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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Nice Souvenir From My Vacation in Tampa!

Last week Jessy and I decided to take a road trip to visit my sister and nephews in Florida. We had absolutely perfect weather and my sister took us to some gorgeous beaches. Siesta Key has white powdered sand and crystal clear water. I'm just used to burning hot sand that makes your feet feel like they're bleeding! This was a very nice change. We also went to Anna Maria Island for a day and it was sooo beautiful...and the sunset was the cherry on top! I also got a little work done and even had time for a photoshoot!

On our final day in Florida we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and had a blast! Hulk, Spiderman, Dueling Dragons, and The Doom are just crazy! One word of warning though, the "Fast Pass" is great to avoid lines but you can only use it once per ride...and it's an extra $40 on top of the $79 ticket price!

Now I must explain the title of my blog post. I try to stay out of the sun as much as I can and when I am in the sun I constantly reapply sunblock and also use sunblock chapstick. I do this for 2 reasons: 1) I had melanoma in my foot and my dermatologist would probably kill me if I showed up with tan lines. 2) I get really bad sun blisters on my lips. I managed to come home with just a slight tan but my lips however are another story! Instead of the usual big blister on one side of my top lip, I ended up with loooots of tiny little bumps all over my top and bottom lips!! Ahhhh!!

So...if you are prone to cold sores, I have a few tips I'd like to share. When I feel a cold sore coming on I take 2 L-Lysine pills (can be found in any drug-store) per day. It's a natural amino acid that promotes healthy collagen. Abreva, although very expensive, is the only cold sore medicine that gets rids of the problem fastest. Campho-Phenique is another pretty good alternative if you have time to let the blister run it's course. However, Abreva did not work this time for me. I think because it was from the sun and not from a change in weather, my normal methods didn't work. My lips were really itchy and dry and the Abreva made them even drier. To make a long story even longer, I tried Aquaphor -- which is actually the jelly that my doctor gave me after my foot surgery to keep my wound nice and moisturized. It sealed in moisture and my lips are back on track...thankfully...

I'll spare you photos of my busted lip and instead share with you a couple photos of the beautiful sunset on Anna Maria Island....



Thursday, April 1, 2010

Crazy Weekend!

This past weekend I ventured north for 3 photoshoots! I was so crazy busy that I literally had to schedule sleep! My journey began on Friday at 6:00 am...I had an early flight to Connecticut and as soon as I landed I sprinted to Hertz to get my rental car. I then drove to Milford, which is about an hour away.

The first photoshoot was awesome! Jen was looking to update her publicity photos and wanted some natural shots. Although it was cold, we went to 3 locations, including the beach. The clouds in the sky were really cool that day...streaks of white against extreme blue. I had to take a photo of it!

I left Jen and headed up to Waterbury to go to a Hibachi restaurant for my brother-in-law's birthday. It was awesome! Can't beat beer and wine, sushi, salad, soup, hibachi shrimp, and fried ice-cream for $35 (including tip!)

Saturday morning I had breakfast with my mom before she had to go to work and I had to travel onto my next photoshoot in NYC. I've photographed Marcella's wedding and separate reception so when she asked if I'd photograph her 2 baby showers I was thrilled! The first baby shower was in Brooklyn and it was unlike any baby shower I'd ever attended! It was held at Poppa's Place (Formerly Red Bamboo) and there must have been over 90 people at one time. The food was great (buffalo chicken wings and coconut shrimp were to die for!)!

After I snapped my last photo, I headed back to CT to hang out with another sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. On the way back from NYC I stopped and picked up a pizza from Vito's in Wolcott. After all, I'm not sure when the next time I'd be able to get it!! It was DELICIOUS!!!

I woke up early on Sunday and met my sister Jackie and niece Amanda out for breakfast. Although it was a quick visit it was awesome to catch up! Before the next baby shower, I stopped by my mom's to say goodbye and then headed to Naugatuck to check out Jessy's dad and his fiance's new business location. It's TLC Homecare LLC and they service the elderly, new mothers, recently injured, and also have a home-cleaning service as well. I'm so excited for their new storefront. It's in a great location with lots of traffic.

The final photo shoot of the weekend was really nice. It was different from the party the day before, but it was anything but traditional. Again, the food was outstanding! From fried cheese balls, to fruit salad, lasagna, meatballs, chicken wings, etc., I was a happy camper! The house was filled with love and of course, awesome music! They even hired someone to play the congas!

You'd think my weekend was over by this point, but I still had one stop to make. I met my friend (and fellow photographer, from Impressions Studio) Cindy out in New Haven at Ivy Noodle. They had some awesome noodle dishes for realllly cheap! While we were chatting and going over photography ideas I got an email from US Airways telling me my flight was delayed for almost and hour. I thought, pretty cool, now I don't have to rush. About 15 minutes later, I got another email telling me my flight was back on for 7:00! Ahhhhh! I had to rush out of there, drive from New Haven to Hartford in the rain, stop and get gas, and return the rental car. I made it just as they started boarding! We boarded on time, but the plane was delayed on the runway for 25 minutes. Once we were in the air I started editing the weekend's photos and right at the time we were originally supposed to land, the pilot let us know that we're in a holding pattern for at least another hour! Apparently there were crazy thunder and lightening storms plus a possible tornado watch in Charlotte! The good news is, we had enough gas to hold us over, I edited almost alllll of the photos, and we landed safely at 10:30 pm. I did see some lightening as we landed which is pretty scary from a plane!

What a whirlwind weekend! I needed sooo much sleep over the next few days and I'm just now back to my usual self! I had such a great time photographing beautiful events and getting to catch up with some family and friends! Below is a photo from Friday at the beach. I'll be uploading some photos from the other events next week.