I'm flexible. I can do the splits, both ways. I can listen to my son espouse Pokemon trading card facts for hours on end, while writing business proposals and keeping our household budget up to date. I can start out on one career path and not even blink as, quite suddenly, I make the choice to veer off that path.
I made a choice like that, again, four months ago when I came to the sudden conclusion that I could be helping others' more than I already was. I have the youth of Cairo, Egypt to thank for a curious divergence from Interior Designer to Social Media and Mediation Researcher and the interesting endeavors that will surely arise from this new work. May the youth of Egypt continue strong on their path to integrating democracy and human freedoms into their world, I will be following it all with great interest and hope that somehow I can support them in their quest.
Because my Havenmaven Twitter feed now reads more like global news aggregation site instead of the interiors wonderland it once did, I invite everyone to follow my design-related musings on a different twitter name, @AskDarci
I've recently met some very intriguing people in the design world through a blogger's event held in Amsterdam. I'll be following them through their adventures in design, living vicariously until such time as I return fully to the world of making houses true homes. I've followed several interesting figures via my @AskDarci Twitter account, so please feel free to go peruse my 'following' list to peek in on their lives. Fun stuff in there!
And, if you are curious about the social media mediation project work I'm focusing on now, please let me know and I will connect with you.
Be well!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, July 30, 2010
My Yearly Post?
Well, uh. Er...
By this time anyone who knows me knows that I have poured my heart and soul into several different endeavors this past year. One being Ecoremedi, another being a Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design through AiPDX (3.8 GPA so far - yay, me!), countless other odds and ends throughout the year. All have kept me busy and away from this blog.
I've spent a ton of time raising my small family and tending to the needs of friends, family, and neighbors. I've recently helped my husband negotiate a contract that will soon find us moving away to a foreign land as he opens up an office for the firm he now works for.
Currently, I'm packing up our house while choreographing major repairs and updates to said abode, finding renters for it, finding housing for our own family for our two-year stay in Amsterdam, learning about international packing/moving rates, speaking with the Dutch consulate about canine quarantine, selling my car, finishing a kitchen remodel I started at the end of spring term...all while trying to make time to breathe.
Good luck, right?
Well, yes, I'll need a bit of that. But, if there is one thing I have learned in the past two years it is this: I can do anything I set my mind to. Including breathing.
Living and working abroad is going to be phenomenal and I'm so excited to get over there! Who knows...maybe I'll finally make time to blog. Only time will tell!
Til then,
D
By this time anyone who knows me knows that I have poured my heart and soul into several different endeavors this past year. One being Ecoremedi, another being a Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design through AiPDX (3.8 GPA so far - yay, me!), countless other odds and ends throughout the year. All have kept me busy and away from this blog.
I've spent a ton of time raising my small family and tending to the needs of friends, family, and neighbors. I've recently helped my husband negotiate a contract that will soon find us moving away to a foreign land as he opens up an office for the firm he now works for.
Currently, I'm packing up our house while choreographing major repairs and updates to said abode, finding renters for it, finding housing for our own family for our two-year stay in Amsterdam, learning about international packing/moving rates, speaking with the Dutch consulate about canine quarantine, selling my car, finishing a kitchen remodel I started at the end of spring term...all while trying to make time to breathe.
Good luck, right?
Well, yes, I'll need a bit of that. But, if there is one thing I have learned in the past two years it is this: I can do anything I set my mind to. Including breathing.
Living and working abroad is going to be phenomenal and I'm so excited to get over there! Who knows...maybe I'll finally make time to blog. Only time will tell!
Til then,
D
Friday, January 15, 2010
Finding Resolution
Exciting News coming soon!
In the meantime, I'm knee-deep in drawing classes and enjoying the start of a fantastic internship with Michelle Bexelius, co-founder of EcoRemedi.
Michelle has been hard at work for many years now, creating environmental awareness everyplace she goes. Her business is making your business (or home, or school, or office) as pure and sustainable as possible without breaking your bank. She does it stylishly, too. And with my help, she'll be delving into how to do this by using local resources, materials, goods, artisans and artists!
What a wonderful way to be able to finally bring you that green goodness I've been gushing about for months (years).
Yay!
Stay Tuned for the Goodness...
