Hubby and I arrived last Wednesday evening and we are leaving tomorrow morning. He’s here for some training for his job. He was able to have lunch with me each day (except for Sunday) during a break and dinner each night.

Here’s a list of things that we’ve lived through, seen, bought, visited, places we’ve eaten and other random things. Let me know in the comments if you want any links or names of any of the places or things that are mentioned.

I’m not a city mouse, I’m a country mouse. Visiting a city here and there for a few days or a week doesn’t bother me, but, I know that I’m happy out in the boonies. So, please keep that in mind as you read all of this entry!

Wednesday – We arrived in the airport. I had reserved a shuttle to take us to the hotel. No one rents a car in the area, at least not anyone we know. The shuttle was great, we had a very talkative driver that’s always lived in the area. He gave us a great mini-tour as we drove the 12 or so miles to our hotel on Canal Street which is in the French Quarter. We now have seen the rebuilding after Katrina in person. We’ve seen the City of the Dead through the windows. We know where the Superdome is, Tulane and Loyola. We tipped him $5 for our bags, most people just gave him a buck. It was worth it though, he was really nice as well.

After checking in we went out to explore a little bit and found House of Blues just down Decatur street. Our server, Josh, was totally a blast and very helpful for things we were asking about. I really enjoyed the food there and so did hubby. It’s an awesome place and I hope to get some photos of the inside before we leave.

Thursday – The next day I set off to explore the area. I had a few hours before meeting hubby for lunch. I took my camera and started off towards the Mississippi River. I found a few things that I was looking for, the streetcar station, Riverwalk, a steamboat and a ferry and the Aquarium. I walked into Riverwalk for a while…it’s an indoor mall. I did buy a few things, but, it’s very repetitive here with the same hats/t-shirts/masks/beads. I found a great silver shop (Silver Salon and they give military discounts!) and I bought a pretty bracelet, some Fleur de Lis earrings and later when I went back the other day a ring and a necklace charm.  The prices are extremely reasonable…I was a little shocked at how low they were. I found some really cute Voodoo Watchover dolls at Destination New Orleans. They also have salt water taffy in a box with a postcard attached. The food court is on the top level, near the end of the mall. It’s not set up like a traditional mall in that sense. The only thing I can figure out is because the riverboat cruises embark/disembark right there as well as the convention center. There’s also the food and drink museum, that charges a lot of money and a very expensive gift shop. It’s a nice long walk from the food court back to the hotel, especially when hubby was waiting for lunch! That afternoon I gambled a little at Harrah’s. We ate dinner at Popeye’s! It’s the first time that I have eaten there in a long, long time. The first Popeye’s is in the area, but it wasn’t this one. It was really good! It’s located on Canal Street between Chartres and Royal.

Friday – We ate lunch at Subway and it was a good meal. It’s on Royal St. within the first block off of Canal. We saw two people almost get hit by a streetcar! Seriously I knew that he wouldn’t hit them, but, they weren’t paying attention and just were walking without looking. He rang the bell a few times to move them off of the tracks. I’m sure it’s not the first time he’s done that. I walked around down Decatur and went to the French Market. I took photos at Jackson Square of everything including Joan of Arc! I also went to the Canal Street Shops. I went to Starbucks and bought an iced tea, visited JT Kids, which is really overpriced, looked and found one thing at Ann Taylor (not Loft, that’s in Riverwalk). I also saw a few places that were way out of my price range, Saks Fifth Avenue for one. Even on sale I cannot afford a dress n there. Friday night we walked down Bourbon Street. Wow, that’s something to see! I saw a lot of strip clubs, fake cops called “Party Patrol” that should be stopped, I also saw a lot of drunks and street people. We ate at Crescent City Brewhouse. It was okay. It’s a micro brewery, so hubby wanted to try it out and see how the beer was. It was okay. The food was okay. I’ve had much better and much worse. I ordered a steak, it was a little chewy and the green beans and Au gratin potatoes were undercooked. There’s a lot of different places to try, so, unless you are set on this place, skip it. Read more

I cannot believe all the snow that we’re still getting! We measured and in some places it’s over 40″! We do have a nice huge pile in our cul-de-sac that has grown from the plows and the drifts. It was snowing pretty heavily on Tuesday night. Good thing I went to the grocery store on Monday and then Target on Tuesday. Hubby’s been off of work all week. We are betting tomorrow as well.

