wow, um wow.

so, has it really been since august! my god, max and i are terrible bloggers. i bring no joy to anyone in the blogosphere. i think my friend robert is amazing. he not only writes hilariously, but every day to boot. sigh.
but i am writing because this is one of the first days i have had off since, well, august! i took an extra day for the thanks, and it will entail lots of laundry, dishes and packing. i am headed to DC where max's sister and father live. It will be lovely and capitol-esque.
the work. hm. the work has been good, just very busy. i am still on the retail end of things, but lately i have been a part of a design protoype for a large company that sells children's shoes. there have been plan diagrams by hand and using illustrator (my new favorite program - all of the pantone colors!), concept and image research, interviews with kids, and indesign books for presentations. its been very different and pretty thrilling. i actually felt somewhat like an interior designer, as opposed to space planner. i was mostly assisting a lead designer at work, who i must say has an impeccable eye and knows exactly what she wants. it was actually pretty thrilling to work with someone who not only understands construction but has a really creative approach and amazing design technique. i have also begun some corporate interiors work, which isnt the most creative, but still is something new and something i have never done before.
so yeah, life in a nutshell. things have been pleasantly busy and fun - a halloween extravaganza (dragqueen cabaret singer - because i think when i go over the top with makeup, etc, i actually look more like a man than any drag queen) visits from dear, dear friends and family, whom i adore, and lots of work related drinking.
truly, will try to write more. sheesh.
smooches!

red balloons

additionally, max informed me last night, that:

1. he has to agree with me in that america may not be the place we live, you know, like forever.
2. he has decided against my ideas of paris and perhaps florence, but has chosen BERLIN!

which of course reminds me of those hilarious cartoons in my german class that said things like,
ich ein berliner. or something. because, honestly, i dont remember much german. which, i suppose i should regret!

so, if and when we graduate, and then somehow snag jobs at international architecture firms in new york, we will then move to berlin and have children or own weiner dogs. or weimeraimers.

yeah.

sklown

just came back from a great weekend in nyc - dear god - i forget how much i miss these people until i see them!
unfortunately, i came home with some tummy troubles, so i took today off as well. lots of water, lots of rest, and a potential doctor visit. bleh. i liked being sick as a child (lots of magazines, coloring books, attention from mom), but as an adult, it just kind of sucks. seriously.
anyway.....
back to nyc. it was great - saw important places of opera, the met museum of art, movies, and a few fabulous bars and restaurants. mostly importantly, it was just alot of hangout time with robert and amanda. of which i was in dire need. dont get me wrong, boston is great, and i love my boston people. but these particular gems are seriously dear friends who have seen me at my best and worst. and everyone is doing well! sure, there are things we might change here and there, but essentally, everyone is great. additionally, i was reminded my my list of possible last names, before max and i married. and its still true that sklown is by far, the worst last name a person could ever have.
its fun to see how our lives are playing out. and for whatever reason, i now feel a bit more at ease about a few things, more importantly the new career path i have taken. i have felt some guilt about it, but everyone was happy for me and interested to hear about it. especially when i spouted of unwanted historical facts about perspective. that must have been awesome. i think i have been spending too much time with encylodpedia maxica.
so, i am going to head back to the couch. more soon.

the boring

since the end of school, life has been a bit more relaxed. my day involves the following, except when i work those pesky 62 hour weeks --

work, come home from work, play tennis, do laundry, eat dinner, watch tivo. but we are also re-doing our kitchen, which we started in january and havent really finished yet. and that makes me feel kind of crazy. the kind of crazy that makes me naggy mcnaggerstons. which makes the macs, as i shall now spell his name, not as happy. but macs doesnt always have the same sense of urgency that i do. which makes activities like redecoration happen in a painful way. i dont understand how those jackasses on home and garden tv redo an entire neighborhood in a weekend. i just dont get it.

