A month or so ago, a friend (from out of town) and I were driving up to San Francisco for a bit of shopping. I'm not even sure how we got on this topic, but I said, somewhat jokingly, that one surefire way to stand out as a tourist in San Francisco, or anywhere in the Bay Area for that matter, was to call it "Frisco" or "San Fran" (or "San Franfrisco" as my dear grandfather would say).
She turned to me and said, "What do you guys call it then?"
I replied, "San Francisco...or mostly, 'The City'."
A few days later, I was in "The City" at the Renegade Craft Fair and came upon the We Are Campfire booth. They are a few graphic designers that screen print t-shirts, mostly witty sayings about different cities, or things about typography and design. I immediately fell in love with the very graphic feel of their shirts, and started looking through the pile for one for my husband.
Then I saw it: "The City of the City: San Francisco". Genius!
My friend and I decided that we'd walk around a bit more, but that I'd go back and get it before we left. Of course, I realized when we were half way home (a 30 minute drive) that I totally forgot to get the shirt! I looked online, but the shirt wasn't up yet. Until...a couple of weeks ago! I ordered it, it came, we love it.
Definitely check them out! They have a crazy collection of t-shirts. Some of my favorites (besides the one we got) are below.
So I know that I said I didn't think I wanted to keep up two blogs, and that I'd post here only occasionally, but at the encouragement of a few friends I think I'll try to keep things going over here. Like actually posting a few times a week (a lofty goal at this point). Plus there are some ideas starting to form somewhere under the surface, and I guess this would be as good a place as any to work them out.
But first, I'd like to introduce you all to the incredibly lovely and incredibly talented Alex Charchar. He's a graphic designer from Australia, who has a beautiful website with all sorts of great articles about design and creativity. From time to time he interviews different people about different things, and after finding some of my photos on Flickr, asked me to be a part of an article about working from home, and more specifically, my personal work space.
You know how there are people out there that blog for a living? Yeah...I'm not one of them. And not only do I not blog for a living, but I can't seem to maintain two blogs at once.
So....I'll still post here from time to time, maybe weekly, and probably mostly related in some way to design.
If you're interested in my personal blog, shoot me an email (it's on the "about me" section of the main website).
While Herman was away on his most recent trip, our cable went out and I had to call Direct TV to come out and fix it. After relaying the story about the not-so-great service from the 60 year old man who seemed a bit, well, stoned and wanted to use our bathroom, Herman commented that my life is like a sitcom.
Today I walked out to get the mail and on the way back to my house, this woman pulls up next to me:
Her: Where are the model homes?
Me: Take this left (I point), then take your next right. The sales office is right there.
Her: No. No. I mean, Where are the model homes?
Me: Um. Take this left (I point. Again.), then take your next right.
Apparently, they've been around for quite some time (since I was about 13 years old. ack!), but this is their first US release? Is that right? I could be wrong.
Anyway, it's a great album, and this song is currently my favorite. Enjoy!
You'd think that having all of the fire alarms go off in your new town house and having the fire department there would be much worse than having to talk to the swarmy customer service guy who totally knows you reported him for inappropriate behavior in your house .
So I turned 30 on Monday. 30. I don't know what 30 is supposed to look like, but I have this strong sense that I should be dressing better. You know...not so much like a college kid.
Besides being a bit sad (more for comedic affect rather than really being sad. Sort of), I had a pretty good thirtieth. Herman got me an iPod touch, which is definitely one of the coolest things I now own and makes my sad old iPod look, well...sad and old. And clunky. He also got me a few movies (including this one that I've been wanting for a long time) and a speaker dock thingy to plug my new iPod into. Woot!
My day was filled with heartfelt birthday wishes (some of which made me tear up a bit), cool gifts, my favorite foods, tulips, friends, family, and French macarons (yum!). All in all, not too shabby for a thirtieth birthday. A big thanks to all of you!
So today's the last part of the house tour. Are you glad? Can you tell I really have tried to stretch this baby out to look like I blog on a regular basis?
