GAINESVILLE PROJECT

Last week I traveled to Gainesville for a site visit to the project that I told you about here. It was so great to see the progress of the project at the beginning of construction. Hopefully the next time I see the project, it will be complete and I will be managing the furniture installation sometime next summer.

Just a refresher on this project - what you see in these pictures is the building that formerly housed the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, FL built in 1922. The church sold their building to a development company (us) in order to get out of debt and move to a smaller, newer facility. The sanctuary building will now be the "front door" to the housing complex that we are developing. Inside will be housed the leasing and management offices for the building, the fitness center for use by residents as well as several retail vendors (restaurants, cafes, shops.) Most of these uses will be in the lower level of the building - former sunday school classrooms and church offices will now be the leasing offices, etc. A vendor to lease the actual sanctuary space has not been found yet - it will be interesting to see what they do with the space. In the agreement with the church and the City of Gainesville, the sanctuary has to be restored inside and out and the original architecture and detailing must remain. I can't wait to see it all fixed up by next summer!

We are building 3 housing buildings and 1 parking deck that surround the sanctuary building. There is not much to see right now - but you can sort of see the concrete framing for the first building through the construction fence in the photo above. While I was there last week, I helped set up the temporary leasing office for the facility in one of the old pre-school classrooms of the sancturary building. It is not much to see right now as we did not want to spend a lot of money since this office will move in about 9 months or so when the final one is complete. We did a teal accent wall and dark vinyl plank "wood" flooring that shows potential tenants what finishes they will get in their units.

My main contribution to this project will be the furniture... I am designing it, presenting it to the project team, purchasing and coordinating the installation. We will have over 600 beds which means a whole of furniture and money!! Since the units will not be ready until move in day - we decided to contract out and have a workroom make scale models of a couple of the unit types in order to show tenants what the furniture and finishes will look like. I was amazed by the models when I saw them - all those long hours in the architecture studio (just a few blocks west of where this temp leasing office sits) made me truly appreciate the time and detail (and money) that went into these models... I can say one thing, I am so glad I am not spending my days (and nights) making scale models anymore... (can I get an "AMEN" from any former studio girls out there?!?!)

Being in Gainesville for work was great! I felt like a tourguide to the management staff that was there with me. We took a drive around campus to view all of the important sites such as Shands, Turlington, The Reitz, Jennings Hall (my freshmen residence) and of course all of the off-campus good eats such as Leonardo's pizza, Burrito Brothers, Satchel's (which is still cash only by the way!) and the Swamp. It was great to be in my second home so close to friends and family - on Monday night I got to have dinner with my good friend Laura and on Tuesday my Mom drove down from Jax to take me to lunch!

When I got home, I had someone who was beyond over-joyed to see me (which, of course made me feel good!) We spent the next hour sitting as you see below, waiting for Josh to get home. Molly says, "Don't leave me ever again!"

Visiting Gainesville and my project was a lot of fun, but I am definitely looking forward to being home for the next few weeks! The next trip will be in November (on my birthday...) to Baltimore, Maryland to visit the other project I am working on at Towson University. Until then, I am home for a while and very exciting about some guests we have coming very soon! Sarah (who I have not seen in over 2 years!) is coming this weekend and my Mom and Aunt Lala are coming the next... can't wait!

3 YEARS!!

Today I am traveling home from a work trip to be with my wonderful husband on our 3 year anniversary. I can't believe that we have been married for 3 years already -time has literally flown by.

October 13, 2007 was such a pretty fall day and one that we will always remember and cherish... of course, as wonderful as the wedding was - the marriage is even better.

Joshie - I love you so much and I am so proud to be your wife! Can't wait to see you soon!

WORK AT FAU

I love my job as an Interior Designer, but as seen in the pictures here - it is not quite as glamo- rous as shown on HGTV. Last week my boss and I traveled down to Boca Raton, FL to decorate an apartment model for a new dormitory that our company is developing and building for FAU. Since the site is not yet complete and we do not yet have a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) from the city, hard hats, safety vests and construction boots must be worn at all times. While we were stylin' this gear, we staged the apartment over a 2 day period. It was a lot of fun to be in a Boca and to check out the site as it was in progress. Although I miss Josh (and Molly) terribly when I am gone - I really do enjoy getting out of the office and traveling for work.

