First day at Interior Design School  − 19 May, 2003

I still can't believe I did it. So, here are a few more details... I can remember from a very young age being very interested in interior design. My dad worked for the water district in Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California and there were a million new homes going up in that area when I was little. My dad was buddy-buddy with the contractors and developers so we always went to the grand openings and I remember going through the model homes and LOVING it. I rearranged my room so often when I was little my parents eventually put casters on my bed. I can recall the "chandelier" and flocked wallpaper in the dining room of my childhood home, the pale green walls, the funky gold mirror and light fixture in the bathroom and the faux wood paneling in the family room. When my mom would rearrange the furniture, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. When I was in the 6th grade, my glamorous Aunt Elle (my mom's older sister) helped me redecorate my room. This was when "country chic" was really in style so my room was done in dusty rose/mauve with lots of lace and flowers and crap. I made my own pillows, had a chair rail with wallpaper underneath and bought it all at JC Penney. I was in heaven. My senior year of high school I was having major freak outs on where I wanted to go to college. I was in AP classes, almost straight A's and basically had a bright future ahead of me. One day I went to a seminar that was put on by the Art Institute (I think) and I was convinced I wanted to go there and study Interior Design. I was so excited and went home to tell my parents. They promptly shot me down. Interior design was not "real" career. I trudged off to SDSU, who did have an Interior Design program, but for some reason I chose to major in Communication. I got out of school and successfully managed to get laid off from my "stable" marketing/internet jobs - TWICE! I had had it. Towards the end of my tenure at McQuerter, I did some soul searching and decided that I was going back to school for Interior Design. Poo on you parents! I had also decided to look for a new job since I knew the time was ending for McQuerter and went to a temp agency. The agency told me they had a few options for me. One was at an interior design office - could it the stars be more aligned?!?! I got the job as an executive assistant. (I was there for 4 years.) At the same time I got my new job at the interior design office, I applied to San Jose State and Cal State Long Beach. I got into both, but I also just started dating Kelly and thought there was something there (it was love at first sight after all). I decided to forgo leaving for school and stay in San Diego. I attended Mesa College for a bit pursuing my associates degree, but those jerks wouldn't give me any sort of good registration dates since I had a previous degree. I again made a big decision and decided to go to Design Institute and pursue my BFA in Interior Design and rack up a crap load of student debt AND it's going to take me 5 years. I'm 3 years into it - It better be worth it.