The last 3 days I've done ab-sa-loot-ley nothing! Its wonderful! Well, actually I did read a Shopoholic confessions thingy book. I don't normally like them, I think I tried reading one before, but this time I just soaked it up - hehe but I find myself wanting things now. Its not a real good thing. But, let me tell you, I'm not just wanting measly fancy clothes and shoes, I mean things that are like crazy awesome too . . .
Par example . . . (I think I just threw in a little French there!)

This pantry. Now, don't ya'll be phoning me at once complaining that I brought on the jealousies with you too! Its tough this wantin' businness!

from this blog, house of smiths

Tomorrow I shall organize my life - school stuff, papers, bills, clothes, printers (there are 2 sitting on my bedroom floor right now not in operable condition!), cupboards, purses .... so there!

You got time to click on links, right?!

Oh thank you all so much for the sympathy comments! Its just what I needed! Really, I don't know what it is about comments but they really add so much to the blogging experience! ;) Especially those of you coming out of lurker status. . .

Class today was ... hmmmm.... long. exhausting. overwhelming. eye-openning. interesting. exciting. motivating.

I could go on and on about how great my new instructor is. She's the head of the 2nd year of Interior Design at BCIT. She teaches, I think, 5 of my classes, so the 22 of us in full time will get to know her well, and I can tell, it will be a relationship worth having! I don't even know where to start... she has stopped designing as a career and focused on teaching now, but she also always has her head planning something else as well. Like this summer she organized a design tour of London with a group of 8; she invited  "huge, internationally known, Interior Designers" and all showed up except one. They gave seminars and toured the city from a design perspective. She also has taken on the task of introducing BCIT students to the concept of Biomimicry; this year will be the second year with it in our course content. She's taken seminars on it through Janine Benyus - and you need to take twenty minutes to go watch her talk about it - and is convinced that this is the way to design, to solve every problem, and will be HUGE (instead of "eco-efficiency") in a good, big way. She also foresees biologists being present at the table of designers, architects, clients, engineers, etc. in the initial planning stages of a built project. So she is also developing a 2-year diploma program in Biomimcry to begin at BCIT (currently only available at the Toronto College of Art and Design, as far as Canada goes). We are so lucky to get to learn more about this as it is still somewhat in its infancy, and will be such a valuable asset for us.

She also has extended education in lighting design and so is able to teach us a lot - so valuable, as in this field, the lighting aspect really needs more course room than it gets! She has made sure that BCIT gets 95% more education in lighting than any other Interior Design courses available in Western Canada. What else...she set up a program where students went and studied in Italy a few years ago, in a remote area that didn't even have so much as a postcard available to buy. She then decided to buy a little cottage there because she fell so in love (the photo of the view she showed us was amazing). Today she was wearing a necklace made of bycicle inner tubes and old wire. It was all spiky and scary, and was pretty awesome. She is not the type of instructor who teaches the curriculum the same over and over and over again, she likes to change it up and keep herself interested, therefore, new stuff is always coming up. Cool. So now that you have a little picture of her...

Today in the morning we had Materials2. We learned lots about "efficiency" as taught in "Cradle to Cradle" (get yourself a copy! Or watch him talk on Ted) and then Biomimicry. We watched a video on landfills in the US, which was pretty insightful. It made me think: how many things do I touch in a day that I will throw "away". "Away" really is quite the concept, as it really can't go too far!
I challenge you to count yours! Every paper towel. Coffee cup. Tissue. Cheese wrapper. Napkin. Razor. Soap bottle.

I am super excited about this class because we will really analyse what "green" is and which building materials actually are, and which ones just tout the "chlorine free" or "green" or "natural" or "pesticide-free" horns. . . not to be cynical, but find out what they DO have in them, where they DO come from, how they ARE made... that means a lot more. The other assignment we have for that class is to recycle a found object or piece of garbage, make it desireable and new again, and they will be auctioned off at the 2nd annual BCIT Farmers & Artisan Market on October 8th. All proceeds will go to charity. We're also going on a tour of the Vancouver Landfill in a couple of weeks. We'll be goin to the Gaining Ground Conference (we get to pick which seminars we attend), HOK offices, participating in the Canadian IDEC competition, and we will also go to a green roof seminar.
(yes, all this just for materials class!)

Sooo much to think about, all buzzing around in my brain. And thats not to mention the Lighting class that was this afternoon (lots of review and new knowledge) and AutoCAD (the 2011 progam seems to be giving me lots of trouble. ugh.).

I think I am going to start a blog where I share my Interior Design projects, assignments, inspiration and ideas more. I feel like it needs to be a bit seperate, and less personal, so I will post that here soon.

Thanks for reading on! Sorry, I didn't mean to make this go on forever, but think how crowded it must be in my brain right now! Now go get educated by Ted!

Tour de Bedroom

I've finally got my bedroom to an organized enough state that it can now be proclaimed: Good Enough

Moved in June 1st, so it has been 2 months! Anyways, this is the green room now (plus a little 60s effect; couldn't resist!):

My $20 craigslist find of a dresser, which really needs a coat of paint. And some better knobs. I forgot it had knobs AND pulls when I bought the green flower knobs, so it looks a bit weird. Oh well, good enough!

