FALL (AND PINTEREST)

Fall is FINALLY here. Enough said. Also - (and I know I am slightly behind the times - I blame this summer) I have discovered PINTEREST. It is amazing. Below I have for you some FALL inspiration for home decoration I have gathered on pinterest. Enjoy.

If you are not on pinterest - get on it!! It could change your life. Also - it is supposed to get back up to 85 degrees here tomorrow. Boo. However, we must press on - fall is here and hopefully will show its face again soon.

JACKIE'S SHOWER

Two weekends ago I made a quick trip back to Jax (cashing in some Southwest points - yeah!) for Jackie's baby shower. I was so glad to be able to go home and spend the day with my sweet friends. To the left is a picture of Jackie, Paula and I after the shower - Jackie looks amazing!! She is due in the middle of November and we have all taken bets on when her sweet baby boy will come - I am hoping for November 10 (my birthday, of course.)

It is hard to believe that only last year... Jackie and Billy were getting married!! I am so excited for them and can't wait to meet this sweet addition to their family. The next time we are home in Jax may not be until Christmas and we will hopefully get to meet the little guy then.

Trips like this are so sweet, but definitely too short!! Makes me miss being in Florida and close to my family and friends...

Speaking of trips - I (thankfully) do not currently have any work travel planned... the next big trip will be Josh and I's anniversary trip to DC!! We actually leave in a week and 2 days!! We are stoked, to say the least. We are excited to get away (together) and see the sites.

DONE WITH GAINESVILLE...

... For work at least. I can't even tell you how good it feels to be done with this project!! So many little details + demanding install schedule + extreme Florida heat/humidity = not fun for Rebecca for the majority of August/September. In the end, the project looks great and I think that the staff/residents are very pleased. Check out the pictures of the project - for this one we purchased, installed and even designed some(oo-la-la) of the furniture for pool area, lounges, leasing office, fitness center and the apartment units. Definitely a large undertaking - again, I am just excited to be on this side of the finish line!!

Below are the pictures of the model units that we furnished and decorated - I think they turned out pretty well! There were 500 apartments in all that we put furniture in.

One thing that I have learned since I graduated and started working in interior design... every time I think or especially every time I say "I don't do [insert undesirable design-related (or unrelated for that matter) task here]" I find that it is somehow miraculously added to my job description for that day, or sometimes as a permanent fixture. After Calico Corners, I added "window treatments" to this list. After this project, I would like to add the following items to my job description (in addition to any normal interior design tasks including purchasing & punching furniture):

1. Delivery/On-site Contact - when items (like furniture) are shipped to a site, they come on a large freight truck and you will have a delivery window... sometimes days... sometimes hours or when it will arrive. I was the contact for these truck drivers when they were headed our way... definitely a new experience. The day that one of the drivers recognized my name/# on the order and when I picked up his call and heard "Hey girl, I am headed your way" I realized that this could not be good...

2. Semi-truck/traffic Director - this jobsite was so tight that we would have to block traffic on University Avenue to back the 53' semi-trucks by the church. I would usually get the task of waiving it into the lot - safety vest and all... attractive, I know.

3. Water Girl - When the temperature was 105 degrees outside and we had a deadline to meet to get furniture off freight trucks and into buildings, I made runs for water or in this case GATOR-aid :).

4. Trash Superviser - One week of the installation I had several furniture vendors sharing the same dumpster... in this case, I had to keep an eye on the level of the trash in the dumpster so that we could get it dumped/returned, etc. It was at the moment when I had to climb up the side of the 12' tall dumpster to lean inside to see the trash level that I had to chant/remind myself "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job."

5. Tour Guide - this was my favorite job description addition :). Since this project was in Gainesville and everyone on the jobsite - my company, the General contractor and the furniture vendor, was from Birmingham - everyone wanted my consultation on their dinner choices, evening activities, etc. It was a lot of fun showing my co-workers the wonderful world of the Gators - Gainesville, FL.

I really am so thankful for my job - I am doing something that I love and for a great company. I am able to travel and see my projects in person and in this case, got to see some of my friends and family along the way as well. Although, I will say... the next time I go to Gainesville, FL, I am glad that it will be for a Gator game or to see friends/family instead of for work. :)

RETURN TO THE BLOG/ CATCHUP/ VALENTINE COMMONS

Hello everyone. This time, my blog posting really has gotten out of hand!! I can't believe it is already September. Where has the summer gone?!?! The Hewiett household has definitely been busy with work and travel. Josh was kind enough to catch everyone up on our trip to Chattanooga (which I loved) and so now I will attempt to (begin to) catch you up on the rest of our travels - for both work and play!

