Hello lovely readers!

Well it’s been a little while since I’ve been on here and I am not quite sure where the time has gone. How are we already half way through 2024? Madness!

I have been enjoying maternity leave with my baby girl and I find it hard to believe that she is already 9 months old. Why do they grow so fast? With my eldest in pre-school and my baby starting to crawl, life with two little girls is both wonderful and exhausting! It’s left me little time to dabble in my own food photography. I truly have missed it so will try my hardest to keep up with building my portfolio. It simply takes me a lot longer to tidy up!

As the warmer months are approaching (or they should be, seriously what is with the weather in the UK?), I love to eat a little lighter. A simple tomato, mozzarella and basil salad is one of our family favourites. My daughter loves it and fights us for the mozzarella but gentle flicks off the basil. She doesn’t know what she’s missing!

With a little sprinkle of Maldon sea salt, pepper, oregano and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, who could resist? We often have this on the side of a pasta dish for dinner. Delicious.

This post is not exactly a recipe post. It’s just a little start to me trying to find the time to shoot at home again. My days and weeks just go by so quickly with constant housework, socialising, school runs and more. I have done a few photoshoots at home for clients and it definitely keeps me busy with a baby crawling around the set!

I am also trying my hardest to be a little healthier. With the sleepless nights, I found myself craving so much sugar and comfort food during the day. I realised tiredness has such a knock on effect. We went on our first family holiday to Dubai a few weeks back and I found myself eating way more than I usually would. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and the food that we came across (I enjoyed many aloo parathas and puris for breakfast nearly every morning), but I came back realising that I needed to make a change.

So I signed up for a Race for Life not only to motivate me, but to honour my Mum. I’ve been wanting to do another Race for Life for years but life always got in the way. I first did it alongside my friend in 2010 before my Mum passed away. She was there in the crowds cheering me on and hugged me at the end and bought me an ice cream. Little did we know that soon she will also be diagnosed with cancer herself.

Growing my own little family has made me realise just how precious life is and has made me so grateful for what I have. Sometimes I can’t help but think what if the doctors caught my Mum’s cancer earlier so she could fight it and would possibly be here today to see her grandchildren grow up, or even her own kids get married. I realise I can’t keep thinking like this but the thought is hard to shift.

If I can make a tiny difference to Cancer Research that may prevent other families suffering like we have, I will try. But go easy on me, my postpartum body is not exactly a long distance runner! But I will do my best and have fun with it.

I have to take this opportunity to thank all my friends and family who have so kindly donated and sent me well wishes, I have more than tripled my target! You lot are incredible. If there’s anyone else who would like to donate to such a worthy cause, I’d be so grateful 🙂

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/bhavishas-race-for-life-19

Thank you once again! And as always thank you for reading. Wish me luck for Sunday!

My name is Bhavisha Surti and I am a food photographer and stylist based in Milton Keynes. Please subscribe to my blog below and check out my website to see more of my work at www.jbimagery.co.uk. Thank you!