Pocketful of Favorites

Highlights:MyWeekend: 8.19.11 - 8.21.11

2011-08-21T21:37:00.001-04:00

whew, found it (key)

couldn't resist you

weakness for green and chippy paint

faux faux

finally a fairly pretty sunset! (in Md.)

Amazing old buildings = National Park Seminary

A New Fiscal Year, A New Look and Purpose

2011-08-02T18:08:00.001-04:00

That's right. I think about things in terms of the fiscal year thanks to a few years of conditioning that June 30th is more important than December 31st. And, of course, it doesn't matter that I'm about a month past the fiscal year.

I have been really dragging my feet with writing posts and revamping my blog since early spring. Part of the issue was that my initial "mission" of my blog was no longer relevant now that I am now a wiser interior design graduate student. Two semesters of insane tuition and that's at least one thing that I've learned. At that point, I was kind of stuck about what I wanted to do with my blog. I played and did a terrible interim header design then proceeded to ignore my blog for a few more months.

Today was the day that I decided that I absolutely had to get the bulk of my design completed. Otherwise, I would have had time to tackle trivial to-do's like my design class project due today, or finishing my sister's bridal shower favors, or even tasks that are quickly becoming urgent like doing dishes or laundry. I'm pleased with where the design is headed and am at peace with the fact that it is not completed YET. As for the purpose of this blog, there isn't any apart from providing me an outlet to shove a few things that inspire me in a place and write a few paragraphs of babble.

If I had really been on top of things, I would have taken screen shots of each design of the blog and post them now for a comparasion. I never claimed that being incredibly (or moderately) organized so I have nothing. I do think that the two past designs reflected where I was as a designer when I created them. The first was a bit charming with a huge focus on nature (background of the header was a photo taken on the road to Mount Mitchell) with a medium toned color theme. It was created just using picnik. The second had brighter colors, no photographs (I really need to start taking more photos again), fairly simplistic in terms of graphics, and was created while I was trying to learn Illustrator. This current design is sunnier, features my favorite colors, again no photographs (two summer sessions of classes = no time), graphics that are a little more complex, and also created in Illustrator after having a whole class focusing on the program. It's interesting. Those screen shots really would be handy right now!

So much has happened since I have really had a chance to write anything. I have also given myself the go ahead to just post a few sentences (except for this entry since I'm going on multiple paragraphs now) with photos and feel like it's sufficient. It should be helpful in completing one of my 30 Before 30 goals. Time to make the best of the rest of summer!

I Was Here

2011-06-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

Somehow two months have passed since my last post! As usual a bunch of things have happened. To be honest, all of that seems like such old news that I am not going to address it except generally acknowledge stuff happens. Good, bad, exciting, boring. It happens and will continue to happen.

I started this blog with intentions of how to apply lessons in life to my designs. I even have a long list of ideas for posts that never materialized. Maybe I'll revisit that one day but it's definitely time to reexamine the goal/purpose of this blog and then the corresponding design.

One great happening that did occur this past semester is that I am really interested in exploring how design extends into philanthropy and evidence based design. This past April, I got involved (as much as I could balancing school and work) with A New Dawn A Y I T I and loved it! Then my favorite professor, Erin Speck, has mentioned evidence based design several times, i.e. a certain kind of lighting can lessen the affects of PTSD. Common theme? Design with meaning!

That's what I am looking for. Meaning. I heard this song today and it was perfect for this post.

Residential Project #2: Concept and Design Development

2011-04-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

I realized that I never wrote about the current project for Residential studio class. It's a historic townhouse in SW Washington, D.C. Not surprising, I was really interested in learning about the history of the building. I spent one weekend researching census records using the application submitted for the historic registry to see what I can learn. I love looking at old census records. They can reveal some interesting details and I especially like seeing the handwriting on the old documents. My concept was ended up being "hidden connections" based on the how the history of the home connects all the people that dwelled there and the rings of a tree (like a family tree).

The design development (d.d.) portion of the Residential project was due today. I worked over the weekend making my final selections after researching for the past couple of weeks. I'm starting to finally build my own "design library" and figured out a good system to keep track of my selections using Excel. Both have come in handy. I should post my floor plan before my d.d. but I still have to make some tweaks.

Some background: the townhouse is four levels including the basement and attic. The people that live in the townhouse is a family of four (chef - him, lobbyist - her, teen - female, tween - male) that requested a movie theatre and dining area that seats eight. They have also requested that the entertaining areas be ADA accessible to accommodate a disabled friend.

BASEMENT:

The brown swatch is the wood block flooring through out the basement

The movie theatre seats 8 people with a little kitchen area outside for storing snacks

FIRST FLOOR:

: light fixture over semi-circle counter area : stools for counter : brown swatch - cork flooring through out first floor

sitting room adjacent to dining room

SECOND FLOOR:

love the silver reclaimed wood coffee table

ATTIC:

Teen nook area features a small alcove with bench by the fireplace

tween nook features a small alcove by the fireplace

Love the moody couch (red)

Once I finish tweaking the floor plan, I will post a rendered version. Next on the agenda, 3D drawings! I love the axonometric drawings! This time we have to do exploded axons. I got a great Tom Kundig book that features many of those drawings. I hope it helps!

Oh Yeah, (finally) the Secrets to Success

2011-04-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

Clean home at some point then unconsciously over commit yourself to many responsibilities (school, work, public service, play) that you only come home to sleep. First on the sofa, then trudge to your bed.
Work hard during the day, play at night for Saturday. Vice-versa on Sunday. Brunch or crossing off a to-do on the ever growing "we totally must do this while live in DC" list gets bonus points.

It's been a crazy* couple of weeks since Spring Break. This past week especially but I have loved it! I think I finally figured out what works for me. A little later than sooner since, after all, it's nearly the end of my second semester. But I'll take it.

Off to brunch with some of my favorite locals. Maybe sneak in a trip to see the cherry blossoms since I missed it at their peak but want to get another peak in.

*Crazy as in the calm before the why-am-I-subjecting-myself-to-this-insane-craziness crazy

Not Always a Winner ( or We Can't All Be Winners)

2011-03-22T20:27:00.001-04:00

Well, I did not win any kind of award for the carpet collection competition. Despite working hard on my submission, feeling confident about my designs, then not winning. . . I don't that deflated. Of course, I'm very disappointed but I kind of feel ready for the next competition.

I feel like this sometimes

I played around with my designs online to see what it would like if it were mirrored images, at a smaller scale, etc. I'm pleased with the results, which probably helps with minimizing my disappointment (or prevents me from being like Peter in the video above).

California Inspiration: Venice Boardwalk and Los Angeles County Museum of Art

2011-03-16T14:06:00.000-04:00

What a breath of fresh air being here is for me! We returned back to the Venice boardwalk yesterday and went for a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) afterwards.

The Venice boardwalk was an . . .interesting place. There was some fog rolling through yesterday, which gave this eclectic beach a sense of mystery.

I loved LACMA! The exhibits themselves, the design of the exhibits, and the architecture were AMAZING. It was also pretty cool that there were at least six different kinds of food trucks across the street too.

My favorite exhibit! Too bad they didn't allow photos.

This was neat with how the structures played with light and created shadows

Cool massive elevator

I really like how the light reflects

Love this chair, especially in a different color!

Loved this exhibit space

California Inspiration: Santa Monica and Venice

2011-03-15T00:39:00.001-04:00

Despite it only being the second full day in sunny, breezy (right off of the ocean) California, I am loving it! Seriously, it was just what I needed to cure the absence of inspiration that I have been suffering from all semester. Today, my cousin and I ventured to local beach, Santa Monica and Venice.

Between the waves and interesting patterns in the sands, the local beach was very refreshing. There was some excitement after spotting some dolphins not too far from shore.

See the dolphin's face?

I had been to Santa Monica the last time I had visited to California. It's such a fun place between the 3rd Street Promenade and the pier. I was hoping to find the same artist that I bought a little painting from on the pier when I was here before. No luck. Instead I rode a ferris wheel for the first time in years.

Loved the outdoor seating area in the new outdoor shopping mall!

My sister recommended that we check out the a street named Abbot Kinney (isn't that name great!) in Venice for awesome boutiques and some cool architecture. It was probably my favorite part of the day. There was one shop that I fell in love with. The color palette was beautiful, the store vignettes and window displays were gorgeous, and the goods. . . very expensive. I didn't purchase anything but left with some of my favorite photos from the day.

Have I mentioned that I have a soft spot for cake stands?

and jadite and milk glass

ribbons and bows

the way light is diffused through glass

So many different colors, I couldn't get enough!

