Category Archives: Still Life Photography

Blogmas | Intro & My Why

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Happy December 1st! Long time no talk ;)

I’m one of those (analogue) people who looooooooves scrolling through the archives of a blog. I love seeing the beginning of people’s stories. I find it inspiring.

When it comes to my own blog, I NEVER look through the archives. I find it so cringe that I end up making my older blog posts private!

But at least I have them there, I have the stories and the ideas from the beginning. And really it’s all about keeping up with the practice that I admire in others and even myself.

So I’ve decided to start a BLOGMAS!

What is Blogmas?

For the Tiktok kids in the back, “Blogmas” is a series of posts on a blog leading up to Christmas (Dec 25th). It can be done on any online medium (or even offline). But my first memory of it was watching vlogmas done by YouTubers in 2012.

Why am I doing Blogmas?

I’m doing it for both logical and emotional reasons. Logical because I want to be writing, creating and posting more often – discipline is the name of that game! From an emotional perspective because I want have memories 🙂 Also because I’ve officially reopened my Etsy shop, I want to ensure that I’m aligning all of my online presences and themes: Inspiration, Consistency, Happiness & Productivity.
Lastly, the hope is that I’ll learn something from participating in Blogmas that I can either share here on the blog or implement on my Etsy store.

How can YOU participate?

In any way really! It can be something online or unplugged. You can paint for 25 day. Share a new pic IG for 25 days. Create a youtube channel and start Vlogmas. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen for 25 days or learn a new skill for the next 25 days.

It’s all about staying consistent, creating, learning something & having fun!

And of course, be sure to check back over the next 24 days and follow along with my Blogmas!

Book Review: The School of Good Mothers

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I can’t recall if it was “tiktok that made me read it” or maybe one of the book influencers I follow on Social – but I recently read the book The School of Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan.

I want to start by saying that I had high expectations for this book.  The book had me hooked at the beginning as we begin to learn about Frida’s (the protagonist mom) very bad day.  Reading this part made me think of the countless times similar ideas pop into a mothers head – but daring to do it…is another question!

The novel continues by illustrating that the state has put into place a “school that will focus on re-programming bad mothers” with the help of robot dolls as the mother’s adopted children no less!  The story is written in away that you are transported to this prison-school where you feel you are sitting in the classroom with the robot dolls.  Majority of the lessons are harsh and challenging.  Mothers are taught to mother in a very mechanical way (read: if this else that).  Consequences are delivered out hourly.  The mothers also learn that there is a school for dads, where in contrast, the dad’s are treated with grace and respect.

The women are graded and medically analyzed to see if they are fit to return to the society as mothers to their children.  Most are not, which drives Frida to take a drastic decision.

This book was interesting right until the end.  I mean I could understand her mindset and her reasons for doing what she did – but I didn’t agree with it. And as always I wanted more science fiction in the story.  Would recommend 6.5/10

Our Experience at Valarie in the X Hotel

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A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to check out the fantastic roof top patio at the X Hotel.

Valarie is boasted as Toronto’s newest nightlife concept with an innovative Japanese menu, inspired cocktails amidst unparalleled views the six.

What we ate:
Cocktails: Single Malt on the rocks, Espresso and Cosmo Martinis
Food: Truffle Fries, Maitake Mushroom (bowl) & Truffle Teardrop (sushi roll)
Food Menu

The mushroom item was delicious.  Crispy and with a truffle flavour. 

And the martinis were perfect (flavourfull and strong!)

The entire rooftop is lined with a glass balcony – so you get views of the lake, Mississauga, the downtown core and the lake of course.

And of course I only got pictures of the CN Tower.

The views and cocktails really made it for me, although I wish they had more food items.

Over all it was a great experience (we tried to ignore the early 2000s clique vibes between patrons and the restaurant staff).

We got reservations through OpenTable, but I think a walk in is worth a try!

The one about crystals and the power of the new moon

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I’ve always been interested (read: obsessed) with the night sky.  However, since we’ve been home more the last few years, I found myself staring at the night sky more often.  I began to recognize the location of the moon in the sky at different seasons.  We as a family would appreciate the moon phases.  On clear nights, I’d also try to locate the constellations

And obviously with my eyes looking up, my camera and all my lenses soon followed.  

