Filed under: Photos, travel | Tags: Jeff Koons, New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
We’ve been light on the posts these past few weeks since Jackie is on a break with her beautiful baby Cade and Alison and I are busy studying for our Interior Design license exam. The test is this Friday and Saturday so, this week is cram time. Wish us luck.
I thought I’d leave you with some pictures of my recent trip to The Met in NYC in the mean time. The whole trip was amazing! I’m ready to go back already!
view from the roof
Jeff Koons exhibit
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: environmental issues, fun!, san francisco | Tags: parking day, Rebar, the trust for public land
Do you ever get tired of the city life, the concrete jungle as they say? Long for your own little patch of grass? Well, then find a park, or just make your own. That’s what we did last Friday for Parking Day 2008. It was a great success! It’s amazing how people were drawn to the sight of green… or maybe they just thought it was weird to see a park in the middle of cars on a busy road. Either way, it garnered a lot of attention and all the feedback was positive. Some people even ask us if we could make it permanent. That could be a little difficult (grass doesn’t usually grow well on asphalt), but we can always use more green. You can check out all the mini parks around the world here on Flickr. I also saw Method’s park on my way home and wanted to give them some props as well. There was so much creativity involved in all the parks! I already can’t wait for next year!
our bamboo jungle…
lunch break…
They like to spread the love in Philadelphia…
what it’s all about at Method…
a new way to go green with your vehicle…
Special thanks to Rebar who started it all and The Trust for Public Land for organizing it.
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: savvy tools, Women + Tools | Tags: savvy tools, Women + Tools
I wanted to get some new shots of women with tools for our website, so I pulled together a quick photo shoot with the help of some fantastic friends. We borrowed a friend’s studio and had some fun. Check it out…
and just for fun…
Special thanks to Michael, Christina, Yunyi, and Adie. You guys were great!
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: environmental issues, san francisco | Tags: park, PARK(ing) Day 2008, parking spot, Rebar, san francisco
At the last minute, I decided to throw together a Parking day group at work. For those of you that don’t know, PARK(ing) Day was started by a San Francisco group called Rebar. They’re a group of artists, designers, and activists and they came up with the idea back in 2005. They picked a specific spot in downtown SF that’s under served by public open space and they set up an “intervention”. They fed the meter and set up a small park. The installation garnered a lot of press and quickly turned into a global movement. Since then, more people have joined the efforts each year in cities around the world. Everyone’s invited to join in and create your own park wherever you see the need. This year’s PARK(ing) Day is on Friday, Sept. 19th. The website has a very helpful manual describing exactly how to set everything up and join in the fun. I’ll upload pictures from our park next week. We’ll be at Folsom & Spear if you feel like joining us!
Rebecca_ SF
Filed under: savvy tools | Tags: colorado state unviersity mechanical engineering, savvy tools
I’ve often heard entrepreneurship compared to a roller coaster ride. We’ve barely begun the process and it already seems to be holding true. In our search for the right prototyping company, we began discussions with Colorado State University’s senior mechanical engineering class. Every year they partner with private businesses to provide real world projects for the students. The experience benefits the kids, there is the potential for job placement in many cases if the project goes well, and the businesses can benefit from the student’s enthusiasm and creative thinking. Some of their past projects have included race cars, sensors for space travel, and many bio-medical tools. It’s obviously a win-win situation for everyone involved and it seemed like the perfect fit for us.
We had hoped to be one of the partner businesses for this school year, but to our surprise, we found out 2 weeks ago that things didn’t pan out. C’est la vie. We’re pursuing the next lead and moving forward. At the very least, the prospect of the partnership helped us kick some things into high gear and get a lot done in a very short amount of time. Sometimes you need that little push to help you get over the next hill.
