First, just to set the record straight - I'm NOT a shopper. I don't really enjoy it; I do all my shopping online whenever possible. It's quick, it's easy, it's at my convenience not someone else's, and I don't have to deal with sales people that want to help too much or not at all, and I don't have to tag along two kids who REALLY don't want to be there and let me know it at every opportunity.
But, two things have happened... I'm down here in Destin again for the week and 80% of the leadership team made a bee-line for the golf course at 9am, thus leaving me with little to do. I'm still peeling from our trip down here a week ago so going back to the beach is out of the question. Plus my company gave me a lovely little surprise american express gift card that was burning a whole in my pocket. The combination of boredom and extra money with an outlet center conveniently two miles away and all of a sudden I rediscovered the joy of shopping! See:
I think I would feel really really bad if I didn't very rarely buy myself new clothes, the vast majority of my clothing budget goes to the girls, after all - they look SO much cuter in stuff then I do. But I've been ignoring my closet for too long and really did need some new work-wear and now I feel completely outfitted for the year! The little people in my life didn't get completely ignored though, here's some pics of their goodies...
Isn't this CUTE! To be honest, I originally was going to get this shirt for me, but they didn't have it in my size :-( They did however have it in L's, so Peace Babe!
She's also been wanting a "grown up" watch, so a quick trip to the fossil store where they were having an awesome sale led to this little gem. (Mom, don't show her my blog, she may be getting this for her birthday)
Now Little Bit has her First Communion this coming Sunday. I bought the dress on clearance at Strasburg last year, but she need the "extras", so some new gloves, a pretty hairbow and some lacy socks fit the bill.
And finally I couldn't resist a pretty summer dress and a very silky squeezable jammies set.
Lastly - the "real" reason for showing some of our new goodies is because I was practicing with my new 430EX flash. A couple weeks ago I was asked to take pictures at the annual meeting. Although Destin is beautiful and sunny and doesn't call for using a flash much, the conference room we're in absolutely requires the use of a flash. There's the cheap one that comes on the camera, but it can't handle the distance that I need when I stand at the back of the room trying to take photo of the speakers at the front of the room 20 yards away. So a new toy flash was in order and I needed the practice. So here's me... practicing.
This is sooc in a completely dark, very small bathroom. I've got it pointed toward the ceiling to bounce the light off the ceiling in stead of in front of me which would have 1) created a bright light in the mirror I was looking into and 2) created a harsh shadow behind me since I was standing right up against the wall. I still have some work to do, but I'm feeling pretty good about it so far.




















































































