Remembering 2009 (Part 1)

I am in a bittersweet mood today.  This year has brought a lot of changes to my life-- great friends moving away, a whole host of new friends, one beloved lady who went Home to see the Lord, travels all over the globe, family life that is changing, and a greater desire to know my Lord better.

If I could think of one word to describe 2009 it would be flux.  A second word is blessed.

Here's my best attempt to highlight the past year:

JAN 1 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY  Woke up on Matt and Corrie's couch with a very sweet Jacksie sharing the couch with me.  Spent New Year's Eve catering an event, slept a few hours, and caught a Greyhound bus home to Delaware.

JAN 12-17 OLD SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO  Had a great week with dear friends in Puerto Rico.  Matt and Corrie opened up their rented house to us.  We were joined by Timmy, Siki, and Dino.  I had a wonderful time, but definitely felt the blues chasing me.

JAN 13- FEB 13 MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA  Went to Miami to escape the wintry weather of the Northeast, and to model with an agency down there.  Didn't work once, but ended up rooming with Amanda-- an Australian girl I had met in Athens, Greece in 2003.  I had no hand in that coincidence-- it was all God, and she was a blessing to me as I struggled with an infinite sadness.  I was further blessed by having dear friends from New York, Hilary and Moksha, and Jen, all come visit.

FEB 5-8 BUENA VISA, COLORADO  Met up with my dear friend, Sierra, who flew in from California, and my twin sis, who flew in from Delaware at a women's retreat at Young Life's Frontier Ranch.  Learned more about loving God, and got to spend time with two very special women.

FEB 14 NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  Back in NY to surprise dear Siki on his birthday!

MAR 16-19 MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA  Surprise of all surprises-- I booked a catalogue shoot in South America.  Was awesome to see a new part of the world, and meet new people.  Bonus?  Turns out the client's son and I have mutual friends-- AND he lived in my town of Newark, Delaware for a couple of years.  It's always nice to find a piece of home when you're all alone and half a world away.

MAR 20-26 BATESBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA  My sister, parents, and four dogs drove down to South Carolina for a wonderful few days with Golden Grams.  What ensued was lots of thrifting, yummy southern cuisine, Twilight madness, haunts in old cemeteries, and a day trip to Charleston.

APR 6 NEWARK, DELAWARE  Birdcage Vintage opens!  It's an online boutique created by me and my sis where we sell vintage clothes.  Erin and I have a blast sourcing vintage clothes and photographing them for the site.

MAY 1 NEWARK, DELAWARE  Saddest May Day ever.  May 1st is a day I've long claimed for myself, where I'm annually crowned the Queen of May.  We learned that Golden Grams had unexpectedly passed away, so we packed up our bags, put the puppies in Doggie Daycare and drove the 13 hours to South Carolina to say goodbye.

MAY 4 AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA  We said goodbye to Grandma at a memorial service.  We sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God, and exited accompanied by the strains of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline, one of Grandma's favorite songs.  We spent the rest of the week packing up/getting rid of everything in her house.  One of the hardest things I've ever had to do-- saying goodbye to someone who means the world to me.

MAY 28-AUG 8 ISTANBUL, TURKEY  Needing an escape, I headed to Istanbul for the summer where I straddled Asia and Europe, and had daily sightings of the glorious Bosphorus!  It was one of the craziest experiences I've ever had (LONG STORY) but an experience I am glad to have had, nonetheless.

To Be Continued...

Waiting for Ulysses

I mentioned this a week or so back-- I've been working on a new blog. I enjoy doing this blog, but over the year and 9 months I've been writing this blog(wow! I stuck with it that long? I've never committed to anything for that long a time!), I've had a hard time pinning down what exactly it was that I wanted to write about. I think in the beginning I wrote more from heart, just about whatever thing that struck my fancy. At some point, the whole blog became more polished, and probably lost some of the charm. At another point, I made the blog a collect-all for anything I found interesting, and then later it reincarnated as a fashion blog, and lately, it seems to be a repository for everything work related.

Soooo, I have finally found a topic that I am PASSIONATE about and I've decided it should have it's own blog. That blog will focus on its own thing, and this one will continue to be as sporadic as ever.

What's the new blog about? Well, it's mostly about my struggle to love God more. To that end, I'll post things that inspire me, or things that have me thinking. I'd like to think that one day it will be a resource that I can reference to find information on a myriad of topics. I'd love it if you would check it out, and possibly add me to your reader.

It is called Waiting for Ulysses and can be accessed at http://www.waitingforulysses.blogspot.com.  And don't worry, I'll keep posting here as well.

