Hobbies becoming more serious…

So I’ve got some fun, exciting news that is centered around my extracurricular activities – salsa and photography!

First of all, as you know, I have been taking salsa for 2 1/2 years and I have really been enjoying it. I took a short break from it for a few months but got right back into it. Well, my work has paid off and for whatever reason, my teacher thinks I am one of his better students and has asked me to be one of his teachers. He is expanding his business and asked some of his students to help teach the new classes. We are getting trained at the end of this month but he has already asked me and a classmate to sub for him this Sunday!! We will be teaching a beginner and an intermediate class! Yikes! I am a bit anxious because I know I am technically good but feel that my artistic form is lacking. I am working on it and he keeps encouraging me so maybe I am being too critical! Either way, I am very excited about this opportunity and will enjoy the extra income!

Second of all, and more importantly, I have decided to pursue photography a little more seriously. Since getting my new camera and becoming active on the local Flickr scene, I have received so many positive comments on my photography and I have really been enjoying my regular photo excursions into the city. At the same time, fellow blogger and friend, Christine, has been wanting to do more with her photography as well.

As chance would have it I read on a local blog about a small neighborhood art fair that occurs every month. That gave me and idea! Why don’t I partner up with Christine and sell our matted prints at shows like these? We checked out the festival earlier this month and decided we could definitely do it! There is tons of work to do to prepare but we will be at that art fair November 4th, right before the holidays! We have registered for a booth, gone though our photos and picked our favorites and asked friends to pick out favorites. We are currently researching on-line printing sites and material suppliers, working to get a website up and all the other fun stuff that comes with setting up a business like this.

I am really, really excited about this and look forward to partnering with Christine. We have different yet similar styles and even shoot with essentially the same camera so together we offer a wonderful variety of photographs that will look beautiful in anyone’s home. We complement each other too when it comes to the business side of things. I manage the spreadsheets and money, the small details while she handles the marketing side of things like the website and as she says “the bigger picture” (ha, ha, no pun intended).

Anyhoo, this latter project is consuming my brain right now and as I make lists, create new spreadsheets, calculate costs and prices. We’ve got about 6 weeks to get ready and I can’t wait!! I’ll post the details as we get closer to the date so that you can stop by if you live in Houston!

Oh, and TGIF! Have a great weekend!!