A Reason To Return

I've been really lazy when it comes to writing lately. I think I've put myself in a mindset of "I'll get to it when the business blog is finished, complete, ready to go", which has meant that it's been since March that I've written anything, never mind something personal.

Today, however, I am happy for so many reasons, and so thankful for so many more.

Last night, I went along with Dave to a new church he's started going to recently. It's just up the road, and I think it's been really important to him to find a new church and community that works with himself and his ideas of what church can be. He's really enjoyed it, and after asking me to not participate until he sussed it out (my conventional Catholicism, scathing wit and observational humour prove too awesome when in uncomfortable, over the top outwardly religious situations, such as Hillsong sing-a-longs) I was given an invitation last week. Haha. So we went, and it was full of lovely, casual and funny hipsters; not to mention quite possibly the friendliest place in Sydney. People smiled at us when we entered. People turned around and said hello. What!


Anyways.


I was sitting there and thinking to myself about what kind of place I am in right now. How was I actually feeling, like, across the board? Aside from the high of human beings being friendly to strangers (I AM A SMALL TOWN CANADIAN GIRL LIVING IN A HUGE AUSTRALIAN CITY OKAY) I was just struck with how... happy and thankful I am. Just generally so grateful to have this great life, beautiful friends, the silliest husband in all the land, and a family that is my everything. I spend time with friends, I do every ridiculous whim my heart desires, and I have a lot of love and even more laughter in my everyday.

Afterwards, this lovely woman was chatting with us and asked us about what we do, etc. I mentioned I was a photographer, and she was really interested and asked me lots of questions. I kind of surprised myself at how much I had to offer her! I've had such a turn around this last couple months, and I think I've lost track of how long things have been so great. I think I assumed in May that when things were looking up, it would inevitably lead to a bit of a lull, but it hasn't and I can't believe it. I've been busy and working so hard and it's really paying off. Here I am telling this woman about how yes, I do have quite a few clients and yes, it's going well... and none of it was to save face. Haha. Seriously, how lucky am I?

I came home thinking about the gorgeous people that I have been so lucky to work for, and it's been really blowing my mind. I don't know where they have come from, but I genuinely haven't had a bad experience yet and as a bonus, I feel like I've developed some real relationships. I guess my work really is about connecting with something and being able to catch that connection in a photo. I want my work to be filled with real emotions, and I'm so lucky to realise that all of those smiles I've got have been real. I look at my client list and it's like... How are you all so freakin' nice?! I spoke to a new client today on the phone for the first time and was just like, "OF COURSE you are so friendly and funny and adorable sounding!"

I've had so many reasons to feel happy, to feel relieved and lucky. Living apart from my family is by far the thing I struggle with the most, and when something goes wrong my first and nagging instinct is to go back home. I miss my family so much everyday, it kills me to not cuddle my dog, laugh with my Grampa, eat my mom's food... Haha. But more and more, things are looking up.  Mom's health has improved ten fold after a few very, very rough months, Grampa seems to be recovering well, Nonna is in bloody top spirits since moving into her place and my brother has been given the best news he possibly could in the situation. After a really rough patch of hard news and difficult situations, things really are looking up there. The fact I get to see my family in October is something we've been looking forward to all year, and it's only getting more and more exciting. Every place Dave and I go, we usually leave saying "Yeah, definitely, have to bring Mom and Dad here." If we were ever to put that into practice, Mom and Dad would leave here 300 pounds each from every great restaurant we've ever eaten at, every great cheese we've ever eaten.

Literally, there are so many things to be thankful for, I can't list them all. I've been to Perth twice this year and spent more time with the boys than I did in the two years prior. I saw Katie P and discovered Thailand. We've been so social and really come into our own with a lot of our friendships. I have so many things to look forward to, so many people to see. Band practices! New Years Visits! Entertaining! Gigs! The fact Dave and I don't even have enough time to see so many people we'd like to says it all.

My confirming bit of inspiration for this post came just now by email. In March, I put out a call for some kids to model for a couple things I had wanted to try. The weather caused me to create a backyard studio, which really didn't live up to what I had envisioned. However, the kids and lovely families that came along were worth it.

Melinda had brought along her entire family - Lochlan, who is 7 and Scarlet and Piper, twin girls who were 18 months at the time. They were gorgeous and champions, they all did so well and were such a pleasure. Mel and her husband were just lovely. We kept in touch through facebook, Mel being ridiculously supportive! Mel suggest me to her sister, and I had a session with her, her partner and their new little bub. About a month ago, Mel asked me if I would be available to photograph the girls' 2nd birthday party, which I obviously delighted to do! I emailed her today a little party inspiration, and her response included this:

Was going to email you today! Came out this morning to Loch sitting on the lounge with a huge grin on his face. I asked him what he was making him smile & he pointed to the big frame of photos you took of us. He then asked when we can have that done again. He made me smile saying that, the best bit is he has no idea what I have planned for the girls party & you being here to take photos.

