Ursula Page Photography Blog

I can hardly believe that August is more than halfway over and my kids have almost finished three weeks of school already. It was so nice to get back into a routine and have a little bit more free time to get things accomplished. I would love to say that my house is cleaner but unfortunately it looks like we just moved in due to all the boxes and stuff everywhere that is ready to move into the studio. It is a total mess but I keep trying to tell myself that soon things will be back to normal.

I have had a lot of people ask about the studio so I thought I would give an update. The progress has been much slower than I would have liked due to many of the joists in the building that needed to be replaced. When the contractors removed the crumbling sub-floor, they found an amazing and thick hardwood floor. But, underneath that was a bunch of crumbling joists that had to be replaced and they had to crawl under the building to do so and that is one tiny space. So, that alone set us back over a week and it pretty much through the budget into another category. I will say the floor is really sturdy now and it feels so solid. I love the floors! The new wall frame has been put up and all of the electrical and vent work is not only done but it passed inspection which is great. Today they are painting the bathroom and kitchen area so the tile can be put in. This replaces the two layers of really old and gross linoleum that used to be there (I actually scraped a bunch of that up myself). We are still hoping for the grand opening to be on Friday September 3rd if everything can get done on time. I love the fact that the new studio will allow so many more options – we can do studio and outdoor pictures all in one session which will give my clients a great variety. I will also be introducing a new baby plan that I have been wanting to implement for ages. This plan will begin when the studio doors open. I have also had some other ideas that clients have presented to me (I love it when y’all share ideas you would like to see) and some specials planned for the fall. More on all that later….

So, on to Friday Faves. I love sharing things that I love or new finds that I enjoy. So, my list for today includes:
1. One Cool Pick By One Cool Chick – this is a blog I found awhile back and the creator showcases fun and cool finds that she runs across. Sometimes the items are really cool and I want them for myself and sometimes they are just humorous and you wonder, that’s cool, but who would buy that?

2. Biscoff Cookies – You may not be familiar with the name of these cookies but you have probably tried them before if you ever took a Delta flight. These are served regularly while in flight and I fell in love with them years ago. These cookies are a cinnamon sugar type crunchy cookie with maybe a hint of ginger in it. YUM! I love them and you used to only be able to purchase them through their catalog but now you can find them in grocery stores such as Publix and Wal-Mart.

3. Urban Tallahassee – As you probably know from reading this blog, we moved here from a population 1+ million and since I miss the shopping, restaurants and stuff to do, we venture down to Tallahassee quite regularly. I always get excited when I see something new pop up here or there but I tend to miss all of the Tallhassee new openings until months later when I accidently pass by it or I hear about it from a friend. Well, that has now changed. I found this website which talks about all of the new things being built and opened in Tallahassee as well as dates and even restaurant reviews. You can read all about the new Publix being built next to the Books-A-Million on Thomasville Rd or the Chipotles opening this fall.

4. Google Calendar – When I switched to a smartphone a few years ago, I did so mainly because I needed a way to see my calendar from my phone and to be able to add things to it (OK, I love getting emails on the phone too). But, the question was what calendar to use. Someone suggested Google Calendar and I must say I love it. I prefer to view my calendar monthly so I can see what is coming up for the following weeks, but you can also view the calendar by the day or week. My favorite part of the calendar is that you can have many calendars on your main calendar and all are color coded. I have the following calendars on mine: personal, photo shoots, business other, kids sports, and kids appointments. I also have access to view and change things on my husband’s calendar. Last of all, I have access to read my parent’s calendar which came in really handy after my Dad had open heart surgery this past spring. You can hide or show each calendar which helps the calendar to not get too clogged up. It also sends me reminders of upcoming appointments and birthdays which is a nice feature. You do not need a phone to view Google calendar. I actually use the calendar much more on my desktop than on my phone. You can also search the calendar for entries or keywords which helps when I am wondering when my son’s next orthodontist appointment is.

That is it for today…thanks for stopping by!

