Category: Personal

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Make Me Smile

My mom found this card that says, “My bologna has a middle name.  It’s Marie.”.  It really made me laugh because this is her defense whenever someone calls me “Mary” or “Maria” by mistake.  “It’s EVERYONE’S middle name!  How do you not know ‘MARIE?!?'”.  Good ol’ Mom, defending her daughter.  Now “Sainton,” that just can’t be helped…
I immediately searched for a frame for the card because it makes me smile and you should fill your home with things that make you happy.  I hung it by my bedroom door where I see it every morning.
I’ve longed for an old printing tray (or an old tray that holds letterpress letters, whatever you want to call it).  I didn’t know what I would do with it, but I had to have it.  I found the one pictured above at the Montgomery Street Antique Mall for a mere $20 (I couldn’t find one Etsy for under $45) and I realized that I have lots of silly, tiny things (again, that bring me joy) that make me sad to dust around and knock over and attempt to artfully arrange.  Now they all have a lovely home together and I don’t think I’ve dusted them since they moved there…  Whoops.
My sweet, sweet boyfriend, Philip sent me these postcards from Hawaii (we had only been dating a couple of months and he had booked this trip loooong before).  Guess which one arrived first?  I though, “There is a butt in my mail…”. These make me grin ear-to-ear when I think about how excited I was to receive them from my new guy.
Now the #1 was a clearance item from Anthropologie, you know back when number stuff was really big?  Now I have lots of random numbers in my apartment.  Remember that show “Numb3rs?”. Nothing like that.  I’m hoping to find a “2” to go with it, because these hang above the toilet and now you know what kind of sense of humor I have.  The “second place” ribbons from a 5K will have to do for now.
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Halfway Home

Welcome!  So this is where I live…

This past weekend, my friend, Meagan, lent me her super fancy camera to play with.  I’m planning to get a Canon Rebel of my own soon (my iPhone has replaced my Sony point-and-shoot, but it can only do so much).  I haven’t done “real” photography since college (meaning Photography 101–take the lens cover off..) and that was film, not digital.  I completely forgot what all the bells and whistles do!  So, for practice, I took pictures of my apartment.

I wish I had done at the last place I lived in Oak Cliff—a beautiful 1920s apartment building on Bishop Avenue.  Sadly, I only have a few iPhone pictures from my first night there with “The Office” playing on the tv.  I’ve lived in my ode-to-Arts-and-Crafts Fort Worth apartment for 2 ½ years now, so there’s no time like the present!  Even though, I’d like to put up drapes, I wish I had painted the walls when I first moved in, I hate the size of the kitchen (it’s too big, but not in a good way), my bedroom is BEIGE, etc.–I could go on and on, I’ll stop.

Technically, it’s a space I designed (other than the architecture, the wall colors, the cabinets, the layout…) so it needs to be documented and added to the portfolio!

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Thistle & Weeds

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And a happy Monday to you! My morning consisted of answering emails, unearthing submittals, and analyzing all the things in red on my calendar. As you can see in the picture of edge banding options, my desk is atrocious!

When I got home tonight I was so happy to put my feet up at my temporary desk. Last week, I spent my time (when I should have been celebrating my country’s independence) goofing off on all my Apple devices and having a “Weeds” marathon. I set up a spot in my tiny apartment where I could do both!

 

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I’ve been so comfortable at my simplified desk. Surely, I can’t clutter it up…right?

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Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise

I took the day off work to try to teach myself the Adobe suite. As you may have guess, I’m overwhelmed!

My boyfriend told me about the Adobe Creative Cloud–a subscription membership to all the programs!  I know Photoshop pretty well, but I’d like to know more about Illustrator and then you start to read the list and think, “Yes, Muse sounds like a neat program…how hard can Dreamweaver be?”  I opened Dreamweaver and subsequently closed it–too much for now.

I’m also looking at getting a digital SLR and my favorite, from my research, is the Canon Rebel T3i–ridiculously better than my iPhone pictures.  So get ready for some improvements on this site and blog!  We’re going pro!

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Everlasting Light

When my sister and I have moved, we looked to our parents to see if they had an furniture they “no longer needed.” My parents thought my sister would like this old floor lamp of theirs (that I never cared for), but she didn’t and my parents didn’t want it anymore, so…my feelings started to change. It was a shiny brass floor lamp with a glass table attached. It’s weird, right?

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I stripped it down to it’s bare essentials (in Dad’s work area over Christmas break). Dad showed me how to strip the finish with pain thinner and then some areas needed to be sanded, due to a dog of ours who had an affinity for making his mark.

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I debated getting a crazy color (kelly green, teal), but I was stricken with holiday laziness and the need for more gold in my life. In the aisles of Lowes, I managed to find a Valspar gold metallic–not shiny, not really matte either.

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It went on VERY smoothly. It made a big difference that the base was already similar to the final color.

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Can’t forget all the little pieces!

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Especially the little finial that just rolls around when you spray it!

It took me a while to find the right lampshade. I wanted something fun, but I wasn’t willing to pay much for it. Anthropologie had some great options, but no sales (except when I went in the other day, the $128 shade I loved is now down to $70)! Eventually, I had people coming over to my apartment and a bare bulb. I finally found a great $20 shade at Target (their home items are constantly improving).

