Just a few house cleaning items today to discuss. I've had several questions recently and thought I'd take the space here to answer them real quick today...
1) When will your new fall AGD designs be featured & available for purchase?These will be shot and featured here on the blog before I head back home to Indiana. We had a slight measurement adjustment that needed made to one of the designs so that was the cause of the delay. Therefore, keep your eyes peeled late next week. I'm hoping to find time to photograph these sets and get them featured shortly after that. Thanks for your continued interest and your patience.
2) When will our photos be due for the AGD celebration give-a-way? After announcing the plans for the give-a-way, I've had several people contact me asking if I could wait a week to start the give-a-way contest. Apparently there are a ton of people going on vacation this next week and they wanted to get some fun shots of an AGD sign in their image while away in their vacation destination spot. I thought this was a great idea as well so we will now be holding the contest beginning next Friday, July 31st. That means that you have between now and next Friday to come up with your picture idea for the drawing. Remember, this is NOT a photo contest. We will NOT be judging your pictures. They are strictly just for fun. However, in order to enter the drawing, you must submit a photo with a sign regarding AGD within it. A good example of what I'm after can be found here on MckMama's blog. This is her son Stellan's name gallery. I got the idea from her back when Stellan was going thru his heart surgery. Great fun! If you click that link and scroll through the pictures, you'll get ideas or maybe inspiration on how to do the AGD picture with your sign in it. You'll just need to make sure you have the city & state or your country listed somewhere within your photo with the AGD name. Just so far today alone, we've had readers from Poland, Pakistan, Italy, Austria, Canada, the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ireland hit the blog. (and of course tons of you from the ol' U.S.A) Therefore, I know there are many countries out there representin' for AGD. I can't wait to see what all you guys come up with. The blog post will go up next Friday the 31st so plan to have your image ready by then. Once you see my blog post go up about it, you'll include your blog post on your own blog with the photo in your update. You will then link from Mcklinky from my blog to yours so that everyone can see the picture you took. For those of you who don't have a blog, send me your picture via email (Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com) in between now and then. I'll add your picture to my blog for viewing. At the end of the submission date, all names of those who entered will be placed into a hat and one name will be pulled from it. That one person will win a goodie "beach themed" bag full of wonderful surprises. The goodie bag already has a value of over $100 and it's rising. I'm telling you, you WANT to participate in this contest! Some of my favorite stores & products like Swoozies, Sephora, Philosophy skin care, etc. have items featured in the goodie bag. Definitely girlie, definitely beachy, definitely fun!
3) When will the registration begin for your next "beginner" photography class?Registration for the new class will start very soon. Once it does, I'll post the announcement regarding sign ups here on the AGD blog as well as on my photography blog. I can tell you that the next class will start promptly on September 1st. My month of August is completely swamped so I wanted to wait until September to start the next one. I wanted to be able to devote all of the time I could to the 2nd class and thought that September would be easier to do that then in August. Keep your eyes peeled, the class registration announcement will be going up soon. And like before, we are only opening 20 spots again. Those 20 spots sold out fast for the first class so as soon as you see the registration go up, I recommend signing up ASAP. I'm looking forward to "meeting" the next round of you.
4) Rumor has it that you are looking for photography "test shot" candidates who will earn a session for FREE when you return to Indy next month? Is this true? If so, how do we get involved? Yes, this is true. WOW! Word travels fast on the streets. Ha ha! I'm on the hunt for a couple of families, a couple of newborns, some pregnant bellies, some children, and a couple of seniors to participate in some photography sessions shot by me. If you reside in Indiana and are interested in finding out how you can receive a FREE session with me as well as a FREE 8x10 with that sitting, contact me at Angie@AngieSeamanPhotography.com. My schedule is filling up for August and September so if you are interested whatsoever, or know someone who might be, please let me know ASAP. If there is someone you know that is pregnant and would like to have some maternity images shot, or if you know someone getting ready to deliver a baby in the next month or two, pass my name on to them and have them contact me ASAP. I'll post more on this soon.
5) Will you be doing another Q&A session here on the blog again in the near future? I have so many questions about sewing/photography/Life in general that I'd love to ask you. Sure. I have no problem offering another Q&A session here on the AGD blog. If you guys ever have questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to email them to me or leave them in the comment section here on the blog. I'll pool them together and answer them on the blog in one big post.