And the cute summer quilt, made by my momma!

No, I do not have a bedskirt but I am accepting donations. Grin.

The closet corner of my room. And an old sled. And some art of me, raindrops and a black and white postcard.

Then you can see my drawers on top of my "Razzberry" table.It works, since I didn't have enough drawer space in the dresser. Stack of magazines are a perfect alternative to hanging the mirror! haha ... or the lazy man's way...

The shelf of doooom! But everything has a place and its all very find-able! From Halloween decorations to textbooks to greeting cards, flooring samples, my passport and highschool diploma - its ALL there!

The stack of books I'm reading:

 

Cradle to Cradle McDonough/Braungart:

You MUST read this book if you are even remotely interested in our efforts to 'greenify' the way we live. This gives a fresh perspective, written by an Architect and a Chemist who have been researching and studying this field for the past 20 or 30 years. Its very interesting, and I have to read it for school this Fall, and it was recommended to read it and take notes over the summer. It talks about remaking the way we make things. And how being 'less bad' is 'no good'. Excellent stuff, seriously, you will be surprised. (can't wait for the class we're reading this for!)

"Things that have come to pass" Me:

This is actually just a diary that my best friend Nicki gave me when I turned 8. There are things written in it from that age until now. I plan to keep it up until I die! Its my only "real" diary.

Oh Ye Jigs & Juleps! Virginia Cary Hudson:

I came accross this book at a thrift store, and had to have it: It was written by a 10 year old girl in the early 1900s and is just like her daily essays of her view on life. Super cute and fun to read but I haven't read it all yet!

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life Karen Rauch Carter:

Pretty much the best book I've encountered about Feng Shui. If you're curious about the ancient Chinese practice, read this book, she makes it very easy to understand for us westerners! I love learning about Feng Shui, and I can tell you it hasn't been practiced for hundreds of years because it doesn't work!

Simple Abudance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy Sarah Ban Breathnach:

I was in the habit of reading this everyday but haven't been so good at it lately. I always looked forward to reading the page or two dedicated to each day. It makes you notice and love the simple things a bit more I guess, and makes me want to cook, clean, garden, decorate and do everything with simplicity and, well, abundance! Truly a worthwhile book, every woman should read it for a year, or even continually would probably be cool.

Sorry, were you expecting fiction?! I can't remember the last one I read. Used to love them, but really, I just don't even bother trying anymore... Meh, I enjoy me some learning material anyways.

happy day!

Stuff and Squirrels

Wow! It’s June already?! I’m moved into my green room! My bed won’t be here for another week (now I know the answer to “why buy a mattress anywhere else”) but I have a little camping mattress on the floor for now, which will do just fine! I’m discovering far too many clothes. Ugh. Why?! I really don’t need more than what I have time to wear. I would love for that to be simplified for me, but then there’s all the things that you think you will want to wear, and you know, that top that would be perfect for a walk on the beach if it was exactly 21.75 degrees out, and the skirt that would be just right on a cool day in windy Scotland. Yeah, it’s pretty much that bad. And then my roommate asks me if I want this top she’s getting rid of and I’m all ‘yep, cute, thanks!’. Do you think it’s a real addiction? Like do actual people get some sort of actual chemically satisfying reaction in our actual brains to tell us that it’s actually good to have this much stuff?! What’s up with that anyways? Now the fabric, interior design samples, books and school supplies I can justify. Even though it was 2 whole truck loads of it. I think they are things I need. Right? Right? Anybody?


I did a little discovery of the neighbourhood this morning when I donned my bike (or did my bike don me?) and headed to our very own "Central Park". It has an outdoor pool, stadium (today Highschool students were having a track and field comp there), a little pond, horse shoes field, law bowling place and a baseball diamond. Its all in and among forest and paths that are great for biking through! However, and it's a big however, there seems to be an issue with feeding the squirrels... there are signs saying do not feed the wildlife... there are people throwing crumbs with their children right there too. And what is wrong with this? Well, you see, the thing is, when you feed them, they're no longer scared of us. And when they're no longer scared of us, they tend to not get out of the way when you're coming at them with a bike. Not one but two squirrels today caused me to swerve, squeal the breaks, scream and put my legs straight out in front of me with my eyes closed so as to not have to see or feel what goes down under my tires. I was mad. Especially at the lady with her daughter feeding them. This was before the 2 incidences, but still, I gave them a little "ugh" as I rode by. They heard.
Next time I go I'll say more than that, because I can see it REALLY is a problem!

Off to school now. Happy weekend to all you who have one!

Clean

I felt like blogging tonight. . . not feeling very inspired, but. . . . I cleaned my room today and it felt so amazingly good to have more floor. Having a cluttered space really messes me up and leaves me feeling useless. So I need to make it my mission to never let it get to that stage, but it's really hard with the amount of stuff in my bedroom.