Love the patterns of the cut siding

I have gotten so sick of hearing about ghost chairs but these....yum

Rose Bowl Flea Market (Pasadena, CA): Part II - Inspiration

2011-03-14T02:52:00.001-04:00

So very tempting since I love rocks and shiny metals!

That knocked around license plate with the silhouette is awesome

Great potential for some projects

The pattern is great and I love how that the top tile is flipped

Indian textile stamps

Kind of fun

I loved these rice measuring bowls from northern China (early 1900s)

Cool planters from old baking pans

Rose Bowl Flea Market (Pasadena, CA): Part I - Purchased

2011-03-14T01:23:00.000-04:00

It's finally Spring Break! I'm in California for the nearly a week and already it's day 2. I have been feeling so inspired! I have taken over 160 photos already.

WOW. I love this place! It was unbelievable how many vendors there were and the goods that were there! I had given myself a (small) budget with the amount of cash I had, which turned out to be a very good thing. I left with two things that I love. . .

See the California print block?

My favorite purchase!

The vendor that sold me the ribbon book with colors for 1939 and 1940 was my absolute favorite. She had amazing vintage fabrics as well as color prediction books for fashion from London and Paris in the early 1940s. I was really drawn to the color prediction books thanks to my Color Theory. I would have loved to have bought all of them. Unfortunately, some of the color prediction books were missing some of the textile samples and were pretty thin so I opted for the ribbon book. I tried to find out some information on the company but couldn't find anything. The book has some handwritten notes penciled in on some of the pages that makes it even cooler.

I really want to learn about the company! The vendor and I chatted for a few minutes. She told me that designers from Target and Abercrombie had stopped by earlier that morning to purchase some of the vintage textile for inspiration. I would love to start collecting these kinds of books since I love colors and textiles.

Whirlwind

2011-03-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

Nearly 3 weeks since I last posted

3 major projects (midterms)

$$$ for parking

$$$ for printing

over 8 hours/day starring very closely at the vellum

projects > sleep

That has been my life. What's my name again? What time is it? There are three lessons that I have learned from this craziness:

Call it a night and just wake up early. No more all nighters for this old lady. My efficiency rapidly decreases at around 11:00pm. Any work done past 11:01 looks terrible and I have to redo it anyways.
Set a timer. When I'm working at 1/8" scale (1/8" = 1'-0") trying to a get a wall the right dimensions or draw a chair in 3D at a 30 degree angle, somehow a hour can fly by and all I have to show for it is a stubby remnant of what used to be a brand new eraser and smudgy paper. So to keep myself conscious of the time, I set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes.
Add 3 hours. If it can go wrong, it probably will. You learn very quickly where your skills fall short. Add this with the two above bullets, and suddenly you are at least 3 hours behind your initial (now laughable) timeline.

What were these projects? I can confidentially say that one was my favorite project so far in the program and the other. . . was the worst. Absolutely, undeniably, thank-goodness-it's-over. A hospitality carpet collection competition submission for Color Theory, the final presentation with EVERYTHING for Residential studio (worth 50% of the class grade), and a slew of CAD assignments. I loved, loved, loved the carpet collection project! Residential was the worst project I have had to do so far this program. I came some philosophical issues that really dampened the project for me. I'll address them in a later post.

My favorite carpet design (for a corridor)

My plan a few phases prior to it being finished

More details later, i.e. after CAD and after some rest in sunny California!

Loft Progress: Design Development

2011-02-23T19:56:00.000-05:00

We had a pin up for the design development stage in Residential studio today. My drafting (floor plan and elevations) were average at best and I can see my shortcomings. However, I did put together some documents to help communicate my vision for the space.

Couldn't Resist Posting: Dream Killers From My Fav Author

2011-02-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

I came across a blog post from my favorite author of all time, Paulo Coelho, that was simply amazing. It clearly articulated what I have been trying to figure what the difference in me now and me a few years ago when I was very passionate about going to law school.

3 Classical Symptoms of Killing Our Dreams (link to his full blog post):

The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight.

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the Good Fight.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state, we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams – we have refused to fight the Good Fight.

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice.

And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breathe, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from our certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of our Sunday afternoons.

Crash and Burn

2011-02-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

What a week! Actually, it's a pretty brutal semester so far. 5 weeks in plus a harsh cold and I'm exhausted. There have been a couple moments of shaken faith and resolve but for the most part I have trudged on. Literally.

I'm working on a couple of hours of sleep after a 20 hour day but it's okay. If I wasn't tired to the point of numbness, I would have had a melt down over losing about 5 weeks of work in CAD that was due at 5:00pm today. 6 assignments due today and all but one no longer exists. The plus side: (1) I'm glad I didn't pull a full all-nighter trying to get it all done and (2) more practice makes perfect. It's true. The curves on my refrigerator are looking really nice thanks to some extra time working with the fillet tool. I threw in some curves on my stove and microwave too, just for fun. Admittedly, I'm a "little" disappointed that I won't be able to enjoy my long weekend as much as I would have liked since I now have two major projects to do for next week.

I did have some fun at the Washington Design Center yesterday with a classmate from Residential studio. We were doing some research and collecting samples for our design development presentation on Wednesday. I never have enough time when I go there but I made it to my favorite showrooms.

Wouldn't this be great for "her" dressing room in the loft area?

I collected a lot of rust colored fabrics, kind of heavy, some worn leather, interesting polka dots for the baby and the female's areas, as well as a lot of mirrored furniture. As we spent at least an hour going through textiles, my classmate commented that I was pulling a lot of more masculine prints, colors, and fabrics. I suppose I was going for something kind of rugged, worn down, with some history. Kind of like the loft itself.

After the Design Center, I had an awesome discussion with my Color Theory professor. I needed a little heart to heart about whether or not there was a place for me in Interior Design if I really disliked drafting and CAD. She was fabulous and really helped me regain some balance. I was really pleased when I discovered that our class later that night was having a studio day to work on our carpet designs. I have been playing with some colors and patterns when I could take some time away from CAD. I can't wait to develop my designs even more and see how they evolve.

My favorite!

I should really be doing work right now. . . or at least folding (clean) laundry or packing and I should really be staying home this weekend but I just have to get out of here for a couple of days. A little refresher before the big rush before Spring Break so I don't get burned out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

Late last weekend, I found some really fun fabric that I thought would be fun to whip up some valentine's with. However, thanks to a terrible cold and a school to-do list that keeps growing, it quickly became past the time to send them off. I had resigned to the fact that the valentines would not get made this year.

I started feeling better and made a couple while resting on Sunday. Here are some photos of valentines that I made but did not have a chance to send this year. . . HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Color Inspiration:: Research: Iceland

2011-02-02T23:07:00.002-05:00

Snaefellsnes Peninsula

My Color Theory professor hinted at a project on the horizon where we will be tasked with designing a space inspired by colors inspired by a country (as if we were designing a space for an embassy or State Department). We were supposed to select a country and start gathering images of colors that can define a country. Maybe it's due to the build up of anticipation and then the lack of snow days but I really wanted to select a country associated with snow and ice. Or maybe because in my small apartment I have been feeling claustrophobic and cluttered so I have really been drawn to white and more minimal spaces than usual. Plus, it would be kind of interesting to play with the different "kinds" of white.

At the last minute, I thought I might be playing it too safe (ice = outdoors and light colors = my comfort zone) so I went to sign up with Brazil in mind. I love Brazilian author Paulo Coehlo and was thinking about his book Eleven Minutes. Unfortunately, someone had already selected Brazil so I randomly threw out Portugal.

I did some research today on National Geographic on Iceland and immediately switched to Iceland. I have been getting kind of antsy for a change of scenery, something more earthy than the concrete sidewalks and buildings so it was a welcomed change. I don't consider myself a "naturey" person but I definitely appreciate the purity and unpretentiousness of earthy/outdoorsy things.

There were some really cool images that I think would be great for studying color. Here are some of my favorite landscapes:

Cotton Grass

Northern Gannet

Lightning Over Volcano

Icebergs

Waterfall

Over the next week or so, I'll be on the look out for images other than landscapes.

Design Goal for the Semester and the Newseum

2011-01-30T09:02:00.002-05:00

Last semester in the Foundations design studio, I felt like I "never left the farm". Part of it was somewhat intentional since the object I had chosen to focus on all semester was the peach. Plus, at the start of the semester I found myself very inspired by the farmer's markets in South Carolina and around DC. Fast forward three months and I don't even want to think about a farm, weathered wood (although I still love it!), or peaches. I worked a lot with wood. However, as I got bored/tired of sawing and finishing wood, I started tentatively incorporating glass and metal.

