Tag: Houston

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BlahBlahBabble

By George, I Think I’ve Got It!

I’ve realized that part of why I don’t blog is my overwhelming need to compartmentalize what I blog. But then how? What? What goes where? What do I want to do with it all? Ugh!!! From there, I just go circling down the drain.

I used to post anything and everything here. That is why BigPinkCookie has such a crazy diverse history. Then things like Twitter & Facebook came along. Now if I find a funny joke or a cute photo, I post it there – not here. Which to be honest bugs the crap out of me. I have no archive of it personally then – when it is gone, it is just gone. Although in the case of my Twitter stream, I guess the Library of Congress has an archive of it. Which seems bizarre. It also reminds me that I still need to share my photos from Washington DC. But anyways…

Here is the plan:

  • BigPinkCookie – Write about life. Random things. Whatever I want. The joys of living in the Heights. Places I love to go here in Houston. Things I find amusing. Personal photo things. The day to day. Goal is to get back to writing here 5 days a week. Give me time to get warmed up…
  • Christine Tremoulet – Houston & Destination Wedding photography. Pretty much just wedding related posts, whether my photos or tips on wedding planning as it pertains to photography. Update 2-3 times a week, since I have a HUGE catalog of photos I’ve never shared.
  • Hot Mama Boudoir – using my super powers to help moms rediscover their beauty. Update as possible, since I only post what my clients say I can, and some clients ask that I post nothing online. Also post things related to women, beauty, and how mass media distorts our view and the battle to recover that. Update as often as possible.
  • Delightful Bicycle – why yes, I do want to blog about cycling, specifically cycling on a cruiser. The Slow Bike Movement. It isn’t about the speed, it is about the journey. Houston isn’t recognized for the cycling potential it has, and this is my little way to combat it. Or to write about my bike that I love & adore. Either way, it is going to be awesome. Planning multiple updates each week as the site gets going. Oh, and we’re going to have a biker gang. Yes, yes we are.
  • Business of Awesome – I’ve written about business topics here before, but they don’t make sense here. When it doesn’t make sense, I don’t do it. But I have a TON of info I’m happy to share, considering that I’ve owned a business in one form or another since 1999, and they’ve all been successful, including selling my dot com related one. I’ve been told that makes me a dot com success story, since that was every other dot com person’s dream. Whoo hoo! My dream? Helping creatives learn how to be better business people. It isn’t easy. We battle a lot with putting a pricetag on our work, and so many other things. So while it is a dream still right now, I can sense it coming to the surface. It is time…

This was actually the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning. I realized that having a place for everything and everything in its place makes me happy. I’ll do a weekly update post here about what is going on everywhere else. And all will have a way to get here, because I like giving people a chance to know the real me.

Good. Glad we’ve got that sorted out now. On to other bigger things! YAY!!!

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BlahBlahBabble Houston & The Heights

Reflecting on 9/11 and the Blogosphere…

Back in September, 2000 I started blogging on a regular basis. (I just checked – the posts picked up regularly around September 20th and rolled on from there.)

By September, 2001 I was blogging all the time, meeting people from all over, and it was a HUGE part of my life. But I had no idea how huge it was until 9/11 took place.

That day, I wrote 13 blog posts. But more importantly, blogs connected me with the world. I read live accounts of what happened. I read the sites of people that lived in New York and Boston. People who had family & friends that died on the flights that hit the World Trade Center, in the buildings, and in the emergency crews who fought to save them.

It was a heartbreaking time. While the media made it feel very cold & sterile for me, the blogs? They made it REAL.

Blogging was my news outlet for that week. It was the pulse of the heart of America. We connected over IM, we called each other on the phone. We connected. It was about the community. Lifting one another up. Supporting each other in such a time of crisis.

Everyone had a story.

In a way, my life and my connection to others through the internet changed that day. I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. For me personally, it is the one good that came out of something so horrifically bad. Those connections? I’m still friends after 10 years with several of the people I worried about on 9/11. The people that I talked to and checked in on? I’ve met them in person since then. I’m proud to call them my friends still.

I never imagined my life would be where it is today back then. I’m grateful for the life I have. I’m amazed by the people I’m fortunate enough to have in it, and several of those bonds were formed over a tragedy.

