Ashley Brooke Designs

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This week’s Desk Obsessed features the lovely and talented Sarah from Note to Self, one of my favorite blogs! We left nothing out, from pens to snacks to music, we’ve got the dish on Sarah’s desk! Hope you enjoy!

Name: Sarah Tolzmann

Occupation: Associate Designer, Matchbook Magazine / SCAD graduate student (almost done!) / Author of, Note to Self

Is your desk more OCD organized or artistically organized chaos?

If I’m procrastinating, it’s clean, but otherwise my desk could definitely be categorized as organized chaos. I rip things out of magazines and catalogs, pull interesting stamps off of envelopes, and I collect ticket stubs and museum pins. It’s a mess really, but an inspiring mess!

Are there snacks or treats within arms reach of your desk? What are they?

If a snack attack hits (usually around 3pm) I often reach for grapes, pistachios, or (if I’m being bad) Sour Patch Kids – my favorite.

What are you listening to at your desk these days? If you prefer to work in silence, is there a song or album that’s gets your juices flowing when you’re stuck in a rut?
I tend to like quiet tunes while I’m working, unless it’s a bad day in which case I blast Taylor Swift (I’m not kidding). I bounce around on Spotify quite a lot to look for new music. Lately, I’m enjoying: Peter Bradley Adams, The Civil Wars, The Heart and the Head, and Ryan Adams.

What’s your go to pen or pencil? (We know you have a favorite!)

I love brightly colored Le Pens for underlining in books and documents. For note-taking, Staples Optiflow pens are simply the best! They’re affordable and they don’t drip or skip, which is perfect for us constant scribblers.

What 3 Things on your desk keep you on track and inspired?

1. A framed photo of me and my late older brother when we were teenagers. It reminds me to stay strong and keep working hard every day.

2. A mint julep cup full of business cards and takeaways from bloggers and online shops I’ve worked with over the years. There is nothing quite like our “blogosphere!”

3. Ever-shifting piles of favorite design and art-related books by Maira Kalman, Cecil Beaton, Slim Aarons, etc.

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