This is the hallway/laundry area at the top of the stairs on the second (or is it third? I don't know if we count our garage as the first floor or not) floor. I absolutely adore these Michael Sowa prints that sit at the top of the stairs. I first feel in love with them when watching Amélie, but had no idea who made them or if they were just made for the movie. About a year ago, I found out who the artist was, and my bff (*wink*) Sumiko got me the dog for my last birthday (which actually has significance beyond my love of the print) and I got the regal eagle (hen? peacock?) to complete the collection before we moved in. There's such an air of mock seriousness in them and it makes me smile to see them every day.
Before we found this house, I told Herman that one of my wishes (that I didn't think would happen) would be to have a laundry room near the bedrooms. In Florida I got so tired of dragging laundry up and down the stairs, and of course, in Providence we had to use communal laundry rooms (bleh). So this is definitely one of my favorite things about this house. Although, it is a very small closet and they "highly recommended" getting a junior washer and dryer, Herman and I weren't too excited about that, so we took the door off of the laundry closet and went for the full size ones. And I'm glad we did.
Because I used a wide angle lens, this area is looking a lot bigger than it really is (and white. The walls are actually the same light gray as the office). So you can imagine what a pain in the arse it was, first, for the Sears guys to install the washer and dryer and then, with the water overflow situation, for the construction guys to come in and fix everything. I have to say though, that it's nice that doing laundry is no longer a much dreaded chore.
In our master bedroom, it was all about creating a comfortable, soothing, and relaxing space, and finding the perfect shade of blue was a huge part of that.
We also wanted to make the space personal and full of the lovey-dovey stuff that I usually laugh at...only we tried to do the lovey-dovey stuff in a cool way, of course. The red print above our bed on the right is a screen print that says, "All You Need is Love". I got it for us for Valentines day (awww...) because of our love of a certain Beatles song (trust me, you'll want to follow that link. I might have watched that a crazy number of times, and it may or may not be my ring tone). The other screen print says "We Are So Good Together", and was an extremely hard to track down because it's always sold out. On the right is this great bird mobile that I love, and that Dexter sometimes thinks he needs to attack, but, thank goodness, hasn't yet.
Our vows, a pop of color (love from Paris!), our very own Eiffel Tower (thanks Dean and Soom!), and some old cameras - one belonged to my grandmother, the other to my great grandmother.
About three years ago, I stepped into a friends house in Providence in which the living room was painted a beautiful brown color. I decided then and there that if we ever had a place of our own, I'd have to have brown walls somewhere. Herman was sort of hesitant about it at first, being sort of unsure about how heavy it might end up feeling. But when I got done painting the brown wall in our bedroom, he loved it. So much that we even ended up using a lot of brown in our bathroom as well (unfortunately, I don't have photos of the bathroom. There is no natural light in there, so the photos weren't coming out very well). Now, I know that a lot of people think that the whole brown/light blue trend is one that has passed, but we still love it. And just so you know, painting this wall was like painting with milk chocolate it went on so nice and deliciously.
I absolutely love have a smaller living space. And since we got to start over from scratch, we were really able to edit the junk out of our lives. But one problem we ran into was what to do with all of our books. We've had to spread them out between all of the bedrooms, and are even planning on putting bookshelves in the garage to contain the overflow. For this room, we bought the Ikea Lack floating shelves which are stronger than I thought they'd be and easily hold our collection of classics. And an owl. Naturally. We call her Helga. She's the robust German bride of our dear Bernardo.
This is one of my favorite corners of my house. Right now, we just have an extra dining room chair here, but my dream is to have this guy sitting here. But he's quite expensive and it'll take me awhile to save up for 2 (yes, two. One here, one downstairs) of them. I put my favorite pair of shoes here because they make me happy.
Just so you can see better the layout of the top floor. And Dexter.
When Herman and I were in Paris, one of our favorite places (besides Montmarte) wasÎle Saint-Louis (Amy, did you and Justin spend much time there?). During our last week, we were walking around there, and came across this little gallery that was showing the work of graphic artist Ted Naifeh. I love this sort of work, and we were so disappointed that the gallery was already closed. But we went back the next day, perused the gallery, and bought this poster which shows one of his characters, Courtney Crumrin, walking down the same street in Paris that the gallery is on (the street that I took this photo on). We managed to get it back in one piece and now it's safely framed and hanging in our room.
So there you have it. Our house. And of course, more photos on flickr. Hope I didn't bore you too much.
