Trip of a Lifetime

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Having fun in the big apple!

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The "Pack Your Bags" sketch. Off to the airport we go!

Not long ago, my wife and I decided to give each of our children memorable experiences in lieu of physical gifts for milestone birthdays. Therefore, before our daughter Abby turned 5 we sat her down and said, "you get to go on a trip for your 5th birthday--you choose the adventure." She seemed excited and had only two requests: she wanted to go on an airplane and she wanted to stay somewhere with a pool. After some questions to try and narrow down the options, we found out one more thing she wanted to do was see a show. At this point it seemed fair that New York City would be a good option. NYC would be a quick plane ride, there are plenty of shows, and a pool shouldn't be too difficult to find.

After careful planning, we had come up with a trip that would pack a lot of things into just 2 days. Our journey would start on a Friday afternoon and end Sunday afternoon. We decided to stay in the heart of Times Square because it offered the most accessibility. We were going to see a show, check out Rockefeller Center, go to the M&M store, and do A LOT of walking. I also had a surprise planned to enhance the experience. And of course, I would need to pack some notes to keep the creativity going throughout this mini vacation.

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"Dance with the clouds!" The airplane rides were a success.

There was great anticipation leading up to the trip. When it was finally time to leave, Abby was so excited. We got to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight. After close to 5 hours of delays we finally got in the air. I have experienced a lot of delays/cancellations in my life, so I was getting worried that either our flight would be cancelled or that Abby would be turned off by air travel. When we finally boarded, it was dark and Abby was ready to fall asleep.  It made me proud that she was such a trooper through it all, but I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t as enthusiastic as I thought she would be to fly through the air.

When we landed everything was good again. While waiting for a taxi, I told Abby that we would need to ride a cab to our hotel. She made everyone in line laugh when she innocently asked, “We get to ride a cow to our hotel!?” Once in the taxi, she fell fast asleep.

We arrived at our hotel and *SURPRISE* Grammy was there to greet us! Abby, despite her sleepiness, was thrilled to have one of her favorite people there to share the trip with her. Now that it was late, though, it was time to get to bed so we could enjoy the next 36 hours of non-stop fun.

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Nothing but smiles showing off the "Climb to the Top" sketch with the Empire State building in the background.

Saturday morning we got up early to have breakfast at Ellen’s Stardust Diner. This is a ‘50s-themed diner with aspiring Broadway performers singing and serving meals. The experience was a perfect start to our day. The singing was phenomenal and the food was great. After enjoying the meal and show we then proceeded to check out the Times Square shopping. First the M&M store, then Toys R Us, and then the Disney store. Abby was loving it. Grammy and I were loving it, too. After a couple hours of shopping (and Times Square in the morning is a wonderfully uncrowded place to be) we headed to the Top of the Rock. It was here that I wanted to show Abby the scale of the city. Abby really enjoyed the views.

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"Let's go see a show!" We had so much fun watching Blue Man Group.

Later in the afternoon we got ready for the show. We took the subway to East Village and had some New York style pizza before walking to the theater. We were on our way to see the Blue Man Group. Neither Abby nor I had ever seen them, so we were hoping this would be a fun experience… and it was! Abby was on her feet for most of the show because she was so excited to see what was coming next. She really loved it when I got to be a part of the show. One of the blue men had me throw marshmallows into his mouth from a distance of about 20 feet (and 2 out of 3 marshmallows ain't bad). This show really felt like the exclamation on the trip. Saturday night after the show we did some more shopping before going to bed.

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Saying our goodbyes to Grammy. "I ♥ NYC" rings true with Abby now.

Sunday morning we woke up early to have breakfast and swim for a half hour. After that we walked Grammy a few blocks to the subway and said our goodbyes. We were so thankful Grammy was there to share Abby’s once-in-a-young-lifetime trip. Abby and I then proceeded to quickly run to Central Park before coming back to the hotel to check out. We covered about 24 blocks in a matter of 20 minutes and still had time to enjoy a quick glimpse of the park and stop for a drink.

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Taking a look at all the sketches that Abby got throughout the weekend.

