Ginger Bread House Competition

Kristi, Andrea, Brian L. and myself were on a mission to ultimately make the coolest friggin’ ginger bread house ever. Throw in red vines, cotton candy, gum drops, marshmallows, giant peppermint sticks and a torch and we had a recipe for success. That’s right, the crew won FIRST PLACE in the Interceramic Gingerbread House Design contest. There were around 34 amazing entries but it was our innovative double decker treehouse design that caught the judges eye. Additionally, our very own Robi Kaseman and Mark Posnick designed a house that, by the looks of it, took a measly 60 hours to complete. It was a fantastic homage to green building from its green roof, sun shades, rain water collection and skylights down to its painstakingly detailed USGBC seal.

Competitions like these are great outlets for showcasing your flair and for exercising your ability to be innovative and think outside of the proverbial box. W+P has been making a great showing at these local competitions and, by consistently placing, proving that W+P has designers that are rich with talent and panache...and it's a ton of fun!

- Amber

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Can't afford a real tree this year?

and...it's 100% recycled!

- Taylor

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2237 Art Gallery Update

Jane Mikacich is a delightful artist who loves working with mixed media. Her vibrant artwork is expressed with the use of acrylic paints, watercolors, melted beeswax, charcoal, crayons and colored pencils on handmade birch panels or watercolor paper.

Jane’s artwork will be on display at the 2237 Gallery, located at 2237 Douglas Blvd., Roseville, until the end of December.

-Rose

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Kennedy High School - The Beginning

The first set of pilings went in at Kennedy last Saturday. Check out the exciting photos of this ground breaking event. Click Here

-Jason

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4/9 weekend

In case anyone wonders how us 4/9 people like our extra day off, well, this is how I spent mine.

I was up Friday at the usual time and headed west on 50 by 6:30. I thought I’d be freezing by butt off, but it wasn’t bad. We hooked a north and zig-zagged through the farm land and ran into some serious wind, hoping it would subside, we continued past Cache Creek and up the Ramsey Gorge where we stopped and ate breakfast - McGriddle’s and a thermos of Chai tea. The wind had died down and it was beautifully warm. We continued toward Clear Lake, which was fogged in at both ends, but clear in the middle. And it was only 10:20. We headed on toward Willits, arriving just about 11. But noticed a sign indicating Ft. Bragg was 33 miles. Well, we hung a west and were in Ft. Bragg by noon. Sunny, warm and beautiful. I’ve been dying to go to the coast for a long time. We found a place to grab some lunch and found Glass Beach. We walked around town and ate our picnic lunch we’d brought for dinner. We woke up Sat morning, walked to a restaurant for breakfast and were on the road toward home by 10:00, wanting to get home before dark (it was a 5 ½ hour trip there). One the way back between Ft. Bragg and Willits we stopped for a break at the Jackson Demonstration Forest. There was a mist coming off the grass (unfornatly my phone camera just couldn;t capture the beauty). Anbd that's how I spent my weekend.

-Mary

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Last weeks poll question

The answer is:

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTIONARTICLE 9 EDUCATIONSECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of thepeople, the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means thepromotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement.

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTIONARTICLE 9 EDUCATIONSEC. 5. The Legislature shall provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported in eachdistrict at least six months in every year, after the first year in which a school has been established.

-Stephen

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architecture humor

Thanks to Bruna Tonello (Greg's Mom) for sending this cartoon.

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Kurt Versen Lighting Tour and Trip to NEW YORK CITY: October 2008

Times Square, NYC

Central Park

Amber Seevers and I were invited to tour the Kurt Versen Lighting Factory by our ALR rep, Ryan Culver. A trip to New York City… who could turn that down? We arrived just before midnight on Thursday – after one of the most difficult traveling experiences I’ve ever had (I won’t mention the airline – although they did eventually get us there). We awoke Friday morning and were shuttled off to Westwood, New Jersey to visit the Kurt Versen factory and to meet the people who run the company. Well, we were a little sleepy, but the content and photometric lighting labs were great. I never realized there was so much to know about recessed down lights! Everyone was knowledgeable and pleasant and we had a great time! After the tour, Kurt Versen staff shuttled us over to Manhattan to check into our digs: the W Hotel in Times Square! We changed for dinner and walked over to Ruby Foo’s for a magnificent dinner! Thinking it couldn’t get any better – it did! After dinner they treated us to the Broadway production of Wicked (if you haven’t seen this yet and like the Wizard of Oz… it’s a MUST!) It was a full day that left us with smiles on our faces as we fell fast asleep.

Saturday was our day in the city. Ryan treated us to breakfast at the Boat House – a restaurant on a lake in Central Park. Again, amazing. We wanted to walk off some of the opulence of that last few days – which was not hard to do in Central Park. Imagine being from the city of trees – and being awestruck by Central Park! It was truly magical. We finally grabbed a taxi and left the sheltered canopy and headed to Battery Park. We saw Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and Trinity Church. All of which inspired us. We returned to the hotel long enough to change, then headed off for dinner at Buddakan. The interior of this restaurant was a mixture of an Asian inspired sanctuary, complete with Buddha heads and a Catholic Church, complete with a huge mural of the last supper. The food was tremendous! We jetted off to the top of the Empire State Building and proceeded to end the night in typical New York fashion… with a slice of late night pizza!

