Christmas Photos

First and formost, this is my office looking great at our "bad sweater" contest. The guy in the back left won. Don't you love the vests?


This was taken at Dereck's Dad's house.
Me, Dereck and his niece ShericaJon and baby Stacie

Dereck and his grandmother
Dereck with his mom

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas yesterday! Dereck and I were in Boston and enjoyed a lovely time with his family. This marriage thing is strange in that you all of a sudden have instantly another family. So other than still trying to grasp that concept we had a fun time together. Thanks to priceline, we were able to stay at the Le Meridian hotel near MIT which was nice and the weather wasn't too frightful. It was a whirlwind trip that consisted of eating a lot, visiting house to house and last minute shopping, but a lot of together time, which was great. Hope your holidays were happy!!

12 Days of Christmas

Since Dereck and I still consider ourselves newlyweds, we are still forming our family traditions. One of our newest and I think best so far is to do the 12 days of Christmas each year. Since this year was the first official, we both are having so much fun with it. It really helps to bring out the spirit of giving days before the actual day of Christmas. Some of the gifts cost no money – and can be as simple as a note or a cupcake, but all the gifts come from a spirit of kindness and love. It’s brought a special feeling into our home. I mean, it’s kind of hard to be mad at someone if they are giving you a gift everyday! I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard keeping up with the days sometimes, being so busy, but on the reverse end it brings a bit of excitement at the end of a long day.
Today is Day number 7 and I am sad that we are on the downward slope. Maybe next year we’ll do the 30 days of Christmas…haha
Some of the favorites that I’ve gotten so far is: a tennis racket, a coupon for a Christmas wish of my choice, and something for the lips and the hips (Mac lip glass and delicious chocolates). So funny!

Nearly done

After tonight I will be done (with the semester, not forever)! I can’t believe the semester is over! It’s been such a busy one, it’s kind of gone on in a blur! I am sooo tired and burned out, but happy and relieved as well. Now, I can relax for a month, perhaps work on some projects for ME, not for class and enjoy the holidays.

Tailoring - part 3

I guess I overreacted...I know, shock to all of you. It wasn't even
bad. In fact, nobody in my class was finished. I mean he's been
doing this for 40 years and we've been doing it for one semester. He
even gave us a piece of chocolate. Apparently he's a softy after all.

Sent from my iPhone

Tailoring - part 2

Apparently I can only write so much in an email. Stupid blogspot.
Anyway, to cut my rantings short. I am tired, burned out and can't
wait for this semester to be over. Thursday is the last day!!!
Please wish me luck tonight as I get told that my jacket is worst than
a day old bagel. Sucks that I worked hard all semester on a jacket
that doesn't reflect that. Ok, my button is done. Gotta go do as
much as I can before 6pm.

Sent from my iPhone

Tailoring - part 1

As I sit hear waiting for my buttonhole to be completed I am
sweating. A) because its so cold outside and so hot in here and I'm
still all bundled up and b) because I have to face my teacher with my
incomplete garment.
I had been staying up all week trying to finish up the various parts
of my finals and I think my body finally gave up! It had had enough!
I layed down at 3:40am knowing that I was supposed to wake up at
6:30am. I didnt hear my alarm until 8:41am!!! Which means that I
missed my 8am dentist appointment, and would be late to my
internship. But I was sooo tired so I sent an email to my internship
and then layer back down until 11:30. What is my problem?? Not only
am i going to turn in a crappy project, but I will have to hear from
my teacher just how horrible it is.

Sent from my iPhone

Is this a sweatshop?

I took these photos on the sly, while pretending to look at something on my iphone. I get to go to these factories most weeks at my internship and it's hard to describe what they are like to someone who has never seen them. I doubt that they would like to have it posted on my blog, but oh well. They all look pretty much the same and I didn't get any faces or completed garments, so it's pretty incognito.

Everytime I go there or any of the other factories I am fascinated. The amount of stuff (fabric, thread, etc.) lying around is insane and the fact that they know where things are are is pretty crazy!
This particular one is located on one of the top floors in the garment district in a fairly non-descript building. Run by Asians (most in this area are), but there are a lot of Spanish speaking workers in some. It's a very interesting world, I must say.


