So after not touching this thing for a couple of years, I have decided to get back into the blog thing.... I figure since we now live quite a distances from most of our family, and my family is moving farther away, this would be a good way to keep everyone updated on what is going on in our life. And I am gonna try my hardest to keep this thing updated on a regular basis.... no promises though.
Well I suppose I should catch everyone up on the past couple months, I think any farther back and it would be a little overwhelming. Since Corey and I have moved to Seattle, we have been working, and enjoying the city life. Due to our work schedules we weren't able to make it back to Idaho for Christmas, but our mother's were kind enough to mail us our gifts. So we spent a relaxing Christmas day together, opening presents and eating some good food.
Just after we woke up, we were getting ready to open our presents.... we figured we would take pictures to show our families.... kinda forgot to actually send them, I guess it's better late than never.
The awesome dress I got from Bobbi!! Love it!!
Yay for Mario Kart..... It occupies way too much of my time.... Always has been one of my favorite games!
The lovely scarf from my mommy.
Pretty sure that was not what the belt was meant for..... but whatever...
Courtney got me a pretty wine glass
Awesome movie and sweater..... Corey wears it a lot.... thanks mom!
And of course more scarves for me.... which I love! Oh, and Alice in Wonderland!! One of my favorite movies!
Thumbs up for the red shirt....
Pretty Sweater....
Ernie's new fashionable collar....
Corey got me a lovely jewelry box.... which is already full....
A couple days after Christmas we hung out with Jason and Tiana and went down to the water for a bit, granted I see this every day, but I don't really take pictures.
And of course we have to get a picture of us with the "dinosaurs" The huge red cranes which I call my dinosaurs is my favorite view from Seattle. I love looking out at the shipping yards.
January didn't bring a whole lot, just some work and hanging out. Laura came to visit us at the beginning of February to help celebrate my birthday... and since her birthday was a couple weeks before we had a joint birthday dinner.
Laura and I got some lunch on my birthday at Chinooks, we enjoyed ourselves while we watched Corey work....
For dinner the three of us went to Purple Cafe and Wine Bar, one of our favorite places to eat. They have an excellent tasting menu where we sampled many dishes. We got a couple wonderful cheeses, a beef carpaccio, ceviche, among many other wonderful tasting items. We really enjoyed all of the food as usual.
And of course it is a wine bar, so we shared a great bottle of wine.... I had never heard of this wine, but man was it delicious!!
The central focal piece of the wine bar.... if you can't tell they have quite the extensive collection.
Checking out the wine pillar....
They brought us a couple of birthday desserts, a red velvet cake with the most amazing cream cheese frosting, a little creme brulee, and finally some little chocolate covered caramels, they were all wonderful.
While Laura was visiting, she finally decided to take the plunge, and move to Seattle. She has been working and trying to find a way to get over here for nearly a year. Finally she decided to move in with Corey and I and get over here! After she left I started looking for new apartments to move into with two bedrooms. After looking around at a good number of places, I was getting very discouraged, as there was nothing that was what we were actually looking for in our price range. And also in the neighborhoods that we wanted to live in. Finally a couple of weeks ago I came across from a great apartment, two bedrooms, two baths, two porches, two covered garage spaces, internet and cable included, Laundry room with washer/dryer... It is beautiful. So we turned in our application to move in to that apartment and were approved, so In April we will be moving into a new building, and even better it is just down the street from where we currently live, so the move itself will be easy. We are all very excited about this new place, as the building is brand new, they are still putting finishing touches on it, and it won't be ready for anyone to move into until the beginning of March, so we will be the first people in this place. Here are a few pictures of the new place.... none of us can wait to move in.
The living room/dining room looking from the kitchen towards the front door.... you can see porch #1 to the right.
Looking out at porch #1... we do have a little bit of a view of magnolia.
Porch #2, Nothing special, but it runs along the side of the apartment, pretty cool.
Standing back by the front door looking back across the living/dining room. Porch #1 is just out of view on the left of the picture. Look at that kitchen!! I am so excited for the Big Kitchen!!
Granite countertops, dishwasher (we sure have missed having that), it is really an amazing kitchen!!
Laura's Bedroom, pretty good sized, and she'll have her own bathroom just across the hall.
Master Bedroom looking from the door to the left.... wait for it....
and looking the other direction from the back wall.... it a very large bedroom, which is great!! There is a nice walk in closet on the left as well as an adjoining bath.....
