Can you name anything more annoying? I bet you can't!

I was driving on the 405 this week and right in front of me was a nice car that had one of those Nike stickers that said ‘Just Do It’… so I hit him… knocked the phone right out of his hand! Ha! There are three truths about this statement. The first being is that I really didn’t hit anyone; the second is that I really, really, hate the 405 freeway with every fiber of my being! And thirdly, LA traffic really makes me want to ram someone! It brings out the worst in me and it’s a good thing that I’m driving by myself most of the time because at times I’m ashamed at the things that come out of my mouth.
Week five is done and gone, now onto week six. It’s crazy to think that in less than two weeks I will be back in Utah. It’s gone by so fast! I feel like I’ve learned a lot already! This past week was a busy one! We’ve all been frantically trying to get everything ready for the grand opening of our showroom in LA that we had on Saturday. We had a few glitches and setbacks but we managed to pull through and it turned out really nice! The showroom looked glorious! We ended up painting the floors and walls all white at the last minute and it turned out so nice! I think we had a pretty good turn out too. The space was filled with people, loud music, and delicious food! My friend Amy came with me, these events can tend to be a little awkward so it was nice to have a friend there with me.

Last week I also started putting together a design for a party that H Studio is furnishing in Malibu. On Wednesday I drove to the house in Malibu where the party is going to be at and took pictures and measurements. It’s 40 miles away so it took about an hour and a half to get there. The party is this Saturday so I have a lot to do to get everything ready.
So as I was heading back from Malibu and it took me 3 hours to get home! Again reiterating my loathing of LA traffic! Mind you that it’s only 40 miles away! I was so ticked! LA traffic is the biggest gas loafer of all time! I’m so annoyed! To make it even worse it’s been over 100 all week. Stuck in traffic with a hot sun beating down on you is no bueno!
Friday night Amy and I went to the movie Inception. It was so good! I loved it! The whole concept of controlling your dreams and being able to know what is real and what is reality is mind boggling. I can’t quite wrap my brain around it but it was so interesting!
Saturday before the party Amy and I found Frank Gehry’s house! It’s definitely a Gehry house. Fence, metal, and glass protruding in every direction. It was way cool to see it. After the party we were hungry so we went to this really good sushi restaurant in Westwood and Ditty Riese for desert…mmmm so good! I can't get enough of it!

Sunday after church we of course headed to the beach. I love that place, it doesn’t get old for me. I can't resist it! It’s a great way to end my week and start a new one…until then…peace out!

Ketchup?

I can’t believe that I’ve been here a whole month! Just 3 more weeks to go! This week I’ve been busy doing final renderings of the lobby of the Watermark Tower building in downtown LA. I think they turned out pretty good, it’s going to look pretty sweet when it’s all done and put together. Next this Saturday is THE day we open up our showroom to the public. We’re having a big party that night with lots a booze, but I’ll be going for the networking!

This girl at work was trying to convince me that Sketchup is better than CAD! Ha! Don’t make me laugh! Are you kidding me?! Sketchup isn’t even comparable to what you can do on CAD, it’s so much more professional and accurate! If you’re looking to muck around use Sketchup, if you're making real plans use AutoCAD…so there!
One of the many other projects going on here at H Studio is we’re remodeling our showroom in Las Vegas, and will be reopening on the 2nd of August. This week I went through the entire inventory in Vegas and organized everything into categories on Excel, then pasted pictures of each product next to their corresponding description. I am so bad at Excel so I guess this will be good for me!
On Wednesday, I went to the Ketchup Restaurant in West Hollywood with Kylee and Amy. Kylee went back to Utah on Friday so we wanted to have one last get together before she headed back. Ketchup is a way cool and trendy restaurant! The food was pretty good, they have all sorts of funky ketchup flavors for you to try like; chocolate, banana, ranch, BBQ, and just regular ketchup. It was fun to try all the flavors, who would have thought to put chocolate and ketchup together? It was pretty interesting!