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The final product in place! I’m very pleased with my new (to me) lamp and I’m glad I didn’t let it go to waste.

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Bone House

Today I had the PRIVILEGE, again thanks to Knoll Dallas, of touring The Rachofsky House in Dallas.  Completed in 1996, this is a private home designed by Richard Meier.  You can schedule a tour (two weeks in advance) with a group of 10-25 people.  Or you could be a really awesome person who attends really neat events at this place, such as Two x Two for AIDS and Art.

The art in the galleries changes about every year.  We were given a list of the pieces on the property (over 80) which in a variety of mediums.

This was one of my favorite pieces in the “living room,” Slack of Vinyl, 1970 by Jiro Takamasu.  They made sure we didn’t accidentally step on it…

The floating study was off-limits; the house is still in use by the owners on occasion.  I would love a desk like that!

The bright white kitchen is on the first floor, along with the formal dining, and gallery.  Everyone’s favorite piece was opposite this view:

you’re greedy and you’re selfish., 2008 by Ricci Albenda  That will certainly put things in perspective over your morning cup of coffee!

The exterior and sculpture garden were equally breathtaking:

The property is over three acres–in the middle of Dallas–and there’s a pond!  Those are three geese at the edge.

I loved how the more traditional property is juxtaposed next door.  Also, it’s not easy to tell with my iPhone pictures, but the sculpture in the foreground is Cave Bear Teeth, 2000 by Kiki Smith.  They are cast bronze teeth!

This was truly time well spent and an excellent break from work.  If you get the chance to go, jump at it!

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Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

A couple of weeks ago, Philip and I celebrated a project milestone of mine at Blue Mesa, and yes, I do mean some celebrating-with-blue-margaritas.  After, we wandered over to Barnes and Noble, which is customary on any post-meal trip to University Park Village and I audibly gasped (shrieked is more like it) when I saw this:

via 360 West

We’re getting a J.Crew!  Not exciting news for everybody, but for me who’s been a devoted J.Crew prep for years, it was one of the things I still missed from living in Dallas.  Last November, we were graced with an Anthropologie in the same shopping center and it just keeps getting better!  (Now I just need a Crate & Barrel, maybe West Elm…)

A few years back, there was a large development on the east side of University coming called “West Bend.”  The retail anchors promised in the promotions were Anthropolgie and J.Crew.  Exciting!

via Trademark Property Company

It was a very large parking garage with retail at street level.  In my opinion it was not a great approach–further back from the street behind some restaurants, not pedestrian friendly (I know University Park Villiage isn’t ideal, but it nice place to walk around once you’re parked), and the structure itself was disproportionate to the surroundings.  Well, unfortunately, the funding for this project fell through and now we have a huge unfinished steel structure with no apparent plans.  University Park Village is going strong and staying fairly full.  I know it will probably be just like every other J.Crew in the country, but they’re not the madras plaid, lobster-embroidered pant place they once were.

Yesterday, I read the ENTIRE J.Crew blog: JCrew | 770 Behind The Line.  There’s great styling tips from their employees, behind the scenes info, and beautiful photography.  I ended up wearing as many J.Crew favorites of mine as I could find today!

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Update: Show Yourself

This was my day today:

Cutting out my Photoshop renderings and putting together boards for a presentation on Monday.  I consider this some of the “fun” stuff.  I always enjoyed coloring, so this is really just coloring electronically!

I learned how to do Photoshop in college; our professors brought in a graphic designer to teach us and we were skeptical (“I thought we were learning AutoCAD?”).  At first we just learned how to fix the red-eyes in photos, but we eventually learned how to render up elevations and floor plans.  Clients really seem to understand the ideas better when we can show them something as plain as this–“Here’s a cartoon of what the space will look like.”  It’s easy to take the .jpg from the manufacturer’s website, who will have the best images anyway, of their fabric, flooring, woods, etc.  Even Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore will give you the RGB numbers to get the colors right.  I think my rendering style is a little heavy with the shadows and can look a little cartoon-y at times.  At least I have a “style,” right?

Some tile options for the restrooms using Concept Surface’s Vivid Series.  I’ve been obsessed with this line for a while now, so I hope I get to use it.  There are so many good colors.

The actual tile sample (Concept Surface’s Visionary Series) next to the public restroom rendering.  I think it’s just the right amount of excitement or “umph” in there–but really, I think it would look great if the whole wall was striped!

We’re showing four different schemes which means many renderings, which leads to many boards!  I don’t care which one they pick because I’ve grown fond of them all–it makes it easier to sell them too!  Wish me luck!

UPDATE: The green scheme/my favorite scheme was selected!  Although it became a hybrid of the “green scheme” and the “red scheme” minus the red.  I’m very happy with the results, now we’ve just got to get it documented and constructed!

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My Doorbell

I spent a good half hour looking at The Rug Company’s collection online after seeing Studio Ten 25’s latest blog post. I decided I NEED this rug, but it probably costs as much as the balance on my student loan.

“But wait Marie, you DID just buy a rug!” Oh yes! On an impromptu trip to Target, I impulse-purchased a welcome mat from Dwell Studio for Target! (Guess I’m not much for planning.)

For $20 I finally fit in with the rest of my hallway at my apartment building and have a place to wipe my feet. I instantly felt more hospitable to my neighbors and guest. It’s the little things, isn’t it?