Times are a changin' -- a return to blog-world

Hello everyone! Long time, no, see, speak or hear. Yes, a long absence, i know. However, its been one insane week after another. Some things to note:

1) I passed my final thesis with so much ease, it was awesome. My committee loved it, I could answer all of the tough questions, and my images were worth the 10+ hours of rendering... each. If you knew me the first year of architecture school 3 years ago, you will understand just how amazing this is-- back then I called home almost every night, in tears about how I was going to drop out, hated architecture and missed home. However, lots of all-nighters, great guidance and poor fast-food eating habits helped me to achieve a project that not only made my committee happy, but proved that no matter what I believed 3 years ago, I am NOW a competent designer. Below you can see a few pictures from my final study:

(The picture on the upper right is the building's existing condition. The main image is my proposed condition)

(night view looking in the other direction, at the new bar addition)

(The proposed gallery space in the industrial building. I previously posted about my initial rendering of this space. The image in the upper right had corner is the existing view of the space. The largest image is the proposed reuse)

So yay for being done! Passing my final study then lead to my next update:

2) GRADUATION!! I have my masters degree, thank Heavens. Here's a picture of me after the hooding:

It was a blast and very bittersweet. I am so happy to be done, but I know I'm going to miss this time in my life for one reason or another.

4) After graduation, it was time to pack everything up and move everything about 7 hours east to my fiance and I's new hometown... now for him and in September for me: New Orleans. It is absolutely an amazing city and for the first time in my life I've visited a place and haven't ever wanted to leave. We got to catch up with friends, both new and old who now call this amazing place home, so Bama Boy and I are really looking forward to starting our life off there together in September. The lucky guy gets a head start on me though, since he gets to live there now while I have to wait. We didn't take a lot of pictures b/c we were pretty absorbed by finding a temporary place for my fiance to live til the wedding, but I know more pictures will come the next time I visit/ when I officially move there. One thing to note: the 3 course breakfast at Brennan's is a must.... it is a day's worth of calories at one meal, but oh my goodness it is so amazing (Brennan's is the restaurant that invented Banana's Foster in the '50s).
So here I am back in Virginia working after a crazy month of graduating, moving to a new city and spending time w/ extended family in New Jersey. The next adventure? Diving head-first into planning a big party (more commonly referred to as a "wedding") in less than 100 days.... so here we go!

I swear I'm still here.... somewhere

Apologies - Ive been MIA alot recently primarily b/c I have t-minus 8 days until I give my final presentation, aka my Thesis defense #2 i guess you could say. This means 8 more days of NO sleep and a ton of work, all for a project that doesnt exist and honestly, no one except myself & my 3 committee members care about (see above Dilbert cartoon, its sad but true). So is the oh so glamorous world of architecture. I promise I'll be back after May 7th... that is, of course, unless I don't pass my final. Then I think I'll drown in misery b/c it means I'll be in Texas until August. Now wouldnt that be fun?

Bridesmaid Props

I thought I'd start the week off with this adorable video I found that gives a little history to the tradition of bridesmaids. Happy Monday!!

(Video courtesy of the Dessy group)

Bummer

Today is an "I-very-much-dislike-Bama-Boy's-job" day and I feel as the pic of our family dog above displays how i feel perfectly. Bama boy & I havent seen each eather in 2 very long, lonely months and he was supposed to drive down from Missouri this Saturday and stay til Tuesday morning. I was so super amazingly excited and giddy it was almost embarassing. Well, due to a number of issues, we couldn't talk today until about 9pm this evening after I returned from my college's annual scholarship & awards banquet. Thats when the cruddy news came.

Apparently his job threw a curve ball at him and told him they need him to be at a meeting/ conference starting Monday morning and running til Wednesday afternoon. Note: the drive from Missouri to where I am is 10 hours (he does it all the time and swears he doesnt mind the distance, but it obviously takes up a TON of hours). Therefore him driving down Saturday morning and then turning around and driving back the next day isn't practical nor very economical. So i went on an "angry, irrational fiancee" tirade about how I hate his job and it stinks and how they should find someone else who has nothing else to do this weekend and is in town to attend the conference. But in the end it all proved futile, he's cant come and thus I am very sad.

