Seattle - Eporia Workshop

Seattle has been on my "to do" travel list for a long time, and I finally got a glimpse of it in mid-November! TJ Formal is undergoing, yet another, major website change and we traveled to Washington state for a training workshop with our new company, Eporia. It was a very quick trip, but we did get a chance to look around a little.

Nine of us flew in from all over the country... Joplin, Charleston, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco and Manhattan, to meet up in Seattle. It was the first time several of the girls had met in person! We loaded into our sweet 12 passenger van and had a quick dinner.

The next morning we went to a full day of training on the University of Washington Bothell Campus.

That evening we headed into downtown Seattle to the Space Needle. After a look around the gift shop we went up to the top for a great view! We took a tour, of sorts, around downtown while we looked for a place to eat. Thanks to our iPhones and Google maps we finally found a great Italian place... whew. Even in the dark, Seattle seemed great - I can't wait to go back and see it in the light! :)

We had another early morning for another half day of training before we all filtered to the airport. We've still got a lot of work left on our new website, but we're SO excited for it to launch!

I'm selling my photos!

I'm really excited to announce that I am finally selling my photos! Over the last few years I have had so many people suggest that I sell my work and although I was very flattered, I didn't really think I had much of a shot... and wasn't sure how to go about it. I recently found some websites that make it reasonable for someone like me to display, print and sell photographs and I've decided to take the leap.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement! I hope you'll take a look at what I've posted so far... and there is more to come!

Art.com: http://www.artistrising.com/galleries/reganrose

Imagekind: http://reganrose.imagekind.com

Chicago in August

Andy and I were in Chicago for Jake's wedding at the end of August and opted to extend our trip for a few extra days so I could show Andy around Chicago... one of my favorite cities!

I already blogged about the wedding, so you can check it out below for the first few days of the trip. After we checked out of our Lincoln Park hotel we moved downtown to the Wyndham just off of Michigan Ave. Lunch was first on the agenda and we thought deep dish pizza was the way to go!

We planned to visit several museums in just a couple short days, so we went straight to the Shedd Aquarium that afternoon. It was super busy - Labor Day weekend - but we saw the dolphin show and plenty of fish and odd sealife.

It was early evening when we left the aquarium and the light was really pretty over the city skyline and the lake. Seeing the water and all the yachts reminded us of NZ and how much we miss it. :( We hung out in the park for awhile, then took a long walk all along the shoreline to Navy Pier. A crazy cover band was playing in the beer garden, so we relaxed there for awhile then saw an absolutely amazing fireworks display out over the lake!

Up early the next morning, we went straight to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Hurricane Gustav had just made landfall that morning, I believe, and we saw this satellite weather display showing it hit!

Lots of planes & trains and other big machines!

One of our favorite exhibits was the Smart Home. It's an architecturally designed, factory made, ready-to-assemble on site, green house. It was made with sustainable materials and used good design to make the most of a small space... a good balance of eco-friendly, high-tech, and normal. (We couldn't take pictures inside, but here are a few I got and there are more in the album.)

Later that night we walked along Michigan Ave. and went to the observatory at the John Hancock building.

On our last full day we started out at the Field Museum and were so early we were the only ones in the entry hall and got some pictures with Sue (the largest T-Rex skeleton) by ourselves. Our feet were in a delicate state, so we picked out a couple exhibits stuck to a strict schedule... there was still shopping to do!

We saw the Nature Unleashed special exhibit on natural disasters, all kinds of (stuffed) animals, a little about Africa and tons of dinosaur skeletons.

After the Field Museum, we made our way back to the city via the 'L' and had more Chicago pizza at Giordano's. That afternoon we roamed Michicagn Ave., shopping, and enjoying the atmosphere. There was a great street art exhibit that was spread all along Michigan Ave. in the planters - dresses made out of anything and everything.

