Shalako

I know I've neglected this blog, and unfortunately it's going to be neglected for a little while longer. I'm still busy at work and considering it's now the second week of December I've realized how much there is I need to get done. I'm very close to being done with the quilts for my nieces, but aside from that I really need to start packing up my apartment. So much to do, so little time!


But for a super quick update, this past weekend was pretty amazing. I went to the Shalako Ceremony at Zuni. Zuni is a tribe about 3 ½ hours SW of here, only about 15 miles from the Arizona border. Shalako is a ceremony where 6 families are selected to “host” it – which involves building a new house, decorating it with donated/borrowed things (Native American blankets, jewelry, animal heads, etc.) and the festivities last for about a week or 2. As at all Native American ceremonies food is a big deal – the hosting houses have tables and chairs set out and feed anyone who comes – on Sunday, which was the main day, they probably fed around 600-900 people. On Saturday night/Sunday morning from about midnight to 8 am are the Shalako dances. Each house has its own Shalako and there are different dancers that go from house to house – one is a Fire God, some are Warriors, and then there are the Mud Heads. The Mud Heads are kind of like clowns – they are there to kind of taunt the Shalako. There are some images of it.

The tall ones are the Shalako Kachinas, and the normal-sized ones are different types of Warrior Kachinas.

Again, the tall one is the Shalako Kachina. The polka-dotted one is a Fire God Kachina, and the other one is a Mud Head Kachina.

Oh, and my boss helped one of the families design the house, that’s why we were invited. Not that you have to be invited to go though. On Friday and Saturday we helped out the family by keeping the tables clean and full of food and washing dishes. It was pretty cool.

no time!

So I don't really have time right now for a real update (surprise, surpise). I worked all day Saturday and Sunday volunteered for the Santa Fe Film Festival, and this week is looking like late hours at work. I guess it's a good thing that we're busy though! And this weekend Marc is coming into town, so after that I'll make sure I'll update (for real this time) because I'll have a lot of catching up to do and maybe more fun pictures. For now, here's a couple of pictures from the Santa Fe Film Festival.

Landscape at Val Kilmer's Ranch in Pecos.
I wouldn't mind sitting on my porch and looking at that!

Q&A after screening of Catch-22.
A very exciting moment in my life -- it's Alan Arkin!!!

balloon fiesta!!

First of all, to all those people back in Boston or elsewhere that looked at me like I was retarded when I said that one thing I was excited about in New Mexico was Balloon Fiesta, you're the silly ones. It was awesome. Very chilly, but totally worth it. 

Since I had never been before I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the website suggests you be there at 5:30am, so we were there at 5:30am. Getting up at 3:30am on a Saturday is normally something I'm not willing to commit to under any circumstances. Except Balloon Fiesta, I supposed. We did realize after getting there and seeing the whole thing that it would have been just fine to get there around 7 once the sun was up and all the balloons were taking flight.

So it was colder than expected, and none of us (me and my grandparents) had properly prepared. We most definitely could have used warmer jackets and more blankets. But it all went well anyways. While it was still dark outside a few balloons went up to test the wind and they did some fun, timed lighting of the balloons.

It was when the sun started coming up, however, that it became magical. My grandfather was the one who complained the most as we sat in the cold before sunrise, but once the Mass Ascension really got going, he was the most excited one out of all of us. I don't really think the pictures do it justice -- it's really something you have to be there for to really experience. So at this point all I can do is urge you to put Balloon Fiesta on your bucket list (I promise you won't be disappointed) and share a few photos out of the 374 photos I took.

no pictures.

I was successful in going out and seeing 2 houses done by a couple of the interior designers that were at the dialogue/luncheon on Friday. I tried to go to a third but didn't succeed in actually finding the house. With that said, if I do end up coming back to Santa Fe on a long-term basis, that's the way to live. These houses were really close to downtown but just far enough outside of town where it was quiet and offered panoramic views of the mountains. Yes, I'm aware that I wouldn't be able to actually afford a house like that, but can't a girl dream?

Unfortunately we were asked not to take pictures, which really didn't make a difference to me considering I forgot to charge the battery for my camera and I simply forgot to take it with me. The designer's projects I saw were Victoria Price and Jeanne Sei. You can see a picture of the kitchens in both houses here: http://www.santafeinteriordesignerspresents.com/tour.html . In the Jeanne Sei house her piece really was the kitchen, but in the Victoria Price house she did it all. It was very bold and bright and very obviously for a male couple. They must have a nice life -- right outside their bedroom was a private deck looking over the mountains with a built-in hot tub. Now that's something I could definitely get used to. In the Jeanne Sei Kitchen, which I just noticed is similar to the picture on the website but isn't that project, there's a huge panoramic window at the kitchen sink that looks out to the mountains. If I had that kitchen I might be a little more into doing dishes. Or not.

