nicoledavisdesigns.com Blog

Whoever came up with the phrase “burning the candle at both ends” would be describing my life at the moment to a tee!   But what I’ve been doing to whittle down that wick, though, has made it all worth it…  To fil you in on my latest comings and goings, check out the following timeline.

A few weeks ago, the dear friend that I have been talking about past away.  The services were held in Chicago, and I took the first flight that I could get home.  I’ve learned that life is about experiences, and I took comfort in the journey (which turned out to be the only passenger on a little Cesna plane) knowing that I had this person to thank for giving me that little piece of life!  It was a beautiful and more than well attended service.  My thoughts and prayers continue to be with their family.

The day after the service was our big Super Bride Sunday show, which had over 1,000 attendees.  It was our best show ever!!!   The following weekend, we spent some time in French Lick with my mom and stepdad.  What a wonderful little town!  I highly recommend a weekend get away there.  Work has been tremendously busy, and our Super Bride follow-ups have been non-stop! 

We are in the midst of planning our March 15th Open House at the studio for all area brides. http://www.davisdigitalphotography.com/openhouse2008.html if you’d like more details.  The planning for this has eaten up most of my time lately, but we still squeezed in our first time ever at Day of Dance, and area show to support women’s heart health. On a side note, I have to mention what I great time I had today at this event.  Melanie, my Deaconess Hospital contact was wonderful, I got to meet the Roller Derby girls, and I had the kindest father and daughter help me with my load out.  They saw that I was alone with both kids (Mia- 4, and Cooper- 2), and they came to my rescue in loading up my stuff.  The girl buckled Mia in, and her father helped me load up.  A huge thanks to these kind strangers!!!  We should all try to be so thoughtful : )

The last thing that I have had the pleasure of doing lately is I shot my first Fashion Show.  I had the honor of shooting Youth First’s (http://youthfirstinc.org/) Heart’s Desire… Men About Town show for Evansville’s eWoman magazine.  It was a tremendously fun time, and you can read all out it in the next issue of the magazine.

OK…. I guess I’d better sign off.  I need to get some work stuff done so that I can work on some exhibitor follow-up stuff after that.  My poor house looks like a torando went through it at the moment, too… oops!  I forgot to mention that we purchased a new puppy last weekend- her name is Sophie, and she is a three month old black lab/golden retriever mix.  My goal is good citizen train her for hospital or nursing home visits.  Wish us luck!
Take care, and thanks for reading!!!

Warmest regards,

Nikki Davis

nicole davis designs

I first wanted to comment on a woman who was in front of me at the tanning salon last week.  The girl behind the counter was new and very inexperienced.  She took over 10 minutes to ring up the woman’s tanning selection, and spent 75% of that time on the phone getting support from another store.  I have been there before.  I worked at a tanning salon in high school and in college, and when you’re new at something, Murphy’s law always happens, and one can’t help but have his or her fair share of embarrasing first moments.  It’s what we learn and grow from, though, so they are a necessary part of life.  Well, back to the customer in question.   I was so proud of her.  She waited patiently, she tapped her toes the music playing on the overhead, and she was gracious and nice to the new girl.  Now how often do you see that?  Not very, I’d say…. I’m used to people becoming rude, or rolling their eyes, or being downright nasty if something doesn’t go their way immediately.  So I have to share with you that I am proud of that young lady, and I hope that we can all mimic her patience and graciousness the next time we are in the same situation.  She was an example for us all!!!

The other topic that I wanted to touch on today is comforting others.  The family friend that I mentioned in my previous blogs is gravely ill and will most likely go home to God today if she didn’t already through the night.  What do you say to her family, though, during this difficult time?  I was completely at a loss, but what I settled on was sharing the notion that I prayed that God hold their hand to walk them through this difficult time.  Eventually, they will make their way through this, but knowing that God is right next to them along the way, somehow comforts me, and I hope that it comforts them.  Their family is in our prayers, and I hope that they can be in yours as well.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention that Super Bride Sunday is this weekend, and I can’t wait!!!  My booth preparations are going great, and we are expecting a phenomenal turn-out.  Hope to see you there : )

