crazy week

it has been a crazy week so far!  monday morning we were informed that one of the subcontractors on the school job, that i have previously posted about, left out a big item in their bid.  in the hallways i had designed for there to be these big acrylic trees.  they are about 10' tall and they are made out of 1/8" acrylic.  the trunk would be brown and the tree top green.  we put these in our "interior signage" bid package.  well, the company that was awarded the interior signage package apparently failed to understand that these acrylic shapes were their responsibility...even though they were listed in their specification section 4 separate times. 

what sparked all this was the general contractor calling and asking that we talk with the sub contractor b/c they had some questions about the acrylic shapes.  when i spoke with the lady she informed me that in the 20 years they have been in business they have never done anything like this and they don't know what to do.  she said she couldn't find what the shapes looked like, the dimensions, etc.  so, having previously gone back through the drawings and specification book {to double check that all the information was there}, i directed her to the drawings where every individual tree was drawn in elevation WITH dimensions.  then i had her look through her specification section and pointed out each of the 4 places where it said "provide 1/8" thick acrylic shapes, refer to elevaions for dimensions".  well, she was just beside herself and just didn't know what to do, to which i responded with,

"these would have been great questions to ask at the pre-bid meeting, not one week before the job is complete." 

to say the least, she wasn't happy.  of course i wouldn't be either if i were her because it is thousands of dollars that they are responsible for.  it continually amazes me at how contractors will bid on a job without fully understanding what they are bidding on!  and in turn it makes me want to be very unapologetic when things like this come up.  i bust my butt to make sure all my bases are covered and i's are dotted...shouldn't they do the same?  i mean we give them plenty of time to ask questions.  any of our public jobs {schools} have at least a 21 day period where the drawings and specification books are available to them to go through, AND we have a pre-bid meeting where they can clarify any questions they might have.  but yet half the time they have not even looked through the drawings or spec book before they get to the pre-bid meeting.  oh well, there is only so much you can do! 

amongst all this i have been tied to my computer working on 3d renderings for another school job.  we have a meeting friday morning where i am suppose to be showing them my concepts for their new high school office building, their renovated existing high school corridor and their two elementary p.e. buildings.  my eyes hurt from staring at the computer so long and my shoulders are probably permanently fused to my ears b/c i have bad posture when sitting for so long and working on a computer!  although, i am pretty stoked about the stuff i have come up with...hope they like it.

we did get good news this week, two of our school clients had bond issues that past tuesday night.  that is great for my firm b/c it means more work {although we are up to our eye balls right now}!  we have done some extensive master planning with one of the schools and will be able to start pretty soon on a new elementary school and a few other projects.  yay for all the local voters!

on an exciting note......two of my friends are coming to visit for the weekend from dallas!!!!!  woo hoo!  we are going to have a fun saturday full of shopping and pedicures and finish it up with a great dinner and who knows what else.  so excited!  unfortunately mymichael will have his nose stuck in books b/c he has his midterm due sunday {oh how i am so glad it is him and not me!}.  although he probably would not have enjoyed hours of shopping and pedicures...not quite his thing. 

hope everyone is having a fun/crazy/exciting week so far....it's thursday....praise the lord!

lola {newborn pics}

baby lola is a friend's adorable daughter.  she was premature, so even though she is two weeks MONTHS old, she is still as tiny as a newborn!  enjoy utter cuteness....

doesn't that make you smile!?!?!?

Happy Monday!

favorite things

thought it was time for some favorites! 

if you have never had a tyler candle, go get one!  they are the most fragrant candles, you can actually smell them throughout your house.  i hate it when i spend money on a candle that smells so good in the store and then when you actually light it at home, you have to stand directly over it to even smell it.  that is not the case with tyler candles.  i love most of them, but i have one that is my favorite and it is called diva. i received one as a gift {thank you kelly!}and at first i didn't know if i liked the smell, but it grew on me fast and now it's a favorite.  here is it's description...

"The Tyler Candle Diva fragrance is a warm and complex fragrance overflowing with delicious fruits and rich florals. Rich aromatic chocolate and amber complete this luscious blend. It is her world...we just live in it. "

doesn't that sound fabulous?  trust me, it is.  you can get tyler candles at different stores around tulsa.

so you know when you smell something good and you wish you could just wrap yourself in that fragrance?  well, you can.  i was just recently introduced to the tyler candle laundry detergent....in the diva fragrance!  one of my reps got me hooked on it.  it isn't cheap so she uses it on her sheets.  the key is to use it as a fabric softener instead of your main detergent.  that way you use only a little, but man do your sheets smell good!  the other night mymichael asked if they had dryer sheets so that you could "freshen up" the pillow cases!  i'm telling you...it makes you sleep much better! 