On our last night, we went out to dinner at the House of Blues. The food and drinks were good, but the blues band was great! There was a concert going on above the restaurant though and the entire ceiling actually bounced with the crowd. They told us it was built on springs to handle just that, but it was still frightening!

On the way back to our hotel we walked along the river (one of my favorite parts of the city). Andy also got talked into a shoe shine that night... which he actually needed, but wasn't expecting! The next morning we had just enough time to check out the AT&T store where Andy ended up getting his very long awaited iPhone... and also talked me into one! Quite the souvenir to complete our trip. You can see all the photos here.

Recycled Art

I FINALLY finished my recycled art project that I started back in July, while I was in Joplin. (Well, technically, it's been hanging on my wall for awhile now, but you know how it goes...)

To recap, my aunt Tricia Courtney started making recycled metal art a few years ago. She collects all the pieces (and some are donated by friends and family), washes, sands, paints, bends, and smashes them before assembling them into amazing artwork. It all started with angels that she donated/sold at the Spiva Art Center in Joplin and she has recently branched out to flowers and flowerpots... and has more exciting ideas on the way. You can shop her gallery here.

I was dying for a flowerpot of my own, and instead of selling me one, she helped me make my own! We gathered all the metal objects around town and dug into her home surplus to find all the perfect pieces, then spent several evenings preparing, painting and assembling it. Oh, and my uncle Rick ran over the bucket for me! When I got back to Manhattan I added a few finishing touches, sealed it and had Andy help me hang it (it's really heavy!).

I LOVE it and have had so many compliments on it... but I can't take all the credit. Thanks Tricia!!

Jake's Wedding in Chicago

I was lucky enough to travel to Chicago for the second time this summer... and this time I got to take Andy along! We went at the end of August for Jake & Michaela's wedding. Since it was a long weekend and Andy's first time there, we extended our stay for a few extra days to look around the city.

I know Jake from K-State architecture and we both also studied abroad in Australia. We kept in touch since I traveled to Chicago for work occasionally and I was really excited to be invited to his wedding. I love Chicago and was looking forward to showing Andy around, seeing old friends - and meeting the bride!

We flew in on Friday afternoon and opted for a taxi to the hotel. I had never really been around the lakefront or north of downtown and it was great to see the beaches and boats along the way. We met up with Chet for lunch and took a look around Lincoln Park (where our hotel & the wedding were). That night there was a pre-wedding party at a nearby bar. It was such a great opportunity to see everyone! There were lots of other architecture and/or study abroad kids there - some of which I hadn't seen since graduation!

We did our best to get up early on Saturday morning and headed downtown with Chet for an architecture river cruise. We took a bus down to Navy Pier to catch the boat (with an H&M stop along the way). Oddly enough, it was blazing hot and sunny there (which was a first for me), but it was a beautiful day and the cruise was really good!

Afterward, we made a mad dash for the hotel to get ready for the wedding and JUST made it there in time. Well, technically were were about 2 minutes late because out cab driver got lost! It was in an amazing church in the middle of a very "Chicago" neighborhood that was full of old brick and stone houses. The interior of the church was domed and covered with ornate painting and tile. Between the church and all the photos they took around the city, I'm sure they'll have an amazing wedding album!

Between the wedding and reception Chet, Danny, Andy & I wandered to a nearby bar for a drink. Chester's name kept appearing randomly around town...

Their dinner and dance was at an old mansion. It was a really cool venue with pretty, simple decorations... and lots of room to dance. We were served dinner after the wedding party made their entrance, then our group went straight for the bar and eventually made it to the dance floor. Everything went really well and the bride and groom seemed happy to relax and enjoy the party. Considering that neither of them is from Chicago, they had a great turnout.

We had such a great time hanging out with friends and catching up on the last few years! Nate introduced us to his new wife, Craig & Abbie were nearly ready for their wedding, and everyone was busy working and playing. Quite a few of us are back in the Kansas City area now, so hopefully we can get together again soon. It was a good time - here are a few of the photos (see them all here):