what can i say, really?

i'm buried in work. and study materials. for the last 3 weeks or so - apart from the hour i set aside every night to cook and eat dinner - i have been living and breathing architecture. 


at work, we are in the home stretch for our renovation project. i work 10-11 hour days- definitely not the norm- and do not get paid overtime or collect comp time. a grande pike place from starbucks each morning is my way of coping. at home, i am studying for the first of my architecture registration exams. there are 7 total. i'm not sure exactly when i will take this first exam, since i am waiting on the TN board to approve my application and give me a testing number. my goal is to finish all exams by the beginning of june 2011. we'll see how that goes.


i'm sorry that all this seems to have a "woe is me" vibe to it... i really am surprisingly quite happy and satisfied with the way things are going lately. one thing i have found is that i am about 150% more productive during the week (and weekends for that matter) than i was with my 40-hour work week. somehow i find time to workout and cook dinner every night. if it weren't for those 2 things i think i would go crazy. oh, and the support of my wonderful bf doesn't hurt either. 


even so, i'll be happy when this deadline has passed and i can have time to style my hair in the mornings.


so that's where i am. i do have delicious recipes to post- i still try to cook something new once a week. soon i will post: portabello burgers. yum :) you will LOVE them.


thanks, friends, for continuing to check in. 
miss you all!!

cafe eclectic

sean took me to a new (to me) restaurant last night: cafe eclectic. i had never even heard of it... and that's a shame, because it is super cute. and delicious. just another reason why midtown memphis is so great. it has live jazz and other musical delights on the weekends. and really good roasted potatoes. and the overall ambiance is very very nice. i think it's one of those places where i could spend an afternoon sipping coffee and surfing the internet. just take a look.

entrance

interior of cafe

roasted potatoes!!

i am loving this brick corner detail.

love it

i am obsessed with any show that has anything to do with houses: design, sales, organization... ANYTHING. sometimes i wonder what my true calling is. i mean, is it normal that i can watch the exact same design/home show over and over and over and over...? sean said it accurately today. "jennie, i barely watch any tv. and i've seen this episode at least twice." touche, seany. but i just can't get enough. 

some of my favorites are clean house, my first place, curb appeal, property virgins, designed to sell,  AAAAAAAAND...... house hunters international!!! at this very moment, a lovely british family of three is searching for a new home in the english countryside. and i'm so very glad they invited me along.  there's just something about watching people search

 for real estate. in a foreign country. it rocks my socks off.

just a few thoughts.

i love my job. like any job, it has it's good days and bad days, but ultimately the firm is wonderful and i feel lucky to be a part of it. i work in the multi-family studio, where our work consists of urban infill apartments/condos and mixed use projects. i always saw myself in residential architecture- i love the idea of being able to directly influence (hopefully for the better- haha) the way people live. the built environment impacts every aspect of everyone's lives. rich or poor, that is one of the things we all have in common- and one thing i believe we all deserve. and organizations like Architecture for Humanity have made in incredible difference in struggling communities all over the world. and their belief is simple- good design is not a luxury. it doesn't have to be fancy, but it needs to work for the person using it. they deserve nothing less.

how we live, how we use space, how we shape space, how space shapes us; the challenge is to use architecture to respond in a way that not only meet our current needs but is adaptable for the future. as architects, i believe we have a great opportunity. along with our clients, we can shape our built environment in an efficient, beautiful, and responsible manner- hopefully to improve quality of place, quality of community, and quality of life.