October Journal
THE HIGHS
Where do I even start with the highs from this month?! At the start of the month I flew down to Sydney for the Cosmopolitan Women of the Year awards and this girl took out the title of Creative of the Year!! I have worked from home, (what seems like) alone for almost 5 years so I found this to really be a chance to stop & take in all that I have achieved. Even though I work for myself there are so many of you that are out there supporting and sharing the love for my work which made this award even possible. The trip was made even more special by my mum joining me for the 4 days. Hotel Revesis, a high on it's own merit (more on that below). Spicy margaritas at North Bondi Fish. North Bondi Fish in general. Room Service & Foxtel nights after extremely exhausting days. My mum absolutely nailing being an #instagrammum even though she did take a minute long burst (candids for days). Being by the ocean even just a little bit. Releasing my new artwork collection and it being so well received (thank you thank you thank you). Such interesting discussion around my last blog post: Pressure to be a Girl Boss. It has probably been one of my favourite blog posts from this year that I have written. Finding a house to move into & signing a lease. Donating unused beauty to Friends with Dignity.
SYDNEY TRIP SUMMARY
WHERE WE STAYED..
Hotel Ravesis, Bondi Beach. Without a word of a lie, this was kind of my dream hotel. Firstly the location is perfect. Not too far from the city but right across from Bondi Beach! The interiors are also as if they were designed right out of one of my dreams. Archways, moss green, pink & white everywhere. Everything is so beautifully designed down to the Do Not Disturb sign. It even made me want to buy all the merch available at the mini bar (I had to have the set of playing cards, see above) Their food & cocktails were also really yummy. Can not recommend more!
WHERE WE ATE... Since I was out at the awards most of the first day, and the photoshoot the next we didn’t explore too much. But we did stop at a few worth mentioning.
Sonoma Baking, Bondi. Went here a few times for breakfast & baked treats, 10/10.
Bills, Bondi. My mum had never had the hotcakes so I of course had to take her there at least once.
North Bondi Fish, Bondi. Mum and I had the best long lunch here, their spicy margaritas had me hooked. I still crave them.
The Grounds of Alexandria. I finally got there! My COSMO shoot was actually just across the road so I met up with Mum there after. After two big days of nervousness, I got a big burger and chips and was surrounded by flowers - perfection.
WHAT WE DID…
The first day in town I had the COSMO awards followed by a meeting so needless to say after 3 hours sleep the night before I was incredibly overwhelmed and exhausted by the time we got back to Ravesis. I just wanted to eat room service in bed and prepare for the shoot the next day. I was a little nervous about the COSMO shoot because I had no idea what to expect. What would I wear, would I feel like myself, what if I froze? All of those worries went away once I got onto set. The team was so beautiful and made me feel comfortable and more importantly like myself. The rest of Friday was spent at The Grounds then back at Ravesis for cocktails. Saturday was a big eating day. We went to Bills for breakfast, people/dog watched at Bondi then over to North Bondi Fish for a long lunch. A few cocktails later we headed over to paddington to look around at the single fronted houses & stores. Super Dreamy. Sunday was fly home day.
THE LOWS
The first week of October felt really stressful, I wasn’t in control of a lot that was going on which meant I was a little all over the place and didn’t feel organised. This didn’t last though, as it never does. Not being able to sleep until 4:30AM on the night before the awards. I ended up getting desperate at 4AM, downloaded some sleep story app and listened to someone who sounded like David Attenborough talk about lavender fields. It was quite a rainy month so there was a lot of days that shoots were planned but we couldn’t do them. Realising that we now have to do the nightmare moving part after finding a house. The realisation that I have way too much for one human. A new copyright infringement came up so I am now having to go through that with yet another national retailer. Thought I would get through the year without a major one but no such luck.
GOALS FOR NOVEMBER
Launch the HIS & HERS Italy photo book along with some re-prints of Paris & Japan in Mid November. I also am currently working on the 2019 Calendar for release late November. As I type this I am currently in our new house but my goal for the last week was really just to get through it. It was beyond exhausting so I am really just looking forward to enjoying being in the new space and get re-inspired.
What happened to you in October?!
J x