I usually hate the trip

Until last week I have never had a trip to Memphis that I liked. Every time I have gone the traffic has been HORRIBLE getting there and most recently someone was shot around our hotel. I'm sure Memphis is a great place, however, my experiences have been memorable but quite short of enjoyable.

I got a call while we were in New York for a small gig for a couple of days. The guy who hired me actually said "Hey I'm going out on the road with this band and I need a tele-prompter. Who do you rent from because I'm sure you don't want to be on a bus full of guys for 2 days?"

Tsk, tsk! How little he knows.

I jumped at the job because
A: boys don't scare me
B: it was work
C: that sounds like an adventure to me.

I went into this totally oblivious about where we were going and had very little idea what we were doing. Turns out that was perfect because I would have been dreading the trip to Memphis and it was totally painless. I seriously might make a tour bus my standard mode of transportation to Memphis because it was perfect. We hung out in the back lounge, watched TV and napped in the bunks and that my friends, is the way to travel to Memphis.

As far as the gig goes, the toughest part of the trip was finding a place to shower on Friday. "The band" was playing at sports arenas and I had NO interest in visiting the rooms labeled "Locker Room." I seriously doubt they had the modesty clause like the YMCA. Early in the morning (you know, like 10 am) I found a dressing room that was unlabeled and hoped that for the next 10 minutes no one would come in and freak out because I was using their shower. I made it through without any yelling although when I was done the room had been labeled for the opener's band so I quickly made an exit.

I could totally live on the road 2 days a week. I did it for 2 months and that'll kick your butt AND make you crazy but I think I could adjust to 2 days a week on the road. So you let me know if you need a producer, writer, tele-prompter operator, designer, tutor, knitting instructor, office manager, or soon to be realtor to travel with anyone for 2 days a week. I'll even go to Memphis!

What is Up with the Time?

I have heard Daylight Savings Time is a hard adjustment for kids but I have never had any trouble with the switch (you know, except for the annoyance of losing an hour of sleep). This year is quite a different story. This is the third morning that Joshua and I can't make ourselves get out of bed. It feels like someone is jerking us awake at 5 am except it isn't, its 7:30 and half the country is already on their way to work.

We decided to participate in the Lent season this year by giving up our sleeping in. We set a time and we decided to be up by that time Monday through Sunday. Until the Daylight Savings switch it was a breeze. We were getting to bed at a reasonable hour and then popping out of bed in the morning. All of that came to a screeching halt this week and we just can't do it. It is like God said, you know I appreciate the sentiment but lets crank this up a notch and really see if you can handle it. Well the answer is obviously - no.

I'm hoping our bodies equalize soon but until then I just want to give a shout out to all the toddlers who are struggling with the time change too.

Architecture by the Bottle

I love the idea of taking an object or a piece of history and using those items or ideas to develop details of a design or concept. The wine rack above is a detail from Circa restaurant in Memphis, TN designed by 3SIXO architects. The modular design serves as both screens, creating privacy for diners as well as storage for wine bottles. Simple idea, we need storage for our wine, we need privacy for our patrons. Two birds, one stone. They could have just as easily designed privacy walls and wine storage independent of each other. I think the combining of the two creates a new beauty, an added layer.

Johnsen Schmaling Architects used the history of the Blatz brewery company as inspiration for it's conversion into a mixed-use building. These pivoting walls of bottles from the brewery act as both a door and lighting element.

Winter Wonderland

More from our snow day in the park.

Our goal for the day: Capture an awesome photo for Megan's newly created Facebook page.................I think this is a decent option.

Thank You Google

Apparently Google thinks we are the top name when it comes to custom residential architecture in Nashville. We are extremely flattered.

The New York Firsts

• We have friends that live there
• We cooked 3 or 4 meals while visiting
• We stayed at 3 different hotels and one home during the visit
• It snowed 8 inches
• I went to a designer sample sale and actually bought something
• Found out I do not like light art
• We didn't see a show
• Joshua walked the Brooklyn Bridge
• Went to All Angels Episcopal Church

No School Today

So we're in NY, and the worst storm of the winter just blew through last night. 8-10" of snow, made for an awesome adventure in the park, and some great photos. It's been a great trip so far, more to come later.