My goal this semester is to really push the boundaries of my comfort zone (wood, nature-ish, cozy-stay for awhile, unpretentious). For me, I suspect, the primary material that I choose to work with is a huge factor. Therefore, I'm going to challenge myself to work more with metal and glass. Admittedly, I love the cleanness of glass and how it can be used to distort perception as well as the industrial feeling of metal. What I also like is that both materials, like wood, can have a historical identity to them. I think the use of these materials will enable my concepts to be more modern and less cluttered.

While at the Newseum, I really enjoyed seeing how glass and metal were used in the interiors. It was a very modern and minimal that allowed for the exhibits to really take center stage.

Glass etching would be cool to try this semester

This wall of televisions gave me an idea for the loft assignment

Mirror wall gave me a possible solution to a design challenge with the loft

A Glimpse: My View From the Pool

2011-01-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

I was telling my sister that I went to the pool for the first time yesterday evening and described the view like this:

"It was great. While I was swimming, I could see the Washington Monument, Capitol Building. . . and Best Buy all lit up."

Sunday Afternoon Treasure Hunting

2011-01-23T22:24:00.001-05:00

When I lived in South Carolina, a typical Sunday was spent riding around the mountains getting inspired by the beauty of the area. Since I have moved to Virginia, I find that I long for those leisurely Sundays. Until today. I found the perfect way to spend my Sundays! Treasure hunting for cool vintage or interesting finds.

I have been wanting to go to a Madison & Mabel sale since I read about this cool shop on a blog when I first moved up here. An interior design school friend and I were delighted to find the shops and the overall area a welcome change of scenery from the metropolitan area. It was awesome when we pulled up and saw this:

It was really cool! Literally. . . I kept my gloves on and was shivering the entire time but it was worth it.
Here are some of the interesting things that were being sold:

LOVE LOVE LOVE this table!

Alas, I was good and bought two small items. I love them and can't wait to incorporate them.

The wooden front/back with the metal sides made this a must have for me

sweet little pick

A fantastic little road trip that I'm sure will be happening again soon. . . I can't wait.

Concept for a Live/Work Loft

2011-01-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

Today, I presented my first presentation for Residential Studio today! I was incredibly nervous because I was not sure that I had completed all of the components correctly. In the end, I got to the point where I just accepted that I tried my best and it was my first presentation.

The presentation was on a concept for an interior space located in a DUMBO/Brooklyn loft that had formerly been a bourbon warehouse. The clients are a husband (industrial designer) and wife (fashion designer) with a baby boy. The loft will be a live/work space where the wife runs her fashion design business along with three employees. I was very inspired by the history of the space so I did some research and was intrigued by bourbon, especially the distilling process and that Congress recognizes bourbon as "America's Native Spirit". My concept is "States of Change", below is the concept statement and concept board featuring two required sketches:

States of Change

Bourbon comes to be as a result of a series of changes of state during the distilling process. During the process, “distiller’s beer” is boiled to become a vapor then cooled to once again to be liquid that is one step closer to being bourbon. The changes in state are crucial to the identity of bourbon, much like the changes in the life of an individual, family, or business influences their identity.

Concept Board

We had to create a parti diagram, which I was not completely sure of what exactly it was. My professor had drawn a city skyline with a single line. From what I understood, it is a very simple diagram that reflects your concept.

Parti Diagram

Also, we had to create three concept models. I felt like I was not confident about what exactly I was supposed to build since I was unclear about how strict the expectations were even though my professor said it was very casual. Did I need to use chip board? I couldn't build it to resemble my space, so then what? Since my board was kind of literal with the inspiration from bourbon, I decided to proceed by going against my natural tendencies by building some abstract models:

This model depicts evolution and growth

This model depicts the movement of the vapor state

This model depicts the barrels that the bourbon is stored in

My presentation went well, despite leaving out pages of information I could have covered, and I received some great feedback. Interestingly, my professor and class liked my models the best. Especially the white one.

Using Colors With THAT Carpet That Don't Make You Gag

2011-01-13T21:23:00.001-05:00

WARNING:
bad lighting + rushing to make the shuttle then train = very bad photos, especially for showing color

During Color Theory today, the professor handed us an "ugly" sample of a carpet since sometimes the client has a piece that makes you think "are you serious?!" but they absolutely have to have in the space. Our task was to come up with two color palettes (monochromatic - all the same color, and complementary - opposite side of the color wheel) using clippings from the Design Resource Library in 30 minutes for the wall covering, window treatment, bed spread, upholstered chair, and bed skirt). My professor's advice on making our selections, "Use colors that don't make you want to gag." There were some pretty bad, Motel 6-esque, carpet. Ironically, I got this one:

Despite the bad photo, it kind of reminds me an animal I used to see a lot of

I told my professor that I have probably seen that I have seen very similar carpet in person and can probably introduce her to some people that would want it.

Anyways, I had a bit of a slow start since I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to go. I went with monochromatic first because it was easier. I thought I would try brown:

Bad photo again. . . the white block is actually a textured light brown wall covering

Not that exciting but fulfills one part of the task. I'm not a fan of monochromatic color palettes unless it's white and gray. So the complementary was what I was excited about! I decided to go with blues and was really happy with the result:

From the top left clockwise: wall covering (gray-blue), window treatment, (large fabric), upholstery for chair (small square), bedspread (embroidered orange), bed skirt (blue chevron)

My professor really liked my selections, especially the complementary palette. I guess I found colors to use with the carpet that didn't make me gag!

Color wheel image: source

Drafting: Final Project

2011-01-10T01:43:00.001-05:00

My very thoughtful Drafting professor sent me the photos she took of me with my final project today, which was a pleasant surprise. I worked really hard on my final project (i.e., in addition to the build up to the project, I listened two full seasons of "Lie to Me" plus a few episodes of Bones while working during the final weekend) but I wasn't that pleased with the final result. There were aspects that I really liked but I saw the weak areas. So did my academic advisor when she tore it to pieces. It was an interesting experience and I accepted the criticism. Then I thought about it over break. One of the biggest issues was my presentation board. I wholeheartedly agree too! I just wish someone had taught me how to put together a good presentation board! You just mount the drawings to paper and/or the board, right? WRONG! Oh well, this semester the same issue will not come up. I'm sure a new one(s) will arise as I learn more and expectations from the professors (and myself) increase.

So exhausted but so happy to be DONE!

I am very excited to share something that I have literally working on for DAYS tomorrow. I was inspired by the new year and some blogs I had come across that had featured so in the final days of my winter break I have been learning a new program and getting down into the nitty gritty details (right down to the second!). Stay tuned. . .

Christmas in DC

2010-12-30T17:31:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas/winter holiday! Christmas sneaked up on me this year and I did not get to do the Christmas decorating that I would have liked. Partly because I ran out of time (it was not even on my mind during the end of the semester) and partially because I just do not have the room in my home. I brought a few of my favorite decorations from where all of it was being stored at my parent's home in Pennsylvania and decided to just be happy with it. Except that I wasn't (I was teasingly calling one of my garlands "Swamp Thing does Christmas"). . . until this happened:

My Swamp Thing garland/this-will-just-have-to-be-my-Christmas-tree fell down. Unfortunately, one of my favorite ornaments that I bought in South Carolina broke.

I was a little upset until I realized that I could glue it back together and it looked fine. If anything, I have that patched together ornament to remind me of one of my early Christmases in South Carolina and my first in Virginia. After cleaning up the fallen garland and ornaments, I realized that it was important to me to see my favorite Christmas ornaments whenever I was in the main living area of my home so I put the garland back up.

Despite a very rushed 10 days to celebrate Christmas in Virigina/DC with new and old friends then my sister, it was a fantastic!

National Christmas tree with the Washington Monument in the background

View of the state trees and the White House

Christmas tree at the American History museum

Through the gates is the White House

Union Station

Tree decorated by the Norwegian embassy(?) at Union Station

Downtown Holiday Market

Final Days of the Drafting Class

2010-12-13T09:04:00.001-05:00

I know what I'll be doing 48 hours from now. . . sleeping! A peaceful sleep without a school to-do list running in the back of my mind because I will be DONE with my first semester! After that I have a whole week to myself to do as I please (plus work), i.e. clean my apartment, do laundry, figure out what I'm going to do with all this wood and metal mesh (almost 9 yards), and squirrel away some of my old projects so I can tear them apart for the supplies as needed.

For my last ever drafting project, I'm drawing/rendering some images I found of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. It's my favorite place in Asheville. I borrowed about a dozen markers in varying shades of gray from a friend and have been trying to capture the look of the stone since Friday night. It's my first time using these kind of markers and I love it! They really create beautiful colors on the paper (I have been using trace for practice and vellum for the final) and layer very nicely.

I feel like I'm babbling as a semi-conscious means of procrastinating and because I'm tired. The final is due on Tuesday night. I also have a "portfolio poster" due for my Foundations studio class. . . whatever that is supposed to be. . .

