Blame It On The Genius

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.

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.