Abby really enjoyed the “cow” ride to the airport this time since she was able to check out all the buildings. Thankfully there were no delays or issues getting on the plane, but we did arrive about 3 hours ahead of our flight. So, Abby and I passed the time people watching, drawing in her Moleskines (a gift from her Aunt), and eating airport food for lunch. When we finally arrived home we were both spent from this whirlwind trip. We walked/ran almost 13 miles. I was so thankful we had beautiful, sunny weather the whole time. It was such a great experience and hopefully Abby will take those memories with her throughout her life. I can't wait for the next great adventure!

2016 Miller Grant Recipient

I am honored to announce that I have been one of 17 people selected to receive a 2016 Miller Grant to attend this year's Dad 2.0 Summit. In order to receive the grant I had to submit an essay stating why I wanted to attend the conference. So, I wanted to share my essay so everyone could see why I really want to be a part of such an amazing event. So, without further ado, here is what I wrote...

I am writing in hopes of securing a Miller Grant to attend the 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit. I would love to attend the conference so I can meet other dads, like me, who care about being better fathers for their children. I came across this summit while searching the Internet for inspiration and help in dealing with a tough parenting situation and thought it would be great to talk to others. 

Last year at about this time, as a father, I was presented a tough challenge I had never anticipated. There are fun things like school, friendships, and art I always look forward to discussing with my children. For instance, my oldest child (Abby) started attending pre-K at the same school my wife teaches special education. My wife’s classroom was located next door to the room where my daughter would be. The pre-K class is what they call “reverse inclusion.” Reverse inclusion is “the practice of placing students into an Early Childhood Special Education class on a voluntary basis so that these students can be social and educational role models for the students with disabilities.” Abby went into the school year a little nervous but very excited. She really wanted to learn more about art. 

My daughter loved it! She was only 3 years old at the beginning of the school year and really fit right in. Her teacher, Miss Robin, really encouraged Abby’s creativity and taught her how to open up and be the wonderful child she is. For the first time in her short life Abby had a role model that wasn’t a family member. Abby loved Miss Robin and for the first three months of the school year drew her pictures almost everyday. 

Then there are not-so-fun things like poverty, stranger danger, and death conversations that you can somewhat anticipate and plan for. However, on Sunday morning December 7, 2014, my wife received a phone call you dread. I remember the moment vividly. At first, I thought it was a normal Sunday morning conversation she was having with either a family member or a friend. We had all three of our kids (at this point, ages 4, 2, and 3 months) in my son’s room playing. Then, in an instant, my wife screamed and began crying. I obviously knew something had happened and immediately thought maybe someone in her family was in an accident or something. I quickly ushered the two oldest children to another room while holding my son. When I came back in I quickly learned that Miss Robin, and her daughter Mani, had been murdered and their house set on fire. At this point I was faced with figuring out how to console my wife whose co-worker and friend just died and telling my daughter that the one non-family member she looked up to would no longer be there to guide her through the year. 

Ultimately, we were able to tell Abby that Miss Robin got hurt in a fire and would be watching down on her from Heaven. Obviously she struggled to come to terms with what that meant, but she dealt the best should could. There were a lot of tears, questions, and random memories. For a while, Abby would often draw pictures of Miss Robin. And in fact, right after we told her she ran to her crayons and paper and drew a picture of her holding Miss Robin’s hand—they both wore crowns. 

That week of school was tough on everyone. My wife battled through it with grace and dignity so the children could regain a sense of normalcy. Abby continued asking questions and at times cried at the memory of her friend. As they cleaned out Miss Robin’s desk my wife sent me a text of one of Abby’s little drawings tacked next to a photo of Robin’s daughter Mani. That image brought tears to my eyes. To think that this teacher didn’t have to save that drawing, let alone put it in a space reserved for family photos, made me appreciate the hero this woman was. 

