Holy crap. Ok, I’m going to do my best to relay this information, but wowzah… I’m not sure I fit the bill. Here are the nuggets of information that I’m trying to piece together as I type this:

1. Three artists from Colchester, Dedham, and Mersea (in the U.K.) were chosen to create art for a number of public toilets in the Colchester area – the project is called ‘Creative Conveniences’.

2. The cabinets relate to all aspects of life in Colchester, and the objects themselves have an emotional resonance with the people that used them. They are meant to create a sense of time passing, as they move from usefulness to castoff.

3. These references are not necessarily overt, and a single object may sometimes embody several ideas. For example, the lead toy soldier references the lead tokens found locally by treasure hunters, Colchester’s military history, childhood, and the passing of time in that it is a now outdated toy.

4. The final deciding factor in the decisions regarding content of cabinets is ultimately the sense of aesthetic, because at last— they need to be interesting and attractive to the public for whom they are ultimately intended.

That? That’s’ what I get. What I don’t quite get is why restrooms were chosen as the venue to make this statement. Maybe b/c of the foot (err, butt) traffic?

Regardless, I think it’s FASCINATING, and these pictures have been calling my name for the past 24 hours. And now you know how I spent my Thursday night— looking at urinals.

Holy crap. Ok, I’m going to do my best to relay this information, but wowzah… I’m not sure I fit the bill. Here are the nuggets of information that I’m trying to piece together as I type this:

1. Three artists from Colchester, Dedham, and Mersea (in the U.K.) were chosen to create art for a number of public toilets in the Colchester area – the project is called ‘Creative Conveniences’.

2. The cabinets relate to all aspects of life in Colchester, and the objects themselves have an emotional resonance with the people that used them. They are meant to create a sense of time passing, as they move from usefulness to castoff.

3. These references are not necessarily overt, and a single object may sometimes embody several ideas. For example, the lead toy soldier references the lead tokens found locally by treasure hunters, Colchester’s military history, childhood, and the passing of time in that it is a now outdated toy.

4. The final deciding factor in the decisions regarding content of cabinets is ultimately the sense of aesthetic, because at last— they need to be interesting and attractive to the public for whom they are ultimately intended.

That? That’s’ what I get. What I don’t quite get is why restrooms were chosen as the venue to make this statement. Maybe b/c of the foot (err, butt) traffic?

Regardless, I think it’s FASCINATING, and these pictures have been calling my name for the past 24 hours. And now you know how I spent my Thursday night— looking at urinals.

“and you thought YOU had so much on your plate…”

$50 at NotNeutral.

Yeah, I know— a little edgier than my taste. But I so so like it.

$10 from Sylvia May, right here.

Five for Friday time, where everything’s under five bucks, AND on a Friday! IMAGINE THAT?!

I’m loving this notecard from Etsy seller Square Animals (just $3!)— click here to order.

That’s right, the dailies is kicking off this morning with Vanessa Cavaco— the stationary queen. You may have seen her lurking around the blogosphere a time or two, right here, here, or even here.

But today? She’s lurking all over town with her son, and we’re riding her tail…

—

6:00 AM: I wake up very early today even though I don’t have to work my regular job (I usually work 3 thirteen hour days at my family’s business) but today yippee I’m off…but that doesn’t mean I have no work to do. Wake up early, my hubby is off to work, my bouncing baby boy is still fast asleep. I have to make my bed because of all the things in this world an unmade bed is my biggest pet peeve (Yeah I have problems, I know) then I run downstairs to get my morning cup of java. If it wasn’t for this handydandy Keurig coffee maker I wouldn’t know what to do ( I love it so much I’ve even blogged about it…just pop in the little cup and voila you have coffee). I run to my office here at home, check my e-mails, etsy, and my fave blogs for a bit. Tally up my orders that need to be processed because I will work on them later when I get back.

6:45 AM:I just finished my extremely hot shower, and now the dilemma of what to wear?????? Find whatever is convenient and throw it on….I must rush because I have a dentist appointment at 8 am.

7:15 AM My son is still asleep, so out of the kindness of my heart I don’t wake him up…I bundle him up since it’s chilly outside and head to my mother’s house since she will be watching him.

8:00 AM:Arrive at my dentists office, I need to have some work done on 2 of my chompers…it seems to me, that I spend more time at my dentist than I do at my own house. I think they are in the process of building me my own room here since dammit I’m always here..so why leave? All I know is I better be out of here in less than an hour.

8:53 AM: That was quick! Made it out of the dentist in approx 52 minutes and 22 seconds (yeah that’s right; I timed it). Am going back to my mom’s house to pick up my son and drop him off at his 2 hour Pre-K class.

9:30 AM:Dropped off my bouncing baby boy…and now I’m off to meet with a bride. I’m her “wedding planner”; I put in quotations ‘cause I used to be one for a short while, but gave it up…it was too much work! But she was referred to me by another client I had and she’s such a nice girl and it’s a small wedding (50 peeps) so I decided I would do it. We met at the very beautiful catering hall where she will be having her reception, went over some details about what I needed and what I did NOT need from the staff there. I’m also designing her wedding invites so I showed her a sample of what will be her wedding invite. She loved it…I’m happy , she’s happy….and so goes the story.

