Week six & PhillyU early years

 a little something to welcome you to w2w blog posting number 20.

Last week, my good friend Kimmy Polinsky, you can check out her blog at http://kp-squared.blogspot.com, got a little upset with me for not sharing some images from the good times we had in college... well Kim, today is your lucky day, because I am going to post some pictures that are sure to spark some feelings of nostalgia for those lucky enough to have been selected.  This weeks double feature will be a feature on Philly U, the early years which pretty much means some of my closest friends hadn't really come into the picture just yet, like Ty and Christian.

a little taste of what's to come in the double feature...

This past week here in Libertyville proved to be MUCH more productive than last week.  We are getting there.  It is a slow process, but we are getting there.  Our sub floor is installed, the plumbing rough-in is all done, the windows and skylights are framed out,  90 percent of my electrical work is done,  and the custom cabinetry/shelving is nearly done outside of the new master closet- ill post pics when its completed.  I am also happy to report that I have learned more in the past 6 weeks about construction than i ever anticipated- something I am very appreciative of.

I had the opportunity to have some quality family time this weekend via ichat-  My mom and dad pictured on the right at home in Monroe, NY (yes, that is some super long hair on my dad, he thinks he is a rock star) and my brother (distracted, as usual) is pictured on his bed in LA watching the same mets game my dad got up from to come chat.  ichat has allowed us to spend some face time with eachother once in a while.   Though we are all in different time zones, getting a chance to see eachother for a 20 minute convo with the whole family is a nice thing to do once in a while.

My social life is a bit stale- outside of a trip to Oak Park to get my fix on Frank Lloyd Wright and a dinner with the neighbors on Friday, Joe and I havent really ventured out much this past week.  To be very honest, we are getting a bit sick of only having each other to hang out with, but we are using that as motivation to wrap things up so we can venture out of Illinois... only two weeks left here.  Joe's sister is coming to town this wednesday so at least there will be three of us for a few days.  Oh, and Im gonna be an old man next friday... 28 years old.  Scary but Im happy to be able to share my birthday with the Currans.


Two <interesting subjects> before moving on to the pictures.
1)now, this is an important story because it COULD potentially shift my course quite a bit and thus has a large effect on the direction my life takes from here... It is important to note that I have purposefully left my plans vague so as to allow a new opportunity in should one arrive.  
Last week i had a cold.  Not a 3 day cold, but one that comes, lingers, and doesn't seem to go away.  After 6 days of feeling awful I decided to go to a doctor. I asked Donna where I should go and she suggested a clinic that they have in their walgreens pharmacy which is for this specific purpose (if you have a cold or something minor, you go see a RN, get your meds right there, and go home... brilliant)  So i went.  My nurse just happened to have an adventurous son that she decided to tell me about.  It just so happens that this son works for a cruise line in alaska and given my plans (or lack thereof) she decided to put me in touch with him.  Long story short- I have just applied to work for 5 months in Ketchikan  Alaska during the summer tourism months.  Her son got in touch with me, spoke with me on the phone and got my resume out to 12 tour companies because his company had just closed their hiring for the season but others still had space.  So next weeks blog might have some fun stuff in it about this, or maybe it wont work out, either way, it was worth mentioning.


2) my map (early stages of development)


View Larger Map
whether or not this winds up being the route I follow will depend on a bunch of variables, but thus far, this is it... anything I should see along the way?  Leave comments if so.

Pictures
***Does anyone know of a way to post multiple photos at once on blogspot?  If so- please let me know via a comment on the post or an email*** 

The shelving outside the closet is getting to be a bit more complex than we designed up front.  So far, I think this will be the first impressive piece we finish.  We (will) have beautiful Cherry wood and glass shelving going in here with three dimmable recessed lights above built into custom boxes that will be hidden completely and wrapped with a layer of Cherry.  Cant wait until this is done.

Plumbing!!

You know what sucks?  Cutting duct work.  We had to add a vent below the new window and we tied into an existing line- that little run of shiny new duct too hours to complete- including cutting through those 2x12s.

