Hi SG Land,
I hope you are doing well amid this crazy 2020!
I haven't blogged in a while I guess because somehow I have felt for a long time that nobody's reading this but also does it really matter whether anybody is reading blogs anymore?
I guess when I want advice it's nice to have folks ready whatever blabber I write but this was also my place for letting out whatever I felt back in the day, my little internet island of sorts.
With that being said. I've been ok. No complaints on my part.
The specialty cafe I had been managing for the past 3 years closed literally less than a week before the covid19 lockdown happened so I guess it wasn't mean to survive after all. All the guilt I felt for a hot second thinking the business hadn't made it was all my fault has gone away and I have taken from it what I know I can do better for the day I have my own cafe (fingers crossed one day it happens).
I've used most of the pandemic to read, paint, bake, learn new things and refine some of the things I already knew and edit all the sets I shot in New Orleans <3 I had saved money to fly to Venezuela and maybe visit other nearby countries to shoot new babes but I'm happy I had saved my bum for this worldwide emergency basically.
I started working (again) for a friend's business about a month ago serving Venezuelan food, all gluten-free and with vegetarian and a vegan option, it's called Miss Arepita and if you are ever in Oakland, CA consider getting some food to go from me and my friend ;) So so yummy, here some pics below.
And this week I finally sort of partnered with other friends to help them sell their coffee. If you are interested in great coffee that's roasted in small batches by awesome babes as well as paying farmers fair wages, please consider sending me a DM to purchase a bag ($20 per bag and the shipping is on me) the current batch was roasted on Monday.
I got offered a position as a leasing agent for a big building so I took the job and will start in a week and a half, not my dream job as I'm more of a creative and a very chill not business casual person but since I'm unsure what the future looks like at the moment and my family in Venezuela still depends on U.S currency monthly, I figured it was good to explore this opportunity that literally fell on my lap.
I turned 34 a couple of months ago. Made me an opera cake which I doubt I'll make again (took me too many hours even if it was incredibly delicious)
I've been reading: Feel the fear and do it anyway and Hello, Fears. I never thought I was afraid of many things but somehow I feel I maybe haven't pushed forward toward my dreams hard enough so there's that. And it seems I'm also really bad at trying to quit jobs, so I'm working on being able to communicate my wants/needs in good ways toward others that interact with me but aren't my friends and such.
I also became a U.S Citizen earlier this year and had the chance to vote in the primaries, a really exciting thing for me since I have been voting in my home-country elections since I'm 18 so I'm happy to contribute as much as I can to this country so things can improve for everybody hopefully
I've been feeling a bit down regarding my SG journey as a photographer since I haven't had new sets bought recently or features on social media which could help me find new babes to shoot. On the other hand, I'm feeling good regarding my personal evolution as a photographer both shooting and editing my sets :) I've also been trying to experiment with artificial lighting on my work and have tried shooting 35mm film for some of my portraits as time allows me to during a regular shoot. Feel free to leave some extra love on the sets I've shot that you like <3
Nonetheless, I wanted to mention that I have a couple of new sets coming in a bit over 2 weeks.
The newest hopeful debut I've shot in a year or so @hedona is such a beautiful and fun lady and was sent my way by the lovely @rambo right before I became Staff <3
@hedona and I shot a super awesome Star Wars-themed set in this super cool location I found in SF, I can't wait for you guys to check it out.
The badass and beautiful @astridlillia set I shot of while in the Nola shootfest will also drop the same week which is loosely based on the movie The Secretary <3
If you've read all this way, thank you <3 I appreciate you and hope you are doing lovely.
I will be restarting my art account and have these 3 designs I want to make stickers of but can only do 1 first, which one do you like better? You can follow me as @happy__aliens on instagram (stretched rainbow, tall rainbow or axwell floating)
What have you been up to? What changes have you recently had in your life?
Love you all <3
Mary
@missy @lemon