It also stinks b/c really this was the only weekend we could see each other before I graduate in a month... I really cant dedicate any other weekend between then and now to US because of my darn thesis work. Theres a reason why this happened, it sucks and I need to put my big girl panties on and deal w/ it, but really I can't help but just feel sad.

Well heres to, I guess, another round of phone movie/ dinner dates. Very fun, but it ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Final Study Friday

Since I haven't done Fugly Architecture Thursday in a while, I decided to share my final project design instead. Heck, depending on your preferences, this could be considered fugly. But eh, its all subjective anyway.

As many of you know, I'm trying to wrap up my Masters in architecture. I've been immersed in the world of late nights, no sleep, critiques and model making for 3 years already and I cannot wait to get that diploma. But before that glorious May 15, I have to complete a the architecture version of a master's thesis: aka- the final study project. Since I'm a preservation nerd, I chose to adaptively reuse a 1934 Motor Pool Building located on an Army base that is projected to close in 2011. When I visited my site in December, this is the current condition of the building's inside:

Very very industrial, and blase. Also very dark. But the entire left side of the building in this picture has 9 foot tall casement windows that stretch from about 4 ft off the ground to the bottom of those trusses. Some brilliant person in the 1960s decided it would be a fabulous idea to cover up the top 5 feet of these windows with ugly siding... thus creating the dark interior. Genius I tell you (*rolls eyes*). The wonderful current condition is shown below:

Isnt that just horrid!!??

Since I'm dealing w/ 48,000 sq ft total, my project proposal was to adapt the building into a art gallery, restaurant, art academy spaces and standing room only, House of Blues type entertainment hall. All areas are connected by a central "avenue" that runs the center of the building. My description is totally not doing the design justice, but this past march for my "thesis defense" I had a 20-slide PowerPoint to explain my project. I'll spare you the pain of that presentation.

Now I'm in the design development phase and here's a little sample of where I am in my project.

This is the proposed view down the main "avenue." To the left (behind the turquoise wall) is a dance studio and part of the academy. To the right is the side of the Entertainment Hall.
The other end of the corridor is the art gallery, the entrance of which is shown below:
The red wall in the background is the entrance to the Entertainment Hall. This view is from practically the same location as the original, dark and icky picture shown above. Also, I've removed the silly window coverings and voila: more light! Shocking, I know.

These are very preliminary renderings and theres still A LOT to do -- last night i spent just developing skylights. Oh Ces't La Vie. Must push on til the 7th!!

PS - SUPER excited, b/c Bama boy will be here tomorrow!! It's been 2 months since we last saw each other. Oh the horror.

A Change of Heart

So....my whole life I've had such a bias against carnations..... somehow, someway they always invoked memories of middle school valentines (or lack thereof) and a blah pukey pepto-bismal color.

Well, the other day i was perusing my local food store and happened upon their floral department. Usually I grab some tulips or some gerbera daisies, but it was not to be: the tulips were not in sight and i was tired of white daisies (all. they. had.). I was still in mourning after the sudden death of the gorgeous daffodil bouquet that 'Bama boy sent me and was in desperate need of some color. Enter the raspberry carnations.

There they were, 24 for $12 and such a pretty color. I bought those bad boys, came home, bundled them up and they sitting pretty on my desk. Soo happy!

So I've gone all Carrie Bradshaw now and I've begun to appreciate the little flower w/ the bad rap. Still, not a fan of them in single form, but I think you'd have to agree that en masse they're quite pretty and preppy!

Mistaken Magnets and Purple Stamps

Well, since they've managed to make it safely into everyone's mailboxes by now.... here are our lovely Save The Dates. Apologies for the fuzziness. The thing I'm nervous about though is people not knowing the white square is actually a magnet ... we stickey-tacked it to the lime paper so it would be the same size as the envelope (yay for easy shipping). However, I know some people didnt know it was a magnet until they called me to tell me they received it and I gave them the heads up. Oh well.

