2012 Awards

I may be 20 days late, but I was on my Myspace account (what's that?!?!) and found a blog post for the 2008 awards and decided it's something I should do each year to remember the highs and lows. So. Direct to you, courtesy of old myspace posts, I present to you: The 2012 awards.

1. Drinking Buddy of the Year: Alex. We spend most of our time together so it's only natural that we mix in a few drinks here and there. har-har-har

2. Lifetime Service Award (longest friend): Well the lifetime award would have to go to my bff Marie. We've known each other since Kindergarten and still hang out.

3. New Comer Award: My newest friend of 2012 would have to be my new co-worker Kati. She's super sweet and very good at her job. Definitely someone I look forward to working with more and learning from.

4. High Point of the year Award: When Alex proposed. D'aw! I've always known that we would be together forever. It's nice that he finally put a ring on it though... lol

5. Low Point of the year Award: Losing my job back in January right before my birthday. Didn't think 2012 would amount to much at that point.

6. Best Holiday of the year: New Years Eve. I was actually home for once and was able to spend it with great friends and family.

7. Favorite Song for 2012: I'm going to say Scream and Shout by Will.I.Am feat. Britney Spears because I can't get enough of British Britney and Alex gets soooo annoyed when I sing it to him.
But if we are going to do a serious song... I'll go with Tegan and Sara's Closer. I can't wait for the 29th when their new album comes out!

8. Favorite Movie for 2012: I loved Looper, The Avengers, Ted, Hunger Games.... and uh... many more? lol

9. Restaurant of the Year: Probably Boudin Bakery because I went there twice in 2012. The first time was the weekend before I lost my job and the second time was the day Alex proposed.

10. Game of the Year: If we're talking board games, I'll  go with Settlers of Catan. Yo, you got sum wheat?

11. Best Decision Made This Year: Applying for another job. I'm heading in the right direction now.

12. Plans for 2013: Gettin' hitched and having a great time planning it with Alex.

13. Stupidest Idea When Drunk Award: Making a podcast called "Let's Get Drunk and Play with Your Mic!"

14. TV Show of the Year: The X-Files. Never got into it as a child because, well... it was terrifying! But now I love Scully and Mulder.

15. Biggest Change of the Year Award: Goes to my relationship status and job title

16. New Year Resolution: Grow into a more mature version of myself by way of clothing and attitude. Be better than last year, take more photos and keep learning.

17. Most Memorable Moment of 2012: Well getting engaged (obviously!) but I'll add in: going to the Drink and Drag on Fremont Street in Vegas, my friend winning $100 at the slots, going to my very first client meeting, and moving back into my parents house for three weeks while switching apartments.

Thanks for reading and thank you 2012 for being so delightful.

Happy New Year!

Hello, I'm back! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and New Year! I know I did!

21 days after our 4 year anniversary and 4 days before I left for Christmas in Denver, Alex asked me to marry him! I was not expecting him to propose (even though we've been talking about it for a while) but it was definitely an awesome surprise! And great timing too because as Alex put it, he could not send me all the way to my grandma's house without a ring! Almost every Sunday for the past year or so, Bubba would ask me when we were getting engaged and all I could say was, "Ask Alex!"
Needless to say, Bubba and the rest of my family were incredibly happy for us. During my vacation, Bubba kept saying, "See! I yipped at you on Sunday and Alex proposed a week later!" So thank you Bubba, for inspiring Alex to propose. :)
Alex's family was on a whole other level of excitement about the news! We went to his grandparents' house for his family's Christmas celebration after I came back from Denver. As we pulled up the drive way, Alex's whole family came rushing out of the house with a video camera singing "Here Comes the Bride" and greeted us with hugs, kisses and congratulations. It was really awesome and such a great way to be welcomed into the family. 

Anywho, getting engaged: a great way to end a year that started out super crappy.
I have a lot to be thankful for in 2012. I got out of a job that wasn't fulfilling, interned for an architect, got hired as a designer for an interior designer/general contractor and got engaged to my very best friend. I'm really excited for what 2013 has in store for us. On to the wedding planning!!!

Christmas Decorating!

