I'm not Homeless!

With the help of Anja, I found an apartment in Germany today! Here's her secret email to me (she's so awesome! ha)

Yeeeeeeeah.

Kim. Kim. Kim.

I have a room for you!!! It's the "1rm/250E" one.

I write this via Email only to you cause I don't want the others to get jealous.

It's 4 min from Anja's house, she told me, and ONE minute from school! Apparently they have a cat, which I'm very much a dog person, but my roommate back in lawrence just got one, so I guess this will be a good learning experience.. Anja Also sent me some pictures of the place. It looks so bright! I'm excited! Though, please note the washing machine sandwiched in between the stove and fridge.. haha. I will be living with 2 other girls, who are excited to be able to practice their english. Their names are Tanja and Claudi. Hopefully everything works out since no contracts have been signed, but I'm still excited!

Circle of Design

My hard drive came in today! So while I was copying everything on my computer onto it, I watched podcasts from my phone. I went through a few intro-to-german videos, and picked up some greetings: Guten Morgen! Then I found an application I could add to my phone that had all the TED series talks from famous designers. TED is something I found out from my classes back in Kansas. Apperently it's a super expensive convention with tons of amazing lectures on design and such, but they always end up as podcasts later (kind of like Urban Outfitters, and they're wonderful clothes that you just have to be patient for a few months and they always go on sale).

Lately for class we've been having to keep blogs, and use the blog as our outlet for responding to readings our professor assigns along with videos, and AWESOME Debbie Millman web interviews. Anyway, I absolutely hated this "extra work." It was taking something I loved, and assigning it on top of already time consuming projects. Making me hate it and ignore it. This follows the pattern I have set since I was in 6th grade, where my planner was graded based on how well it was filled in, and assigned readings for every night for books I maybe would've wanted to read if they weren't forced on us. I still have yet to use a planner, and cliff notes became my best friend. (side note: In High School I never used cliff noted and actually loved most of the books we read- I cried at the end of A Tale of Two Cities). The point of all of this is that now that I'm not being assigned to watch these videos and respond, I want to. In most interests, like indie music for example, you have to be inside the "circle". This is how you're music stays fresh and up to date, or your design, and you're filled with new inspirations.

Here is a quote from David Carson that I really liked from the podcast I was watching:

"What's next is people. As we get more technically driven the importance of people becomes more than ever before. You have to utilize who you are in your work. Nobody else can pull from your background; from your parents, your upbringing, your whole life of experience. If you allow that to happen it's really the only way to do some unique work and you're going to enjoy the work a lot more as well."

Sleep-over Saturday

It's been super cold here lately. Not quite as cold as it's been in lawrence though! School started Thursday for KU. I actually kind of miss it. Probably because I haven't really been working on a whole lot of graphic design projects, more just database entries and meetings and such. It's really hard to be in a cubicle all day, even though I decorated it awesomely. I still get really antsy when I don't have anything to work on and it's close to leaving time.

People have been really awesome with offering me rides to work or the bus station downtown, so that I only have to take 1 bus. I'm trying to cut back on complaining about it because so many people have no choice but to use it, and I only have to for 3 months. But the last story I'll tell about it is that thursday morning, my bus driver took 2 stops for himself, one to get a pastry at sweet 16th pastry shop, and then next at a gas station to buy a bottle of water. It took me 45 min to finally get to the mcc (downtown bus station where you transfer busses) and to top it off I got asked to coffee by a 40-something guy.

Anyway, I have slowly gotten some design projects so my posts hopefully will become more about design and my internship; less decorating and bus complaining.

White Trash Tuesday

Strong points from the last couple days:

A possum died on the curb in front of our house, right by the couch that's been sitting in the yard for weeks that the trash people refuse to take. Sick

Today I made cupcakes that could put hair on your chest. It was the result of leftover whiskey in my roommates fridge (both over 21 of course) and a craving to

bake. They were a little on the strong side, but it was covered by chocolate icing which fixes everything. Maybe more days in Nashville will help me grow into my metaphorical boots of being able to handle whiskey.

My bus got stuck behind a long slow train, that after 20 min it took for it to pass, ended up parking right before the road was clear to go. Unbelievable. So we had to off road it a bit and took a short cut around. My commutes are still 2 hours :(

I put my new decorations in my office, and got lots of compliments on my lava lamp! Bringin' back the 90's one lava lamp at a time!

Also, someone walked into our office asking if someone was pickling something..? Because he thought it smelled formaldehyde-ish? This is why I got the reed diffusers, but also because they smelled good at target, and were on

clearance and I've never had them before.