Anyways, this is what my room looks like when its clean. Except now I have a sewing machine on my desk as well as a laptop. Let's see if I can give some insightful information as we view the images...

• That's a twin bed that is not nearly the size I need it to be. At least my duvet is a double so I have plenty to wriggle up in
• the black and white photo above my bed is of me when I was 2 or 3. My dad took it, and it's pretty cute, but my hand is actually down my overalls, not in my pocket as it appears, which makes it kind of funny...
• that huge yellow spool of thread is my favorite. I love the color and it is solely for looks.
• The black desk was made by my boy when I needed a drafting table. It's an old school desk, with a shelf under the top and the top lifts up so it angles for drafting. He also added the side shelf so I could use my laptop at the same time. It slides so that it can be tucked away under the desk, and has hooks underneath to manage cords ... genius eh? Like I say, it's more of a sewing table now.
• I got the flower rug at Winners and I really like the pop of red :D I really like Winners.
  
  

• I tied a ribbon between two pins on the wall and clothes-pinned stuff to it. Included are: a picture of a beautiful beach in Australia, photo booth pics of me and Emerly, a postcard and letter from Susie, an Orange Business Card (Earmark's, I bought some awesome cards once from them), picture of Wade and Tara... dunno what else...
• I hate organizing 24" x 36" drawings. They're totally mixed and matched it there, if I ever needed to find something... I don't even want to think about it.
• that's a stack of magazines behind. Anyone want some interior design magazines?!
• to the right of that is my door

• this is the icky side of the room. With no good way of storing purses, I stack them on this white shelf that came with my room. It works, but it annoys me by it's perpetual messiness.
• I like having a long mirror on my closet door. My closet, on the other hand, is the same width as the door (normal door size) :D
• in the mirror you can also see my other dresser that's stacked with stuff as well.

See?! STUFF everywhere!

Well, wasn't that fun!?

Now I can go to bed. Night!

Let me take you on a rundown of my day.

1. Aaah! I haven't been home all week and I have laundry to do, Salmon Arm to get ready for and a zillion other things...

2. Laundry

2a. email email email

2b. blog read

3. try to plan outfits for S.A.

4. get distracted looking in sewing/fabric bin

4a. blog read

4b. do what I read on angry chicken (cut a shirt into a cardigan)

5. try to pack

6. get distracted looking in sewing/fabric bin

7. sew a project I've been promising boy for about a year

7a. text laura

7b. text britta

7c. repeat 7a and 7b and interchange with a bunch of numbers here and repeat x lots

8. sew a piece of a skirt onto another skirt and enjoy the looks of it

9. put on new skirt

10. - oh! laundry

11. rip beads off a dress that looked bad (iffy. icky. distasteful. just can't put the right word to it.) with beads on it

12. dig deeper in fabric bin

13. find tonnes of old jeans

14. make skirt out of old jeans

... 4 hours later...

(that is also my cut-shirt-cardigan I "made" today and I really like it because it's SO light! although the sleeves could've been longer by about an inch)

and if you were wondering if my room is a mess the answer would be...yes

Now if I had any food in my house I would make some supper. But I don't. So I will finish the laundry.

And maybe tidy up a bit. it would be nice to go to bed tonight.

And public apology: Sorry I was making stuff for me, I will work on all your creative things next! I have completed 1 thing though, so there!

Lifestyle in pictures

After finding Polyvore I've wasted plenty of time ...
I decided to make one that incorporated all the things I want to work on and incorporate more into my lifestyle. Fresh fruits & Veggies was the 1st thing I added! Then Water. Then Yoga. Then... everything else. Here it is!

De-Clutter and get Butter! (better with an accent)

To say this
DID NOT inspire me to make some changes
would be the biggest lie of my life.
I really really really hope this inspiration lasts another... oh... at least 6 hours so I can go home and start throwing away stuff!
I had been thinking that even though I LOVE stuff and I LOVE clothes and I always wish I could just keep all my stuff forever so that I could look back and have something from now... and to have original things that aren't the typical trends 30 years from now... I think I know better. So now I'm not just going to think it, I am going to get rid of it. I know that stuff doesn't make any difference in the end. And the clutter is currently driving me mad.
SO now I am sitting here dreaming of going home to my bedroom instead of dreading it again because of it's madness, because I just can't wait! I hadn't even thought of how much cosmetics, hair stuff etc. that I've been holding on to for no good reason! Stuff I 'need' but could safely bet hasn't been used since last winter. So it is time to remove this clutter and (finally) start 2009 off how it should be!
Hopefully I can save some things for people that would appreciate them, but for the most part it will be a big thank-you-for-all-the-fun-shopping-trips-here to Value Village. And then the garbage bin.
Yay! I can't wait!!
This weekend is going to rock.

Things

I want:
1. a clear, organized space for creativity-only purposes
2. a house big enough for all my stuff and lost of makeover projects
3. a dog
4. a blog that equates the nieniedialogues .... some day, some day...
5. a passion for the work I do (or work that I have passion for)
6. an Etsy Shop selling whatever I can come up with!
7. a clean keyboard... g2g now I need to attend to that one