Mentor

This is Sarah Richardson. This is my mentor. Well, at least in spirit. She lives in Canada so it would be hard to get her to mentor me in person....although that would be a dream.

She has two design shows you should watch. Room Service was her first and Design Inc. is her newest one. Design Inc just started airing on HGTV in the U.S. I love it!!! Mostly because it gives me a feel for what my career might actually look like someday. Sometimes it scares me; sometimes it looks exhausting!!; and sometimes it looks like a dream. She also just started her own furniture line.

What I would give for an ounce of her talent. For now I'm just going to imagine....and try to use her to motivate me to work my hardest (especially since I'm having some trouble getting started today...)

Melts my heart

[My niece, Maggie, 2 years old, Jan 2006]

Ruler

Look MOM! I'm using my ruler!!! I did a little floor plan for the Baby Schaus room last weekend. But I will be using it tonight and I'm sure I will be using it a lot in the coming months.

School is busy, busy, busy already. As I slowly try to motivate myself to look for a new job I wonder if I really have time for a job. I feel as though I'm doing school work 24 hours a day. It takes a lot of energy to be creative.... and to find the right coffee table for your first project.

Architecture Design and Production is definitely my favorite this semester. I get out of bed anxious to get to class. I hope that feeling continues.

School is back in session

It was a good first week but I must admit that I wasn't nearly as peppy as I was the first semester. I think I'm settling back into it though...I just tend to get a bad case of the "doubts" when I have too much time to sit around and think.

Since I'm still not working at the moment I'm spending my time trying to get organized. I want my magazines and magazine clippings to work for me and hopefully someday work for my clients.


And here is my first Design and Production assignment.... Chair design. It's not really the most beautiful or creative thing in the world...but I love the cushion. =)

DKNY

Listen up people, DK is in the house! (that's him on the right)

Dave Koon that is, one of Andrew's bestest friends from NYC and the infamous culinary student that we've been bragging about to our friends for the last 2 years. He just finished school and came to drop us a visit.

We've got some more bragging to do though. DK recently got a job at the new Morimoto restaurant opening up in NYC. Morimoto is a famous Japanese chef from the show Iron Chef that Andrew and I love to watch on the Food Network.

Of course Andrew and I decided to "gently encourage" (a.k.a. force) DK to cook for us. (how often do you get a gourmet cook in town?) I didn't really have any expectations for the meal but it was WAY BEYOND what I could have imagined. We are talking about a three course meal that was plated so beautifully I didn't want to eat it! And it tasted even better than it looked!! It was totally gourmet and fabulous!

Course #1


Course #2


Course #3



Andew and I are feeling guilty for working DK so hard in the kitchen during his short lived "vacation" to the midwest. We are trying to think of some way to repay him for such an incredible meal but have yet to come up with a good idea. And to make matters worse I think I may have given DK my cold =(.

Thanks DK!!! For an awesome and outstanding meal, but also for coming to visit us in St. Louis. It's been a long time since I've seen Andrew so happy and excited. It meant a lot to have a friend willing to come all this way to see him. You aren't nearly as quiet and scary as Andrew made you sound. =) I hope you come back to visit us again or I hope we make it to NY to see you soon. Go teach Morimoto a thing or two about cooking! Good Luck!

Bedroom

I'm feeling yuck... sore throat, heavy head... Maybe it's stress... worrying about not having a job.

Here's the bedroom:

Before: "Baby Pink" (old owners)


After: "Rainwashed" (Sherwin Williams)


Still trying to decide on what to do with the headboard, new bedding, window treatments, etc. More updates to come in the future.

2006, Week 1

[Dad and Me, Tower Grove Park 2006]

I can't believe a week of 2006 has already come and gone!

So far in 2006:

• I painted my bedroom (I will post pictures of the bedroom later today...I'm waiting for my camera battery to recharge. )
• Repainted the kitchen
• Got a new cell phone (dropped mine in the basement and the screen on the phone went kaput. =(
• Entertained my Dad and his wife Ann with dinner, the zoo and the art museum (Thanks for visiting Dad! It was good to spend time with you.)
  

This week:

• I had lunch with old co-workers from my former corporate job
• I got my new parallel rule for my drafting table at home (Thanks MOM!!)
• Running lots of errands and getting ready for school
• Getting the house ready for more visitors....Can't wait to meet you DK!

