a change of address

as with all good things, there had to be an end someday. This will be my last post from the sushicat. No, I'm not giving up blogging, {there isn't a patch for that yet} find me here from now on.

sushicat started as a diversion and never did turn into what I hoped it would. Though, looking back, sometimes the blog saved me from myself. Sometimes the first thought I have when I see something is 'I'm putting that on my blog.' So when I feel tiny and need a reminder that 'my people' are out there, the blogs are my quickest fix for a smile, shared wisdom, and best of all, a laugh.

At times it got to be a little obsessive. 'If it isn't on my blog, did it really happen?' What I had hoped it to be got lost in all of that. The new bird will be a better blend of what I'm after {I hope.} Ideas, inspirations, etc. etc. While that has been a part of the cat, the proportions are all off and instead of trying to revamp I'm starting a new chapter. Consider the cat as part of the road to where I hope the bird will launch off from.

What to expect from the new blog: more design, sketches, thoughts, with a few personal anecdotes tossed in for good measure. {and don't think I've forgotten the photographs. I know some of you just stop in for some color.}

so don't forget to make note of the change of address: designsparrow.blogspot.com - pardon the dust, I'm still moving in.

toppins, toppins

I saw this guy on South Temple this afternoon and flipped around to get a closer look. Those birds were crawling all over him.

bright and early mornings for my Historical Furnishing class. We're to the Italian Renaissance, I can't say Baroque with out adding {to myself} 'If it's not Baroque, don't fix it' - Beauty & the Beast.

the showroom is my playground. It's great because I can break all kinds of design rules as I mix with abandon. I get a kick out of pulling together furniture and accessories into displays that are everything to do with showing off the merchandise and making each item seem special. It would never work in a real room because I throw out proportion and scale {and the fact that most people don't like to mix as much as I do} but I hope that it is a look that makes our customers want to take everything home with them. Have I mentioned yet today that I adore my job?

my school chums at the IIDA Opening Social. Without these girls school wouldn't be the same. Adrienne {also my CAD tutor}, Christi, and Lorri {we're in the IIDA Presidency together}.

my same + love list

'my same' is the song that I'm listening to for who knows how many times tonight. I have my Adele play list on repeat. I knew it was time for a new loving list because I'm loving way too many things. I love my newly fixed mouse {that has never worked for a whole year now}. And the fact that it is my bedtime {after my blog fix} and, and, and... it was just time to list a few loved things.

other things I have a crazy love for: AutoCAD.on.my.very.own.laptop!! Brought to me by student version access. Gone are the days of crowded computer labs at the school. Hello to a shiny new era of doing my drawings in the comfort of my own room {geared in uggs, mismatched outfits topped with a scarf and energized by Hi Chew candy}

this chesterfield sofa - claret red. Doesn't it scream 'loaf on me instead of going to class?' I picked it for my bakery/gallery/hangout Bunnell House project currently invading my life. The Bunnell House is a circa 1919 Pioneer home located smack dab in the middle of the UVU Campus. Desperately needing a face lift and some major work turning it into anything more than a storage wasteland{what it is used for now} would be the ideal outcome for this little gem. But this project will never be. Sorry advocates, maybe I shouldn't be so pessimistic {re:realistic} I just don't see how the $500 k needed to restore it will ever be allocated when it is in the way of more parking.
However, Kudos to my Studio II instructor for coming up with such an interesting project. The Bunnell House is protected by the Historical Register so the things I'm doing to it would never be allowed, even were the funds found to be spent. {Oh the freedom of being an un-budgeted dreamer.}

more things to make the list: ncis. new/old memories blending. snow on top of the mountains and crisp mornings. getting paid to live my dream. good times chasing moose shadows in the mountains {image stolen from that sunny fall afternoon above} Grandma's house tonight - she is one of my very most favorites. Ever.

a glimpse into our lives aboard the USNS Comfort

Wanna take a peak aboard the Comfort? Your perfect opportunity is today and tomorrow between General Conference sessions on The World Report. The story will be a short segment on the show that covers church news.

We were in El Salvador when the camera crew came for a few days to cover what we were up to out there. Looking back, their visit was the busiest days on the ship for me, and the most rewarding in a way, because all my wandering around the ship paid off. They had a limited amount of time aboard and if they had to spend it getting oriented or meeting the right people to get them access to surgeries, or the flight deck, or key people for interviews, they wouldn't have had time to get anything else done. What a blast! I can't wait to see it, hope you'll get the chance to see it too.

Watch it online {I hope?} here. I'll find out if I can get the extended version {a whole 4 minutes instead of whatever it is cut down to for the commercials, etc. on KSL or KBYU} The best way to see it is satellite, so if you are watching conference at your stake house, stick around for a few minutes after.}

capture my utah, vote for me plz

I just spent the last 4 days covering over 1000 miles of the great state of Utah {and a bit of AZ and NV too.} Really, really fun. I'd love to tell you more about it but since I took that time to play I'm paying for it now playing catch up.

If you feel like checking out some really fantastic images from Utah go here to Capture My Utah's website. And while you are there, check out my profile and vote for me so my pictures can end up in a book put together by MediaOne. I thought today was the deadline for submissions so I was excited to include a few more pics from my trip, I was wrong and voting is in full swing.

sun soaked slc

I was fighting off a nap earlier this afternoon bc I have one day off to enjoy my freedom to do as I please and I don't want to sleep it away. Instead, I wandered around SLC taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.



Emigration Canyon - bikers are made of rocks. How do they do it?

Cranes...after my own heart. I can't explain my love for those machines.


seagulls and alleyways and funny old buildings...I wasn't really thinking about anything I was taking pictures of, just taking them as I wandered to give me reasons to go this way and that way.



I would love a quicker reflex for times like these. I'm so much more comfortable taking pictures of textures and color. Moving targets are things I notice and wish I'd catch, but I'm happy with seeing the moment all the same. This guy made my day riding his retrofitted bike down Main Street with a huge grin on his face. Maybe instead of wishing for a quicker reflex, or better camera, I should just wish for more courage to jump out in the street and take the picture when I first want to instead of hesitating. Something about snapping shots of strangers seems invasive.

shadow play

You know you are a full fledged student when dinner consists of a 100 calorie snack bag of Cheese-its {shared 3 ways}, two Tums tablets {not for their tummy soothing ways, but because they are there} and a handful of TicTacs.

I can't tell you how nice it was today to wander aimlessly for the better part of an hour between classes after spending all of my free time the last week on creating a pediatric hospital room that I will never get to see outside my imagination. That is still the hardest part of my projects for me. Walking away at the end with no tangible proof that the hours of thought and work I put into it would ever even work in real life.

It is an all consuming process. I get wrapped up in it so much that I can see the space from every angel, can almost smell the new carpet and paint. Research and sketches and the tiny details of putting together boards. Then to stand up in front of my peers and present it is nerve wracking. Not because I'm scared about what they'll think, but because it is the final step. The room is only as good as I can sell it. This whole place, the people I imagine using it, all of it, resides in my mind and once I put it out there I want it to be more than a three minute presentation in the mix.

And not even feeling the relief of another project completed, we are handed a stack of documents laying out the next blank slate. What now?