6) Will you be offering any of your new jewelry designs again soon? Yes. I am eager to get home and back into my bead box. That 200 lb. bag wasn't conducive to carry on a flight with my 500lb. camera bag and my 300lb. lap top. Yes, these are exaggerations! :) Therefore, I had to leave the bead bag/suitcase at home this trip. Once I get back to Indy and get the kids off to school starting on the 11th of August, I'll have more time to begin beading again. I'm anxious to release some new designs fo' sho'!
7) Will we see you at BlogHer 09' in Chicago this year? Nope. Obviously not because I'm in FL for the summer. However, word just hit the street that BlogHer '2010'will be held in NYC next year on August 5th-7th. I'd love to go and make a "group party" of it. If any of you other bloggers or blog readers would like to go to, let me know. It would be a great girls weekend with tons of fun at the BlogHer event as well as all of the fun hotel parties to be had in between the event itself. If there are any takers, especially from Indiana, I'd love to fly with ya sista's! Let me know if anyone is up for making plans. It's a great event!
8) And just for fun...I got this question the other day from a dear sweet friend and blog follower (Thanks Jill!) So, I'm curious to know...are you missing Indiana at all? Just a little tiny bit? :-) Does it feel good at all to come back or do you wish you could stay south for good? Ummm...let's see...I'm missing my "real" bed and my "real" kitchen. Other than that...I'm pretty much good here in Southwest Florida. Ha ha! Indiana had such a rough winter and an even more "silly" Summer with low temps and lots of rain. Therefore, I'm in no hurry to get back home because of the weather and what I know lays waiting for me there. (school shopping, 6am mornings when school starts back, therapy sessions for Kenidi, a new school for Kenidi - separate from Brennen this year - doctor appts. at the cardiologist and neurologist for me, sports games and practices for Brennen and so on) Basically, "Life" is waiting for me back home. It's been put on hold for the past 10 weeks while here and I've loved every minute of that. There are pieces of me that are ready to return home and ready to conquer all of the travels and fun over the next two months regarding photography and such but then there seems to me more pieces of me wanting to stay here in FL this year. Typically, at the end of each summer, I'm ready to be home by now. I'm ready to jump up and down on my real bed and eat from my real kitchen, etc. But this year seems different. I have more of me wanting to stay then I do wanting to go home. That is scary. Whatever you do, don't tell my husband I said that. If he found out, he hound me even all that much more about moving to Florida full time. It's out little secret, K? Wink wink! ;)
Do you know what I love most about spending our Summers in Florida?
It's that everyone else (the "snow birds" who live here all Fall and all Winter long) go back "home" to their real homes for the Summer. They go back to visit grand kids and their families in general. And when they go back to their real homes, it leaves the neighborhood here in Bonita..."empty." And when the neighborhood is empty, the pools within the neighborhood are empty. (And yes...that is our very own Starbuck's - poolside. It doesn't get any better then that.)
And when the pools are empty in the neighborhood, that means we get them all to our self. Just the four of us. It also means that Mamasita (a.k.a - ME) gets to pick out any ol' sun chair on the pool deck that she prefers. Anywhere. Why? Because it is just us and we have the whole place and all of the chairs to ourselves.
