Southern pictures

Tip of the Day: rest and relaxation is wonderful!

Since I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd post a few pictures of Savannah for you to enjoy. If you are familiar with the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil book or movie, some of these sites might be familiar.



The beautiful Forsyth Park, which is home to one of the most amazing fountains. It's not only pretty on it's own it also has a wonderful picturesque location under all the Spanish moss hanging from the trees.

Lafayette Square, just one of 22 squares in the downtown area! If you look closely in the background is the Andrew Low House, which is most famous for being the home of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts) and the Girl Scout First National Headquarters. I've heard cookies are still sold here and I'm definitely going to have to find out for sure!

The Mercer/Williams house, which was the site of the murder that was made famous in the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (super upbeat, I know. But we are in Savannah which is one of the most haunted places on the planet supposedly).

The picturesque and artistic city is definitely getting my creative juices flowing.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Vacations are your friend

Tip of the Day: want to get out and do something fun, but don't want to spend a lot of money? Check your city's vacation and visitor's bureau to see if they have "Be a Tourist in your Own Town" days or suggestions. It's amazing what cool stuff you might find that you didn't even know existed in your own town.


So I've been taking a bit of a break from writing, editing, and reading to recharge myself and get ready to do some big editing next month. I'm so excited that I'm going on vacation to Savannah next week that I can hardly think of anything else.

I really need a vacation.

I'm definitely one of those people that needs a change in scenery and environment every now and then to get my creative juices flowing and to recharge. I've taken a few mini trips this past year, but nothing more than a night or two, so I'm excited to get away for an extended stay.

In fact I'm so excited that I've decided to be a dork and give you reasons why vacations are important.

• It's good for your health. It's true. I found it on the Internet (which means it must be accurate, right :)) But it's been proven that vacations, along with sleep and exercise are "restorative and protective against the ill effects of psychological stress."

Other good points the blog entry mentions include: 

• Vacations often allow you to pamper yourself and reward yourself for all your hard work. And it gives you time to be treated well and feel important.
• It offers you freedom to do what you want, when you want.

Other wonderful things about vacations if you are going with family or a significant other, they allow you to:

•  Reconnect and try something new together, which might give you something to talk about for along time to come.
• They foster bonding and build beautiful memories.

 Okay, okay. I know these are all common sense and everyone knows vacations are awesome! So I'm definitely preaching to the choir.

But sometimes all of us forget that we need time to step back and relax. Yes, vacations can be work to set up--especially if you are "doer" like me on vacations instead of a "relaxer"-- and they can be stressful at times, but normally it's a good stress and it's worth it in the end.
 
So if you happen to ever feel guilty about taking a vacation, talk yourself out of it now. It is almost always money well spent!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious