LEED Evening

Since I decided to join some Interior Design groups and get more involved in the industry, rather than just working, I attended and event put on by the USGBC. Last night the USGBC had an event at the Merchandise Mart, which included some networking and a tour of 5 showrooms within the Mart to find out how these specific showrooms achieved their LEED status. The 5 showrooms were Milliken, Steelcase, Allsteel, HON, and Gunlocke. It was so impressive to learn about the different things that they did to receive the LEED status. All of these amazing companies have had green practices before it was the "green" thing to do. It was a great experience, I learned alot and I look forward to attending more events!

What I learned at each showroom:

Milliken: The extra "fuzz" from their carpeting makes the fuzz on the Penn tennis balls!

Steelcase: Studies the movement of individuals in their environment and how they enteract to better meet the needs of the clients.

Allsteel and Gunlocke: These two companies are in one showroom, they had an amazing recycled aluminum floor and a wood chunk floor. Since the thicknesses of the flooring were different, they had to raise the flooring up so that the flooring material would be all on the same level.

HON: Has a lot of green products and they have an excellent website talking about their green material called http://honthinksgreen.com

Check them out! They are great companies!

Trotters

So I had my first day with my new Running Club, The Arlington Trotters! I have to admit, I was kind of nervous about going. I always am when it is something completely new and I don't know anyone. But I decided to suck it up and go anyway! I had such a great time. The run started at 7am, and it was a whopping 14 degrees outside and it felt like 4, but the sun was shining, first time in a long while and it was great! I got all dressed in my wonderful coldgear and set out to meet by the Elk at Busse Woods. I show up and there were only a handful of cars, and noone standing outside. I was beginning to think I was gonna run by myself. I finally realized everyone was sitting in their cars. So once people started to get out, I just got out of my car and basically attached myself to the group. There were only 4 guys, probably because the weather scared everyone else away. They were all extremely nice to me and about twice my age, but that didn't deter me at all, thank goodness for previous runs with my dad!

So through out our 8 mile run, I came to find out that the one man, I think his name was Jack, has run 67 marathons! HOLY CRAP! But it gets better!!! He has run 4-50 mile ultramarthons and 2 or 3-100 mile ultramarathons! An ultramarathon!! I mean that is some intense running! Technically an ultramarathon is anything over the standards 26.2, but still... I'm still in awe! He just said it like it was no big deal. Looks like I have a long way to go!

I just discovered a website that is like facebook for athletes. It's pretty sweet because you can have your friends, and your rivals. You can blog about your experiences, post pictures and claim your race runs and finish times. Another great aspect is that you can keep track of the races you are running, with your race calendar!... Check it out: Athlinks Profile

Happy Running!

New Ventures

So it's not a huge secret that I am unhappy in my job. I have been looking for a job since I landed this job and that was back in July. As I have said before Interior Design positions are hard to come by in todays economy. Because of this, I've decided that it is important for me to put myself out there more to meet more people in my profession.

So step #1: I joined USGBC (United States Green Building Council). The USGBC is the organization that has developed the entire LEED process. Many people probably think GREEN design isn't that important, but let me tell you.. IT IS THE FUTURE!

Step #2: I have already registered for one of their events, Feb. 16th at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, they are giving a tour of the LEED certified building.

Step #3: Join other organizations such as: IIDA (which I was a member of in collegeand stands for International Interior Design Association), ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), etc.

Contemplating joining? Why wait?

Here are links to each site:http://www.usgbc.org/

http://www.iida.org/

http://www.asid.org/

Problem Area?

Every house, apartment, office or living space has some problem area, that if money wasn't an obstacle would be fixed. In my house it is our bathroom:

This beautiful bathroom has multiple different shades of pink, from the flooring, countertop, toilet and shower/bathtub. All together it looks horrible!!! My mom has tried her hardest to make it work until we can make the changes.

What about you? What is your problem area? Need some help? Feel free to ask me!