(no proofreading this time, sorry!)

practice, practice, practice

progress on one of five drawings being worked on

gray markers galore

the white stripe across the street is snow

so thankful for this sliding glass door. . . where I'll be working until it gets dark

Who Would Have Thought?

2010-12-07T00:38:00.000-05:00

If you had asked me this time last year what I thought I would be doing a year from then, I probably would have said something about law school (seems like a distant memory or even an inside joke now), working for a non-profit, or depending on the person asking an "I don't even want to think about it". Interior design and design school were not an option or even a fleeting thought.

Yet, here I am after midnight taking a break from white washing a scaled fence/shelf for a model of a retail space selling pumpkins in a metropolitan area. I'm about to attempt to fashion some sort of scaled "glass" jars out of hot glue and wood in a few minutes then call it a night. Seriously.

Kind of crazy what can happen in a year. Especially when you chuck the remnants of your life plan out and quickly follow it with a battered faith in people doing what's right (dramatic, I know) then just hope for that it was the right thing to do. For me, undoubtedly, it was the best decision I have ever made.

Paint brush and glue gun, here I come.

Christmas Wreath 2010

2010-12-02T23:07:00.001-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Christmas decorations? I can't get enough of them. The older I get, the more I appreciate them. The unhappier I am, the crazier I get about them. It is safe to say that I bought some sort of Christmas decor nearly every day last December. That's how I accumulated 4 Christmas trees (granted three are table top trees but still) and would have had two white Christmas trees had I not recognized a problem and had a little self-intervention. It was a great distraction and I really enjoyed trying to recapture that nostalgic happiness I associated with the holiday.

A fraction of the Christmas decorations

Christmas wreath 2009

I was really into pink and green last year. I still love that combination but I have a new love this year! Just never satisfied, I know. For some reason, I have been really drawn to blues this year. Specifically, kind of a silvery pale blue (so technical, I know!) as well as a light yellow (think butter). I realized this morning that blue and "buff" are GW colors. Not sure if that's where it comes from.

I had some great blue and silver ornaments that I randomly bought after last Christmas when they were just a couple of dollars with intentions of making another ornament wreath. Apparently, I got bitten with the Christmas decorating bug's crazy cousin this year. I attribute it to being really busy because all I could think about as I was driving back to Virginia from Pennsylvania on Sunday was that if I don't make my wreath that day then I won't be able to until after finals (the 14th). So. . .I drove all over the neighborhood, five stores to be exact, in search of smaller silver ornaments for the wreath. Spent all afternoon frantically searching and all I came out with was an ice skate ornament in honor of my first time ice skating (awesome but, sadly, falls short of what I needed) and provolone cheese. In the end, Walmart came through for me. They also had some blue ornaments I could not resist. I limited myself to just a pack that can be incorporated into my new wreath.

Happily, despite the running around, I was able to complete my wreath on Sunday! I decided to hang it in front of the palm tree black and white photo like I did with the 2009 wreath. I haven't perfected how I want to hang the wreath but have an idea. For now, here's the finished wreath.

A Quick Note (Christmas Wreath, Lesson of the Day, and Rules to be Revealed)

2010-12-02T00:06:00.000-05:00

The end of the semester (about two weeks to go!) is keeping me busy but wanted to quickly share a few things.

1. I have been exerting quite a bit of self-control to stay focused on my assignments instead of going into full-blown Christmas activities. I'm still obsessed with white Christmas trees but I don't find myself in a frenzy to gather as many Christmas decorations as possible. I did let myself work on a new wreath and I love it! I'm too excited to not write about it but want to revisit it later so here is a peak at what I used.

2. My group project for the design studio class has evolved over the past few weeks, which has been interesting to witness and be part of. It has been challenging but a valuable experience. Today, I learned a valuable lesson. . .focus, focus, focus! Or you will have to break apart your model despite working hard to make sure the corners are aligned just right.

Check out that corner!

Second time. . . not too shabby

3. Big thanks to Paula for encouraging me to revisit my goal of writing here. As a result, I have spent some time reflecting on my first semester of graduate school, my values, and who I want to be. During winter break, I plan on posting about my EIGHT rules that I have to add to my list.

You Know It Has Been Awhile Since You Posted When. .

2010-11-18T00:33:00.006-05:00

you don't remember the web address for your own blog.

The last time I wrote was about one and half projects ago. That's how I keep track of time now that I'm living deadline to deadline. And, I LOVE it!

Below are highlights from the past month:

My friend from Clemson hosted a pumpkin carving that one of my new friends from school and I attended. It was great! Especially since I had been making claims that I was only going to carve/decorate a baby pumpkin then showed up hauling the smallest pumpkin I could find the night of. The best thing about my "small" pumpkin? The pumpkin seeds! I roasted pumpkin seeds for the first time.

Pumpkin carving with old and new friends

Drafting may be my hardest class but we have been on some pretty neat field trips. The most recent one (and probably the last since the semester is over a few weeks) was to the National Building Museum to visit the Palladio exhibit featuring absolutely amazing architectural drawings.

Field trip to the National Building Museum

For my Textiles and Finished Materials class, I had to give a presentation on a brick precedence. The building I was assigned was the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park. Honestly, I wasn't that thrilled about the assignment especially since I had to go to Baltimore on my only week day off since the museum was closed during the weekend and the website didn't exactly spark excitement. I was so wrong! The staff were very helpful, especially the project manager who I interviewed about the restoration of the old building and the incorporation of the modern building. It was incredible the work that was put into the brickwork alone. For more information, here's a fantastic article that includes an interview with the architect.

I attended my first Student Options Day 2010 at the Washington Design Center to learn more about career paths in Interior Design. It was really reassuring. . . partially because I was asking every professional I met about the job market and they were confident that there are jobs to be had as an interior designer. Whew. There were some seminars, which were okay, but the best part were the visits to the U.S. Green Building Coucil (USGBC), Steelcase show room (really cool office furniture), and FOX Architects. Every single one of those places really inspirational. The wood paneling and office space at USGBC was breathtaking. It was clear that the designers and planners really took into account how to encourage people to work at their best in a positive environment. Steelcase, no doubt, has awesome office furniture. Again, focusing on creating spaces to encourage people to work efficiently in a positive space, aka bye-bye traditional cubicles. I couldn't help thinking back to some of the cubicles I have worked in and then my closet/office/refuge in the attic. FOX was cool because I got to see examples of their work.

Student Options Day 2010

The Design House decorated for the holidays

No. More. Peaches. The series of projects (postcard, branding, package, display) focused on an object is done! I am really pleased with how my final project evolved. I am even more pleased with the paper I found that has a cherry wood veneer and seriously need to stop stockpiling it. The display was created at a 1/2 inch scale.

Peach Project Comes to an End!

I don't even want to think about the kitchen study we had been working on for WEEKS. I don't want to think about the fact that my 4H lead wasn't actually 4H despite what the package said. Or that one of my lead pointers has issues with holding lead. No more complaining though because class is almost over and then I move onto its hopefully less beastly cousin, CAD. One plus of this project, having to go to the copier to get books coil bounded no longer leaves me beside myself with dread and fear (Mandy B. and my former neighbors in the attic know what I'm talking about!).

Super long post. . . I guess that's what happens when you try to cram about a month's worth of thoughts into one entry.

Foundations Packaging Project

2010-10-17T18:53:00.001-04:00

As I think about the progress of my project and the final product, I realize that I have very mixed feelings. When the assignment was announced, I was really excited to get started. Especially since my sister works in the packaging field and this seemed like a great opportunity for us to collaborate.

I had sketched out a few different ideas for packaging multiples and singles. I was pretty excited about some of the ideas for packaging multiples.

During the desk critique, I found out that the assignment was for a single object. The single object packaging that the professor and I decided to explore was similar to a boxed ornament.

Click photo for image source

My initial thought behind this idea was that the packaging would really show off the beautiful color and texture of a peach. However, after the desk critique the idea just seemed boring. I wanted to work with some interesting materials and I could not stop wondering why a shopper would buy a peach in a box. Would the customer pay more for a peach in a box? If the answer was no then what was the point of putting a single peach in a box.

As a result, I really struggled with progressing from my initial sketch that I wasn't that enthusiastic about to a package that would make sense to me. Eventually, I decided the package should be reusable and able to fold for easy storage.