As a result of this tragedy, my wife and I took it upon ourselves to start sending little lunch notes to school with Abby. It started out as little bits of encouragement. I did not want Abby to lose her interest in drawing and I wanted to keep her creativity going. Eventually the notes got more illustrative and started including characters and other drawings I would make up quickly the night before. Everyday when Abby would get home from school we took the notes out of her lunchbox and put them in a jar to save. Family and friends started seeing them and encouraged me to post them online, which I did. Starting on May 7, 2015 I decided I would draw one lunch note everyday for 366 consecutive days (2016 is a leap year), post them online, and hope that these notes might encourage other parents to add little bits of creativity to their kids’ day. This is neither a new concept, nor am I a great artist. But my goal for the year will be to continue offering encouragement to my daughter. And I’m proud to say her love for drawing and coloring is as strong as ever. 

The 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit is the kind of place where I feel I could learn a lot from other fathers going through struggles. Unfortunately, money is tight this year, but a grant would easily cover the journey since I am only a 2 hour car ride from D.C. In the future, I hope to be in a position where I can also add funds to the grant. It would be great to get more dads attending this conference. 

Giving Back

This holiday season Lunch Note Sketch is giving back. For every dollar spent in our shop we are going to donate 35 cents to a great cause: the Robin and Mani All Buddy Camp. From now until Christmas day 2015 we will be donating to this camp that encourages creativity.

Robin and Mani’s All Buddy Camp helps 4-5 year old students with disabilities build self-esteem, develop better social skills and self-expression, and improve fine and gross motor skills by partnering with local high school students as “buddies.” The program is centered on the creative arts, fun, and field trips.

Robin Aldridge was a long time special education teacher and advocate. She was my daughter’s first school teacher and really encouraged her creativity. She is one of the reasons my daughter loves to draw and paint, and I can’t think of a better cause to support this holiday season. I am thankful for her role in my daughter’s education.

Please support this wonderful cause by either purchasing something from our shop or by visiting their page and donating directly to the camp.

Students Make Their Own Lunch Note Sketches

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Lunch Note Sketch was recently approached by a local elementary school teacher, Mrs. Pie, to help with an art lesson she was giving. Her role as instructor for the after school program was to help about a dozen students ranging in age from 4 to 10 spend their afternoon working on something creative. Some of the students were already aware of Lunch Note Sketch, or at least the illustrations, so coming up with a lesson would be focused on getting the children to make their own inspirational sticky note art.

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In addition to the sticky note lesson, Lunch Note Sketch was tasked with creating a coloring book in the LNS style as a memento for participating in the day's lesson. The hope is that the students will be reminded of the lesson in creativity they received that day.

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The theme of the coloring book was "Let's Get Creative!" The bio inside the cover page read:

Presented by Lunch Note Sketch, "Let’s Get Creative" was created to combine fun and creativity through the art of coloring.  Our mission is to provide smile-inducing sketches in hopes of sparking a child’s interest in the arts and to encourage creative thinking. 

This special-edition coloring book was created for Mrs. Pie’s “Creation Station” HCE Club to encourage your child to keep imagining, creating, and exploring their world.

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I'm happy and excited to report that the class was a huge success! Some students made a variety of inspirational and/or motivational notes that really captured the essence of Lunch Note Sketch. Some students utilized just pencil, while others colored elaborate works of art. There was even one student who created his own mouse character much like the characters seen in the daily LNS notes. Two students created enough notes to share with their classmates and teachers the following day at school.

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I was so pleased to see the variety of thoughts these children put down on paper. The creativity was definitely flowing on this particular afternoon. All of the images you see in this blog post were made in that one art lesson. Thanks to Mrs. Pie for taking so many great photos so that I could share it with the community.

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I hope you enjoy all these great works of art and appreciate the students' creativity and artistic abilities as much as I do. I am given hope as the next generation of students share and carry some creativity through their lives. Now, let's get creative!

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Now Introducing the Lunch Note 10-Pack

We did it! We finally launched our first Lunch Note Sketch product: the Lunch Note 10-Pack! We listened to all the people who have expressed interest in putting some of the sketches in their own child's lunches. So, if you are a parent who wants to add a special note to your child's lunch, or if you're short on time, this 10-pack of notes is perfect for adding a little fun and creativity to your loved one's day. 

The notes are about the size of a square business card and fit nicely in most lunch containers. With this lunch note pack you will enjoy 10 different smile-inducing illustrations that include the following:

There are 10 different smile-inducing notes in this little package.