Jennifer, my boss's boss, offered to buy the external hard drive I need to clear room on my computer to be able to use it for United Way graphics. After a lot of research and review reading I found this one. I'm so excited for

it to come in any day now! It holds 1 Terabyte (1000 gigabytes) And I couldn't find any scary crashing stories about it! LaCie is apparently the first brand to have released a 1TB external hard drive, which in my mind, equals credibility. I'll post a picture when It comes!

I've decided to try and get a poker tournament going this weekend with a $5 buy in to help fund my coffee addiction! Wish me luck!

Trader Joe's Dunkers

My favorite thing about Nashville: Trader Joe's and their chocolatey dunkers. Trader Joe's is like a whole foods filled with healthy organic and natural foods, but they are cheaper and awesome! They have many products under their own brand, including these milano shaped cookies, and dipped one one side in chocolate, that have changed my life and the way I eat. I have noticed that I get hungrier faster, and eat my meal quicker just so i can sit down with the beautiful tub of cookies and my favorite mug with french pressed coffee, and dunk until my hearts content.

Thank you Nashville.

The Daily Grind

So my intership started on Thurdsday! I woke up about 6 to catch my two busses, and get to United Way by 830 for the meeting. I was really nervous about being late. So of course, I got there about 45 too early, just in time to watch the sunrise next to the building. I had no idea what bus stop to get off at since the bus was so packed and I couldn't really hear anything from the back of the bus. I got so nervous that I'd already missed my stop that I just got off the next time the doors opened, and when I stepped off the bus I saw the building right across the street.

I met all the people in my marketing department- there's 4, along with many other employees who handle all sorts of different areas. Scott is the guy who initially took me under his wing. He was extremely excited when I noticed his site-mapping covering his walls. Site-mapping a website includes lots of butcher paper and post it notes covering the walls, and he had been a little overwhelmed with being the only person responsible for updating the UW Nashville website. Everyone assured me that I would never be bored.

The first thing that was on the list was the big marketing meeting. On the way down to the meeting, Scott explained to me how United Way works. The Board is a group of volunteers who are all presidents/CEOs of places all around town. Everything runs through them, and they decide who stays and who goes of the UW staff. I was introduced at the meeting, and a reference to Kansas being the middle of nowhere was accidentally used, and then laughed about during the meeting, but for the most part I just tried to pick up on what I had jumped into. The website was a big subject- the issue being how to promote it once the new site is up, as well as a big campaign celebration occurring at the end of the month. It was a big brainstorming meeting with the CEOs and marketing group, and after this meeting there was a post-meeting meeting with just the marketing team to pick out what was good, realistic and do-able.

The marketing team is doing a Biggest Loser competition so we had to move the community scale out of my new cubicle. The computer in my cubicle highly resembled the one I first used in kindergarden. Many things around the building are from the 70's since pretty much everything was donated. I had a good conversation with Barbara, the in-house graphic designer, how she really respected United Way in its frugality. She said that its kind of refreshing to see the old furnishings and undesigned walls, because so much we see other non-profits whose staff all have thousand dollar chairs and are beautifully decorated inside. It's nice to hear such a humble outlook, but It is going to be interesting not being surrounded by tons of resources like I'm back at school.

My next day at work wasn't so perfect. I caught all my busses late and got to work really late. The IT guy couldn't set my mac up to the network, but he should be able to do it on monday so I can start working. People were a little too busy to delegate any jobs to me, so my day was spent decorating and rearranging my office. Today (saturday) I went to Target and got a lava lamp, a little pot with flowers, and some fragrance reeds. I'll take a pic of it on monday!

The World is Small

More rain..

I'm so glad my friend Katie D is here with me to explore Nashville. I'm finally starting to feel like a little fish in a big city. Yesterday we went downtown to figure out how the bus system worked and everything I needed to do and pay to get to work every day. It seemed pricey though for a month pass- $78- way more than I pay on gas a month.. o well.

Downtown is pretty. I think there's a lot more "districts" that we missed- where is the night life?? Where are the coffee shops?? I'll figure it out.. I do love the architecture of the old looking buildings, though. There's a lot on the Vanderbilt campus as well as city buildings downtown. I was so excited to go to the Public Library! There's something about bookshelves that gets me going, but the aesthetic of the inside of the building did not match the facade. I'll wait till Europe..

Katie and I also found ourselves at the Nashville State Museum, which is awesome. Lots of information about Andrew Jackson, which Katie was excited about- her family has weird obsessions?- and they also had a mummy. It was disgusting and really real, and I was just waiting for it to wake up like I was in a haunted house and kill me. The torture devices are always interesting, and I saw a lot of sweet daguerreotypes of random people.

