Sunday, November 30, 2008

just couldn't resist...

so, i have to admit something...i'm a bit of a christmas freak. and this year, i went a little overboard. i mean, not like WAY overboard, because let's face it, interior designers don't make as much as people think they do. i can pretty much barely live on what i make with student loans, bills, etc.

anyway, i digress. i actually went a little overboard this year b
ecause i FINALLY HAD AN EXCUSE! :)

i debated for about two days over where to put my christmas decorations up, kyle's apartment or mine. we were going to be there more often leading up to christmas, but the week of, we'll be at mine. so i thought on it and finally came to the decision that i would put them all up at kyle's. i love my decorations up there, they are purple and white (of course...go to www.ksu.edu and you'll see why...) and they are mostly my mom's old stuff. and then some other stuff i had from when i was younger including an angel cheeks nativity scene like this one.



SO CUTE! and from my mom's store (an ace hardware.)

and then his mom called. and gave me the BEST NEWS! she replaced her old christmas tree and wanted to know if kyle wanted it! but i had already put mine up at his house...so I GOT IT! YAY! so i'm working on getting the decorations for it, i'm looking for lime green and red ornaments, so everyone let me know where i can get them (preferably inexpensively) and i'd love you forever! i have green and red lights up already, with a star topper that i got at target tonight on sale ($11 instead of $12.99!)

so anyway, while i'm working on the tree and getting pictures up of it, here's some other small things i've done around my tiny apartment...

my middle name is joy, so i collect christmas items that are joy. (i'll just warn you now...there are a lot that say joy!)


this one is above my bedroom door. i actually made these out of left over tiles (like bathroom tiles) from a project at work. we had them as samples from an elementary school project, but didn't need them anymore. i already had the puffy paint, so these puppies were free! best part is, the paint peels off and i can reuse them another way!

my kitchen is already red, and i found these little gems at kmart (i went in for chapstick...came out with twenty dollars in christmas decorations...) the striped one i already had, the polka dot one says cheer, noel, merry and joy. the other one is what caught my eye, it's got a joy dot in the middle!

i couldn't get pictures of the outside decorations because it was dark outside, but i got cute vinyl polka dot placemats with joy, cheer and jingle written on them, but i stuck them up with water to my windows and they are backlight with my snowflake lights (also from the ace store.)


i had both of these already, too. the santa hat is a hand-me-down from mom and the believe iron piece is something i always have up (i got it at a dillon's marketplace for $10). it reminds me to believe in myself every day, but here, it's to remind me of the big RED guy!

on to the table! as you can see here, my dining room is 50s, so i already had the enamelware bowl, but i filled it with christmas bulbs (again, from my mom's ace). the plates and the little pails are from the dollar tree (just picked them up today!) so are the plastic cranberries in the noel tin, the joy tin is filled with andes mints, another fav of mine! (a trick if you are cheap like me...i didn't get enough cranberries or mines to fill the whole bucket, so i put tissue paper in them to look full...) [excuse the cat mess in the background.]


love this one, it's also from my mom's ace, the other side says nice! i love the polka dots.

more of the tiles i got from work with a spring of the fake cranberries! this greets you when you walk in the door. the little snowman i already had, he's from my mom's store from ages ago.


these adorable tea light candle holders are also from mom's store. i got tea light candles at dollar tree...20 for a buck! the green box is from the origin's face products i got, i just loved the color. and i put the christmas ribbon on it. the vase i made in ceramics forever ago and it's always in that spot, but i put some of the cranberries in it to add to the holiday decor!


and finally my favorite! i saw something really similar to this five years ago in hobby lobby and my mom has been looking forever for some for me, but we could never find any. she saw them at the ace show and ordered these just for me! i LOVE them and have a feeling that they will be up all year! the cranberries helped pop the letters from the books.

hope you enjoyed my little christmas tour!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

so i was reading postsecret this morning at work (lay off, i'm not busy at ALL and now that i'm doing studying the LEED exam, i have nothing to do.) and i thought this one:




...really hit home. i didn't even realize that i felt this way, in fact, i could really care less if i was engaged at this point. but, my grandmother has been getting progressively more ill over the past couple of years (she has alzheimer's and dementia) and she barely even recognizes anyone in the family anymore. but i adore her and my grandfather, and they really are getting up there in age...he's 95, she's 92... i think i didn't realize until i read this secret how much i want them BOTH to be a part of my wedding.

kudos to postsecret readers around the world on this one!

Monday, November 17, 2008

I PASSED!

...whew...

got a 176, so not bad, but not really anything worth bragging about.

at least i can go to work in the morning and put LEED AP after my name in my email signature! ;)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

LEED

wonder woman's comment reminded me that i never got around to my post about LEED and what it is! sheesh. since it's pretty much my life right now, you would think i could remember to at least do that! well, here goes, a crash course in LEED...