Alex and I are huge fans of the Christmas Spirit. We love the lights, the ornaments, the egg nog... you name it, we like it. We are also the type of people who buy our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Here is our apartment's transformation over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Here is our messy living room before:


We headed to a little Chirstmas tree lot by our house. They had cheap trees, free delivery and we were helping out a little boy scout troop.


After a stroll around the lot, we found our tree.


After the awesome boy scouts lugged the tree up to our apartment, we threw on the lights and ornaments and the room started to glow.


But that's not all... we decorated our mantle* too! Christmas mantle!!


We weren't sure if we were allowed to put lights up outside**, but we figured it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.


* Thanks to my mom for letting me use her decorations! She doesn't use them too much anymore and has an excellent collection of little Santas and vintage glass ornaments.
** We received a newsletter from the complex that said it's OK to decorate so... woo hoo!

Happy Holidays everybody!

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.

Five Senses: Sunday Night Edition

Seeing: Photos "uploading" on my flickr. My internet doesn't like uploading photos while Alex games and I try to watch Netflix.

Tasting: Popcorn. My favorite snack food.

Hearing: "Scream and Shout" by Will.i.am featuring Britney Spears. I absolutely hated it the first time I heard it on TV but it has evolved into my guilty pleasure. I can't get enough of British Britney!

Smelling: Apple Cinnamon Glade Candle. Makes my house feel cozy...

Touching: 24x36 Building plans. Getting ready for Monday at work!

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.

Paleo Pumpkin Pie!

Thanksgiving is here! My favorite holiday. I always look forward to the long weekend to spend with friends and family, to eat absurd amounts of food and to celebrate Alex's and my anniversary (sorry, had to throw that in there).

My absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving is dessert and in my house we usually have pumpkin pie. Since my family and I have started eating Paleo, we've been a bit worried about the upcoming festivities. It will be a "free day" for us but I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out another paleo recipe.

This past weekend, I did a bit of research and found a couple of paleo pumpkin pie recipes to combine into the easiest and tastiest recipe for me to create.
Here is what I came up with and it is awesome!

Last month I made a paleo apple pie and really enjoyed the crust and decided to use that recipe for this pie too. The crust is not only easy to make, it is super tasty.

For the crust you will need:
9 eggs (room temperature)
3/4 cup of honey
1 cup of coconut oil (heated to liquify)
2 cups coconut flour (amount varies)
(This actually made enough dough for two pies, which was the amount I needed but you can cut the proportions if you want)

-Preheat oven to 350.
-Put eggs, honey, and coconut oil in the food processor and pulse until smooth. Mix in the flour a little bit at a time until it looks like dough.
-Grease a 9 inch pie pan with coconut oil and then press the dough into the pan evenly to cover the bottom and the sides.

I found a very simple pumpkin filling recipe from Ann over at Twelve in Twelve. Ann found the recipe at the Everyday Paleo blog. Ann gave it good reviews and Everyday Paleo is a reliable source... so it was good enough for me to try!

For the Filling you will need: 
1 – 14oz can of organic pumpkin puree (nothing added, just pumpkin) 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon -I will actually be doubling the amount for my next pie because the cinnamon wasn't strong enough for me or my taste testers.
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger -I didn’t include the ginger and the pie was just fine without it.
2 eggs
1/2 cup raw organic honey
1/2 cup coconut milk -I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk because that's what I had on hand.

While the crust is in the oven, whisk all of the pie filling ingredients together.  Pour into the crust that has been baked for 10 minutes, return to the oven and bake for and additional 45 minutes.

 
I'm pretty sure my oven is the original that was installed in this apartment back in the 80's so it's a little wonky. I baked my crust for 10 minutes before pouring in the filling and then baked it for an additional 45 minutes but the pie would not set.


I wound up baking it for an hour and a half, which caused the edges of the to blacken but it didn't taste burnt. When I make it again for Thanksgiving, I will probably lower the temperature and keep a better eye on it.
Overall, it tasted great! The filling was perfectly smooth but not too sweet. My parents didn't believe that it was paleo and were excited when I told them that I'm making another one for Thanksgiving day.
As for Alex...

I think he liked it. ;)