Phil is a friend of mine who works at Cafe Sophie. We see each other a few times a week, when I head to the cafe for a change of scene (I work from home).

For Christmas, Phil decided to make set of coasters for his dad, so I hung out with my camera earlier this week to talk to him about it and snap these photos.

Tash: Why do you want to make coasters for your dad?

Phil: I think it’d be hilarious for him to put his gin on my face.

Tash: Lol, tell me about the photos you’re picking out.

Phil: Well, these are all photos of me and my family over the last couple of years. My sisters and I are all growing up, and have reached a new stage in our relationships - we’re friends now, not just annoying siblings. I want my set to reflect that.

There’s a photo of my sister and I before heading out to a Christmas party a year or so ago, and for me, that’s the beginning of this new phase. Other photos I picked are from a family trip to Europe we took recently, and the last one is from my 21st birthday weekend - my parents came to SF and we went to Hardly Strictly, a bluegrass festival. It was a great time.

Tash: Sounds like some great moments to keep on the table! Thanks for sharing. 

Have any special moments you’d like to share? Start a set with memories from your Instagram account.

Written by Tash Wong

Want to make sure you get those coasters ordered in time for Christmas Eve?
Of course you do! It takes a few days to make your coasters and get them in the post, so remember to get your order in by one of the following dates:

December 10 - International
For all orders out of the USA. We ship USPS, and they say it takes 6-10 business days for things going to Canada, and up to 14 days for International destinations.

December 18 - $6 shipping
Get your order in by 12pm EST on December 18 to take advantage of our $6 shipping on all US orders.

Coasterbreak
We'll be taking a little break after December 18th, to make sure everyone's holiday orders are fulfilled and to do some tidying up around the warehouse. We'll be back online and processing your orders the first week of January. 

Written by Tash Wong

If November was about being thankful, this month is about giving and gifting! To celebrate, I’m giving away 1 set of coasters every day from now until December 18th - our deadline for US Christmas shipping.

Here’s how to win:

1. Take a photo of your Coastermatic coasters doing their thing
2. Post it to Instagram or Facebook
3. Tag a friend you know would love Coastermatic
4. Hashtag it with #coastermatic (so I can find it :)

Whether you bought a set 2 years ago or yesterday, come join in the fun!
Don’t have a set? Order some now.

Written by Tash Wong

After a topsy turvy year, I’m back as the full time Chief Coaster Officer. It’s been about 6 weeks since the switch and it’s FANTASTIC. Thanks to everyone who’s commented/liked my posts on Instagram on Facebook, it’s fun to be back.

As some of you know, Coastermatic started as a grad school project I put together with Tom Harman. We had a lot of fun working together in early days, Jeffrey Zeldman even interviewed us.

A lot has happened in the couple of years since. Last year, Tom left to pursue a different set of challenges, and is now doing work that he loves with Project Florida in New York. I continued to work on Coastermatic from Hawaii, then moved to SF for love. It was a crazy time, and since then I’ve had to decide what to do with Coastermatic: Do I make it my full time thing? A hobby? Do I stop entirely?

Not knowing which road to chose, I tried all of them. Last holiday season I started to rebrand and redesign the site, while also putting together Coastermatic Collections. All of which was far too much for 1 person to pull off. Burnt out and at the end of my financial reserves, Coastermatic went on auto-pilot for most of 2014. During that time, I gave a talk on conversational frameworks, and worked with The Feast on a tool to bring together members of their community online. It was great to have a break from Coastermatic to explore new ideas, working environments and challenges.

Through it all, I realized that Coastermatic is the project I want to work on more than anything else. It’s fun and fulfilling. I can directly see the results of everything I do - I’m responsible for when things go badly, and when they go well. I love making something that helps people keep their favorite memories & ideas close and I love the opportunity that it gives me to connect with and work with others. It’s entirely different than any other job I’ve had.

Now, I get to spend every day working to make Coastermatic a little more awesome.

Big projects I'm working on are:

• A new website!!
• Holiday season ideas
• Putting new energy into the newsletter, blog, FB, and IG streams up and running

While Coastermatic is largely a solo endeavor, it’s not without the support of many others. David Bellona and my parents have offered unconditional support since the beginning. Over the summer, Sarah Illingworth resuscitated the blog, Jessa Clark did the same for the Instagram feed, and Leia Sefkin made life a lot easier with some new order processing codez. There’s also no way I’d be here with out the Successcalators, or my coaches Patrice Perillo and Charlie Gilkey. 

#coasterthanks to everyone!

x t

Written by Tash Wong

Welcome to November everyone! 

Our clocks have jumped back, and things are starting to get cozy. Given that Thanksgiving is coming up, I’ve been pondering how to spend more time reflecting on the things I’m thankful for. I’ve settled on doing an weekly photo project.

Will you join me?

Each week in November, I’ll post something or someone that’s helped get Coastermatic to where it is now. To join in, snap a photo or two and post to our Facebook page, or tag them with #coasterthanks on Instagram. If there’s a story that goes with it, share that too!

At the end of the month, I’ll wrap up photos and stories, and post them here.

x tash

#coasterthanks

Written by Tash Wong