11:30 AM:Picked up my son from his Pre-K class…and the teacher told me how my 4yr old son gave her pinpoint directions from my GPS. Yeah the kid is a genius…(but I’m not bragging). So we go back to my mom’s house since she has made lunch (that’s right– I’m 32 and my mom still makes me lunch).

12:15 PM:Lunch is done and the Target aficionados (AKA: my son and mother) proceed to tell me how they “need” to go to Target. My son says, “Mommy I NEED to go to Target to buy some cars.” My mother says, “ I NEED to go to Target” just for the heck of it I guess….so me, the chauffeur, gets rolling to take everyone to Target. I’m not going to lie to you… I’m a Target junkie myself.

12:30 PM:Stop by to get some gas (very pricey gas) and a large cappuccino with 3 sugars from Dunkin Donuts before we arrive at our final destination of ….Target.

2:30 PM:2 hours and $135.32(cents) later, we managed to leave Target. (Don’t ask me what I bought…Target seems to have a tight hold on my wallet) We drop off my mom at her house and my bouncing baby boy and I go home.

3:30PM: We are home! I have to check my e-mails again, orders that were placed and waste a few minutes “googling” meaningless things, before I go and fill and wrap up 10 easter eggs for my son’s Easter party at his school (Easter is a month away…but I’m a busy chick, and I have the time today so they must be done…a gal has to be prepared).

4:00 PM:My boy decides that he “NEEDS” to bake cupcakes. So me being the pushover mommy that I am, I agree to it, even though there are other things I should be doing. So we start a little rush job of making cupcakes (Heaven knows how they will turn out).

5:00 PM:I am working on some orders that have to be finished and shipped out tomorrow. While I prepare my packages, my boy plays on the computer for a bit so I can get my work done.

6:00 PM:The cupcakes are done…and boy what a mess…they turned into square cupcakes; don’t ask me how that happened (at least they’re edible). So we decorated them and I managed to turn one into a kitty cat cupcake (that’s craftiness!).

7:00PM: Hubby gets home…thank God…I need some “Me” time…While he cooks (He’s the cook in this family..I’m the “sort of baker”), I go to my office and reply to e-mails, read over the blogs that I dig , send out invitation proofs to customers and manage to have some time to design a card or two.

9:00 PM:My son is still not asleep (What kind of mother am I?). I have to listen to his 20 minute debate on why he should not be going to sleep. Eventually I won the fight and my boy is fast asleep.

10:00 PM:Tidy up around the house (not too much ‘cause I’m in no mood to be tidy at this moment). My hubby is watching TV (what else is new?). I grab my can of coca-cola and scoot back to my office to do more work. (I don’t know why am I drinking caffeine at 10 o’ clock at night?)

11:45 PM: I decide that I’ve had enough and my brain is not functioning properly anymore to come up with new designs or witty remarks for my cards….so I call it a night and scoot off to bed.

[Woo! I'm exhausted--- thanks, Vanessa!]

Dear Birdie,

My name is Erin and I stumbled upon your shoppe earlier this afternoon. I’d like very much to order your pieces— one in each size, shape and color. I can’t pay you much, but if you’d like, I could be your personal assistant for the year. You know, do that stuff around the house that everyone hates to do— vacuuming the drapes, changing the air fresheners, dusting your paperclips.

I’m quite skilled in administrative duties and will gladly call the plumber when necessary. Or the cable guy. No one likes the cable guy.

If you have children, I can do that, too. I’m a bona fide diaper-changer with a knack for food to mouth coordination. I’m a shoe-in.

Let me know, Birdie. In the meantime, I’ll be seeing you right here.

Love,
Erin

p.s. I live in Los Angeles, but would gladly relocate to London at no extra cost to you.

“finally– a baroque you can’t bah-reak.”

$8.95 at Dot Com.

It’s daily time! Erinn Wenrich from Happy Living Design is joining us today and I am SO excited to share with you this gal’s schedule! A super talented architect, Erinn walks us through her glamorous day job— from dawn until dusk!

Thanks Erinn— you are simply FABULOUS!
–

6:30am: I am still half asleep in bed, kiss Carl (the boy) before he leaves for work.
6:45am: Alarm goes off, reach for blackberry to check weather. Since I have gotten it, I enjoy not having to listen to the morning news shows just to hear the local weather.
6:47am: I hop out of bed (ok, drag myself out) and pull shades up to let the sun in. I do my beauty routine: shower, shampoo, exfoliate, tone, moisturize, blow-dry, conceal. I find it gets longer as I get older. Pick out the day’s outfit, spend twice as much time picking out the day’s shoes since I walk to work now.

7:23am: Pack bag with essentials for the work day: blackberry, canon elph (that I carry everywhere), hable construction calendar (my most prized possession), Burt’s Bees lip balm, Moleskine pocket journal, Kingston flash drive, sunglasses, pens and last but not least my wallet. Enjoy view of backyard still covered in snow from my home office window. Annoyed by view of curtains still to be hemmed and hung.

