Giving Thanks.

This last year and a half has been quite a ride for me...but finally, finally, things are starting to look up. With that being said I have a few things to be thankful for:

- Better health

- A supportive & loving family

- Patience beyond my own

- A God who has known just the right people & events to put into my life to get me where I am today

[I have been so blessed]

Another update...

My roommate and good friend Camilla got married on the 21st. It was so fun to be a part of the big day...congrats girl!
Gotta have the Martha Stewart Poms for a bridal shower...

The spread for the shower! Megs made the cute towel cake.

So it's been a while.

Well...here are a few updates from the last couple...months...

I came back to Provo after an 8 month absence. Weird. Very weird. But it was fun to be with the old gang again.

Camilla and I took up a new hobby- for our inspiration watch this. If it doesn't work just youtube nena daconte- tenia tanto que darte

Birthday Weekend: I've always wanted to go up to the Alpine Slides so for my birthday two of my good friends took me up to Park City for an afternoon. The drive was beautiful with all of the leaves changing.

On the chairlift ride up...

Waiting for our turn...

aannnd Seth screaming through the finish line...

I got a free ride because I told them it was my birthday, but the best part was when I got to the bottom they were playing THE BIRTHDAY SONG by the Beatles!!

We walked around Park City a little and found this awesome shoe tree!

On my actual birthday the gang went to PF Changs

BOB DYLAN: Words cannot describe how excited I was to see this man in concert! He is 68 and STILL rockin. It was loud! So not what I expected...

I brought my camera but was caught and told that NO photos were allowed (per Bob's request...) buuuuuut sorry Bob, it's just something we had to.

Three very happy people after an awesome concert. The line-up was great, Bob pulled out a few dance moves, and his back-up was awesome.

Halloween: A few friends and I carved pumpkins a few days before Halloween. This is what we came up with...

Mike's "Carroll" from Where the Wild Things Are was definitely the best.

I've been getting a little crafty (more pictures to come). I found this old trunk at D.I. and with a little mod podge glue I came up with this...

Festival of India

I went to Kumbhamela 2009 at the Vedic Cultural Center just a few miles from my house. It's the most cultured thing we've got going on in this town! A couple of years ago the Krsna Temple was complete and to say the least, its pink exterior didn't quite blend with its surroundings, but I'm glad it's there!

This picture of the exterior came from here because the one I took of the outside didn't turn out.

One of my favorite parts was the giant inflatable cow outside! (unfortunately, the lighting wasn't very good for the outside shots)

This was inside the Prayer Room, where we also listened to live music -- the traditional music played in the presence of God.

We walked through the displays outside that depicted the story of Krsna.

We also listened to the national anthem being sung, and ate lots of curry!

My Design Philosophy

I started a new blog. In the near future I hope to start my own interior design business. Though I'm not actively designing/decorating right now, I'm always looking at magazines, blogs and websites. I decided to start featuring the things I love most in the design world...in hopes that my own work will be on there some day. Everyone has their own tastes, opinions and viewpoints when it comes to design, but here are a few of mine.

http://mydesignphilosophy.blogspot.com/

Enjoy--

K.

Ride the Ducks with Captain Fun-Tastic!

On July 31st, we celebrated my Mom's birthday. We spent most of the afternoon downtown just hangin out, walking around the Seattle Center. However, on this day, I had one of the most unique tourist experiences I've had...in my life. Ever since I can remember, every time we went into Seattle, we saw the signs and the parking lot for 'Ride the Ducks of Seattle.' We've never done it due to it's cheesy CHEESY nature, however, on this day we said, 'why not.' It's a unique way to tour the city because:

- You are in a bus/boat-like vehicle that works both on land...and in the water.

- You get to see the best of Seattle (Pike's Place, The Piers, Gasworks Park, the Floating House where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed...)

But what really makes this tour worth it is the bus driver himself.