One good thing about having little disasters strike in a new home built in a community is that there is a one year period where you can call on said community to come to your aid, especially if there is water coming out of your ceiling.
Yesterday, the customer service guy and some of the construction guys came over, pulled out the washer and dryer and tried to figure out what was wrong. They ended up snaking the pipes, then cutting a hole in the laundry room area to see if they could figure it out. The good thing is that whatever was blocking the pipe must've been pushed through because when we ran the washer again there were no problems. They then patched up the wall and went downstairs to the kitchen to fix our ceiling. Luckily the water damage was minimal (seeing as how the bulk of the water came out the fire sprinkler hole), but they cut a huge hole in our ceiling just to make sure, then cut out the wet spots, and immediately patched it back up. (E - I was going to take a picture of the huge hole in my kitchen ceiling...but I couldn't get to my camera before they had it patched up). The good news is that I ran a load of laundry today and all the water stayed where it should. Woot!
So on with the tour!
Should you ever come to the SF Bay Area and need a place to stay, this is the room you will be staying in:
As you can see, there is a huge (yes, it takes up most of the room) comfy bed, and plenty of reading materials to keep you occupied.
And an owl, of course. If you are lucky, he might be filled with candy.
I saw this screen printed typographic poster awhile ago on some design blog and the graphic designer in me met the SF lover in me and we both leaped for joy and then immediately bought one. It's really quite beautiful (they also have Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Manhattan) and impressive.
Remember the Manhattan mist paint color that turned out lavender in our office that I had to paint over? Well, we decided that we would put it here in the guest room. For the most part, it looks like a nice gray, but in low light the lavender really comes out, but it's the guest room and seems to go well with the bedding, so I'm pretty happy (plus, I really didn't want to repaint another room).
And added bonus - a private bathroom! Definitely nice.
See more on Flickr! Tomorrow I'll finish (so soon?) the tour with our bedroom, one of my favorite rooms in the house.
So, no house tour today. Mainly because I came home from running errands and found a HUGE puddle of water in the middle of my kitchen. From whence did it come? The frickin' laundry closet...upstairs. See, I left a load of wash washing when I went out, not knowing that the stand pipe would decide to reject the water all over the floor.
I freaked out. Then called some good friends...no, some great friends, who rushed to my aid. Now I have to wait until tomorrow morning when some construction dudes come over to figure out what's going on.
Did I mention that the ceiling in my kitchen is leaking? And that my husband is currently half way around the world? Seriously, freaky things happen when that guy goes away.
Before I went back to school I didn't really care about having my own space to work in our house. In Florida, the office room was Herman's to do with whatever he wanted. In Providence, we didn't have an extra room, so we split our living room in half and each set up a work space. I needed it, obviously, since I was creating everything by hand, printing daily, etc.
So when we moved into our new place, it was super important for me to maintain a space to work (freelance projects, personal projects, etc). The original idea was to split the office in half, but we soon decided instead to break it up according to needs. And I, apparently, have more space needs than Herman (and you'll notice that I've artfully photographed my space without you seeing his space. His space is sort of messy). There's the desk for my computer, then the bookshelf that holds all of my design books/magazines/supplies, then another desk for my printers and space for an inspiration board and Steve Nash poster. Naturally. I've also got drawer unit in the closet for all of my paper goods (love, love, love it and sort of want another one to stack on top of this one). I didn't photograph that though because our closet is a mess and half of it is Dexter's litter room.
The space works nicely, and for as much stuff as we have stuffed in there feels pretty open. I had to paint this room twice. The first time I painted I used Behr's "Manhattan Mist" which was supposed to be a nice neutral gray, but ended up looking lavender in the room. We did not want a lavender room, so I went out and bought Behr's "Silver Tradition" which worked much better (and is also what I painted the downstairs bathroom).
My inspiration board is where I like to layer up all the things I like to look at, or things that, well...inspire me. This is also the desk that holds my laser printer (the jumbo gray one), and my new large format Canon inkjet printer. I've been working on a couple of freelance projects, so it's nice to have a space that is comfortable and inspiring to work in. I also am going to start looking for a job soon, which means putting together portfolios and leaving pieces, so my inkjet will really be put to use.