Constructing the package wasn't difficult and I really enjoyed using my wood burning tools. Through trial and error in addition to critiques I had learned:

that there had to be a space between the wood/walls of the box in order for the box to fold into a compact package
using a staple gun to devise a latch will split the wood as well as gently hammering the staple
this box may need instructions so people understand the concept
my fabric can be bulky and can contribute to the lid of the box not closing (this was solved by not securing the fabric to the upper 1/4 of the walls of box.)
Peaches may be plentiful at farmers markets and grocery stores during the summer but by the end of September the only peaches to be found are pricey enormous ones at the grocery store (

The box unfolded

Tie two opposite corners of the fabric together to raise the walls of the box around the peach

Flat and compact for easy storage

My New Favorite Place in DC

2010-10-13T19:52:00.000-04:00

My Textiles and Finished Materials class went to the Washington Design Center today. I was really excited even though I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. Not even when someone said eight floors of designer showrooms.

My new home away from home?

It was an amazing experience! Whenever I start to question this crazy leap of faith/career change, I will definitely make myself go here. I had to go to work soon after the class tour of three showrooms but I did make sure to go to a showroom that caught my "eye". . . called American Eye.

Not much to say (I have a lot of homework to do tonight) but took some eye candy photos to share:

Great way to welcome visitors. . . gorgeous lighting

Dear Santa. . .

I love you

My favorite showroom!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!

That's me and my classmate (also loved American Eye!)

Homework would be easier to do from here

Or here

Cool idea. . . business card or packet of seeds? Both!

Sunday Stroll

2010-10-04T12:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I went to see a movie at National Geographic with a new friend then strolled over to the Turkish festival to meet a friend from school. I had a vague idea of where I was going and was looking forward to the walk. I was pleased when I came across this completely by chance:

I am not sure if I had ever walked by the White House before so it was a nice surprise. I kept walking trying to find this festival. It got to the point where I could hear what I assumed to be Turkish music so I just walked in that direction. As I walked, I noticed that people were gathered by a fence taking photos and saw it again!

There were other interesting and influential buildings and museums that I passed yesterday and before. That's one of the things I love about living in this area.

You're So Crude! (AKA Model Making)

2010-09-28T21:55:00.001-04:00

A model of the package for the Foundations assignment was due today for a pin up/critique. I played around yesterday eventually decided on a package where the walls are attached to a square of fabric, like this:

For my model, tissue paper = fabric and chip board = basswood

The idea is that you tie the corners of the fabric to raise the walls of the box.

Or in the case of the model just pull the tissue paper together

I was pretty pleased with my model even. Especially when you didn't look too close to see that the sides of the chipboard are kind of rough. It was pretty crude representation of my concept. I didn't want to waste my good materials on a piece that I would probably have to change anyways. Plus, I spilled the beans to my professor that my sister was in the packaging field so I didn't want him to think that she had helped me with the package (she didn't). I love that the package folded into a tidy compact piece and hoped that my professor would to.

A 6:00 am photo of my box for my e-portfolio, yawn.

I got very restless while waiting for my group (4 people) to present our models for a critique because I was done with my model and very happy with it. Aside from adding a piece of masking tape to represent a latch, I had nothing to do. So when it was my group's turn I way too enthusiastically volunteered to present first (complete with shooting my hand up first, just like in kindergarten). I love presenting my projects for critiques and got some great feedback. I doubt my professor thought my sister constructed the model for me because he admitted that he got worried that I didn't understand the "Model Making 101" session we had last week when he saw a piece of blue tape securing one wall of the box. Luckily, I told him that it represented a latch! Nothing negative, just encouragement to use the wood burning tool for branding an image and text like I had described and a suggestion to construct each wall of the box with planks similar to this:

I love this!

Good news, my packaging idea does work! After squishing my box with a peach inside and toting it around in a big bag of sketchbooks and tools for over 12 hours, my peach survived. Success.

Dear Lead Pointer,

2010-09-27T20:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Lead Pointer,

You know I had to redo my drafting assignment because the velum got crushed on my way to class. WHY did you spill the graphite shavings all over my latest draft that is due tomorrow? You broke my heart. Even my new best friend, eraser, couldn't save the day. I know, I know. . . user error but have a little sympathy for a novice.

Notice the gray blotch at the bottom of the paper?

Definitely not part of the floor plan!

Just a Tease. . .

2010-09-26T19:34:00.000-04:00

basswood + red checkered duck material + three pieces of material that I had to buy

Then throw in a utility knife, some glue, with a little creativity into the mix and what do you get? My Foundations project!

I alluded to this specific project in my last post and the project itself is based on my previous two projects focused on a peach.

create a postcard featuring an object

create an ad featuring an object

For this project, the assignment is to design a package for our object. For me (in case you couldn't tell), it's a package for a single peach. I brainstormed several ideas and during my desk critique with my professor we settled on two ideas. The two ideas that I was the least enthusiastic about to be exact. However, as I developed the idea more I more excited I have gotten.

My concept is a wooden box (inspired by the wooden crate in the ad) that the consumer purchases the peach in that is durable enough that they can throw their peach/box into their bag for a snack for later with confidence that they won't find a crushed peachy mess later on. But who wants to have a bulky wooden box taking up in their bag after that tasty peach is a distant memory? Not me! So the box flattens out and you can reuse it for another snack later. I figure that this concept promotes healthy snacking, is space efficient, and promotes reusing materials.

Why do I really love this project? It gives me an opportunity to use my wood burning tool that I bought last winter and gave me an excuse to go to the fabric store. I decided to use basswood because it was lightweight yet sturdy (and cheap!) and the duck material because it's durable while the red checked pattern is reminiscent of the table cloth in the original postcard. The gorgeous red and white material, denim, and blue floral cloth. . . I just liked it (and it was 75% off!!!). I'll probably find some way to incorporate it into my project as accents (or maybe some new pillow covers for fall, shhhh!).

Now that the fun (dreaming and shopping) is done, I just have to build the box. Stay tuned. . .

Sunday at the Farmers Market

2010-09-26T14:43:00.001-04:00

I woke up early to go to the Dupont Circle farmers market since my friend from school told me that it was great and I heard that it was going to be rainy but in the 70s. I put on my new awesome rain boots, a cotton scarf, and LONG sleeves. Not only was I on a mission to enjoy my Sunday morning alone searching for some good fruits and vegetables for the week but I needed to find a peach for my Foundations project (creating a package for a single peach). My goal is to construct a few models today to bring to my pin up on Tuesday. There was only one booth that was selling cartons of peaches so I have to look elsewhere.

Despite the rain, there was a good number of people at the farmers market. I really enjoyed walking through and seeing all the different produce. I especially loved these green tomatoes and even bought one to try. However, I was surprised that it was $3! I will definitely make sure I enjoy this tomato.

My $3 tomato

I was very excited that I found these. . .

Sooo exciting!

The produce looked beautiful in the rain and I couldn't help taking a few photos.

hurray, signs of autumn have arrived!

Very tempting. Loved the green flower!

my favorite photo from the day

Bread with a smile face

It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning and welcome fall.

Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

2010-09-25T10:13:00.001-04:00

I knew that I had enrolled in the right program when I found Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth at the end of the orientation book. I had never heard of it. I immediately loved it and hope my list of rules is as amazing as this list. . . one day. I really need to working on that list of rules again! For now, I'm just adding my own thoughts to this list.

Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.100% agree with this. I do feel like I'm more changed by the most heartbreaking events more than the smile inducing. For now!
Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth. Agree with this too. Why be mediocre and settle on other's definition of "good".
Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there. This is something that I am trying to learn in school. I met with my academic adviser and told her that I want to get good grades and I wanted to avoid getting a B again. Then we had a discussion about the process, I still wasn't convinced at that point.
Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day. Love this! One of my great frustrations during the past 2 years is that I felt like I never had time to really experiment and see out some "experiments" because there was always a big rush to get the project done as soon as possible. Quantity over quality. . . no wonder I had to spend over a year seeking refuge in a supply closet in the 4th floor attic.
Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value. Agreed.
Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions. Agreed.
Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit. I dream of having a studio like the one Noah created Allie in The Notebook. Yes, I'm a girl!
Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism. How wonderful would this be!!!
Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere. John Cage, I have no idea who you are but you sound pretty cool.
Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead. Disagree, some people may be able to "lead" but sometimes it's leading you off a cliff into a very bad idea. However, I do acknowledge that you won't know for sure unless everyone has a chance to lead.
Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications. I feel the same way as I did in #4.
Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice. #4
Slow down. Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves. #4 multiplied by 1000000000!
Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort. Love you number 14.
Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant. I agree with the last sentence. I do think there are stupid questions asked too often that take away time from 12, 13, and 4.
Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential. True but there needs be trust!
____________________. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.
Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
Be careful to take risks. Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future. This might be my favorite thought on this whole list.
Repeat yourself. If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better. True! I just don't agree with cornering someone and bullying them into being a submissive or apathetic ladder for my shameless self-promotion and social climbing. No, I'm not bitter! Not at all ;)
Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.
Don’t clean your desk. You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight. #4
Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you. I love award competitions! They can push you to your best.
Read only left-hand pages. Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
Organization = Liberty. Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’
Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same. AGREED! It's amazing what you can learn and how many hearts you can win but sincerely listening without ulterior motive.
Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment. Agreed.
Make mistakes faster. This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
Scat. When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.
Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
Explore the other edge. Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
Laugh. People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves. Love this.
Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself. Love.
Power to the people. Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free. Love this about as much as I love boiled peanuts.