I also made some cute stamps for the envelopes, which were a mix of computer addessed and hand addressed (by my mom!). The stamp design is below:

However, when the sheets of stamps we ordered from Stamps.com arrived... the navy blue turned out to be a dark shade of purple!!! THIS is exactly why you check the CMKY/ RGB settings between different screens and printers.

Now on to the rest of the week..... heres to hump day and being done w/ half of the week. Also, yay for Easter this weekend!

Fugly Architecture Thursday - Collegiate Edition

I was supposed to fly to Lubbock today for a scholarship banquet tomorrow night. However, this is not to be the case due to mother nature, aka - the wind. The high wind advisory does make it hard for those little prop planes to stay level up in the sky, and as someone who truly deep down detests flying (i do it b/c its necessary, not b/c I like it) I appreciate the airline companies taking those of who have a fear of falling out of the sky into consideration. I must say though, I cant tell you how pleased I am with the customer service at American Airlines. They called me once the flight was cancelled and immediately connected me to an agent to book a new flight. She was so incredibly helpful, booked me on a new flight through continental and within 15 mins I had a new flight. So anyhow, I'm not taking off til tomorrow am and big props to American Airlines!

Now, on to the topic of the day - fabulous cities all over the world- London, New York, Milan, etc- are littered with both gorgeous and heinous buildings. But how about the ones you pass by every single day. This one is currenlty nearing completion on my very campus. I cringe every time I see it b/c honestly, it just makes no sense.

www.houstonarchitecture.info

Im sorry, but this building is just odd, and I think it has to do with the details (some which you can't see.) The heavy duty cast concrete sun shades above the windows on the left and right wings of the building are awkward and I doubt they are long enough to actually block any kind of sun. Also, what's up w/ the two story tall wall/roof awning deal on the left wing of the building? It seems as unnecessary as the lonely 6 story column thats only there to support this weird canopy.

The funniest part - The brick was ordered in the wrong color (or at least the color they thought it was supposed to be appeared great in a small 3inx 8in form, not the case when its a sea of that color). So this building is a fabulous burnt orangey color, which is the color of our rival university and detested by all students here.

Ill give the building one thing - it blocks the view from the street of the existing Physics building, a 1970s/80s beauty of a bstructure - perfect for Soviet Russia or Communist China:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/

Just look at all that concrete! so warm and inviting!

Personally I think Michael Graves (whose studio designed the new building) should stick to designing toasters and laundry hampers for Target.

Floral Candy

I forgot to post this after my wedding planning trip to NC over break, but we met with the floral designer (aka- fancy florist) to discuss the plans for the big day. First I had to come to grips with the fact that camellias are not in season in September (so so sad, i cried). I say no to peonies (everyone loves them... as do I, but I dont want to be like everyone else, at least in this aspect of the wedding). Also, NO traditional longstem roses, I canot stand them outside of Valentines day. So, Renee - the floral designer extrodinare- showed me a flower that fit the fullness of the peony and the unique idea of the camellia. Enter the Garden rose:

These flowers are the only appearance of pink in the wedding scheme (thats why its called an accent). Wrapped with a simple navy ribbon for me (lime for my b-maids) and we're good to go. J'adore!

One Thing I Will Miss About Texas:

Wildflower season. The bluebonnets are out in full force and they never fail to cheer me up no matter how I'm feeling. Maybe these pretty flowers will make an appearance in Louisiana?

Side Note: The engagement announcement was FINALLY submitted to my local newspaper. Yeah I know, its been 5 months, but oh well.

Fugly Architecture Thursday

Introduction of new weekly (ok, probably bi-weekly) segment entitled : Fugly Architecture Thursday.

On Wednesday myself and the girls in the research center I work at were horrified and then just astonished by this horrendous 20 story luxury apartment development proposed for Gramercy Park, NYC. Yup those two little colorful blocks in the midst of that glazed mess are historical apartments that are being built around with NO consideration whatsoever.

vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com

But then you say: well at least those considerate developers are taking account of whats already there and building around the existing historical context. Oh contrare! I say in return. Check this more recent rendering out of the SAME proposed development looking up the other side of the road:

