If I had a scooter...

I would want this helmet.

I think it's a really great design. I'm not sure how safe it would be but very stylish.
It's designed by Daniel Don Chang. His website is full of cleverly designed ideas, but this helmet stole the show for me.

Study, Study Study get your brain in gear

I've been graduated from college since 2007. I've been working in my field about a year before I graduated. Balancing school and work was difficult but rewarding. I got to take the real life skills I was using at my job and put them into my school designs.  So what I'm getting at is that it has been a long time since I've studied for something.

I realized earlier this year that I finally had enough work experience to apply for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam. After signing over my kidney I was accepted to take it. Just kidding not a kidney they just wanted a lot of information.

In short it means I know my stuff and can design a space that people can exit safely in case of a fire, I know how things are built and constructed, and I know the process of how an interior design project needs to be run.  A lot these things I deal with on a daily basis, project management, drafting, programming.  Code names for flammability not as often i.e. NFPA 701. In case you are wondering that's a code dealing with the flammability of fabrics, specifically drapery. Yes I care about the fire rating of fabrics and I read about it when I select them but I don't conscientiously think about the NFPA 701.

The test is coming up at the end of this month and I've been revising like a fiend, taking practice tests and carrying flash cards to make sure I don't forget anything. It's been a throw back to college life and it's been strange.  I'll take 2 parts now in the fall and take a drafting practicum in the Spring. I wanted to be prepared but not overloaded. After all it's been a while since this girl's bubbled in a scantron test.

Designer Rock Star

May was a busy month for me at work. We were finishing a lot projects up. Starting new ones and getting ready for Modern Atlanta. This year we held one of the biggest events of the week here in our office. We asked Karim Rashid to come and speak.  Hundred's of people flocked in our doors to check out his designs we had on display and to hear him speak.  He was brilliant. It was my first time meeting someone who's designs I really admire. His talk was candid and left me reflecting the way technology and design impact our world.
One of my favorite things he said that has stuck with me was his reflections on people thinking that the past was so much better and how people were closer. His thoughts (not verbatim) were how closer technology has made us. I can pick up phone, email and skype to almost anywhere in the world. How easily we can contact people.

It was a great night and I even got a picture with him. The photo also had the other folks I work with so I cut them out so they aren't displayed on my random blog.

So creative.

While in design school I was fortunate to meet and befriend some of the most creative people. Quite a few who I still talk to on a regular basis. Being stuck in a room drafting for days has a way of bringing people together. Almost everyone there was not only gifted in design but also in creative endeavors, jewelry, painting, photography, sewing. This brings me to my friend Jen. She is extraordinary skilled and talented and she now has an Etsy shop. In this her shop I had been coveting this amazing little clutch. I fell in love with it's adorableness.

Not to mention that the inside is teal. I love colored linings. Alas, I wanted it but never bought it for myself. One of those I want it maybe someday someone will get it for me. While what do you know. My other amazingly creative friend Rebecca (also a design school alum) got it for me as a thank you. Oh how I love it. In fact I plotted my wardrobe to the symphony to go around it. So check out her shop if you get a chance. It's full of elegant items. 

Modern Atlanta

This week has been very busy work wise, and home wise. I am excited though because next week is all about Modern Atlanta.  Modern Atlanta is a series of events and parties that showcases the edgier side of the city.  From architecture to fashion it includes everything.
a blurb from the Modern Atlanta ( MA) website.

MA’s aim is to embrace and connect a wide spectrum of practices including architecture and design, retail and trade, industry and academia, the arts, and NPO foundations. MA activities attract innovators, visionaries, independent minds, creative leaders, students, and non-specialist audiences with discussions on how design and innovative products improve everyday lives. MA provides the right conditions and venues for manufacturers and designers to successfully connect with businesses, consumers, and the public alike, by way of elevated local and international design exhibitions that expose all facets of the creative process including innovation and implementation. 

I am really exited to check out some of the events and broaden my vision on all things modern.  I'm also excited because one of the first projects I ever worked on is on the Modern Home tour. It is very exciting. :)

 

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PLiNTH

PLiNTH & CHiNTZ :: The Online Interior Design Magazine

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I read this and it reminded me of my college life. OMG I can't believe I did all of those things. When things like Cheetos or wheat thins were my breakfast at 4am. That I spent more time in a design lab working on CAD drafting then in my own bed. It was hard, it was stressful.(I'm surprised I don't have an ulcer.)I did it and I would do it all again.

Happy Chic

Happy Chic decorative home accessories is how Jonathon Adler describes his style via his website. His style is eccletic, bright, fanciful and fun. What began as a career in pottery has branched out to some really great furniture pieces and decorative accessories.  I love the colors that he brings to his pieces. I especially love the new red lacquer. Such bold statements can be created with color or the lack of. I would love to have an all black and white room and alternate colored accessories. Maybe that's just my fantasy when I browse through Jonathon Adler's site.

I love this bed. It reminds me of Don and Betty Draper's bed on Mad Men. It's almost over the top but the color brings it back down. Ahhh swoon. Love it.

This funky Mrs Godfrey Chair is so retro and cute I just want to take it home with me.

 This Giraffe lamp is also really precious. I would love to see it in a kids room.

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Lastly it wouldn't be Jonathon Adler if I didn't include some pottery. I love this little squirrel ring holder. I love it's silly little grin.

Audio and lights.

 

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I really love watching movies with good surround sound or dancing around my place cleaning with music. Though not everyone has the ability to run wires in their walls or doesn't want too. When I saw these speakers in an issue of Popular Mechanics this weekend I had a very ooo what a great idea moment. These Klipsch speakers would be perfect for a home that had recessed lights but didn't want the  speaker wire and hassle of installing a surround sound, sharing music between rooms and just an easy DIY speaker system. They are not only speakers but lights as well, which makes them even more useful.  They also come with a remote and a base so you can control the volume. So exciting I wish I had a use for them.

$137.49

That is the amount I spent on paint and supplies to repaint my bedroom furniture.  I think I made out like a bandit. I really wanted new furniture but with trying to save for a house, and not knowing where we are going to live in a few months it seemed silly to buy new stuff. I also like refinishing and redoing stuff. (Thanks Mom and Dad for that inherited hyper active syndrome.) Regardless I am pretty stoked by my hard work. I think It really did come out like my picture inspiration.

 

  

All in all I think It came out pretty well. I now want to hang out in my room instead of escaping it. :) Just in case you are curious here is a close up of what the furniture used to look like. I have one piece left to paint and wardrobe that is in my office since we don't have space in our bedroom for it.

 

It is a pretty big difference. 

Dancing!

Our wedding was called by some of our guests the "danciest wedding they'd ever been to" Which is exactly what I was hoping for. I had so much fun on the dance floor.  I think my guests did too. We danced the whole night away and would have kept dancing if we had been aloud to. Yesterday marked us being married for two months and I've been reliving wedding memories through music. So Shout!, Journey, and the YMCA all typical wedding songs were played plus all sorts of pop music that get's everyone dancing.  It was a magical night and I wish I could relive it. I'll just have to wait for the next wedding we get to attend and hope it's full of dancing too.

Life other than wedding related

Sometimes my job is full of paperwork, but most days it is fun. Today is one of those really great days. I am an interior designer but I also design Pedini Kitchens. This morning we relieved one of Pedini's newest kitchen styles. It's called Dune because it echos sand dunes. It came in this morning in a crate straight out of Indiana Jones. I am so excited, I can't wait for it to come out of the box.