The roof of my apartment building is a great place to think and grow

30 Before 30

2010-09-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I was on the phone with a customer service rep and he asked me my age. I replied "25" without thinking. It was kind of embarrassing when I had to correct myself a few seconds later and admit that I actually forgot how old I was. This problem surfaced sometime after my 23rd birthday when I would instinctively say that I was 22. Honestly, I'm not sure how 27 came around so fast even though college seems like a long time ago. My awareness of my age was reinforced today when a fellow student assistant said he wasn't sure he would be interested in dating my friend because she's so much older (he's 20 and thought she was my age). So, I spent the train ride home examining my reflection in plastic divider and window while contemplating why there was a disconnect between my chronological and intuitive age.

No groundbreaking conclusions but I decided to create another list for myself. Inspired by a blog post I read this morning (sorry I can't find it!) where the author wrote about how she learned achieved one of her goals before her birthday. I love the idea of making a list of things I wanted to achieve before reaching a milestone birthday. I entertained several ideas including 28 before 28 but there are a few things that I know that the likelihood of me achieving before July is unlikely and don't want to set myself up for failure ("Sandbagging", a positive lesson learned from my former job).

30 Before 30

Learn how to sew a quilt
Visit New Orleans
Lose at least 50lbs
Make exercising a regular part of my life
Graduate with a MFA Interior Design
Write in a journal regularly
Learn how to crochet
Grow a pumpkin
Visit the Rocky Mountains
Learn how to screen print
Visit San Francisco
Visit Vancouver
Learn how to make croissants at home (even though it probably won't help with achieving #3)
Draft the floor plan(s) for the house I want to build for myself
Establish an efficient system to organize all of my paperwork
Find or develop an awesome French onion soup recipe
Take a ceramics class
Take a furniture making (not just design) class
Go through my childhood things that I have stashed at my parent's house and reevaluate what I really want to keep.
Design and build a doll house
Go on vacation with my best friends :)
Visit Alaska
Learn how to tailor my own clothes
Establish a system to keep my closet organized
?
?
?
?
?
?

I decided that it was okay to leave six blanks in case I come across something else I would like to accomplish in the next couple of years.

One day I'll be growing one of my own!

I Have NOT Forgotten/Given Up On My Blog!

2010-09-23T00:22:00.000-04:00

I know it's been awhile since I have written anything but it has been an insanely busy few weeks! I will be here in VA this weekend with no plans except errands, cleaning, homework, updating this blog (I have another one for Foundations class now).

Here are a few photos of what I have been up to:

Went to Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor event to see how big of a deal it was

Visited Mount Vernon (George Washington's home)

Melbo came to visit!

Went back to PA and had a reunion with Tori and Tsana

Went to SC since I had tickets for Glenn Beck and visited with some friends

In SC, took some photos for my Foundations project

One of my favorite things about SC (had to get some!!!)

Sunday afternoon mountain drive since I won't be there for the fall foliage

Studying packaging for my Foundations project

Working on Drafting homework at home

Who Is this Person?

2010-09-06T19:07:00.002-04:00

It is Labor Day and I spent this glorious day leisurely enjoying some of my favorite things:

bidding farewell to my friend (Mel, we met in middle school!) after an awesome weekend visit full of amazing food and fun.

Pre-cupcake empanadas in the park

an afternoon nap in between catching up on the blogs I have try to read daily. (Between school and work, I haven't had much time to read them during the week)

Planning my next Sunday trip to Eastern Market

Cleaning my apartment, laundry, and washing my fruit from the market. Also, trying to figure out what to do with the nectarines I bought yesterday that are super soft and have gotten bruised.

Where am I doing all of this? On my my sofa under a super comfy queen-sized comforter on my worn in loveseat while watching one of my favorite movies (No Reservations). Over the past week (first week of classes!) and weekend, I noticed that the feeling I had when I woke up was incredibly different than the feeling I had as recent as a little over a month ago. It was the absence of DREAD. I wake up excited about my day, no matter how busy, crazy, or expensive it will be. It doesn't matter that during most of my classes I have no idea what my professors are talking about or that I am trying to get the hang of transferring phone calls at my little student job. Twelve hour days away from home in class and work, no problem. I don't bemoan the fact that it is morning and I have to get out of my bed.

This is going to sound cheesy but I even look and laugh differently. I don't look so weathered and tattered around the edges as I used to even during my little rebellion. I laughed regularly even during my most unhappiest but usually it was linked to sarcasm or ironic observations on the craziness and the laughter more than often had a bitter edge. Now, I have noticed that I laugh just because and it reminds me of bells. My life is far from perfect and worry free (hello student loans!) but I am happy. What? Yes, happy.

Who is this person? It's me HAPPY!!!!

Off to go study on the roof and watch the sunset. . .

Foundations: Assignment 1

2010-09-01T23:39:00.003-04:00

Assignment:

Make a 4 x6 postcard expressing my analysis of an object using written and graphic language. The assignment will highlight the image that best captures the essence of the object and provide the recipient the best first impression of the object.

Time: 1 day

Evaluation: 5% of the final grade (based on creativity and craftsmanship)

I was incredibly excited about the project because of the possibilities. After a long day of classes, I was less excited and really felt the pressure. Since it was the first assignment I wanted it to be a positive reflection of my non-existent skills and commitment. I had fruits/vegetables as my category, again easy yet hard because I'm a huge fan of farmers market, so I went through my photographs and narrowed down my object to corn, rhubarb (found some beautiful rhubarb today!), peaches, or watermelon. 6 hours later. . .

My desk after I finally finished

First Day of Classes

2010-08-31T22:43:00.000-04:00

Interior Design Foundations T, TH (8:30 - 11:30)

I loved the "Foundations" class! My professor seems pretty cool and knowledgeable. This class is going to introduce me to the theory and application of design principles and elements to the specific studies of the built environment while establishing a thorough understanding of the design process. There are three sections of the class that meet at the same time so the professors put all of us in one space for today. It was great seeing the professors together and seeing their different styles start to come out. As they were explaining studio culture and the design process, I began to feel even more confident that I chose the right program for myself.

Especially when they were explaining the design process. I realized that I have been intuitively going through something very similar to the design process, which unfortunately was one source of conflict at my old job. I don't want to just copy someone else's genius, I want to be inspired by it THEN create something from that inspiration. The professors kept stressing that it wasn't a fast process and could not be rushed (which is why procrastinating is not a good habit!). Later in my second class, the professors said the same thing. They went as far as to say take the time you think it will take you to complete then multiply it by 3 to determine the actual time to completion.

Our first assignment is to create a 4x6 postcard that expresses our reflection/analysis of an object that we randomly selected from a bowl. Not many parameters were set on the postcard because they did not want 45 postcards that looked the same. This is the moment when I really thought that I have finally made it "home" after my last experience of fruitlessly working in an environment in direct conflict with my values. I was so excited and started sketching out my idea because my object is so fitting:

I'm so glad that I took so many photos at the local farmers markets in South Carolina and Virginia. Whatever fruit (I'll more than likely pick a fruit) I choose, I will be working with that object through out the semester.

Drafting and Graphics T, TH (5:00 - 8:00)

I was a little nervous about Drafting. After reading his 5 page semi-introductory/supply list, I suspected that my professor was very intense. I was a little intimidated by the supply list and length of his email but I found it so incredibly hilarious. To the point that I would read that email for fun. . . just to get a laugh. Everyone of my suspicions were accurate. Luckily, I was able to keep my giggles under control and just "serenely" smiled instead.

Orientation

2010-08-30T22:22:00.001-04:00

Despite some unexpected traffic , I made it to orientation a few minutes before it officially started. We met in the resource the library, an amazing place with books, samples, and a plotter, where the tables were pushed together to form a U-shape. Most of the other students were already there and I surprised myself by introducing myself while I was still standing in front of everyone. An official welcome and introductions were made by the faculty then the students went around the room giving a brief bio. Sometimes/more often than not, I wonder if I made the right decision pursuing interior design but orientation confirmed that this decision was the right one for me at this point of my life with my current view of the world:

Will interior design be a meaningful enough career? I always wanted a career that wasn't frivolous and contributed to somehow bettering the world. Interior designer didn't exactly come to the top of the list when I thought about potential careers. However, at orientation I was introduced to a professor, Nadia Volchansky Nieves, whose areas of emphasis includes community outreach and social responsibility. She had worked on project with students in response to the tragedy in Haiti. I'm really looking forward to learning more about this professor's work.

