...adventures with that crazy mom of mine...

The Mom and I had a GREAT week touring around the east coast.

Remember all of the stuff we did? I have pictures!!!



This is the first house we toured. The Hampton house...the original owner was a big influence on the Baltimore area(don't really remember what he did...there were so many family stories we heard that they all mix together). I do remember that the guy owned about 350 slaves at one point. It was also the biggest house in the U.S. when it was built in the 1700's. Crazy. It was one of our favorites from the week!!




I don't want to bore you with all of the houses..so I'm putting up our favorites. This is the last house in Baltimore we toured...the Evergreen House. This house is a little newer(meaning it was built in the 1800's). These people were filthy rich. The house was complete with an art gallery, about 3 libraries(one of which had a glass floor), a theater(not for movies, but for plays), and a bowling alley. Oh and don't forget all of the art they had from Picasso, Degas, and Tiffany(as in Louis Comfort Tiffany, the glass artist). I absolutely loved that place!

On our way back to MI we stopped in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It's a little war town that sits on the Potomac River...it reminded me of Mackinac Island with the little shops and people dressed in costume. Mom suggested we head on up to the next town by following a small road that runs parallel to the river. Well, we thought we had found the road, but it turned into a gravel mess, so we went back to a shop and asked if it would take us there. The man said it would, but that it was horribly bumpy. Mom said that we should take it anyways, as she was sure it was the same one her and Dad had taken a few years back, in their little convertible. I knew if Dad had taken his pride and joy down that little road, we could do it in my car. I drive a little four door miniature car as well...off roading is not on it's list of things it likes to do. So did it get better? NOPE! The road was made up of the big stones that line the railroad beds. There were potholes about every foot. I mean we're talking BIG holes in the road...some the size of the road. It was rainy that day too, so they were all filled with about 2 inches of water. At one point, there was a small drainage pipe draining onto the road. We had to drive over part of the pipe that was helping the water over..of course, with running water moving through it. So, it couldn't get any worse right?! Wrong! The potholes kept getting bigger. The water in them was reflecting everything so you couldn't even really see how deep they were, which is really amazing when you have to drive over that. There was one point when we had to drive over a "pothole," which should officially be put on the map as a crater, Mom said "don't get too close to the edge or you'll scrape the car with that huge boulder over there." My choices were: drive through crater and fall into the center of the earth, drive to the left and hit boulder, or drive to the right..fall into river..start white water rafting/automobiling. I chose the boulder. We thought we were just about through the jungle o' potholes, craters, and boulders when we came to yet again another drainage outlet. This time it was about 30 times the size of the first one...so big that the water coming out of it was creating a very large stream. Literally, we could have opened our doors and waded in the water...maybe even fished. It did make for some amazing pictures though....



Here's the very beginning of the road. Pretty, right?




Not so pretty when the potholes became more frequent and much larger...remember..some of them were the size of the road.




The drainage outlet and the stream.




Makes for a cool pic though, right? And remember, I didn't even have to get out of my car for this pic!!




Same, just trying it in sepia! ...After crossing the river and hopping a few more craters, we finally came to the end. Although, the spot looked very familiar. Mom pointed out a nasty camping trailer and then soon enough there was another one! There were a few people standing around and a bunch of junk piled up. L, can you guess the spot? Yep, it was definitely the inlet to our tubing extravaganza!! Funny that I had come full circle in about 10 days! I showed Mom the dam we had to cross, so at least one person didn't think I was crazy. I wanted to get pics but the hippies didn't look like they would be too happy if I stopped..looked like they were waiting for a bus to come around the corner!


After Harper's Ferry we drove on to Kentuck Knob...the Frank Lloyd Wright house close to Fallingwater(the cuz and I did that one last summer). The house was amazing!! I actually liked it more than Fallingwater. Don't get me wrong, the site for Fallingwater is amazing and I would take that house in a heartbeat...but this house was pretty damn amazing itself. It wasn't overly done or huge by any means...just a reasonably sized house, sitting on a mountain, in the woods. Frank is all about fitting the house to the site..so the details are what won me over. The picture windows, sky lights in the kitchen, field stone floors, etc. I won't bore you with more, but if you're ever out that way..you've got to see it. It's completely worth every second! Here are some pics...



Frank started adding this signed tile to all of his buildings...didn't come until later in his life, which is why we didn't see it at Fallingwater, L.




The house and waterfall.




The terrace.




The view. The current owners live in that huge farm house in the valley. They still entertain at The Knob on weekends..sucks to be their friends, huh?




Thought I'd add this one in...we had lots of fun being silly! It was rainy, hence the hood...


So, that was my big adventure with the Mom. We saw a ton and had lots of Maryland crab cakes(which we thoroughly miss)!

