Reflecting on the last decade...

Fair warning: this is a massive post that will probably blow my blogger layout! I thought it would be fun (for me anyway) to take a visual look at the 2000's, in an effort to remember what on earth I was doing throughout this decade. It's a little late, because it took forever to organize ten years worth of photos! This is probably interesting to no one but us (you have been warned!), but it was kind of awesome to look through all of those old photos.


2000



- Participated in Dragon Day for the first year as an upperclassmen, which meant not having to spend the day underneath a dragon carrying it around campus with the rest of my class for the Dragon Day parade. My costume was rather lame - flapper girl.
- Took a summer studio that traveled to eastern Europe to study architecture. We spent two months traveling around Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
- We visited both the Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps in a very short time period, which was a little overwhelming.
- Afterward, I went to Madagascar to spend time with my family, who were living in a very remote area, on a shrimp farm. To get there, I had to take a plane from the capital to Mahajanga, and then an old, tiny Russian propeller plane to the little village near the farm, and then a motor boat to get to the farm itself. Looking at photos of that plane, I can't believe I ever got in that thing.
- Had a close encounter with a watery death (not really), when we took a tiny boat out to sea to watch some whales on the Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar. A storm came up suddenly, and the water got super choppy and dark. The boat only had one engine and no life jackets - not the smartest place to put ourselves. Duh, but all's well that ends well.


2001



- Got really into Lomography, and so have a bunch of albums full of blurry (but colorful!) photos.
- Got somewhat more creative with this year's Dragon Day costume - teamed up with a bunch of friends to be bugs and a can of Raid. That spawned my deep love affair with the group costume.
- Went on a site visit to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn - some crazy guy came after us for taking pictures, demanding all of our film. We thought for sure we'd stumbled on to some mob site, or something.
- Spent my summer in San Francisco at a dream internship. I worked with four other amazing interns on a theoretical project centered around an urban solution to San Francisco's stagnant city growth, called Anti-Planning. Our project took an honorable mention at the 2002 Bienal Miami + Beach.
- Move to Rome in the fall with a bunch of my classmates. Went on architecture tours all over Italy, including a trip to a monastery in Tuscany.
- Ran to the Pantheon during a storm to watch the rain come in through the oculus.
- Became good buddies with the ladies at our favorite coffee shop, Cafffe Camerino.
- Learned about 9/11 while messing around with some friends on a photocopy machine. I think I will always be sensitive about the weird contrast between the childish photocopying of our faces and the tragedy that was unfolding at that moment in New York. We watched the 2nd tower come down live. It was devastating.
- Went to Spain for spring break to check out all of the beautiful Islamic architecture. We had planned to go to Tunisia and Morocco as well, but because of 9/11, we decided to stick to southern Spain. For some reason I can't find any pictures of this trip...


2002



-This was the year of the black and white photo. I took my first photography class, which was one of the only fun, extra-curricular things I got to do all year. This was my thesis year, and I think I worked harder than I ever have. I actually don't remember much from 2002.
- Yet another Dragon Day and another group costume - Lego men! Apropos for a bunch of architecture students, no?
- Was so burnt out from my pre-thesis prep that I decided to stay in Ithaca for the summer - bumming around and taking a photography class. I was reunited with my friends who had been in Rome in the spring (Sean included). It was an awesome summer, full of hanging out in the gorges, playing Slimelicker, and drinking sangria in Collegetown.
- Developed my thesis around the idea of how traditional notions of home have to change for transient populations. Came up with prototypes for transient homes.
- Took a break from my thesis prep and went up to Canada with some friends, including Sean...We went fishing and cooked our catch on some rocks, hibachi grill style!
- Spent the fall preparing to defend my thesis, which I did successfully in December. I was unofficially done with 4.5 years of architecture school, with just my thesis book standing between me and my b.arch.


2003



- I interviewed with several architecture offices in New York City at the beginning of the year , but didn't get any offers right away.
- Decided to ride out the down economy in Ithaca, until I got a job offer.
- Dressed up as the American Gothic painting with a friend, for my last Dragon Day.
- Started freelancing for Cornell, designing and editing a book called WORKS, and building a website for the architecture school. I hired Sean and another friend to help me with WORKS.
- Sean and I decided to enter the Highline competition together. Our proposal was pretty last minute and kind of lame.
- Went swimming in the gorges while the boys collected crawdads.
- I discovered that I might just be interested in Sean.
- Ate an amazing lobster meal with my graduation class - driven down by one of the parents straight from Maine.
- I turned in my thesis book and got my degree, six months after I had presented my thesis.
- I moved to New York, just in time for the Blackout. The poor 8-year old son of the woman I was staying with had just walked into the elevator by himself, when the power went off.
- Got my first digital camera.
- Went on a first date with Sean at the Mystic Aquarium in CT.
- Got a job as an exhibition designer, working on the redesign of the Griffith Observatory exhibits. The sculptural periodic table was my baby.
- Went on my first business trip to LA to visit the Griffith. Got to hang out with my LA relatives while I was there.
- Moved to a very tiny apartment on the upper east side with a friend.
- Went to Idaho to visit my parents for Christmas, who finally moved back from Madagascar.


2004



- Played the most expensive game of pool ever ($25 per game!).
- Went back to Ithaca to hang my first solo show.
- Quit the exhibition design job in the summer and started working at a small architecture firm.
- Worked way too much.
- Moved to an awesome apartment in the east village, where I live to this day (man, it was so sparse when I first moved in!).
- Went to Idaho for a big family gathering over the 4th of July.
- Had a rough flight back from Idaho to NYC, which was the catalyst for my developing fear of flying.
- Discovered the wonders of Governor's Island.
- Started collaborating with Sean on our Visible:Invisible panoramas.
- Watched the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller from my friend's office.
- Hosted my family over Christmas.