This is not the career path that I have been working towards since freshman year in college. I'm going to feel like a fraud around the other students. I knew when I applied to the program that it was geared towards students that did not have an art background and my academic advisor stressed to me during my early July visit that most of the other students will have no idea what a plotter is (I was very concerned). As each of the students gave a brief bio, I realized that I chose the best program for myself. Nearly all of the students have lived in multiple states and some multiple countries, many of the students moved to the DC metro area to attend GW (for undergrad and/or grad), they came from a variety of professional backgrounds, a number of them sharing that they also were on a career path then realized that it was time to make a change in order to be happy, and all of them understood the importance of good design.

What exactly is interior design? Of course, I had a vague idea and knew it was more than decorating. We were given a handbook that explained to us what exactly interior design is: "Interior design is a dynamic, creative, and challenging field that encompasses a range of disciplines including history of art, furniture design, industrial design, green (socially responsible) design, environmental psychology, ergonomics, architecture, construction, business, and decoration (just to name a few)." I knew it was more than just playing matchy matchy with furniture, accessories, and paint.

My own personal anxiety aside, there were two additional confirmations that these were "my people".

The outfits. I LOVED the outfits people were wearing! Trivial, yes. Nonetheless, I loved them. All of the outfits seemed like they represented the individual wearing them while being creative and tailored.
The last section of the handbook was "An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth". Number 25 was the one that really sealed the deal for me, "Don't clean your desk. You might find something in the morning you can't see tonight".

Long day tomorrow (Foundation of Interior Design class from 8:30-11:30 and Drafting & Graphics from 5:00-8:00) since I'll probably stay in DC between classes.

Metro with Thousands of Tourists vs. Getting to Orientation on Time

2010-08-30T20:42:00.001-04:00

I had orientation for the MFA Interior Design program on Friday. I was a little nervous about meeting my fellows students and the faculty and even had changed my outfit a few times. It was like the first day of school so I wanted to make a good impression and represent my personality accordingly!

I realized that I need to leave my apartment about 90 minutes early in order to get to the classroom in a timely manner that doesn't make me stressed. I had left a hour early but was pretty anxious about getting there on time. The thousands of tourists in town for the Restoring Honor rally were unaware of how to successfully maneuver through the city despite a somewhat controversial visitors guide on blog, which probably accounted for my travel time. My favorite part of the visitors guide was a comment posted that would have been much more helpful (or at least provide some comic relief to relieve some "big city" anxiety) to tourists:

Safety/ Metro:

Please be considerate of the fact that this is a city, that real people live and work here and are trying to go about their lives. This is not Disneyworld. And before you snap back at me, yes... people treat this place like Disneyworld. When on the metro, stand to the right on the escalator. You will get run over of you don't. Seriously. When walking on the mall, or visiting a monument, please be aware of your surroundings. People are probably trying to jog or walk or get somewhere. There is no need for you to travel 15 abreast or take up the entire width of the sidewalk. Again, people actually do this, and it's rude.

You're much more likely to get in trouble with an angry, stressed out white person on their way somewhere in a hurry than a "refugee" taxi driver. Most taxi drivers are extremely friendly so long as you don't treat them like a second-class citizen. Just remember: "stand right, walk left" and you'll be safe.

My first day of classes is tomorrow! The plan is to leave my apartment at 7:00am to make sure I have enough time to get to my 8:30am class.

Lessons I Learned This Week

2010-08-25T23:00:00.001-04:00

Lessons I learned this week:

It's a pain in the ass to have a car here. Not because of traffic or parking but the hoops (two inspections, forms, registration and title change, taxes for this and that) a new resident has to jump through to make their car legal in the state. It is extra painful because my reliable aging Civic has a scarlet letter on it's windshield that means car repairs/tightening a bolt by a professional and replacing a bulb.

my car's "scarlet letter"

Creativity with parking meters. I had 28 cents (two dimes, a nickel, and three pennies) in my wallet and wanted to go to the grocery store while I was out since I wanted to get some frozen items. Instead of going home or wandering the city trying to get cash/change, I drove through the parking lot looking for a meter with time left over from the previous occupant. I lucked out and found one with 45 minutes left. That combined with my 25 cent contribution, I had about a hour to grocery shop and then ended up having about 36 minutes left for the next person. Parking meters, the gift that keeps on giving.

The library is closer than I thought. I had unsuccessfully tried to find the local library by car twice after seeing a sign near my apartment pointing the way. I thought it was this brown building with an industrial looking sculpture on the roof but never got close enough to see a sign. My former high school lab partner, who lives up the street, informed me that the building I thought was library is actually a power center. The library is actually next to the nearby fire station.

Keep the metro tickets with a few cents on them. I discovered that I can consolidate the leftover fare on a growing pile of metro tickets. I got $5 on a new ticket from all of the metro tickets that I had somehow desensitized. Next on my list, figure out how I keep desensitizing the tickets!

Patience is worth the time. Back in April, I started making a wreath after liking one in a shop where I used to live but didn't want to spend the money on. Four months later, it's done! I really got frustrated with myself for taking so long but I wanted it to be perfect. A friend had cut the wood for me so it was my only one. Yesterday, I decided to put a monogram on the wreath before hanging. Initially, I had planned on painting the monogram freehand then thought better of it. So I created one in Publisher and was going to rub it on. Unfortunately, that didn't work at all. Thankfully, instead of forging forward with some half-hearted thrown together "solution" I took the time to figure out the best way to do this. After about a hour of delicately cutting the monogram out with an X-acto knife, I am really pleased with the finished product.

I'm a sucker for eye contact and people that call me "ma'am". Maybe it's because I felt powerless and irrelevant for so long that I respond to the authoritative sounding "ma'am". I normally do not have change so I'm not really worth the effort of panhandlers. However, yesterday the man standing outside of McDonalds looked me in the eye and called me ma'am then asked for some change to get something to eat. I shrugged a hopefully kind "Sorry, I don't have anything for you" shrug and kept walking. Then I stopped, dug out 75 cents that I had slipped in my purse for parking meters then walked back to give it to the guy. Message to panhandlers: "Ma'am" gets you change but "Miss" might get some cash/food, especially on the days I'm feeling like an old lady.

2100 Pennsylvania Avenue/I Street to 2500 I Street is my new best friend. I have a feeling that my feet will pound that pavement often over the next 2.5 years. This is the route from the area where I will hopefully be employed as a student assistant on campus to the art store. I love that I walk by the White House, parks, and a 5 Guys burger place.

Two cloth napkins make an awesome pillow. I'm not the best at cutting in a straight line and currently trying to make all of my stuff mesh together in a way they never had to before while spending little or no money. When I first moved up here, I fell in love with these cloth napkins at World Market (Confession: I have a weakness for kitchen linens) and bought two, in brown and green, at $2.99 each with the intention of turning them into a pillow since they already have finished edges. Well, I decided that I needed two pillows and didn't want to buy cloth for the back so I just pulled two old gold/yellow cloth napkins out of my laundry basket of clean linens. Two Masterchef episodes later, I had two awesome pillows that I love for $6.

New graduate student activities tomorrow and orientation on Friday!

A Little Rebellion Goes A Long Way

2010-08-24T20:47:00.002-04:00

Do you ever think about what word would define a certain period of your life? Now that I have all this time on my hands (I know it won't last for long, don't worry!), that thought has crossed my mind. After some serious brow furrowing, I concluded that "rebellion" defines this time between leaving my job and the start of classes. By the time I left my job, I had bi-weekly or monthly sessions with a stress management counselor, a receipt for a medical bill from when I nearly had a nervous breakdown and raced to Urgent Care after work for "fatigue" (I vowed never again after the lab tech couldn't find my veins when they were drawing blood for tests. Poof! I'm going to be an Interior Designer!), a massage membership, several rolls of fat as a result of stuffing my face with Cheez-its and Cokes as a non-verbal "OMG, what the hell"coping mechanism, and personal trainer that I met with three times a week at 7:00am before work (to try to wrangle some of those rolls of fat into submission). After a few weeks of some rebellious behavior, a Cheez-it hasn't crossed the threshold of my home and my rolls of fat are retreating without going near a personal trainer. The best thing of all, no more singing the Sunday evening blues. Not even on Sunday.

I got pretty wild and crazy during my rebellion. . .