Finally the weekend came and I headed over to Amy’s place to take the bus to the Getty! Riding the bus is so much cheaper than parking and it saves on gas so I think we’re going to try and ride the bus everywhere we can! I like the bus, I feel like I can actually enjoy LA because I’m not driving in it! Plus the TV on the bus asks you fun useless knowledge questions like; what is the largest cat in the world? –Tiger, and what determines the gender of a baby crocodile? – Temperature. I bet you didn’t know that! I didn’t! Good thing I was on the bus so we all can be that much smarter? Ha!
The Getty was really neat and is one of my favorite places that I’ve been to in LA. I love seeing great architecture and the Getty does not disappoint! A beautiful work of art made of travertine and aluminum. Richard Meier is the master mind architect. Inside the museum housed paintings from some of my favorite artists like Vincent Van Gough and Claude Monet. The collection also included pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs. By the end of the day I felt pretty cultured.

After the Getty we rode the bus back to Westwood (where Amy lives) and went to this awesome place called Ditty Riese, which has the best homemade ice-cream sandwiches! You can pick the cookie and ice-cream, it is so good and the price is right too! Only $1.50!
I really like the Westwood area, the UCLA campus is there so it’s a fun college town feel, lots of fun places to hang out, really nice and friendly people, cool places to eat, and really close to the beach!
Sunday I went to church, I really like the singles ward here, the people are really nice. I’m sad that I’m leaving so soon I was just starting to get to know the people.
After church I met up with Amy and we took the bus to the Santa Monica Beach. It was another great day at the beach. We caught some sweet waves and built a real interesting sand castle and watched it wash away by the waves. It was a good day!
Well that finishes another crazy week in LA. Until next week…peace out!

Freedom!

Week 3 is done… check! Three down four to go! This week at H Studio was pretty good; I was busy all week working on the renderings for the lobby in the Watermark Building downtown. Watermark is a super cool building! It’s a huge skyscraper that has high end apartments and penthouses. Also inside there is a gym, swimming pool, an indoor park for dogs, and our H Studio showroom. The cost to rent such a place costs as much as a new car a month, $15,000 a month! Who does that?! It’s going to be sweet when it’s all finished.
I tried to get a hold of Judy (my client) this week to get things started on her room but she’s been really busy at work. I hope I can get a hold of her soon, there isn’t much time left. Four weeks to completely install a room isn’t much time especially if you have to order fabrics and furniture.
This week Kylee and I attempted FHE on Monday; it was a multi stake activity at Dockwieler Beach where there was a big bonfire with marshmallows and stuff to make s’mores with. There were so many people so it was a bit intimidating but the people that we talked to were really nice. I was just proud of myself for even going!
The 4th of July weekend was so fun and jam packed of good old American fun! I even had Monday off too!
Saturday Kylee and I headed to Venice Beach. I heart Venice Beach! When I think of a California beach I think of a beach like Venice Beach. The beach is lined with gorgeous beach houses, street performers, tons of shops, people riding bikes, and of course muscle beach. If your neck is the same width of your head… take a day off!! It’s supposed to go in a little!
It was so nice just to lay out on the warm sand and feel the warm sun on my skin. The weather was perfect; it wasn’t too hot with a nice breeze to cool you off. After basking in the sun we did a little sand sculpting. I was made into a mermaid, and Kylee was a beautiful octopus! We played in the water for a bit, it was so fun to jump in the waves. I got a little creeped out by the seaweed and whatever else was lurking in the water so we got out of the water and changed our clothes. We decided it would be fun to rent bikes and ride them along the coast. We rode all the way up to the Santa Monica Pier. It was so much fun! I’ve always wanted to ride bikes on the beach! There was so much to see, music coming from all directions, crazy hippies, and street venders everywhere. It kind of reminded me of Portobello Rd. in London minus the beach of course.
We rode our bikes back and did a little shopping. I’ve seen a lot of things in my travels but the people in California are crazy! One of the great things (or some people think is great) about California is that medical marijuana is completely legal, so there were crazy reefer men trying to get people to come in and get a free health exam to see if you qualify for medical marijuana, this is absolutely crazy to me! No thanks! I like the system I’ve got! Try getting high on life, it’s awesome!

