Hey SGland!
@missy @rambo @eirenne
I'm so late writing this blog but it's been a crazy week! First, I had to unpack from my trip to NOLA...which was absolutely AMAZING! I'll elaborate more on that later ;) My birthday was on Wednesday and.....I am slightly sick :( No fever so that's good, but I think coming from really nice Louisiana weather back to cold Maryland weather....my body went into shock. But I'm not here to discuss my woes...I'm here to talk about my New Orleans trip!
So I'm going to be upfront about this......New Orleans was never on my list of places to go. Never on my bucket list. Not even a thought in my head. So what made me go? Well, I was looking around for any shootfests going on near me and I came across one for New Orleans (which is NOT near me and is in fact 2-3 hours flight time from me). I never really thought about going but something was telling me to think about it. It was happening in February (my birthday month) and was a time that I could go if I wanted to. I joined the group with a thought of maybe going. Then my best friend received a memory from Facebook that reminded her about going to the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana. "It's been 2 years, when are we gonna go?" she said. I'm a firm believer that if certain things pop up multiple times, it's a sign that maybe I should listen. In this case, I did. "Well, how about now?" I responded back to her. My friend isn't on here, but she knows what I do. I explained things to her and thought we could make a girl's/mom's trip out of it (she needed a break from being a new mom very badly). She was up for it, we got another friend to come along so I could go to the shootfest and she could hang out and do things in New Orleans and we packed our bags and headed to New Orleans!
So my best friend and I went together to Myrtles Plantation first. We would meet up with the other girl the next day. If you don't know about the Myrtles Plantation, I would look it up and watch a couple episodes of some ghost hunting tv shows...because it's on there! It's supposed to be one of the most haunted plantations in the US. We didn't stay in the main house as we were only staying one night and were trying to still watch some finances (being a hopeful...even a model in general isn't cheap!). The grounds of the plantation were beautiful and the staff very nice. We befriended a plantation cat, but didn't have any ghostly experiences (although I scared myself because I kept hearing the spring peepers, which are frogs, sing and when they stopped, I was sure it was a ghost walking the grounds). Is the place haunted? I still think it is. Either way, I highly recommend it! The first picture below is what the plantation is known for...a sort of haunted mirror. That's only one of the things they are known for however ;) The second picture is the front of the plantation house.
The next day we went back to the airport to pick up our friend and finally go to our hotel. We wanted to go out around town a bit and explore so we did. We thought about a burlesque show and found one that had a special Green Fairy absinthe burlesque show (and also some live jazz). It was a cute little one woman show and the girl was so cute, she reminded me of Ariel from the Little Mermaid. We had a fun time and the absinthe I had was really good and smooth. Below is a picture!
Thursday was the day of my shoot with Filicity. I was super excited! And nervous of course lol. I have to say that this was the first time I went out of state for a shootfest and one with a lot of other girls. There were so many beautiful babes there and they were all very nice! I unfortunately did not take any pictures to share here while at the shootfest, but you all will see them soon enough!!! Not just from me but from many of the other girls that were there! By the way, @filicity is super sweet and gorgeous as ever in person. She is very helpful and was fun to work with! I wanted to work with the other photographers as well who were there, @leemalee and @marysa as they are also both very talented and do beautiful work, but I knew that the trip was going to be a little bit of a hurt on me financially, so I had to be an adult and say well, there will be other opportunities and this will give me a chance to save up for the next shootfest trip to wherever it may be and hopefully I can work with them then! After the shoot, my friends and I had intentions to go to a club that had an 80s dance night. Well it turned out that their schedule had changed. Bummed, I looked around for another place that may have an 80s night....and I did! My best friend and I used to go to 80s nights at a local bar where we live and we always had a fun time. This place, One-eyed Jack's, was a place that hosted burlesque but was holding an 80s dance night as well! It was super fun and reminiscent of our days going to our local bar...but times 10! There were dancers and 80s movie clips playing....it was a great time!
