Portrait Session with Coco Cake!

JOY OF JOYS!!!!!  My dear friend, Lyndsay, Queen of Coco Cake Land, received her last of her 17 Herceptin IV Treatments at the Cancer Agency last week!  It was heartbreaking to watch this wild spirit be kicked down so hard, but you can bet she fought back as hard as she could.  In her lowest of lows, whether feeling physically ill from treatments or feeling insecure and vulnerable in appearance after shaving her long dark locks, she wrote honestly about her experience complete with her hilarious sense of humour.  And if you don't already follow her, she also kept up this silly cake business...  As a creative soul, this doesn't surprise me.  Now, at the end of what has been a nightmare of a year, things are looking up.  She made this cake in celebration of her freedom and wrote a beautiful entry to go with it which you can find HERE.

Lyndsay called on me last month for some new headshots and decking-the-cake shots.  As usual, we had a fun time joking around as we moved from room to room, trying out different ideas.  I feel so humbled and undeserving to be called on by such an amazing person whom I idolize in an entirely new way.  Not only was she born a super cool dude, but she is now one badass mutha after this last year and a half of living with cancer.  Lyndsay you are truly one-of-a-kind.  Aside from your effortlessly cool style, your sense of humour always has me doubled over and plays perfectly into your creative work, you are so very kind and generous, and you have a mouth almost as bad as my own.  (I also feel like we are perhaps drawn to one another by our love of bright crazy lipsticks and blunt bangs... maybe?)  Thank you for being you.  It is so good to have you back and I absolutely can not wait to see what you've got up your sleeve for us!


 

Project Bloom 2015

It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since Project Bloom 2013!  This year I was in charge of hosting the Photobooth.  The backdrop was a collaboration between Our Little Flower Company and myself which turned out absolutely perfect!  

Emily Hastie of Collect & Cultivate, Rebekah Logan of Clark's Audio Visual and Khara Robertson of Showkraft Events

Emily Hastie of Collect & Cultivate, Rebekah Logan of Clark's Audio Visual and Khara Robertson of Showkraft Events

Lisa Robinson, Advancement Officer at KPU flanked by our two lovely hostesses

Lisa Robinson, Advancement Officer at KPU flanked by our two lovely hostesses

Rob Lowe of Stir Coffee

Rob Lowe of Stir Coffee

Sonia MacNair of Turtlenina

Sonia MacNair of Turtlenina

Erin & Kerstyn of Our Little Flower Company

Erin & Kerstyn of Our Little Flower Company

A very well-behaved Little Malcolm joined me and the 150+ guests in the festivities.  Laughter, tears and delicious food were enjoyed by all!

 

CLICK HERE
to see the rest of the gallery

 

xo


 

Our Holiday 2014 Families

After our brief hiatus from updating the blog, I've got a lot of catching up to do here!  Better late than never may I present to you the families of Holiday 2014!  

What a very memorable year it has been.  Thank you to all my lovely friends for being a part of this year's Holiday photos, I am so very lucky to have clients I can call friends!

 xo


 

Holiday 2014

It is hard to believe that another year has already passed and that we are on the verge of 2015!  It feels like only a few months ago I was posting Happy New Year 2014 and making plans to step back and spend a little more time with family after a very intense and busy year.  

I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised with how 2014 panned out!  As Spring approached, our family of 4 found out it would be welcoming an additional member by the year's end (…with only 5 more weeks to go!...), so the decision to step back was rather serendipitous!  I must have done something right within the first year of getting The Pauhaus out in the public because I continued to have a steady flow of clients (both new and returning) without any promoting!  It was the perfect amount for me throughout my pregnancy and it was indeed very encouraging.

Our Holiday Sessions were no exception.  Not entirely sure of what my physical state would be in the last weeks of my pregnancy, I held back on promoting.  As these sessions are high in demand, I did not want to risk cancelling last minute.  This year's sessions were entirely filled with a handful of clients that inquired and requested in advance with the awareness that they might be cancelled.  The decision to go forth was not made until the weekend before they would take place and I would like to give a very warm and sincere Thank You to all the clients that were so flexible and understanding!  

We left last year's playful light blue for a deeper and richer winter night blue and adorned it with a customized Peace sign wreath, beautifully composed by my good friends Erin + Kerstyn at OLFCO (Our Little Flower Company).  It seems our Holiday Sessions just won't be the same without something fresh, unique and seasonally aromatic from these talented ladies!

Enjoy a few sneaks from our Holiday 2014 Sessions!

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And just for shits + giggles, a few test shots + outtakes...

I can't believe these are over for another year!

I had a wonderful wonderful time churning out these sessions in spite of my initial cold feet and big belly!  I am so glad I went forward with these and so thankful to everyone who helped make them happen:  To my ever-supportive husband Kevin and assistant Maggie for helping to set-up, to my Mama and Jess for helping mind the kids, and to my lovely clients for your loving support, your exuberance, and the extra flexibility and understanding you have shown me!  

What a terrible regret it would have been to not have had so many great moments captured for this Holiday Season.  

I am already so very very excited for next year's sessions!

 

xo




HOLIDAY SNEAKS

 

Finally!  Here they are!
TOO many to choose from, but here are a few of my favourites from our Holiday Sessions this weekend!

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Thank you to everyone who came out!  I have most of the postcards confirmed and ready to order.  We should be able to put them through by tomorrow evening and receive them by the end of next week!  Hope you all had a great time!  Everyone did a great job, especially those with teary little ones!  GREAT TEAM WORK GUYS!   I had a wonderful time catching up with those of you I don't see very often and it was a pleasure to finally meet Rachel and Mike and super smiley Ollie!  

Looking forward to our secret third day...

 

XO