In the meantime, I'm knee-deep in drawing classes and enjoying the start of a fantastic internship with Michelle Bexelius, co-founder of EcoRemedi.
Michelle has been hard at work for many years now, creating environmental awareness everyplace she goes. Her business is making your business (or home, or school, or office) as pure and sustainable as possible without breaking your bank. She does it stylishly, too. And with my help, she'll be delving into how to do this by using local resources, materials, goods, artisans and artists!
What a wonderful way to be able to finally bring you that green goodness I've been gushing about for months (years).
Yay!
Stay Tuned for the Goodness...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Well, that was awkward.
So much for the idea of bringing all things green and new and exciting to you while working on my drafting assignments and thesis. At this juncture, I must offer an apology. I am, indeed, sorry.
However, I am also hopeful.
My dear friend, Katey, has schooled me in the ways of creating a more visually arresting blog and I'm bound and determined to overhaul the look of my blog by the new year. So, that's me backing up and taking baby steps forward (Hey look! I made a link!)
Because, I figure if I delve into the ways of presenting such enlightened info to you in a more beautiful way...I'll be that much more likely to actually do it. Taking time out from school to post another blah blog is depressing. I refuse to do it, obviously.
I am therefore heretofor making resolutions to:
1) Stop writing so darned much when I post here.
2) Post pics way more often.
There. I said it. Out into the air...well, into the ether anyway. In the words of my hubby,
"Visualize, Crystallize, Actualize."
However, I am also hopeful.
My dear friend, Katey, has schooled me in the ways of creating a more visually arresting blog and I'm bound and determined to overhaul the look of my blog by the new year. So, that's me backing up and taking baby steps forward (Hey look! I made a link!)
Because, I figure if I delve into the ways of presenting such enlightened info to you in a more beautiful way...I'll be that much more likely to actually do it. Taking time out from school to post another blah blog is depressing. I refuse to do it, obviously.
I am therefore heretofor making resolutions to:
1) Stop writing so darned much when I post here.
2) Post pics way more often.
There. I said it. Out into the air...well, into the ether anyway. In the words of my hubby,
"Visualize, Crystallize, Actualize."
Friday, August 21, 2009
How do I leave this world?
It's a question that 's been burning in my mind for some time now.
I'm deep in the throes of edumacating myself on all things Interiors, and now the question burns even brighter because part of my focus as a student is on Sustainable Industries. I learn a little bit more each week about the burden we humans have created for the Earth and how we might be able to bring that to a halt.
It is becoming abundantly clear that we, as a species, may no longer be able to backtrack and bring ourselves back to the clime and clarity of the times during which we grew up (I'm talking 1970's, early 80's here folks).
We may be able to throw on the brakes though, because it is also true that we are far more aware, in this era of "green", of the indelible marks we leave in our wake as we consume and build and tear down and throw away...it is true that, at least coastally, the United States is starting to wake up and smell the coffee.
It is the smell of fair-trade coffee brewing that we sense wafting in on the smog-filled breeze.
We are opening up to the ideas of reuse on a commercial level. We are now expecting contractors to recycle their building waste. We are entertaining the thought of using LOCAL materials to build in the first place. Giant material making corporations are putting time, effort, and big money into utilizing clean wind and solar energy to run their facilities, as well as choosing cradle-to-cradle routes for the materials they produce. Finally!
I'll be spending my free time bringing you tidbits of sustainable news from the world of Interior Design. I'll also get back to some promises I made to you earlier...raves about Donald Kaufman Paint, as well as who are my favorite contractors and subs in Portland. I'll probably also start talking about a new piqued interest of mine, Universal Design (the design of all things from a humane and practical aspect--think ALL bathroom stalls being wide enough for ANYONE with disabilities- not just those wheelchair bound-- to turn around in) and how to make it an affordable, beautiful, and viable option for commercial interests in any state.
SO, check in with me from time to time and I'll tell you what I know! I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to post comments.
I'm deep in the throes of edumacating myself on all things Interiors, and now the question burns even brighter because part of my focus as a student is on Sustainable Industries. I learn a little bit more each week about the burden we humans have created for the Earth and how we might be able to bring that to a halt.
It is becoming abundantly clear that we, as a species, may no longer be able to backtrack and bring ourselves back to the clime and clarity of the times during which we grew up (I'm talking 1970's, early 80's here folks).