...goodbye...

The internship came to an end last week. They had 2 going away lunches for me. On Friday, I was introduced to my new favorite food...crab cakes!!! They are pretty amazing! Anyways, I had to say goodbye to everyone..which was sad, but I'm ready to get back home and finish my last year. I walked away with a better knowledge of things(of course), but most importantly, a mentor for my senior project!! We have to have several, and I didn't know if I would be able to rely on anyone there when I first got the job...but, i'll be able to definitely rely on her...she's amazing and I know she'll help a lot! She and I are both very excited! Sooo, my day came to and end, which was sad and exciting at the same time....mostly exciting though because I had to run to the airport to pick up the mom right after! The minutes of the day seemed to go by so slowly, but 5:20 finally rolled around and there she came walking around the corner. I was so happy to see her I bawled...it's very out of the ordinary for me to cry(sometimes I think my tear ducts are dried up)...so there I was in the middle of the airport wailing away! My mom said that I must have been pretty happy to see her....she was right about that one!!

Dad couldn't come due to health reasons(he's fine...just needing to recover)...so Mom and I have been enjoying some girl time. We really like touring old houses...I know, I know..nerds right?! Mom has no excuse except for being a big history buff...But, I'd eventually like to get into historical restoration and preservation....so I love to see projects already done. We've done 7 houses in 4 days...soon to be 8 in 5 days. We're leaving here tomorrow to go see Kentuck Knob, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and then stay in a Bed & Breakfast near Washington, PA. Thursday, it will be on to Ohio to see one of the bros.

It's time to finish the laundry and packing of the car. Every thing's almost in there! It's packed a little nicer than the first time, as Mom helped this time. I'll actually be able to see out the back window! More to come in a few days when I'm back in MI(sorry Aunt Sue, you'll have to wait a little bit until I get home!).

...time flies when you're having fun...

I can't believe I have two days left! These 9 weeks have flown by! The saying is true..time does fly when you're having fun. I can't really imagine not seeing L everyday, hanging out, making dinner together, playing wii for hours on end... It'll be tough the first couple of weeks...Good news is that we get to see each other two weekends in a row at the end of August!! Then school starts..not looking forward to that..

I am looking forward to Friday though..the Mom is coming to visit for the week and then she's driving back with me. She just called a little bit ago. I think she may be more excited than I am. Sounds like she's packed, ready, and waiting by the door to leave!

Should be a good weekend! I'm sure stories and pictures will soon follow!

...the weekend...

I suppose I should fill you in. G came to visit. She arrived on Thursday night...I was pretty happy to see someone from home! It was definitely a weekend of firsts..

That night L had class, so P, G, and I went to Rocky Run and met up with some neighbors. I finally had the crab pretzel I had been told was a must while I was here. They said it wasn't a good one..but I didn't think it was too bad(as good as crab pretzels can get). After dinner, G and I hopped over to Ellicott City for some drinks. We went to a couple of bars...one was having cha cha lessons and the other was a karaoke bar. You can imagine how many times we got up to perform for everyone(although, G kept threatening she would). Needless to say, we had some good entertainment with all of the drunkards thinking they should win on the next round of America's Got Talent.

Friday we got up and headed to D.C. G had never been, so it was fun to introduce her to something new. If you don't know G, she's got quite a passion for life..if you put anything new and exciting in front of her face she goes nuts. We took the hop on, hop off bus tour...let me tell you, that's the way to do that city! We saw a lot of the city without even having to get off the bus. We did get off at the White House, the National Cathedral, and the Lincoln Memorial. The cathedral was beautiful! I think G was getting annoyed because I kept telling her I had learned about all of the architecture in school. It was nice to see my education put to work! Here are some of my favorite pics of the cathedral...






Saturday L, G, and I decided to go on a little adventure. We went whitewater tubing. Basically, we were white water rafting, except in tubes and without paddles. I have been wanting to take a lazy controllable stroll down the river all summer. That lazy stroll is still on my list of things to do. Whitewater tubing is far from relaxing....I was a nervous wreck! I was thrown in a pool when I was 3, so water and S do not mix! And of course, guess who capsized over a rapid? This girl! And then I couldn't get back on the tube...we were in a current, my shorts were falling off, and the life jacket kept me from doing anything. Finally, I was able to partially get up but not turn over b/c again the current, shorts, life jacket, and this time laughter and the fear of falling back off kept me from turning over. We made it over to the river bank and I was able to situate myself. At the time I was ready to leave and was not a very happy camper. Looking back, I just have to laugh at myself. I'm sure the other two were pretty entertained!!

Needless to say, it was a good weekend! It always is when G is around!!

...whoops...

