I'm so tired

Here's the thing about my class - it's 6 credits in four weeks, which is crazy when you think about it. Even the science classes I took in college that met almost daily spread out over a semester were only 5 credits. What I'm realizing is that the duration of the class (which we're lacking) is made up for by the length of time daily I need to be putting in, hence my permanent state of exhaustion.

We were given a new project this week, this time working with a given concept - mine is "extension". Using a similar volume from last week, we needed to articulate our concept using a series of planes, posts, and cubes. (I realize this doesn't mean much - I'll try to post some pictures soon.) Anyways, the turn-around time, like I alluded to, is insane. I had to have a plan, section, and model done between yesterday and today. And, after having a mini-review today, a new set of criteria was thrown at us: now take your design and discuss it experientially - as though a person was entering, traveling and arriving at a destination within your space. That forced me to make a lot of changes to my original model, and I'll be staying up in the wee hours tomorrow night to get it finished for judges' panel (explaining my "early" night tonight...).

Last Friday we had our first judges' panel to critique our work, but it was other graduate students who are further along in the program, so it wasn't terribly intimidating. This week, however, is our "midterm review", and we have to present our project to a panel of 4 critics, all of whom are professors at CUA. Should be fun...

So for now I guess my blog's title is a little misleading - I don't know how many "adventures in DC" I'll be having - well at least not outside of the Crough building. Every other grad student I've talked to says this phase passes, though, so I think I just need to get through the next two and a half weeks. Hopefully then I can start experiencing my new home town!

First Week of "Boot Camp"

This is going to be very brief - I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up this blog the next few weeks, but I sure will try! I'm just getting home around 4 am after finishing a model of a cube that is formed by manipulating positive and negative crate systems (don't ask...) along with drafting a plan and sections of my cube. It was challenging to say the least - and the second time this week I've had to stay up past 3 - which scarily I think I'm going to need to get used to. Thank goodness Eddie's house is so close to school and I have a car. Several of my classmates are commuting over a half hour to school and can only use the metro (which means in addition to their commute, to catch the last train home they have to leave studio before midnight and then catch a train back in starting around 5 if they need more time to work on stuff).

But my project is done, we are watching a film tomorrow morning, and my cool Friday night plans are going to be to get into bed around 8 (if I can stay up that late!) - one week down, 3 more to go...

Bedroom Teaser

Since my dad sent out a family email today saying I was going to show pictures of my room at Eddie's house, I slightly felt obligated to show something - but my room is currently a disaster of boxes everywhere, paint cans piled up, and clothes waiting to be hung in my closet (on tomorrow's "to do" list is installing a closet organizer). So instead, I'm going to tease everyone with a little concept board I whipped up, which looks much prettier than my actual room right now...

1. This is the accent wall I've been working on all day. I really liked this wallpaper, but it's something like $200 for a 24" x 36" sheet, and I obviously don't have the budget for that. So, I decided it would be easy to just hand paint. Little did I know... but after literally painting all day today, I'm at the home stretch.

2. My bed is finally arriving tomorrow! I am so excited to not have to sleep on the floor any longer. As of now, I don't have a headboard, but I'm thinking of something like this one.

3. I'm also internet-shopping for a small area rug. Not a necessary item, but I have a feeling I'm still going to want to cover up some of the carpet I'm working with (see item 7).

4. Now these bulls-eye mirrors I'm excited about - they were my souvenir from Savannah from an awesome store called One Fish, Two Fish. Now I just have to find a way to hang them since my walls are virtually concrete blocks.

5. Gotta love IKEA for the necessary-but-don't-want-to-spend-a-lot-of-money items. This dresser came with 40 steps of instructions and took me 3 hours to put together, but it's doing its job.

6. One of my inspiration images for the room - I knew I could make the red (well maroon) and turquoise look good together.

7. My lovely carpet. I'm actually proud that instead of ignoring it, I'm working with it - definitely was challenging for me. Eddie's whole house is carpeted in this lovely shade - he tells me he didn't want to be boring...

8. Still left to buy is a nightstand, although, I'm actually thinking I'll put my desk beside my bed and use it for both. And this lovely lamp is hopefully on-route soon from my mom.

So there you have it. I am planning to get a lot done tomorrow as school starts Monday morning, bright and early at 9am, and I'm assuming I'm going to have no desire to be taking on added projects.

One Student Ticket, Please

Yesterday I went by CUA to pick up an official letter stating I was a full-time student for the DMV here in DC to get a parking permit (they apparently are really strict - I'm going first thing tomorrow morning with a package of documentation, my fingers crossed, and the promise of my first born...).

Anyways, while on campus, I decided to give myself a little tour - since I really had only toured the architecture building - and try to get some new student stuff out of the way. Well, first on my list was to get a student I.D. card, because to be honest, I cannot wait to start getting student discounts again. It's the little things, right?