While walking back to the car we spotted Frank Gehry's Veince Beach House! So cool! It was just right in the middle of the big line of beach houses. It's always great to see things that you see in text books!
After the beach we headed back to Ky’s place and we had ourselves a little BBQ. We cut up so much fruit!! It was more like can I have some BBQ with my fruit! Ha! It was so good!
For the 4th of July we decided to go to the Aquarium in Long Beach and watch the fireworks. The Aquarium was really cool! It was like a mini Sea World, they had animals you can touch and there was so much to do and see. I had more fun admiring the design and architecture. The animals were just a bonus, I’m such a nerd! When we bought our tickets we got the 4th of July package, it came with admission to the aquarium and a dinner. The dinner was so good! We piled our plates full of food and dessert, it was quiet the American meal!
Later on that night we watched the fireworks from the Queen Mary. It was a great way to end the day. Thank you for being born America!
5 reasons why I love America:
1. I can pursue my dreams
2. I can obtain an education in anything I choose
3. The opportunities here are endless
4. I can have a car and go anywhere
5. I have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
There are so many other reasons why I love America, I feel very fortunate to be in this great land.
Monday I had the day off so Kylee and I went to Olvera St., which is the birth place of Los Angeles. It is a tiny street full of Mexican food and street venders. The atmosphere was really fun and so was the food!
Later on that night we went to a movie in Glendale. We saw Knight and Day. It was ok, kind of cheesy but at least it had good action in it.
It’s been a good week. I’ve done and seen a lot! Until next week… peace out!

JACK SQUAT!

"You'll find that as you go out there, you're going to amount to JACK SQUAT!!"

Thats what I've learned this week! Ha! It was a good week but I definatly know my place, I have so much to learn. There is so many things that go into designing a room. Designing is the fun part, but figuring out prices (which I know nothing about, so thats been real fun to figure out), having accurate measurements, and your design having to be changed because of the price. Kind of a bummer.

One of the many things that I had to do this week was build three perspectives of the master bedroom in 3D on CAD and render all three in the space of three days! Basically I didn't sleep at all last week. I honestly don't know how I got all of it done, but I did and I have to say that they weren't that bad. Shlomi was impressed with them so I was happy with it.

I met with my client (Judy) for the first time on friday night to present to her my design. I was so nervous and had no idea what I was going to say but luckly Shlomi was there to help me out. It went really well and for the most part she really liked the design. Shlomi is puttng me in charge of the whole thing now. He wants the bedroom all done and installed by the time I leave in 5 weeks! Yikes! I have so much to do and I don't even know were to start! By the time Judy and her husband left that night it was almost 9! I was so exhausted! A 12 hour day with no sleep and no pay is a long day!

H Studio is building a new showroom in downtown LA so Shlomi and Ellen (my other supervisor) wants me to do some of the renderings for that too, should be fun.

During the week I ran a ton of arrends to the PDC and other really random places, along my travels I ran into the the famous Hollywood sign. It was so weird I sort of just stumbled apon it, I looked up and there it was! So I had to stop and take pictures of this iconic piece of California.

LA so far has been so fun, there is so much to do and see! I was happy to find out that my friends Kylee and Amy are still in town so its been nice to actually know somebody and do stuff with. This Saturday we went to the LA Zoo, we played some sweet bowling off of Hollywood Blvd., and watched a really weird movie outside at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. West Hollywood is crazy, it's full of interesting individuals! What happens in West Hollywood, stays in West Hollywood! If there is anyone that is from or knows West Hollywood knows what I'm talking about!