So awhile ago, I blogged about the owls that started the owl obsession after seeing them in a little store in Providence, then being delighted to find them for sale at Anthropologie. Well, funny story. A couple of weeks ago, Herman and I were in a local Asian supermarket, getting a few groceries, when I wandered down the dishes aisle. I noticed another young woman with a baby strapped to her who was also wandering down the same aisle. At the same moment, we both spotted the very same owls that Anthropologie sells, in different colors, and in big mug form, and exclaimed "I've seen those at Anthropologie!" I drug Herman over and spent a good five minutes trying to decide between the white owl, the brown owl, or the gray owl. I got the brown owl, and Herman said I can get the white one later (woot!). Considering that these little mugs are only $7, and a lot more expensive elsewhere, I'd say it's a good deal.
Most of the books on this bookshelf are all design related, but I do have a few that I wanted to keep here as well. And in the interest of full disclosure (because there's no secrets between us!) I've posted a close up for you to see. Much of my geekiness (dorkiness? nerdiness?) will be found right here in my personal work space. Yes, that's an original Return of the Jedi lunch box. I had one when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. I'm not sure what happened to it, but I found this one (in almost mint condition) on ebay about a year ago. The Star Wars pop up book was a Christmas gift from Herman (and even Sumiko, who has no interest in Star Wars will tell you it's easily one of the coolest things).
So that's our office/studio space. Minus Herman's work space, that is. Over the weekend I'll post photos of the guest room for you. And as I did yesterday, I've put up more photos on Flickr.
So it's hard to believe that we've been in our house for over 2 months. I've worked hard and am so happy with how everything has turned out. It feels so comfortable, relaxing, and peaceful. Just what we wanted our home to be. We are settled in and prepared to stay for awhile!
Remember these photos? The before of the pristine floors and white walls? I loved that first day when everything was new and fresh and waiting for us to put our stamp on the place. And we did...
Welcome to our home!
This is the view from the far corner of our living room (by the big window). The area is quite small, but with all of the open spaces it feels very comfortable.
The couch is from Macy's (from a collection that shall remain nameless here, given that I vowed never to go over to the dark side, but couldn't help it when we fell in love with the couch. If you really want to know...click here). We were really lucky that our house closed at the end of January, for a number of reasons: 1. Our families gave us much needed gift cards to places that we really love - Crate and Barrel, Ikea, etc. and 2. We got to catch all of the great after Christmas sales. Our couch was 30% off, and we got a great deal on the shag rug and our appliances.
When we were living in Florida, we had a huge dining area, and Herman and I saved up to buy this beautiful table and these chairs. We loved it and were sad to leave it in storage when we moved to Providence. We figured we'd move it back to CA, but as soon as we moved into our place we realized our space would not fit our beloved table! So we bequeathed it to our good friends Larry and Amanda, who needed a dining set. That still left us without so I eventually found this great little table from West Elm, which fits perfectly in our space and opens to seat at least six. Plus, as an added bonus, one of Herman's aunt and uncle's bought it for us as a house warming gift. So nice! We loved the look of these chairs with the table, but didn't want to pay that much, so we opted for the Ikea version.
Awhile ago, Herman and I decided that we really wanted to fill our home with mostly original art that supported independent artists (think etsy, blue flip art, tiny showcase, etc.). With so many affordable options available, I've been collecting pieces for the past year and a half. We created this art wall to showcase a lot of it.
This is the view of the landing that goes down to the front door and up the stairs.
The kitchen. Still loving the subway tiles. And yes, our fridge is huge. Sumiko likes to say that all of our appliances are on steroids. She might be right...
Herman and I've been married for almost seven (7!) years, and I would get so tired of hearing him ask me, "Where are my keys?" or "Have you seen my wallet?". So, before we moved in I thought and thought about options that would keep me from hearing those questions again. What I finally landed on was getting this shelf and placing it on the wall directly in front of the garage door. You come in and voilà! You automatically have a place to put your keys and wallet. I also put a small dish on there for coins, and pretty-ed it up a bit with a small letterpress calendar, a print by one of my all time favorite artists, a letterpress postcard proclaiming that picky eaters need coffee, and (my favorite) a little postcard from this great kids store in Montmarte, Paris (roll my chicken!). It's become one of my favorite little spots in our house, and really, it works like a dream. Herman hasn't lost his wallet, keys, or phone once since we moved in!
