This morning K and I headed to Starbucks. The air was cool and crisp and a heavy fog had settled in. Starbucks was packed with customers looking for a piping hot cup of coffee and a good newspaper to read or a friendly chat with a neighbor. Our favorite mugs were back on display and we quickly scooped up the last two and purchased them. They carry the signature Starbucks mermaid design in warm bronze and brown tones, my absolute favorite of all the Starbucks designs. Don't you just love them?


We have the taller version of this design which is great for a latte or mocha, but the shorter, more full bodied mugs are just the right size for a hot cup of chocolate. A warm respite after a busy afternoon of working on a mixture of projects.


We're making headway on the floors and are about 1/3 of the way done, yeah! Of course with any project, one leads to another and now we want to paint the kitchen. I think we'll need to take a life line and ask the audience for help with the color. I'll post photos at a later date and maybe you can help. Right now it is white and while I know this is a popular color, we need a change, even if it is a minute one. Please stay tuned!

Labels: coffee, fall, hot chocolate, mermaids, mugs, Starbucks

For Illustration Friday's "Sour." My husband and I enjoy going to our local Barnes and Noble Bookstore to read and hang out in the Starbucks coffee shop there. I always bring a sketchbook and enjoy sketching the people reading. Unfortunately, on this particular evening, the woman who I was sketching glanced up and gave me the most sour look I have ever seen. Of course I immediately stopped sketching her and she stared me down until I had to look away. I stopped sketching for a while but continued (I was halfway through my sketch!) when she wasn't looking though she kept glaring at me from time to time with eyes that looked as if they were shooting daggers.

I thought she was quite an interesting subject with her eye glass chains dangling but I fear she didn't find me as interesting. At the onset, I thought she was going to get up, lunge at me and grab my sketchbook and destroy it. It was the first time I felt like that of a protective mother bear over her cub, in this case the cub was my sketchbook which holds some of my most precious drawings. Out of respect for her discomfort, I captured only what I needed to finish and put my sketchbook away and enjoyed the rest of the evening reading with my husband.

Labels: "woman reading", Illustration Friday, journaling, Maggie Summers, sour, Starbucks

Labels: Best Friend, camera, latte, Nikon, Starbucks

A quick 4 minute sketch while at Starbucks. I like the heaviness and darkness of the line so I left the sketch as is. For a larger image click here.

Labels: business, illustration, journaling, meeting, Starbucks

Getting back to the basic technical skill of drawing feels so good. The way I like relax is to sketch and my favorite place to sketch people is at Starbucks, sipping a yummy hot latte, mmmmm. This was a quick 5 minute sketch to which I added some color as I loved the red sweatshirt she was wearing from Aeropostale. I love their t-shirts too, especially this Pink Shoulder Script Baby T. They're nice and long and go great with low riding jeans. What do you do to relax?

Labels: Aeropostale, illustration, Maggie Summers, Margaret Albert Summers, sketch, Starbucks, study, university