The reason I was able to go to this Interior Design Dialogue/Luncheon was because it was the back-up plan after our trip down to a couple of sites for possible future projects got postponed. I think it was worth it. The only downside is that they were going to take me to Acoma's Cultural Center that BFA+D did a little while back, but this week it will be closed for cultural activities. Another time then.

--This just in: I will be going with my boss to an AIA lunch on October 14th. She claims that they're much less fun than the interior design people, which wouldn't surprise me. We'll see how it is!--

So since my last update oh so long ago...

Outside of co-op, my dad and stepmother have officially moved to Round Rock, TX (outside of Austin). My best friend's dad will be officially moving to Atlanta (where her mom currently is) this week. That means my mother will be the only one left in Florida. (Aside from the few friends I still have left over there). So sad.

Work has been crazy busy. Last Wednesday we submitted 100% Design Development for New Mexico Commission for the Blind Senior Skills Center in Albuquerque. I got lots of overtime which is great, and now while we wait to move onto Construction Documents I'm working on the Zuni Mission Church Stabilization. I'm pretty excited about the Commission for the Blind project though. We're hoping to start construction late fall, and some of the interior finishes were picked out by me. =) Hopefully those finishes will be approved.

The week before last Barbara and Brian went up to the Seattle area for an AIANTA conference and apparently got some interest from some tribes up there, even ones in Alaska. That's pretty frickin' sweet if you  ask me. I must admit I was a little jealous though... Seattle has been on my list of cities to visit for quite a while now. One day.

On the future of my time at BFA+D front, I'm hoping to come back next summer. Barbara's already mentioned this to me many times, and I need to set up a little chat with her soon about really getting my IDP into gear and the possibility of me coming back. If it weren't for grad school I'd definitely be willing to come back for longer than a few months next summer. But if business is still good and they haven't hired someone permanent, it's definitely a prospect for after grad school. I did think about possibly putting of grad school for a bit, but I know myself well enough to know that it would be nearly impossible to get myself to go back to school after working for a year or two, not to mention getting myself to go back to the crappy weather Boston has to offer after being away from it for that long.

Anyways, tonight Barbara, Brian and myself are going to a lecture down at UNM School of Architecture. Their lecture series is under way, and Barbara and Brian will be the lecturers next month. Going tonight to check out the competition and see how our presentation should be set up. This weekend I'll be going to the Balloon Fiesta and the grandparents will be driving up for it too. I'm quite excited for that, and there will without a doubt be pictures. Next weekend will be my only weekend to relax this month. The weekend of the 23rd is the Santa Fe Film Festival which I will be volunteering at. My official post is helping out with the filmmaker's BBQ at Val Kilmer's ranch. Jealous? =) Then the following weekend (Halloween!) Marc is supposed to be flying down. He has yet to actually buy the plane tickets, but it is supposed to happen.

And then it's November (yet another crazy busy month). I honestly don't know where the time has gone this year. Next update: BALLOON FIESTA!!!

i know, i know.

I realize it's been about a month now since my last update, but work has been crazy busy! I would usually update during my lunch hour, but I've been working while eating most days in the past month. Right now I don't have the time to update either, but I do plan on updating this weekend. For now I just wanted to post this link for the Design Luncheon I just went to: http://www.santafeinteriordesignerspresents.com/dialogue.html . Hopefully I'll be checking out a couple of the houses featured in the home tour tomorrow also.

And next weekend I'll be going to the Balloon Fiesta! I'm quite excited for that. Not so much for the thousands of people that will be there, but it should be cool anyways.

So a real update on Sunday (maybe with some pictures of the houses) and then lots of pictures after Balloon Fiesta. =)

picture time!

So since my last update not much has changed. I went to the big Indian Market last weekend which was cool -- most of which really wasn't my style though. On Friday I went with Barbara and Brian on a site visit to the Zuni Pueblo (about 15 miles from the Arizona border), which was also cool. But what was awesome... On the way back from Zuni we made a pit stop at El Morro National Monument. AMAZING. Here's a few pictures from the many I took.

El Morro fronted by a field of yellow flowers.

 That is a bird, not a shadow. (Barbara got this one)

Even though El Morro isn't in this picture, it's probably my favorite.

i probably shouldn't wait so long to update next time.