Talk about making my day, you guys.


So here I am, grinning like a knob, just taking in all of wonderful bits of everything. I'm sorry this post is so long, but life just feels so full right now - I had to share.

Lots of love. I hope there is plenty to feel grateful for today. xoxo.

What Just Happened?!?

Well, as previously mentioned, I have had a crazy couple weeks. Let me tell you why!

I had been in a little bit of a slump near the end of January/beginning of February. I ran a Facebook ad campain, got a few enquiries and booked a wedding, but then things kind of... stopped. I had nothing! I was starting to feel a bit defeated, and it was hard to think that this was just a slump when my incredibly slow photography days were adding up rather quickly.

I spent most of my time getting prepared for the upcoming market, making enough fascinators and flowers to effectively take over the whole spare room and make Dave feel like he was living in pretty princess town. I decided that before I headed to market like this-little-piggy, I needed to have some product photos with models for when I launch the Oh Peaches! Design website. So I put out a call for models, and awesome things happened!

I posted on Facebook, and Penney from Alphabet Street was kind enough to post it on their Facebook page. (Alphabet Street is an absolutely awesome resource for parents in Australia, which is a daily calendar of free and kids events.) I posted it at a out 11:30pm, and thanks to Alphabet Street and all of their awesome mums, I had about 10 enquiries by the next morning!

I ended up doing four photo sessions over five days, all of them with absolutely gorgeous kids. I had so much fun and met some really lovely people, and as a bonus, I got to have fun with so many little babies! I had two sessions for Oh Peaches! which went well and I got some nice shots for the website. The other sessions I had included boys, and I am using the photos to make up some gift and product examples for my photography - some sample photo books and canvases.

The kids were so great and the parents fabulous. I have so many great shots to show you all, but the editing has been hefty -- so many cute photos!

You can check out more on my website, but in the meantime, enjoy a little sneak peak. Little Kayleb here lends himself to one of my favourite photos -- ever!

Pretending And Attempting.

This year, I decided it was my year.

Last November, I left my job as a practice manager for a physiotherapist practice. The stress was too much, the hours were too huge, the pay was too little and overall my health and mental wellbeing were being neglected. I had a few things line up, and it was finally time to start seeing specialists and getting my body back in order. I took this as an opportunity - my brother came to visit, we went to Canada for Christmas, health time was to get kick started when we returned home. Not often do people the the support of a lovely man, who was willing to take it for the team entirely and let me sort things out without the added stress of working. That sounds so lazy, but seriously, as I later found out, stress was major fuel in my body's revolt.

So, I found myself happily without a job in November, but pretty well occupied with visits and tourist things and preparing and enjoying. It wasn't until I returned home from Canada that it hit --- what was I going to do?

It turns out that this was just what I needed in a lot of ways. From the get go, I really started planning, working on a new website, getting some marketing ideas and really trying to learn skills that would (hopefully) give me some success. I made myself a new website that I'm so happy with -- it was everything I had been hoping for and made me feel much more... confident online. (My main hurdle in creating this business has been my lack of connections and networks. Moving to Sydney not two years ago has meant that I have a really small network of people around me, so getting my name out there has proven, by far, to be my biggest challenge. Nevermind not knowing anyone really with kids! I'm still working on that, but details are to come next time...) While my focus was on photography, I think that the realization that making fascinators was becoming more successful than my photography was slightly depressing, however just a little bit cool.

Anyways! So, you guys, I've decided to go for it. Both!

I've been producing hair pieces and things like crazy, in the hopes of having enough product to sell at a market or two -- encouragingly, as soon as I had decided this, I was invited to a market in June by an Australian artist's collective. That was the little boost I needed to get started, and I've also arranged with a friend to share a stall, officially making Oh Peaches! Design's market debut in April! This is really exciting for me, I think it's going to be a great way to gauge what sells, what style to make more of, and to get my name out there. I'm doing smarter things -- all pieces will now come branded and packaged nicely. I really think that these last six weeks spent learning more and educating myself on marketing, etc, have been so valuable -- and there is still so much to learn.

I think I need to save the rest of the more recent details for my next post, because I've had a crazy week and I want to tell you why!

Hello Again, Old Friend.

Well, it's been a long, long time since I wrote here - that said, I haven't exactly been doing a lot of writing in general.

But, it's a new year, and it's looking bright. We have so many opportunities ahead, are bursting with ideas, and it's a resolution for both my husband and myself to write more often. We were quite silly newlyweds, thinking we would get things done in our first year of marriage, thinking that after work, being productive would be preferable to just having a cuddle on the couch. But we've wizened up, we're able to do somewhat separate activities now without separation anxiety now, we're settled and calm and there is nothing but smiles and time ahead for us.