Just kidding. No, I did not try to turn people into a toad Harry Potter style. But I did:

Take a break from writing thank you notes. It's actually kind of embarrassing that I haven't written my thank you notes yet. I had a hard time figuring out why I could not even open the cabinet with my stationary until I realized that it was because after having the process cause so much anxiety and grief for me that I wanted nothing to do with them. I chose figuring out my financial aid and going for walks in 90+ degree weather over writing thank you notes.

Wear bermudas, cotton t-shirts, and mary jane Crocs. Confession: the same couple of bermudas and cotton t-shirts (don't worry, I did do laundry during my rebellion). The apartment staff were probably wondering what kind of riff raff moved in because I seriously wore the same (increasingly baggy) bermudas and very worn oh-so-soft comfortable cotton short sleeve shirts for about three weeks with no make up and wild straight hair. My bermudas got baggy to the point that I could pull them on without having to unbutton them. Did I wear a traditional belt? Of course not! I took a cotton teal green Walmart scarf that often did not match and tied it around my waist.

I feel so much better. It's the little things, right? However, all "good" things must come to an end. With classes starting soon and being the recipient of e-mails breaking the news of a $500-600 upfront investment in supplies for ONE CLASS, I felt compelled to appear like a contributing member of society and wear some more tailored clothes, i.e. ones that don't require a ghetto makeshift belt. Job interviews last week and this week. Notes of appreciation writing session tomorrow.

No more "OMG, what the hell?!" Cokes and a

juicy "rebellious" replacement for Cheez-its

New Experiences: A DC/VA Kind of Life

2010-08-22T13:03:00.002-04:00

No more mountains, no more Walmart only 3 miles away, and no more people wearing camo just because. I'm not in South Carolina anymore. Sigh.

I knew that when I moved to a completely different part of the country there would be new experiences. I'm realizing that these differences are going to be what makes up the cultural experience of my time here. Some I'm really enjoying and others I'm still getting used to. What are these new experiences that I'm getting used to? Well. . .

The cost of eating out. No more inexpensive Mexican and Chinese lunches for me unless a Mexican or Chinese family adopts me.
International travels for my taste buds. A wide array of ethnic restaurants surrounds me. Peruvian, Ethiopian, Afghani, Lebanese, etc.
The price of everything. Everything has a price (you want to visit me by car? One of us will have to pay $7/day guest parking) and it's not cheap. I'm still recovering from visits to the grocery store and farmers market. Gas for my car, I'm not even going there.
Brand new carpet and appliances in my apartment. I'm definitely not complaining here. I never had this before. . . I wonder if it's partially because when I came to visit the apartment in early July before I moved I was shocked by the space and kept saying "Oh my goodness" then quickly exited.
Garage parking for my car. Again, not complaining. No more spending 15 minutes in the morning during the winter trying to get my windshield to defrost because the bottle of windshield deicer can't get the job done.
Referee whistles blowing and soccer players running in front of my window. Sort of, my floor to ceiling sliding glass door overlooks a large county park across the street where there is always some kind of soccer game or practice going on. Even at 6:00 in the morning or in 96 degree weather. Sometimes I like to watch a few minutes while I'm drinking my iced tea in my air conditioned apartment.
Newfound "optimism" when it comes to parking. A full parking lot and having to park near the back just about anywhere I go means a tiny bit of cardio, right?
Downtown DC is a two minute walk (to the train station) and $2 train ride from where I live. Not bad at all. I could probably write more about how much I like it when I don't feel like I'm melting outside.
The perks of living near the Pentagon. Like a giant three claw metal sculpture as the landmark letting me know that I'm almost back to my apartment and uniformed military people walking around all over the place.
Trying to hoard quarters for parking meters. When I actually drive somewhere (I aim for about at least once a week) there is almost always a parking meter to be paid. This is proving to be difficult when you pretty much only use your debit card.
Testing out my rusty parallel parking skills. I haven't really had to parallel park since I lived at Jameson while I was an undergrad. About 5 years!
Cheap Swedish named furniture and meatballs (that I don't eat) within driving distance. Not one but two IKEAs are about 20 miles away.

Yeah, just down the road federal laws are made

Lomos Sataldo at Costa Verde (Peruvian restaurant 5 minutes away by car)

Not quite home but it's all about having a new adventure. . .

Stay tuned. . .

2010-08-17T20:56:00.001-04:00

I can't hear myself think and feel like I can't really sit down to get my thoughts down right now. I have also been busy interviewing for little part-time jobs. Next week, the new graduate student activities really start rolling so I anticipate being even busier.

I haven't forgotten about my blog or my goal to write down my rules. I have started writing a handful of posts on a few different topics but haven't had an opportunity to get down to the nitty gritty yet. In the meantime, here are some photos to clue you into on what's to come.

Stay tuned!

Do You Ever. . .

2010-08-15T00:12:00.004-04:00

Do you ever see something. . . like a commercial (magazine ad, photo, calendar, etc.) and your immediate thought is "I want to live in that ____"? That's how I feel about this LL Bean commercial. Seriously. I looked up this commercial then couldn't resist posting it here! I would love to create something, let's say a space, that gives people the same wistful, jubilant, and whimsical feeling that I get when I see this commercial. Until then, I'll work on doing a handstand on the beach next to my LL Bean backpack.

Rule 1: Be Kind

2010-08-13T17:01:00.001-04:00

"Don't mistake my kindness for weakness." - Albert Collins

I have been witness to circumstances where kindness is seen as a liability and intimidation (and related thug-like intuitive tendencies) ruled the roost. At first, I tried to keep up to the point of adding to the pot my own deliciously exaggerated stories and gossip as well as engaged in activities that even grates against my conscience now. However, at the end of the day I felt like a poorly, inadequately dressed. . . drag queen that just didn't get it. Because I didn't! That's when I realized that this race was not worth running. Be nice, treat others the way you want to be treated, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. . . yeah, yeah, blah, blah. It may be old news and obviously it's not the way to get ahead in some places. But you know what, I'm okay with that and will not compromise my integrity by being unkind to get ahead. I don't need to be associated with places or people whose values are in direct opposition to mine.

That's how I got to where I am now (a debt-ridden unemployed interior design graduate student in a strange new city-a remnant of an old dream-squeezing my life into a 450ish square foot apartment with small closets). Then I cracked open my fortune cookie the other day and. . .

My fate has been revealed, I made the right choice.

Interior Design. . . It's All About Making Sense

2010-08-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

Me: I'm going to graduate school!
Family and Friends: You're finally going to law school, that's great!
Me: Uh, actually I'm going to get my Masters in Interior Design
Family and Friends: Wait. . . what?

Most times after thinking about it for a few seconds, my friends and sister will exclaim how much sense it makes. What a relief. . . because it was a hard decision to veer off the beaten path or rather the goal that I had been striving towards for almost ten years. Then I think back to a conversation I had with someone I used to babysit for when I was middle and high school. She spoke about how on the cusp of being 40 she had struggled with and was embracing the fact that there are some goals that you have to let go of. I'm not the same person I was when I was planning to go to law school and definitely view the world very differently. However, I am hopeful that I get will back there one day.

Nonetheless, interior design does makes sense. After a long day at work, I looked forward to reading through over thirty blogs. . . that I check daily. I later realized that I enjoyed reading (and getting inspired) by the design blogs, etc. and constantly redoing my home was really important to me because I needed to create a space away from craziness. The craziness of work, family and friends, obligations and responsibilities, and fleeting aspirations. It was important to me to create a space the defined me and made sense when I was constantly in an environment where people are not truthful and their actions do not make sense. Life may not be fair and evil trumps good but at the end of the day I can retreat into a home of my own making. A much necessary retreat.

I may end up living in a cardboard box at the end of this graduate program (hopefully not) but at least it will be the best looking one in the alley.

Why Rules? And why write them down?

2010-08-11T13:22:00.005-04:00

I have been hoarding quotes for years now because in some way I relate to them and find that they articulate feelings better than I can express in my own words. From this and very stressful circumstances, I have developed very strong convictions on how I want to live my life in a manner that is meaningful to me.

Why write this blog? One, accountability. I was inspired by the story that George Washington had a list of rules to live by (GW's rules). Even more amazingly, he drafted his rules when he was pretty young. Two and let's be honest the real reason, I feel like my brain has turned into mush after working the past 5 years and I would probably forget my own rules. I also wanted a place to document how I incorporate the design skills I learned at school into my home to reflect what I love and what is important to me.

My goal is to write out a new rule every week then elaborate during the week. If my rule has manifested itself into some interior design concept then post that as well.

Warnings:

I am not a grammar or writing expert. I will try review my posts to the best of my ability.
This is an unpretentious blog that will include descriptions of my own shortcomings (and maybe a few rants).

If you have any favorite quotes, please share!