Happy 2006!

Happy New Year everyone!



Andrew and I had a fabulous evening. We started out with a happy hour at our place and then we moved the party to another friend's house about 4 blocks away (perfect walking distance). It really turned out to be a fun, happy and good time.

Pre and post New Years, I've been working on our bedroom...fixing the ceiling, priming the walls and trying to decide on a color! Here are some pictures of the ceiling before I fixed it up.... stayed tuned for the "After" pictures....hopefully tomorrow.





Thanks to Andrew's parents for sending me the Scottish purse I had mentioned on my blog for Christmas. It's awesome!!

insomnia

I lay in bed listening to:

• Andrew breathe
• Kula shifting on the bed in the guest room
• the furnace kicking on... and shutting off
• the ice maker kicking out ice in the refrigerator
• the sound of a dying battery in one of the smoke alarms downstairs

I lay in bed looking at:

• the clock
• Della curled up between me and Andrew
• the way the street lights illuminate the curtains
• the enormous hole in the ceiling directly above where I sleep (more on this later)

I lay in bed thinking about:

• the enormous hole in the ceiling directly above me is creating bad feng shui
  
• if only I hadn't been depressed all day and sat on the couch for most of it I would be sleeping right now
• how I really hate being depressed
• what to write on my blog

If there is one thing I have noticed about getting older, it's insomnia. It seems to have become a regular condition rather than an occassional annoyance. However, for this particular bout I have several theories:

Theory #1: The enormous hole in the ceiling above where I sleep.
It's not really a hole... it's actually a spot where the drywall tape was coming off the ceiling and causing the paint to crack. I've been thinking about painting the bedroom because: #1, it's still pink from when we moved in and #2, my dad is coming to visit in a week. (whenever someone comes to visit I go crazy trying to finish projects.) Anyway...if I'm going to paint the walls I need to paint the ceiling and I can't paint a ceiling with a bunch of sagging drywall tape. So, Tuesday I decided to tear off the loose pieces which left a large area of exposed drywall...directly over where I sleep. I truly believe this has created a source of bad chi in the room that is keeping me awake...or please see theory #2.

Theory #2: Being slowly elimnated from my job.
When I returned from my Holiday vacation I was greeted with the news that my employer had essentially layed me off for the month of January. Apparently business is so slow in January (and February) that there is not enough work for part-time employees. It would have been nice of them to mention this when I was hired for the job back in September.... But instead I'm on winter break from school...a time when I should be raking in the money (to pay for school), but instead I have absolutely no income at all. The real kicker is that I got a phone call yesterday morning to tell me not to come in...and not to come in today...and that Friday and Saturday were up in the air... My last week of work, that I was TRULY counting on to help pay my bills...is essentially gone. If this isn't enough to keep a person up at night...please see theory #3.

Theory #3: You never really want your X's to be happy.
This one isn't even worth getting in to.

I was already a mess yesterday morning from theory #2...I was deep in pity party mode when theory #3 happened. Not a good combo. Hence, entire day on the couch and a night of tossing and turning.

But I want to end this on a good note...(because really...where else is there to go? It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm pouring my heart out to a computer...something I'm probably going to regret by 5:32 am. )

I really have to thank Andrew. He was a trooper yesterday....for putting up with my pity party...for making me laugh, for taking care of me, for being my eternal optimist.... I could not make it through this life without him....

Here's to hoping that 2006 is filled with baby-smooth ceilings (and other smooth home renovations; part time jobs that give you hours; straight A's in school; lots of home-brew; a garden; "sparkle"; a trip to the beach; long walks with Kula; friends with new babies; lots of knitting and quilting; lots of love, happiness and good health.

every morning

"Every morning I awaken torn between the desire to save the world
and the inclination to savor it."

~ E.B. White

[via superhero]

Merry Christmas

Here is a peek at our Christmas space... and here's what I've been doing with my Christmas weekend....

I made some pillows....



I finally hung my Great Aunt Rita's mirror in our foyer (after it's been sitting in the hall since May). And I painted a blue border around it to give it some more weight and to tie it in with the blue dining/living room. Now I need to paint that table underneath the mirror black.