First up is my recent trip to Raleigh, NC to begin a project that my company is working on there. It is located near NC State and will be - you guessed it - another student residence hall. The trip I took to the jobsite a couple of weeks ago was to open the leasing office complete with a full mock-up model unit inside. It is always so rewarding to see the fruits of hard work/design efforts in person... this is what I try to remind myself everytime I have to book another plane ticket with Delta...

I was especially excited to see this leasing office since I got to be a part of the design as a whole - completing space planning, selecting finishes, working with the graphic designer, purchasing furniture, selecting lighting and watching it come together.

Something new that I got to try was actually the ceiling color - typically in these "warehouse" type spaces, the ceilings are always painted black. I convinced the team to paint the ceiling white in order to bounce more light around the space - I really like the way it turned out. It may be something that you would not notice - but that is, I think the beauty of it :).

Also interesting note - this is the first time that I have used a "wood-look" sheet vinyl. Typically on other projects we have used an engineered wood and/or vinyl plank that looks like wood. I was afraid that this flooring would look too fake or cheap - but it looks great. We have even convinced the team to use it inside the apartment units in the place of cheap beige carpet - very exciting!!

Sitting area in the leasing office... love this end table & coffee table from World Market :)

Bedroom in the mock-up unit. Bedding is from Target - love. These windows are actually fake - there is simply drywall behind them. I was so thankful that they decided to put them in the model to show potential tenants how large they will be. Makes such a difference in the space.

And finally the living room in the model unit. That is all for now!! I will be traveling to Raleigh quite a bit next summer to finish this project up - it will be a big highrise with 1,000 beds. I am tired already, just thinking about.

Stay tuned for more posts including our trip to Texas for Grandpa's birthday, our trips to Jax, more work traveling (for me) with project updates and some new-found (or re-visited) hobbies of mine.

In the mean time, we are off this weekend with our friends Ryan & Laura to Gainesville for the UAB game. I am sticking around Gville next week to finish up my project there as well.

Rebecca

THE SCENIC CITY

It has been quite a while since Rebecca has been able to post, so I am going to help carry the load. Poor Rebecca has been gone almost every week (including some weekends) since May, traveling around the eastern United States with her job. Needless to say she is really burnt out, but has been a trooper and continued to have a good attitude. I personally don’t know how she does it, but I am so proud of her and so thankful for her hard work.

Since Rebecca has last blogged a lot had gone on. We have traveled more than our fair share, which is great since traveling is one of our favorite things to do. In this post I am going to share our first trip of many this summer, which was a weekend get away to Chattanooga, also known as “The Scenic City!”

Rebecca and I had a great time in Chattanooga. Who new downtown Chattanooga was so entertaining? We have always heard about Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls (which were fun), but it wasn’t nearly as cool compared to downtown. When we first arrived Chattanooga Rebecca and I visited the Tennessee Aquarium (pictured below). Rebecca and I always try to visit either an aquarium or zoo in any city we visit. It may sound weird, but we really enjoy them. We have heard a lot of people compare the Tennessee Aquarium to the Georgia Aquarium (in Atlanta) and received mixed emotions. I really enjoyed both, but personally liked the Tennessee Aquarium more.

After our trip to the Aquarium, Rebecca and I spent the remainder of our Saturday exploring downtown Chattanooga. The downtown area is very commercialized, but not overly-commercialized. The area has a lot of great restaurants, parks, an IMAX Theatre, a minor league baseball stadium and a beautiful American Art Museum (pictured below). We were blown away. The area was so family friendly.

Our favorite part of downtown included the bridges. The first bridge connected the Art

Museum to the Aquarium. This bridge was particularly cool because it was glass, really high and crossed over a busy street. Being someone who isn’t particularly fond of heights, this bridge definitely attempted to strip me of my “man card,” but don’t worry it didn’t succeed. The second bridge was an old steel bridge that expanded over the river. This bridge was really the center of entertainment downtown. That afternoon hundreds of people walked over the bridge with their families, some stopped to sit on a bench and enjoy the view, others ran, rode bikes, played music and walked their dogs. It was such a great family atmosphere. (In this picture we are standing on the glass bridge. You can see the steel bridge in the back ground).