Master Bathroom.... The other bathroom looks almost exactly the same.....
And a blurry view of the kitchen.... still super excited that we found such a great place!
Even better is the fact we will no longer have to save our quarters for the laundry, and it's an actual laundry room so there is some storage too.
That's really all the updating I am going to do for now.... But since I started typing this little thing, it started snowing, and it looks as though it is going to stick this time. All the surrounding areas have gotten quite a bit of snow, but we were lucky that Seattle proper was missed.... I guess our luck could only last so long. We will see if this is gonna be Snopocoalypse 2011.
Wow.... I just realized how long it has been since we updated. Admittedly we have had internet from the pub down the street, but usually we only spend about 20 minutes catching up on emails, then they must close (suppose it is those long days we are spending). I guess I will update on everything since then.
Let's see....
On the 7th of July we headed to CAT which is the Center for Alternative Technology which is located in Machynlleth (still can't pronouce it, though I gather it's very throaty). We spent from Tuesday to Saturday there, where we were living at a "hippie camp." We lived in one of their eco dorms where all the water was heated by the sun or a fire in the fireplace, all the electricity came from solar panels, wind turbines, or a hydro system. All in all it was really cool, though we were not prepared for the boonies. We had been told to bring nicer clothes for our trip.... and here we needed hiking boots and clothes we could trash if necessary.
While we were there I spent a couple days learning about hempcrete construction as well as specifying materials located on site for a new building they will be soon building. Corey on the other hand participated in a daylighting module where he studying a space, then suggested improvements for the lighting situation. The major downside to the whole trip was that we were only served vegetarian food, which would have been alright, except a lot of it wasn't very good. Corey has most of the pictures from the week on his camera, but here is one of me and a couple of the other girls in our hempcrete making gear (outfits 1pound from the thrift store). And since lime is a bit toxic (the binder in the hempcrete) we had to wear some awesome protective gear.
We also learned the rules to Cricket.... and then played a modified version out at the beach.... Corey played a bit...
The last night that we were in Wales they took us all to a place to sing Kareoke. While I didn't join in on the fun (trust me no one needs to hear me sing) Corey did... and sang some Backstreet Boys with the other guys on the trip.... they got a bit into it. When we got back to London, we checked back into Passfield Hall... sadly our room isn't nearly as good as the first time, though still quite spacious. The morning of the 13th we were able to meet with a guy named Sam who was one of the architects that helped designed the Serpentine Pavilion. It was quite interesting to talk to the architect of it, since most of what we know is put out by the gallery itself.
A quick brief on the pavilion, every year they commission an architect who hasn't ever done a project in UK to design a temporary structure for their lawn. The structure stands for about 4 months, then is deconstructed, and some rich person has bought it, and has it as an art piece for their lawn. This year it was based on clouds... quite cool all in all.Later that day we went to Beaufort Court, which is a reuse of a historic egg farm.... which used to be used to make Ovaltine.... interesting really. This day was quite busy as in the evening we visited Grimshaw's office. It was very cool, and both Corey and I would have worked there.... also seems you can get your US architecture license if you work there, which would be cool.... if only they were hiring.
The next day we traveled to Oxford, where we toured Sue Roaf's Eco House. I've been there before, so I don't have much to say about it, other than it performs wonderfully with a small Scandinavian fireplace and natural ventilation. The house itself looks quite normal (especially for the area) from the front.... and really internally.... it just performs much better.
We also toured Oxford university. Which was cool, (and it only cost 3000 pounds a year to go there if you are a UK resident) but also very traditional. Ball gowns for dinner and robes for classes.... It seemed great, though that sounds like a lot of getting prissed up for me.
The next day we walked around Greenwich.... which was kinda alright, but not very interesting. That evening we toured Laban, which is London's school for contemporary dance. I guess considered the primo dance school of the UK. It's quite interesting, though the bright colors bother the eyes after a while. The next day we went to Chiswick Park.... where the motto is "enjoy work" and that's what they do. They overlying company provides everything for everyone. They rent out games if your kids must be with you, they rent bikes for your lunch break, they bring in fun activities on Fridays, and pretty much anything you can imagine... all for free to the employees of the buildings. The companies do have to pay a small fee... but overall their employees are more productive because of their environments, so all in all they are saving money. While this is an unoccupied space, it is quite nice. and provides excellent daylight to everyone (no flash).