Warmest regards,

Nikki Davis

nicole davis designs

I want to stop for a moment and say thanks!  Thanks to you for reading this.  Thanks to my family for supporting me, and thanks to the good Lord for always having my back!  OK, with that said, I have to share a small funny story… my husband actually sent out a thank you card.  Now, to be honest, I think my children have written more thank you cards than my husband ever has in his life, so I was quite proud of him.  Anyway, the cool part of the story is that the recipient of the thank you card called him this morning to say that it was great that he had sent him a thank you card so fast.  Way to go Bob!  You are making your little Miss Manners proud!

So what have we been up to lately?  I shot a wedding at the start of the year, and I am in the process of ramping up for Super Bride Sunday here in Evansville.  It is the largest bridal show in the tri-state area, and it gives us gals something to do on Super Bowl Sunday (especially now that our poor Colts are out of it : (!!! Better luck next year!).   I also signed up to do Deaconess Hospital’s Day of Fance event on FEB 23, 2008.  It is an event to increase awareness of women’s health and wellness issues, and I am looking forward to participating in such a great cause!

I have also finally started working on my illustrations, and I have transported all of my photographs available for licensing over to my new picture webhosting account.  You can check those out at

http://www.davisdigitalphotography.smugmug.com/

All of the stock photo and illustration folders are open for viewing - the password is “ndd” for nicole davis designs.  Enjoy!

So, I haven’t totally fallen off the map.  Just biding my time until the summer’s wedding season with braving the cold to photograph and working on my new designs.

I hope all is well with each and every one of you!!!  Take care, and have a great week!

Warmest regards,

Nikki Davis

nicole davis designs

P.S. Regarding those goals:

1. Clean and reorganize my office, and make it more usable - DONE AND IT LOOKS GREAT!
2. Tweak my nicole davis designs website- this is now underway - DONE
3. Totally revamp my davis digital photography website- this has to be done by February 3^rd’s Super Bride Sunday, so I need to step this up a notch once all the Christmas stuff is taken down - ALMOST DONE
4. Widen my photography stock and my illustration libraries - WORKING ON IT
5. Write and design a children’s book - ALREADY HAVE A FEW IDEAS IN MIND, WAITING UNTIL I GET MY NEW CAMERA!
6. And lastly, run the Chicago Marathon…. I know- odd ball goal in the middle of all of my business goals, but running has taught me about commitment and perseverance, and I think it very fitting that it have its place right up with all my other ones. STARTED TRAINING JAN 1 : )

For those of you who have children, do you ever feel like when you return home from work that your entire evening is squandered on house chores?  That you don’t have the opportunity to give as much attention to the kids as you meant to?  Last night, I just have to share, I had what I would consider a perfect evening…  My husband was home (he regularly is out of the house in the evenings for his coaching or his house flipping responsibilities).  I made a supper to which everyone sat down at the table for.  He played Candyland with them while I cleaned up the dishes and picked up around the house.  I gave them a bath, and then all four of us hopped into bed for me to read a book of each of their choices.  We still had 20 minutes before bedtime, so he played Hi-Ho Cheerio with them while I finished the livingroom toy pickup and vacuumed.  My husband then ran to the drug store for me to pickup my prescription while I put the kids to bed.  It was certainly a team effort, but was amazed me was how in sync my husband and I were.  It was a perfect evening, and I am grateful that it all came together so well.
On a professional note, I sent off my second submission to Advocate last week, which just arrived this morning in London.  I have started adding a few illustrations to the mix, and had a wide variety of winter and Christmas images for use next year.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind with the Christmas holiday, but I’ve survived, and have only one last social commitment (my sorority alum club party at my house tonight) to go.  Then this weekend, the trees (yes…. I have four) will come down, and my house will return to some sense of normalcy.
I have to admit, though, that my husband finally did the three honey-do items to my office that I have needed done for the last 6 months, so hopefully, by then end of the weekend, my office will be more in-house studio and design center then catch-all room for my kids art supplies (thanks in huge part to a wonderfully large file cabinet that I recently acquired).
As far as New Year’s resolutions, here are the ones I plan to stick with:

1. Clean and reorganize my office, and make it more usable
2. Tweak my nicole davis designs website- this is now underway
3. Totally revamp my davis digital photography website- this has to be done by February 3^rd’s Super Bride Sunday, so I need to step this up a notch once all the Christmas stuff is taken down
4. Widen my photography stock and my illustration libraries
5. Write and design a children’s book
6. And lastly, run the Chicago Marathon…. I know- odd ball goal in the middle of all of my business goals, but running has taught me about commitment and perseverance, and I think it very fitting that it have its place right up with all my other ones.