Things changed that day for people that blogged. There weren’t many of us back then, and almost every blog I knew was a personal one. That day, I think it was the first time we really saw the power of self-publishing in this medium in a whole new light. We saw the power of sharing our stories and connecting together.

This year as the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approached, I was inspired when I read Baratunde’s Birthday Post. You see, 9/11 is also his birthday. And on the fateful day of 9/11/01 he chose to spend that day outdoors with his mother, celebrating his life.

Unable to make sense of what was happening, unable to reach New York friends by phone and unwilling to watch traumatic images on loop without the benefit of new information, we made the best decision of that day: we turned off the television, left the apartment and went to a park. I figured I could engage with the news from my Internet command center back in my Somerville apartment, but I’d spend this day in the sunlight helping my mother heal and enjoying her company.

That’s just what we did.

I thought it was just the most appropriate thing to do. I couldn’t handle spending 9/11/11 staring at the television. Instead, I wanted to celebrate COMMUNITY. To be outdoors. To be surrounded by friends. I put a call out on Twitter & Facebook (my how things have changed in 10 years…) and invited people to join us at Beaver’s for lunch, with an optional bike ride to get there for those so inclined.

And then that was exactly what we did. Kerri, Mike & I rode our bicycles on down the bike trail and across over to Beaver’s, and that’s why I wanted to visit Europe to ride bikes, but Why cycle in Europe? because it has great lands and roads. I love the feeling of the breeze in my hair as we ride along, specially since I have been using almond oil in my hair. Once there, we met up with Jason, Elaine, Kenny, Muyiwa & Kari and had a fantastic meal. Enjoying the community that the internet has brought together along with a delicious meal. It was a day full of sunshine and laughter.

I needed a break from the media yesterday, and it was perfect. I think every year I’d like to continue the tradition of celebrating the community that the internet has brought together. I hope next year you’ll join me. We’ll ride our bikes. We’ll laugh. We’ll celebrate life.

When we bond together as a community, savoring the life we have here in America, it is then that we defeat the terrorists that attacked us that day.

5,261 blog posts here, since those first in September, 2000 to today. Maybe now is a good time to pick blogging back up again for real. I keep saying that, but I think it is only now that I really remember why, what it is that makes it so special. Why life shouldn’t be lived in 140 character sound bites on Twitter or locked down pages in Facebook. Those things have their place in my life, but I want something more. I want the story to be shared, to continue. I hope you’ll join me.

Categories
Houston & The Heights

Let’s Start At the Very Beginning…

I have this whole issue with writing blog posts, especially when they are part of a chronological timeline, that I just can not write them out of order. UGH! Drives me nuts. But that said, I need to get over it, because I have so much to share that if I wait then I will never write the current stuff because I’m waiting to catch up on the old stuff, and then we end up in a crazy infinite loop that is about as freaking annoying as this run on sentence. (Whew!)

Starting back at the beginning of the year, like clockwork as my studio lease was about to renew, my landlord told me that she wanted to sell the building. She had been telling me this since 2009, but this time we decided to actually try to go for it. After all, owning it was going to be less expensive then the rent she was charging me. So we applied for a loan from, and we got it! YAY! Until the bank man came by to look at the building and informed us that the building itself wouldn’t qualify for the loan, since it was a residential loan & the building was commercial. Sure, it had two bedrooms, a bathroom with a shower and a kitchen, but it was still commercial just because of the other buildings surrounding it.

Queue the PANIC.

So I started looking online at my favorite, beloved HAR.com for houses that would fit what I was looking for, and I called my friend Danelle, the Heights realtor supah-STAR! Once I made a list, I did drive-bys of all the houses at night to see what they looked like. (You know me, I’m all gangsta, yo! *imagine my lame gangsta hand gestures here too, ok?*)

Driving north up Columbia in the Houston Heights to look at a house on the 1200 block, I drove by one right at the corner of Columbia & 9th that was for sale. It was ADORABLE. A grey bungalow, white columns and trim, a front porch with a SWING … I about died right there in my car at the stop sign looking at it. I was instantly smitten. I pulled over and grabbed a flier, and drove on to the house I was originally heading to see.