And so, with a little bit of sprucing up the old blog, I've got a new look for my new start. I'm hoping to incorporate some photography news, creative inspiration, favourite links and keep tabs on the very new Oh Peaches! Design. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of updates on the day to day for my favourite reader, Grampa. &hearts.

Let's start again - I'm finally feeling like I'm ready to go again!

Well, Well, Well

I think spring has finally sprung!

There is sunshine and +17 degree days and smiling. I cannot wait- this winter has seemed so rainy and defeating. I want the windows open, the sunshine shining, blue eyes and nights with just a cardigan.

Things have been busy and I have a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel lately. I'm so excited for some new changes, new priorities and getting our life back in order. We've been doing so much lately, but it's been... fun. Over the winter, when I wasn't feeling so hot and just really beaten down by work, going to hang out with people became such a low priority-- I'd get home at 7 and just be too exhausted to want to do anything. But spring has brought along a lot of fun things over the last month, and I've been enjoying seeing a little bit of Old Nicole poking through. I've been inspired by great ideas, gotten more confidence that I might actually be able to pull of this business, have started a painting (what?!?!!), am focusing on myself more and what I need to be a happy person and a good wife to my silly husband. Things are certainly looking up as I see changes coming.


The last couple months?

We had our first wedding anniversary on July 4th - I can't believe it's been already over a year. We've had visitors, gone visiting, almost got a puppy, had our hearts broken and started cooking all of our meals again- finally!

About a month ago, Dave and I got out of the city and went up for a weekend of just the two of us in the Nelson Bay area. It was just what we needed! I came back feeling quite refreshed, if I do say so myself. It was silly and lovely and perfect to have absolutely nothing to do. On the way back home, we stopped by and saw Adele and Andy in Terrigal, which was a nice surprise. Over the last couple weeks, we've been busy with band practices, birthday parties, work parties, silly dates out, a year-aversary (August 23rd we celebrate being the day we met and coincidently the day Dave proposed, which we've been able to 'celebrate' together every year for four years), a bit of sunshining, spending time half of Dave's family here in Sydney and just some general exploring!

On the weekend, we went out to Terrigal again to rope Adele & Andy into letting me take some photos of them for my website and things. I'm really happy with how they turned out. You can see the photo album here:

http://www.nicolepullar.com/Galleries/Photo-Shoots/AdeleAndAndy/

Anyways, so that is the life of the Canstralian at the moment. Here's to the new found sunshine, pretty spring dresses, pimm's cups, picnics, beaches, gardening in the backyard, open windows, open toed shoes, nights with just a cardigan and twilight nights!

Lovies!

Recovering, Recovering

Hi!

Well, it's been quite a week. So much for my triumpant return to Postcards From The South!

We had a great long weekend away in Melbourne and enjoyed leisurely strolling, coffee-ing, breakfast-ing and other relaxing activies in one of our favourite places. It was so nice to be back there with Dave- we didn't do much other than visit our favourite suburbs, go to our favourite spots and restaurants, and attempt to half-heartedly shop. We went to see Institut Polaire, ended up going to The Astor, which was a delight since it was Dave's first time (inexplicable), and somehow found ourselves drinking in St Kilda like it was 2007 all over again. Did some wandering about Lygon Street, visited the NGV, ate too much, slept in and spent afternoons... napping. Unheardof! It was a beauty weekend, but by Monday night...

... that little tickle in my throat turned into a full fledged flu.

The worst timed flu- I had take the week off work while Dave went to Canberra on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was actually kind of a blessing because it allowed me to be completely ferral, not leave the house, and not feel judged when neglecting to shower and sleeping with a kleenex under my nose permanently. Unfortunately, the living in squalor continued once Dave got home. We had the two bedrooms and bathrooms painted, so all of our stuff was piled into the dining and living room. Oh, did I mention the infestation of ants due to some plumbing outside disturbing their happy lives? LIVING IN OUR NEVER-ACTUALLY-ON PRINTER. Immortal, ant spray resistant, ant bait resistant, ancient chinese secret resistant ants.

"Nikki, remember The Secret Life Of Horders?"

All too accurate.

We finally got things together and it's appearing that this painting has provided us with a fresh start. Things are cleaned, the office is ready to get organised and our new dresser in the bedroom arrives sometime this week. We bought a tumbler dryer and it's bloody magical. We're bedding down for another year in our place and it's going to be so good and visitor friendly... HINT EVERYONE.

I realise this is the most ridiculously domestic update ever, but I mean, seriously, you have no idea how much I love a dryer and how much I hate ants. I've had the flu and this is all my week has consisted of, alright? Sheesh.

I have lots of little things to share once we get everything back in order. I can't wait to start some 'summer camp' projects and hopefully get some photography work. I'm about to start the mass marketing this next couple weeks.

Wish me luck!

They Put Smiles On My Silly Face

There are some very handsome and silly boys in my life, I swear it.

I've got so much love! Look at that silly face on that silly boy! The handsomeness of that handsome husband!

Too much.