Yesterday I may have come across as a little... wound up. Well I still am, but I'm also trying to relax so we can make a clear headed decision. This weekend it seemed we may have two houses to choose from, and then we had one. And then we flip flopped back to the other one. And now we have neither? Who knows... maybe tomorrow we'll be back to considering both. The problem is that Austin is suffering from growing pains. Excellent schools are probably being closed due to budgetary constraints. New schools may be built elsewhere.

Traffic has been rerouted to flow through neighborhoods we like, and a giant highway flyover may be constructed right behind one of the houses we fell in love with. Or maybe it won't. Should we gamble?

Thanks for listening, dudes. And for chiming in with your comments. Can I just tell you that I'm emotionally drained?

Right now this is all I dream of. Curling up in a fluffy white cloud and reading a classic novel -- perhaps some Anna Karenina -- would definitely put things into perspective for me.

At least none of the houses we're considering are near a train.

[Head Over Heels]

Hello blogsters!

*not Designers' Brew*

I am beyond honored to be hosting guest blogging Design Crisis while Karly is surfing the slopes and getting spanked on spiked hot cider out in Vail; I've got a great post lined up for you this morning, complete with a very special musical guest:

They're maniacs on the kazoo.

But before we get to that, let me give you the obligatory self-promotion plug: I'm a recovering English major, shoe addict, and NYC interior designer, and I blog over at Designers' Brew, where I thrash out all the good, bad and hilarious that the design world has to offer. Hope to see you there!

There's only one thing left to say: LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SPRINGTIME AT DESIGN CRISIS!!!

I know it's only March 12, but don't care what the calendar says; we've had our first two warm days here in New York, thus officially kicking off an awkward month and a half of denial wherein I dress way too lightly for the weather and clatter around the city in bare legs and heels, shivering uncontrollably and acting offended by the cold.

Yep, I'm done with winter, and am already dreaming about warm summer days, long weekends away, and visits to friends with pools and rivers to splash in, so I've pulled together a sampling of all of those things to get your engines revving.

First up, one of the most breathtaking houses I've seen in a long time: Vancouver-based Patkau Architects' Shaw House.

That is a pool. Floating over the entrance to the house, casting dancing, flickering, transparent shadows over the walkway below.

The interior's not half-bad, either:

Full of restless, shifting shapes that are subtly evocative of the shadowy water play outside:

And lest you think that this spectacular piece of architecture is shuffled away in some sightless suburb, never fear--here is the view.

Should you get a yearning to stretch your fins beyond the confines of the glass-bottomed pool, you have an entire bay to conquer--so get swimming!

Here are some other houses where the transition between water and structure is almost erased, creating a sophisticated play of transparency and reflection:

Jacob Termansen photography

Inside Out

Mads Mogensen photography

Marmol Radziner

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen

Roger Davies photography

Inside Out

Or, if turn-of-the-century Belle Epoque grandeur is more your vibe, you can't do better than the indoor pool at Hearst Castle:

The walls are covered with a king's ransom in mosaic tiles, many of them containing actual gold:

Here it is at night; can't you just imagine languidly splashing back and forth in the semi-darkness, the lamplight glinting off the brilliant, faceted tile, turning the pool into a magical Aladdin's cave for you and the companion of your choice (I don't know, do the words "pool" and "gold" bring anyone to mind for you?).