Oh, we Canstructed alright...all night long...

On Friday, August 31, we, along with more than 100 volunteers, builders, architects, engineers, and additional helpers, converged on South Coast Plaza's Crystal Court after hours to participate in Orange County's 5th Annual Canstruction competition.  Arriving at 9PM for opening ceremonies, many teams did not finish until well after 3:30AM (that's when we finally threw in the towel), and even one went as late as 6:30AM.  

Benefiting the OC Food Book (which currently serves more that 500,000 people and families in need in Orange County), the Canstruction event is an international competition in which each team designs and builds a sculpture out of canned goods (the OC competition is ranked 11th internationally).  

This year, 20 teams competed using anywhere from 1,200 to 12,000 cans. Since this event coincides with the Festival of Children held at South Coast Plaza, the sculptures are family friendly.  The winners of the Canstruction Competition will be announced on Sunday, September 16 at the Canstruction Gala (we are so excited for the gala, we bought a new dress!), and will move on to compete in the international tournament.  

The Canstruction Sculptures will be displayed in South Coast Plaza (5 structures) and Crystal Court (15 structures), throughout September where they are expecting more than 1 million visitors.  And if you'd like to vote on your fan favorite, visit the Canstruction Facebook page to cast your vote.  

Below are some pics of build night - we hope you enjoy them!

Drawings for Fluor's 7 ft. tall golf ball sculpture

The Write Way OC and a few members of the AIAOC team!

"Oscar the Grouch" - AIAOC

The Phil Hove Tour of Orange County

At the beginning of March (yes, we said March...), on a cool but sunny Southern California day, Phil Hove, a premier architect in Orange County, CA, gave us a tour of the many homes he has designed in the area.  

Before we begin our version of the tour, here is a quick bio about Phil:

Over the course of his career, Phil worked with many of southern California's major builders (Irvine Co., Centex, Pulte, K HOvanian, Bren Co., Bren Co., and many others), and has designed some of Orange County's largest developments including condos in Quail Hill, homes in Turtle Rock, as well as other parts of Irvine.  Phil's designs were favorites among his clients because of the thoughtful ways in which he created spacious single-family homes with green belts, "alley-loads" for vehicles which provide additional privacy for residents, as well as spacious and efficient living space.  

In addition to the developments he designed, Phil has also worked on custom homes all over the world.  Some of his favorite Orange County projects include homes in Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar, Lido Island, and Balboa Peninsula.  These contemporary homes feature high ceilings, sliding collapsible doors, and modern energy efficient kitchens and bathrooms, and of course, many other bells and whistles.  

Below are just a sampling of the images we have of Phil's designs - enjoy!

A Saturday at the Getty....

   

We had a great time at the Getty Center in Los Angeles this weekend. 

 

It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon - 80 degrees in January...

...it's tough living in Southern California...and anyone who says different is probably right...

We walked around the gardens,

  

and sat in awe of the architecture.

 

We saw some famous 

paintings,

and wished we could take home this Turkish Bed,

and this tapestry,

and everything in this picture including the wallpaper...

In the end, all that was left to do was go home, rest our feet, and eat some pizza.  Mmmm...pizza....

Did you do anything exciting this weekend?  We would love to hear about it!