Later that day we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where we looked at the architecture collection. Many amazing drawings done by great architects. There was also a fashion show going on, but I could only hold Corey's attention for so long (otherwise I wouldn't have left the fashion show).
Lastly that day we went to Norman Foster's office. He is considered one of the greatest architects of his time.... though all in all he is crap. They allowed us into two parts of the office (one more than the last time I went) the entry doors... and just up the stairs (next to the entry). They are so secretive they won't tell anyone about what they have done or what they are working on... We got a brief talk on a building that has been open since 2002.... and it was less than we could read in books. They are basically jerks..... and Foster runs an awful sweatshop. Obviously they wouldn't let us take pictures (we might let out their architectural secrets from the lobby)
Over the weekend we spent in Brighton, where I went on my study abroad a few years back. It was great, even though I didn't see any of my friends.... apparently one of my friends was getting married... so everyone was gone. I sadly don't have many pictures cause Corey took them. But it was windy as usual, and beautiful. We came back Sunday night, and got a bit delayed because someone trespassed on the line two stops away (i.e. someone got severly electricuted because they thought it was a good idea to cross the tracks, even though they are live).
We came back and CJ (my friend from Applebees) was in town, so we hung out a bit and he crashed in our room. The next day we walked around a museum about the docks... a bit boring.... then headed to Camden Town (where all the cheap venders are..... it's really fun) At the end of the day we went to As You Like It at the Globe Theatre. The first half was really good, but we had to stand, and sadly my knees couldn't stand anymore so we went home. But I heard the end was quite good as well. We instead slept and more importantly weren't standing.
Finally we are to today.... Somehow I've gotten through all that quite quick (considering what is going on). Today we went to have lunch with the architect Anne Thorne, then toured a project of the firms. They are big into sustainability, as well as socially concious. So we toured a social housing project they did call Angell Town. It was cool, and didn't feel like the projects, even though it was. Otherwise, Corey and I are doing well... we've been having a good time, seeing the sites. It is a bit bittersweet that we are coming home in a week and a half. There are things we need to do and would like to get back to, but at the same time it would be nice to stay here for a while longer. And as I say goodbye for the day (and it shouldn't take this long to post again) I shall leave you with a great picture...
Monday, July 6, 2009
Hi All!
We are fine by the way.... I know it's been a few days. We got in to London Saturday morning to find out they don't provide free internet like they said they did on their website. We were all a bit irritated about that, but what ever. We all found a coffee shop with free wifi and this is the first time Heather and I have made it down here to fill you all in.
The room Heather and I are staying in is soo nice. it is a double (single sized) room with huge double hung windows on three walls (five windows in total). We opened the top and bottom of one and the bottom of the others and it keeps it literally 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the building (which is quite uncomfortable) making our room perfect. Unfortunately we will only be in that room for the next night and will be staying in Whales for a week in the boonies with some Welsh students. We have to move out of our current rooms and return after Whales but in different rooms :-(
Anyway, we have been walking tons and using the Underground (Subway system) a lot! Saturday once we got into London and checked into our rooms went on a long walk just Heather and I through Trafalgar Square along the Promenade to the Buckingham Palace (the Queens Palace) then back to the British Parlaiment (Big Ben). Our feet were so tired we took the Tube (Subway) back to our dorm. Whew.
Yesterday was fun too. We ate our full English breakfast then rode the Tube to Cambden Town (hundreds of stands that sell cheap cool stuff (clothes, accessories, the works). It was great. Then we got sandwiches and went to Regents park in an attempt to go see the Serpentine Pavilion (which is actually in Hyde). We ate lunch in Regents in the shade of a tree to escape the beating sun. Next it was off to Hyde Park for us. Gorgeous! The Serpentine (body of water in the park) was great with row boaters afloat and huge green trees. We found the Serpentine Pavilion but because it isn't done until the 12th we couldn't get a great view of it and just took pictures over the fence. This pavilion is something a different architect designs each year and they build it in the summer. We are actually going to be presenting our charette projects in this pavilion at the end of our trip to any and all that want to come! That is quite exciting. We picked up some brews on our way back to the dorms and relaxed in the courtyard.