OK… off to work!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and I wish you all the best in 2008!

Warmest regards,
Nikki Davis
nicole davis designs

OK, it was frightful in an Evansville sort of way this past weekend.  An inch and a half of snow and slightly icy roads.  It makes me chuckle that people down here think that that is bad snow.  If they only headed up north for a bit, or ventured out further into the Midwest this year, they would see what a real snowstorm is like.  Evansville is nothing like the feet upon feet of lake effect snow that we have back home up in LaPorte, IN (10 minutes from the Michigan border, 10 minutes from Lake Michigan, and about an hour and a half from Chicago).  Nor is like the 5 days without power that my dad just went through out in Kansas.  I was also just reading online that Oklahoma has been out of power for 10 days. Can you imagine?  With two small children, I asked my husband what we would do if our whole town lost power for that long (unlike my father, we are not set up with a wood burning stove and gas heaters).  We agreed that we would head elsewhere, probably up to my mom’s for the duration.

I write about snow storms and losing power today because to think about it makes me grateful for all the unseen things that we take for granted.  I turn on a light, or turn up the heat.  I run a hot shower, or I flip on my television.  These things happen because of the environment that we live in, and even a temporary disruption to most is unacceptable.  There are people out there, though, with no running water, without heat or electricity, that aren’t consumed with finding the latest ipod or Wii for a Chirstmas gift.  They’re just happy for what meager means they have.

Let us take a moment to be thankful for what we have.  Food on the table and a roof over our heads.  We are truely a blessed society, and we shouldn’t take that for granted.

I hope each and every one of you is having a wonderful holiday season.  Take care, and enjoy time with your family.

Warmest regards,

Nikki Davis

nicole davis designs

I’m tardy… I know.  I know! It has just been one hellacious week, though, and I am proud to say that I am finally at the tail end of it. 

Thanksgiving weekend went great.  I had in-law relatives stay for two nights with us, and it was a overly pleasant weekend.  I finished most of my Christmas shopping, and I even had the opportunity to stop and be grateful for all of the wonderful blessings in my life.

The other fun item of the week is that I received my first Christmas card of the year.  If you couldn’t already tell, I have a fine appreciation for cards, and I was excited to receive a delightful pop up version from my little sister and her husband.  She is putting me to shame folks… getting her cards out before me.  Oh well, we’re only just tonight taking the pics of the kids at my studio for my photo cards, and I have yet to get the “Year in Photos” pages done.  Maybe this weekend… maybe not : )

My manuscript is coming along nicely, and I wrapped up two articles for our local parents magazine over the week.  My day job has been over the top busy, and the writing has turned into a very welcome stress reliever.

This weekend, I will be taking the pics for my Confessions of a Messy Mommy story about organizing your kids art projects.  Should make for a fun afternoon with the kids. 

 My last big tid bit of info is to invite all of you to the: 

Here Comes Santa - Bazaar
A benefit for Holly’s House
Sponsored by the Junior League of Evansville and Reitz High School seniors Hope Davis and Chelsey Vickery
 The “Here Comes Santa - Bazaar” will be this year’s most exciting holiday event.  This event will be a true shopping extravaganza featuring 1000s of unique items including jewelry, ladies fashions, clothing, home decor, holiday merchandise, and much more.   

Where: United Trinity Methodist Church
216 SE Third Street
Evansville, Indiana (Downtown)
When: Saturday, December 8^th, 2007
10AM till 4PM
                                    20% of the proceeds will go to Holly’s House