It's a simple fact that I have a horrible memory. Therefore, this post may not be filled with very many exciting details.

Back to that drive down to Albuquerque. It wasn't too bad -- it actually ended up being Barbara, Brian, and myself. We met with a Native American-owned construction company, Flintco, although I'm assuming the Native Americans that own the company are at their headquarters in Oklahoma. The ABQ office was filled with southern boys and thick accents. It was amusing, but also a good meeting. We'll hopefully be able to do some collaborations with them in the future. Well, maybe not we including myself... I could very well be gone by then. But there was one interesting thing said in the meeting. As Barbara was explaining our qualifications and what we do, she mentioned that I was doing a wonderful job and she hopes I come back. Food for thought. After the meeting we stopped for lunch at some restaurant I can't remember the name of with mind-blowingly hot chile. I probably drank 5 glasses of iced tea -- and I'm talking huge, Sonny's-sized glasses. Not good on the bladder for the rest of the day.

Then was a mandatory pre-proposal meeting at the Hubbell House. They recently finished a renovation/rehabilitation of the house and are now looking for proposals for a master plan to really bring the exhibit portion of the house up to snuff with the building. But, please, take the term "master plan" lightly. The people that wrote the proposal must be out of their minds or just clueless. Included in the scope of work are things as detailed as the text that will go on the exhibit displays. Are we historians or curators? I don't think so, and that's simply not a master plan, nor something that seems appropriate to finish in about 2 weeks time. They also mention a goal of making it a living history museum. Again I think these people are clueless. The house is fairly small, is only open a few days a week for a few hours, and has 1 person on staff. Not sure they realize a living history museum is people dressed in period clothing and interacting with the visitors. They don't have the space or the money for such a goal. However, based on the few people that showed up to the mandatory pre-proposal meeting, and knowing that a couple of them thought it would be way too much to take on, I think we'd have a really good shot at getting it. Is it really worth it would be the main question. We'll decide that on Monday when Barbara is back in town.

It's official. We've moved our office. I like the new place -- it feels much more open and there's so much more natural light. A definite plus. We had the movers move everything on Friday, Monday was full of unpacking, and it's now Thursday and we just got all the printers and computers and phones working properly. Thank goodness, not that it makes a difference for me right now. In the midst of doing a NM Statewide RFP that was due last Friday and moving, Barbara didn't have time to do redlines or gather stuff for me to do while she's on vacation in Michigan. So besides unpacking and organizing the new office this week has been filled with a lot of thumb-twiddling. She was fully aware that this was going to happen, but not to worry. She let me know that there is lots of work to be done, it's just all in her head. That's a scary thought. She gets back late Saturday night and will be leaving again Tuesday afternoon and be gone the rest of next week. So hopefully she'll be able to get some of that work out of her head in the couple days she'll be here.

And while she's gone I'm staying at the Biggs House and taking care of her cat, Ms. Sparkle, who's real name is Spackle. Which name she'll answer to depends on the day and her mood, but basically she doens't answer to me at all. She's 19 years old and the biggest pain in the ass. And I'm not a big cat fan in general, so that doesn't help. I'm in it for the extra cash. So Spackle has decided to stop taking her thyroid medication and stop using the litter box. Thank goodness the week is almost over. Besides the retarded cat, the Biggs house is pretty awesome. Barbara designed it 10-15 years ago when she first got started in Santa Fe. The owners live in New York and just come down for vacation on occasion. When they're not there they let Barbara use it if she wants. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. It's a huge U-shaped house with a central courtyard and a pool. One wing has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a kitchen. The bottom of the U, the front of the house, has a huge formal living room and another kitchen. The other wing has 2 bedrooms, 2 or 3 bathrooms, an office, a sitting room, and a study/library. It's insane. And at the top of the U there's a separate "game house" with a pool table and a bathroom, which on top of is a deck with a hot tub that overlooks the mountains and a golf course. It's ridiculous.