XOXO,

Christmas

MeRRy CHriStmAs!

XOXO,

Humble Pie

 The incriminating photo: Backstage at the Aiisha Ramadan Show in Dubai Mall

This is sort of a funny exchange.

My roommate in Dubai for the month of October was a gal named Hana Nitsche. She was on a show in Germany called Germany's Next Top Model (which is a counterpart to America's Next Top Model), and as a result, she is apparently very famous in Germany. I didn't know this about her, but she did tell me that she has to be careful about what she does, as it will most certainly end up on the internet or in the newspapers.

I didn't pay much attention to any of this talk of celebrity. That is, until today.

My friend, Laura, a German model emailed me, and said (referring to the above picture), "Is this you? I found this online today."

I looked at the picture and confirmed that it was indeed me. Standing next to me was my roommate, Hana, and on the other side is my dear friend (also a German model), Alexandra. I asked Laura where she found my photo, and she directed me to what is apparently a Hana Nitsche fan site. This website has pages and pages of the whos and whats of Hana. Where it gets interesting (to me) is when my name comes up in the discussion.

Forum Poster: "Does anyone know the name of the woman next to Hana?... I think I have seen her before, but I'm not sure."

Other Forum Poster: "Maybe its Cole, Bareface's new model of the month"

Original Forum Poster: "There is a certain resemblance, but she looks so OLD... and Cole should be 6cm taller than Hana."

This is why I'm thankful I'm NOT famous.  What a blow to the ego it is to have random strangers commenting on how old I look in a photo.  It's sort of eye-opening to see how mean people can be-- and makes me rethink nasty/snarky comments that I have made about people I don't know.  I have another friend who was a singer/instrumentalist in a popular band.  When you googled her name all sorts of nasty comments would come up about her.  People who had never met her would tear apart the way she looked, as well as her intelligence, which was completely ridiculous as she is one of the loveliest people I know, both inside and out.

In related news, tonight I attended the screening of Avatar at the Dubai International Film Festival.  The actor, Gerard Butler, was there, and while I also think he is "swoon worthy" (mostly because I fell in love with the character he portrays in P.S. I Love You), I also have to question what it is about human nature that we idolize these people.  As my friend's mom said to me in regards to Gerard, whom she had never heard of, "I don't get it.  I see men that look like him every day on the Tube in London."  And she's right.  If you hadn't seen the movies that Gerard is in, you wouldn't give him the time of day.

That said, I should add that Hana is a lovely gal.  She was the best roommate I've ever had-- neat, courteous, thoughtful, etc.  She really was a treat to live with.

Oh, and for the comment that Cole "should be at 6cm taller than Hana"?  Hello!-- it's called heels.  Let's just say that some of us in the photo were wearing heels, while some of us weren't.  That's not that hard to figure out, is it?

XOXO,

Emirates Woman December 2009

In early November I shot with South African photographer, Candy Kennedy.  It was my first time working with her, and it was a treat!  She has great energy, a creative vision, and best of all, takes amazing photos.  The above photos are some of her behind-the-scenes shots and below are the images that were used in the magazine.

XOXO,

Featured Model!

I am happy to say that after a slow month for work in November (compounded by the Eid holiday at the end of the month), I'm busy again.  This past week alone found me shooting an ad for Lipton's Green Tea, a fashion show, a shoot for Harper's Bazaar, and a commercial for the Dubai Shopping Festival.  Not bad for a week's work, and I daresay I wish more weeks could be as successful!

I'll try to get some more of my work posted in the next few days.  This blog seems to have turned into a dumping ground for my modeling photos as of late, and hopefully I'll return to less shallow posting soon.  In the meanwhile, I'm happy to be able to share my work with my friends and family back home who seem to always be proud of me.

I'm also working on a new blog that might be of interest to a handful of you... I'll keep you posted!

Above is a screen shot of my agency's website.  I was quite pleased (and surprised!) to find that I am currently their featured model.  Let's hope that brings more jobs and that I'll stay busy until I leave in the beginning of January.

More to follow soon...

XOXO,

Shoot for Japan

My friend Taro emailed me these a couple of weeks ago.  I shot these in New York City at the beginning of September for a clothing store in Japan.  They were shot with the newly opened High Line Park in the background.  (I recommend visiting if you get the chance!  It was an elevated rail system that was constructed in the 1930s and was abandoned for many years before being opened as a park in 2009.  It affords majestic views of the Hudson River, and has the added benefit of making you feel like you've left the bustling city streets behind for a bit).  I love pictures with that quintessential New York feel!

XOXO,