I know we don’t post every day, but taking a purposeful moment away from blogging as part of Bloggers day of silence is something that seems right this week. There is an incredible community of bloggers (450+) that have pledged to take tomorrow off to honor what has happened and continues to unfold in Japan.

The two of us will working tomorrow, but also spending the day saying some special prayers for everyone affected by and helping during this crisis.

If you are still looking for ways to Donate, please consider visiting For Japan with Love and making a donation to Shelter Box. As architects, we feel that the need for safe and private shelter for those who have lost their walls and roofs is paramount to helping these people rebuild.

Have a great Friday, and take a moment to look around you and find something to be grateful for

We love burritos.  I am pretty sure I would be happy with a burrito and avocado lunch nearly daily if you let me.

Most of the time I am not making a burritto in the evening to take to work.  That would be way to much effort,  right.  Not so.  These burritos we made are easy-peesy assembly line style… and they freeze!

YUM!

First, do you ever have leftover rice?  From dinner or chinese take-out???  That usually is a good start to these burritos.

Then, gather whatever else you might have…. For us it is usually some roasted garlic, spinach, tomatoes, lime, black beans, and corn.  And cheese of course.  Nothing is pre-cooked, we just start filling the tortilla shell.

Don’t fill your tortilla too much, or else you will never get it to close and you will have a big mess.  {take my word for it…}

Now, place your tortilla on the edge of a piece of foil and fold and roll.  I found it worked best if I folded the tortilla sides in first and then rolled the whole thing together.

Whatever whay you get it to work… you end up with a whole bunch of  these cuties.

They then get put in the freezer for us to take for lunch during the week.  Preferably with a large avocado.  YUM.

Friends,

Its been a rough couple weeks around the world. Tension and war, followed by verbal attacks here at home, followed by a natural crisis with devastation the world hasn’t seen in a long time. It makes you step back and analyze, eh?

So, i’m here to share two projects I think are worth supporting if you are looking for creative ways to help.

The earthquake in Japan hits especially hard for us for several reasons. Growing up in the Pacific NW, I have been told time and time again that our region is overdue for a quake of the Japan magnitude, if not larger. Its always been scary to imagine what that would look like, and its even scarier to see it come to life. I can’t imagine what it would be like for me and my family so its hard to fathom the hundreds of thousands of families going through it right now. Also, my boyfriend works in nuclear power so he and his colleagues have been following the power plant situations there and its scary to think about the workers having to control those situations.

The Working Proof is an artist collaboration that produces limited edition prints to support various organizations with different levels of contribution. They put up a print today (available through 3/31) by Susan Schwake. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the print will be going to Doctors without Borders to help in their relief efforts in Japan. Plus, the print is a beautiful reminder of how a community of people can come together to help those far far away from them, which would be a powerful message to have on your wall. Supporting this project helps keep the Working Proof moving forward to help in not just this disaster but for future causes as well.

The second project is a new tumblr blog started by a friend of mine from highschool. She is part of an involved and wonderful Muslim family in our community. Recently, in wake of the Peter King hearings and increased US islamaphobia, she has started a new project intended as a positive way for people to come together in an online community to share stories about friends and community members that they know that are muslim and how this faith enriches our American community.

Normally, we don’t get too political on this blog, but I think this is a really creative way to bring people together by sharing simple stories and to keep the focus positive. Some terrible things were said and assumed during the hearings on Capitol Hill last week, and I think its awesome to see a group of people together in peace and support instead of anger and defense. If you have a story to share at MBFIM, I encourage you to do so. I am excited to see this grow into a network of support. My office has been designing a Muslim Community Center and Mosque for the last year, and while I’m not working on the project directly, I’ve seen how this community has welcomed the designers from our office as parts of their community, even though we are all from differing backgrounds and faiths. They have been nothing but excited to work with us to create a community center that will benefit their community and ours.

Take a few minutes to step back this week and recognize your gratitude for safety, love, and those who support you. Our gratitude certainly includes all of you who support us through this online outlet we have here. Thank you!

This past weekend, in the midst of a longer to-do list, I decided to rearrange my bedroom. Why?

Well, firstly, its time for spring cleaning anyway, time to get at those dust bunnies that move in during fall and winter. Also, it was time for a change of pace.

Secondly, there are a couple things about the way I had it laid out that had bugged me from the beginning. I never really felt like I was “in” my room, if that makes sense. The way I had the bed laid out, it felt like my head was staring right out onto the hallway about 3′ from me. You could just fall out of the hallway into bed , and I guess it just didn’t feel like much of a retreat into a space.

To give you an idea what I mean, here is a very sketchy layout of my room, courtesy of floorplanner.com (since I don’t have AutoCAD on my home computer right now, I’m using this as a backup. don’t judge My bedroom sits between our bathroom and our craft room. I have one window and two doors. You’ll see in the photos the second door, which we think was originally an exterior exit before the craft room/dining room addition in the 1960s. It has some funky locking hardware, and isn’t really usable, so for now I’ve put my nightstand in front of it and am calling it an architectural feature.

Also, the way the bed was arranged I was basically looking straight out the window. And directly across from my bedroom window about 10′ is the neighbors’ kitchen sink window. So there was no way to ever have the shade open and I started to feel like I was living in a dungeon. I like to sit on my bed and read, especially on sunny winter afternoons, but I felt like I was looking straight into someone else’s life, and vice versa.

This is how the room has been arranged since we moved in just over a year ago.

So, what did I decide to do? Well, living in a 1922 bungalow means you aren’t rolling in extra space. With 2 doors, a closet, and a window, there are only so many options. After a couple of options, I ended up flip flopping the bed wall and my bookcase, and left the dresser wall the same (although I did center the dresser and swap the mirror, jewelry hanger, and floor lamp). Here is the subtle change shown in the floor plan:

But you know what? It makes a world of difference! Now, you actually have to go into the room, all the way to go to sleep at night. I think its more of a retreat away from all the other projects going on in the house. Also, you can sit in bed, and still see out the window without being a total creeper! And now for the after shots, starting in the hallway:

Admittedly, there’s less room adjacent to the closet, which is taking some getting used to, but I’m hoping in the long run that will be motivation to keep it less cluttered (we’ll see. . .). I also like that my beehive bookshelf is more visible to the hallway, since it really is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. After going through a few configurations, the change ended up being subtle, but I’m liking it a lot and it gives the room a different vibe, which is nice as spring approaches!

On a side note, if you want to see the design inspiration for my room, click here. I still have a few room touch up projects over the next few months to feel satisfied:  Headboard artwork, new custom lamp shade for bedside table, replace dresser hardware, and install flooring in the closet.

But, for now, I have new scenery and am dust-bunny-free (gotta focus on those Easter bunnies, ya  know

Every week on Friday evening I take a look back through the blog articles I starred in google reader and add all the pretty photos I am drooling over to my pinterest (follow me here)

I’ve seen a couple other folks sharing their top pins from the week, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to do the same. Its a great way to share some weekend eye candy.

Enjoy!

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Simple but gorgeous water color wedding invites

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Arranging hellebores (which i love)

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Robins Egg Blue Barn Door

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Furniture made from reclaimed urban lumber

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