It’s Monday once again, but don’t despair – this time next week we’ll be celebrating Memorial Day, wahoo!

Yesterday I got to take a fantastic workshop: a Calligraphy Brunch with the über talented Lauren Essl. The workshop, hosted by Fullosophie, was held at Chicken Scratch + The Foundry, a restaurant & bar that I love for its amazing outdoor space, super cool decor, and beyond delicious chicken dishes. There was a group of 15 women ready to learn calligraphy, and we kicked off the class with salads, bottomless mimosas, and supremely tasty chicken and waffles.

The weather was absolutely perfect so we started class outdoors, munching on our brunches on picnic tables while we learned the basics of calligraphy from Lauren. After a brief and helpful overview, we got set up inside The Foundry, the bar area of the space, and got to work with our pens, nibs, and lettering samples. Lauren was such a good teacher – informative, encouraging, and helpful. She answered individual questions quickly and kindly, and she made her rounds at the table, pausing for each person to show us samples of her lettering, all the way through the alphabet (yep, from A to Z). She made us adorable packets of take-home goodies, including a personalized notebook, a fun pink pen, washi tape, ink, extra nibs for our calligraphy pens, and a pretty notecard with a bright, fun envelope.

Calligraphy is a whole lot harder than it looks – although, actually, I never thought it looked easy in the first place. Everything from the way you hold the pen to how much pressure you put on the nib is calculated precisely, and it took me awhile to get a handle on this new way of writing. In spite of the challenge, I found that calligraphy is really fun and it’s sort of relaxing in a way – it’s almost like it’s therapeutic. Anyway, I can’t wait to continue practicing so that someday I can address letters and make my own notecards and such – don’t you think it would be cute to have a large XO on a notecard, something similar to what I was working on below?

If you ever have the opportunity to take one of Lauren Essl’s workshops, I highly recommend that you sign up immediately – not only are they fun and interesting but they also sell out in a heartbeat. I learned so much and had an absolute blast, and Lauren was a fabulous teacher. Fullosophie did a great job hosting the brunch, too! It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.