• Ask Thoughtful Questions
• Be A Leader
• Believe In Yourself
• Enjoy The Adventure
• Have A Super Day
• Have Fun
• Tell A Story
• Today's The Day To Get Stuff Done
• Work Hard
• You Are Mighty

There are plenty of other uses besides putting them in a lunchbox. You could add these notes in holiday cards, hand out to deserving co-workers, or simply use them as little bits of art. Let us know how you're using them by sending us an email or posting on social media using the #LunchNoteSketch hashtag.

As we figure out the logistics behind packaging and shipping we are currently only selling our products to folks located in the United States. We will hopefully ship internationally in the near future.

Reaching A Milestone

Today marks a special day for Lunch Note Sketch. It is the 183rd consecutive day of sketching and posting the sketches online. Why is that significant? Well, I started posting lunch note sketches back in May with the hopes of posting everyday for a year. And since 2016 is a leap year, that means day 183 marks the halfway point.

To celebrate this milestone, I wanted to tell you about the journey and give you some insight into where Lunch Note Sketch (LNS) stands. I also wanted to share some thoughts on this fun little side project that has blossomed into something more. I want to talk about the past 183 days, the current state of LNS, and where we’re headed. I want to share some details in hopes this information will help someone start a side project, build a business, or learn something new.

Before I get into the details, I want to take a minute to thank my wife who has provided tremendous support in this endeavor. Lunch Note Sketch is something I work on after our children go to bed every night and my wife is the person who suffers through it. Without her understanding and commitment LNS would not exist. I’d also like to thank my children who have shown such an interest in the arts. My oldest is really into drawing, painting, and building things. My middle child has shown interest in music, dance, and drama. And my youngest, well, he is only one. So he is into everything as he explores his world. Finally, I also want to thank everyone who has encouraged me, provided feedback, and engaged online throughout this journey.

The Past 183 Days

Lunch Note Sketch started online with the hopes of building a community where parents could share what they do for their children to showcase a little creativity and love. There have been some folks who shared examples of their work on Facebook and it has been fantastic. I hope to continue finding people who are willing to share, but it has definitely proven to be a difficult task thus far. It’s a lot to ask people to share when there is no immediate gratification or incentive. Instagram has seen some people use the #LunchNoteSketch hashtag, but like Facebook it has been inconsistent.

The good news is that the community has steadily grown over the past 183 days on the two social sites I engage the most: Facebook and Instagram. Our Facebook community is over 100 people strong and somewhat actively liking and commenting. Instagram is hovering around 150 followers and gets more engagement than Facebook. The Facebook community is mostly located in the US, while Instagram is much more global. So, thank you to everyone who is following, liking, commenting, and engaging on social media.

An important point to make is that, while the Twitter account is one that I post to, I have not made much of an effort to engage with that community yet. I do have plans to spend more time there, but it has not played a large role to this point and I understand it’s a missed opportunity.

This week's Facebook stats compared to last week's. For instance, this week LNS had 2 new page likes compared to 4 from last week.

To help grow the community I have utilized a few tactics. The first is paid advertising on Facebook. I have set up and tested 5 campaigns and spent a total of $16.92 (big spender, eh?). For that amount of money I was able to reach 2,877 people and get about 20 post engagements. These campaigns can certainly do better in the future, but they were really just a way to test Facebook advertising and to see if I could narrow LNS’s audience. I am happy with the results and what was ultimately achieved.

The second tactic for building the community is simply talking to people about it. I have talked to about 20 people (not including family) and gotten a lot of good feedback. Most of those people have liked or followed on social media and a few have really engaged. Another outcome is that I have realized I really enjoy talking about the history of LNS, where we hope to take it, and how creativity impacts children. I plan on continuing the conversations with folks in order to draw more interest and I really appreciate the power of face-to-face interactions more than I did in the past.

Finally, I have recently started sharing some sketches with other people. I had a number of sketches printed on square business cards in hopes of selling them as a product and using them as giveaways. These cards have been really well received. I am getting incredibly positive feedback and look forward to exploring the ecommerce angle and running contests.