Anyways, back to thumb-twiddling and the stupid people at the Hubbell House. Since this is a less than busy week I got to go to Albuquerque yesterday with Brian to meet with a possible collaborator for the Hubbell House proposal -- someone who is more familiar with museums and exhibit design. Turns out he has a Master's in Architecture from MIT. Fancy. So we met with him at the Hubbell House and had another look around, and he pretty much had the same comments that we did about there idea of a "master plan". So, again, we'll see how that decision to move forward or not goes on Monday. On our way back to Santa Fe, Brian and I made a prolonged pit stop at the Santo Domingo Pueblo for their feast day. What a crazy concept. Basically every tribe has a feast day, at different times, but all in the late summer time it seems. Brian is from the Acoma Pueblo, and he filled me in on all the ins and outs of different tribes -- not that I can really remember all the details about them, but I can assure you it was interesting. So this feast day. Anyone can go, and let me tell you tons and tons of people do. In their plaza they have hundreds of people from their tribe dancing, two groups that interchange from about 7 am to 7 pm. And oh my god was it brutally hot outside yesterday. I was sweating just standing there, and the dancers were completely decked out in body paint and face paint and traditional clothing, dancing around in the sun. The dance was pretty cool and very interesting to see that part of a different culture. Now as far as the feast part goes, wow. Various families throughout the reservation cook all day, and you just go into their homes and sit down and eat, then go to someone elses home and do the same. It's seems like such a strange concept to me. Before going to study in Italy everyone stressed the implication of culture shock. Didn't get to me in Italy at all. But if you go on a reservation for a feast day, you're really in for a culture shock. But beware, the second you step onto a reservation, you now abide by their laws. So strange. The Acoma Feast Day is on September 2, and I'm sure we'll be there for most of the day instead of in the office. Brian, of course, will be helping out with that one, and his family will be of of the family's having the feast all day. He said their one house probably feeds about 500-600 people in that one day. And the Acoma Pueblo doesn't have running water or electricity. I don't know how they do it.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to continue twiddling my thumbs for another few hours then go feed the cat from hell. I'm really glad my boss doesn't go on vacation often.

just a quick one.

Very quick update. The awkward drive to Albuquerque got moved to next week. Also, a little highlight from my weekend in Muleshoe...

My Uncle Travis walked in the door with a beer already in his hand and after having a few stated that he doesn't consider himself a Republican. He's simply a conservative, but he would never vote for a Democrat even if it were Jesus Christ.

My family amuses me. Gotta love 'em!

if you know me well at all, you might be in shock.

My boss gets random e-mail blasts from anywhere and everyone, most of which she just discards. This past week she got an e-mail about an event for this group called MIX Santa Fe, a social and networking type of group that's really just getting up and running. They have an event every third Thursday of the month at different locations, and this week it happened to be at a place called Corazon right around the corner from my office. Not sure if I have mentioned Corazon before, but I had tried to go there a couple of times before -- one time it was closed for whatever reason and another time it was their toga party for gay pride week. Didn't seem like the best time to check it out. So on Thursday night for the mix event I actually went. And no, I'm not kidding. If you know me well at all you know that I'm not a huge fan of going out in general, partly cause it's ridiculously expensive and also because I don't like large crowds of people I don't know. Some people may even say that I simply don't like people in general. That is definitely true to some degree.

So I get to Corazon, answer a couple of questions so I can get a free drink, and sit down to people watch and just see what happens. One girl came up to me and said "You look like you know just about as many people here as I do." And that was the start of a pretty good night. I met 6 girls, well women I guess, all in their mid to late 20s. Two lawyers, one life coach/artist that just moved back to town from Australia, a therapist and a physician's assistant, both who just moved here from Brooklyn, and one girl that just moved here from Germany where her husband is currently on a tour. Definitely an interesting mix of people, especially for me since I generally get along better with guys than girls. I have two friends that are girls, Martha and Kate, other friends that I have had that are girls have kind of disappeared. And for some reason it's easier for me to be myself around guys. No idea why, but that's just the way it is. Now back to the group I met. I feel kind of awkward cause I know that I'm the youngest one and the only one still in college, but I'd like to think I'm not your stereotypical college type. I don't spend my time binge drinking and looking for all the parties -- I'm much more of a low key person and don't think it's fun to see if you can get through class or work with a massive hangover. College students are weird.

Anywho, the group of girls I met all decided to leave Corazon and go grab some food. That was definitely interesting. We talked about everyone's jobs and how diverse they were and the talks about the physician's assistant and the therapist lead to more discussion about people's psychological and social behavior in general. One thing in particular that I thought was interesting was the notion that many people think they can basically go into a doctor's office and they'll fix them. In reality, there are an innumerable amount of things that we still don't know and can't treat or don't know how to treat. The majority of people that are sick don't have a textbook case, and let's face it, doctor's don't have magical powers. And even if a person can't be fixed or healed right away, they still feel better if the doctor simply has time to sit down and listen. Doctor's actually having time for a patient these days is not common.