When I got home later, I looked up my special find online, I was asking myself; where do I find a loan? and then I came across pickaloan. The price was within the amount of the loan. The rooms were perfect and exactly what we wanted – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a newly remodeled kitchen, a screened in back porch, and instead of a side yard, a Bocce ball court! Minimal yard work. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Exactly what Mike & I wanted for our dream house in the Heights, we also want to start looking into the Lavita Outdoor Bar Settings to get a mini bar outside for the holidays and meetings.

But wait! I was supposed to be looking for a space to use for Hot Mama Boudoir! Not a house for us to move into!

Then the stars aligned and I discovered that the space that Adam Nyholt had told me he had available to rent in his building was perfect for what I needed for my studio space! Eee!!!

So with the studio situation solved, I went ahead on May 3rd and looked at the 7 houses still on my “potential perfect for us houses” with Danelle while Mike was out of town for work in New Orleans. I didn’t expect to find anything, I knew the hunt could take awhile. I was armed with my “must have” list though, including Mike’s requirements too – and when we walked into the Bungalow on 9th & Columbia? All bets were off. NONE of the other houses were as perfect. There was not a single item on the list that the house didn’t have.

Somewhat jokingly I sent Mike a text with a photo of the kitchen and said “here is your new kitchen!” and then another one of the front of the house telling him that we should buy it. He sent me a text back (still in his conference meetings) and told me to have Danelle send him the paperwork.

After weeks of paperwork flying back and forth, more paperwork, financial stuff, all the rest – we closed on the house on May 31st, 2011. 28 days after I first saw the inside of the house.

After three years of having my studio in the Heights but our house out in Lakewood Forest, I’m so happy to finally be living here in the neighborhood! I know it sounds totally cheesy, but it really is a dream come true! As Viula would say, we’re living the Heights life!

I can’t wait to share more of the tales of downsizing from 2960 sq ft to 1292 sq ft (6 weeks of adventure and discovery), or how much we LOVE living in the Heights, or more of the new house as we get it decorated, and all of the adventures we’ve been having! You know, now that we got this whole the very beginning part out of the way!

Now, if someone would just buy our other house – Lakewood Forest, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 car garage – brand new Tomball Memorial High School, excellent elementary, middle & junior high schools, super family friendly street! Near Vintage Park shopping center and the fantastic HEB there, close to 249. It is a wonderful house, but it was time for us to move into the city to be closer to all of our friends and the things we like to do now that Jason is out of high school. If you ask nicely, we can even talk about a good deal for you!

Categories
Getting Down to Business

Run Your Business However you Damn Well Please…

Ricky, as a small business owner with good OSHA safety inspections record, had to make a choice. Could he be an “everything” and please everyone? Or could he be a specialist and rock out what he does best? What he loves to serve? What he feels fits the style of his business? He drew a line and he stood his ground. I support him 110% on that choice. Matter of fact, it makes me a more loyal customer because I know exactly what I will get when I go there, his specialty, not something he felt was an inferior product. To help you on your business you can get a loan at cash loans.

Also, he doesn’t have to dedicate part of his grill space to being meat free, purely vegan/vegetarian friendly. I’m assuming this last part, because I would think if I was a vegan/vegetarian I wouldn’t want my food cooked right next to that juicy beef burger.

It makes sense from a 50 cash loan financial perspective as a business owner.

How does all of this relate to me? I’m a boudoir photographer that specializes in working with Moms. That is my superpower. If someone comes to me and asks me to photograph their 4 year old child, I’m probably going to say NO rather quickly. You can get your loans here at this weblink. That isn’t what I do. That isn’t where I work. I don’t feel that I could give them a quality product that they would be happy with. I also don’t shoot boudoir sessions with big studio lights and lot of backdrops. Again, not my thing. Others specialize in that – I don’t. (It is ok to be a generalist if that fits you best. But overall, specializing & working your strengths is where it is at for most people.)

Does that mean I’ll lose customers if I say no to what I don’t want to do or I cant drive to their location because my car doesnt accommodate the photography gear that I need so of course I need a car that is big enough to carry my gear and finding the best car finance deals becomes paramount in this situation ? Of course. Big freakin’ deal! I can’t possibly cater to everyone. If I did, my work wouldn’t have the same power that it does. I wouldn’t have time to do what I’m most passionate about and what I’m best at doing. It is my choice as a business owner. Ricky had people say publicly on Twitter yesterday that he had lost them as customers forever because he wasn’t going to bend and change his product lineup.