Cot! Cot!
For a town house with less than 1200 square feet, the space is really well planned. 3 bedrooms and three full baths. Lucky us!
I took a ton more photos, but didn't want to overload the blog with them, so I put them up on my flickr page. Enjoy (if you want, that is...)!
Tomorrow I'll show you our office and my studio space. Thanks for looking!
For the few of you faithful readers...I've finally photographed our entire house! Over the next few days or so I'll be posting all of the after (and a few of the before) photos.
I'm so happy with how things have turned out, and super excited to share it with you!
Tomorrow: the main living areas. Friday: our office/my studio space.
I'm pretty lucky in the husband department for many reasons, most that I've mentioned here before. One that I'm really thankful for is that we share similar tastes when it comes to what to do with our home. And, unlike a lot of husbands, he really cares about these things.
There are still those times though, when ours desires really clash. For instance, he would really like to have an oriental rug (he sort of fell in love with them when we were in Turkey last year), but they are something that I really can't get behind putting in our home (I appreciate the craft...just don't like how they look).
So we came up with a deal for these sort of situations and it goes a little like this: if one of us sees something that the other doesn't really like, but can live with (ie, my current owl obsession), we give the go ahead to get said thing. But if one of really likes something that the other really, really doesn't like (ie, his desire for an oriental rug), we have to let it go.
So far, it's worked quite well for us, and we've both gladly given up a number of things. Until I fell in love with this print...and Herman really didn't like it. le sigh.
So one of you needs to give this lovely little print a home. Preferably someone who will let me admire it from afar from time to time.
Last summer Herman hired me to do all of the design work for his start up. I've done the logo, some icons, a booth design for CES, business cards, and postcards. Next up is working on mocking up the websites and then packaging. It's been fun, and just got a whole lot funner (more fun?) because that freelance job payed for - is paying for - my new Mac Pro! Look how sexy!
Oh. And Herman finally broke down this past week and got a MacBook Pro for work. I'm so proud.
Most everyone who knows us knows that Herman is a champion gift giver. Seriously, the guy deserves an award or something - or a really good gift. In the 10 years that I've known him, he's never phoned it in when it comes to special occasions (do you all remember the renting of the Shelby Mustang for the 5th anniversary?).
Now, we're not big Valentines Day celebrators, but last Tuesday (the one before v-day), homeboy comes home and hands me a box (which feels suspiciously light) to open. When I protested that we weren't supposed to get each other anything, he insisted that it was really a gift to us. A gift of tickets to the Warriors/Suns game the next night (I'd been begging him since we moved back to take me to a Warriors game when the Suns were in town)!
The game was perfect, albeit a bit strange with me rooting on my Suns while Herman rooted on his Warriors (and I just have to say, in any other situation, I'd totally be rooting on the Warriors - have you watched Baron Davis play?)...with thousands of other Warriors fans. The only part of the night that wasn't perfect (for me) was when Barbosa missed a three pointer with 3.2 seconds left in the game, leaving the Suns to lose by two. Otherwise, perfect.
So this small thing happened on January 30th: we got the keys to our house! OK, not such a small thing, but rather a huge and exciting thing. Behold! The house (and yes, I realize that the photos are pretty much identical to the ones in the post below):
After getting our keys, a few things happened that can account for the 3 week blog silence:
1. I almost immediately began to paint. Then I painted some more, and after a painting break...well, I'm still painting. As of right now though, I only have the guest bed and bath left, and then I will have accomplished the huge task of painting our entire place. Except for the rather large wall that at its highest point reaches about 20 feet. That wall is staying white. Unless any of you want to come over and paint it for me. I will post photos once we're settled. Needless to say, it looks quite different.
2. We moved in! And aside from still needing to install blinds on the office and guest bedroom (just ordered from Costco), get a small dining room table, and, oh yeah - unpack everything, we absolutely love it. I can't believe we get to live here, and have no complaints. Except for...
3. A rather annoying smoke detector that sporadically beeps, no matter how many times we change the batteries (it's in the garage though, so it's much less annoying than say, in our bedroom). And the fact that we just got phone/internet today because someone forgot to install all of the wiring for said phone/internet prior to us moving in. Fun stuff.