Lunch Note Sketch Today

As I have already mentioned, our community sits at about 250 users on social media and a handful of people not on social media. I have invested about $1,000 on this side project to date. These costs include the website that is run through Squarespace, Facebook advertising, photoshoot equipment so the website has some photography, professional printing, and small business setup fees.

Two of the sketches that were professionally printed.

The professional printing was done so I could test the market. I have heard from folks that they would be interested in putting notes in their child's lunches, but feel they lack the time and/or skill to create something. If there is enough interest I have a lot of ideas on how to get these notes into the hands of people who would enjoy/use them. I was lucky enough to attend a one-day print conference where I had an opportunity to meet some great people who could help. I have already started discussions with different vendors to figure out logistics and costs for some future product ideas. I won’t divulge this information yet, but it is an exciting time for LNS. The idea of selling something online, though, is a little scary, so I also invested in making Lunch Note Sketch an official LLC.

I save a lot of money in the digital aspect of the business because I have many years of experience in web design and development, as well as other digital strategies relating to social media and marketing. I also have a background in photography which is proving helpful in the web and product photoshoots. I imagine my investment would need to grow considerably if I didn’t do a lot this work myself.

The other amazing news is that Lunch Note Sketch is starting to make a name for itself in the local community. I got a request to create a small coloring book for an after school art class at a local elementary school. I am currently in the process of creating it and hope to share more news when it is complete. This coloring book offers a great opportunity to spread the word amongst children AND adults.

The Road Ahead

Thinking about the future of Lunch Note Sketch is really exciting. A lot of work has gone into it to this point and there are so many opportunities to have an impact. Growing and engaging with the community sits at the top of the list. Creating and selling new products, as well as volunteering in the community are also important. I also want to be more active blogging and start email marketing. Beyond those items, though, I want to spend some time on two other things: finding advocates and speaking/presenting on creativity.

In order to grow the community it will be important to get help. My goal is to find advocates who will help by sharing their artwork or talk about LNS with their family, friends, teachers, etc. There are many challenges to overcome, but I think there is tremendous opportunity. I have already been approached by a friend of mine who offered assistance. We will be talking more in the near future and I hope to utilize his expertise and willingness to lend a hand. It will be very important to me to make sure he is engaged and is doing things that make HIM happy to be involved. Just like I started this side project in hopes of learning more about setting up a business, social media marketing, building a community, etc., I want him to learn and try new things that interest him.

I also mentioned that I enjoy talking about Lunch Note Sketch and its history. I hope to find ways to share the story and preach about the importance of creativity in kids’ lives. I will be working to figure out an approach or angle so that I can hopefully one day speak at an appropriate event. I also have ideas on hosting my own events locally to get experience and to spread the word about creativity.

Finally, the future will eventually bring us to day 366. My initial goal was to stop creating a sketch every day at that point, but I’m not sure if that will happen. I am not able to promise the sketch-a-day will continue, but I am certain this project—now business—will live on well beyond day 366. I am excited to see where LNS will be in another 183 days, though.

Final Thoughts

As Lunch Note Sketch continues to grow I want to keep the initial goal and my highest priority in mind. The list of things to do is getting longer and there are so many new ideas that come to mind, but LNS is about creating notes for my children. The most important aspect of all of this is to continue showing off a little creativity to them. I want to lead by example in hopes they never lose the ability to approach challenges with an open mind and to offer solutions that are extraordinary.

In conclusion, Lunch Note Sketch has been a success in my opinion. If nothing else, I have learned so much. The fact that I am interacting with people from all over the world still amazes me and is truly humbling. I am excited with the community that has formed and the opportunities that lie ahead. So, let’s get creative!

Enjoying The Views

Mother and daughter look out over Shenandoah National Park.

It's that time of year again. The Autumn hues--the golds, reds, oranges, and yellows--are starting to show all their splendor. It's still early in the season, but we didn't want to miss any of the changing colors. So we packed up the car with all three children and left at sunrise to see what we could find. We drove through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, winding up and down the mountains, in search of beauty. While not all the colors have come to life just yet, there were plenty of picturesque moments to remember as we drove through tunnels of trees where the sunlight was hitting the leaves just right to make it appear as if the yellows and golds were coming to life.

