AOL Latino

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards

Maryland
Well, I had a very pleasant experience working on Extreme Makeover:Home Edition in Maryland. We had great weather, we all had fun, and we built our biggest project yetŠaround 15,000 square feet!! And yes, we did it in seven days! Tune in to watch when the show when it airs in January.Here is a funny picture of Paige in our trailer as she decides to dry her tank top in the microwave.

We don¹t have washers and dryers on set and it had rained so Paige decided to be creative. Here is a picture of me watching her do her thing as I take a break from shooting.

The end of this show marked the end of the show¹s relationships with two people that are very dear to me. Nancy Hadley, our muralist who became our Art Director, has decided to move on with her career after several seasons on the show. She was of great assistance and inspiration on many of the projects that I worked on.
She also happens to be a wonderful person, wife and mother who wants to spend more time with her family as she looks to her future. Nancy, you will be missed by all!
Melissa Givens has been a design producer for the last couple of seasons. I have worked with her very closely as I have moved into the position of lead designer on the interior of the houses on the show. She has been an amazing influence on me and, although she is leaving, I have asked that we talk about working together as part of my team in Beverly Hills. More on this later!
Here is a picture of Melissa, Nancy, Michael Anthony and I at the wrap party for the Maryland show.

While I was on set, my executive producers, Denise and Brady, allowed me to travel to NYC for one night as I was asked to host the very prestigious Smithsonian Institution¹s Cooper-Hewitt Design Awards. I was mingling with the likes of Antoine Predock, Richard Meier, Jonathan Adler, Isaac Mizrahi, and many other prominent figures in the world of design. Below are pictures of me with the People¹s Choice Design Award winner Blake McKluskey. It was a fantastic time and I felt very honored to be a part of it.

Once back in Los Angeles I found myself having to deal with the tragic fires that were surrounding the city. The sky was brown, the air was thick, and ashes were flying everywhere. I was forced to stay indoors with the windows closed and the air conditioner on for about four days, so I focused on office work and tried not to think about how dirty the air was. Here I am in my office working away!
I want to send my best thoughts to all of the people who have been affected by the recent fires. I know quite a few people that lost their homes and belongings.
After a few days, including a humid Saturday, it seemed that relief was in store and by the end of this week, at least in the city, it seemed that the air had cleaned up. Here is a picture from the view of my office earlier this week. Please excuse the dirty windows!

Back at home, my team has been very busy. Our primary focus in design has been completing work on Selma Blair¹s home. She is due back from shooting a movie in Europe and will come home to a completely transformed exterior surrounding her house. It is coming along amazingly thanks to the hard work of Jason Carrier, my Director of design and the rest of my team. Here is a picture of Jason working hard in our office.

Simultaneously, Steve Miller, my Creative Director and Brand manager has been busy with Josh Young, who will be producing the CD to accompany my next book, in selecting the songs that will serve as the soundtrack to our
events. This collection is going to be fantastic. I¹m actually going into the studio this week to produce and record a new original song for the collection. I¹m so excited to get back into music again. I have missed it very much!
During the latter part of last week we had a photo shoot for our new book. Count Max Tucci collaborated on this event which will be called "THE CLASSIC DINNER PARTY". His great friend and actress, Eva LaRue, allowed us to use her beautiful home for the shoot. Here is a picture of Eva and I during the shoot.

Once we finished shooting, Bill Watson one of the photographers set the camera on auto pilot and took this picture of all of us. Pictured from left to right are: Photographer Bill Watson, XOL: Creative Director, Steve Miller, Photographer Kathryn Watson, XOL: Design Assistant, Desiree Neil, me, little Kaya, Count Max Tucci, and Eva LaRue.

Over the weekend I invited a large group of friends to join me for drinks and dancing at AREA, one of L.A.¹s hotspots, which happens to be walking distance from my home. We had a fantastic time!!
Yesterday I did a shopping trip for the next book shoot, which will be Latin themed and be called "Family Fiestas". I went to the historic Olvera Street, the first street in the city of Los Angeles. Did you all know that
Los Angeles is sister cities with Mexico City? Kind of makes sense!

Here is a picture of me with my hands full of shopping bags and a wooden puppet in my hand. These puppets remind me of my childhood.

They really made me smile both as a kid and yesterday. Wow was my life in L.A. different then!

After shopping I met Melissa Givens, the design producer I was speaking of earlier who has left the show, for lunch at TRAXX, a wonderful restaurant located inside the historic Los Angeles Union Train Station terminal.

My creative partner, Steve Miller, Melissa and I talked about the possibility of Melissa joining the XOL: team. Our meeting was fun and productive and we hope to make it happen soon! Here is a picture of Melissa and I sitting in the old seats of the train station after lunch.

Well, next time I write to you I¹ll be in another State, half way across the country. If you¹re following along with our fifty state tour, the possibilities are narrowing down. Any guesses! Blog you soon!
Eduardo