Method Week 16 felt like a return to the old days. It was awesome to be able to finally inhabit the same space again. This week's theme was learn. It was an incredible four days of new experiences and doing things some of us have never done before.

Day 1: Tuesday

We started things off with an abstract art workshop with local artist, Kristina Drake. She taught us how to lead with our intuition when we paint and that mistakes are celebrated in abstract art.  She was equally encouraging to both the artistically inclined and disinclined. 

After we wrapped up, we dusted off our aprons and headed to Cinful Sweets located north of our office, where pastry chef Cinthya Romriell taught us the art of bonbon making. Cinthya is a pro-trained pastry chef whose work has been featured on Food Network’s Candyland. We greatly appreciated her and her team’s welcoming spirit.

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The day ended with bowling at Pinballz. Folks enjoyed it so much that a bowling team emerged from the night and later competed in the AIGA “I Need Space” bowling tournament (spoiler alert: we didn’t win, but boy did we have a good time).

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Day 2: Wednesday

The learning mania was just getting started. On Wednesday, we hit the ground running with a soap-making class taught by Emlyn and her husband John of Solid Soaps. After experimenting with soap gifts one Christmas in 2013, Emlyn dove fully into the soap world and started Solid Soaps in 2018. She’s been sudsing ever since. They make an awesome, eco-conscious product that left our office smelling incredible, which you can find at local maker markets across Austin. 

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After lunch, we had Brave Ceramics come in and show us how to make clay coffee mugs. Owner Tina Williams brought an awesome energy to the crew and we were fired up by the final results that ranged from endearing to pro-level.

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Day 3: Thursday

We had one more workshop in us. Sheena of Sheena’s Pickles came in to take us through her proprietary pickling process. Sheena’s pickle story began after she was gifted a pickling kit for her birthday a few years ago. Fast forward to 2021 and you can now find her organic, locally sourced pickles at the famous Antonelli’s Cheese Shop and at the local farmer’s markets. After pickling, we were all tortured with the news that we had to wait 4 weeks before we could taste our picklish concoctions.

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Team lunch came courtesy of Modern Market and we were soon off to learn urban farming at Eden East Farms.

Formerly located right across the street from us, Eden East relocated to Bastrop a few years ago – but they took the soil with them (literally). The little farm supplies some of the most well-known restaurants in the Austin area and beyond. David Barrow is a witty and engaging host. He’s a filmmaker-turned-farmer who educated and entertained us enough to almost forget the 100 degree Texas heat. Almost. But don’t forget to support your local urban farms, y’all!

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To cool off, happy hour was at Sunny’s Backyard, a remnant of past Austin vibes that seems to remain largely undiscovered by the masses. Make sure you order munchies from their vegan food truck, everything is delicious!

Day 4: Friday

Friday, we traveled to Texas Honey Bee Farm out in Dripping Springs where we learned bee keeping and candle-making using beeswax. The depth of bee knowledge was truly something to behold and we were in disbelief at the different honey flavors they’d created. Everyone bought some to take home.

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We returned to the studio and self-soothed with some critters from Tiny Tails. Some team members brought their kids to share in the good times because who doesn’t love small animals, especially small humans?

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Our wrap up dinner was at Swift Pizza Co. It was here that the week’s final strike count was collected. Dario had the most, so they took up the mantle as the MW 16 “clown”, taking the shoes from MW 15 clowns Bart and Anthony. If none of this makes sense to you -- don't worry about it. We'll have a post on our strike tradition soon enough!

What's Next?

Our Method Weeks happen quarterly, the next one being “Experience” which is our team trip, so make sure to follow us on Instagram at @funsizeco to see what kind of shenanigans we get into in NEW ORLEANS.