Sunday was our departure day, but not before we scoured Times Square, visited the ice rink at Rockefeller Center and did a little shopping. All in all – it was a trip Amber and I won’t ever forget – our first time in New York!! We want to thank Ryan Culver – who was a gracious host and all the people at Kurt Versen! Thank you for your opening up your factory to us and sharing a little bit of your New York with us!

-Andrea

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Captain deCANstruction

CONGRATULATIONS! To Andrea and Amber for winning FIRST PLACE (best use of materials)!!! with their Halloween mask entry. Good job you guys, it was a really cool mask!

-Robi

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A day in the country and all things Eames

The home.

Meet and greet over coffee and muffins in the guest quarters.

Eames prototype chairs from their 901 office/studio in Venice, California.

After lunch, we gathered in a room showcasing 100 of the 750,000 slides taken by Charles and Ray (that's 5% of the total collection of the Library of Congrress) to watch 2 of the 85+ short films they made though out their career.

Group Photo (Rose not present as she was taking the photograph...as usual) Thanks Rose!

Last weekend (October 25th) a group of 10 from the office (Terry, Stu, Robi, Mark, Andrea, Amber, Will, Brian L., Shannon, and Rose) spent Saturday afternoon with Lucia and Llisa Eames at their home and Studio in Petaluma. It was a simply spectacular day, the weather was perfect and the visit with Lucia and Llisa was genuine and inspiring. Two very talented and down to earth sculptors with extraordinary teachers and mentors, Charles and Ray Eames. Their work couldn't be more different but the common thread lies in the design thinking process and how they've translated the lessons of Charles and Ray into their own work. Getting the chance to sit with them and talk about their lives, their work, and their passion was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

• A few attendees wanted to share their thoughts from the day:
• Being in the presence of design history
  and surrounded by true talent and creativity
  Brought out the best in all of us.
  The weather was perfect,
  the welcome was warm and genuine,
  the information timeless and inspiring.
  
  Thank you to Herman Miller and Lucia & Llisa
  For generously letting us glimpse the life of the Eames family. -Andrea

• Seeing how the generations of the Eames Family carry on the acute design sensibility was very satisfying. They have taken the legacy of the Charles and Ray and made it their own in their right. The joy of design that flows through all discipline’s is very much alive with a great story to tell along the way! -Will

• I think I learned more in those 4 hours about design thinking than I did in 5 years of architecture school and 3 years of practice. -Brian L.

I've got to give a huge THANK YOU to Fae Urban at Herman Miller who organized the days events. Everything from coffee, tea and muffins upon arrival, to a delicious lunch (w/ great wine), and assorted desserts and apple cider as we sat and chatted with Lucia and Llisa towards the end of our visit.

-Brian L

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The Counter

Pre-Opening Fundraiser at The Counter on Saturday, November 8th. Click the image for the details.

-Jodie

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19. Self-Improvement

Forget those clever techniques and self-improvement programs, and everyone will be better off. Do not promise to cure people, to make people feel good, to make life sane or fair or humane. Do not offer programs that appeal to selfishness, programs that teach how to be rich, powerful, sexy – and greedy, paranoid, and manipulative. No teacher can make you be happy, prosperous, healthy, or powerful. No rules or techniques can enforce these qualities.

If you wish to improve yourself, try silence or some other cleansing discipline that will gradually show you your true selfless self. -Lao Tzu

-Stephen

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Paul Walsh - LEED AP

Please extend your congratulations to Paul Walsh who just passed his LEED AP exam!!!

-Regina

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Corporate Games - CHAMPIONS!!!

In the 2008 South Placer Corporate Games, Williams + Paddon made a very impressive showing. Besting last year’s total points, we topped the Silver division with a decisive 130 points to win the second straight year. Our closest competitor only had 85.50 points. We had a slow start, but pulled it out in the end with some very strong performances by all who participated. The highlights are our medal winners…

Greg/Jessica/Regina/Bill – Coed Mini Golf…Gold
Regina – Individual Mini Golf…Bronze
Kim N. – Individual Mini Golf…Gold
Jeff – Guitar Hero…Gold
Kim N. – Women’s singles tennis…Gold (defending champion)
Jeff/Kim (“The Newlyweds”) – Coed Tennis…Bronze
Mark/Robi – “The Amazing Race”…Silver
Schnee/Bev/Jeff/Kim N. – Game Board Night…Bronze

In addition to the team gold, we also earn the “Team Involvement” award for the number of people who participated this year. Jeff and I were also named Mr. and Ms. Corporate Games…bettering our “Most Valuable Couple” award from last year.

I would like to thank everyone who participated this year. We had a great time, a lot of fun and lot of memories. Thanks also to Greg and his family, Kirk and his family and to Naaz for coming out and supporting team W+P. I look forward to next year and defending out title for a third time.

- Kim N.

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RECON event

RECON or (Real Estate and Construction Networking).

Our Mission: To Network with other individuals in a casual, social setting and to release the stresses of your business days while also making contacts to further your professional endeavors.

What We Are - A group of individuals, who want to meet, network and discuss issues related to our business.

What We Are Not - Organized. There are no presidents, treasurers, or board of directors. There are no dues.

Amber, Andrea, Shannon and myself attended this event last month and found it to be a great urban networking opportunity. Many different trades were represented including architects, interior designers, product reps, developers, engineers...etc. If you are interested, let Jodie or myself know and we'll get you the info.

-Brian L.

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