Last weekend was my 25th college reunion (#legendary), and the whole family attended. A 15-hour car ride left me with some time to catch up on social media, and there’s nothing better for Facebook/Instagram surfing than I-81 in Virginia. Summer is peak renovation season it seems. Owners want to have renovation projects completed by the […]
Notebook
Handprints
Groovy. Painted on the floor of a midcentury home’s utility/rec room. I love thinking about how the parents of these teenagers came around to handing their kids a couple of cans of paint and a paintbrush and let them loose. Maybe the slab painting wasn’t sanctioned. Regardless, the lingering effect of the graffiti on the […]
Women In Architecture Wednesday
This year, I have been meeting with a group of amazing women at our Birmingham American Institute of Architects chapter in an effort to engage women in the profession. Specifically, we are working on mentoring programs to help women in all stages of their careers, as studies show that professionals with mentors have demonstrably greater […]
Expert Guides
When we were in Italy this past summer, we worked with Context Travel for our day at the Vatican Museums. Being vaguely familiar with the crowds made me a little nervous about negotiating the vast museum complex with the kids, and I wanted to make sure they saw the things they needed to see, as […]
“Do you know any contractors?”
Absolutely. I know great contractors who do amazing work. The more important question, however, is who are the contractors that would be a good fit for your project, your investment, and your family. Residential construction is personal, and there is no getting around it: your contractor becomes a part of your family for a little […]
Tiny Kitchens
This Sunday, we will celebrate my youngest child’s birthday, and he has requested that we recreate the meal we learned to cook in Venice with Anna, a very talented chef. (http://bit.ly/2wb1nBF) The experience, of course, will be impossible to replicate entirely. Certainly the ingredients will come from a supermarket rather than the fruttivendolo and markets […]
Perfectly Imperfect
While walking in Rome one evening, I asked my kids about what they noticed was different about life in Italy and their life here. Aside from “I can’t get stracciatella gelato every night,” they actually picked up on some of the principles that had been part of my architectural history and urban design classes, although in […]
Kitchen Collaboration
So excited to see this great collaboration in Birmingham Home and Garden July/August edition. Working together with a talented friend made this project such a pleasure! View Article in Birmingham Home and Garden‘s July/August 2017 Issue
Changing the Lens
We recently returned from a long planned family vacation to Italy, specifically Rome and Venice. I spent a semester in Venice in graduate school and traveled fairly extensively in Italy during that time, and my husband and I had also spent our honeymoon there 18 years ago. Those long ago trips were recorded not only […]
This Is How It Starts . . .
One of the downsides of my early morning boot camp is that the music will be on repeat in my head the rest of the day. Sometimes that is good. Sometimes, it is not. The other day, the Colbie Caillat song, “This Is How it Starts” got stuck. Stop me on the corner Swear you […]
Tiny Dog Trot House
The Birmingham Chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently presented an exhibit at the Center for Architecture in Birmingham entitled “Living Small,” which explored the multiple ways that “tiny living” has been realized all over the world, including here in Birmingham. As an addition to the exhibit, Birmingham Home and Garden magazine collaborated with […]
Telling Someone Else’s Story
My first years in a firm consisted of working on master plans for large scale institutions, commercial buildings, historic preservation and boutique retail. I loved working on these types of projects: I found them challenging and fulfilling. I started doing residential design after my first child was born, and, at that point, considered the shift […]