After dinner we decided to make an e-mail list of everyone and plan to do regular hiking trips. Next Sunday we're going hiking up Atalaya Mountain, which I read has an altitude of about 13,000 feet I believe. This will be interesting for me. I'm used to being at sea level and I don't think my body has yet to fully adjust to Santa Fe's 7000 foot altitude. And I'm not in great shape. Going to the gym takes a lot of time once you factor in needing to shower afterwords and such, and I'm not a fan of working out when other people are there. Especially in the tiny work out room at my apartment complex. Very close quarters. But I am excited for the hiking part. I've been wanting to get out to some trails but just haven't yet, especially since I really didn't have anyone to go with. Should be a good experience.

Work is pretty much the same. I'm enjoying it -- been doing the layout for our new office and doing redlines for a project in Alamogordo. I talked to Marc a couple of weeks ago and he has gone back to KPF in NYC, taking the train an hour each way, probably working tons of overtime. I get the want to make a lot of money, but being a lowly intern in an office of 200-300 people does not sound like a good time to me. I also have no interest in designing skyscrapers. That kind of design work seems so impersonal to me. I want to design things for real people -- spaces that I can imagine and know how they'll feel on a day to day basis -- not a giant building full of cubicles for overpaid CEOs and business drones. I will also be getting to experience something new on Monday. The marketing guy in our office, Brian, and I will be going down to Albuquerque for a pre-prosal conference. I'm pretty excited to see what that's like and to see what kind of projects might be starting up in the future. I'm not sure how the drive will be -- I don't think Brian and I have ever had an actual conversation, so an hour-long car ride there and back should be interesting. I'll update on how that goes sometime next week.

Now I should probably get off the computer and go help my grandmother with dinner. I drove down to Muleshoe for the weekend and my great uncle and aunt Travis and Sue are coming over for dinner in a couple of hours. I imagine there will be a game of cards involved.

oh, family.

Last week at some point my mom told me that my Uncle Michael might be calling me because they were going to be passing through Santa Fe on their way up to Angel Fire (they live further south in Silver City, NM). Never heard from him, but my Aunt Rose called me on Saturday afternoon letting me know that they'd be driving up on Monday. First off, thanks for the wonderful advance notice. But of course they didn't know what time they were going to head out or what time they would be passing by Santa Fe (God forbid they actually plan something). I told them to give me a call Monday morning once they knew if they'd be here around lunch time so I could meet up with them on my lunch break. Didn't get a call until 2:30 Monday afternoon when they were still an hour away. So that didn't work out. They also said that I could drive up there one night this week and we could cook out, but considering it's a 2 hour drive and I wouldn't be able to leave here until 5-5:30 it would be an unbearably late night and a very tired next day at work. As I mentioned in a previous post I decided this weekend would be a good time to go to Muleshoe -- Bon Bon doesn't work and there isn't a market in Santa Fe. Rose said that maybe they could stop by here on their drive back home on Sunday, but I let her know I'd be in Muleshoe so she said, "Well if you're not going to be there then we just won't bother." As if it's my fault they're incapable of planning something or actually making an effort to see their family. They're about a 7 1/2 hour drive from Muleshoe and I bet my mom and I see Bon Bon and Jack more than they do. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

I've also started to think a little bit more about the getting my crap out of Santa Fe at the end of December situation. Considering it's going to be Christmas and I'll have a very short time period to get out of Santa Fe and get back to Boston for my final semester of college (besides the whole Master's part) I'm thinking it might be easiest to put all my stuff in storage for 4 months. This may be where seeing if my Great Uncle Travis has any spare room in his barn temporarily could come in handy, or I just put it all in storage here in Santa Fe and save the haul back for after the semester is over. We shall see. Another exciting prospect about the end of my internship/Christmas is my grandfather's idea of meeting in Las Vegas for Christmas. I would drive his car that I currently have up there and he'd take it home with him. I think that sounds like a pretty fun trade-off location. Again, however, that is still quite a few months away so who knows how it will pan out.

And finally, I have an opportunity to make a little bit more money. My boss asked me to watch her cat while she's on vacation in Michigan. Not a huge cat fan, but at least they're easy. And I'm fairly certain the cat's name is Miss Sparkle. I'm hoping that's just one of those creepy owner-pet nicknames, but I'm not positive at this point. Not saying that dog people can't be equally as crazy when it comes to their pets, but cat people definitely are of a different breed.

santa fe photographs.

I changed my mind. Might as well put up some Santa Fe photos now.

santa fe international folk art market.