I made some cookies.... here is Andrew doing the happy cookie dance. =)



I did some reading....with Della on my lap - constantly. I got a lot of crafty books this Christmas which is awesome. I hope I find the time to do lots of quilting and knitting in 2006.



Thanks to everyone for your cards, gifts and good wishes. We hope you all had a very merry christmas.

31, day one

Thank you to all of my birthday well-wishers! I received many emails and phone calls yesterday wishing me a happy day.

I spent the day cleaning/rearranging my office and then I was off to work. When I got home Andrew surprised me with this cake....



and with this little gift!!


I have been wanting one of these Small Things necklaces for so long!! I also got this awesome Loop-d-Loop knitting book and this awesome Amy Butler fabric from my favorite peeps.

31 isn't so bad afterall.

Birthday

Happy birthday to me...la, la, la....blah..... I think that's about all the celebrating I need this year. I mean really....who can get excited about 31? Well I mean one exciting part is that my mom got me a parallel rule so I can draft at home!! WOO HOO!


[Me, Maggie and Mikaela; The December Birthday Girls....Dec. 20, Dec. 31 and Dec. 13]

We just got back last night from NY and celebrating Christmas with my family. The trip there was not so smooth. We flew to Chicago just fine....but the plane from Chicago to Buffalo got cancelled. Thanks to Andrew's connections with several rental car companies we were able to get a car that we could drive one way to Buffalo. It took 2 hours just to get out of Chicago during rush hour and then another five hours to Cleveland. We stopped to sleep a bit at a hotel and finished the 3 hours to Buffalo in the morning. After a quick stop to see my mom's new cat it was back in the car for another 2 hours to Syracuse. Whew!

It was all worth it though. My nieces are cute and hilarious with a bit of exhaustion mixed in. My mom and I laughed so hard we cried...twice. The trip was great! Just nice being with my family. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for taking such good care of us while we were there. Thanks to my mom for driving us around and taking us to Charlie the Butcher on our way home.


[The girls love their "I-spy" quilt]


[Me and Mikaela sledding in the backyard. They got 8 inches of snow the night before we got there...]


[The girls getting ready for the Christmas paegant at church. SO CUTE!!!]

The trip home was uneventful (thank goodness). A special HUGE thank YOU!!! to Bob and Steph for watching Kula and Della while we were gone. I've never seen Kula so happy when we've come back from being away. =) It was such a relief to know she was being taken care of by good friends.

Well...I suppose since this is my first big day off since school ended I should do something productive. I'm off to clean the house....and maybe sew some stockings.

watering the thorns

"Those of you who are scattered,
simplify your worrying lives.
There is one righteousness: Water the fruit trees,
and don't water the thorns."
~ Rumi

[via Superhero Journal, go visit to read Andrea's eloquent words.]

Tis the season

[first snow, december 6, 2005]

Crazy, crazy busy. It's my last week of school, finishing Christmas shopping, working with crazy Christmas shoppers, studying, studying, studying. Here's some peeks of what I've been working on.

This is my last Interior Design project for the semester. It was a Kitchen design.....as you can see from my boards. Maybe Andrew's Dad (who is an engineer/builder/contractor in N. Carolina) will take a look and think that I'm good enough to help him in the future..... =)












And here is what has really been taking up a lot of my time! and if I don't finish it soon it won't make it to NY before I do!! It's the "I Spy" quilt that I mentioned earlier in the year. My sister-in-law had asked me to make it for my nieces but I just never got around to it. Well....I was feeling super guilty that Christmas was here and it wasn't done. So about 3-4 weeks ago I started it. It's actually come together pretty fast and easy. I have just a couple more stitches to go.



I have my last Graphic Design project to hand in today; still finishing my last drafting project and then I have two tests to study for next Tuesday. Vacation here I come!!

Here comes baby blanket #5!!!

Congratulations Denice and Stephen!!! You are going to have a baby!!! I can't believe it! I'm so excited I couldn't fall asleep last night! Thanks for sharing the news with us in person. Let me know when you decide on a yarn color and when you are ready to talk about decorating the new baby's room! We love you guys!

B-day/X-mas list

What birthday/christmas list is complete without a new purse!? Well, lucky for me the cutest purse presented itself to me yesterday via designsponge and now I can add it to my list. It can be found at Papa Stour.

Tasty Brew

Congratulations to Andrew who had his first brewing recipe published! The brew's birthday is going to be Dec. 10. I can't wait to taste it.