I had the privilege of driving around Seattle with Marvin (aka Captain Fun-Tastic). Marvin was nuts (but if you ever do get a chance to Ride the Ducks, ask for him) He reminded me a little bit of Bill Cosby and he kept us (and innocent bystanders on the streets) entertained by:

1. Making us say "Cha-ching!" everytime we passed a Starbucks (it got annoying real quick...)

2. Wearing a 70's disco fro wig (the poor man was sweating profusely by the end...)

3. Waaavviinngg to eveerryyy pedestrian then tilting his head back and screaming, "I luh my job!"

4. Rocking back and forward in his seat that bounced right along with him, with his fro wig blowing in the wind...

Sooooo we cruised around Seattle and he'd blast tunes like Stayin Alive so people standing on the street corners could get their disco on (and people actually did...)

By the time we hit the water, I was cracking up. He had one individual on the boat/bus (whatever it is) particularly excited about the whole ordeal. I think he was most excited when the theme song for Sponge Bob came on. I heard this mumbling "mmuuuuddmmmuunnddermmmsseeaa," then in a loud, rather zealous voice, " SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS!" This grown, white male sitting behind me proceeded to sing the entire song without a lull of enthusiasm. I felt bad for the poor Chinese man sitting next to him, who I don't think knew a word of English!

I suppose my point is that Seattle is full of quirks, and here is yet another one.

Milk Carton Derby

Yesterday I went to one of the annual Seafair events. Every year at Green Lake they hold the Milk Carton Derby. Pretty much anyone can enter this race. Every entry has to utilize milk cartons in some form or fashion. It's seriously something I look forward to every year, I mean, have you ever seen a milk carton derby?! I forgot my camera once again (what is happening to me?) but I'll post these from a couple years ago...

Some entries are more worried about the engineering aspect...(above)

Some are there just to get a laugh...(above)

Some are there to show off (rightfully so. A duck made out of milk cartons is impressive, is it not?)

And some just take it way to seriously! There are milk cartons in there somewhere.

What would your entry look like?

To sister!

Today is July 9th. Today, Tom Hanks, Courtney Love, and Fred Savage are celebrating their birthdays, oh and O.J. Simpson (playin a little jailhouse rock...). However, none of them hold a candle to someone else born on this day:

MY sister, Christy!

I've been blessed to have a person like her in my life! She has always been an example for good to me. She's been my accomplice, my advocate and my friend. She never ceases to amaze with her accomplishments, drive, and ability to work hard. She is extremely talented; she sings opera, plays the piano, has her own wedding photography business, is very athletic, is mastering the art of healthy eating, and has recently become a wonderful mother, and she's beautiful on top of it all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTY!

With love,

Your little sister.

On the 4th day of July...

This year my 4th of July was conventional, in an unconventional way.

Instead of heading into Seattle to find the biggest crowds and the best fireworks display, we headed the other direction, the country!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I missed out on so many good photo ops; hopefully I can do the day justice with my words.

There's just nothing like a small town parade. Our destination...Carnation! It's the total storybook small town: one main street with ma & pa shops lining both sides, houses with white picket fences and screens on their front doors, trucks and corn fields. (And Starbucks)

I could write a blog and a half about the great chances you get to people watch at parades...but I wont.

The parade was basically free advertising for local business, but I'll mention the things that I loved about this one:

- The only float was a giant tooth ...

- The kid riding in a canoe on the flatbed of a truck, head on hand with an expression of total disgust, when he should have been chanting some tribal song...

- I saw a mule for the first time...

-The city council member trying to ride a Segway...

- The squad of antique...tractors.

- The jacked up fire truck...

- The Mariachi band...

- Mexican horses doing this fancy trot called a piaffe- it's legit. I had to look it up because I thought the horses were just totally uncoordinated. I still think some of them where...

I felt like it wouldn't be the 4th of July unless we had BBQ, or grilled something! Well...Since we don't have either, I did the best I could. A couple months ago I decided to invest in a George Foreman Grill. This little machine has changed my life. I have found a renewed enjoyment of cooking.

Here is the meal I made for Father's Day!