Here are my soapbox remarks.
Honestly, the most important issue to me is humans being treated fairly. It's disgusting that in some of the shops around the world, workers are being paid a few cents a day and we are in turn buying that garment for hundreds of dollars. One of my teachers told us how a huge problem is outsourcing done by the factories. Everything looks kosher, but women will come and pick up a load of items to sell and she and her children are all sewing it at home...

This issue is more important than going green (which is very important), more important than being ahead of trends, so many other things. If people are being treated inhumanely then all is lost. There is so much corruption in this industry and with American consumers trying to get the best clothing at the lowest prices, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good bargain, but at what price? I feel passionate that when I start my line that I will try and visit every factory. If that means that my garments will cost a bit more or I make a lower profit, so be it! But, I honestly don't know. It's sooo easier said that done, but it's something I want to strive for.

I hope that my impact on the world is positive over all, not contributing to the negativity.

In Memory of: My Uncle Gordon

Last Friday, I flew back to Arizona to attend the memorial service for my mother's brother. We just saw him the week prior while we were there for Thanksgiving and you can see by the pictures below - he looked great! It was very unexpected and happened quickly, but we are grateful that he didn't suffer much. In my church we believe that we'll see those that we lost again. So in my mind I can tell myself that, but of course it is still sad. From my point of view, the one thing that is great about funerals is being able to see those you don't get to see very often. There is something about mourning with others that somehow makes you feel better. It was a heartfelt and positive service. He had a tremendous life. Great family. I can't even imagine how much they will miss him. And for my mom, this is her first sibling to pass, he is only 5 years older than him. It is hard for her. I am so happy that I was able to be there and spend time with my family and aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Wintuk

For our company holiday party we were taken to see the Cirque de Soleil called Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. It was a lot of fun! Some parts were nothing more than just street perfomancers that you would see anywhere, but some parts were the creepy, bendy, people that I like!


Dereck and I had a good time - it's always nice to have a night out that you don't have to pay for!

Final Day

Arizona is so beautiful this time of year. It was green and the sun was shining. The final morning we checked out of our hotel this is what we woke up to. So peaceful and serene. We met everyone at the train park for Nate's 2nd birthday party!It was such a great park with "real trains" the kids (and adults) could ride!! Wave to Kijuana, everyone.

Kijuana, Mom, Uncle Gordon, Aunt Karine, me, Nate and Elle. It was a beautiful day to be outside, a little windy, but sunny.

Nate blowing out the candles. (Luckily he didn't have to try hard, the wind blew it out for him)

Playing with cousins!
Dereck and Nate - such a cute shot!

My cousins Adam and Jeremy and their families came. It was so great to see them. I don't get to see them enough!!

Devon, Kijuana and Nate. Devon is really into striking a pose lately! So here she is "striking a pose".
It was such a great trip - too short of course, but so fun to see everyone. Can't wait to go back!

Day 2

After a good night's rest, the ladies started the day with dreamy facials and pedicures. Thanks mom!! Followed by a little bit of shopping and then we went to see my Uncle Gordon. who is in the hospital. He was recently diagnosed with lukemia, but we are all very hopeful because he caught it very early. It was great to see him and Kathy and only wish we could have stayed longer!

Then we had to eat Mexican food, which was so yummy!!

Then we went to see the lights at the Mesa, Arizona temple. They were gorgeous and we all had a great time!
Dereck took this great picture!!
It was kind of chilly! I was wishing that I had a jacket!!!
When we got home, Kijuana and I made some cupcakes for Nate's early birthday party the next day.
Since it was a spider man themed party, we tried to be creative, but they didn't turn out how we had envisioned them to look in our head and it ended up being kind of silly, but at least we got some laughs out of it and they tasted great!

Second part of Day 1

After we had thoroughly gorged ourselves, we decided to head to my Aunt Betty's to see if we could eat some more!! Here is Corban and my Aunt Betty.
Here is the rest of the fam hanging out. Preparing to play some boggle.

Sweet little Devon. She looks like 4 going on 15...
Devon took a bunch of pictures of everyone. Here is her picture of "grandpa joe".
I would like to report that I sufficiently beat everyone in boggle and that my title as "BOGGLE CHAMPION" remains safely in tact! We had a great thanksgiving and it was to be surrounded by family.

Thanksgiving 2007 - Day 1

Such a busy week, so of course, my poor little blog got neglected. But, nonetheless, here are the pictures and commentary from Dereck and I's trip to Phoenix for Thanksgiving!

