After a year and a half of blogging some of you have got to know me pretty well or so I thought. Then my friend Noemi came over and said, “You need to show your readers who you are! People would love to see the person behind the camera.” Hmm, when I gave that idea a bit of consideration I realised I was very reluctant to do so. Why? Not sure, perhaps I’ve grown accustomed to that Vikalinka persona and to reveal the real me was not so easy.
Then Noemi, who happens to be an incredibly talented photographer, came up with this brilliant idea-to do a shoot of a shoot- follow me as I set up for an ordinary food post and document it all. I couldn’t say no to that!! To put it plainly, she made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. 🙂 No guns were involved though.
So here it goes, my name is Julia…not Vikalinka… I never hid that fact but, since so many of my readers call me Vikalinka or Vika, I thought it’s worth mentioning. When I am not cooking or styling food for my blog, I spend time with my best friend, who makes me laugh every day and happens to be my husband, and our 2 kids. Huge part of my time is also given to my work, which I happen to like! I am a teacher by day. So despite what it looks like on my blog, you and I have A LOT in common. I do make fancy cakes, occasionally but most of the time I cook quick and healthy dinners for my family because my life is happening at an INSANE pace and I am constantly trying to catch up! Between being a mom, a wife, a teacher and a blogger not a lot of time is left for me. Wait, that’s not true…all of those things are pieces of ME. I absolutely love living my life the way it turned out.
I am asked often about my exotic location, i.e. England. This brings a smile to my face partially because after living in a place for a while it loses its first charm and magic but mostly because my “exotic” location looks far less thrilling in reality. My English garden where I often shoot is the size of a postage stamp. I often have no room to back up when I take my photos so I learned to fold my body into incredible shapes in order to avoid bumping into furniture or other miscellaneous objects such as that shed in my garden.
Truth is the reality of my life is much more prosaic than the imaginary world of Vikalinka but there is also another reality, the one I choose to see daily. That reality is an incredible beauty that surrounds us in ANY location; the beauty of God’s creation expressed in a newly baked loaf of bread, freshly churned farmhouse butter and the aroma of aged cheese or perhaps a large cluster of juicy grapes. I am surrounded by that beauty every day.
I guess revealing the real me wasn’t so hard after all. I hope you can tell me a little bit about yourself in your comments. There not too many things I enjoy more than hearing from my readers. Thank you for stopping by and continue reading my blog. Also, a HUGE thank you to my friend Noemi for taking these dreamy photos and making me look like a domestic goddess!
Have a blessed weekend!
Lovely behind the scenes! I’m a big fan…and also very familiar with body contortion in order to get the right camera angle. 😉
Thank you so much, Aimee! I think body contortion skills develop as a by-product of blogging. 😉
I would love to have ANY garden, even a postage stamp sized one. My parents have a pretty big one (not as big as the ones shown on BBC programmes, but still) and I try to visit them and spend as much time as possible among the roses or in the cottage garden. The fact that your small space seems big and lavish in the pictures is in my opinion one of the biggest compliments for a gardener and photographer.
Thank you, Karina. I truly appreciate my tiny garden. We lived in a flat for two years right after we moved to London so I do know how precious a bit of outdoor space is, especially for kids! Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
I’ve really come to enjoy your blog and photos so much since discovering it a few months back. The idea of a shoot of your shoot is something that more bloggers should do, to take the dreamy fiction out of their posts. Blogs have a tendency to make us think that the bloggers life is exactly how it’s shown in the photos and having written a food blog for eight years, one of my goals in it was to show everyone that it was NOT that way, but surprisingly, no one wants reality. They all want the gorgeous, dreamy life. Seeing the reality makes someone so much more true, like we can grasp them in a big embrace, so thank you, for being real, and for sharing your tiny postage stamp with us.
Thank you so much, Kate! Your comment truly made my day and reminded me once again why I blog! I blog to share what I know and that is food. I wanted to share that cooking could be a fun, creative outlet and it could be done without breaking the bank! 🙂
I love this post, so glad you shared a bit of who you are with us :). Your postage stamp garden looks so charming!
Thank you, Laura. 🙂
Great post Julia! Forgive me, I have called you Vika in the past 🙂 Awesome pics!
LOL no problem, Katya, not offended at all. Vika is my mom’s and my daughter’s name. 🙂
Such a lovely post and beautiful photos! Love the picnic and learning more about you, too 🙂
Thank you, Jennifer!
Beautiful photos. And don’t be shy, everybody wants to know who you are 🙂
Every location can be exotic and even small garden can look gorgeous. I wish we had a garden even tiny, although having a balcony is almost as good.
Have a great weekend.
Oh trust me, Magda, since moving to London and I don’t take my tiny garden for granted! 🙂
Where would you be without Noemi? She has really passed on and developed your gift. You are a “Shooter.”
She sure did. 🙂
Someone as beautiful as you, inside and out, needs to be shared with the world. I’m just SOOO thankful I can call you my friend. I love your tender heart…and the way you always make me feel at home when I’m around you or just reading your blog!
Thank you! These photos were such an incredible and generous gift. I will always treasure them!! I can’t wait for the next time we are together. 🙂