Well, hello! Last time you guys heard from me I was just a small town girl working for the lovely ladies at The Creative Cup. Now I’m a big city girl, but luckily still working for the lovely ladies at The Creative Cup.

I graduated from Texas A&M recently (as in a little more than a month ago) and made a big move to the grand city of Chicago. Even though I’m so far away, I am still blessed to be able to work with M’Lynn and Heather (and Amy, too!)

This is a city full of inspiration. Everywhere I look I’m always finding new textures, beautiful typography, and fun little details. Here at TCC we are always trying to find inspiration in everyday life — and Chicago makes that simple!

Here are a few things I’ve stumbled upon. It excites me to share some of my inspiration with you guys! (note*most of these photos were taken via my iPhone as I aimlessly wandered around the big city streets.)

My advice to all of you creatives out there (or anyone for that matter), is to find inspiration in the little things. I know it’s very ‘touristy’ of me to stop and take a picture ever 3 steps, but it’s those images that stem something amazing. Although cliché, sometimes in life you have to stop and smell the roses. 

all of that to say, i’ve spent the past 12 hours sitting merely organizing all 650 gigs of files on my 5 hard drives (a little excessive, i know)

while i was sorting i found this list of 101 things i wanted to do in 1001 days… i never even finished the list, but i started reading and realized I had actually accomplished several things on the list. the items in purple, i have done and the items crossed-out… well those were a momentary lapse of reason.

101 things to do in 1001 days.

(which is actually like 50-something things to do in however long you feel like it) 

• Road trip to Nashville, tn.
• Get a tattoo.
• Find the love of my life.
• Graduate from college.
• Get into grad school.
• Kiss someone in the stacks.
• Send a friend a really nice package.
• Spend one whole week without contact.
• Make all A’s one semester.
• Get really good at photography
• Travel to Europe.
• Dye my hair completely blonde.
• Live in a big city.
• Get an internship.
• Have a valentine.
• Do a photo story about something I really care about.
• Read the bible cover to cover.
• Learn to play the piano.
• Get published in a magazine.
• Lose 30 pounds.
• Get a massage.
• Delete all of his messages.
• Cut my hair really short.
• Work out everyday for 3 whole months.
• Eat only natural foods.
• Share God’s grace with someone random.
• Go to really good concerts.
• Work as a designer/photographer.
• Donate plasma for 6 months.
• Host a formal Dinner party.
• Go on a picnic. (a boy sort-of? took me on a picnic)
• Take candid picture of EVERY person in my family.
• Buy a pair of TOMs.
• Identify 25 things I like about myself.
• Visit the Dallas Museum of Art.
• Journal everyday for a month. (does blogging count?)
• Photograph a scar and write about it.
• Keep track of books to read and movies to watch.
• Take a picture everyday for 6 months. (4.5 months, close enough)
• Learn how to drive a stick shift.
• Go on a real date.
• Visit the Dallas  Zoo.
• Buy a sushi making kit and make my own sushi.
• Go a month without a diet coke.
• Invest in some extra photography equipment.
• Go to a drive-in movie.
• Read the entire harry potter series.
• Work at starbucks. (working on it currently)
• Dance in the rain.
• Kiss in the snow.
• Create a entire photo wall.
• Fill my moleskin.
• Buy a pair of ray bans.

here are a few other gems i found while cleaning out my digital life.

lots of love on this lovely wednesday!

this was a contest put on by the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University. The contest was focused on designing a logo for the upcoming year (2012-2013) to represent the  different departments and their efforts towards diversity.

My design explanation: The 4 different squares represent the four departments in the College of Architecture (cosi, viz, arch, and land). Each square standing alone, but coming together to make a united idea. The ‘lines’ represent individuals in the different departments making their own path through the college. Having ‘non-square’ squares shows that we are all unique in one way or another, thus being diverse.   The symbol could also be used as stand alone mark, or with the text “the year of diversity.”

“We are excited to introduce recent graphic work for Red Red Completely Red. RRCR is a blog run by Astrid Slagle. She is a mum, crafter, and all around extraordinaire. Astrid has a super fun personality and blogs about her unique craft projects as well as her adorable little family! Astrid came to us in need of a more personalized brand identity for her blog and ETSY shop. As the project manager, Jill (ME) created a unique logo design using a custom font, a set of gorgeous business cards, an ETSY banner, and last but not least, a personalized blog header. This was a fun project to work on. We love things with a ‘handmade’ feel, and Red Red is exactly that!”

i’ve talked about this move for about a month now and it didn’t really hit me until i woke up this morning. this is for real. i really moved 928 miles away from brownsboro, texas to live in the big ole city.

here is my first 24 hours in chicago and a few photos along the way.

i can’t wait to see what’s next. be on the lookout :)

-lived in germany for four months.