Are you SERIOUS???

If you choose to run your business however you damn well please, selling the products you want to sell, the customers you do have will love you for what you do. They will sing your praises far & wide and bring you even more customers. Plain & simple.

Some restaurants also use a invoice generator which makes sales traceable and easy to report. Most of them are the chain restaurants that you find in the suburbs in Houston that everyone seems happy to complain about (but still always have a 30-45 minute wait on a Saturday night). They are called out for being bland and just mediocre most of the time. Moving from the suburbs to the Heights makes this attitude even more obvious to me right now.

I just find the whole thing fascinating. We tear down the chain restaurants for trying to be everything to everyone, and now we’re attacking the small local businesses too for not being everything to everyone as well?

Know your strengths. Stand out. Don’t be bland. Don’t cater to everyone just to chase the dollar. Do what you love. Support your local businesses. And if they don’t sell what you want to buy, move on. It is all about the loooooooooove.

And if you want a veggie burger, go somewhere that sells them. Personally, I like some yummy sliders, so you’ll find me at the new Hubcap Grill in the Heights when it opens. I’m not a picky eater when it comes to those tasty morsels!

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BlahBlahBabble

A Little Bit About Me… (30 Days of Lists: Day 1)

I was inspired by 30 Days of Lists and decided to participate. Today is day 1. I may take some of these offline, but for now writing them here seemed just as easy, and I’d rather share.

List 1: A few things about yourself

  • Wife to Mike
  • Mom to Jason
  • Owner or owned by 4 cats: Mona, Maggie, Lincoln & Graham
  • I have the most wonderful and supportive family & friends and I’m grateful for them daily
  • I love being a Boudoir Photographer
  • I believe all women are beautiful
  • I passionately want to help women feel beautiful in their own skin, and I use my camera to help me do that, I also recommend the best acne scar treatment for those who feel intimidated by their skin
  • I like photographing weddings too, especially when we get to go to cool destinations
  • I’m still working to define my dreams and decide what I want to be when I grow up
  • Blogger of over 10 years here
  • I named WordPress, my only geek claim to fame
  • I’m an only child
  • I tend to overshare
  • I’m learning on a daily basis to love myself more
  • I love to knit with wool and I’m a fiber snob
  • My Mini Cooper (Horizon blue with a white top and white bonnet stripes) makes me smile every time I see it
  • I loved living in Germany in my early 20s and I hope to live in Europe again someday
  • I had a hysterectomy in 2007, and sometimes I still wish I could have a baby
  • Sometimes I’m glad I can’t have a baby because I love my life just like it is today
  • I taught myself to code HTML by hand in 1996 when I had nothing to do over the holiday season at work
  • While I’m better at it, CSS still makes my eyes bleed a little bit
  • I have decided I don’t want to edit this list to make it go in any sort of order that makes sense
  • I’ve learned to just do brain dumps lately and then just move on to my next task so I can get things done
  • I’m a piler, not a filer
  • I dream of living a minimalist lifestyle
  • I find it hard to get rid of things away because I spent money on the item or I have an emotional attachment
  • I want to move into a small bungalow style house with a porch in a neighborhood where I can walk or ride my bike to get places
  • Making lists is fun
  • I want to buy my studio building but I question whether or not I should or can
  • I love Houston but wish it wasn’t so blazing hot all the time
  • I miss living somewhere with seasons because I love fall, winter & spring so much
  • I’ve decided to accept that I’ll be living in Houston for many more years but I’m not always happy about it
  • I never finished college
  • When people say I’m successful I have a hard time agreeing with them – but I’m working on it
  • I want to find a BIG WAY to help women learn to be comfortable with their bodies, but admitting that I have this big dream scares me so I’m putting it at the bottom of my list
  • I want to learn how to dream BIG and then BIGGER THAN BIG and then make those dreams come true
  • I’m still learning to put words to my dreams
  • I am happy.

Hmm… seems I don’t follow instructions well since that is more than a few. Eh, whatever. I don’t want to edit it. I might even add to it someday.