On Sunday I went to the Singles Ward, the members are so nice, it should be a really fun ward! I met this guy named Harmen and he's in "showbiz", he found out that I'm a interior designer and asked if I wanted to help design a set for a shoe commercial on friday. That would be so awesome! I have to work so we'll see if I will be able to help out!

After church I picked up Kylee and Amy and headed to the beach. By the time we got there it was super cloudy and chilly so it wasn't too relaxing, but it was fun to play in the water for a bit and take some pictures. We also got to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, it's so pretty! I could drive along that for hours!

This week I have to get a hold of Judy so we can get things going on her room, its going to be cool to see how it turns out! Should be a good week, until then...peace out!

Bouncin' California

Inside the PDC


The PDC!

The Tornado Sculpture

The Oliver Chair

Yellow everyone!
This post is coming to you all from the land of fun in the sun, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer...LA! Ha!

Why am I in such a place? For the next 6 to 7 weeks I am interning for a fabulous firm in Sun Valley, California called, H Studio by Shlomi Haziza. Its crazy to think that just a year ago I was touring europe studying abroad...oh the places we'll go! I'm excited and oh so nervous to take on this next big adventure!

I just finished my first week at H Studio and its been an interesting one! My first day was actually pretty slow, I'm the only intern and everyone was super busy so I put folders together that they give to clients and the press. Towards the end of the day I got to meet Mr. Shlomi Haziza himself! In the flesh, thee master mind of incredible art, furniture, and fashion. He is so cool and charming...not to mention, pretty handsom for an older guy! If you've ever watched the show Chuck, he looks like a 50 year old Chuck Bartowsky...I know right?! Anyways, Shlomi was asking me all sorts of questions...where are you from, how old are you, how long have you been going to school, what do you want from this experience? Those type of questions. After chit-chatting with him for a bit, he decided to put me incharge of designing a master bedroom for one of their biggest clients...all by myself! What the hell!? This is so cool and oh so scary at the same time!

So during this week I went to the clients house, which is on top of the freaking mountain overlooking all of Hollywood and LA! Gorgeous house, almost everything she owns is from H Studio. I thought I was walking through an H Studio gallery! While there I took tons of measurements and pictures of the room. Shlomi and I are thinking of doing the room in turquoise and charcoal, its going to be sweet! The other day I found this awesome turquoise wall covering and Shlomi loved it! He kept saying "Yeah thats what I'm talking about! Don't go back to school, don't go back to school!" It was such a relief to me because half of the time I feel like I don't know what I'm doing!

The basketball playoffs were this week too so Shlomi wanted to deck out the studio, play loud music, and have an open house. You should have seen the place! The studio that we work at is so cool! Its very modern and contemporary. White floors, walls, and ceilings. Tons of open space to display our products and of course, also to have fabulous parties! Pretty sure he made a lot of money that night!

On Wednesday I got to go to the PDC (Pacific Design Center)!!! Ellen (one of my supervisors) wanted me to return some fabric samples there. Freaking huge building! Very modern architecture, glass everywhere, super cool building! I'm sure I'll get to go back, hopefully soon!

Yesterday I got to go see Amy and Kaitlyn at Disneyland and spend the night with them in their hotel! They've been in Anahiem all this week so I'm glad that I got to see them before they headed back to Utah. I freaking love Disneyland! It really is one of the happiest places on earth for me!

One other fun but not so fun thing that happend this week was my laptop hard drive decided to have a $300 fail! So I took it to the Geek Squad and they replaced it but in the process I've lost all of my programs that I've installed, everything is gone! Music, pictures, everything! Lucky I had most of it saved on my external hard drive. Its been the biggest pain to get things back on it, not to mention I'm out $300 and thats a lot when I'm getting 'paid' in experience this summer! I am so ticked! Oh well, it is what it is!

Its been a crazy week and I'm poo-poo-pooped! Until next time...peace out!

Some of my sketches of the Grand Tour