Uh huh...this is "part" of the reason why we love spending our Summers here. No matter how hot and humid it gets, our family loves making new memories each time we are here together. And even though my make up and hair always looks like a drowned rat in the summer heat here in Bonita, I wouldn't trade our Summers, our memories, our extended weekends, our holidays, etc. here for nothing. And even though the neighbors go home to their real homes for the Summer, they are missed. The neighbors are great here. We talk to the neighbors and gather with them more then we do with our neighbors back home in Indy. These neighbors look out for Brennen and Kenidi. A lot! It's nothing for the doorbell to ring at 8:30am in the morning and it be a neighbor left here in the neighborhood (there are only a few this time of the year) bringing trinkets and toys to Brennen and Kenidi "just because." It's nothing for them to say, "Let's all go to dinner at the Naples pub - we'll call ahead - tell them we are coming - and ask for a back booth - one that makes it as easy as possible for you guys over dinner with Kenidi." One set of neighbors even offers up and hands over their golf, tennis, and social pass to the country club for us. Now that is an awesome set of neighbors, eh? These neighbors are all older then us but we never notice the difference in age. They all ROCK! Needless to say...we love the neighbors, the neighborhood, and the neighborhood pools. :)
And aside from the fact that I feel like the neighborhood is really the "Amazon" lately due to the 4 snakes (yes 4 - there was another one on the deck of the pool the other day.) and the "Florida rats" that we've learned are as common as mosquitoes are back home in Indy for us, we still love the resort feel of the neighborhood the minute you pull in. It sits off the road and is tucked back in there all by itself. A huge community that you can't see because it is hidden from the rest of the world. As soon as you come thru, you are instantly propelled into a vacation - a tropical resort - and we love that part. Yes, I could do without the fact that the big black rat snake and Brennen came face to face at the pool the other day. Thank goodness Brennen can run fast. And thank goodness he did. In the end though, this is home away from home for us. Snakes, rats, no-see-ums, spiders, and all. It is Florida at it's finest - it's just the Florida that you never see advertised on the picture-esque post cards in the souvenir shops. Well, maybe this guy is sometimes...
We found this guy at the entrance to the cul-de-sac on the way back home from the beach yesterday afternoon. The pictures do not do his size justice. He was HUGE! Brent spotted him out his window so we stopped, dug out Big Papa (my camera), and snapped a couple of shots real quick.
I don't know what kind of turtle this was but he didn't seem to mind us much. And...he was quite fast for a turtle. He took off on that hot pavement like nobodies business. He probably got scared that Mamasita here was going to take over the steering wheel and run over him - 4 times - like I did the snake. I'm sure the word is out - and on the street - about Mamasita and my crazy ways when it comes to the wildlife around here. "Rumor has it...you need to beware of the Mom at the end of cul-de-sac #2, she is pyscho!" Ha ha! It's not a far off exaggeration. Trust me!
But as all of my faithful AGD blog readers know, I lluurrrvvveee my beach B/F/F's. Each time we come to the beach, the birds, all kinds of them, flock to my camera lens. I swear they treat my lenses like they are food or something. They gravitate toward it. They let me snap pictures of them up close all day long. It's grand! I love my beach B/F/F's. Just LURVE them! Notice how they pose and work it for my camera...
They even get the "model strut" going with their legs and feet. Hysterical!
Their eyes are my favorite...very cool color!
The beaches are really dead this time of the year too. Not to many people come here right now because it is so crazy hot. And humid. However, that doesn't stop the Seaman's. Especially at the neighborhoods private access beach park. You have to be a neighborhood resident in order to use this area of the beach. It's totally private and trust me - they guard it like Ft. Knox. You can't park there nor are you able to walk up there off the beach either. They catch you. They know you - and whether you are a true resident. And when they are unsure, they ask you to recite your neighborhood info. If you don't have it, you better cough it up or be gone cuz' you outta' there. Ha ha! They don't mess around at all! You can't beat their free and private cabanas, the grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs with coleslaw, cold drinks with ice, and of course the air conditioned rest rooms. Nothing says "the beach" like an air conditioned bathroom when you need it, eh? Ha ha! My favorite part to the private access though...it would be reading the water board as you walk up. Love it! And you know if the gulf waters - the ocean - is 89 degrees in itself, then the air is really HOT here in Bonita Beach, Florida right now. Just the way Mamasita likes it! :)
And no matter how hot it is temperature wise...you can always count on the sea to bring in a gulf water breeze. Thus, resulting in the palm trees swaying in the heat. There is nothing like laying under the leaves of a palm. Nothing says tropics like a palm tree. Nothing!