NYTimes.com

Yup, you guessed it: they've created different schemes based upon the amount of existing tenants (in those lovely little apartments) that will give up their homes and businesses so a faceless, region-less, once again - glazed mess of a building would go in their place. Note: the original scheme was to cantilever the new building over the existing collection of unique buildings... an actually very attractive, human in scale and historically sympathetic scheme (seen below)

but NOPE.. once bullying one resident out of the area was successful the cantilevering was nixed and the buildings were planned to come down and have glazing put in its place. Now note that i am NOT against development... communities thrive on it, and I hope to enter the preservation associated part of the field after graduation. But honestly, there are SOME responsibilities that need to be assumed when anyone purchases a property or properties: if a historic building is on the property, assume the responsibility of taking care of it and being respectful of something that existed long before you ever held a deed. If you don't want the responsibility, then awesome... sell the property and move on. The most successful spaces are those that are pre-existing that daring developers take on and create a unique live/work space for people to live their lives. Humans do not want cookie cutter sterile environments. Why do you think that studio apartments which have been converted from historic warehouses are in such high demand?

Okay, rant over, but you best believe more will be coming down the road.

oh, and just if you're wondering, this is what that block looks like right now. I want one of those quaint little balconies.

Take a big breath...

lets see..... how much can I cram into one post (this is what I get for not posting in eons)


1) symposium went off really well. Friday night was a fabulous affair in a beautiful old venue. Not only that, but on Saturday the discussion between so many great minds in the preservation world was so wonderful and really brought to the surface not only that LEED needs to be revamped to address historic structures, but maybe the holy grail of the preservation world: the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation should be updated as well. Intriguing as intriguing can be for us preservation nerds.


2) On March 11 I defended my thesis and believe it or not.... I PASSED!! After 2 straight weeks of pulling 4 & 6 ams, I presented my mid-point presentation to my Masters committee and they loved it. Amazing considering that 2 weeks before I met w/ my chair and he mentioned the possibility of an August graduation based upon the amount of work I had done -- NOT something a girl who is not the biggest Texas fan wants to hear. But thankfully, w/ a lot of sleep lost and a HUGE amount of help from the big man upstairs, I passed and I am allowed to graduate in May. *sigh* what a friggin relief. Now I'm on break back in Virginia and can sleep.

3) Bama boy & I got our engagement pictures done and we were thrilled. Here's one of my faves:






Allison Cargile of Cargile Photography did a fabulous job of catching just how much fun the two of us have together and I'm kind of bummed that she isn't our photographer for the wedding (2,000 miles doesnt help). But I'm meeting the wedding photographer this week and I'm stoked for that!
4) Ok, so one thing when you're planning a destination or any other wedding where people need to travel distances is that you need to create Save the Dates. Kind of like a pre-invitation invitation. However, I cannot help but notice that in all of my wedding planning books and on alot of the wedding websites & forums, these little mailing notifications are casually referred to as STDs. Call me immature or juvenile, but does ANYONE else giggle at this reference? Is the wedding industry and other brides so sucked into this weird psycho wedding world that this goes so unnoticed? No way I'm the first to point this out. Anyhow, My Save-the-Dates have been made and I'm just waiting for a proof. Whoop!
5) I tried on my dress. GORGEOUS! perfect in every way possible, which isn't too shabby considering that I ordered it off the internet from j crew and was going off my other j crew dress sizes. I was so impressed, it was beautifully packaged and is so perfectly detailed and simple I'm just in awe. Now just gots to find some shoes for the big day.

6) The wedding website es fini! Big thanks to my fellow September wedding twin Misa at notreallyblogginmaterial for my fiance & I's witty and cute website domain name. As we're finding out at an alarming rate, great minds think alike. Misa & I are two super duper busy girls who are trying to survive two breakneck Master's programs, live normal lives full of normal interests and things all while, oh yeah, planning super simple, classy, practical and really fun September weddings without breaking the bank. Without my girls I swear I'd have thrown in the towel back in January.
And I'm out for now. My beds' calling and since I'm actually allowed to sleep now, I've got to make up for lost time.

Shameless Plug

This is what's consumed my life (no joke... supposed to be 20 hours a week.... has turned into 40 hours) the past 4 weeks.

