More “Freshness”, Moroccan food, baby shower, Super Bowl…
Well, I had a busy but fun weekend. Now I have to actually clean up the house tonight since I wasn’t home enough hours. LOL…
Friday night: Met up with friends at Saffron for a late dinner. I had never been here – it’s a beautiful restaurant. We ordered “family style” since there were 9 of us and we sampled all sorts of delicious Moroccan appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts. Their hot mint tea was a perfect ending to a lovely night of friends and conversation.
Afterward I frantically worked to mat, label & bag new prints for the Saturday Yale Street Arts Market. I went to sleep at 3 AM.
Saturday: Another weekend of Fresh Photography! We got up at 7 AM, loaded the Jeep and headed out. Christine and Mike were out of town so I had the booth to myself. Kenny hung out with me and so did my Mother so I was never really alone. The weather was chilly once more and cloudy most of the day so my sales were sluggish. I don’t think I sold anything after 2 PM… Still, I had fun although I was tired and trying not to fall asleep by 4 PM (see above for reason why I was tired).
Saturday night: Loaded the Jeep back up and headed home. Made a quick stop to buy a baby shower gift, grabbed dinner at Sonic and went home to crash for the rest of the evening. Watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. 🙂
Sunday: I had a friend’s baby shower to attend in the early afternoon so I headed out for that. Kenny waited for me to get back home so we could go together to another friend’s Super Bowl gathering (I was home for only 10 minutes so I could change clothes). Watched the game withe friends (although neither of us knows squat about football) then headed home.
And that brings us back to Monday and the start of another work week… wheeee!
A life cut short…
A longtime internet friend whom I never met her battle to cancer this morning. Lynn Rockwell was an amazing woman, mother, grandmother, photographer and friend. You will be missed Lynn. You left us too soon but at least you are finally at peace. Thank you for sharing yourself and for touching my heart across the many miles.
Feeling domestic…
I don’t know if the Zrytec I am taking (see previous entry) is working so well that I am finally getting a good night’s rest but I was energized last night! At least energized enough to cook dinner and bake bread. I made my tasty picadillo – a standard Cuban dish that is essentially ground beef, tomato sauce and various other things thrown in. Every recipe is different but I put yummy diced fried potatoes in mine. I then pulled out the bread machine recipe book and tried to find a recipe where I had all the ingredients. Lucky for me I found one that worked and also looked appealing- rum raisin loaf! Below is a picture of the finished product (glazed in honey).
I stopped short of re-organizing the pantry because Kenny told me go sit down and relax (he didn’t feel like being pulled into the pantry reorganization which he knew he would be). LOL
By the way, the bread is yummy and was a great breakfast treat today!
Allergy relief at long last?
Hello faithful readers… it’s been an overcast rainy week. Not too cold but certainly not warm either (mid 50’s on average). I can’t decided between heater and A/C though. I switch over every couple of days. LOL. What a strange, mild winter it has been. It sure has wreaked havoc with my allergies.
Yeah, ever since December it seems like I had had some form of congestion. Often it was mild, at times I was unable to breathe through at least one of my nostrils. I knew it was allergies because I had no other symptoms. The congestion was all contained in my head. I resorted to various combinations of Claritin to get through the day and a generic nasal spray to clear my nose and get some sleep at night. The process was getting old though and I was going through boxes of tissue fast. I finally decided to go to the doctor and see if there was a longer-term solution.
She gave me Zyrtec and despite the skeptic in me, I think it is working. I have had no side affects – unlike Claritin that made me feel really out of it while at work and always dehydrated me – and I haven’t used the nasal spray while I have been on it (I used the nasal spray almost every night for the past few weeks). Yay for me, yay for my nose!
I am a bit surprised at how quickly it worked and how seemingly effective it is. The true test though is to find out if it remains effective since my doctor told me to take the Zyrtec seasonally – in February, March & April then again in August, September, October. Only drawback I can see at this time – my insurance considers it a “Tier 3” medicine so it’s a whopping $50/month. Ugh.
In conjunction with the new meds, I finally dusted and vacuumed the bedroom and changed the bedsheets. I hope to do this more often (I always neglect it since no ones goes in there) so between my new air purifier, more cleaning and the meds I should able to keep the allergies at bay or at least better managed.
If you have allergies, share your experiences and what has or hasn’t worked for you…
Camera Goodness from my Photo Pimp
So my husband is just such an awesome guy! He whole-heartedly supports my photography and I consider him my sponsor – actually, I just call him my “photo pimp”. LOL He buys me my equipment and every little thing is appreciated!! Over Christmas he bought me a flash (Canon Speedlite 430) and all of the accessories to go with it as well as a 50 mm f1.8 lens that many Rebel users rave about it. He also paid for me to go to a class to learn how to use my flash. I went last week with Christine – we learned so much than just flash basics.