I really don't have much to update with at the moment, but I wanted to put up a couple of pictures I took from the International Folk Art market. There were tons of people there, and artists from all over the world. Unfortunately I couldn't really afford anything that I liked. I really wanted this metal art piece from Haiti but it was out of my price range. There were also some beautiful scarves from India and Peru and other countries, but I'm not really a scarf person. Anywho, here are my two favorite pictures from the market. I'll put up more pictures of Santa Fe in general another time.

getting ready for another move.

As I posted previously, my firm is moving into a new office. We now have the schedule and move-date finalized. Today I wore jeans because I thought my boss and I were going to be doing measurements of the new office, but that got pushed to tomorrow. Jeans two days in a row? I think I'm okay with that one. So tomorrow I'll be taking measurements of the new space and putting a plan of it into CAD. I'll be in charge of "design development" of the new office, a.k.a. placing furnishing and plotters, etc. And thanks to my experience with InDesign I'll be helping Brian with postcards to notify clients and contacts of the new location. He'll draw out what he wants, and I'll simply drop it into InDesign. If anyone else in this office dealt with the InDesign portion of it they'd probably be reading a manual as they went along and it would take much longer than necessary. I'm kind of excited for that part -- I'm starting to miss InDesign and Illustrator. Our overall goal is to have everything ready to move on June 30, then the following week while my boss is on vacation we can get everything organized and settled for when she comes back.

This past weekend my mom and grandparents were in town for the 4th, and I think the five days they were here was good. If they had been here any longer my mom might have killed my grandmother (although she still had another couple days to spend with her in Lubbock) or my grandmother may have even killed my mom. Let's just say I'm really glad I'm not in Lubbock with them right now.

They got here on Thursday afternoon and as soon as I got off work I met them for dinner then we caught a movie. My grandparents went to see The Karate Kid and my mom and I went to see Eclipse. They enjoyed their movie, and we enjoyed our movie. I was surprised that my mom liked it as much as she did. She seemed fairly bored with the first two movies, but with this one she didn't even want to get up to go to the bathroom. I'm going to have to see it again, probably this weekend, so I can really just enjoy it. I think the first time around I'm so concentrated on comparing it with the book that I didn't get to just sit back and enjoy it as much. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it and think it was the best of the three so far, but I still need a second viewing.

On Friday they met me for lunch -- we went to The Shed at The Plaza -- and it was very good. Very busy (we had a 40 minute wait at lunch time) but very good. I wouldn't mind going back there again. My boss had left for Colorado that morning and said I could leave early so I could spend more time with my mom, so I took her up on that offer, left early, and the fam and I went to Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. When you sign up for the Player's Club you get $25 in free money to play the slots, which I lost all of, plus $20 of my own money. On the first $5 or $10 of my mom's free money she won $90, and left the casino up $180. Not fair at all.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty typical days for my mom and Bon Bon -- shopping and wine. I took them to Jackalope when we got up and around on Saturday (and we saw Ali MacGraw there, the girl from Love Story) then headed to the Plaza. We shopped for a little while then went to Maria's for dinner and margaritas. The food there was also very good, but both my mom and I agree that Habanero's margaritas are still better. Sunday we went to the wine festival, which was a pretty good deal in my opinion. It was $13 to get in and you got a glass with your admission and all the tastings you wanted. I ended up buying some cactus & pineapple jam and a bottle of wine called 'Girls Are Meaner'.  Then Monday was the hurry up and go day. Bon Bon kept pushing up the time she thought they needed to leave, so the "let's buy Ashley groceries before we leave" was very rushed and stressful. That's when heads really might have gone flying. We finished that an hour before they really needed to leave, and mind you the only reason they really needed to leave early was so Bon Bon didn't miss 'The Bachelorette'. They need to get a DVR, or some blank tapes and do it the old-fashioned way. So they were off in a hurry, and after they left I was exhausted and spent the rest of the day catching up on shows and watching a movie.

And now I'm trying to figure out a weekend to go down to Muleshoe soon, scheduling it around Bon Bon's work and the markets that will be going on in Santa Fe. This weekend is the International Folk Art Market, two weeks after that is the Spanish Market, and four weeks after that is the Indian Market. I definitely want to get down there sooner so it's not too close to Labor Day when I'll already be going down there, so I'm thinking the weekend in-between the International Folk Art Market and the Spanish Market. I'm definitely excited about all the markets. It's too bad that my mom and my grandparents just missed them.

I decided a while ago that I didn't want to fly anywhere for Thanksgiving. I'm tired of airplanes and really won't have much time since I'll be working. With that said, my mom had the idea of going to Ruidoso for Thanksgiving -- kind of convenient this year since she'd only have to pay for one plane ticket. We booked a unit at Crown Point but I'm not sure if she's looked at airfare yet. It's pretty up there. So we'll see if that's actually going to work out or not.

