I took you with me to West Germany for a short trip to Düsseldorf—and honestly, it was such a special one. I started by showing you my hotel (I was genuinely so happy with what I booked): great natural light, a huge bed, and even little design details like the “hydrate” bottle with water dispensers on every floor. From there, I headed out to Erkrath for a mega fangirl moment: visiting the Schmincke factory. The factory isn’t open to the public, so I’m incredibly grateful I got to visit and share a few snippets with you. Schmincke has a real place in my painting journey—my first proper set of paints was from them—so seeing how everything is made in-house (from pigment procurement to production) was fascinating. I loved learning about the science and engineering behind paint-making, watching pigments turn into paint-like concoctions, and hearing details like how pans take multiple layerings to build up. Back in Düsseldorf, I cooled down during the heatwave with matcha and dango, popped into a Japanese stationery shop with an ekistamp-style stamp station, and spent time exploring the city with my friend Nogi. I ended with a travel journal flip-through—minimal, ephemera-heavy, lots of food doodles, and of course, swatches from the paints I received—because the whole point is to document life creatively, even on quick trips.