Okay, it's been a long time. My loving aunt has reminded me that I have not posted anything in quite some time! Glad to know she's checking it!

This past week has been a little crazy..my friend G came to visit so computer time was few and far between. And now, my alarm is going off. Today? I'm going to the Washington D.C. Design Center(it's like the Merchandise Mart in Chicago..a bunch of designer show rooms). I'm sure I'll have stories for you, as the other intern and I are the only two going...should be interesting. I can't really believe our boss is letting us go by ourselves.

More to come later today!

...scarves...

L and I went shopping today. I don't like that the new trend is to wear a scarf during the summer. Isn't that a little odd? The store had placed them right next to the sandals too. Here's my outfit...sandals, shorts, a tee, and my new summer scarf to keep me warm!!!!

Guess I'm not that trendy....

...independence day...

This fourth will be a little different from all of the year's I spent in the craft. Normally, the fam(or in recent years, the friends) and I would get up early and go to craft's parade. As dumb as it sounds, it was fun..but mostly because it was tradition. L was reminding me of the pancake breakfast served downtown. I never went..mainly because I would have had to get up that much earlier and my parents knew that wasn't happening. The parade was actually pretty good for a little town...complete with horse riders, firetrucks, and tractors!! You can only see the tractors in Southwest Michigan. My boss was telling me about the parade in Severna Park..sounded a little different from what I'm used to..a little more "professional." She said each town makes their own float. I didn't want to ask if there were tractors. Thought she might look at me quizzically...

In recent years, after the parade the friends would go over to the T party...an all day event consisting of good food, friends, pool, and alcohol. After frying all day in the sun, we'd get cleaned up and head back in to the craft to watch the fireworks! Sad I won't be there to see them this year. They are amazing...they don't really compare to any other show I've seen. The town does pride themselves on having the best show...all of kzoo comes to see them. A few years back, the aunt and uncle owned a house that had front row seats. I bet you can guess that was yet another tradition. They'd have food and alcohol(yet I was far too young to enjoy). All of the family would go..this was way back when my bro's were still living at home...

So this fourth, L is making a pancake breakfast for us! I'm sure grilling is in the works..if we get the mouse guts cleaned out from the grill. We're hoping the rain holds off so we can see fireworks. We'll see...

...work...

Alright, the company...it's nice..it has it's quirks. Most of the projects are residential, but they like to throw in a few commercial spaces here and there. I can't believe how some of these people live. One project I'm working on is 10,000 square feet. The family owns a line of hotels..so you can imagine what's included in this place..prayer room, theater, elevator..the list goes on. The designers working on the project are by far my favorite. Their ideas are beyond anything I could ever do..but I'm learning a lot. They tell me what they want and I put the plans on the computer. We make a good team.

The other projects aren't so exciting, except for today. I went on an installation(basically we had to be there for the furniture delivery to make sure nothing gets screwed up). It was all I expected..with a few differences. First off, the house was immaculate. It's the type of house that has rooms only for the good company..the type of house where you don't want to sit on the furniture because you're afraid you'll screw up the cushions, or worse, the stain you didn't know you had on your pants will rub off and stain the sofa. Funny thing is, the couple has two young kids and they let them crawl over everything. I'd love to see that place in a year. Anyways, the master suite had a wet bar, complete with bar fridge and microwave....because aren't we all sitting in bed yearning for last night's leftovers at 2 in the morning?! I mean, come on, would it really be inconvenient to walk down the stairs to the kitchen that was literally right underneath their bedroom? Although, if I had the money and the option..I'd probably do the same thing. Needless to say, it was great to see something other than plans and drawings.

And now I have three days off. I'm waiting for L to get home so we can play Wii and start the weekend!!! More to come soon...

...hello to all...

I never thought I would do this, but, here I am blogging. The cuz, L, just created one and after commenting on just about all of her posts, I decided I might as well..and she'll be happy..one more for her to add to her "to read" list! I've never done this before though..some blogs may be boring, they may be my ramblings, they may be emotional, or they may be totally pointless...but they'll all be me. I'm not going to use perfect English and I won't always be grammatically correct(guess that would be under the perfect English category, wouldn't it?)...but you'll get a glimpse into what's running through my head.

...That said, welcome to my world. Summer of 2008. It's been a crazy one..lots of changes. I'm living in Maryland, interning at a design firm(completely loving it..but that will be another story for you). It all comes to an end in about three weeks. L and her hubs took me in for the few months I'm here and it's been fantastic on my end..I can't speak for them..for all I know, they have a countdown going!! I am loving this area, too! We'll see where life takes me in a year..who knows..maybe I'll be back....

More on my life later(20 minutes until the weekend starts)!!!!