What a great day!

Today I got to shadow the designers. No errands or to-do's. Just watching, learning and asking questions. It was fabulous! Today was great! The weather was nice, I looked super cute, I got to help with actual design stuff and watch and observe, and I got the BEST parking spot!

Some of the things I learned and observed today:

-Always be straightforward with the client. Tell them everything... this will prevent lots of trouble in the future.
-Think everything through.... what could possibly be needed? how will the space/item be used?

-How they deal with clients and how they get ready for client meetings.
-More about proposals and agendas.

I also got to help sketch some ideas for the floor of an entry hall and powder room. And help them with some cad work for that. I haven't used cad once for this internship and it was nice to help out with something that needed cad.... and sketching. Basically something that used my skills.

The other intern returned today.... I felt bad leaving her with all the to-do's but it was nice to sit back, relax and learn about the design side of the Interior Design business :)

Today was a great day!

LESS THEN ONE WEEK!

I get to see this wonderful man at the end of this week! EEEE!!!! 

6 weeks is way too long to be away from him. I can't wait to hug him and just see him again.

So excited!

Goodbye Party

Today was an ok day, until my goodbye party and Brittany's birthday party... then it turned into a fantastic day.
I went on quite a few errands today and one of them turned into something super stressful. I was supposed to pick up some paint brush outs (on gyp board), a kitchen cabinet door with a stain sample on the backside and drop off some fabrics for the client. Pretty simple. I got to the building and found the brush outs right away. When I started asking about the cabinet door's location, that's when everything started going wrong. I tried the loading dock.... not there. The concierge desk... he sent me up to the penthouse suite that we are working on.... it wasn't there. They sent me down to the 41st floor to another suite we work on because it might be there. Those guys couldn't find it so I ended up back at the concierge desk. They had no idea what I was talking about. great. I called the office found out when it was dropped off at the building and more info about it. When I went back to the c. desk and relayed the info, the light bulb lit up and they knew where it was.... yay! I went back up to the penthouse suite and ... bad news. It really wasn't there. The contractor called the other contractor we are working with in the building and.... good news! HE KNEW WHERE IT WAS! Yay! So I went back to the 41st floor and got that cabinet door.  !!!!! I finished the rest of my errands, got back to the office and distributed everything and cleaned up the library while I waited for the party to start.
It was fun to be able to relax at the end of a really long day. It was a bit weird to have a goodbye party a week before I leave, but Kendall leaves on vacation tomorrow for a few weeks so it was good to have it before she left. It was nice to hear how much they appreciate me and how much they'll miss me. They are the  sweetest ladies and I am going to miss working with them. Even though it has been a lot of work, long hours and not every day has been super enjoyable I will miss working with them and being a part of their firm. They even got me a present! 'Be Your Own Decorator' ..... which they are featured in! SO COOL! They all signed it and wrote sweet messages in the front cover. I love reading and design and to have the two put together equals something that I love. Then add the fact that the firm I interned for is in the book and they all signed it.... this book is now a treasure. I'm glad that I still have a week left at Kendall Wilkinson Design. :)

Chelsi, Caitlin, Emily, Kendall, Me, Kimi, Pearl, Susan, Fany and Megan in the back :) Lauren, Alex and Brittany aren't pictured

They are so much fun

Kendall and Me

Three weeks... Half way done!

I can't believe that I only have three more weeks to go. It has gone by unbelievably fast. I can't wait to see Jake again but at the same time I'm sad that I only have three more weeks to see the rest of San Francisco.

I feel so relieved..... and happy

Today was another crazy day.... but it ended great! This internship hasn't been a dream so far but after tonight I think it will start getting better. Today was initially normal. I started out with doing the dishes and making sure the office was generally cleaned up. Then I finished getting client invoices ready to mail, metered, and then mailed them. There was a vendor presentation in the morning and I got to go. It was a lot better then the last presentation that I went to. A fabric rep from Cowtan and Tout came and brought food! Really delicious food (which was wonderful since I only had a small yogurt for breakfast). He showed some beautiful fabrics and it was nice and relaxing. I then went out for some errands (deliver items and such) and After lunch was when things started getting crazy.....
I was printing out images to be shown to magazine editors next week but they didn't print out so well. It wasn't so good.... not good at all. So I got to call the printer company people (my favorite thing) and talk to them about the problem. After awhile it was decided that the repair man would come on Monday and that I would need to go to Kinko's to print out the pictures. But then I another urgent job came up.... packaging and shipping mirror samples to a client in NY. First taking pictures and documenting each sample. I ended up getting everything printed and shipped and got off work at 6. Long day.
Two ladies that I work with invited me to drinks (wine for them, sprite for me) and so I went after I delivered the printed pictures. It was so much fun! I haven't hung out with anybody for three weeks and it was nice to get out and be with people rather then sitting in my apartment watching tv shows on my laptop. We got talking and it sounds like I will be getting to help with some design stuff this next week! eeeee!!! I am so excited and really hope that I am able help out and learn more about the design side :)

Never ending

Today went on forever. FOREVER. I didn't really go on errands today, which was nice not to have to drive... but I was at the computer typing all day which was not so enjoyable. They had me inputting one of the designers time billing for last month. Endless typing. It was interesting seeing everything that she got do do. All the design stuff and things that go into a project. It was also interesting to see how much every hour of work costs the client.
I'm so glad its Friday! Yay!

Errands, Errands and more Errands

Every day I am sent out of the office to drive around to pick items up and drop items off.  Google Maps has quickly become a favorite of mine. Driving around a new city, especially San Francisco is not an easy tasks. There are one way streets all over the place and intersections that don't allow you to turn left.

Plus there is the whole parking deal. It is impossible. Hate, Hate, Hate the parking here in San Francisco.

Side note on parking: There is only two hour parking for the streets around my work and since they don't have a parking lot that is what I get to do every two hours.... move my car. 

The perk to driving all around SF, even getting lost along the way, is that I am becoming very familiar with all the streets and locations in the city. I've only been here for two weeks and I think I know San Francisco almost as well as I know Logan or Pleasant Grove.

The many maps, directions and to-do lists that always cover the seats of my car.