for christmas i got some new cd's that i am loving.  john mayer and norah jones are so relaxing!

i love alicia keys.  i think it somewhat goes back to my days of piano lessons.  i love that she has an amazing voice AND can play the piano.  very talented!  this cd is just as good as her last one...love it!

bonefish grill.  it is a wonderful restaurant in tulsa.  for an appetizer, if you like shrimp, definitely get the "bang bang shrimp".  it's awesome.  they have wonderful fish entrees as well as some great chicken entrees.  one of my favorite chicken entrees is "lily's chicken", it has goat cheese with a lemon butter sauce.  we were there last weekend and i had one of their specials, haddock with feta cheese, artichokes and lemon butter sauce.  yummy!  give it a try when you get a chance.

and finally...it is girl scout cookie time!  i love me some samoas and thin mints...oh so good...and dangerous...very dangerous.

those are some of my favorites right now, what's on your favorite's list?

recipe {chocolate pound cake}

if you love chocolate and you love cake and you love a fast chocolate cake, then you will love this recipe!  this is one of my mom's most requested cakes.  this chocolate cake is one of the most moist cakes i have ever eaten and it is even better if after you bake it, you wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the freezer.  mom use to always make this when we went on skiing trips.  she would make it ahead of time, freeze it and then we would eat on it as we came off the mountain...nothing like a little chocolate to get you rested up! 

1 yellow cake mix

2 packages instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1/2 bag milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cups water

mix all ingredients together.  spray bundt pan {you can also use 2 loaf pans, just divide the batter in half} with cooking spray {very important!!!}. 

bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until done {stick a toothpick or fork in the center...if it comes out clean it is done...if it comes out with batter it needs to go a bit longer}.

Let cool a few minutes and then dump onto a cake stand or platter

icing:

1/2 - 3/4 back of chocolate chips

water

melt chocolate chips on stove or in microwave and add a little bit of water at a time until it is a good consistency for drizzling.  drizzle over cake.  i like to follow with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

enjoy!  if you try it leave me a comment and let me know if you liked it!

we give this recipe

*****

 

this melts my heart

this beautiful, colorful ottoman melts my heart....well,only second to mymichael and third to any future children =).

in 2008 mymichael and i vacationed in portland, maine, and while we were thre i came across Company C.  since then i have received their promotional emails...which i constantly drool over.  today i received one eaturing this ottoman.  is it not awesome?  i love the legs, and the fabric, and how it is paired with other patterns in the photo above.  if only i had a place for it to go.....

somebody, that i know, PLEASE purchase this so that i can drool over it at your house!

what's cookin' this week?

Here is what's on my menu this week....

Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice

Baked Fish w/ Couscous and Fresh Green Beans

Dorito Casserole

Chicken Piccata

what is on yours? 

 i would love some new recipes to try out...leave me a comment!

project update

last month i had a post talking about my job as a commercial interior designer and i posted some pictures on one particular job that is currently under construction. 

well, last week i had another site visit, so i thought i would show you the progress that has been made....



***for those just tuning in...or to remind others...this job is a school that will house lower elementary age students.  the original school building burned down almost a year ago and at that time was about 100 years old.  the new school was to resemble the old school on the exterior.  the interior is full of color and pattern...not your typical white walls with one or two accent colors.***

it's still a mud pit...no progress there

but i did come prepared with better shoes unlike this day...snow boots can work in the mud, right?

love the rock and brick combo...no one would ever know that this is actually a metal building...

the tile is up in the restrooms and the countertops are the correct laminate.  can't remember if i mentioned last time or not, but when i walked through last month i noticed that the countertops were all installed with the wrong laminate.  we had tried to work very closely with the millworkers but they weren't returning our calls.  so usually when a mistake happens i am more than willing to work with them if it looks okay and the client doesn't mind the change.  this time i was not in the mood to work work with them.  they had two options...#1 replace all the counters with the correct laminate #2 refund money back to the client...they chose option #1.  don't they look good?

they have started staining the concrete floors.  there is a combination of 4 different colors, dark brown, light brown, blue and green.  this picture shows two colors.  the final step will be sealing the floors which will make them shine and bring out the colors even more...can't wait!

here you can see that they have got the light fixtures installed.  there is still a lot of work to do.  the bottom portion of the walls will have a vinyl wallcovering and there is still lots of painting to be done.  the circles hanging from the ceiling will actually be painted a color.

this week they were starting on the carpet and vinyl wallcovering.  i am planning on going back out next week, so stay tuned!