2005



- Went to see Christo's Central Park installation. It was beautiful!
- Took a trip with Sean to London. It didn't live up to its reputation as a rainy, gloomy city!
- Saw my first architecture projects finally enter into construction.
- Spent the 4th of July at a friend's cabin in Canada. Swimming, fishing, eating, fireworks.
- Went to Seattle to hang out with family. Sean came for the first time and practically passed out after swimming in the Puget Sound - it's cold in that water!
- Took a trip to the Bronx Zoo. First visit ever!
- Quit job #2 and moved to an architecture office in DUMBO.
- Had a life again.
- Bought a Gocco and made our first cards ever.
- My mom stayed with me for a month while she was selling said holiday cards, as a fundraiser for the Shama Foundation. She set up a booth on the street for a month and for the most part avoided turf wars with all of the street vendors.
- I survived the transit strike and only had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn once.


2006



- Went to Hawaii for two weeks, and hung out with my grandparents and my great aunt. It rained most of the time we were there, but it was still beautiful!
- We were amazed by the number of chickens that run wild on Kauaii. They are like the pigeons of Hawaii.
- I am apparently a scavenger, because I spent hours sifting through sand at a beach for peridot and for Niihau shells. Ended up with a bag full of stones and shells that I could never figure out what to do with.
- Were blown away by the cloud formations on Kauaii. They were always spectacular.
- Played a ton of Chickenfoot Dominoes.
- Took advantage of all of the great shows at McCarren Pool.
- Decided it was time to get serious about making our own work. Printed our first card series - the Ichthyo series.
- Started our design blog shortly thereafter.
- Saw my first completed architectural project.
- Took my violin out of the closet for the first time since high school. Promptly put it back in the closet because I sounded so bad.
- Went to Puerto Rico for a wedding with a friend.
- Got engaged to Sean!


2007



- We screenprinted our very first print. We ended up with a huge pile of bad prints because we didn't know what we were doing.
- Got our first wholesale order.
- We screenprinted our wedding invitations.
- Had a booth at Renegade Craft Fair, which was our first experience at a market like that.
- Hosted my first rooftop bbq, which ended up being my last one, as we got busted for being up on the roof.
- Went into crazy wedding planning mode.
- Got super stressed out and anxious.
- Got married!
- Went on a honeymoon to Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria.
- Took a trip to Ithaca in the fall to check out the foliage and to visit a friend.
- Took part in our first-ever exhibition at Artstream and went to New Hampshire for the opening.
- Launched Brevity.
- Got our first Christmas tree.
- Spent our first married Christmas with just the two of us (also a first). We cooked up some lobsters (which were delicious, but totally stank up the house!).


2008



- Went sledding for the first time in my adult memory.
- Went part-time at my architecture job.
- Designed and printed our first custom job for a friend.
- Shared a booth with some lovely ladies at the NSS.
- Quit to work full-time on Sub-Studio and Brevity.
- Got an order from the MoMA!
- Spent two weeks in Seattle, checking out neighborhoods for a possible future move.
- Celebrated our first anniversary with great pomp and circumstance.
- Saw our journals at the MoMA.
- Went to Chicago for work/pleasure and had our first meal centered around molecular gastronomy.
- Went to Raleigh, NC for thanksgiving.
- Collaborated on a coloring book with 25 other artists.
- Our blog got a tiny mention in Lucky Mag (thanks, Jean!)!
- We entered a business plan competition.


2009



- 2009 got off to a rough start when one of my grandmas passed away.
- I spent two weeks in Washington helping my grandpa sort through my grandma's stuff. We also went hiking with his geezer buddies and I went snowshoeing for the first time.
- Discovered the awesomeness that is Settlers of Catan.
- Won the arts category of the business plan competition we entered in 2008 with our proposal for The Working Proof.
- Got baptized and finally joined our church.
- Launched our custom wedding collection at the NSS.
- Pulled our first all-nighter in years (and my first ever for pleasure). Walked over the Brooklyn Bridge with our friends as the sun came up.
- Watched the 4th of July fireworks from the West Side Highway.
- Brevity got a mention in Nylon (thanks, Shruti!).
- Finally took advantage of our fire escape!
- Sean and I took part in our first real photo shoot for an upcoming book that we have a project in.
- We went to Seattle for my brother's wedding. He got married at the same place that Sean and I did, and both of us were married by the same pastor that married our parents.
- We went hiking with my Grandpa and some other family up in the Goat Rocks. The stars were amazing up there, and the water tasted so good.
- Spent the rest of the summer and early fall developing the website for The Working Proof.
- We finally launched The Working Proof on October 13th!
- Sean and I walked in the Halloween parade for the first time. Sadly, it rained, so we got soaked and our costumes fell apart. We now know to bring an umbrella!
- Launched the Horo collection.
- Had a crazy week at Gifted in December.
- I turned 30!
- We crammed my parents and my brother and his wife into our apartment for Christmas. It was a good time.


2010...?

I haven't really thought out my resolutions or hopes for 2010 and the next decade, but I think that just like the early part of the 2000's was full of transition, my hope is that the early part of the 2010's is also full of transition. We're thinking of starting a family, and we're figuring out where we want to live over the next few years...Right now, everything is one big question mark.

I guess my resolution for 2010 is to learn to relax more and to enjoy each day for what it brings (I'm not very good at that...). Hope 2010 brings you all much happiness and many blessings!