We may be able to throw on the brakes though, because it is also true that we are far more aware, in this era of "green", of the indelible marks we leave in our wake as we consume and build and tear down and throw away...it is true that, at least coastally, the United States is starting to wake up and smell the coffee.
It is the smell of fair-trade coffee brewing that we sense wafting in on the smog-filled breeze.
We are opening up to the ideas of reuse on a commercial level. We are now expecting contractors to recycle their building waste. We are entertaining the thought of using LOCAL materials to build in the first place. Giant material making corporations are putting time, effort, and big money into utilizing clean wind and solar energy to run their facilities, as well as choosing cradle-to-cradle routes for the materials they produce. Finally!
I'll be spending my free time bringing you tidbits of sustainable news from the world of Interior Design. I'll also get back to some promises I made to you earlier...raves about Donald Kaufman Paint, as well as who are my favorite contractors and subs in Portland. I'll probably also start talking about a new piqued interest of mine, Universal Design (the design of all things from a humane and practical aspect--think ALL bathroom stalls being wide enough for ANYONE with disabilities- not just those wheelchair bound-- to turn around in) and how to make it an affordable, beautiful, and viable option for commercial interests in any state.
SO, check in with me from time to time and I'll tell you what I know! I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to post comments.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Did I mention that I love paint?
Yup. I do. It is bar none the most forgiving design tool in my quiver.
When we moved into our "new" old house in March most of its interior walls had been hastily clad in a thin wash of get-this-house-on-the-market white. Yesterday I took time out between studying and researching materials to open up a quart of chalkboard paint and carefully applied it onto our entry room walls.
This chalkboard paint hales from Benjamin Moore (of course) and, once on the wall, takes on a slight hint of indigo. It is more of a rich and dreamy navy than a black. I think it looks fantastic and can't wait to see my husbands reaction.
The artwork in the foyer really pops now. Black walls, when done well, can elevate children's art to gallery-worthy in a heartbeat.
Once I had the walls up, I found I just couldn't stop. I lugged out a can of medium gray-taupe and painted the handrail (after I washed it - oh, man WHEN was the last time that thing was washed-ewww!). Incredible what a fresh coat can do. Then I painted the stringers with the same color.
Next up was a deeper, more olive-y taupe with which I painted the risers of the staircase. I love how painting those boards defines the zip-zag of the steps.
When I woke up this morning, I STILL had paint on my mind. So, I pulled out a couple of sample pints and set to work on the wall under the stairs. Dried Mustard, Sienna Clay, Soft Pumpkin, Butterscotch, Roasted Sesame Seed..
I'll make the final decision with hubby and post pics when its all done.
Now back to my research.
(not nearly as fun as paint)
When we moved into our "new" old house in March most of its interior walls had been hastily clad in a thin wash of get-this-house-on-the-market white. Yesterday I took time out between studying and researching materials to open up a quart of chalkboard paint and carefully applied it onto our entry room walls.
This chalkboard paint hales from Benjamin Moore (of course) and, once on the wall, takes on a slight hint of indigo. It is more of a rich and dreamy navy than a black. I think it looks fantastic and can't wait to see my husbands reaction.
The artwork in the foyer really pops now. Black walls, when done well, can elevate children's art to gallery-worthy in a heartbeat.
Once I had the walls up, I found I just couldn't stop. I lugged out a can of medium gray-taupe and painted the handrail (after I washed it - oh, man WHEN was the last time that thing was washed-ewww!). Incredible what a fresh coat can do. Then I painted the stringers with the same color.
Next up was a deeper, more olive-y taupe with which I painted the risers of the staircase. I love how painting those boards defines the zip-zag of the steps.
When I woke up this morning, I STILL had paint on my mind. So, I pulled out a couple of sample pints and set to work on the wall under the stairs. Dried Mustard, Sienna Clay, Soft Pumpkin, Butterscotch, Roasted Sesame Seed..
I'll make the final decision with hubby and post pics when its all done.
Now back to my research.
(not nearly as fun as paint)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hi, Dad!
Just a shout out to my father. Thanks for being you. Hope you enjoy that big ole' pot of beans!
I love you,
D
I love you,
D
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