Finally, Martha has decided to go to school in Texas (a decision that I never had much question about), at Midwestern State University to be exact. It's so far north in Texas that she'll basically be in Oklahoma, and also 500 miles from Santa Fe. About the same distance as a trip from Orlando to Atlanta. We're hoping to go skiing in the winter, probably right after she's done with finals and before I leave Santa Fe. Should be exciting considering neither of us have ever skiied before. Looking forward to the next 6 months.

finally a slow day.

After being insanely busy for the past couple of weeks, my boss decided today was going to be a slower day today. While I don't mind a break on occassion and a more relaxed day in the office, I also get bored fairly easily. I'm finding myself staring at the same thing over and over, rechecking it to see what tweaks I can make. Right now I'm doing interior elevations for a Senior Skills Center in Alamogordo, and let me say they are pretty simple elevations. I finished them this morning, looked over them and tweaked a few things, added some dimensions, and since then just keep checking and rechecking because I don't have anything better to do at the moment.

Right now, as usual when I'm writing this, I'm taking my lunch hour. Thankful from a break for staring at those elevations, but dreading 1:00 when I have to get back to work but I still won't have anything else to do because my boss will be at a lunch meeting until 2:00. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I weren't so anxious about tonight. My mom and grandparents are in the car, somewhere between Amarillo and here, and when I get off work we'll be getting dinner and hurrying over to the movie theater. So my grandparents weren't sitting at my apartment with nothing to do they are going to see The Karate Kid while my mom and I see Eclipse. Then tomorrow I might try to sneak out a half hour early or so. We shall see!

on to week three.

Another Monday, oh joy. Monday's really aren't that bad, in my opinion, I'm just always tired. After the weekend my sleep schedule has been thrown off a little bit so it's nearly impossible to fall asleep at a decent hour on Sunday night. That is exactly what happened to me last night. I started cleaning up and getting ready for bed around 10, read the comics from the Sunday paper, then turned out my light and layed there wide awake until sometime past midnight. Maybe I should just work on a better weekend schedule, but honestly, where's the fun in that?

Last week was much more calm than my first. Besides running a couple of errands my entire week was spent in the office doing some drawings and CAD work. This week is starting out the same. It's almost more tiring sitting in the office in front of a computer rather than being on-site and going non-stop. Sitting and staring at the computer for that long can't be good for anyone. I'd bet that I'll be needing glasses sometime in my possibly not-so-far-off future.

There is for sure one out-of-the-office task I'll have this week, well hopefully this week, and that will be measuring our new office space. Yep, the office will be moving in the next month or two (which will provide for some more on-the-go kinds of days). It's only a few minutes from where we currently are, but it's a little more space than what we currently have and less than half the rent. Sounds like a good deal to me! The lady that owns the building is so adorable -- a cute little old lady with white hair. She seems very nice.

And for the most exciting part of this week................ I'm going to see Eclipse on Thursday! I'm so unbelievably excited. It's my favorite book from the series, and I actually have someone to go see it with -- my mom. =) My mom is in Dallas today, doing some doctor's office visits for work (and getting a VIP tour of the Cowboys' stadium this afternoon -- not fair!!), and on Thursday my grandparents are picking her up in Amarillo and they're coming to visit me for 4th of July weekend. Wednesday after work I'll be making red velvet cupcakes, partially for the 4th and partially to make up for not making them for Mother's Day. That mishap was completely out of my hands, but at least we'll get to have them now. We don't have much else really planned out yet, which is amazing considering my grandmother plans out everything months in advance. I do know we'll be going to Buffalo Thunder (a casino right outside of Santa Fe) and eating at New Mexican restaurants so my mom can get her fix of real New Mexican food and sopaipillas. Sopaipillas and cupcakes will make for a very hefty weekend of sorts. Oh, and I can't forget, we will most definitely be playing cards.

Finally, the other thing I am excited about this week: my first full paycheck. I got here just in time for a pay period to end, so I got a check for a whole 2 days. This week will be my first full two-week paycheck, which is very good considering my rent is due and my bills should be coming in soon. Oh the joys of working full-time and being responsible!

and so it begins.

Hello to all my imaginary followers! I am on my lunch break at work, the perfect time to start this blog about my experience here in Santa Fe, concerning both work and life in general. Most people ask, "Why Santa Fe?"