Andrew and I are getting out of town this weekend and heading to a B&B in Arcadia MO. I'm planning on doing some knitting, antiquing and hopefully relaxing. It will be super nice to get away...but I have a feeling that I will have a lot of homework in the back of my mind... I think I can forget about it for one day at least.

Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Birthday Andrew!! (on Monday)

I arranged for Santa to come and visit Andrew for his birthday. He brought Andrew a Sangria pitcher, a subscription to Cooks Illustrated and a KitKat cake from Maggie Moo's.


MOM, Check this out! I'm cooking! (God I look skinny!) Andrew taught me how to make him a steak for his birthday. It was actually a lot of fun and very yummy!

Here is my project:



Floorplan and elevations (actual plan is off the internet but I made some modifications; furniture drawn in by me)



Elevation close-up (hand drawn by me)



Finishes



Finishes


Gotta run to school! Ciao!

October Update

[Halloween 2005]

Wow! Almost a whole month has past since I wrote last. I'm not going to apologize though... I'm having a blast and it is nice to be so busy that I don't have time to blog.

School is super, super awesome. Pretty much everyday that I am there I think about how totally blessed I am to be there and how thankful I am to have the opportunity. I love being in "college" again! It rocks! I'm doing well in all my classes, making friends and learning lots. I have another big project due on Tuesday so hopefully I can find some time to post pictures before I hand it in.

Andrew is doing well also. Getting in to lots of trouble when I'm not around (which is alot!)....

Here is exhibit A:


One afternoon he decided to build a compost bin in the backyard. I bet you didn't know you could fit lumber into a Mazda Miata.

Here is exhibit B:


He is WAY into making beer. This is exciting because he seems really into it and that makes me happy. I love when he gets excited about new hobbies. The first batch was a learning experience and was sacrificed halfway through....but batch #2 starts on Monday and I think it will be a delicious success.

Speaking of delicious success....

[Bob and Andrew, Restaurant #1, September 2005]

Andrew has also been busy running "Restaurant" with Bob. They had dinner #2 just last weekend and it was just as awesome as the first. It was a harvest menu with persimmon salad, squash risotto and carmalized pears for dessert. We even had a bigger crowd this time. I think dinner #3 is already in the works.

Since things were going so well I knew my karma had to even out eventually and last weekend was it.

Here's Cujo (a.k.a. Kula the Killer dog).


She started out my lovely Friday morning by BITING OFF part of the neighbor's dog's ear. I had to spend the rest of my morning at the emergency room paying for stitches for poor 14 year old Sam. Needless to say Cujo,..I mean Kula, will never be taking a trip to the dog park.

The next morning it got worse. I found out a friend of the family committed suicide. In some ways it was not a surprise because Bobby had suffered from manic depression for a long time but on the other hand...it's just not news you ever want to hear. It really shook me up because I have known Bobby since I was 3. He lived across the street from me growing up. His two daughters babysat me; his son Mike played ice hockey with my older brother Mike; and he was one of my Dad's best friends. When he wasn't depressed Bobby was one of the funniest and most entertaining people you could ever hope to be around. Everyone loved him and I did to. It was a rough weekend thinking about Bobby and his family and thinking about the friend my Dad lost. But in the end I know that Bobby is in a better place and I know that I will always have lots of happy memories of him in my heart. We'll miss you Bobby.

Despite the universe knocking me on my ass over the weekend I don't want to end this blog on a bad note.

Andrew's birthday is coming up (on Monday) and we have a romantic getaway coming up soon.

CONGRATULATIONS to Arnaud and Delphine (my friends in Belgium) on their new baby boy, Tom. I've joined my new friend Amy's Stitch n' Bitch group which has inspired me to start knitting baby blanket #4. I'm hoping I can get it done for little Tom by Christmas.

My Graphic Design teacher asked to show one of my projects at a state wide art teachers conference and I've got one of my drafting projects hanging in the hall. Yesterday I attended my first ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) event, 2006 Color Forecast. The highlight was getting my own big paint wand that has all the Sherwin Williams paint chips colors in it!!! How awesome is that! Now I can pick out colors in the comfort of my own home!

Well, it's time to catch up on some more things around the house. I'll try not to stay away from the blog so long this time.

Peace.