what about the working women?

i haven't included a substantive update lately, but life post-semester is relatively relaxed - for once! it's a strange and freeing sensation to be in what we might call the "real" world after so many months and hours wrapped in all things architectural (or, even more specific, all things studio): studioness. now there's a bit more time to walk at a leisurely pace and explore this place called boston and cambridge, which i've only glimpsed in brief spurts since the fall when i first arrived in new england.

last week was my first working at the Green Development Center of the LISC, a program within this national non-profit with their boston office located just where the back bay meets the south end. i'm finding more and more during my lunchtime explorations what a great neighborhood this is - one direction the shops and hotels of boylston and newbury, the other direction the victorian rowhouses and sidewalk cafes of the south end.

the work has also been interesting and pretty different from the type i've done in the past at architectural firms. my organization works in community development (such a broad term), helping neighborhoods become more sustainable (also a broad term) - mostly in the economic and social sense, but now moving to address building practices, which is where i come in to lend some technical expertise (to me, "expertise") towards research, education, and overall advocacy for green building (and to get people to stop using the word "green" so liberally).

on the side, i'm also trying to figure out the fun things to do in boston over the summer and found this design guide put together by the blog design*sponge. it's pretty heavy on the home furnishings side of things, but seems like a fun start for exploration.

and...for other random things occupying me, i'm in the process of preparing for a 2 week workshop in mallorca, which requires steel toe work boots. FRUSTRATING process! this cat-and-mouse chase just sends the wrong message about women and construction... but now i'm off to investigate the ONE store in the public transit-accessible boston area that might actually have a pair.

wish me luck.

a doting aunt

today it was official: IT'S A BOY!!!
(in case that gives you the wrong idea, i'm going to have a NEPHEW!!!)

i was at work when i got the news and couldn't keep from yelping. then i had to run over and tell my fellow intern the news :D

can't wait to be a doting aunt!! too bad my nephew will be born oversees...but hopefully a trip over there sometime this year will remedy that.

a good and faithful servant

it was this sort of day.

from saturday:

dear mitzie,

the sun's beams flit through passing clouds in the sky. it's a beautiful day. i think you would have reveled in it as much as we are now, although it probably doesn't compare to the magnificence of a heavenly landscape that you're now free to enjoy. i'm actually glad for today's memorial service, not because you're no longer with us, but because it's given those of us who've been touched by you to come together and share fond memories. it's been years, even decades since i've seen some of these old faces, but so many came from far away to celebrate your life and how good God has been. to think, a caucasian woman spending virtually her entire adult life serving a chinese immigrant community - that takes a different kind of love.

mitzie, you were like a grandmother and old friend to me. i sadly don't quite remember the last time i saw you, but you were always a stalwart mainstay at ccc+c, someone who held up the church and community through your service and deep faith. and there were so many times when i climbed on that thousand-times-painted horse or whirled on the merry-go-round (both no longer there), both part of the playground you established as a safe place for us to play and fellowship.

i hope to become even a fraction of the woman of God you were. i'll see you in due time.

- e

skimming of summer: the start!

yushiro's also exuberant about summer!
(look at that air!)

such music to my ears!

i'm currently at home for a short week - such a lovely oasis and a good buffer between the hectic runaround of the semester and the beginning of working world next week. being back in good ol' ambler brings a wash of various memories and emotions, some nostalgic, mostly comforting. this is my parents' opportunity to treat me like a kid again, and although the proud part of me still says "hey, i'm an adult!" deep down...i know you all think this...it's actually reeeally nice being pampered. what can i say? i like being at home :]

i've also really missed my (goofy) friends and the philly area at large. it's mostly the fellowship that i've found is somewhat missing up at school - not that i haven't made good friends there, too, but it's a bit different. it takes time, obviously, to build deeper relationships, so i need to be patient. but still, there's something about the candidness and heartwhelmingness (not a word...but i take license to make it up) of these goofballs that make me smile - and feel not a bit guilty when slapping them upside the head if needed (mostly the guys...and those who offend their wives...):

(L) the wife hushes the husband, (C) only allen seems to look good in this shot, and (R) sheila is actually taking a photo of the guy w/ a fro in the background, which is why the two of us in the foreground look so awkward

now we look normal! part of the old family group, kop koinonia, aka the king of blue chester group


fresh scones and happiness tea (a blend of green tea, green rooibos, and other flowery things like hibiscus) - great combo!


dianna, my tea connoisseur, taught me the right temperature and steep time for green and black tea.
i'm indebted!

ok, and not to make my cool communities in cambridge feel jealous, here's a sampling of those partners-in-crime:

hello architecture bible study @ the king and i - we made it! (minus 2 people)
too bad you can't see our lovely feast, but it was good!


me and the boys, relaxed and listening to live musica on newbury


then, over sangria, we decided to all be rockstars like kathy (the original owner of the shades)

oh fun times :D here's to more to come!
come visit me in boston!
and...so excited to find out the gender of my coming nephew/niece!!!

>> currently: listening to npr in the car (how i've missed!), driving with the windows down, still reading "a cook's tour" - a.bourdain, trying to go to bed early...earlier...., writing extraordinarily long emails