There is a pretty simple answer to that question. In my opinion college is a time to test new waters and see and experience what you can before you graduate and get stuck in a place you might not like. That's one reason I chose to go to Northeastern University, in Boston, in the first place. I lived in Florida most of my life, and have lived in and traveled to many places around the United States, with the exception of New England. I wanted to make the most of the college experience by trying something completely new and really getting out on my own, being far enough away from home that I really couldn't use home as a respite on the weekends. Co-op, of course, was another appealing aspect of Northeastern. Besides just going off to college, co-op is yet another chance to try something new all over again.

For my first co-op, however, simply having a full-time job and working in the field of architecture was new enough for me. To keep the overwhelming factor of co-op to a minimum I decided to find a job at home, in Orlando. Unfortunately at that time, in the first half of 2008, the economy was just starting its downturn and made for a very rough job search. After getting a job with the only firm I could even get an interview with, their project list began slimming down as most projects were being postponed because the money simply wasn't there anymore. This led to a lay-off -- actually, many lay-offs throughout the firm. Then I turned to the back-up plan, working with my dad in construction which I had also done the previous summer. So that job worked out, I finished my first co-op and went back to Boston for more school. Now I'm on my second co-op. I have worked in construction twice, have been taking architecture classes for 3 1/2 semesters (including one of those semesters in Rome), and after this have one semester of classes left to finish my undergrad.

Deciding where to do my second co-op wasn't an easy decision, especially when you can choose anywhere in the world. After contemplating Los Angeles and San Diego and a couple other places, I came up with Albuquerque, NM. My whole life my family has been vacationing in Riodoso, NM, a gorgeous mountain town in Southern New Mexico that I highly recommend (it happens to be my favorite vacation spot, at least in the United States), and visiting Albuquerque on occasion. I decided that California was out simply because I have been there enough to know what it's like (I was born there and all of my dad's family lives there) but I had never experienced the Southwest on a more long-term basis. Like I said before, college is meant for new experiences. So here I am experiencing yet another new place.

The transition from Albuquerque to Santa Fe happened pretty smoothly. I told my wonderful co-op advisor, Lynn, about my idea and that sparked a memory. Apparently a couple of years prior she had received a phone call from a firm in Santa Fe asking about the program, and after searching through two years worth of notepads she found the contact, called back, and they were still interested. After a pretty discouraging job hunt on my first co-op, having this one nearly fall from the sky was a very pleasant experience. If it weren't for Lynn I have no idea where I'd be right now.

So after doing a phone interview while stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center (my best friend, Martha, and I were driving from Orlando to Atlanta during Spring Break) and being offered a job on the spot, I was taken aback then simply excited. There were many details to figure out, but I'll save you from hearing about the hell that was figuring out those details, and more importantly, getting those details past my father. In the end, it all worked out. I rented a UHaul truck and Martha and I drove almost 2,000 miles from Orlando to Santa Fe. After she flew back home I had a week to settle into my apartment before starting my new job. Thankfully the apartment process was fairly simple because my grandparents (who only live about 4 hours from Santa Fe in the lovely Muleshoe, TX) went apartment hunting for me in April.

And now for the present day. I am in my second week at Barbara Felix Architecture & Design, and so far I am really enjoying it. My first week was much more hectic than I had expected. They were finishing up two model rooms at a historic hotel here, La Fonda, that had to be ready for a walk through by the hotel's board members on Friday. Therefore most of my week was spent at the hotel moving furniture, placing anything and everything, and making sure the rooms looked perfect. It's not very typical for firms to see projects that far through, and especially not typical to be doing some of the final work yourself, but when you're in a crunch that's what has to be done. And I must say that I enjoyed every minute of it. There's something rewarding about being in the field and seeing everything really come together, rather than just sitting in the office with the image in your mind of what you know it's supposed to turn out like. And an interesting factoid about that hotel, La Fonda -- it's where my grandparents had their honeymoon in 1955 and my grandfather was a part of the remodel in the 1970s (and that 1970s portion was again remodeled last summer by the firm I am now working for). Crazy small world.

Overall I'm enjoying Santa Fe so far. I'm in love with the mountains, however my allergies are not in love with the dry air or the altitude. I still need some more time to get used to that part, but I definitely think it was all worth it. And besides enjoying my job thus far, I have the 4th of July to look forward to. My grandparents from TX and my mom are coming to visit me for that weekend. Should be fun fitting all four of us into my 1-bedroom apartment. Now I need to finish my lunch and get back to work. I'll try to update often, but I've never been the best at keeping up with blogs regularly. Toodles!