Today was the best of London so far. We first met at St. Pauls Cathedral and got a long in depth tour of the church. We also climbed 567 stairs to the very top of the dome of the church and got a great view of all of London. It was a bit cloudy today but it was clear enough. We wandered a bit saw the Boiler atrium of the Tate Modern and a new building by Alsop. Next we took a ride on the London Eye which takes about half an hour and we got awesome views and was a fun ride. We then made our way to the coffee shop and are on our way to get some thai food...you know the rest :)
Loves and we will treat you with pictures soon. I hope to get internet in Whales, but we might not. If not we will get back to you on the evening of the 12th.
So today we have walked all around Liverpool, and seen the sights. Well a few, our bodies are just getting too tired from the constant walking that we did for the first week and a half that we can't stand nearly as long as we used to be able to. We find ourselves sitting far more often, and our shoes are wearing holes in them... quite literally (though note we used the same ones when we toured New York for two weeks last summer.... and have worn them a lot since them, so they are quite old)
As far as what we have seen, we walked past a beautiful old cathedral which is a few blocks from our hostel, though we didn't go in, the first time past it was closed, and the second time, we just wanted to sit. We then walked down the edge towards where the touristy things should be, found a brewery, and tried to find a way in, but couldn't, so no tour for us. We then walked down to the Albert docks and walked around looking for some lunch. We found a nice crepe place and had a bite before heading to the Tate Liverpool to look at the galleries. After we walked around a bit more before heading home to do some work on the internet, as well as sketch and take notes in our journals. Sadly, there are no pictures of our touring because someone forgot to put the memory card back into the camera after blogging last night. Oh well. Tomorrow we are off to Birmingham for a night, then to London for a few days until we head to Wales to do a design charette with some Welsh students. Should be good times!!!
It's been about 3 days I think. Our last post left you in Newcastle with our friendly Bulgarian couch surfing hosts. The morning of the 29th we headed into Newcastle to see the sites. Our host Yassen and his wife live in a 1970s housing development called the Byker Wall. At the time it was a very revolutionary development designed by Ralph Erskine. Although it has become quite run down over the years with increased crime and vandalism. The city has began to focus their attention on the Byker Wall as it has always been a recognised area of the city. So, the point of that was to make aware that as we explored the city, it was obvious a lot of improvement was needed throughout. It was a bit dirty North of the river that runs through the city. Don't get me wrong though, the city is that kind of picturesque neat looking city, and there is a lot of culture in it. On the South edge of the river, there was a lot of newer construction. The Sage building designed by Sir Norman Foster was quite cool actually. It is a big bubbly outer shell of metal cladding and Northern facades. Inside was pretty awesome though. The lobby opens up to a large central space all the way up to the shell with all the auditoriums contained in more regular volumes inside the bubble. Quite cool and very Foster like. There was also a large art gallery that was a reuse of an old industrial building kind of like the Tate Modern. This building had a lookout deck upon which one could see all of Newcastle. Also, an indoor viewing room that overlooked West at the Sage and along the river. It was very cool from these spaces to get those views of the city. Of course, there was the sweet Gateshead bridge. This pedestrian bridge tilts to open long ways to lift the walking arc to allow for boats. very unexpected... There was also the new Library with some good South shading and a nice atrium space; and of course all the neat old buildings and monuments.
We left Newcastle very early the 30th to get to Manchester, England. I accidentally slept too long so we just brushed our teeth and walked to the bus station to get to the train station. Once in Manchester the first thing we did was take showers in the hotel we stayed at. Ahh we felt so much better. The rest of the day we walked around Man. looking at the interesting new buildings. There were some nice facades with good rhythm. Then for lunch, we ate at Wagamama's! Woot for fun authentic Japanese cuisine where everyone sits in a long table across from whom they are with. We then found the Urbis building which is this big glass building wrapped in a double facade. Little to our knowledge, it is an art gallery with a cool elevator that ascends at a 45 degree angle instead of straight up. Sure was a lot of glass. Today, we woke up and walked around Manchester a little more then decided to head to Liverpool a bit early and got into Liverpool about 2pm. We walked about a mile to our lodge and I have been typing this blog. We are about to see the city and get some dinner a little later. We want to get to London, our bodies are so tired. We are hoping we can cancel our second night here in Liver pool and get to Birmingham for a night and get to London on Friday instead of Saturday morning. The lodge probably won't let us cancel our second night because it isn't 24 hours before we check in, but it is 24 hours before tomorrow night.... lame.
