Cara | Couture Portrait

It's been a busy couple of weeks, Maddi's napping has not been the usual 2-3 hours and I've been tired at the end of the day to work after Maddi's bedtime. So I have a bit of a back log of work as well as personal stuff that needs to get done.

Yesterday, Maddi finally had a 3 hour nap, and I wasn't too tired to need a bit of a snooze while she napped as well. So, I had some time to finally get a bit of a catch-up in. I went to work editing a set from Cara's session two weekends ago and posted a couple of sneak peek images on the Red Alchemy Facebook page. This afternoon, I finally got the rest of the images done.
 

I met Cara several months ago, when she started working at our chiropractor's office. From day one, I've admired her sense of style.

I was excited to shoot this session, although this was definitely a bit out of my usual style. I am much more comfortable with the urban look, but given Cara's personality... she was better suited to a natural setting. Also, the night before the session, I had this nagging thought to do the session in Stanley Park. I know the voice in my head wouldn't shut up if I didn't go there, so that's where we went.

In post processing, I'm not sure why... possibly inspired by the colours in Cara's wardrobe and makeup, I was in a teen mag sort of mood. So I think there's a bit of that influence in the images.

I hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Birthday Wishes

It's been over a month since my last post... I've been busy! After going through a bit of a funk, I got off my butt and booked photo sessions. I've had 3 over the last 3 weeks and have been very happy about the images I got out of them.

July is a busy month, our weekends were pretty much booked since early June - camping on the first weekend, my birthday party on the 2nd weekend, a themed photo session with 2 adorable girls and the annual lantern festival on the 3rd weekend, and a possible local trip on the last weekend. Maddi's music classes also started in July - loving our Granville Island mornings twice a week! Slowly, I'm finding a schedule to anchor me so life doesn't seem so random and chaotic. The artist in me loves having the freedom and not being tied to a schedule; but too much of that makes the OC side of me freak out a bit and crave for some order and predictability.

For once in my life, I didn't anticipate my birthday. It wasn't a big deal. It didn't feel important - in a good way. I think I have other priorities in my life now and having Maddi has taught me to focus less on myself. I still believe in taking every opportunity to celebrate... so I still sought to make it a special day.

I spent my first couple of hours having some alone time with Maddi as I nursed her and have a quick breakfast together before we headed off to her music class on Granville Island. The morning started on schedule; then just as Maddi and I were leaving to catch the Aquabus to Granville Island, she chucks a water glass on the floor and it shatters into pieces. I strap her into the stroller so as to avoid her getting into the glass bits, sweep up the bigger pieces of glass, get stuff off the floor and run Irona (our robot vacuum) so she can pick up the rest of the smaller bits while we're out... then boot it to the Aquabus station. Get there, wait for the Cyquabus that can take the stroller without getting Maddi out and folding it up, get on and wait some more while it waits for slow walking tourists, make another stop then get to Granville Island. It's amazing how a 15 minute delay can derail an otherwise promisingly amazing day. I thought it was crazy that it affected me so much, so I decided to reset and get happy. Thank God for the ability to make that decision... coz the rest of the day was amazing!

Despite being late, we had a great class. After, we met up for lunch with a few friends - thanks Anne & baby Marcus, Crystal & baby in the belly, Stephen & Katie & baby Leanne, and Amy for the food truck lunch in the sunshine. Enjoyed some alone time while Maddi napped, reading all of the wonderful FB greetings. Shortly after Maddi woke up from her nap, we got a nice visit from our friend and neighbour Anna, who biked all the way from their gelateria in Coal Harbour with her two kids in tow to deliver a litre of her husband James' award winning gelato! Ended the day with a nice and tasty dinner at Homer St. Cafe, where Maddi learned to go up stairs upright (not crawling), unassisted... and then dug into the gelato after Maddi went to bed.

My day today was in fact not much different than any ordinary day... but I got to be with special people I love and enjoy the company of. Yes, I got showered with abundant FB greetings (120 of them at the moment), flowers, cards, lunch, treats, dinner, and gelato! Yet what I enjoyed most was the people I spent today with - people I had just met at the music class, and friends whose company I've enjoyed for years... people who took time and energy to celebrate my birthday with me, people who took time and energy to send a greeting - over FB, email, text or a phone call! As a lifelong student, I also loved that today presented me with a lesson to learn - deciding to get happy when it would've been easier (albeit more miserable) to give in to my emotions (and I'm a very emotional person) and let the small hiccup in the morning ruin my day.