I am hitting the road (or the airways?) again this week - I am going to Gainesville to check out the progress and set up the leasing office for the project that I told you about here.

FLORIDA-ALABAMA

Last week -end we went to the Florida- Ala- bama game in Tusca- loosa. (About an hour and fifteen minutes away...) We were able to get tickets from Josh's former co-worker from Wachovia - they were great seats! Although the gators lost the game by a landslide, I am still so glad that we had the opportunity to go to the game... when we found out we were moving here (after the 2008 Gators National Championship season where we beat Alabama in the SEC championship) I looked up the Florida Football away schedule for 2010 and saw that we would be playing this game in T-town and I am so happy that we actually got to go. (Even if the tables have turned a little...) Although this football season is turning out to be painful to watch for gator fans everywhere, I still love the thrill - after all, isn't that what makes it interesting, not knowing whether or not you are going to win?!?! One thing that did make this loss to Alabama a little better was the fact that Alabama lost this past weekend to South Carolina who just happens to be coached by none other than Steve Spurrier who is actually and most importantly originally a GATOR. Here are some more pics from the game....

I like to call myself a REAL fan - none of this fair-weather stuff. After our embarrassing loss last weekend, I proudly wore bright orange gator T-shirt to publix this weekend, by myself, in the middle of Alabama - I am and always will be a GATOR fan!!

THE BODY OF CHRIST

Its that time again! Secret church is coming and this year it will be on November 5th. I am buying our tickets this morning. Check out details here.

Happy Friday!

FALL IS HERE!!

Today is officially the first day of fall and it is supposed to get up to 97 here in the Ham... I am beyond ready for FALL and with it some cooler weather and so I figured that if I made a list of every preparation I have made for fall, maybe the cooler weather would move in more quickly?

REASONS WHY FALL SHOULD BE HERE SOON IF IT IS NOT ALREADY...

1. New FALL wreath has been constructed and is hanging nicely on the door.

2. Table decorations are in place - just for that impromptu FALL dinner guest :)

3. New glade plug-in scent in place - this year's FALL scent: cinnamon apple.

4. New Kitchen Hand Soap - FALL scent: Pumpkin Spice, Pier 1 (Love!)

5. Candy Corn dishes filled with FALL candy.

6. FALL football is underway - most importantly Gators 3-0 this season so far.

7. Annual purchase of new Gator T-shirts for the Hewietts has already ocurred. (Want to make sure we are looking sharp for weekly FALL viewings of #6.)

8. FALL TV show line up has begun!! DVR is now set to record new episodes of Chuck, Glee, Criminal Minds, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, The Office and 30 Rock.

9. Molly has resumed her usual FALL post on the balcony. (Can she smell it coming?)

10. Wedding Album out in view to commemorate the 3 year anniversary of our FALL wedding in October.

O FALL, how I love thee, let me count the ways (check!). FALL, you are awesome and I so glad you are here... now bring on that cool weather and those lovely Birmingham autumn leaves!

WEAR BLUE WHEN THE GATORS PLAY TENN

This weekend Josh and I made the trip to Knoxville, TN for the FL-TN game on Saturday. We met up with Alan and Winnie who let us use Winnie's parents' tickets for the game - so much fun! It was such a relaxing weekend: very good to trake a break from work and school, get away, hang out with great friends and of course see the GATORS beat Tennessee. It was wonderful.

Knoxville is such pretty city - Josh and I had never been there before. UT's campus is downtown and the stadium is next to the river and so it makes for a very exciting and beautiful location!

Josh and I of course made sure we were wearing blue so that no mistake was made as to our loyalties - Winnie unfortunately did not have a good blue shirt to wear, but she did make sure that he shirt was in fact a true gator orange and not a sherbet orange. :) We sort of stuck out a little on Saturday - but o well. For the msot part, all of the Tennessee fans were cordial to us (as can be expected.) However, there was a fist fight that broke out two rows behind us that was a little scary...

Here are some pics from the weekend...

Josh and I were so glad that we got to go to the game - although some of did get a little sunburned. Lesson learned I guess... visitor's sections in stadiums are usually in the section that will be in the sun the entire game, even though the entire rest of the stadium will be in the shade by 5:30PM - you will not be, so plan for it (as I did not). Check out the rest of the pictures from the weekend on facebook.