Orange Beach! Work-ation

Like a lot of people I know, the beach is one of my favorite places to be at. Total relaxation! I didn't think it was in the cards for us to go this year. I had already mentally hung that idea back up and figured next summer would be our time to go.... But Brent surprised me and had been secretly planning a 5 day get away for just the two of us!! The 2 Little P's would be staying back home in good ole West Monroe. I couldn't believe it!!! So excited!!! (BIG thank you to our families for helping this happen)
  You see, I just got a brand new job with Ouachita Parish as an Itinerate Talented Art Teacher. Yes- you read that correctly- I am going to be an Art Teacher. I still do not know what all schools I will be traveling to or if the kids will be in elem, middle or high school or All of the three. All I know is that I'm signed up to go to some new teacher orientation classes and school starts Aug 11th. I'm nervous, excited, and really want to be a great teacher to my kids. Paula Furlow (she is a friend, fellow artist, and my high school art teacher), has been encouraging me to apply for her job for the last 2-3 years. Now that I have children, I realize how wonderful a teaching job will be with them. I have been truly self employed since 2005 and I'm now really looking forward to working for someone else.
  That being said- the hubs realized that I needed some time to get away and work on all of our tshirt designs for Fall. Yes- we will still have Mr P's Tees. This means that our #1 employee will have to do more and if we end up having to hire her some help, we will.
   So off we went- Alabama here we come. First stop Cuco's in Hattiesburg. I miss this place so much back home.

It was a ghost town there (although we were arrived in the middle of the afternoon). We chatted with the owner and he said he always had folks from Monroe stop in on their way to the beach. Food was pretty good. Brent was horrified I was making him eat there. Not on the top of his list. I won't be surprised if the next time we come through, it is closed. I think part of the reason I love that place is all the fun memories I had eating there with friends in high school. It was our go-to birthday spot!
  We got to the beach later than we had wanted, but that was ok. I immediately got to work on some drawings. I had made a whole big list of custom orders people wanted and designs we wanted for Fall. I've never drawn so much in 5 days!! One single design can literally take at least 2 hours of true drawing.

It was rainy and overcast a good part of our trip. One morning, we laid around and watched Anaconda.

It was soooo bad, it was good-you know what Im talking about??!?. Poor JLo CAN-NOT ACT and the special effects on the snake were hideous but I couldn't stop watching it. Lol. We would never have time to watch a movie at home like this. So nice!!
  I got to do some jogging while I was there.

A group of us our training to run the Dirty South Half Marathon in WM in Oct. Our group is called The Jackalopes. Sweet group of encouraging women helping women. (Men are invited to, but we just don't have any). Nice not to have any drama out of these girls. Feel free to come run with us. It's free and we have all different levels. No Olympic Athletes here. ;). I worked on a cute design for the group.

Drawing it out...

Brent got to play a bunch of disc golf too.

He loves that sport so much.

It is tough to do!!

I worked on a funny "monkey basket" design for him.

I had to get him to pose on the balcony holding a disc....

(Notice the similarity between he and the monkey??! hahahah-just kidding hubs)

Another sketch of a monkey 

And then Brent in position

All for the sake of art-right??  Hehehe. monkey see, monkey do. ;)
  We picked up To go from Larigues (www.lartiguesseafood.com) one night.

Wow!! Best shrimp and crab claws I've ever eaten.

FRESH FRESH FRESH

This place was recommended to us from a couple (Gigi and Tommy Mosley) we met on the beach. Thank u!! Can't believe I've never heard of this place before. We also ate at The Steamer

one night at the recommendation of our umbrella guy. It did not compare to Lartigues. Not as fresh. We left feeling disappointed and still hungry. Got the kids some basics like jeans and pants from the Outlet mall in Foley. That is always good.
Overall, 18 designs were created. I sketched on the beach, I sketched on the balcony, I sketched wherever I could...

We got a bunch of little things ordered for Mr P's (like cloth camo logo hats) and some sweatshirt samples for fall/winter to see what we liked.
 My fav design created was "Duck Taylor".

You may of already saw his pic on our Instagram.

It Brent's idea! So funny!

Well, back to reality....we plan on having some type of online special for our 2 year anniversary in Aug.  We are also planning a little trunk show at Rodeo Boutique in Ruston on Friday Sept 12 (evening) and Sat Sept 13th (all day). More info to come on this. Also- you may want to check our their new blog ( www.therodeoblog.com). We also signed up for two booths at Cedartown at the Ruston Civic Center in November. Can't wait to visit with all of our Ruston Fans!!!

Thanks for reading and a big Happy Early birthday to Brent
Love
Lissy

On a random note, I had never used a toaster until this past week... (I know, Crazy!), and let me tell you, I am hooked!! Toasted ham sandwiches are better than not toasted. hahaha