This weekend I took a trip down to NC to visit my college roommate, SSA Olivia Benson, and her new husband, Derek Morgan* (they’ve been married 6 months – so awesome). I had a blast. I love traveling, most especially when I can drive my car to wherever we’re going. It was especially fun because my traveling companion, LC, and I were the queens of the spontaneous stop. You know, where you see a sign on the side of the highway advertising this that or the other thing and before you can get the words “Do you wanna?” out of your mouth the car is already pulling off toward the exit? Yeah.

That’s how we ended up at the Stonewall Jackson Shrine. Not kidding, they call it a shrine. As we discovered, it is no such thing. It is actually an historical site, part of the national park service, and features the house (or a replica of) the house where Stonewall Jackson died of pneumonia. Ultimately – kind of dull. But getting there was so much fun it was worth it. Also, now I can tell people I’ve been to a Stonewall Jackson Shrine. These are things you can only do south of the Mason-Dixon line, people.

Anyway, LC and I had so much fun on our trip that we started planning the next one before we were even home. As soon as we rolled back over the VA state line we stopped at the welcome center to collect as many brochures as we could carry. So we plotted, and then stopped in to see our friend Alex** and convinced her she needed to go as well. We’ve got a destination and a date, we just need to figure out the details.

I’m most excited that by the time we take this trip I should have my fancypants new camera. And yes, I know I keep talking about how I want this fancypants camera but I’ve never really explained which one. So here she is:

That is a Canon XS SLR. It’s a big step up from what I have now, but nothing ridiculous. Is it completely more camera than I need? Yes. Will this basically be the last unnecessary luxury purchase I make for essentially the rest of my life? Probably. But will it make me really happy and eventually someday lead me to take really stellar pictures that I would be much happier about posting on my blog? Yes.

Admittedly, I have a long way to go before I will feel completely confident shooting with homegirl here. However, the best way to learn how to use a camera like this is to use one. So I am copying and pasting the specs here for those of you who know what they mean. Do I know what they mean or why they’re important? Not all of them. But I fully intend to learn!

Camera Features and Benefits:
Effective Pixels: 10.1 Megapixel CMOS Sensor with DIGIC III Image Processor
LCD Monitor: 2.5″ 230,000 dot TFT color display with Live View
Top Shooting Rate: Up To 3 rames Per Second
Focus Points/Sensors: High Speed, Wide-Area 7-Point AF with center cross-type sensors
Dust Sensor Cleaning Unit: Automatic & Manual Sensor Cleaning
ISO Sensitivity: Basic Zone modes: ISO 100-800 set automatically, Creative Zone modes: ISO 100-1600 (in 1-stop increments), Auto
Focusing Mode: One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual focusing (MF)
Exposure Metering Mode: 35-zone TTL full-aperture metering
Power Source: LP-E5 Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery
Images Per Battery Charge: Up To 600 Shots
Weight: 15.9 oz.
Storage Media: SD/SDHC

What’s Included:
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS Digital SLR Camera Body
Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens
Canon EF 75-300mm Lens
Battery Pack
Battery Charger
Video Cable
USB Interface Cable
Wide Strap
EOS Digital Solution Disc
“Great Photography is Easy” Booklet and “Do More with Macro” Booklet
2GB 150x SD Card
150x speed / Class 6
22.5MB/sec
Waterproof
Dustproof
ESD (Electro Discharge Proof)
Extreme Temperature Resistance -40° F – 185° F (-40° C – 85° C)

The hardest part of this whole thing was that when I looked up the camera so I could post this was discovering that it’s on sale for about $200 less than what I was planning to pay for it. Sadly, I don’t have enough money for it even with that sale going on. I’m SO disappointed, but I hope there will be another sale when I get ready to buy it.

And so it is with this fancy camera and my re-awakened love of taking road trips that I have decided I need to seriously re-visit my budget and figure out how I can do better so there can be more trips and the fancy camera can be here sooner. And by do better, I mean stop eating out because seriously? I have a problem.

:::UPDATE – I forgot the footnotes. Fail. There are new nicknames on this entry we’re not used to seeing so I wanted to explain them. These are people who have needed nicknames for a long time and I’ve been remiss. No more will they flounder in relative anonymity!

* Yes, I know this is crossing TV shows and that Benson is a detective, not a supervisory special agent, but ask me if I care. If you have to justify it, pretend she married into the title when she and Morgan got married.

** As in, ADA Alex Cabot. From SVU. And LC is obviously Lauren Conrad. :::