7:30am: finally make it downstairs and on the way to the kitchen stop in the TV room to pick up the drinking glasses left overnight. Make soy protein shake for breakfast. Fetch paper while drinking breakfast. Take vitamins and check calendar for major daily or weekly events. Dress for chilly but sunny walk to work.
7:45am: Leave house and walk to work.

8:00am: Arrive at work, I am the first one, disarm alarm. 8:01 I have a quiet 30 mintues for most everyone else arrives. Check email and google reader for my daily blog fix before I am on the clock.
8:30am: Coffee is finally made in the kitchen so I go fetch it and my day officially starts at my day job as an architect. Check work email and open AutoCAD (computer design/drafting program). Answer emails that I can right away. Work on my main project, a new house for a family of five.

9:07am: Gather drawings and graph paper and leave for a progress meeting on site for another project. Luckily Carl drove to work (his office is around the corner from my office) since he had a client meeting so we could share a car today.
9:30am: Arrive at site. Thankful that I remember to wear my rain boots since the job site is a mud pit. Meet contractor inside house (it is being gut renovated) and go over his questions about where to run new plumbing and HVAC ductwork in a 200 year old house. Visually inspect partially demolished crawl space with asbestos to be removed. Blek. Wrap up meeting and head back to office.
10:35am: Settle back into chair for more computer work.

12:00pm: Like clockwork the boys in the office are ready to eat. Usually I also have a protein shake for lunch but today I join them at Salad Stop.
1:00pm: Stop at florist around the corner from work and pick up a bunch of tulips for my desk.
1:10pm: The afternoon is a blur. Luckily I get the rest of the day in the office without a bunch of interruptions, except to field a call from the contractor on yet another job (renovation of an 1840’s building in town for a bank client) because the lighting supplier sent us the wrong light fixture. Most of the afternoon is spent drawing on the computer and doing site plan sketches. My day job has it ups and downs like any, but I feel pretty lucky to be working in my field of study and really enjoy what I do. I still plan on going out on my own at some point sooner or later, but for right now having someone else worry about vacation time, health insurance and morning coffee is nice.
5:32pm: Jump up from desk (literally), shut down the computer, grab my stuff and go. I walk through the park on my way home so I can take a small detour to the Walgreens around the corner from our house. I need to get a get-well card for a family friend and see if they have the latest issue of Sunset featuring Victoria. They don’t, so I just leave with the card. Stop to chat with neighbor and her two little girls that are on their way back from daycare.

5:55pm: Arrive home, get mail, discover box on back stoop. I ordered an Orla Kiely bag at a great price from Revolve Clothing to encourage spring to get here faster. This is a special treat and not a routine thing.
6:02pm: Make another protein shake for dinner since I had lunch out today.
6:15pm: Go through local newspaper quickly (Instead of the Daily Local News, we call it the Daily Lack of News). I am on our town’s historic architecture review board (the HARB reviews all work done within West Chester’s historic district to make sure we maintain the historic character) so I need to keep up with local happenings. The Borough sent the latest HARB applications so I go through those quickly and set them aside to review again closer to the meeting. I take leftovers out of the fridge so they are ready for when Carl gets home.
6:25pm: Head upstairs to change into comfy clothes and do 30 minutes of yoga. It helps me refocus myself and leave work behind and also helps with my lower back pain. I try to do it a few times a week.

7:00pm: Park myself in my home office. I do sketches for a new blog banner for spring (yes, I am tired of the Mid-Atlantic winter). I catch up on some personal and blog-related email, finally finish up the first post for my new series that I have been drafting for over a week and go through my google reader blogs again. I have one side job currently, a small one, and I follow up with my clients via email about how their review of my sketches is going and if they have any questions.
8:00pm: Carl arrives home, finally. He’s a CPA so he works 12-hour-minimum days during tax season which I don’t really like, but I take advantage of the extra time at home by myself in the evenings.
8:10pm: Sit with Carl in the living room while he eats dinner, talk about all the exciting things that happened to us that day and decide what is on the agenda for the rest of the evening. Lately we have been watching The War, a series that PBS did all about WWII. Otherwise we would watch all or part of a movie that we currently have from Netflix (I love them). But no matter what we do, I am always doing something else at the same time, either going through my current stash of magazines and catalogs, tearing pages out as I go along, opening and sorting our mail, reading a book or doing some sewing or crafting. Tonight I do the magazines and sew a button back onto one of our pillows. Somewhere in there I talk to my mom and my friend on the phone.
10:00pm: Clean up the kitchen. I hate coming downstairs in the morning to a messy kitchen. Tidy up. Sync my crackberry, err I mean blackberry.
10:30pm: Try to start getting ready to go to bed. It’s usually 11:00pm before I actually get in bed most nights by the time I do my nighttime beauty routine (cleanse, tone, protect, brush) and get ready for the next day. And I am usually asleep within two minutes of hitting the pillow. Then it starts all over.