As I close out today with 5 minutes left on my birthday, here's what I've learned as I turn 38 (and Maddi's been a great teacher, among many others) - as cheesy as it sounds, the meaning of life is LOVE; it is all about the connections we make. Life is also about continuously learning & growing. A lot of things get better just with a change of perspective. The key to happiness is to always count one's blessings, see the good, and find enjoyment in the simple things.

My birthday wishes - that I may make many more friends, learn to connect at a heart and soul level and somehow maintain the connections no matter where in the world life takes us; that I may learn to get happy easily when my emotions try to run over me and threaten to ruin my day; that I may always be happy because I always see what's good; that I may always find what's amazing and beautiful in the most simple of things and moments.

Namaste.

Maddi, Marcus & Aida (a friend Maddi just made during lunch)
playing while we enjoy our food truck lunch from Feastro.

My birthday dinner with Sean and Maddi at Homer St. Cafe

The best birthday present I could ever ask for!

What I've been showered with...

A litre of Bella Gelateria's old-world handcrafted gelato.
3 flavours to savour every last bite of - salted caramel, buko pandan & hazelnut.

This is how this birthday girl is ending her day...
with a spoon in one hand, ate gelato straight out of the box! =)

What Really Matters

It's been a few days since my last post. I haven't had a photo session since Mother's Day, and I'm itching to do one. I've mostly been working on marketing materials that I needed to have ready for the Nygard event as well as a list of items for what needs to get done in order to launch the Red Alchemy website... and of course, hanging out with Ms. Maddi Boo!

I am loving every minute of being a mama; and if I didn't have to make money, I'd say forget about the business. I'll do that when she's off to school, I'll just take pictures for the fun of it. I love reading up on various ways of parenting, then taking what resonates with me and trying it out on Maddi. One blog that has influenced me a lot is Hands Free Mama. The writings of Rachel Stafford has impacted me and changed me in ways that I will owe having less or no regrets about my motherhood journey to her. Thanks to her blog posts, I am regularly reminded to keep myself present with Maddi in our highly distracted world today as well as given ideas for various ways I can grab hold of what really matters in my life. The other day, I came across another great read, an article by another mama about letting your child learn and figure things out on their own instead of rushing to their rescue all the time.

The weekend when Sean's dad was in town, we took Maddi to the playground beside our building. She learned to come down a slide at another playground the day before but this slide had a steep hill to climb instead of steps. So we helped her up the hill, then helped her get up onto the platform and she would slide down on her own. Last Friday, after reading that article, I decided to not help her up the hill or get up onto the platform. Instead, I encouraged her to get to the top on her own. I coached her and suggested that she can crawl up... and she did! I was so proud! She crawled up to the top, and with a little more encouragement, she also climbed up on top of the platform, then she slid down the slide all on her own. After a few rounds of that, I encouraged her to try walking up the hill and coached her to keep her body forward. I held her hand up the hill on the first try, then let her do it on her own after. She did; slowly but surely, she got to the top! Each time she walked up that hill, she got more stable and got to the top quicker. I had a proud mama moment.

Yesterday, we were at the playground under the bridge, not far from our house. There's a set of slides there where one of the steps is a bit higher than the other ones, but it had a bar that you can step on to get up. She used to ask for a boost up when she got to that step. Yesterday, instead of giving her a boost up, I showed her how to step on the bar to push herself up. I wish I can show you the look on her face when she managed to do it all by herself! She was so proud, so happy! I'd like to think she appreciates being equipped to be independent. Another proud mama moment.

With all this growing, a part of me wanted to slow down time which seems to be fleeting away. I remember night after night thinking I'm wasting so much time just sitting beside her crib, holding her hand until she fell asleep when we were sleep training. But I read somewhere (quite possibly one of the Hands Free Mama's posts) to try and cherish those moments, because nothing about children lasts forever. It will be the last time they ask to hold your hand to sleep and you won't know it until the next time you offer to hold their hand to sleep and they don't need it anymore. Sure enough, that time came. Although I'm glad not to have to sit for 30 minutes to an hour each night, I miss holding her hand as she drifts off to dreamland.

