One More Thing...

I got a bike! It's a vintage Schwinn Traveler and fixed up really well. I just need to pick up a lock this week, and I'll be using it as my main transportation to school (well, until the snow starts falling).

I also think I might have to get this adorable basket from Design House Stockholm:

Architect Inspiration

My Friday studio ended early as we were invited to join another studio's lecture by local architect Mark McInturff. While I have never really considered myself to be interested in residential design, within minutes I was captivated by Mark's presentation and his thoughts on approaching architecture. He also has done several projects in Georgetown, so of course I was sitting there trying to locate the homes from my memory of the outlying residences.

Firstly, I was reminded of my summer 504 studio, in which we each had to design a form with one of four concepts: rotation, shift, extension and intersection. Similarly, Mark has his own set of conceptual words such as separating, sizing, stacking and sleaving - but what he does is use these words to integrate the old (house) with the new (additions). It was pretty incredible to see his process as often times he's taking a historic row house that's almost 100 years old, and fusing it with something extremely contemporary. His design approach definitely underlines the importance of reuse, and I think my heart fluttered when he said his favorite thing to do was design something tiny (now if only he could impart some of that wisdom on the residents of Orange County - a few of my parents' neighbors come to mind...).

I came home completely inspired and had to peruse his website so I could take another look at some of his projects - which I have now "borrowed" to show one of my favorites...

The house is literally steps from Georgetown's campus, above the Exxon station on M St. and the "Exorcist Stairs."

The remodel led to an amazing view of the Key Bridge stretching over the Potomac.

You would never know this house looked like this from the front - it's a row house that blends in with all the others on the block (okay, I also think it has a more contemporary paint palette, but still...).

Mark McInturff is a visiting professor at Catholic, and apparently he, in conjunction with another professor at school, teaches an advanced studio in the fall that has a week-long "field trip" to another country to study historical architecture and how it has been incorporated into the modernized city. Definitely a course I'll be hoping to take while here.

A little bit homesick

I've been back in DC for a week now, and I have to admit, I'm not getting settled too quickly or too easily. Part of it is the mountain of homework I already have piled up that makes necessary errands, like going grocery shopping, or even exercising (wait, let me reduce that even further - getting some daily fresh air) seem like indulgences. But, I'm determined to have a pseudo-normal life this semester unlike the summer - I just need to make some friends.

I spent Saturday morning trying to track down a specific binder type for school (who knew I was this finicky?), which lead me to Silver Spring, MD. I had to park several blocks away from the Office Depot because they had a whole street shut down. Well, of course I had to go see what it was due to, and low and behold, I came across a weekend Farmer's Market. I wandered aimlessly around it for a while, missing the Wednesday Santa Monica one Jodi and I used to go to on our lunch breaks at Design360, and later the weekend "sceney" version Sara and I would hit up on Main Street. Although, it also made me realize that there are some things here that overlap with my interests/old routines at home - I just need to seek them out and make time to do them. Hopefully then DC will start to feel more like home. In the meantime, I have my Dad's Facebook status to update me on what's going on in California - like the Street Fair in the Orange Circle this weekend - ahh, an oldie but a goodie.

Anyways, I'm probably being overly sensitive right now as I caught a nice hacking cough from someone at school and have spent most of the weekend trying to deny being sick so I can get my work done. With that, I'm definitely glad it happened to be a three-day weekend. Alright, back to the books for now...

Craigslist Stalking

I've been teasing my Dad that he has an addiction - he scours Craigslist and Ebay daily on the hunt for mid-century modern furniture. "Where are you going to put it?" and "What is this for?" have become standard answers from my mom and I as he excitedly flips through his finds on his laptop. He has been greatly disappointed with a few last minute losses on Ebay (to which now apparently won't happen again as he has downloaded that last-second swoop in and get the item software - is that really legal?), but also some great pieces. Like the Womb Chair and Ottoman that for now have a nice home in my bedroom...