So here it is, I am a bona fide grad student:

Getting Settled

Well, true to myself, I'm already making Home Depot my second home. When I decided to move in with Eddie, I knew I'd want to paint my room to make it more "me" - and I'm having to work with maroon-colored carpeting. First step was to paint the room white, which is why first thing yesterday morning, I was getting my gallon of white paint as well as a few other samples for the accent wall I want to do. Let's just say, I've never painted any room that has soaked up so much paint. I ran out of my first gallon after painting just a wall and a half... So yesterday turned into marathon painting day, and I only got three walls painted white. Not too climactic.

I did take a mini-break to go get a mattress though (since I'm now on the floor on a blow-up mattress that does not like to stay inflated). Unlike my last scar-inducing mattress buying experience, I think I'm going to really like this one. But with the 4th of July sales, they won't have it in stock to deliver until Sunday, so it's a week of the floor for me. I guess the plus side is that if I exhaust myself so much, like I did yesterday, I'll be able to sleep well regardless of comfort ;).

So, I'm just now getting ready to start day 2 of painting. I'm going back to Home Depot after deciding on my accent color (I swear they're going to know me by the end of this week - Elliot has already asked me when I'm doing the bathroom). Hopefully this won't take me all day though, as I want to start getting some furniture - like a dresser so I can stop living out of my duffle bag. If all goes well, I hope to post some pictures soon of my bedroom before and after!

Happy 4th of July

I finally made it to DC Friday night - just in time to celebrate the 4th of July. Eddie, his girlfriend Lindsay, and I ran a bunch of pre-barbeque errands Friday night and most of Saturday morning in preparation for his big BBQ. We probably had 20-30 people come, and I had a great time meeting a lot of Eddie and Elliot's (Eddie's other roommate) friends.

Today was a lazy day after a long day of celebrating - we all sat around this morning consumed by the Wimbledon finals. I finally motivated enough to run a few errands, but I didn't get much done for my room - so another night on the blow-up mattress. Hopefully, beginning tomorrow I'll start getting things purchased/organized so I can feel more settled - right now the entire contents of my car are in a heap on my bedroom floor, and it's driving me crazy.

Some of the late night barbeque crew.

Highlights of Savannah

I've been roaming Savannah the last two days, and know I won't be able to go into detail about everything I did - there was too much good stuff, and I'm already thinking a lot of my posts have been a bit on the long side (and I thank my nice friends/family who keep reading them anyways).  

Yesterday I spent much of the day perusing the downtown "design district."  I saw a lot of amazing home stores that had really unique items - such as chandeliers made from oyster shells at The Paris Market and Brocante.  I loved going into ShopSCAD, which is The Savannah College of Art and Design's shop filled with items from paintings to jewelry from alumni, professors and current students.  Another Savannah must-see was The Savannah Bee Company.  I have never tried or even heard of so many types of honey.  You can sit at their bar and taste test at least 10 different types, or have one of their many drink concoctions mixed with their different flavored honeys - yum!  My favorite store, though, definitely ended up being One Fish Two Fish, and I bought something there for my new bedroom in DC, but I'm going to wait to post pictures of my purchase until I'm settled in my new home...

A funny thing I discovered about Savannah is that it was the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, who was the founder of The Girl Scouts.  She has two homes in Savannah that have been turned into museums, or should I say Mecca, for the Girl Scouts?  I couldn't keep track of how many different troups I saw (and was left wondering if I still have my awesome brown/orange flowered vest from my brownie years).  

Today I toured several art galleries, as well as went to The Jepson Center for the Arts, where I was captivated by an exhibit of Japanese photographers' work called Counter Photography.  Of course I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but each artist was using photography to either create something that didn't exist, or manipulate something that did, challenging the convention that a photograph is documentation of reality - it was really interesting.   

And, I have to mention my lunch today.  I went to the famous (well in Savannah, at least) Mrs. Wilkes.  Here's the lowdown:  it's only open from 11am to 2pm, and people start lining up at 10:30.  It is a cash only place, and you get seated and served family style.  You don't order anything - the dishes are already on the table when you're seated.  I think I waited almost an hour to get in today, but sat down to a table with 23 dishes on it - all southern food:  fried chicken, collard greens, mac 'n cheese, black-eyed peas...  And, at the end of the meal, everyone has to bus their plates into the kitchen.  It was amazing, and well worth the wait.  I also lucked out and was seated with a bunch of moms and their young children, who didn't eat very much (which meant I was free to try anything and everything, as I've heard some people complain the "popular" dishes sometimes don't make it around the table).  Definitely a unique experience!

Honey display at The Savannah Bee Company

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Loved this pink house (okay, maybe not to actually live in, but still...)

Sunset on my last night here and view to the water from my hotel