I also miss sleeping with her beside me, but she sleeps better in her crib - 10 to 12 hours overnight compared to about 8 hours if she sleeps with me. Maybe, when she gets older she'll sleep in our bed once in a while... as a treat - I'm sure it'll be as much for me as it is for her.

Tonight, I tried to cuddle her to sleep. She was getting sleepy in my arms, but it was getting late and she wasn't falling asleep... so I put her down in her crib and she fell asleep within a minute. I was glad to have enjoyed a few minutes of holding her and singing a couple of rounds of "Over the Rainbow" to her. I used to sing her to sleep with that song, maybe I can work a cuddle and a song into our bedtime routine before I put her down in her crib. I know I'll be singing that song for many more years to come.

There are videos I wanted to upload, but can't seem to upload them successfully. Perhaps the files are too large. So here are some photos instead, although they don't quite show how amazing it was to see Maddi learn to do these things on her own.

A Day With Grandpa!

Sean's dad came for a visit and stayed with us for the weekend. He went to partake in the Lynn Valley Days festivities yesterday; it's the area where he grew up and his dad had been quite involved in putting it on back in his time. Sean's dad remembers going to it every year since he was a wee lad, being pushed around in a stroller.

Today, we celebrated an early Father's Day with brunch at Lily Mae's in Gastown. Great place, warm and friendly service, fantastic food. From there, we walked all over downtown... with stops at the Woodwards building for some bubbles fun, T&T to pick up some of our favourite instant coffee for Colleeen, Michael's and lastly, a much deserved stop at Thierry after Maddi woke up from her nap. We enjoyed some bums on chairs time since we've been walking quite a bit... as well as some yummy treats. Maddi loves their macarons; today, she tried the ginger pineapple one. I had their millefeuille, one of my favourite pastries, and it did not disappoint! Sean tried their chocolate croissant and dad had their latte. I think everyone was quite satisfied... I love that place!

After Thierry, we walked home so dad can get ready to go home. We had a bit of time before they had to leave for the ferry terminal; since Maddi's been in the stroller most of the time, we decided to go to the playground beside our building for a bit to give Maddi some time to run around and play. She showed dada & grandpa how she can now come down the slide on her own. They were both quite impressed.

When it was time for dada and grandpa to leave, Maddi was quite upset. I guess she had fun with grandpa and didn't want him to leave. Grandpa, you'll just have to come visit more often!

Early Father's Day brunch at Lily Mae's in Gastown

Lily Mae's - cozy & charming

Maddi snacking while waiting for our food

Everybody at Lily Mae's - fantastic food, Maddi ate a ton!

Bubble fun at Woodwards!

Maddi enjoying a ginger pineapple macaron at Thierry

Enjoying the last few minutes with grandpa before he left to go home

Family Outing to the Aquarium

It was rainy out, so we decided to spend our morning at the Aquarium. Apparently, so did everyone else. Parking took forever, but it was all good once we got inside. Maddi and I had been to the Aquarium a few times but this was the first time dada came with us. Maddi enjoyed running around and seeing all the different fishes. She thought the sea otters were "woofs" (dogs). We had lunch there, before heading home for Maddi's nap time... and had the best spot to enjoy our lunch!

Photos are not the best quality, was bummed I forgot to bring my camera; although not the best quality photos are better than no photos at all.

Jellyfish!

Colourful tank of sea life

The best spot for lunch!

We Love Play Dates!

Today was another great day! Maddi and I had a usual start to our morning, then at 10am, we left the house to get my eye checked by the doctor. My eye was 90% healed and I no longer need the patch. Yippee! It was a bit dizzying having to look with just one eye when you're not used to it.

After the doctor's appointment, we had our first play date with Jett & Eden. We met them at the park a couple of weeks ago and found out they lived in the same bldg. Very excited to have met new friends that live so close! Jett & Eden are a bit older, and Maddi loves playing with older kids. They are balls of energy and talk lots. Really great for Maddi to learn how to socialize and definitely a great way for her to learn to talk. Maddi zonked right out when we got home; but again, only napped for half an hour.