Friday was our ghost tour and Museum of Death day. I forgot to point out that I had also wanted to see the Museum of Death one day (I still want to see the one in California) so again, all the stars aligned to say I should go to the NOLA shootfest! The Museum of Death was very interesting and I would say, not for the squeamish. It's a wonderful place if you are into serial killers, true crime and the life cycle of death in general. I am more into the serial killer and true crime bits myself lol. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibits, but we did get one just before you go through the curtain to see them. I recommend going if you are up to it! It's self guided so stay as long as you wish or can bear it!
Our ghost tour was also very awesome and we learned a lot about the haunted history of NOLA. Our tour guide was very entertaining and I also found some other places to visit next time I visit New Orleans (including another haunted hotel!). One thing that was unplanned on our trip that followed our ghost tour was a drag queen fashion show. We thought why not and can I say we had a lot of fun! The lovely queens asked who had a birthday in February, well I of course raised my hand not knowing what I was getting into. I got to go on a spinning barstool and was spun a few times (plus extra since I am so small and the stool was wobbling) and then received a shot of rum. These lovely queens put on a good show and had some good energy flowing. Here's our picture with them below
Saturday was a steamboat ride aboard the Steamboat Natchez. It was a fun trip and I wouldn't mind doing it again with a lunch or dinner cruise next time. Saturday was also our Krewe Du Vieux parade. Now I didn't know what to expect and a lady next to us while we were waiting informed us what usually happens at this particular parade. Lots of debauchery, sexual related floats. Now that's our kind of parade! We said we have no problem with that and that's our kind of parade! That also was a lot of fun and very entertaining. I would go back again for this particular parade! No beads but got a lot of little things like stickers. Below is a picture of the Steamboat Natchez we went on
Sunday we went on a voodoo tour. Our tour guide was a voodoo priest and was very informative about the religion. He was also very entertaining as well! I am a practicing pagan and could see many similarities between the two religions. We hit bourbon street a few times throughout the trip and this was our last night so I killed the night with a hand grenade drink....which was really good! There we are below in our mardi gras masks...acting like fools lol.
Monday was our day of departure. Back home to reality and being an adult. I can't stress enough about how much fun I had on this trip. As I said, New Orleans was never on my list of places to go to (in fact, all the places I want to go to are out of the US lol). Had it not been for the awesome job that @starphire and @sairyn did in putting the New Orleans shootfest together and making it happen, in conjunction with that Facebook memory popping up at the same time, I would have never gone. I can't be any more happier that this community is here and that I met some awesome ladies....even if it was for a few brief moments. I got to work with a photographer that I wanted to, and met some that I wanted to work with, but did not yet meet in person. One of the awesome ladies that was at the shootfest just recently turned pink! @bristole is now an official suicidegirl! I met her briefly while at the shootfest and was super excited to see that not long after, her dream came true. Perhaps this shootfest is the one that will bring happiness for everyone in some capacity. As I said, when I see something come up a few times, I should listen. I have to say that New Orleans is a fun place to go to with a lot to offer. Oh and the food is delicious! I tried fried alligator for the first time and it tastes like they say.....tastes like chicken lol. Here are two more pictures below:
So let's end this long blog with news on my sets! My fifth set (from the NOLA shootfest) will be coming out hopefully between August-October, maybe even November I'm thinking. This is just an estimation based on when I receive finished photos and then submitting to MR. I will post a closer time frame when I know more.....great things take time! I can't wait for you all to see my fifth set. I have wanted to work with Filicity for a long time as not only is she super gorgeous and talented in front of the camera, but also talented behind the camera. Looking at the pictures, they are flawless and I feel are my best yet. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
There is more good news to share as well! My fourth set, Clear, shot by Sunshine Suicide is now past the 1100 mark! Woohoo! I am so happy to see this set finally made it over the hump!
My first set, Who you gonna call?, is only 12 likes away from 1300. Can we get it to make the 1300 mark? It's so close!! Please give it some love!
I want to thank @starphire and @sairyn again for all the hard work they put forth in making the NOLA shootfest happen. You ladies did a great job and I hope your sets are a success (and starphire I hope you turn pink!)!
Please remember to show your support for the lovely ladies on here! All of us work hard to make some beautiful sets and it's not easy. New sets get bought but older sets do too so show love to them!
Thank you all for your support and thank you @missy for this community!
