It’s October 30th and it is snowing outside here in Milwaukee. The forecast is calling for 1-4inches accumulation overnight.
The doggies are so excited – they go bonkers when it snows!
It is 10:07pm and I am sitting on the couch with VÃk by my side and Kenzo in clear view on the floor. Caleb is on his phone playing Words with Friends. I just sent off two more preview galleries and edited another chunk of photos from a recent wedding. Tis’ the season for late night editing. October is busy with weddings and hs senior portraits and holiday card sessions and newborn sessions.
I’ve been editing and working on Studio 29 work since 7:42am, so I figured 10:07pm was an OK time to call a quits.
I’ve been wanting to write a “life update” post to recollect my thoughts and think about the last few weeks.
It has been such a whirlwind of a week, month, …. year. I’ve changed and my businesses have changed so much!
I am proud to admit that this is the best year yet for Studio 29 Photography and every month just keeps getting better and better for the house fur blog.
Just in October I’ve photographer over 25 week-day sessions and 1 wedding. We have another wedding this weekend, a handful of sessions next week, and then a double-header Friday/Saturday wedding to finish off the 2019 Wedding Season for Studio 29.
Whew.
My heart beats faster just thinking about it.
Thinking about these last 3 weddings is bittersweet. The 2019 wedding season marked the least amount of weddings we’ve ever photographed. Prior to 2019 we would photograph 35 or more weddings. I love weddings and I guarantee I’ll be having wedding withdrawal next year, but it’s a good withdrawal.
I have been falling more and more in love with photographing primarily candid sessions with families and brands, so that (and this blog) will be my main focus for 2020.
The plan for 2020 is to take a break from working 7 days a week and see how it goes only working 5-6 days a week. We have made it a personal goal to only book & photograph 10 weddings for 2020 and then I will focus on photographing families, pets, newborns, products and branding sessions during the week.
I want to give my body some rest. After nearly 11 years of photographing weddings every weekend, it is time to rest and do more “life” things instead of always “work” things.
Since making this announcement a few months ago, the most popular question I get asked is, “What are you going to do with all your weekends? You will not know what will do with yourself!”
The best answer I can give is, “I will simply enjoy time and who I spend it with. And I am excited to be able to have more time with Caleb together just being husband and wife.”
I am looking forward to sipping coffee & working on crossword puzzles on Saturday mornings on our balcony.
I am looking forward to eating delicious food at the farmers markets in Milwaukee.
I am looking forward to having time to make homemade noodles with our KitchenAid Mixer attachments!
I am looking forward to staying up late on Friday nights.
I am looking forward to sleeping in late on Saturday mornings.
I am looking forward to ultra long hikes with the doggies.
I am looking forward to working on house projects.
I am looking forward to going on a nice vacation this winter & smaller weekend trips with the dogs this summer.
But, most of all, I am looking forward to spending time with friends and family members.
It’s hard/sad because I have missed birthday parties, communions, baptisms, baby showers, wedding showers, and family gatherings because of work. I hope by cutting back the weekend work I will be able to show-up more for my friends and family. It’s so hard to have adorable nieces and nephews that are growing up way to fast & parents that live across the country!!! I excited to see them more often.
So… other than just plan for 2020 and work a lot what else have I done this month?
- I went to the Pitch Please! event in NYC and stayed at the Ace Hotel. I enjoyed Ramen and a bottle of wine (def did not finish) in my hotel room with a beautiful view of the Empire State Building.
- We did a couples massage last weekend and I can now raise my arms up over my head! Hooray!!!
- Hockey season started again and we are doing well – I am the goalie, if you didn’t know and my friend Brad is on my team this season!
- In the beginning of the month, I had lunch with my friend Dallas at Screaming Tuna. We both showed up like total scrubs and ate all the fish we could. It was such a fabulous lunch date.
- Speaking of lunch, I had lunch with my friend Phi at Don’s Diner today! We shared a short stack of pancakes, loaded fries, and the Mac & Noods!
- We found out what the weird rash was that was taking over my body and it is now under control, not gone, but also not spreading.
- Last Sunday, I went to my friend Vanessa’s baby shower – it was “Bee” themed and absolutely adorable!! They had a game where you had to guess how many honey comb pieces of cereal were in the large mason jar. I guessed 487 and there were 522!! I won pretty kitchen towel and a fall festive candle that smells delightful!
- I’ve started rowing consistently again. I had to take about a month off because of my severe shoulder pain. I’ve been icing it, using china gel, and getting the massages and my shoulder movement has been a little better so I am finally able to row again. It still hurts, but I’ve been missing my daily workouts in our home gym!
- We went to an Admirals Ice Hockey game and they WON in a shoot out!
- Caleb and I went to a Halloween party and dressed up as Mia and Vincent from Pulp Fiction!
- I’ve been starting to causally mention about the studio being available for rent and it has had a lot of injuries and 4 new renters this month and a handful renting it for next month! I am so excited to have a space that I can share with other creatives here in Milwaukee.
- We tried new restaurants! We had fish fry and pirogies at The Bavarian Bierhaus, Pizza at Sal’s in Cedarburg, and we had brunch at Sabrosa Cafe.
I know there are so many more things that happened this month – but, it’s now 10:58pm and I want to head up to bed and watch an episode of Frasier.
Alrighty, I just want to sign off here with stating how grateful I am to have the talents and endless motivation to run both of my creative businesses. Thank you family, friends, readers, and to my dear husband for your endless support.
XOXX
REN