This weekend he spoiled me some more. We made a visit to the Houston Camera Co/op (staff is so much more approachable than the at Houston Camera Exchange) and he bought me a few more goodies I had been wanting: a wireless remote, a UV filter for the new lens, a Hoya close-up ring set (so I can use the 50mm to get some macro shots) and a wonderful new camera bag, the Tamrac Velocity 7 Photo Sling Pack in blue. I can finally comfortably carry my flash, my 70-210 lens, the 50 mm lens (+ the close-up ring set mentioned above) and the camera of course with the kit lens. Small accessories are shoved into the zippered pockets and my Gorillapod (another Christmas gift from Kenny) is wrapped around the top.
Another overcast day here in Houston…
So the weekend has come and gone. The sun peeked out yesterday but it is gone once again leaving behind gray overcast skies and a chilly wind. *sigh* I really wasted the sunny day yesterday. My re-cap…
Friday night: My hair was getting shaggy so I headed to the stylist for a haircut then met my Mom for dinner. We also scoured the racks at Value Village (a thrift store). I bought some nice iron-ons on sale at the craft store and need some solid tees to iron them on. I was only able to find one shirt (long sleeve) and a basic green sweater I can wear to work.
Saturday: Actually made some crepes for breakfast before Kenny headed to a friend’s for a LAN party. Yep, what a geek but he had fun – he was there all day. I left a couple of hours after he did to meet up with some local Flickerites for an afternoon of photography. There was great turnout but instead of joining them for the photo excursion I stayed behind in the cozy cafe and had lunch, warmed up by my mocha. The day was a little too drizzly and chilly and I felt uninspired. Still, I met some great people afterward and look forward to the next photo excursion.I ended up staying at Empire Cafe talking to Laurie, Christine & Mike till 8 PM before heading home.
Sunday: Absolutely lazy Sunday. Woke up late, had breakfast in bed (cereal) and watched TV from bed. We only left the house to go to lunch then came right back and plopped back on the couch for some more napping. I am actually ashamed of how little we did. I did pry myself off the couch to get to salsa class though.
And that is about it!! Hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine was!
Yay! It’s Friday!!!
Make your own M&M at www.becomeanmm.com.
Feeling Good about Fresh Photogrpahy
Hello everyone – I am still here! I have just been busy at work! Hope everyone is having a good week. The weekend was filled with Fresh Photography and errands so I won’t bore you with a day-to-day account but I will fill you in on how our 2nd art festival went…
The day started off rough for me as I got a late start and then found that I did not have my wallet. Retracing my steps I knew it could only be at one place (the restaurant I had lunch at on Friday) and sure enough, they still had it but by the time I picked it up I had already canceled my check cards out of precaution. The wallet debacle made me even later but Mike & Christine had everything under control. By the time Kenny and I arrived the tent was up, the lights were up and so were the tables. All that was really left to do was hang the prints, arrange the bins and finalize the table display.
The weather itself was dreary – the sun never came out from behind the clouds – but it never really rained either. A few sprinkles here and there but no downpour. Despite the overcast skies and the chill in the air, the crowds were decent. Plus, the people that did come out were more serious shoppers it seems.
In the end we sold a few more prints than we had last month at the pre-Christmas festival and more importantly, we sold to more unknown clients. As you may recall, last month I only managed to sell to friends while this month almost all of my prints were taken home by new customers who had never seen our stuff. This made it much more exciting for me and really took away the apprehension I had after last month’s show.
To add to the positive vibes I also connected with a few of my fellow vendors, buying crystal earrings from the lady to our right and requesting a custom-made tote from the vendor across from us. I know, I shouldn’t be spending my hard-earned money on more stuff but hey, it’s all part of building relationships, right?
I think the fact that we didn’t really do much preparation also helped since we were not exhausted. We had spent several months preparing for the first one and then spent two days straight mounting and matting the prints. It was draining, stressful and took a lot out of us. This time around it it was as simple as reloading the car with the prints. It was such a relief to only spend a few hours this month getting ready versus the days and months we spent getting ready for last month’s show. Not to mention the financial expenditures we had initially that we did not have this month…
All in all I felt really good about the event and look forward to the next one on February 3rd. Christine and Mike will be out of town at a wedding so it will just be me but Kenny and my Mom have offered to stay with me throughout the day so I am not alone (Kenny typically helps set up and take down but doesn’t stay all day). I hope that those of you who have not made it out do so!! 🙂 And thanks so much for those of you who have and have supported us! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Fresh Photography Round #2!
We will be back out at the art festival, despite the rainy weather forecast. Come cheer us up and stop by despite the rain clouds.
It will make us feel soooo special and loved!
Yale Street Arts Market
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2006
10 AM – 6 PM
548 West 19th Street
(in The Heights)
If you can’t drop by or don’t live in Houston,
you can still check out our website and buy prints!
find me here too
The Meaning of Life
I watched Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life once again this weekend and have decided that I completely agree with their conclusion at “The End of the Film”… I truly believe that this is my life philosophy:
avoid eating fat,
read a good book every now and then,
get some walking in,
and try and live together in peace
and harmony with people
of all creeds and nations.”
I think it’s a damn good way to live life, don’t you?
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