Another Award! the Leibster Award

I wanted to give Julia from Cuckoo 4 Design a big giant THANK YOU for nominating me for the Liebster award... little old me!  I'm so flattered!  As I understand it, the award is something that new bloggers pass along to other new bloggers as a way to network and expose new talent. So be sure to check out her and the other bloggers she nominated.

So here's how it works:

1.  Answer the 11 questions posed

2. Post 11 facts about themselves

3. Nominate other bloggers

4. Tell them that they have been nominated

5. Create a list of 11 questions for the nominees to answer

Okay, here goes...

Julia's Questions

1. What annoys you more than anything?   

When someone talks about/makes fun of other people in their absence.  Most people have their moments where they gossip or voice their opinion of someone here and there, which can be annoying, but I understand and know that I do the same at times. But what bothers me is when someone does it all the time. Or when an entire conversation in a group turns to ridiculing someone who's not there. I find it particularly irritating if its about someone they don't really know.  I can't stand it! 

2. How do you stay creative?

I'd say mostly by looking stuff up online... especially Pinterest!  When I'm working on a specific project I often gather ideas for layouts by looking at similar spaces online.  When it comes to color and materials, I think I'm inspired by everything around me... colors in artwork, patterns of pretty fabric, textures in nature, you name it!  I also think we're subliminally heavily influenced by trends; I think we start seeing something well done in a lot of spaces and fall in love the look even if we're not quite sure where exactly we got the idea.

3. What is your favorite movie?  
That's a tough one because I really enjoy all movie genres and there are so many good ones!  But... Amelie is definitely a top choice, was obsessed with Now and Then growing up, and love anything with Audrey Hepburn.  On the less girly side, Pulp Fiction and Fight Club never get old for me, and I love a movie with a good twist like Momento or The Machinist.

4. Would you have studied something else in college? If you didn’t attend college, what would you study if someone gave you free tuition?   

I'm studying what I'd love to study right now! And I'd do the same if someone gave me free tuition. Read my About Me page for more info.  Sometimes I wish I would have done interior design the first time since my parents paid for my tuition then (this time I'm on my own), but the reality is that I didn't know what I wanted to do back then and even if I did, I wouldn't have appreciated it the way I do now.

5. Do you speak any other languages?   

Ig-pay atin-lay!

6. Do you have any tattoos? If so, do you regret getting them?   

I do and I love it! It's a symbol my dad made up when he and my mother were dating: two interlocked hearts.  They'd write it on love letters to each other and my dad even had a ring made for my mom a while back. Although they're no longer together, they've remained good friends, and my sister and I got the tattoos as a symbol of our family since it was their love that made us!  My dad later got the same tattoo. Still working on convincing mom to get one.

7. What quality do you find most attractive in others? 

Definitely confidence in being yourself.  I especially like silly people who aren't afraid to act silly.

8. What country would you love to live in or are you happy where you are? 

I'm definitely happy where I live, but I often wonder what it'd be like to live somewhere different (in the states or elsewhere; Southern California is so darn expensive!).  I have a theory that enjoying the place you live is all about the people.  I think I could live anywhere if I took the time to get to know people that I jive with. But for now, I'm happy where I am.

9. Do you love or loathe exercise? 

Love it!  I did gymnastics as a kid, ran track and cross-country in high-school, have tried west and east coast swing lessons, Zumba, Hot Hula, spin classes, Bikram Yoga, ran a marathon and hope to do another some day. I wish I had more time for it, but at the moment I'm only exercising once a week. :(

10. If you could furnish your entire house for free from one catalog/store/website, which would it be? 
Oh man! I don't think I could choose just one. I love the mixed look.  If I had to choose, I'd have to do a lot more research. I'd go with something high-end and quality made if it was free... like Baker maybe.

11. What is one skill you’ve always wanted to learn? 

I really enjoyed wood shop in high school so I'd love to learn to make furniture if I had the time and a place to do it, but that's a whole other career in itself, which I don't really plan to pursue.  Wish I could sing and perform, but am too afraid of any audience other than Spot the fake turtle on my dashboard.  More realistically, I'd love to learn more ballroom dancing... dancing with the stars here I come!

11 Facts About Myself

1. I almost went to Rhode Island School of Design for Architecture, but instead decided to stay in California. 
2. I haven't had cable TV for about 7 years and I like it that way!
3. I used to arrange my barbies into little settings when I was a kid and got angry when my little sister moved them to play with them.  I was kind of a brat.
4. I enjoy many music genres the same way I love many different design styles. You might find me listening to country music one morning, gettin' down to Robin Thicke on the drive home, singing along to Otis Redding, or relaxing to Pandora's "The Girl From Ipanema" Radio station while cooking.
5. I love black jelly beans, but not black licorice. Something about the after taste.
6. I visit the Goodwill or Salvation Army at least twice a month to scour for treasures.
7. I talk out loud to Duchess (my kitty) all the time. Sometimes I think she understands me! ;)
8. When I was a kid I told my dad I was never going to shave my legs. That obviously didn't last, but I'm still a hippie au naturel girl at heart!
9. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Why are eggs a breakfast food and not an any meal food?, that's what I want to know!
10. I was extremely shy growing up. I'm really grateful that for the most part that has changed, but I still struggle with speaking up and being myself at times.  I constantly try to remind myself that I can't control what others think of me and instead direct my attention to being helpful and doing my best. That always helps!
11. I dance and hop around my house nearly every day.