But I can't complain. anything that involves 450 green legos cannot make anyone truly upset. Plus, the team helping out (my fellow co-workers) is absolutely stellar. Totally couldn't do it w/out them and their undying patience and work-aholic tendencies. I'm excited b/c its a meeting of so many preservation & sustainability experts from Texas all the way up to Nova Scotia. This year we've got a really diverse speaker list (an economist/developer, a few architects, an engineer, and a previous AIA president!) so our attendees are expected to be just as diverse. Now if we can just keep the little crazy fires at bay, we'll be good to go!


After Saturday life can resume its semi-nomality. Thank heavens. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.


PS- engagement pics to come soon.... we got the proofs, now just time to wait for the DVD to come in mail & the images are all ours.

drum roll please....

09.19.09

IT has been set... How pretty is that date? I am so excited. I am also thrilled that one of my fave people is getting married 2 weeks before our day. Wedding planning is much more fun when you've got a fellow stressed out grad student friend with whom you can giggle over save the dates & wedding dresses. Its so little girl, but honestly when else in your life can you obsess over colors & flowers and it be acceptable? Exactly.

Hopefully by my next post 'Bama boy & I will have our engagement photos back from our awesome Texas photographer. Taking them was such a blast, I got to run around a farm for 2 hours w/ the man I love. Also, playing on railroad tracks has never been so much fun.

Now, back to work! Hope all is well with my fabulous friends!

When its ok to eat off the floor:

while doing my quick morning internet browsing routine I found these over on the blog decorno.


Dinner plates with studio apartment floorplans printed on them! adorable. People in the New York area totally have some of the best housing accessory stores. So jealous as I sit in middle of nowhere Texas. At least it keeps me from spending money I dont have on really cute things.

well its about time...

oke dokey fabulous people. So I know I've been MIA recently but I've got a great reason. I'm currently in the process of completing my final study project for a Masters of Architecture degree (in addition to helping coach my school's women's lacrosse team, planning a my work's annual BIG TIME symposium AND planning a wedding. Yes, I know I am a crazy person). So admist the hectic craziness of my life (and the more & more frequent 'I cannot handle everything!' breakdowns) I must force myself to stop and smell the roses. This past weekend was absolutely fabulous in a few weird ways:

1) On friday I drove to cute & quaint Brenham, TX to meet with our engagement pictures photographer. Gorgeous and windy day. After a 45 drive I'm in a strange town I've never been in before and I dont really know if I've arrived at the right place. So after sitting in my car for a few mins and calling my roomie for an internet confirmation of the address, I get out of the car to go meet the photog. As soon as i shut my car door I realize that my keys are still inside the car. Rephrase: my keys are still inside the very LOCKED car. All I have to say is that AAA is a God send - no more than 30 mins later my car was unlocked by a super sweet auto repair guy and I was on my way back to home. Oh, and it turns out I was at the photog's place after all and we're getting our photos done this coming weekend!

2) The temp here was a fabulous mid- 70 degrees with a strong breeze. First time my windows have been open all year long. Keeping my huge architectural measured drawings to stay put has been a challenge, but it's totally worth it.

3) colored pencils are fabulous -- color makes bubble diagrams and preliminary space plans so much more fun.

4) My finace has been adorable, encouraging and wonderful. I was, quite frankly, paranoid that I hadn't nailed down a photog for the actual wedding yet and he reassured me that everything would work out. After the photog of first choice was snatched up on our date and second choice was WAY out of our price range, I was scared to death that very very good photog choice three would be a goner before I could actually meet him during spring break. 'Bama boy constantly told me everyone would work out perfectly and if not, we'd make it work, no matter what. Needless to say, when i called the photog the next day, everything was inline and ready to go for a meeting in march. It was perfect because when 'bama boy called me a few days later to tell me that planned rehersal dinner location was snatched away from under us (really... a very crummy story), I was able to offer him the same comfort. We're now in talks with an AMAZING and very flexible location for our rehersal. YAY

Now... on to finishing the week, organizing the symposium craziness and then sitting back, relaxing and enjoying a wonderful Valentines day weekend w/ my honey (who I havent seen in almost a month!!!) In the words of one of my fave people: Ciao!