Other than that, we are two very happy people and one very happy cat (who is back to his old habit of sitting on my hands while I try to type).
Today was our final walk through before closing. This was the day that we got to see our house in all of its finished glory. We spent a couple of hours with a customer service guy, going over the house with a very fine tooth comb - pointing out places that need touched up, etc. We're quite lucky because there weren't any huge changes that needed to be made.
The place is gorgeous and I can't wait for all of you to see it. We get our keys next Wednesday (hopefully...if nothing out of the ordinary happens) and I'll probably start painting that day. Maybe we'll be moved in enough to watch the Super Bowl at our place!
The quality (color) of the photos isn't too great, but I'll take better ones (and more of them!) after we get the keys. There'll be a lot of before and after shots.
CES, Mustangs, MacWorld, and More Gratuitous Kitteh Shots.
A bit of a round-up of the last week....
Herman spent all of last week in Vegas, launching (pre-launching?) seedonk at the Consumer Electronics Show. I'm so proud of him, and it was super cool to see his idea becoming a reality. I flew into Vegas on Thursday morning, and got to see the last day of the CES. It was fun to see all the latest gadgets and trends (super skinny tvs! cell phones that...do....things!), but I have to admit that it was slightly overwhelming after awhile.
Our plan on Friday was to go to the Shelby Auto Factory in the morning, rest and hang out in the afternoon, and catch the last Love show of the day at 10.00. But when we got to the Shelby Auto Factory, it was closed for a special event - Carroll Shelby, the man himself, was turning 85 and they were having a huge celebration for him. Oddly enough, we weren't invited in. We did go to Love that night (at the Mirage) and it was fantastic. You might even say it was bloody fantastic (see what I did there?). It was over way too quickly and I believe my first words (after sitting with a dumb grin on my face for several minutes) were "Can we see it again?" Herman just smiled at me, that being the second time he'd seen it.
On Saturday morning we made attempt number two at seeing the Shelby Auto Factory, and were not disappointed. We got to see the museum portion, which is basically Carroll Shelby's personal auto collection...his very enviable auto collection (row 1 photos). Then we took a tour of the factory where they create the original Shelby's, as well as where they take your pitiful little 300 hp V8 Mustang GT 500 and turn it into a 600 or 700 hp monster. At which I say, "I'll take two please!" (the beautiful car in row 2).
One of the cool benefits of being there during the big birthday weekend was seeing a small part of the big Mustang meet that was taking place. Apparently, there were races and other fun things for the celebration. Those who know me know that the 1967 Shelby GT 500 (Mustang) is the dream...It was great to see one in the showroom, but also fun to see a 68 in the parking lot (last row of photos). Of course, it will only remain a dream unless someone wants to shell out over 6 figures to buy me one. Herman did buy me a model replica though!
One last cool benefit of being there last weekend: when we were getting in our car to leave, another car pulled up along side us. I casually glanced in and was shocked to see Patrick Dempsey in the passenger seat. He quickly got out of the car and went to talk to someone. I sort of wish I had the guts to talk to him, but I didn't. And really, what would I say? It was fun though.
The big thing happening this week in was the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. I sort of followed the big announcement but otherwise didn't really think much about it until Herman came home from work Tuesday night and asked me if I wanted to go to MacWorld sometime this week. Um, yes please! We went on Thursday morning and whatever geekiness didn't come out in me at CES came out here. I loved the huge teaser banners, and walking into a huge convention hall with all these Mac Users...or "Mac Fanboys" as Herman likes to call them. We got to play a bit with the new MacBook Air (which is every bit as sexy and sleek as it looks), and saw some pretty cool booths. All in all, not a bad time.
In house news, I don't have any new photos, but I can report that the place continues to look absolutely fantastic. They've landscaped the entire front, and I assume, are just taking care of the last minute details. We have our final walk through this Wednesday, and we close the following Wednesday. I'm going to spend a few days painting after the closing and before we move in, but hopefully, if all goes well we'll be moved in in two weeks or so!
And lastly, for your viewing pleasure:
More gratuitous kitteh shots! I was having fun with our wide angle lens...at, as Herman pointed out, Dexter's expense. I'm not sure what he's doing in that last shot. And really, it's probably better if we don't ask.
