art pieces
- Book Cover Challenge
Books I’ve Read
Sometimes, I read way too much.
(A) denotes audio books.
- The Halloween Tree (A), Ray Bradbury
- Something Wicked Comes This Way (A), Ray Bradbury
- A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
- All the Light We Cannnot See (A), Anthony Doerr
- No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon (A), Buzz ALdrin
- The Nightingale (A), Kristin Hannah
- Station Eleven (A), Emily St. John Mandel
- Tess of the d’Uberville, Thomas Hardy
- Tall, Dark, and Wicked, Madeline Hunter
- First They Killed My Father (A), Loung Ung
- You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, Sarra Manning
- The Martian, Andy Weir
- Mambo in Chinatown (A), Jean Kwok
- Small Blessings (A), Martha Woodroof
- Gospel of Loki, Joanne M. Harris
- Nightfall and Other Stories, Isaac Asimov
- East, Edith Pattou
- Island of a Thousand Mirrors (A), Nayomi Munaweera
- Earls Just Want to Have Fun, Shana Galen
- Everything, Everything (A), Nicola Yoon
- Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress, Theresa Romain
- Swept off Her Feet, Hester Brown
- The Hummingbird’s Daughter (A), Luis Alberto Urrea
- After You (A), Jojo Moyes
- Trust Me (A), Jayne Ann Krentz
- The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (reread), Julia Quinn
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane (A), Neil Gaiman
- Can You Keep A Secret (reread), Sophie Kinsella
- The Wicked Wallflower, Maya Rodale
- Atonement (A), Ian McEwan
- The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy, Julia Quinn
- Soundless (A), Richelle Mead
- The One In My Heart, Sherry Thomas
- The Forsyte Saga parts 1-3, John Galsworthy
- Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde
- The Circle (A), Dave Eggers
- The Crossing Hour, Quoleena Sbrocca
TV Shows I’ve Watched