work, as mentioned previously, has been great. except for the 62 hours part. alot of nail-biting responsibility, which also is great, except, i have a tendency to totally freak out in my head about everything. i feel a deep sense of personal responsibility at my job and that doesnt always jive with my ever growing obsessive compulsive personality. when did i get so high strung? have i always been this way and never known? i wish someone had said something. but my co-workers and i were treated to a "lets leave work early on friday and drink, drink, drink to our amazing ability to do amazing architectural things" shin-dig. yeah, cool, except it was a total drink-off. and while those can be fun, leaving a bar you dont really know the name of, calling various people 12 times and demanding where they were (as if that would help), managing to wander to the right subway station to then fall asleep on the subway and stumble the two-blocks home from the last stop is not my idea of a good time. dont get me wrong, it was an absolutley hilarious evening. it's just that the next day is not how i ever want to spend a saturday ever again. oof.

so simply recovering this weekend, curling up from the rain with two exciting netflix's and two sleepy cats.

so thats what 53 hours feels like

yeah. it's been very busy. work has been pretty intense, but again, very gratifying. some drawings that are being sent to contractors and the like, to be, you know, built, have my name on them. as in, i drew them. and some schmo' is going to use them to build something.
what?
so it has been a bit surreal -- not to mention thanking my lucky stars i am not salaried. because i love me some time and a half. but that is enought about the work. its good. i am tired.
school, as of this evening, is over. so i can have my weekends back. enjoy my life. sleep in. cook food. i can not wait. the completion of the kitchen is shortly upon the sklar-brown household, especially since my landlord ok'ed the new flooring. love it when my nice russian landlord helps out. it makes me feel less like a plain old renter, and more like a renter who has a place that is more like home.
the max has also been busy. he has this studio space now where he builds models and thinks about buildings. not particularly in that order.
as you can tell from my picture, i am becoming fascinated with interior finishes from 3m. this money plant suspended in plexiglass is my favorite. i can image some amazing kitchen cupboards made out of it....

wife

max likes to be cute and call me wife.
and then i punch him in the face. no, not really, but i probably punch him on the arm. but he totally started it.
as you can tell, from our return from the dead, that things are well in the sklar-brown household. i wont try to imitate max's delightful prose, but i think, dear readers, you can all tell that joy has been restored!
it has been a busy week at the work -- there are many stores going out this week, so many drawing sets are being created, red-lined, and redrawn. but it is very fast paced and very exciting. i hate to admit, but i worked from 7am - 11 pm. but it was great. isnt that disgusting? i think its hideous that i could enjoy my job this much, but i do. i have this great project manager who has been an amazing guide; always answering my silly and not so silly questions with endless patience and humor. working for her is a piece of cake, and i know putting in the long hours eases her stress. so when did i become this capitalist workhorse?
one of the other project managers in my pc (profit center) is a classical musician on the side -- it has motivated me to get back into this business we call show. i miss it. finally. so auditions will be coming up in the fall and i will be there. it means i will take a class or so less, but maybe i can do both....

a very long absence

well, as it turns out, max and i are still alive. and i cant really blame anyone but myself for not posting. i am very jealous of my friend robert, who is amazing at not only being hilarious everyday, but actually posting something hilarious everyday.

but things have been exceptionally busy. there has been some kitchen renovation (still in the works) some new job overtime (talk more about that in a minute) and lots of school. this is actually the first sunday in some time that i have a moment to relax and try to sum up my life in a few semi-interesting paragraphs. i am also trying to write a paper on the signifigance of solitude in the Arnold Aboretum, but you probably dont want to hear about that (trust me).

so the new job. well, its pretty amazing in everyway. i finally managed to score a job in architecture/interior design. technically i am considered a drafter/desginer, but really i am mostly drafting for 8 hours a day, on a computer, and i am mostly drafting interior elevations at that. i am working in their retail division, which is very past paced -- lots of overtime if i want it, lots of crazy deadlines. april and may are evidently going to be quite a ride. my co-workers are talented and smart and extremely proficient at what they do. its quite intimidating and i keep imagining that someday they will find me out. but i am learning an immense amount of information on various architectural details, autocad, design solutions and what exactly the process of design to construction is like. like i said, its intense.

school is for suckers, and it has been hard to stay motivated and interested, epecially when i am learning so much at work. but summer is coming, my portfolio review is coming so there is plently to think about. i am very excited for summer. there will be time to craft, time to visit friends, time to enjoy boston. and for once, i imagine i will be able to feel settled in where i am. boston is more home to me now, more than it ever has been, more than other places have felt.

i am definitely ready for the lazy, lemonade sipping, porch dwelling.

more soon. really.