Nicole drove in from Langley with Hayley and Nicolas to visit for the afternoon. After some snacks, we packed the kids into the stroller and headed for Emery Barnes park... after a quick stop for some Spanish lattes at Caffe Artigiano for the mommies, of course!

Hayley and Maddi played in the fountain, Hayley enjoyed all the structures she could climb and Maddi learned to come down on the small slide on her own... and I had a great time hanging out with a good friend. Our pinwheel was also a big hit with all the kids at the park, we had so many visitors at our picnic mat!

We had an early dinner, then said goodbye to Nicole, Hayley and Nicky. Come visit again, looking forward to another play date very soon!

A little while later, Sean came home from picking up grandpa at the ferry terminal. Maddi had a short visit with her papa, then was out like a light after such a fun and busy day.

Fun times!

Despite the water being quite cold, Maddi wanted to go in it and play with the fountains

They play so well together

This time, we were prepared and brought a swuimsuit

Bedtime stories with dada & papa

Saying goodnight to papa

Bagel Poke

Injury incurred: scratches in two places on my right eyeball.

Inflictor of pain: Madeleine Rhodes McMillen.

Weapon of choice: toasted bagel.

My morning started unexpectedly early, when Maddi decided to wake up at 5am, 2 and a half hours earlier than her usual wake time. I was up til 2am; so I was functioning with 3 hours of sleep. I'm not sure if it's the lack of sleep, but I didn't even see this coming. At breakfast, Maddi accidentally poked me in the eye with a toasted bagel. And because I didn't see it coming, I didn't even try to blink. My eye was wide open. It hurt! I don't know if she realized that she caused my pain, but when she saw that I was hurt, she opened up her arms and gave me a hug - made getting stabbed in the eye totally worth it!

Although it bothered me, I didn't think anything of it and went through my day as usual.

The Nygard VIP shopping event was today, and I got to go for a couple of hours to check it out. It was a definite learning experience.

Three things I learned today; I need to be prepared on how to engage with people when I've been given a golden opportunity (the store manager has been talking me up to her clients), the first thing out of my mouth needs to offer something of value and can't be an obvious sales solicitation (even though people know I'm selling something), engage - because the worst they can say is 'no'.

Considering that it was in the middle of the day, on a week day... the shopping event went pretty well. I was there from 2 to 4pm, and although it wasn't a crowd of shoppers, there was a steady stream of them. In the two hours that I was there, there were at least 6 shoppers that tried on clothes and every one of them bought something. Megan, the store manager, is amazing. She makes sales look so easy and effortless. I have much to learn.

As each of those 6 shoppers walked around, I said hi to them but searched for how else I can engage with them without taking them away from their shopping experience. I couldn't think of anything that sounded suitable so I just remained passive for most of my time there and let them come to me if they were interested. Towards the end, I relaxed and was chatting with one of the last clients as she tried on clothes. When she headed towards the counter to pay, I heard myself say, "don't forget to pick up a gift voucher for my glamour photography sessions at the front." I got her interest and she stopped to ask me more about it. That was my opportunity to engage. I showed her some samples of my work, generated a real interest and a potential client out of her.

I really am quite uneasy with sales, but I knew it can be done without being pushy and in a way that services the potential client. I've heard it a million times, good sales is really just good customer service. You are not there to sell, you sell by meeting a need your potential clients have. I have been on the receiving end of this kind of sales plenty of times. I just need practice on how to be on the offering end of it.

Before I left Nygard, I asked the manager and the other staff what the response has been to the vouchers they gave out. They said people were impressed and thought the images on the cards were really good. I suspect the rest of the VIP shoppers will be going to pick up their gift bags after work hours today and over the weekend. We'll see how this goes as my first marketing campaign. If nothing else, it was a great learning experience and the start to a great partnership with the Nygard store.

By the end of the day, I could barely open my right eye. Luckily, it didn't bother me too much while at the shopping event. I stopped in at the nearby drop-in clinic and found out that I got 2 scratches from the bagel poke and now have to wear a very fashionable eye patch until I go back for a follow up doctor's visit tomorrow. Such a sexy look! Fortunately, no permanent damage and it won't affect my vision. Thank goodness, because vision would be important for a photographer.