I’ve been keeping as busy as possible. I reworked my business site. I love it! It’s more or less still bloggy looking, but, I added and removed some things. I’m going to see if I can get a Flickr Feed on the site splash page. I’ve also been doing some things behind the scenes. Right now I have a potential client meeting tomorrow evening and then on Saturday two potential client meetings. I hope they will all be clients. The one tomorrow night is a gal that will be graduating this year and wants to get her photos done. One of the girls that I photographed already, gave her my card. The two on Saturday are both Juniors! I photograph Juniors differently. I usually do a Spring session, then a Fall and Spring when they are Seniors. Kids change so much over the summer. Besides, they can hand out their referral cards in the Spring and Summer.

On Monday we hunted at the local furniture warehouse and found a couch! It’s a sectional. It was supposed to have been delivered tomorrow, but, the snow made it impossible. Hopefully it will be here on Wednesday. I’m so tired of things being pushed back with this furniture! We decided to wait to get tables, we want to see how everything fits into the room. We’re moving the piano to the other wall and then a bookcase will go between the windows.

I’m going to try to get some work done, then, heading out with hubby later on for some groceries and maybe some dinner as well. I have to make him a Valentine’s Day card also. Have a great weekend with your honey!

I cannot believe that Christmas is only a few days away! I have everything wrapped, for the most part. I just need to get one little thing wrapped and make cards for my hubby and kiddos.

The grand-daughter is getting a kitchen for Christmas! This is destined to be a hit as she loves helping in the kitchen. I still remember when we gave her mom her first kitchen, oh wow, I’m so old! Anyhow, that’s her big gift this year, I’m sure there will be photos after Christmas of her using it and making some great food!

I’m so looking forward to the New Year, 2010. Wow, that sounds so cool! There’s a bunch of things on my goal list for next year, both personally and professionally. So, we’ll see what happens. Hopefully I will be sitting here next year typing out the things that I’ve accomplished and the next year’s list.

Personal List

1. Lose that last 15 pounds. This is something that I’ve slacked off on big time. Now that I will have more time for ME I hope to accomplish this before the Spring.
2. Start a Roth IRA. Hubby and I just visited with our financial planner last month. We have enough left over to start our IRA’s in 2010 and keep them going for years. He did an analysis of our finances and we’re not exactly on target, but we’re pretty close. Even though we’re getting a late start, we’re still going to be okay.
3. I want to get some sort of furniture in our living room. Right now everything to be hung on the wall is leaning against the walls and we have a piano in there. That’s it. It will be two years since we moved in next month and while we have the room painted, I want it darker. We had it painted in August and it’s a very pale green. Over the past few months I’ve decided that I want forest green or at least something darker than baby green in there. So, we’re either going to repaint it ourselves or hire a company to do it. I hesitate at re-hiring the company that did it in the first place. The guy is a great person, but he’s very conservative with color and we really aren’t. It’s not a good match. He did a pale blue for our dining room as an estimate and we really want something bright, like orange. I guess we’ll do it ourselves.

Professional list

1. Gain 3 new clients. This hopefully will happen through the Chamber, word-of-mouth and advertising next year.
2. Have all my current clients repeat sessions with me.
3. Order a couple of really nice logo shirts for me to wear. Sometimes I’m in an environment with other professionals and they are wearing their logo shirts and I have nothing but a name tag. A silly goal, but something I want to change.
4. Create and order a 16 x 20 collage to show clients at print delivery. I have everything, just need to make it and print it! I hope to do this soon, in 2009 I have one or two more print orders I can tag this onto.

Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year!

In the recent past I’ve lost weight. In the past I’ve had a good fashion sense. Realizing that I can fit into clothes that I never have before is slowly dawning on me.

I went out with the oldest yesterday to the mall. For me, that’s a HUGE thing. I hate the mall. I like shopping, but not in stores in the mall. So, it was an adjustment. And the fact that school is starting here on Monday, it was PACKED. We went to JC Penney’s and I tried on clothes and bought some.

I’m on a budget and I’m still building onto my basics. So, I had to buy things that I could use with my current wardrobe as well as expand it in a new direction.

She had me take inventory onto a sheet of paper. I obviously love shirts/tops/blouses I have a lot of those. I needed pants, I only had one pair of dress pants and two pairs of the khaki kind of pants. I get overwhelmed by the choices. Having an inventory sheet helped me a lot with that. I knew what I needed to fill in the spaces and tried on those things. I usually gravitate to the same things over and over again. Having specific things that I needed, helped me break out of that, a lot.

I bought the following and I will try to link to everything so you can see what I bought as well. We had a coupon discount as we were there before 1 p.m. and got some door buster discount as well.

1. Blazer in purple, after discount it was $20.48. I have to get the sleeves shortened. I have a GREAT tailor in my area.
2. Two of these, one in wine and one in cream. I had to try these on to make sure I liked them. They have 3/4 sleeves which usually piss me off, but, these are not bad. The sleeves aren’t tight. After discount $18.61 each.
3. Two of these blouses. One in white and one in the pink stripe. I needed a white blouse that fit, it was on my wish list. After discount, these were $13.96 each.
4. Unfortunately I cannot find the Liz & Co pants I bought online. I did find these online though, in grey. The Liz and Co ones are in a light, brownish color with windowpanes. I need to get both of these taken up, washing them first to make sure they don’t shrink after hemming. I think that the ones I linked to are the same ones I bought, but, the pricing is different. I paid $33.52 after discount, so I may be returning to the store to double check that and get an additional discount as well.
5. I also cannot find the Liz & Co jeans I bought online. These are a darker color and after the discounts they were$34.92. I’m washing these before taking them to the tailor as well.

I still need to buy, according to the oldest:

1. Brown cardigan
2. Everyday jeans
3. SHOES!

Doing the inventory was very helpful. I  now know what I have in my closet and what I need to fill in the blanks. I’m putting it on my phone, so I have it with me when I’m shopping. That way I know what I need and what I have.

I had to chuckle at myself. About 8 or 10 years ago I bought a pair of leopard print boots. Just the ones that you wear under pants. I guess they are back in style, again. I told her that leopard may not be my style. Haha, then we saw those boots.

I bought some things last month with hubby in tow, they were good buys according to her and she liked what I picked out. I tried on everything, just because I didn’t know what looked good or fit right or what I liked on me. I’ve been wearing shorts/jeans and T-shirts for too long, time to get other clothes in the mix! *A hazard of being a Work at Home mom!* I have a semi-formal dress, didn’t even know it!

One thing she told me YEARS ago is about vanity sizing. A few stores do this: They take the size down a few to make sure you come back to them when you need more clothes. Remember, it’s not the NUMBER, it’s how it fits and how you feel in it! I didn’t like a dress I tried on, so I didn’t buy it. It was cute, looked great on the hanger, but, it wasn’t me. Express, Ann Taylor do vanity sizing. It’s a sales ploy to get you to love that you are in a 2 or a 4 when you are in a 6 or 8 in other stores. I tried on the pants in JC Penney’s and was a little upset when I had to wear an 8 to be comfy, then she reminded me about vanity sizing and how I feel in the clothes, not the number.