We gave up looking for a coffee shop downtown, and headed back to a place called Fido that I'd heard Cresson talk a lot about. Very good coffee! Kt and I both worked at the same coffee shop for a year, so (humbly) we know our stuff, and it was perfect. We walked back in the rain and watched I <3>

Rainy Monday

Yet another blog inspired by a song. But it is raining again.

Cresson and I were up at 9 today, and she was quickly off for more mysterious sorority goings-on, while I was free to roam and explore my new home for the next 3 months.

I had a mission today to find "business casual" pants, which Cresson informed me was "anything, but jeans." After a shower, an episode of What not to Wear, and a cup of peppermint tea to wash down yesterday's dinner leftovers, I was off to the Clothing Exchanged that I had eyed yesterday on the street I now know as Hillsboro Village. No luck. It stopped raining long enough for me to make a few mile ride to a different part of town Cresson told me about (with the end destination being a coffee shop- of course) where I found a consignment store and some boutiques. I found my pants at the consignment store, but they had no gloves or mittens and my hands were freezing from riding in 34 degrees and mist so I crossed the street to a boutique and was greeted by the smallest fuzzball puppy I've ever seen.

Tily quickly became my favorite shopping buddy. I got my mittens which happened to be on sale! And talked to the ladies working- one of which was the owner (who liked my coat!) and the other was a senior at Belmont also doing Graphic design, ad they both had been to Germany, and instructed me on the castles I have to see when I'm there. I continued down the road to the Frothy Monkey Coffee shop, which was tasty, and I put on my headphones and tried to figure out the bus system from a flyer I snagged off a bus in Hillsboro Village. Maybe I'l understand it tomorrow.. I stayed there until the rain let up, it had started pouring once I had gotten inside. I fiddled aroung on my iPhone looking up things to do off the beaten path in Europe, and replying to some emails until the rain stopped, and I made a break for it and raced back home. And here I am.

Tonight we pick up my friend from Lawrence, Katie D! She wanted to take a trip over Winter break, and I wanted a friend to explore with me! I'm so excited, but I probably wont update until she's gone. But I will promise pictures! Also I start my internship on Thursday with a big Marketing Committee meeting! I'm crossing my fingers that I figure out the bus.

Tennessee Jed

I don't know if I've ever visited a city without being welcomed by rain on the first day; and I don't know if I'd want it any other way.

When the airplane was making its descent into the Nashville airport, it passed through the fluffiest barrier of clouds I've ever seen, and little droplets of moisture raced from the right side of my window to the other leaving little trails for the next drop to follow. I love flying in airplanes. I sat next to a big man who introduced himself as "Jed" and was headed back home to Hendersonville (just north of Nashville) from a cruise he took with his family over the holidays through the Panama canal. Obviously he became "Tennessee Jed" and we talked for the entire plane ride .

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be,
Baby won't you carry me back to Tennessee.

I caught a taxi from the airport to Cresson's house- my bff4eae from hs- and quickly made myself at home since she was out and about doing things for her sorority. I unfolded my bike- yes, it unfolds, and I rode up and down the street until i was confident it wouldnt collapse and fold back to its original state while I was on it. At the corner of the street there was a lady who looked local enough so I asked for diections to closest grocery store. On my way of following her directions I found myself on a street with cute shops, and it had begun raining instead of the mist I had been riding in, so I stoped in a store called Bookman Bookwoman. Guess what it sold.. books! so I bought the first 2 Harry Potter books because until anyone tells me i absolutely have to read this one book my plan is to reread the hp series.

The rain let up a little so I continued down the street eyeing shops I wanted to visit when it wasnt a sunday including a cowboy boot/shoe repair shop, the clothing exchange, pangea (hippie store), and fido coffee shop- Cresson's favorite. I finally made it to the grocery story and got some essentials (hummus, baked bread, pasta and apples-duh) and grabbed some plastic produce bags for my makeshift rope I used to tie the paper grocery bag to my bike.

I came home and scarfed down my hummus while I watched Wet Hot American Summer, and You Me and Everyone We Know and rested my tired bones from lugging my bike and luggage around the airport. Cresson finally finished her sorority stuff, and we grabbed some dinner and coffee at another one of her favorite Nashville coffee shops, Cafe Coco. Very delicious! And I even got to meet some of her friends who were there.

It hasn't hit me yet how long I'll be here for, but so far Nashville is a big city with a small town feel, so I have no doubts that I'll fall in love with it.