On the 14th, at 9.00 am, I presented my degree project in front of my adviser, a visiting designer, a number of other professors, and a few of my friends. I've devoted all of my energy and most of my time to RISD for the last two and a half years, and to my degree project for the past six months...and those 30 minutes on Friday morning were the most anti-climactic of my life. But I am done...and very happy for it.
After my presentation Herman picked me up and we spent the rest of the day packing, cleaning, and getting rid of things in our apartment. After our friend Larry arrived, we finally went to bed at 3.00 am, only to get up at 7.00 so that Dexter and I could catch our flight from Boston to San Francisco (we were on the new Beta Blue flight on Jet Blue - internet on a plane? Seriously? ). Herman and Larry then spent the entire day finishing up the apartment, and took off for New Haven (to my brother in laws) at 3.00 in the morning.
Luckily, the worst weather they encountered was from Providence to New Haven. They safely made the drive to California in 5 days. It's hard to believe that we are once again living in the Bay Area. I've had a permanent grin on my face since arriving. We're currently living with my in-laws until our town house is finished next month.
We went by the house on Sunday because we were told they were going to start laying the carpet...and that we wouldn't be able to go in again until our final walk through. I'm breaking with my normal format to bring you the last of the construction photos. The next time I post photos of the house, we'll be close to moving in!
A view of our front door and the big shared patio being built; it should be quite nice when they are finished. We're also lucky enough to have our very own private patio (some of the units share a stairway and patio).
We are so excited with how the subway tile back splash turned out. And when we were there this past Sunday, our appliances (dishwasher, gas stove, and microwave) had been delivered and installed.
Two different views of the main floor. We can't wait to have the paper removed from the floors so that we can see them in all their engineered hardwood glory. And one of my most favorite things in our house in the view out of the window above the front door. I will definitely be able to get used to that!
Our very own Mt. Everest. It's really impressive when you walk in the front door.
The master bedroom and sort of walk in closet.
A couple of years ago, Herman and I found a photo of a beautiful modern garage door in some newspaper. We tore it out and saved it for a future home...not knowing that our new home would come with its own beautiful modern garage door. Love it! That is, in fact, a two car garage. We get to have the joy of tandem parking...should be interesting.
Yesterday when I posted the photo, I didn't realize that Herman had actually taken a few more. So here they are!
1. Our front door and where our address will be...since they put in the wrong numbers. 2. The entry way (a half flight of stairs leading up to the first floor). That's our gorgeous dark wood floor peaking through! 3. Subway tile back splash in the kitchen. The stove and microwave will be in those spaces. 4. The master bathroom.
Herman is home one last time before we make the permanent move this coming weekend. He stopped by the house today and was super surprised to see that the wood floors have been laid, the kitchen countertops are in, the subway tile backsplash is put up, and the light fixtures are installed. Say what?!!!
My last full week here in Providence is insane. I've got to finish my degree project (I'm presenting at 9.00 am Friday morning), finish my last two assignments for Senior Studio (final crit on Tuesday morning), get some mock-ups of business cards done for Herman, and finish packing/cleaning/decluttering our apartment. I'm going to be so relieved on Saturday morning to climb on that plane in Boston, with Sir Dexter in tow, and fly away from all of this. It's been incredible, but I need to be done.
Until then, I'm keeping this photo open on my desktop, and reminding myself that in 5 1/2 days I'm finally moving back to California!
This photo is not the best...but it is pretty good for a camera phone, which is what it was taken with. When I get back this coming weekend I'm going to the house, and will take more photos.
So the really unbelievable thing is that in a little less than two weeks, Dexter and I will be on a plane home. Leaving Providence behind for good. It's crazy. And slightly sad. But mostly just exciting. Although there is a ton of stuff to get done before the 15th - including presenting my degree project and portfolio.
Which, speaking of my portfolio...hopefully within the next week, my website will be a fully operational portfolio website! I've decided though, not to link to my blog from the main site. But never fear my faithful 5 readers - I'm going to keep my blog running. Just make sure you type in the direct address to it: http://www.45walldesign.com/blog/.