Anyways, my Dad's addiction has finally started rubbing off on me, and yesterday I spent the morning with my cup of coffee, and after finishing my daily blog reading (I know this luxury will not last with school starting next week), I tackled DC's Craigslist. And, low and behold, I found the EXACT headboard I wanted to buy (seen here from my bedroom teaser post), barely used, being sold for less than half the price of a new one! I emailed straight away, and the girl is even holding it for me until I get back to DC this weekend. I am so excited. Looks like my bedroom might even get "finished" in the next few weeks (I still have a desk chair to hunt down and a nightstand to paint). Thanks Craigslist.

And now I'm headed out for my last girls' day in California. I'm meeting Sara and Karen at the beach, and later having dinner with Jodi - what a great day!

Bike Love

Alright, I've been neglectful (again), but for now, here's my latest obsession... I've been trying to decide what bike to get for DC. I am convinced while the weather is still nice, I'm going to bike as much as possible to school since I live about 5 minutes from campus (I just hope unlike my Georgetown years, I'll have better luck riding in DC this time around - I think my roommates ran over my bike at least twice in the driveway my senior year, as well as that same fall I actually got hit by a taxi driver while riding it to volleyball practice early one morning - luckily I had super-human reflexes and jumped off the bike as the front tire went under the cab...).

I think I've at least reached a DC/California compromise - I'm planning to get a cruiser with a few gears. So, my bike can still be cute and reflect my LA beach lifestyle (the all-important part) and yet practical - for the "hills" of DC I think I need gears for. Now, my only problem is that I've fallen in love with the Schwinn "Jenny" and I think I'm too tall for it. The boys' version is royal blue, which is okay, but I'm smitten with the yellow. I think I'm going to actually do some real research this week and get down to the bottom of it. But for now, my heart belongs to Jenny.

Beach Week

Could there be a better way to spend my first week back in California than at my parents' new beach house down in Encinitas (well, pending new beach house as they've been in escrow forever and actually just rented it for the week)?

Granted, the sun didn't come out until Thursday, but it was nice to just relax and catch up on some much-needed sleep (my parents one day seriously thought I might have mono). The town of Encinitas is really cute, and the house on 3rd street is only two blocks from the beach and two from the main drag of town, so definitely a great location. We enjoyed learning about our new neighborhood - or I should more aptly say eating through the new neighborhood. Also with the cloudy weather came us spending a lot of time talking about the upcoming renovation, which should be pretty fun (well, at least the design part of it, I'm sure my parents will not love the renovation aspect).

Highlights of the week also included a trip down to the Salk Institute with Erik, a new friend of mine from CUA, and seeing Allison Casciari's (Meyer's) newest addition to her family - I cannot believe how big all of her girls are getting already - Bianca at 7 is already at Allison's shoulder. And, of course, after growing up hearing the story of my parents going to VG's Donuts in the middle of the night through their years at UCSD, it was appropriate we finally had some yesterday - and they definitely lived up to all of the hype.

Salk Institute - the "money shot", which I probably could have pulled any one of the million from Google.

After watching "My Architect" about the life of Louis Kahn, Erik and I felt we had to go to Salk as we both grew up living so close to this famous building (in La Jolla).

This is a fun one - my parents' new "neighbors" down in Encinitas. I think the boats have been parked/used as housing since the 20's? Apparently there was a CNN special about them.

I survived!

I feel so neglectful, but I finally finished my summer class today, and have officially made it through boot camp. I don't think I have ever done anything in my life so intense - needing to not only put in ridiculous hours (way more than I ever did as an undergrad or working), but also to be constantly critically thinking, designing and problem solving - I cannot wait to just relax over the next few weeks - and catch up on a lot of sleep. Oh, and did I mention this will take place in California? That's right, as we speak, I've just finished packing my bags for three weeks at home with nothing to do but enjoy the California weather, spend time with friends and family, and catch up on having a life - so excited!

I'll be back to writing this blog more frequently, and will probably post a few things about school, but for now here are a few pictures...

Pinning up on the "wailing wall" - my project is the closest to the camera - I was the last presentation of the day, and later asked to have my project displayed for the fall semester (one of 4 students), pretty rewarding after so much work.

The aftermath of studio after finishing our final projects...