These next three are hysterical... we couldn't closet in the floor without leaving ANYTHING behind for the next person to tear it up... Joe might have had a long day and been a bit vulgar, but it was funny in the moment.

Notice the dollar nailed into the floor joist...

This is the framing for the shower pan and half wall.  This is about what the space looks like now.

 SOME DOG PICTURES!!

Im gonna miss Lucy when I leave.  Never thought I'd say that about a small dog, but she's awesome.

I dont think ive ever mentioned this, but Lucy has a brother named Wally (they came in from the same breeder in the SAME crate too) his name is wally and he is twice her size but they play together pretty often.  Joel, the Curran's neighbor, has Wally and Sugar... Sugar is a bit of an older dog but she's cool too.  

Lucy and big brother- Wally

Sugar.

Now for a little taste of Frank Lloyd Wright's presence in Oak Park Illinois.  A brief explanation.  Frank Lloyd Wright moved to Oak park after the big Chicago fires in around 1898.  He built a home and later built a studio, but while in Oak Park was commissioned to design many houses.  Today we saw about 15, all within 2-3 blocks of his house.  It was very interesting and solidified for me why the man was such a genius.  

Pictured behind Joe and me is FLW's home- directly behind us is the addition he built later that housed a studio where about 10-12 people worked under him from 1898-1910 when he moved.

FLW home and studio

There is a FLW house in this image- a tiny one- it is the second house from the right, tan with brown stripes, but the subject of this picture is clearly not the house.  I love this image, it looks like the roots of a tree locking themselves into the sky.

Old neighborhoods have such amazing trees.  This is a FLW house as well.

Notice that the main entrance of this house is somewhat hard to find.  Down at the end of this path, off to the right, hidden.  Such interesting paths used to enter a home, usually followed by a compression release experience inside (for those non arch dorks, this means that you entered into a space with a low ceiling, usually a bit dark, but upon walking further into the space, or up a small set of stairs, you were released into a grand space with him ceilings filled with natural light)

Clearly I loved this entry way.

Double feature  Philly U, the early years...

Freshman arch studio- when Matt and I first became friends and worked together on some fun projects.

Me and Amanda... I was a BIT of a guido in those days... dont judge.   Amanda now lives in Boston and works for Free People, she wasn't in the architecture program, she was in some sort of fashion design and we met while living in the same dorm freshman year and are still very close friends... want to buy some jewelry?  She makes BEAUTIFUL stuff, seriously,  Check out her site. http://www.amandacarrin.blogspot.com/

My apartment in School Lane House... where I first met PEEEETE Moffeeeee.  Pictured here on the left, and below as the hacker that he still is to this day.  (jk, he's some I.T. guy for a company and drives a fast car... oh, and he is engaged to his girlfriend of a bunch of years, Kelly, which is worth noting here... and apparently their roommate is a celebrity to that's pretty interesting too... they live together in Manayunk, a great little town in Philly 5 minutes from Philly U.

My pseudo "home studio" in that same apartment.  What a mess.

These two are great... amanda calls me one day HYSTERICAL crying.  She made me believe she had just severed her finger, SO being the good friend I am I dropped everything and drove over to get her and bring her to the hospital to have her finger sewn back on... I even went so far as to put a towel over the back seat of my new VW golf so her blood didnt get all over it...  Well, needless to say, she had a little cut... after about 4 hours waiting in the emergency room they DIDNT EVEN GIVE HER STITCHES.   Also- those people behind her, i think one of them was dying but I had them laughing so hard making fun of amanda that they peeked in for the picture.  Aman-Duh.

 Joe and I became friends right around this time- second year of school, 2001.  I was a guido, he had some greasy pony tail hair thing going on.

I still have no idea what this picture was of, but here is KIMMY POLINSKY (back when she was still Kim Kremer) sweet tucked in tshirt and jeans... you still got those?

Design presentation... it wasn't my best project, but it always felt great to complete a project.

Ah.  lager.  I miss yuengling when Im not in philly... no one around here even knows what this beer is.  This was our fridge before a party back when I lived with keith and Eric.

Kim and her friends from home who came to visit us once in a while.

