Let me tell you about the exciting week I had at work! 

Alex and I got our Christmas tree (more on that later) last Sunday and my computer somehow stopped working in the process of moving it from the living room to the kitchen. It eventually started working again but my boss's husband M wanted to take a look at it anyway to make sure it really was OK. He didn't find anything wrong with it but as soon as I brought it home, it decided to stop working again. The computer is back with him again and I'm working from my laptop now. 

Aaanywho, on Wednesday, my boss J, my co-worker K, and I met up at 7:00 am in Napa and drove down to San Francisco to the Design Center.  We attended a networking breakfast and watched a presentation by an architect named Andrew Skurman. He is a renowned architect that specializes in Classical architecture and recently published a book! He's a very interesting guy and his work is amazing. It was kind of intimidating to be in the same room with such an accomplished person.

After the breakfast, J and K took me around the different show rooms at the design center to pick up samples and look for pieces for our current clients. K was such a pro at the design center. We were zipping in and out of show rooms grabbing this and that. I told her how impressed I was with her knowledge of the place and she just laughed saying that there was about two months during the summer where she would make weekly trips to the SFDC. I wonder if that responsibility will be in my hands in the future?

The photo above is one I quickly took at the Benjamin Moore show room... I mean look at it! You wonder how many other ways there are to present paint chips besides what you see at hardware stores. I just love how they've stepped it up with the flooring and lighting. So clean and beautiful and anti-hardware store.

On Thursday morning, I was back in the office working on some last minute drawings for a meeting we had later that day. The project is a master bathroom remodel for a guy who loves the rich Tuscan look. We had three designs to show him, one of which I had a lot of influence with. J had told me what she was looking for but pretty much let me at it. I found a really nice vanity for the client and added some arches here and there in the interior. He liked all of the designs but his face really lit up when he saw what I came up with and chose to go in that direction. I don't want to say that I "designed" it, I was only following direction but it was still exciting having someone want something that I put together. All in all, my first official client meeting was a success! I can't wait to see what comes up this week.

TGIF! Tomorrow marks the completion of my first 40 hour work week in... eleven months!
Can you believe that? My body is in shock!
Alex laughed at me when I mentioned that because not too long ago he was working about 60 hour work weeks.
The new job has been good! My boss is trying to make a space for me at the office so that we can all be in one location. Sounds like my sleepy chic work-from-home days may be numbered. I'm pretty excited for that though because there is so much to learn from those ladies. However, I must admit that I will miss going to my mom's house to eat lunch and watch Days of Our Lives.

Next week is going to be pretty busy. On Wednesday we are heading down to San Francisco to hear a talk about windows and then do some shopping for a client and on Thursday I will attend my very first client meeting to go over a design that I've been working on.
I can't even tell you guys how excited I am about this job. To think just last year I was sitting in my cubicle at my old-old job, drawing pipe supports and wondering when/how I would ever get into interior design. Now, after five months of unemployment and another five months interning, I'm finally heading in the right direction. I know this is just the beginning, but it's so nice to see my hard work finally paying off.