Sign #1 — In 2018, Spencer and I stopped and stayed at Hi-Lo in Weed, CA while on a road trip to Oregon. We immediately loved the place and I was enamored by their colorful and vintage sign out front. I snapped a photo of it, without realizing how special this place and the signs would become for me in the coming years. Before I even made the cookie signs, the motel sign made an appearance in my cookie work in 2020 when I released my color palette guide, “Mik’s Mix.” One of the color palettes featured in the guide was titled “Motel” and used colors from this sign. It was an example of how you can find inspiration out in the wild.
Weed, CA is a cute little town nestled at the base of Mt. Shasta and has so much charm. When we packed up the morning after our stay, I was so sad to leave Hi-Lo and couldn’t wait for our next visit.
Well, it wouldn’t be until 3 years later in 2021. After a long, lonely, and travel-less year and a half, Spencer and I planned our first road trip. We were driving up to Washington State to visit my family and we drove up with my grandparents. One of the stops along the way was going to be Weed, CA. I was absolutely delighted. I felt I had waited so long to see the sign again and also couldn’t wait to be with my family again.
To commemorate the special trip, I decided last minute to make some cookies of landmarks to photograph along the way, instantly choosing Hi-Lo as one of the cookies I’d make along with a few others. This was the inadvertent beginning of the “cookie sign series.”
I remember being so eager and excited to make our way to Weed that morning. I packed up so fast at camp and got on the road before my grandparents did. I promptly made it to the sign around 9 AM that morning and took photos of my very first cookie sign next to it’s real-life counterpart. May 19, 2021 marks the start of a cookie passion project that I love so dearly. It would inspire so much within me, I couldn't think of a better sign to have started this series with.
When people ask me what my favorite sign is that I have made, my answer is always the Hi-Lo Motel.
