HI Everyone-
Isn't Trish AWESOME?  Good grief...FBI informant, author, animal & literacy advocate...LOVE her!

• Some of what Trish shared with us:
• She knew from the time she was 9yrs old that she wanted to be a novelist
• Was inspired by Truman Capote & his book "In Cold Blood"
• Started her own computer software company, where she served govt agencies such as the Defense Dept and the CIA
• She was an FBI informant in a trucking kickback scandal (this is a MUST to hear in our interview!) which is what she ended up basing her 1st book, Kickback, on

She is the co-founder of the Book'Em Foundation, with Mark Kearney of the Waynesboro VA police department.  Officer Kearney was one of the officers assigned to protect Trish during the promotion of Kickback.  It was through their talks that Trist became aware of the correlation of illiteracy & high crime rates. (Most criminals can only read at a 3rd grade reading level!) The Book'Em Foundation was created as a day-long event where authors & their fans can get together, have panel discussions & workshops.  The event is FREE (next one is 10/16) & proceeds of ALL book sales go to purchase books for school kids!

***Buy a Book, Stop a Crook is the motto!***

Trish is also the founder of a New Leash on Life program where she trains prison inmates to train shelter dogs to help make them "more adoptable".  Most of the dogs in the program are large breed dogs who've never been trained, thus keeping them "in the system" longer.  This is an 8 week program where the dogs stay with their inmate trainers & learn obedience training & some tricks! 

Trish has taken a break from some of her advocacy work to finish up her next novel, A Banker's Greed, co-authored with the CEO of the Farmer's Merchantile Bank in TN.  The release is scheduled for March, 2011.  Stay tuned for more details!

Check out Trish on her website: www.pmterrell.com where you can find her on Facebook & Twitter & all info on any & all events for her book promotions & appearances!

A few minutes w/John Gidding….

 

In a departure from the usual update & trends in interior design & furniture, here is part of my interview with HGTV’s John Gidding.  John Gidding is the featured designer seen on HGTV’s Curb Appeal: the Block & Designed to Sell, and was recently the featured speaker at the Milwaukee NARI Fall Home Show.

 

John has worked on interior AND exteriors in his career to-date at HGTV.  And while he states that interiors are easier “to do” within the parameters of producing a TV show, he likes designing exteriors the best as it’s a form of “sculpting” a space.  On his show, Curb Appeal: the Block, he has added architectural features, added stairs & carports and, and lots & lots of landscaping!  He also shared that in this show, as opposed to Design to Sell, the $20,600 budget DOES include labor (plus all the permits and materials) which was not included in the $2000 budget for DTS.  (This is something that most do-it-yourselfers “forget” when budgeting for their projects…you can’t forget LABOR costs!). 

 

***Something else that most DIYers don’t take into account is the TIME factor.  A 30 minute episode is actually 3 months of prep (pre-design walk thru, design, ordering and delivery of materials) and then 10 days of work.***

 

Some other interesting tidbits:

 

l      While not focusing on GREEN/eco-friendly design, John is a proponent of recycling as much as he can in his projects.  This includes re-using concrete from driveways in retaining walls & edging.

l      He loves MODERN design

l      John was born in Turkey (his father is American & his mother is Turkish), went to American schools there and then moved to the US to attend college. 

l      He taught CAD as a Teachers Assistant while in school at Harvard

l      He considers himself an “interior architect”

l      While he relies on technology to help bring his designs to life, he starts with hand sketches of all his projects. 

l      He just moved to San Francisco from Atlanta to start filming the new season of Curb Appeal: the Block

 

 

John still maintains his own design firm, John Gidding Designs, in which he relishes in taking on projects that inspire him.  He brings his unique world-view, architecture background & life experiences to his designs, which is something that differentiates him in the design field (and is part of his appeal on TV!).  As likeable as he seems on TV, in person he is more so.  Humble and gracious, John takes his job & projects seriously.  His clients, their space and solving their problems come first. 

 

The new season of Curb Appeal: the Block on Saturday nights on HGTV.  And while Design to Sell is not being filmed anymore, you can still see “never before aired” episodes on HGTV-check your local listings.

 

To hear my ENTIRE interview with John, go to the CasaVerde show page.

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

Hey Everyone-
I hope you enjoyed the show!  What an eye-opener!

I encourage you to read my column on this topic, which will highlight some of what Nina Smith & I talked about on tonite's show at Get the GoodWeave Label (and remember to become a SUBSCRIBER to be notified when new columns are posted!).

Nina also encouraged listeners to visit the GoodWeave site where they can view Children's Stories of some of the 9000 children they've rescued from the carpet mills, a Zip Code Search tool so you can find a retailer that carries GoodWeave certified carpets and more on the Faces of Freedom exhibit

I hope you learned a lot from tonite's show!