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. it's basically an exam that i will take that kind of "proves" to the architectural world that i am "capable" of designing green [environmentally friendly] buildings. it's not required, but highly regarded in the architecture and design field and i feel morally responsible to take and pass the test, so i'm working on it! i'm not sure i even posted that i failed the test the first time i took it. by ONE POINT!

but i'm over it and that's that. i'm retaking it soon [and, no, sorry, i'm not going to tell you when i'm retaking it. when i pass, i'll let you know... :)] and i'm once again studying my butt off!

back to the exam. the exam currently has a pass rate of 35%, but it's getting a revamp and in 2009 it will have a pass rate of 22%, so i'm trying to get it done before the new version comes out. it's expensive [$300] and i don't really have the money to retake it a whole lot, but i will finally get reimbursed by my firm once i finally pass.

once i pass, i will be considered a LEED Accredited Professional, aka, a LEED AP. according to www.gbci.org, a LEED AP is:

LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs) are building industry professionals who have demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building and the LEED® Green Building Rating System™. The LEED AP credential indicates that the professional has the knowledge and skills to facilitate the LEED certification process.

LEED Professional Accreditation is a voluntary designation achieved by over 60,000 individuals who have passed the LEED Professional Accreditation exam. The Green Building Certification Institute recommends that LEED AP candidates have building industry knowledge, as well as experience working with green building professionals from multiple disciplines.

hopefully this clears things up a bit, it's kind of a weird process and it's fairly new, so all the kinks are still getting worked out.

hope everyone's weekend is going great!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

confessions

wonder woman did a blog on confessions and i just couldn't resist! i'm not going to tag anybody, but feel free to steal the idea as well...

- the real reason i changed my major from journalism to interior design was because of trading spaces. whoa, was i wrong.

- i haven't told anyone except for my boyfriend when i'm retaking the LEED exam. i tell everyone it's because i don't want pressure, but really it's because i'm afraid i'll fail. again.

- my favorite holiday is new year's eve. which is totally selfish, because it's my birthday. and it. is. the. best. birthday. ever.

- sometimes, i start fights. just because. not, like, fist fights, but verbal arguments. especially with kyle.

- i hate cleaning.

- i pay $100/month for digital cable and internet because i thought kyle would come and visit me more in wichita. it worked.

- with college loans and credit cards combined, it equals more than a year and a half of my annual salary. and i'm in no hurry to pay it off. i have my whole life to do that.

- i am very certian that i will get laid off soon due to the economy. don't ask why, because i can't tell you. i just have a feeling. and it sucks.

what are your secrets? tell me!

ps - this post reminds me of postsecret.com....which i LOVE!

Monday, November 10, 2008

i love my job.

i haven't posted in a while, sorry guys! but i thought i'd blog tonight about the one thing that i REALLY hate to take home with me...but sometimes i just can't help it! work.

as much as i complain about my job (and i do, you guys just don't hear about most of it. but that's for another blog on another day...), there are parts of it that i absolutely LOVE!! and i think that the main thing that i love about it is how jealous kyle is of my perks.

which is what i'm going to blog-brag about right now...the perks of being an interior designer, all of which revolve around product reps.

1. product reps (representatives) come and see us all the time. we have short little 30 minute meetings and they show us the latest in their lines...fabric, furniture, tile, wallcovering, whatever it is that they rep. this gives me a nice little break during the day and is just another 30 minutes that i don't have to stare at a computer screen. bonus. we usually have at least two reps in one week, unless we are super busy. this week we have five!

2. some reps (you get to know which ones after a while) will bring us goodies! usually it is muffins from places like panera (sugar sisters is my favorite, but you have to be a wichitan to know that one...and it's new, so you ex-wichitans probably won't know about it either...) another fav: connie's cookies! or they will bring us store bought goodies. this one rep, matt, always brings us starbucks. and he's addicted to coffee....i'm not kidding, he told me he drinks 6 cups a day and usually a couple of those are espresso....so yeah, he's one of THOSE guys...

3. the reps (who are mostly based out of kansas city) come down about 4-6 times a year, and usually at least one time they come down out of the year, they will take us out for lunch, or bring us lunch, whatever they feel like doing. that's always awesome, because then you don't have to mutli-task with watching their presentation and eating at the same time.

4. the companies that they rep always have the coolest, newest marketing ideas. today, i got a maharam memory game. now that's pretty cool. another one i got that was cool was a christmas ornament made out of 3form.

5. sometimes (this is a pretty rare occasion...) they will take us out for drinks after work! this happened tonight!! perfect timing, because some of us younger designers were planning on going out anyway, and so we got some free ones instead...and we got appetizers, which is even better, because i didn't even need to eat anything when i got home. yum, yum, yum. we went to oeno which is a fun little wine bar in the old towne square area in wichita. which is where the young professionals all hang out.

so this post was slightly disjointed, but i think i got my point across! basically, i love to be spoiled, and reps spoil us on a regular basis! :)

Monday, November 3, 2008

wow...sorry, it's been a super long time since i've posted! i really don't have much to update, i've been studying like crazy and felt the need to update you all on the fact that nothing exciting is happening right now. getting ready to take the LEED test for the second time. let's see...what else? oh, kyle and i went on vacation, i'll do a post on that soon, for now just see my pictures on facebook! :) we also went to the KU K-State game this weekend, but that's a bit of a sore subject....

happy first day of time change!