Learning about astronomy, naturally led me to astrology, which led me to other wellness tools (meditation, journalling).  Enter crystals. *nervous laughter*

I would normally not share something that is considered so woo woo, but with age comes wisdom (and the awareness that “everyone is more concerned with their own lives to care what you think” and I’m learning not to care about people’s opinions)

I recently learned that Jun 28th (10pm EST) is the new moon with influence from Jupiter.  The new moon itself is another time to set goals/intentions and just to generally harness new moon energy to support yourself (look it up: indigenous & asian culture, time keeping, and all things famine).  From an astronomy standpoint, the new moon occurs when the sun is positioned behind the moon so with no light on the moon, it is not visible on earth.

But with Jupiter: it’s all about bounty and abundance.

If you don’t believe/agree with any of this – just remember:  Energy is every where

So with this new moon I’m setting intentions/re-focusing on my goals, starting something new and make detailed list.  If there is good energy out there – why not tap into it :) 

February Reads

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Well I took it a little easier with February and decided on a fiction read that I knew was already streaming ;) 

Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng

Usually when I start a book, it takes me a few pages or at least a chapter before I start to connect the dots and actually start to “listen” (read: pay attention) to what’s going on. Which means I don’t always get the story line right away.  I also didn’t follow the story until Moody was watching Pearl from afar after biking to her new home.   What really drew me to the story initially was Mia’s story line.  I loved that she is a mixed media artist and a photographer in the truest sense. This book was full of little twists and turns but in a way that wasn’t too abrupt or aggressive.  Seeing the juxtaposition between privilege and humble family lives was both lovely and painful.   I enjoyed how the author made little links between Mia and Elena’s life (as mothers, women creating careers/pursing their life’s work and as humans living a traditional and not so traditional North American life). Another small detail I love about this book – it’s set in the 90s!      

In my head I imagined Mia/Pearl to be Asian (in the book their race is unspecified but not in the show adaptation). And it wasn’t until we learn that Lexie is in an interracial couple that I noticed that race was an underlying theme of the book.   I really appreciated that the novel talks about race, biases and the way a community my think they are “doing better” than the rest of the world/country.

If you need a weekend read or a vacation read.  Or just a break from the business/strategy/self development books (like me) I would definitely suggest picking this book up!

Find Little Fires Everywhere at Chapters Indigo (Canada)

Reading, Little Fires Everywhere, Chapters, Library Book, Book on Bed, Reader

5 things to quit this week

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A few days ago, I realized that it had been some time since I picked up my camera and take some creative shots.  So I set up some items around my house, put on a cute outfit and cleaned up my desk to get some photography.

Sometimes I hold myself back from 1) actually taking the time to create with my camera and then 2) sharing it here on instagram. And I’m not entirely sure why. I think creativity was meant to be shared with the world. That doesn’t necessarily mean friends and family will like it or even agree with it – which is OK (I’m being taught this lesson over and over by different situations).

Also part of the creative process is taking some rest so you can come up with the crazy ideas that you plan to execute on. So picking up my camera after a few months of rest is something I need to give myself grace about.

With all that said, most times it’s the voice in our head is what’s stops us from doing the things we know will nourish our soul. So I’m sharing 5 things to quit this week which helped me get out of my creativity rut!

Staying in your comfort zone: Sometimes I think “it’s just easier to not shoot photos because then I don’t have to worry about them looking terrible”. And although this thought can be comforting, it’s actually creating more harm than good. Be consistent and be comfortable getting out of your comfort zone.

Overthinking: Ruminating, spinning, wondering why you did something a certain way or wishing all together you hadn’t done something at all. Such a terrible habit and so defeating to your self esteem. Instead, let your mind think about the thought/situation, ask yourself if it will matter in 5 years (in most cases it won’t) and then let your mind consider what was one good thing that came from the experience.

Sacrificing your own happiness/mental well being for others:  This is a simple and obvious one. It takes time to realize that you don’t need to be responsible for anyone’s happiness but your own.

Being afraid of being different: If you want to wear the hoop earrings – do it. If you want to compliment someone – go for it. If you want to be off camera during a meeting while everyone is one – don’t let it stop you. This one came in waves this week but you accepting yourself/your decision is the most important thing.

Ignoring your purpose: Whenever you hear that voice in your mind saying “you should pick up your camera/paint brush or take those dance lessons or spent an hour writing” don’t ignore it!