Here I sit on my perch.

After stopping at a number of overlooks, we found a nice place to have an unplanned brunch before continuing our tour of the park. Just a few miles from our exit we came to a stop that had a number of large boulders that we climbed to get a grand view of the valley below. The kids loved playing and I enjoyed the sight of the vista with the sun shining down and the smell of the crisp Autumn morning.

I'm really looking forward to going back through the park again in less than two weeks, taking the same path, to see what amazing new colors we'll be able to see. Autumn is my favorite time of year and to imagine the transformation in just a couple of weeks is quite suspenseful.

Reconnect With An Old Friend

Over three decades ago I was given a blanket that I would always carry with me. This blue plaid blanket became the item I couldn’t sleep without for years. I loved that blanket. The years past and I eventually forgot about it—not knowing where it ended up. Well, when my first daughter was about 1 or so, my mother brought that blanket out of storage and gave it to her as a gift. After just a little bit of time with this 30-year old rag-of-a-blanket it came time to discard it. The edges were fraying, the dyes were faded, and the poor blanket looked like it was time to be recycled.

My daughter, on the other hand, had other plans. She was adamant about keeping it. So, after talking with some family who know a thing or two about sewing and fabrics, we decided to see if we could get it fixed. What that meant we didn’t know. Ultimately, my mother took it to someone she knew who had some experience giving new life to old blankets. After months of not having her blanket my mother told us that it was done and ready to come home. Before we made the trip to Grammy’s house I did a sketch to get my daughter excited about seeing her newly improved friend. She was so happy and excited to see her blanket that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Now she won't go to bed without it. :-)

It doesn’t matter if you reach out to an old college buddy or if you resurrect a favorite childhood toy, if you have the chance, try to reconnect with an old friend. The joy can be contagious.

Summer Break Comes To A Close

Today officially marks the end of this year's summer break. Everyday for the past 65 days I have sketched something to do in an effort to get my kids thinking about how they could spend their time. Some ideas were pre-planned (like taking a trip or going to the zoo) and others sadly never happened (like learning magic or riding rollercoasters). But overall I thought the summer was a success.

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65 sketches for the 65 days of summer.

Over the past 65 days while I focused on the Summer Break List Of Things To Do series, the Lunch Note Sketch community grew quite a bit on social media. Facebook saw an increase of 169% in page likes and Instagram followers almost tripled.

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Best on Facebook
The highest performing sketch on Facebook was "Pray." It had a reach of 209, was clicked 32 times, and had 25 likes, comments, or shares. I created this sketch after learning of a family emergency and clearly it was probably one of the quickest sketches done all summer.

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Best on Instagram
The top performing sketch on Instagram was "Ride A Rollercoaster." That sketch received 35 likes. Oddly enough, this is one of only a few sketches that we were not able to follow through on. The day we planned on going to the fair was a day filled with storms. There's always next summer, though. :-)

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Personal Favorite
Of all 65 sketches that I had done, my favorite has to be the "Hug Your Dad" sketch. Obviously, I like the message given that I am a father myself, but I really liked the way the characters turned out in that drawing and the cleanliness of the text.

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Quickest Sketch
There was a lot of time dedicated to these sketches. I'm not sure how many total hours it took, but the quickest sketch ("Relax") probably took only 5 minutes to come up with and post online. This particular drawing was done at the end of a wonderful beach vacation. It was my abstract ode to the ocean meeting the sky on the horizon.

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Most Time-Consuming Sketch
The longest sketch, due to the fact it went beyond the typical sticky note (it was in fact 11 sticky notes connected together) was the "Build A Tower" conglomerate. The concept came fairly quickly, but the sketching and the logistics of posting it online took over 3 hours. You can read more about it and see the full piece in the blog post that was written.

I hope you enjoyed the Summer Break List Of Things To Do series of sketches. If you have a favorite sketch, please share it in the comments or on social media. Now, it's time to start sketching for school lunches. :-)