Inspired Weekend, UK Edition

This weekend I set off to London for a long overdue visit with my British bestie Will Taylor-Willis. We took a little trip to Edinburgh, Scotland since I'd never been before, and had a wonderful weekend exploring the city, playing tourist, shopping and indulging in some incredible bites. As if spending quality time with my best friend and his amazing husband wasn't nice enough, my weekend was made all the better by two surprising features of my illustrations.

1. Nigel Barker shared this instagram of me completing a custom sketch of him and his wife Chrissy from a week or two prior. It's honestly one of my favorite custom couple illustrations thats I've drawn and it was such a thrill to see he shared it.

2. Edinburgh charmed my socks off with its cobble stone streets, tiny "Diagon Alley" style shops, castle, gothic architecture and handsome clocks, like this one atop of the beautiful Balmoral hotel.

3. For my travels I had bookmarked Domaine Home especially to check out their feature of A Lust for Life: Inside Olivia Lopez's Fashionable Loft, and was shocked to find my illustration of her in the article! I had drawn this custom sketch of the beautiful fashion blogger nearly two years ago as a commission for Love Gold.

4. No trip abroad would be complete for me without a "visual packing list." Sketching out my outfits is the only way I can pack for a big trip and really see what I have, if it will all flow and be interchangeable and if I'm missing anything. I snapped this pic just before leaving for the airport to be reunited with my crazy bestie.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel, mood board photo Christopher Patey for Domaine.)

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