Anyways I brought my George Foreman outside, plugged it in (with the help of extension chords) and fired up the grill!! While the chicken cooked I blasted Ray Charles singing America, the Beautiful, and took in the warm summer evening, the music and the chicken on the grill! Ha! With a little BBQ sauce, we had a legit 4th of July meal. (Along with corn on the cob, watermelon, and a blue cheese, pear, and walnut mixed green salad with a vinaigrette dressing)

We headed back out to Carnation for the fireworks. As we waited for the show to begin... a local band serenaded the crowd with covers of those...forgettable bands such as Blondie, Bad Company, Styx, and a few other disco bands that seem to have slipped my mind...Maybe it was the feather boas wrapped around the microphones that I just couldn't get over? Hm.

This year had all of the best elements of a 4th of July...each unique to say the least...I wouldn't have it any other way!

So what now?

I can't believe it has been almost 2 1/2 months since I got back from Europe! Time has flown and all I can say is that life is full of surprises. Here's a quick update on what I've been doing.

First of all, I have to say that interior design is my passion. It is what I've chosen as my career, it is the hobby I love most, and it just makes me happy!

At a young age I started looking for opportunities (beyond my own bedroom) to decorate and design! I was lucky enough to work for a Realtor/Designer team who would "stage" homes for sale. Not only did I get to witness the process of it all, I actually got to decorate here and there.

Ever since then I've taken every opportunity to design, decorate and redecorate any space I could!

I came home from Europe hoping another opportunity would arise. I started searching locally here for interior designers/decorators. I found Kathy Hamilton of Hamilton Redesigns. She agreed to let me assist her on her projects until she stopped for the summer months.

Needless to say, I loved it! Kathy was fantastic to work with and let me jump right in to perfecting the "final touches" of her projects. The first main project I worked on was a multi-million dollar apartment overlooking Pike's Place Market downtown. I didn't take my camera, but I wish I would have! The view from a high-rise apartment overlooking Seattle is something else.

The second project was in its final stages. I helped a lot with the small details: the accessorizing and furniture configuration. Here are a few pictures to enjoy! (FYI the homeowner wanted to hang their own artwork...hence the bare walls.)

For kicks I thought I'd add a few shots from projects I've done in the past:

Two years ago I redecorated my bedroom at home. I'm planning on making a few new changes but I decided to throw these in. The pictures are all originals from a family trip to Europe.

I got plexiglass custom cut to fit this desk. Not only does it protect the surface but provides a whole new approach to displaying pictures! I reorganized these shelves adding a few new gems from my semester abroad.
This was a fun one. I lived in this apartment for less than 3 months but my roommates and I wanted to do something fun. It was Spring, the weather was getting nicer and all we wanted was color! If I had more of a budget, for the wall art I would have stretched fabric over canvas boards to give it more dimension. Sometimes you just have to get creative...

This was a holiday decoration from another apartment. Again, I tried to just use what I had. The little details can make all the difference.

Happy Birthday Milla!

M I L L A ~

if I may, let me ramble on for a second or two about why the age TWOZERO is so great! I was just thinking about it, we should really appreciate this age because after it we will never ever be able to count our age using our FINGERS AND TOES! We no-longer have to attach a ‘teen’ to the number that defines how long we have been BLINKING. However, we are still right in the middle between 10 and 30, so I am of the opinion that it is still acceptable to RUN AROUND TOWN dressed as whatever we deem necessary, for whatever holiday (existent or not!) STILETTOS are still an essential part of our wardrobe. We’re not OVER THE HILL YET so we can still get a little cardio in here and there ONLY IF we blast the song Paper Planes and sing the lyrics wrong (even if they sound better our way!) What is the difference of making a FORT in our apartment when we’re 19 or when we’re 20?! The number twenty just sounds sophisticated if you accentuate the second T…I will stop here but if you don’t get the picture yet I’d be happy to expound!

The point is I want to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my best friends, Camilla! Love you girl and thanks for all of the fun memories!!