Jarrett Seng- now married to Adrienne (seen below) and his race car.  We always used to hear about Jarretts racing so one time a group of us went up to check it out.  Well- turns out he WON the race we went to see which was out of this world and we all got to go out on the track with him and take pictures after.  Check out his new company, he now designs and builds race car parts (and many other things) his site is out of this world and they have some cool apparel!  www.racesengdesign.com 

My big design 5 presentation, when I first got interested in environmentally friendly design... now im a LEED AP, hope i get to use it at some point. 

good times... the beginning of my third year of school goes down in history.  My roomate Anthony and I came to school a week early and mixed up drinks, partied, and just had a blast in our new apartment.  I know he will miss that week just as much as I will for the rest of his life.  In other news-  Ant and Kim (a different Kim, not in these pics but she also went to school with us) are now married and have a BABY ON THE WAY PRETTY SOON!!!  Congrats to those two!

now this picture isnt from college... it is from my parents house during the same time period.  Germain wasnt quite as neat as I was... look at this mess! ha. i came across this pic and just had to post it up here

Now for some halloween pics featuring matt, tom, ash, and adrienne...

Adrienne, in the middle of the above pic between matt and tom, is now married to Jarrett.  She is an architect and a photographer!  Check out some of her amazing work at www.artevitae.com 

Is that Dennis wearing a toga dancing on a stage at a club in Philly?  Yep.  I already said I was a bit of a guido... I think i was mid fist pump in this pic.

Ha- look at that guy.  

Kimmy P was enjoying my shades that night.  I think it was her bday...

Ant and me doin what we did best.

Matt... um, also doing what we did best... 

Tom taking a little nap between drawings.

Design 5 was an amazing semester.  Rob Fleming and Ivano's classes were side by side.  We became family that semester and we still are.  We joked around just enough to stay sane, napped when we had to, rested when we had to, but probably spent at least 50 nights in the studio that semester... at least

JAZZ HANDS!!!!

Ashley Porter, pictured in these next few pics, is now in San Diego California... she's working for an arch firm, has a great boyfriend, and is enjoying life out there.  She's on my list of people to visit though we did all get together at her parents house this past christmas but she's calmed down a bit from the way she was in these pics... a little ball of energy, ha.

When the weather was nice we spent a ton of time on the lawn outside of the studio (which I believe is now gone...due to the new student center) 

Adrienne keepin the breath fresh.

This looks like a homeless guy, but it's just tom.  He slept a lot.  I think he's still the same way but in later years he started drinking red bell to fix that problem.  Tom still lives in philly with his girlfriend Sara (who didnt really become part of the picture until the later years) I visit them ALL the time... or did when I was back in DC anyway.  Im over due on a philly trip and these pics arent helping matters... did i mention that i miss school?

no idea.

Matt Sleeping.  Matt still lives in philly too- he works for an arch firm as well and is married to Jess (pictured below)  they have been together since, I believe, our freshman year... now they own a home about 10 minutes from school.  I saw them a lot in the past few years too.

Ashleys hair provided hours of fun.

These might just look like calendars, but to a select few, these things symbolized the most difficult semester of school we would ever have and a time line to get our projects done.

During that time we would take breaks for a few hours to nap at my apartment- this picture was most likely taken somewhere in the window of 6-7am... we would sleep for 1-2 hours and then force ourselves to get back to work.  It was a rough time for all of us but being as we were in it together it made it a lot easier.  (also, by this time, joe had left philly U, that's why he isnt in any of these)

Getting a nice bottle of Gin was a big deal- we didnt get many chances to just relax, party, and drink so when we did... we did it right.  Or at least we thought so anyway.

Matts basement bedroom at his place on Gypsy lane... the first group house out of all of us.  Good times were had at that place... and this is the very early years of Matt and Jess... btw, Matt, nice computer man... is that a 19" monitor... I know it hasnt been long but if you saw the computer set up matt has now at his house you would think this picture was taken in the 80's

Tough love. ha.

And last, but not least, a picture of what I should be doing right now (i started this post at 1030 and it is now 1am)... This, apparently, is what I look like when im dead to the world.  This was sleep after about 2 days of being awake, I guess ant must have taken it...

until next time.