Just this week I had a client ask when I was going to bring back the Friday Faves posts so I thought I would add it to the schedule for this week. I have not had the best week as it started with me stepping on two very large nails at the building (yes, after my husband warned me, but I was running after a kid) and I was in pain for days. It has been almost a week now and I am still hobbling around a bit. Next, I had a major technology failure last Sunday which literally brought me to tears. There are times I love technology and times that I completely despise it. This week it has not been my friend. And last of all, it has been a very busy work week with other appointments, meetings and errands filling any spare moments. On a positive note, the exterior changes to the building have been approved by the city and that will start next week. I have also met many of the contractors/subcontractors that will hopefully start work on the building soon so that is exciting. And…my best news of the day was that underneath the carpet there was a crumbling layer of subfloor and underneath that is some really thick hardwood floors! I am so excited that the floors will only need to be refinished instead of purchasing new flooring. Now we are just hoping the floor is in good shape everywhere. Fingers crossed here!

OK…on with today’s favorites. There are a bunch of things that I would like to feature, way too many to blog them all today so I thought I would just pick a few.

1. Motorola Droid – For years, all I had was a simple phone that I could call people from and they could call me. I did not text or have fancy rings. I started outgrowing my phone when my business started getting busier and I was getting calls for sessions while I was away from a desk and didn’t always have a pen or paper handy. So, I dove into smart phone waters and got myself a Blackberry. In comparison to my old phone, the Blackberry was great. I could get emails, get online and text all I wanted. I thought it was the best…until I saw how fast my family could look things up online and I saw all the cool apps on their iphones. I would love an iphone but unfortunately where we live does not have very good service for AT&T. So, I set out to find a new phone when my Blackberry died. My client Joy suggested the Motorola Droid and then I started researching the phones and I knew this was the right phone for me. I LOVE this phone as not only is it easy and fast, but I love all the extra apps and the fabulous touch screen. I could do a whole favorites post just on Droid apps I love, LOL! The Droid also has the navigate feature on it which is wonderful for people who often get lost (me) and whereas my Garmin takes 5-10 minutes to load the maps, the phone is instantaneous and it even says the directions out loud. If I am driving, I can even click one button and speak the address I want to go to and it will navigate me there without me having to ever look at the phone. Last of all, the Dora memory game has saved my sanity more than once when I need my three year old to be quiet

2. Nicholas Sparks Books – If you asked me what my favorite movie of all time is, I would have to say The Notebook. I adore a great romance and this was just perfect for me. So, I decided if I loved the movie so much, I would try the book. Well, the book wasnot that great and so I never read another one of his books. This summer, I started reading some (well, most) of his other books and I have really enjoyed them. Some of them have terrible endings but others end a little better. The book The Wedding was a surprise for me as it had Noah in it from The Notebook (Noah has a different fate in the book). So, if you like sappy romances and heartwarming stories, check out Nicholas Sparks books.

3. One Fresh Stir Fry – This place has to be one of my favorite places to eat in Tallahassee when I am on the go. You can mix and match ingredients to make your own stir fry/pasta dish/wrap/salad to be just as you want. I generally order the stir fry with brown rice and their sauces are amazing! The peanut sauce is my favorite but the teriyaki is a very close second and the ginger sauce is pretty good too. I like that I can eat a healthy yet delicious fast food entree and my kids always have the chicken nugget and tater tot option if they aren’t up for stir fry that day. My only complaint is that there is not one of these here in town.

4. Apple Ipad – So, this was my big splurge that I am not sure if I needed but I do indeed love it and it has come in so handy many times over. It started when I had a chance to play with my cousin’s ipad in Atlanta in May and it was so fast and easy. I love the fact that you push the button and turn it on and it is on. No start up times or waiting, even to get on to the internet. I love that I can check emails from my bed before heading off to sleep in a matter of minutes without needing power cords and again waiting for startups and shutdowns. The ipad photo gallery has been awesome to use in client meetings to give my clients options or chat about what kind of backdrops/locations/props/poses are available without the hassle of pulling up files. Last of all, I love that it fits in my purse and I can take it anywhere. The free iBooks app is amazing as well. Many classic books are free and you can purchase and download a new book in less than 30 seconds which came in very handy at the airport on my last trip once I realized I had run out of things to read.

I think that is it for today! Have a great weekend