Good News!

My mom called to tell me that she thinks she has talked my brother into bringing his family to see me this summer. YIPPEE! That means that I get to see my family...but most of all I get to see my little nieces!!

I can't wait to take them to the City Museum and the new Children's Garden and to see the super huge dinosaur at the science center!! Having them all in my "first house" all together is going to be awesome. Thanks Mom!! (and Mike and Kelly!)

This is....

Della watching the Nova episode on Bowerbirds.


the t-shirt my Dad sent me in the mail this weekend. It says, "Just Chillin' Purity Ice Cream Ithaca, N.Y." I love it. I've been feeling a bit homesick for N.Y. and this is a nice tidbit to remind me of home...


my new favorite co-worker.... Shamus. I was meant to work with a yellow lab. =)


last but not least... these are Andrew's raised garden beds...still in progress.

Condo/Small business

Here are some full pictures of my last Interior Design II project.





Hmm... I guess you can't see my drawings so well... maybe I'll take some close-ups later.

Feeling really run down this afternoon..... I have lots of drafting to do but I really don't feel like doing anything. Might go take a nap. Sick of this cold weather... Bah humbug....

Spring is here!

Sorry I've been MIA... Last week was mid terms and I was drawing, drafting, coloring, cutting and gluing up to my eyeballs! It's all over now and I'm relaxing...looking at the daffodils in the back yard.





I forgot to take photos of my boards before I handed them in but here is a little glimpse.


This project didn't get the response my last one did...=( Guess you can't be the star in the class every time. I really liked parts of my project..I was a little bummed that it didn't get more compliments... I'll post pictures when I get it back.

Our next project is my first commercial project. At first glance it seems a bit overwhelming...and I'm not that excited about it. I hope it gets better though because I think it would be easier to go into the commerical industry rather than the residential industry.

Andrew is busy planning our garden for the backyard. We have WAY more seeds than we know what to do with. He built some fabulous raised garden beds.


That's it for now...

Disco Dog

You have to see this. =)

Tree

"Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind.
To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all."

~ Buddha

It's been a roller coaster the last two weeks. Interviews, offers, rejections, mismatches, matches made in heaven and disappointments. Looks like I'll be staying at the hardwood showroom for awhile. I've worked twice and enjoy it quite a bit.

I've had some heavy discussions with friends, family and myself in the past week. Something about interviews and having to "sell" myself brings up alot of insecurity (a.k.a. anxiety). At the same time I have been getting a lot of attention at school for my good work. I feel like I'm going from 0 to 60 on the confidence gas pedal every other day.

The best advice I've gotten so far was from my friend Hasmuk, who happens to be an architect (and a very wise yogi). I was telling him about all the guilt I carry around about my career choice. Struggling with the feelings of interior design being materialistic, shallow, environmentally irresponsible and often socially challenging. Hasmuk reminded me that when I feel this guilt it's really my "ego" talking. It's the ego who wants to feel like it is doing the right thing. It's the ego who worries about what it "should" do and what expectations it "should" be living up to. The EGO is BAD! This is something Siddha Yoga tries to teach it's students....but alas...I haven't been a very good student lately!

But this all really clicked for me. I get too caught up in defining myself with my career. Hasmuk says, work is work. Go to work, do a good job and then that's it. There isn't any more to it. It is what it is....it's not me... Which isn't to say that I can't enjoy it or be passionate about it. But I let my "ego" trick me into thinking that it's all there is. No more Ego...I've gotten smarter now. I'm going to "rest like a giant tree..."

This post goes out to my long lost little sister...

Where are you sweetie!!!!???

Dana was my first little sister in my sorority at Cornell and in the last few years we seemed to have lost touch. Then suddenly her name showed up in the Comments from my blog on Tuesday!

Dana,
I was in Colorado, gosh...back in May 2004, for Stefanie's wedding and I called you when we were in Boulder but it told me the phone number was disconnected??? I didn't know how to find you!

email me: sarakaminski at hotmail

Can't wait to hear from you!

Get well soon

[Bill and his beautiful wife Denise]

My dear friend Bill went into the hospital for his THIRD hip replacement surgery yesterday. I wanted him to know that I am thinking of him and sending him wishes for a quick and COMPLETE recovery this time. I hope all is well.

Floorplan

Well it's been a whirlwind of a week for me. Sorry I haven't written sooner. I've had four interviews in the last week; a furniture store, Design Within Reach, a temp job with Professional Office Environments, and a hardwood flooring showroom. Good news is I was offered one today and I took it... The bad news is (if you can call it bad news...) is I got a call for another interview next Tuesday. My Dad will tell me that I should be glad...this is a "good problem to have..." somehow I still feel awful. The guy at the new job is awesome...very nice and there is even a yellow lab there!!!! I start Saturday. (I can't believe I have to work Saturday! I've gotten used to having weekends again...) But... I can't wait to have money again! Yeah!!

So other than job hunting I've been throwing myself into my school work. This is my first project for Interior Design II that I handed in on Monday. The point of this project was to learn how to draw one-point and two-point perspectives.

Here's the whole board:


This is the one-point perspective:


This is the two-point perspective:



Now not to toot my own horn or anything..... but I've gotten a crazy response to this board! My classmates gushed over it; telling me that they didn't want to stand up in front of the class and put their board next to mine; my teacher said great things about it; the other Interior Design II teacher used it as an example for her class.

When I saw my own teacher in the hall this afternoon she complimented me again on a good job and she mentioned entering my board into an Interior Design competition my school is hosting this spring. =) I think this would be pretty exciting. Although I don't really expect to win, but it's nice to be considered.

I've been really obsessed with school. I worked on floorplans for 5 hours last night....when I didn't really have to. And then I didn't sleep all night....dreaming about floorplans. More hours spent on a different floorplan this afternoon. Maybe I suck at floorplans if it is taking me this many hours. Then again I just like to think that I'm a perfectionist....and I like working on them.

Andrew has been busy brewing more beer.


His latest experiment has been making a "starter"....what I call growing yeast. Did you know that yeast get so crazy feeding on sugar that they create their own current? Go yeast! Next beer is ready this weekend and two more are brewing. And more kegs are on the way to our house!!! I bet my brother never dreamed I would live with a brewer. Maybe this will get him to visit me.

Kula is busy napping....in my vintage Milo Baughman chair. Della is busy meowing. Well I'm off to work on more floorplans.....or clean the house, which is a disaster area..... or watch the olympics.

Happy Valentine's Day

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.