Things to remember:

• I use a tailor for everything as I’m short. I just had a dress taken up at the straps by 2″ on each side as the dress was a little low cut for my body. It’s worth the money to get a professional to hem pants, shorten sleeves, move buttons. People don’t usually think about that when trying on clothes, so, the next time you shop, think about that. It’s worth the money in the long run to get things tailored. Good basics should last years before replacing. So when you get upset about spending $15 for a pair of pants to be hemmed, think about how long you will wear those pants. If you are getting something tailored, you are paying for the professional to do the work. I know how to hem and take things up, but, the frustration level and the quality level is not worth it for me in the long run to do it myself. I arrived at that conclusion over the past few years.

• Also think about what you have in your closet that it will coordinate with. If you don’t have at least two things that it will coordinate with, it’s not a good deal, no matter what the price. It’s a waste of your hard-earned money as it sits in the closet, mocking you!

• Take inventory before you shop for clothes. Even your kids need this done. That way you know what they have, what they need, what to buy. It will make it more efficient when you are shopping. Don’t you make a list when you grocery shop? It’s the same thing, clothes just last longer. It goes with the above rule!

She has started a blog that will help everyone, no matter what size they are, with dressing on a budget. She finds good sales and posts about them. Even if it’s not your style, it’s worth looking at the store or something similar as it may be what you are looking for. So, go and visit, read, learn, SHOP and then please share the link.

I can’t believe the weather has finally warmed up here, usually it’s warmer by now! We had TONS of rain, for days. I’m so tired of rain. Our grass looks great though. Hubby mowed last weekend and it’s really green.

Saturday’s session never happened and frankly I’m a little pissed off about it. She called me that morning to tell me that she couldn’t find the potential groom and then after I had packed the Jeep with everything and I was ready to leave to drive to the session, she called again. She found him, but since they had had such a huge fight, she needed to cancel. I’ve learned from this though, no matter who it is, contracts and deposit before the session. We could have visited with our old friend that day instead. That’s why I’m a little pissed off. Oh well, when she wants them done, I will get the deposit and then take the photos. If they don’t show up, they will have to just have it apply to a future session. That’s how I work. It’s on the website, seriously.

I’ve been busy keeping up with everything. I’m currently looking at getting a new computer. Unfortunately it’s not a Mac. Oh well. It will cost too much dough to get what I want and the programs that I use already. Some of them aren’t compatible, so I will stick with a PC. I’m actually looking to get a Gateway desktop to replace my 10 year old Compaq. We bought it when we moved to Virginia (again) in 1998, so, it’s time.  I get very frustrated when I’m working on photo things and I cannot have Lightroom and something else open. It’s really stressing me out, man!

We booked our tickets to Vegas last Friday, yay! We actually are getting a pretty good deal and one flight is non-stop. The other one is a short layover, so no biggie. We leave May 10th for a week! We have our hotel set up, it’s the same one we stayed at three years ago and it’s in a good area. Not on the strip, but, right nearby. We’re going to rent a car when we are there to do things out in the actual area. I think that I have a few good places bookmarked already. I just need to read more about them. We’re going to see Blue Man Group one night. I have to buy the tickets for that this week. We saw them years and years ago, in VA Beach. They are awesome and I cannot wait to see them in Vegas!

I just put my old printer on Freecycle and hopefully the gal will show up this evening and take it away. I’m giving our old cell phones to this organization. If you have a moment, read the site. I was going to sell them on eBay last year, but, this is so much easier and does something GOOD for the soldiers. I have a pre-paid envelope that came in my bathing suit order from Newport News. I kind of thought it was a strange marriage of the two though!

I found two bathing suits last week. I went to Ross to see what they had. I ended up trying on a bathing suit by Michael Kors. It’s a one piece and I really like red, so I tried it on. It didn’t look horrid! I thought, “well I will see if there’s another one I can buy”. Result, a black one too! I laid out $19.99 for the red one and $9.99 for the black one. It’s just a plain suit, no skirt and no print. Which is great, since I really don’t like either! I just need to find a cover up and I’m set!

I hope you have been doing well, I’m off to read my reads through Google Reader.