I'ved Moved!

Hey guess what? I'm finally starting a new blog. If you'd like to see what I'm up to, I hope you'll follow me here.

Busy Busy

I think after hibernating through the winter months, I'm shocked by how fast the spring is whizzing by.  All of a sudden it's April and I'm realizing I need to start figuring things out. You know, like a job, and where I'm going to live, etc. No biggie. My house-sitting gig is up at the end of April though, so I'm starting to feel like I'm hitting crunch time. Luckily the Helsinki Library submission is due April 16, so even though I'm sure next week will be full of sleepless nights (okay exaggeration, I'm too old to keep those hours), the end is in sight, which is good. I'm glad I worked on it - definitely a good learning experience... and if Chloe and I can somehow make pretty renderings from the soulless sketch-up model we now have, I'll post them. 

The rest of my week entails wrapping up my portfolio so I can send to print, and making a trek out to Virginia (I think Friday?) to look for tile. I'm working on my aunt Cheryl's and friend Eddie's houses - kitchen and bathroom renovations. Neither are huge projects, but both are giving me a lot of creative freedom, so I want to hit up this place in the middle of nowhere that has a pretty huge inventory at really good prices. 

Then somehow this weekend is Easter? See, whizzing by. On my bucket list for DC was to attend a mass at the Basilica on CUA's campus, so I'm thinking I may just be crazy and go Sunday. Also thinking I want to bring my camera to photograph the masses (of people). Ok, so not for devout reasons, but I think that's the plan - at least for now. I was hoping to hole up in the architecture building all weekend and use the facilities, but apparently they're trying to put the building on lock down, so I think that idea is kaput. 

Inspiration for Eddie's kitchen? We're thinking white shaker cabinets (and I'm a sucker for these pulls), hopefully refinishing the wood floors, and maybe a gray or black stone counter. I am hoping to find a great deal on an interesting backsplash, although I'm also toying with the idea of a white subway tile with gray grout. 

Enjoying the Spring

Hello - is anybody still there? Sorry I disappeared again. I just couldn't help myself. Between the gorgeous weather we've been having and the social life I've apparently just found, being on my computer has not been on the top of my list. So yes, I'll try to resume my photo a day project, but I'd rather let you know I've been out having a great time in DC. Sunday was spent on the sand courts by the Lincoln Memorial, followed by an impromptu dinner party at EJ's. I finally got myself to the Fish Market in my neighborhood, and I think I may be hooked (fish tacos are on tonight's menu for dinner). Monday I met a new friend and wandered the cherry blossoms around the title basin. Cursing myself for not bringing my Hasselblad (especially since the sun has not cooperated since). And tonight is the opening of Doug Aitken's SONG 1 installation at the Hirshhorn, which should be really cool. I'm hoping to be able to grab a seat for the lecture beforehand, too. Fingers crossed!

Safe to Put our Coats Away?

Today's photo: A Sign was my attempt to capture the gorgeousness of DC today - although unfortunately  I had to be inside most of the day. All I wanted to do was go for a nice long bike ride - maybe along the Potomac... luckily the weather forecast is upper 70s all week, so I think I'll have to make time for a bike ride soon. Today was spent on my computer, a combination of Helsinki Library stuff and portfolio. I think I may be getting close (fingers crossed). Evan, Chloe and I did make a point of eating our lunch outside in the park next to the Key Bridge. I think all three of us fair-skinned friends got a little red. But it was nice. And I introduced them to T. Sweets after work. Nothing like a little bit of Gtown nostalgia on a sunny day like today!

Sweet Indulgence

I just got home from an amazing dinner with Robin. She's moving this weekend back to Texas so we thought it would be best to have our "last supper" at a place we had always wanted to try: Coco Sala. Which worked out perfectly as today's word is fork (I will also add my Internet has been out basically since Friday hence me being MIA- I'm writing this post from my phone and I'm already getting annoyed correcting my typos). So I'm going to keep this post short and sweet (yes pun intended). Robin and I both love chocolate so we had pretty high expectations, but they were definitely fulfilled and then some. We started the night with cocktails - she ordered a malted chocolate martini while I ordered a coco-jito (chocolate mojito), both were delicious. We split a few savory starters to save room for dessert - tomato and buratta salad and bacon mac and cheese (with a piece of chocolate covered bacon on top!) - the later actually ended up being my favorite dish of the meal. But yes onto dessert. We split the trio of hot chocolates as Robin had heard the peanut butter hot coco was great - I think it had been written up about in the Washington Post? It basically tasted like someone melted real peanut butter into hot chocolate - amazing! But somehow the salted caramel (with marshmallow topping) one topped it. Then we split a sticky toffee pudding concoction with ginger ice cream. The ice cream was crazy good. I kept saying it could have been a topping for sushi (like how Chef Elizabeth Falkner made ice cream for savory dishes on The Next Iron Chef). Oh, and we ordered a chocolate mouse with a salty caramel filling that was delicious. I can't remember ever eating that much dessert in my life but well worth the splurge. Luckily we walked the two miles back to my house, and I take after my dad in being a human garbage disposal ;-). Such a great meal with such a great friend. I keep thinking how much I'll miss Robin, but once I move back to California, she'll actually be much closer to me in Texas so I guess I can't complain...

Shop/Window

Even though I'm not working full time, sometimes I have a hard time keeping up on here. Yesterday was Kacy's birthday, and we spent most of the day working in the wood shop at CUA trying to get her thesis model finished. It's spring break this week, so it was so nice having the building virtually empty (and the shop to ourselves). Here's yesterday's something you wore. I feel like I'm the poster-child for a California native in this pic - Tom's, blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a hoodie.  I have a nice layer of sawdust appearing on my shoes as well. I think someday I'm going to have to have a mini-shop in my garage (you know, when I have a house with a garage when I'm like 65). It's been pretty cool learning how to use all of the machines over the last few years, so I think I'm going to need to have a jointer, planer, table and chop saws at some point...

I was back at Travis's office today working on the Helsinki competition, and captured this window from D&D - somehow I find myself in there almost every Tuesday/Thursday. I figured it was a pretty nice one, though. And a much needed coffee escape as well.

Now I'm just waiting for the arrival of my friend Sean who's staying over tonight for a job interview he has in the morning (pretty nice that I have an extra bedroom here). It will be nice to catch up with him and just relax for a bit. Tomorrow morning I'm off to get my hair cut, then finally planning to get back to my portfolio in the afternoon. 'Til tomorrow!

Around Town

I'm dying to crawl into bed, so I'm going to keep today's post short and sweet. I left Georgetown right at 5pm so I could meet my Uncle Bruce for dinner downtown. We had a nice dinner at Fogo de Chao and he filled me in on his and my aunt's ongoing process of renovating their house in Pacific Grove. They have decided to make it a passive house, so it was interesting hearing about his forays into this endeavor - and he said he'd pass along some of the research/companies they've looked into, which will be a great resource for me as school leaves you in want of some actual applications, not just the theoretical stuff. I included a pic from our walk together to the capitol after dinner, and then my walk home along the water. Got to get some rest - working in the wood shop tomorrow morning with Kacy, and we have the quarter finals of our volleyball league tomorrow night. This week is racing by!