Blogs I'm Nominating

White House Black Shutters
The Peak of Tres Chic
Danielle Oakey Interiors
Little Kitchen Big Bites

My Questions

1. What was your childhood dream job?
2. If you could have lunch with one celebrity from any time period, who would it be?
3. If your fairy godmother could wave her wand and give you a skill you've always wanted to have, what would it be?
4. If you were a Disney character, who would you be?
5. Mountains or beach?
6. What's your favorite project that you've completed?
7. If your house was burning down, what 3 items would you grab first?
8. If someone gave you $10,000 that you had to spend on yourself, what would you buy?
9. Would you take the red pill or blue pill? blue=the blissful ignorance of illusions; red=embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality 
10. If you were an animal what would you be and why?
11. What's the most unusual thing on your bucket list?

A Happy Change

I'm sooooo behind on blogging, but I'm in the middle of an exciting transition.  I got a design job!  This week I started working part time as a design assistant, which I plan to tell you more about when I have the time.  Right now it feels like I don't have time for much, but I'm sure it will be easier to manage things once I've been doing it for a little while.

I also had a really busy weekend. Here are some clips.  (If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen most of this)

Went to a fun rockabilly show called Rumble on Pine in Long Beach. Sat on hey, saw a friends 2 bands play, looked at cool old cars, and tried on hats!

Then I went up to my mom's and hung out with the kitties and their furry feet.  Next day, saw a friend's new house and the Jonathan Alder salt&pepper shakers that I got for their wedding in their new home. Went to breakfast with her and other friends and caught up. Then mom and I went to the LA Gift show and I tried on more hats... its one of my favorite past times.  Fun fun!

And now the new job.  Busy busy busy!  But I hope to be back on a regular blogging schedule soon. Hope I don't loose you guys!

On the Cover of the ASID Orange County Chapter Magazine!

I got a pleasant little surprise in the mail last week.  Our nursery designed for the Noah's ARC Design Challenge was on the cover of the ASID CA Orange County Chapter Magazine!  Hooray!

Here's the spread...

Heres a few more close ups of our work as well as the other schools feature in the magazine.

And here we are! (Sorry about the poor picture quality. They were taken with my iPhone.)

You can also check it out on the ASID Orange County website. The pdf is here.

Mini Patio Makover

Hi ya'll! Today I'm going to share with you the mini makeover I gave my "patio" last weekend.  Its really just the landing at the top of my stairs, but since I don't actually have a patio or porch or anything of the sort, this tiny space is my apartment version of a patio.



You'd think I would have done it before the 4th right? But no, I'm a procrastinator and did it after. I did do a bunch of thinking about it before though! That counts for something right?!  Haha. Jk.

But for realz... if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have guessed that I've been looking for a job which has been a lot of work.

Yup, that's me! All ready for an interview. I'll tell you guys more about all that soon.  But for now, lets get back to the patio makeover...

Who kills every flower they put on their patio? That would be me.  I'm great at keeping my indoor plants alive, but I tend to neglect the patio plants and they just don't do well without a lot of water.  So here is what my patio looked like before the make over...

So sad!  Aside from dead plants, I also wanted to give that thrift store chair a fresh fabric and my welcome mat needed a good shake since my kitty sheds all over it. (I'm blaming that one on her! Haha)  And just ignore the broken screen... that's my ghetto-chic kitty door!  The overhang is also a big disaster. One day the management started scraping the over hang, presumingly to paint it, only to reveal major termite damage, at which point they stopped and left it that way. That was months ago. And lets just not talk about the giant crack in the landing.  Thanks management guys!  But that stuff is not my responsibility, so lets get down to the stuff that is...

The first step was to plant some new plants. I had a snake plant indoors that I wanted to move to that pot and thought it would be perfect to surround it with some fun, hopefully easy to keep alive, succulents.  I stopped by The Plant Stand in Costa Mesa, which has a really nice selection and learned that they were having a succulent "class" the following day at which they were giving out 50% off coupons for succulents. Count me in!

I went back the next day to collect the goods and my awesome boyfriend offered to keep me company. I thought he'd be helpful in the decision making process because he usually just picks one thing or the other, but instead he got super into the succulent hunt!  He kept finding new succulents he liked.  It was so cute!  Now maybe he knows why I always have a hard time making decision like that.  They're all so great!  But we finally did come to a decision and picked out a nice variety of scale and colors.  And the result...

Next, I recovered the chair with a fabric remnant that I got from school.  I actually kind of like the existing equestrian print fabric, but I thought something a little more modern and colorful would give it a little excitement. I went to Joann's to find something but discovered that they are closing the location by my house and only selling fabric by the entire bolt. Not wanting to purchase 6 yards of fabric for which I have no use, I decided to stick with the remnant.

There I am screwing the seat back on... so exciting!  Even though it wasn't my first choice of fabric, when it was all said and done, I think it turned out great!  And especially appropriate for the Fourth of July (even though I finished it on the 6th). I thought about repainting the metal, but I decided to leave that to another day.  Check out the before and after...

And the whole 4 square feet of my "patio" all pulled together...

Much better right?  Now all I have to do is keep my little succulents alive.  Wish me luck!

Happy Fourth of July!

My Chevron Table Feature on {DIY Show Off}

Hop over to DIY Show Off and check it out along with all the other fun projects.  I especially love Jessie's wood shim mirror!