There you have it. That pretty much sums up what our Sunday looked like yesterday. Welcome to Monday. I hope it is off to a great start for all of you. Now...get ready...Mamasita has a give-a-way coming up this week in honor of my 777th post here on the ol' AGD blog. Tell your friends, tell you family, tell everyone! Remember those "AGD was here" type pictures I told you to prepare for a couple of months ago? Well, the time has come. Snap a simple picture in front of something that depicts your city, state, country, you, your family, etc. In that picture, add a sign to it that reads something about AGD. (i.e., AGD was here in Texas, We love AGD in Canada, and so forth.) There will be a Mr. Linky that will be posted with the blog give away. By entering and posting your the image to your blog, you will be entered into the drawing for the give-a-way. If you coerce a friend to participate too, let me know about it. Should that friend join in on the fun and post AGD signs within an image on her blog, it will gain you 5 extra names in the drawing. The more your name is entered into the drawing, the better the chance you have of winning. This is a give-a-way that you do not want to miss either. It will be straight from the heart of Bonita Beach and Naples. It will include multiple fun gifts within it. A gift from the famous swoozies store as well as gifts from other little stores that I love here in Bonita and Naples. Also, we'll have some shells picked by Brennen and Kenidi straight from the beaches in our area that will be included just as an added extra treat. We've worked hard to come up with a great give-a-way basket of goodies and we know you will love it. So...get those signs ready and then snap a picture with the sign in front of a landmark or something that reflects your state, hometown, city, country, etc. Include your kids...get them in on the fun too. We can't wait to see what each of you come up with. I'll be posting a photo of the give-a-way basket at the end of the week. Lastly, if you are a resident of Indiana, we are hoping to see some great shots from our home state. :) Have fun with it all.
PS...If you aren't a blogger but would still like to participate in the drawing, feel free to email me your photo at Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com. I'll be sure to include it with the others here on the blog when the contest/drawing begins. Your name will then be entered in the drawing just like everyone else. You can start turning those images into me at any time this week beginning now. The earlier the better. It will assure your spot in the drawing.
Last night...I was in the kitchen throwing out things from the fridge that I didn't think we were going to finish in time. Amongst those things were these strawberries. They were a bit wilted and I didn't see us consuming them in the next few days. However, when I sat them on the counter and went to put them in my "pitch" pile, Kenidi had a fit and wanted some of them. She was fresh out of the tub and began diving into them. I began placing them on a platter to rinse off and cut the stems from. She was eating them as fast as I could clean them. It was hysterical. She goes through phases like this. One minute she'll eat something - the next minute she detests it. Last night though, strawberries were clearly on her "fav" list.
She had me cracking up as she woofed down all that I put out there. I decided to grab Big Papa (of course) and practice with my new Nikon SB-900 Speedlight Flash. This flash needs a photography course all for itself. Just another new thing for me to soak up and learn about. In the meantime, it sure is fun to practice with all of the colored gels and the diffuser it came with. Big Papa just got a bit "bigger" so to speak. ;)
This 1960's overlay above is great - even with strawberries in the teeth...
And below...just me, her, the strawberries and the camera...
She was loving it!
This one below is a perfect depiction of the "excited Kenidi." She does this whenever she is really beaming about something. LOVE THAT!
Oh come on Mommy...I'll take some more - even the ones without the stems cut off yet...
Never fear...this last one was a clean and shaved one. Hee hee!
And for all you twilight fans out there...How about a little strawberry rather than an apple...? HA!
Too fun! Just enjoying the small things this morning. That includes the sweet, bright colored, strawberry moments with my daughter. And as for Brennen? Nope, he doesn't eat strawberries. Imagine that. He isn't a fruit child at all. I keep trying to tell him that he is really missing out. What...no wilted strawberries for my little Rockstar? Nooooooo! Nevah!
Off to my hair appointment now. Time for Jason to ROCK the "do" as he always does - just in time for vacay! Then, on to the start of a superb weekend fo' sho'! Moments spent with good friends - and many, many, good times to be had in the next 48-72 hours. Enjoy your weekend. Be back soon... Hugs, Angie
PS...I know, I know. Don't make fun of me...! I realize that only me, myself, and I could scope out zebra pottery/dishware at a local art fair. Believe it or not, that zebra pottery collection of ours is about 15 years old. Funny how things come back in style all these years later (i.e. zebra prints). I found that thru an artist at an event right about the time that we first got married. I collected many of his pieces in the years to follow. No matter what I put on it, it makes it look better than it really is. Thank goodness because my cooking needs all the help it can get. To this day, its still one of my all time favorite collections though. Imagine that! Ha ha! I know you ladies are shocked beyond belief. It makes even the most wilted of strawberries look divine, doesn't it? Love me some zebra! :)