Us vs. the masses
Not sure why we booked our tickets from JFK to Phoenix at 7pm on the night before Thanksgiving, but we did. The airports were pretty crazy, but honestly not as bad as we thought. We got into Phoenix around 10:30pm and my cute mom and sister came to greet us. We were hungry (surprise, suprise) so we went to eat at Denny's - that was the ONLY thing open! but it was still quite fun. The next morning Dereck and I went back over to my mom and sister's and Devon and Nate were awake! I love these two. We had tons of fun making crowns and acting silly while Dereck made macaroni and cheese and my sister carved the turkey.
We had a delicious meal with our whole family together, which is rare.
This is Cameron and his girlfriend Katrina.
Apparently it was too much fun, because Devon and Nate fell asleep on the way to my Dad's...

Some pictures from Loide's gig a few weeks ago

View from (almost) the top

Here is the view from the 30th floor window of our office. The sky was spectacular the evening I took this, however it's not acurately depicted here. I have tons of pictures from our trip home for Thanksgiving, so stay tuned!

Eco fashion

On Wednesday, I attended this panel at FIT for my textile class on the future of eco fashion. On the panel was the fashion director at Barney's, a designer from Sweden who only uses eco-friendly (organic) fabrics, a designer from the US that is involved with post-consumer waste and only uses recycled or organic fabrics, a professor from FIT, and a trend forcaster.

It was a pretty interesting presentation, very timely and informative. The more I am learning about what it costs the environment to make textiles and clothing, the more I am realizing that I have an obligation to do something. Right now the cost of producing and manufacturing organic fabric is very high because the demand is low. I think the more consumers demand it and the more designers that are involved, the cost will definitely go down.

Now we are seeing mass market chains such as H&M and Wal-Mart that are "going green" but people aren't buying it because the prices are higher. I am really feeling strongly that I need to do my part.

For example, to make one pair of jeans, fill a ziplock bag 1/3 of the way and that is how much pesticide is used. That has got to be unhealthy. In this time of fast fashion and throw away design, there has got to be a better solution! We all know the fashion calendar isn't slowing down anytime soon.

There are so many other options to create fabric - hemp, bamboo, corn, etc.

More to come as my research expands...

30 is the new 20...

I have entered a new realm in my existence.
I have been alive 30 years. Amazing.

I must say I have had ups and downs, but way more ups than downs. Although I haven't acquired a lot of "things" in my life, I do feel rich with my family, friendships and associations. My life has been pretty great so far and I am really looking forward to the next 30 to see what challenges life has in store for me.

On my actually birthday I received many calls and emails - thanks everyone! But, I also had my internship and I had to go to class. After class Dereck met me at a Mexican Restaurant in soho and I must say it was pretty yummy!
These were sent to my work. (Dereck forgot I would be at my internship) It was fun to get them the day after my birthday too!

The celebration continued into the weekend we had a small gathering of sorts at our house with some friends. We then went to see Loide perform at a Brooklyn lounge. She did an amazing job as usual and it was a great way to end the birthday festivities for this year.
The coolest thing about birthdays is that they come every year, so I have that to look forward to!

The husband

Just in case I forget to mention him on the blog - he's alive and kickin'. Still cute.

Primary Kids

As you may know, Dereck and I teach the Sunbeams at church. A few weeks ago, we had our Primary presentation in front of the whole congregation. They sing songs, give talks, and usually everyone ends up in tears.
(Our kids are four cuties on the front row!)

We teach Tate, who is the second from the left on the bottom row, and he not only sang a solo with his girlfriend (Hannah, first on left on bottom) but gave a talk as well. He "wrote" out his talk using his own drawings and just read from the pictures that he drew. So fascinating. Part of his talk was this.

"I love Primary. Brother and Sister Cole are my teachers and they are nice. They teach us how to care for shark pets..."

Um, what!...Way to make us look bad! hahah.

For the record we do teach the children about gospel stories not only about shark pets...right...

Who has a shark pet anyway? It was sooo funny!

Cool door

Visit to Boston

Last weekend Sara and I rented a car and drove to Boston for Amberli's baby shower. Or should I say we rented a car and I drove to Boston (and back).
The trip was filled with many a laugh and good eats all around. See here and here for more updates.
However, our miniest rental car got broken into. We had to go to the police station to file a police report and decided it would be a good idea to take some mug shots (you know in case you ever need the practice). I vote that Amberli's was the best, but Clark's was a close second.