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: architecture, design, environmental issues | Tags: LEED-H, Margarido house, MdDonald Construction & Development, Medium Plenty, Plumbob Architects, Sally TV
I had the privilege of touring the Margarido Houseon Saturday. It’s Northern California’s first LEED platinum home and the first home in the nation to be both LEED-H certified and GreenPoint Rated. The place is absolutely gorgeous! It’s located in the Oakland hills and has stunning views out over the bay towards San Francisco. I had no problem picturing myself with a glass of wine in the roof top garden watching the sunset over the city.
You can check out a video tour below from Sally TV.
As is to be expected of a LEED platinum home, it has all kinds of sustainable features like:
-Solar panels on the roof providing all heating & hot water, and most of its electricity
-4,000 gallon rainwater cistern that collects all the water on site
-Living roof covered with native grasses and succulents
-Exterior cladding and interior flooring made from Heath Ceramics’ used kiln shelves
-Reflective cool roof
-All LED/ CFL lighting
and much more…
The owner/developer is Mike McDonald with McDonald Construction & Development. He partnered with his brother Tim McDonald from Plumbob architects in Boston and interior designer Ian Read from Medium Plenty. McDonald Construction and Medium Plenty had already partnered on the 24th street house that was featured in Dwell Magazine in their June 2007 issue.
They’ve definitely shown that going green is not a sacrifice. If you ask me, they’re living in the lap of luxury. I’m hoping homes like this will inspire people and we’ll start seeing a lot more green homes around the country!
Rebecca_SF
I just felt my first earthquake! It seems practically like a rite of passage as a San Francisco resident and I hate to admit it, but I’ve been looking forward to it. I know that’s not right, but I’m being honest! My apartment shook for just a second or two. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was over. Apparently, it was a 4.0 magnitude. (For some perspective, the big one in 1989 was 6.9 and lasted about 15 seconds.) So, that’s it. I won’t wish for anymore. I promise! I definitely don’t want to feel anything stronger than that!
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: environmental issues, fun! | Tags: Bonnaroo, Brett Dennen, CLIF Green Notes, green music festival, green music tours, Mason Jennings
Rock out and protect the planet?? Who knew you could do both?! Well, now you can by purchasing the new CLIF GreenNotes Protect the Places We Play benefit album. I was ecstatic when I first heard about this album because not only does it involve protecting the planet, it also features some of my favorite musicians! Just to name a few… John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Gomez, Mason Jennings, Michael Franti & Brett Dennen.
What’s so cool about GreenNotes is that they support emerging musicians who are passionate about the environment. They actually help artists reduce their environmental impact by integrating several eco-friendly touring practices. Such practices include fueling their buses with biodiesel, printing on recycled paper using soy-based ink, selling organic cotton t-shirts at shows, working to provide locally and organically grown foods backstage, and buying renewable wind energy credits to offset their remaining carbon dioxide emissions.
If you’re a music guru like me, you would also like to know that CLIF GreenNotes has partnered with events such as Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, etc. Hope to see you at one of the shows!! Let’s Rock!
Kelsey – Vail, CO 🙂
These days, getting a website up is almost step one to starting a business. As designers, we all have a lot of ideas about what we wanted ours to look like, but with zero experience in programming, it seemed pretty daunting. So, we started out very, very simply. We called in some help from friends and family and we updated our site. You can now check us out at www.mysavvytools.com. It’s a work in progress. We’re learning some more basic software skills, improving the imagery and logos and you’ll be seeing continual changes from here on out. We’re trying to take things one step at a time…
_Rebecca, SF
Filed under: environmental issues | Tags: Green Fair, green homes, Lee's Summit MO, new longview
This weekend my neighborhood is hosting our first local Green Fair. I know many of my recent posts have been about my neighborhood already, but obviously it’s near and dear to me.
This weekend is the grand opening of the first certified green homes in the state of Missouri and they’re right down the street! I am glad to see they are bringing so much attention to something that will hopefully soon become standard. Not only will the homes be showcased, but other local “green” businesses!
If you live in the area, swing by and check it out! I can’t wait!
-Alison, KC, MO
Savvy Lifestyle 
