A Southern Accent

There are some days I am really glad I no longer have credit cards, and there are some days I really wish I could whip one out and charge until the guilt sets in. When the Boden catalog comes, I definitely have mixed feelings. *Now in US sizes! Love that because the UK sizes always seem to run small to me! Boden Spring 2010

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my neighbor has taught me a lot about photography, which is currently his side-business. I recently helped him create a site to show his awesome work , in return for a guest post on my blog to share more of his photography wisdom. Hope you enjoy! Image Scott Snider Photograhy Wendy was kind enough to let me “guest post” on her blog about photography. I use digital gear for portrait and event photography. With digital SLR’s like the Canon Rebel dropping steadily in price, more people have access to amazing imaging machines with more features you could ever use. Even digital point-and-shoots boast more bells and whistles than high-end film cameras of old. Trouble is, as complex and powerful as these cameras have become, many people don’t know simple rules for taking better pictures. So, here are some ideas to quickly improve your photographs, regardless of what camera you use: 1) Taking digital pictures is free! Take a lot of pictures. You...

Snowy Cincinnati...view from my hotel Comfy bed On a conference call Forgot my workout stuff and shoes to go with my dress for awards dinner tonight! Oh Well!

Thank you for your interest in partnering with A Southern Accent. I've been blogging for more than four years and have a great group of readers with which I've established wonderful relationships and true friendships. I named my blog A Southern Accent to not only represent the way I talk, but to represent my love for the southern pace of living and the unique style that represents life in the south. Topics covered on my blog include: Parenting Southern Culture Working Decorating DIY projects and tutorials Fashion Photography Pop Culture Travel Local features (Durham / Chapel Hill / North Carolina) ...and anything else that may pop in my head on a particular day! Readership: My readership is mostly females, from 20 to 75! I get readers from all over the country, and some from other areas of the world as well.  Currently I have around 20,000 total pages views a month - and growing every day! If you're a local Durham or Chapel Hill business, I also love to...

Hey yall! Happy Friday! I don't have much time because I am SLAMMED at work, but I wanted to share this adorable idea for a valentine shaped like an iPOD! A friend at work showed it to me and I think it is awesome! Makes me totally want to make this! It's basically construction paper wrapped around a conversation heart box, then all of the other pieces are glued on. The text is just printed out and cut. The string is basic utility string glued to two Reese cups! I wish everyone a happy, loving and blessed valentine's day! I'm off to Cincinnati next week for our annual sales meeting, so hopefully I'll have some fun stories to tell and pictures to share! Not looking forward to going to where it is even colder than it is here, but it will be fun!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll remember I participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer last year in Washington, DC and had a wonderful and meaningful experience. I am lucky to be part of a group of women called the Pink Pacers and we have raised more than $111,000 for breast cancer research through the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. We recently made a decision to start doing more in our local community because we wanted to better see the results of our work and make an immediate impact close to home. The local opportunity came to us through an organization called Get REAL & HEEL . The Get REAL & HEEL program is an after care breast cancer program that helps women regain their well-being and quality of life after breast cancer treatment. The program improves physical and psychosocial well-being by delivering five months of exercise and recreation therapy all at no cost to the participants. Get REAL & HEEL develops an individualized ...

I got a great response from the last Canon tips blog entry and thank you to everyone that commented! (I love getting comments, they make me smile!) I have several photographers working on some future guest posts for this series, so look for those soon, but today I'm going to talk a little about editing. Most, if not all, of the photos you see from professional photographers have been manipulated by what are called Photoshop Actions. These are mostly custom, sometimes purchased actions that make photos look pretty much however you want them to look. You can sharpen images, adjust colors, convert to black and white, add or adjust shading, take off 10 lbs, smooth baby skin...the options are endless. You've probably heard about Photoshop, and LightRoom and tons of different photo editing software packages, and some can get pretty pricey. I am lucky enough to have copies of several packages on my computer, but when I'm quick editing, I use the Microsoft Picture Editor, which...

It only took two years, but my two little kiddos are finally getting along. Now if I could just get my little Lucy to stop chewing on my furniture, life would be a dream.

The two winners of the Etsy prints are:  Kelly at Carty Party of Three (Sunshine Print) and Shannon at My New Sweet Carolina ! Congrats gals! Please e-mail me and I'll give you directions on how to claim your prize! Also, just to put a little plug in there for me - I've got a new southern quote print in the shop! Check it out here!

Seven inches of snow. Three days off the road. Zero hot chocolate left in the cupboard. One trip to the grocery on foot. Two pets that want the house back to themselves. Gloves on, gloves off, gloves on, gloves off. Lose count. Infinite laughs. One  happy little guy.