Stick a Fork In Me..I'm DONE!

For three weeks in June I have been to San Diego, New Orleans, San Luis Obispo, and Seal Beach.

All fun trips, but really close together. I had just enough time to pull my studio together, photograph, and post it between trips. I was pooped and am ready to stay home for the month of July!

Thought I'd share some pics of New Orleans. I got to accompany Steve on his business trip. We were booked at The Inn on Bourbon Street that  was originally the site of The French Opera House  in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

The Lobby.

Our room.

Whilst Steve was in meetings all day, I wandered the streets by myself. When he'd get an afternoon off, we tootled through the French Quarter together. It was hot and humid, but with bottled water in hand and frequent forays into air-conditioned shops, it was tolerable.

The Riverwalk along the Mississippi...

Gorgeous architecture!

Lunched here at Huck Finn's. Steve and I split a Muffaletta...a sandwich that's famous in New Orleans.

Also famous in New Orleans is the Hurricane (a popular fruit punch drink), so we imbibed at a well-known bar and grill, Pat O'Brien's.It was set in a beautiful courtyard with a huge fountain in the middle.

Street performers were everywhere...and constantly was the sound of dixie jazz playing, which added to the charming ambiance of the French Quarter!

Of course, we took in the night life...this is on our way back from dinner.

And watched the rest from the balcony of our hotel..

One morning we wandered down to Cafe Beignets to try out the popular pastry.

I didn't care for it..to me it tasted like fried dough (which it pretty much is). It's a wonderful vehicle, tho, in which to eat powdered sugar!! lol...:-)

Steve and I like to try the local food wherever we are..and in New Orleans it was a new culinary experience. Most everything is fried. We had Fried Green Tomatoes with shrimp (yum)!, Jambalaya (yum), Boudin Balls (ewe), and Alligator Sausage (ewe).

One of the highlights of our trip was our visit to Ernst Cafe (our name-sake!)

Here  are my intials in tile in the front entrance. The waitresses were so kind to us..gave us plastic cups to take home --look for them in an up coming tablescape! ;-) -- and we bought T-Shirts for a future family portrait.

There is no relation to us...it was just so fun to see our name 'up in lights' so to speak! :-)

So that was our trip to New Orleans...next stop~ San Luis Obispo, California.

P.S. Thank you for all your sweet comments about my little studio, I'm away from a computer when I travel, so I was so delighted to read them when I returned. I'm hoping to visit all of your studios soon!!

Have a lovely day!

Where This Blogger Creates..

  Welcome to Where Bloggers Create~hosted by the lovely and talented Karen Valentine of

My Desert Cottage! I am joining hundreds of other bloggers in giving a tour of my studio. Be sure to check Karen's blog for all the other fabulous tours as well. Be sure to have a big glass of iced tea with ya! ;-)

"Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble. It is the beauty of things unconventional."

That quote resonated with me when I first read it several years ago. It helped free me up from striving to be perfect. And my studio is a perfect example of Wabi-sabi!! ;-)

So here's the entry to my studio. It sits on the side of our house in the backyard..

Steve planted a window box for me and I set in a 'border' of broken dishes...

Here is the view when you open the door..

 The view outside from where I sit..the wonderfully fragrant jasmine wafts through the window!

All the items I have for storage I've bought from garage sales and thrift stores, plus gifts that friends have given me. This vintage shoe holder is a garage sale find..

I used clothes pins (thrift store find) as labels..

I had 'mosaic-ed' this tool box years ago with images of dishes, cut them in assorted shapes and decoupaged them onto the box. It used to hold  pretty luncheon dishes in my kitchen. Now it holds cute files I found at Tuesday Morning.. :-)

Close-ups of some goodies!

Inspirational vignette..I made the magnet board by spray painting a cheap tray~drilled a couple of holes in the top and thread wire thru it. Made magnets out of Scrabble tile and decoupaged flat marbles..

Picture of our kids when they were in high school/college above the shelf of boxes..

Sentiments that mean so much to me...

...as does this picture! ;-)

Also special to me is the black and white pic of Courtney as a little girl..my muse! And picture of my mom and dad with baby Courtney. How I miss my mom...

As you can see, I label EVERYTHING! When I set out to decorate this studio, I just grabbed whatever I had to use as storage. This plant stand worked perfectly to hold various containers within an arms reach.

I like to do small, detail work. This sugar bowl works perfectly to hold small paper clippings that I toss in there as I'm working. Then when it's full, I just throw the whole thing out.

This was a CD holder I picked up at a garage sale..turned it on it's side and hung it above the window. It now houses small boxes..

Inspiration Board..seems like every studio I see has one!

 

This quote is so true for me!! :-)

 

Another funny little thrift store find!

And this is my version of a "keep out" sign. I made it for those times I want to be left alone to dream and create...or secretly making something for a member of the family!

So that's the tour of my studio. It's a humble little abode, and I don't expect I'll ever win any awards for it, but it's a fun place for me, and I'm grateful I have a small place to call a studio!

Thank you, Karen, for being a wonderful hostess and may God bless you! Hope you get some much needed rest after all the hard work you've put into this wonderful Blog Party!

"Always leave enough room in your life to do something that makes you

happy, satisfied, or even joyous."

Author Unknown

Hiya!

Just thought I'd pop in and say a quick 'HI'!! I've been comin' and goin' and will have lots to share in the coming weeks....

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the lovely Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage

is hosting her second Where Blogger's Create party. It's become a really big deal this year, with almost 500 participants, plus Jo Packham of Where Women Create magazine is offering several wonderful prizes!

I'm using this opportunity to join in the fun to motivate me to get my studio in order. By no means do I expect to win anything as it's a simple little studio. But I've had several people email me asking to see it, so I thought this would be a good time to show it!

See ya Friday!!

"Be yourself, no one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong."

(Author Unknown)