And now for some photo fun:
1. Our living room as it has been for the last 2.5 years. Very comfortable. 2. Our living room after thanksgiving when my brother in law came up from New Haven and took the majority of our furniture. And yes, those are captains chairs. We're also sleeping on an air mattress. Très, très, classy 3. Our living room today, after we listed and sold the rest of our big items on Craigslist yesterday. 4-9. Gratuitous Kitteh shots. Blissfully unaware.
So what does a Yau do when they have a little over 24 hours in the Bay Area? Go check on the progress of the town house, of course. After a month away and three different countries, Herman is finally going to be back in Rhode Island with me tomorrow night. I'm very excited that he's almost home...and very excited that he took some new photos of the house!
Tentatively we're supposed to have our final walk through around January 9, and close about a week later. But, you never know with construction, and...I'm a pessimist....so I'm just hoping that we'll have the keys before the end of January. Fingers crossed!
1. The wide shot of our building (we're on the second from the left). The big wooden fence has finally come down and it looks like they are starting to do a bit of landscaping. 2. Our front door is right behind that wooden piece. 3. Our front door and patio! 4. The window into our livingroom. 5. Our kitchen. Even with the protective plastic on the cabinets they are still beautiful! 6. Kitchen again. The sink will face into the living room on the right. 7. Downstairs bathroom. They still need to grout the tile and install the toilet, but the rest of it looks great! 8. Upstairs. The guest bedroom is to the left, and the small closet for the laundry is to the right. We're hoping to fit a full size stackable washer and dryer in there! 9. Guest bathroom (upstairs). 10. Our bathroom. The toilet closet is to the left and the shower to the right of the counter. 11. Looking into the master bedroom.
So the last post on shopping/home stuff was stuff I love and have...now for stuff I love and don't have. But I wanted to share anyway because I figured that you guys would love this stuff too. Enjoy!
1. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. It would look amazing in our future bedroom. I just don't know if I'd ever be able to actually spend more than $50 on art... 2. I adore this tray, and was waiting to get it. Then I checked the website the other day...and they're sold out! This is a really great alternative though. 3. Ok, ok, not so much for the home...but look how pretty! 4. It's type. On a pillow. Need I say more? 5. Every single one of these is amazing...one of each would be great. 6. I have to sleep with a fan on. Right now we have a cheap plastic fan from Target. Great for white noise, not so great for the eyes. But this vintage looking beauty would be great all around. 7. I think she would be the perfect companion for Bernard...what do you think? 8. It's birds. In brown. On a pillow. Need I say more?
Since Herman is in Asia (Japan, China, Thailand) and I'm here in Rhode Island, we asked one of the sales people at our community to take some photos of our place for us. I just opened my email and when I saw these photos I think my exact words (out loud for only the Dex to hear) were "Oh Crap!" In a good way of course.
I know that they only have about 2 months to finish and I know that after getting drywall up it all goes pretty quick, but I don't think I was expecting cabinets and everything to actually start looking finished. It's just too exciting! I am trying to be all here and finish school strong. Really, I am...
Now for the tour: 1. Our kitchen! With cabinets! We're going to have black granite counter tops, and a light gray subway tile back splash. 2. From the 3rd floor looking down to the main level landing then to the front door. It's quite impressive when you walk in the front door and see all those stairs. Our very own mini Mt. Everest. 3. From the top of the stairs looking past the closet for the washer and dryer, and into the master suite. 4. In the guest bedroom, looking towards the bathroom. 5. Guest bathroom (with tub!) 6. Cabinet area in by the washer/dryer closet in the hall. 7. Master bathroom! We'll have two framed mirrors over the vanity and the shower will be to the right. 8. Master bedroom looking towards our balcony. 9. Our balcony.
Drywall! AC unit/vents! Ceilings! In case you didn't notice, this is me being super excited! Gratuitous exclamations!!!Herman is briefly back home before heading to Japan, and stopped by our place, naturally, and just sent me these photos. So much progress!
Plus, look at this great photo of Herman and his cousin Rick's super cute little girl:
I've watched this little video way too many times today. Aside from the bat part, Dexter pretty much follows this routine nightly, complete with loud meowing, "dough kneading", face touching, and general excitement that we (ahem, I) might wake up and either feed or play with him. Best enjoyed with your volume maxed out. Trust me. (the purring/dough kneading is just too cute).