So, Rebecca and I decided to join in and walk across the bridge to find out what was on the other side. To our pleasure we found the other more historic half of downtown Chattanooga. There were lots of small shops that contained boutique stores, restaurants and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that Rebecca and I couldn’t turn down. I can’t remember the name of the parlor, but it was honestly the best butter pecan ice cream I have ever had!

After our tour around downtown we headed back to our hotel and woke up the next morning to explore Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls (pictured to the right). Both were of course beautiful and we had a great time.

Now, Rebecca and I are trying to plan a 5-day anniversary vacation in October. We are trying to decide where to go, so my question to all of you is “What is your favorite place to vacation?” We would really appreciate any suggestions, so please post!

- Josh

MAYBERRY, I mean, CULLMAN

Three weekends ago (still catching up on my posting...) Josh and I decided to really explore downtown Cullman. This is what we found....

Our first stop was to a local BBQ place called Johnny's Bar-B-Q. (We ordered what you see in the picture to your left.) It was delicious!! One thing we have learned about Alabama: they make good BBQ. This place had a white sauce (as you can see) like a lot of places in Alabama... I loved the sauce. Josh did not as he has an aversion to most white condiments... mayonaise, sour cream, white cheeses, ranch dressing or anything with any combination of any of these.

Our next stop was an an architectural salvage and antique store in downtown cullman called Southern Accents. As you can see by the entrance to their store, they too were affected by the tornados back in April, but they are still open for business!!

This store was absolutely amazing... Josh and I browsed through the whole place picking out front doors, hardware, mirrors, lighting and this fireplace mantel for a future house :)

Our next stop was just a couple of blocks over on this cute little street with lots of clothing, stationary and furniture/decoration boutiques. I love what they did with this old warehouse turned retail strip.

Just a couple of streets over from the pictures above we saw this....

It was definitely a rude awakening to see once again the damage that happened in only a matter of hours. There is still a lot of cleanup to be done in Cullman (and throughout the state.) When I see these images, all I can do is pray for those who lost loved ones, pray for those who lost their homes and businesses and thank God that he spared us and kept us safe during that time.

And that sums up our day in downtown Cullman. There is still a lot that Josh and I want to explore in the area including the Ave Maria Grotto which is a monastary in the heart of Cullman that is beautiful (so we have heard) and also has many hiking trails.

JOSH, THE ADIMINSTRATIVE RESIDENT

Again, I am severely behind on my posting... but I wanted to fill you in on Josh's new internship (well, it is paid, so I like to say "Josh's new job" :). Josh started his adminstrative residency last month at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, AL. (See picture to the left... his first day on May 16 with his new suit and bag he got for graduation.) During this residency he will complete several rotations through different departments of the hospital, work on special projects for the executive leadership, sit in on senior team meetings and observe lots of surgeries. I am sure that there are lots more things that he will be doing for the next year... but since he refuses to make this a joint blog, you get to hear the description from yours truly.

Huntsville Hospital is one of the largest locally owned non-profit hospitals in the country. It has 881 beds and 6,200 employees. (Comparison - about the size of UAB and about 300 beds larger than Shands Jacksonville.) They are a Trama 1 Center which serves all of Northern Alabama and the southern Tennessee Valley. They provide all medical procedures and services (except organ transplants). Translation = Josh will be exposed to a lot since Huntsville Hospital is so large and provides so many medical servies. Another side note... their facilities are so large that they have a TRAM (like a DISNEY WORLD TRAM) that patients and families can ride to get from one building to another... it looks AMAZING... I can't wait to ride it :).

Josh has an office in the EXECUTIVE SUITE. He sits right in-between the CEO, COO and CFO of the hospital. He gets to interact with the executive team daily and is directly exposed to their daily duties, meetings and projects. His office is extremely nice with his own sitting area and everything - FAN-CY!! I will try to get him to let me post pictures eventually... once we get the office in proper "working order." Of course, since his wife is an interior designer... his office needs that special husband-of-a-designer touch. I will leave it up to your imagination as to who in this family is more concerned with a well-designed office.... :)

We are so incredibly thankful for this opportunity that Josh has to soak up as much information as he can before he has to go get his "real" job after this next year. He is really hoping to get a broad range of exposure to all of the business and development sides of the hospital in order to determine what he may be most interested in pursuing after his internship. This is going to be an exciting year in the Hewiett House. Can't wait to see how God will use Josh in this position where God will take our family in the future!