-visited 10 countries.

-experienced life as a european.

-came back to tejas.

-participated in YAP camp where i met some amazing people.

-drove to lubbock to see my aunt Di.

-spent some time in ohio.

-started my last semester of college.

-went to AIGA phoenix.

-had some ups and downs.

-skipped some classes.

-went on some dates.

-cried

-applied for a lot of jobs.

-got a lot of rejections.

-freaked out about my future.

-decided to move to chicago.

-bought my ticket to go to chicago.

-graduated college.

-spent christmas with my family in ohio.

-rang in the new year on my couch!

i’m so fun.

here’s to you twenty twelve. bring it on.

This Christmas we had the opportunity to spend the holiday with my older brother jason and his wife in the lovely city of Columbus, Ohio. we’ve had a really good time and as my little brother jared would say, “i love hanging out with my family.”

yes, we are like most families and have our ups and downs… and crazy moments…. of course all the boys would say that’s only me and momma. haha. get real.

here is the short list of festive activities that we did during our time in ohiooooo.

((**in honor of my super-hipster appearance to keep up, i’m only going to blog in instagrams. bam.))

bragdon fam in the airport: 2 ipads, 1 psp, and one hard-back book about typography… odd man out?

as soon as we got into town jason & keri gave me my graduation present (by the way… the “graduation post” is coming… just a little delayed.)

we ate at jason’s favorite restaurant… red robin.

we went to wildlights at the Columbus zoo. super cool, yet super chilly!

we also went to a little town about 15 minutes outside of columbus to eat at a family style dutch restaurant. it reminded me a lot of the food in amsterdam.  i had grape pie which was…. interesting…

this is the best stromboli i’ve ever had… ever.

we made homemade gyoza… also known as pot-stickers.

us kids played some games at dave & busters (i was totally the ticket master)

we made a gingerbread village! (including tommy’s townhouse, jared’s junkyard, cutie cottage, keri’s krazy christmas vacation, and jill’s hut!)

oh, and we can’t forget the Christmas gown! don’t be jealous.

then it was christmas time! can you guess which one is mine?

of course jason has an all LED christmas tree :)

over all it was a merry christmas to be had!

hope your holiday was just as swell!

meet jen. she is lovely. i met her this summer at a youth adventure program for gifted and talented kids (where we both served as counselors.) we were roommates and spent 24 hours a day together for 3 weeks — no lie. she is also the love of my life… not like that, silly. but really, this girl is one of the most interesting people i’ve ever met. they say you meet people that change your life, and she is one of those people.

for graduation she made me cookies… but of course not just a tray of cookies. she knows how much i love typography, thus she made me cookies that spelt “oh the places you’ll go.” she is so thoughtful :) not to mention these cookies taste amazing. made from scratch. so so good.

love! only ten days till graduation! eeeeeek!

so i made my graduation invitations, of course. i mean, who actually buys those stupid ones your university makes you pay hundreds of dollars for? (sorry if you were one of those fools that did… my baddd for insulting you. )

i designed in two color, printed on 80# sparkly card stock, adressed with calligraphy in silver gel pen, and mailed in a classy black envelope. very jill, if i might say so myself.

i’d also love to make your invites! let me know! shoot me an email and i’d be happy to discuss a deal with you. for a good price, too!

anyways. i bought a winter ’11 starbucks mug. it was a justified buy though. first off, it’s precious. secondly, since it doesn’t have a handle so it fits into my cup holders (you should see me in the mornings trying to drive, put on my make up AND balance my coffee mug). thirdly, most of my “travel mugs” are made of metal… which is awesome but i can’t heat them up! so lame. thus, this was a wise investment… right?

have i told you lately that i love mat kearney. like, a lot. i think i shall marry him. his newest album has been my obsession. i jam it 85% of the time.

PLUS, whoever does his design is brilliant. his cd cover + website = beautiful. 

all of his songs are amazing… but here is one of my favorites.

listen here.

also, here is a sneak peek of some projects i’ve been working on. yay!

ps- if you ever want to buy me something/send me something… buy me a coffee mug :) but make sure it feels good. (all you coffee drinkers out there know what i’m talking about!)