PS - my wedding dress finally arrived!! It's in Virginia so I can't try it on til break in March, but my parents say its super simple and absolutely gorgeous. I would post a picture here, but I know my dearly beloved checks this blog once in a blue moon so no ruining the surprise. I will let you know how it looks in a little over a month! (btw: it's a jcrew erica gown.....)

Too many good things at one location

Random posting: I fell across this little gem of an interview here about 3 of my favorite things:

1. Adaptive Reuse
2. Kate Spade (well, its about Andy Spade, who is 1 half of the masterminding couple behind the fabulous handbag/shoe/whatever you like brand)

3. J. Crew

a clothing store, in an old liquor store, that doubles as an art/curiosities gallery. Historic preservation at it's finest! Too bad it's a men's only store, I would have way too much fun at a place like this.

ps - Totally digging the coral sweater Andy's rocking in the above picture. Wonder if Bama boy would ever would wear something like that?

Inauguration Eye Candy

Quick Blog entry today, since I have to rush off to my first day of my last semester of classes EVER (three years ago I never thought I'd make it to today). Anyhow, today is an incredibly important day for America: Inauguration Day! Even though I was not a supporter of Mr. Obama during this past election season (i didnt really support anyone .... but thats another topic for another day), today is truly a historic and amazing day for our lovely country and we should all be proud and supportive of our new first family. So for all my friends in the DC area who are lucky enough to be attending inauguration balls, have a fabulous time tonight! And for the first family: congratulations and all the best wishes to you!

And in the spirit of inauguration day, here are some inauguration dresses of past first ladies:

Nancy Reagan's dress is as gorgeous today as it was back in 1981

Jackie O's dress. Simple, streamlined and absolutely elegant. Need I say more?

Mamie Eisenhower modelling her dress for the 1953 inauguration

Caroline Harrison's 1889 inaguration dress. Gorgeous in a Victorian Age sort of way.

Rethinking video....

Up until I saw this video I was TOTALLY anti-videographer for our wedding (thoughts of in-your-face sappy video of awkward moments and embarassing relatives danced throughout my mind). HOWEVER, watch this clip from videographers ROCKMELON & a choreographed 1st dance --you'll totally understand why I'm rethinking my prior stance (ps- I LOVE the MJ reference... I can't imagine my wedding w/out some insane dance moments). Enjoy!



I still don't think we'll have a videographer for the wedding, but some other things were solidified on my frigid day trip to the outer banks today. Now we just have to set a date (a WHOLE other issue alone). But other than that, no wedding posts til spring break in March! Til then its architecture and architecture alone (well, plus or minus a few fun things thrown in the mix for my sanity's sake). Happy weekend to all!!

Things I Love (Brrr-iffic edition)

I absolutely love being home, primarily because unlike where I'm currently in school, Virginia has seasons. When it's winter, it's cold, when it's in the summer, it's appropriately hot. It's just the natural way things should be. So imagine how delighted I was for today.... a high of 32!! I had a million errands and appointments to run around town today, so instead of hunkering down with a cup of hot coco, sweats and a fire, I busted out my favorite, most neglected, Christmas gift --- my J. Crew double cloth Marie Coat. The timing was great when we bought this coat (no shipping and 1/2 price.... finding glorious things at great deals is an absolute blast to me!) and I cannot recommend it enough. Tromping around today with that coat, my trusty old turquiose scarf, gold metallic gloves and brand new black boots made me absolutely adore this time of year. Cozy and feeling like a million bucks. If the only options of day to day winter-wear avaliable were frumpy and gaudy, I think I would truly dispise this time of year but thank heavens for J Crew and their adorable winter collections (and fabulous discounts!)


Unfortunately when I leave in Sunday to head back to the Lone Star State, the winter coats will stay behind to sit in the closet back in VA -- Sunday's high down at school on Monday is a *frigid* 68 degrees. But tomorrow promises another fabulous blustry day with a high of 25, as I head down to the Outer Banks for a day trip. So if you're in for truly chilly weather tomorrow: smile, breathe in that crisp air, bundle up in something adorable and take a trip down to your corner coffee shop for a warm drink...trust me, you'll LOVE the winter!