What am I up to?

My cousin, Christina, got married in Philadelphia to who is now her husband, Mario. They were married in the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center this past Saturday, March 25, 2016. I had been asked to create some visual information for their guests' gift bags, so I translated that into making a map of Christina and Mario's favorite Philly sites.

The shuttle information was important because I had been asked specifically to include two sets of shuttle times divided evenly between the two hotels their guests were staying at. Christina and Mario are both writers so I think they'll appreciate the decision I made to have the cards printed timeless--because it acts as a foreshadowing to the events that occurred on their wedding day!

I hand lettered/drew/painted the map and didn't use any software. So I made the decision to leave the time slots blank before going to print so that when I picked them up I'd fill in the times by hand. I did this so that I wouldn't have to create two back sides (There was a time crunch!).

Sunday, the day after the wedding, I spoke to my Mom while we both waited at separate airports for our flights home (she had attended the wedding and was in Philadelphia and I had not and was in San Diego). My Mom said that there were protests from several groups in Logan square across from their Hotel. There were police officers chasing people through bushes, over fountains and through the streets--and because of the scene, traffic came to a halt. The shuttle was in limbo gridlock!

The shuttle driver called Christina and being the world-traveler that she is, didn't panic and found a creative solution. She told the driver, "Keep me updated. We're coming to you." So Christina led her wedding party and her guests through traffic to make their transportation.

Christina and Mario are world travelers, but Christina in particular, is a professional travel writer and finds solutions to almost any predicament. When my Mom told me about the protests and potential timing disaster, I had an Ah Ha! moment  and thought of how the maps were printed--originally with no set time for pick up. So all my extras have no time printed on them and I'll send them to Chris and Mario for a laugh.