Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! What are you up to for the long weekend? We are headed over to Eastern Washington to enjoy the sunshine and perhaps bring Myles to his first winery. :)

Here are some links to get us started!

The inventor of Comic Sans defends himself ;)

The eight best VMA doppelgangers.

Amazing photos from county fairs across the country.

Florals for fall. <3

Guys with fancy lady hair. LOL.

How to stay friends when your friends have kids.

10 awesome subscription boxes.

Tooth Fairy inflation: $4 for a tooth!!

Simple tips for taking photos at home.

(Photo)

The Cronut Has Arrived in Seattle!

Have you tried the new big thing in desserts, the Cronut? I guess it's a cross between a croissant and a donut and is supposed to change your world. They were invented by Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City and are slowly migrating across the country. I'm excited to announce that they have finally arrived in Seattle and at one of my favorite restaurants, Ba Bar! I'm so excited to try them, especially since the pastry chef at Ba Bar is already serving up my favorite French Macarons in the city. I'll report back!

Have you had one? Are they overrated or as amazing as they sound?

(Image)

Vote for Iron Curtain Press!

Congratulations to our good friend (and blog designer!) Rosanna and her company Iron Curtain Press for being nominated for Martha Stewart American Made. I'm so glad to see their hard work and beautiful letterpress be recognized. The next step of course, is winning and that's where we come in. You can vote up to 6 times a day for Iron Curtain Press. The grand prize is $10,000 to grow your business. 

Click here to vote for Iron Curtain Press! 

1st Month Favorites: Baby Gear

Mylo in his Snuggle Nest

Here is my favorite "stuff" from Myles' first month!

Easy access clothes: I bought a bunch of adorable clothes that he ended up wearing very briefly because they were just too difficult to get on and off! Having a fussy baby around made me grab for the most convenient and easily accessed clothing. I especially LOVE the Peek "Happy Pants", little kimono shirts, and zip (not button!) pajamas.

Old-fashioned cloth diapers: A friend's mom sent me a pack of these to us for everything from spit up to preventing Myles from peeing on me during diaper changes. We have used them constantly since day one, and have them on every surface in our house for the little messes that come up every day here. 


Bouncy exercise ball: I don't know what we would do without this one, absolute essential for us and the one sure way to get Mylo to calm down. We had one sitting in our basement for "exercising" that we brought upstairs and have used at least 10x per day since he was born. 


Mom nipple butter: This Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter has been a lifesaver for me as Myles learned to breastfeed and then when I started pumping. It smells great and is all natural. 

Biodegradable Diapers/Wipes - We love our Honest diapers and wipes! The cute prints make diaper changes a little more fun and Myles hasn't had any diaper rashes yet. 

Honest diapers and Peek Happy Pants - Love!

White Noise - I thought the white noise machines were just for Myles - not so much. I have probably used his white noise machine as much as he has to drown out all of his little baby noises in the night so I can get some sleep! We have this adorable Giraffe one that I love, it has a 20 minute or 45 minute setting. 


Portable Basinet - This Snuggle Nest bed has been perfect to carry around the house so Mylo can nap anywhere. It also traveled well to Priest Lake when we were there for his third week of life.


Dry shampoo- a new mom's best friend, love the Klorane brand.  

Zing Bars - I've already written about my love for these amazing gluten-free bars. They kept me alive after my c-section. The chocolate-coconut ones are by far the best, so tasty. 

Swaddlers - We tried to use the Aden & Anais swaddlers but either we are terrible at wrapping him or he is Houdini-baby because we were never really successful (although the A&A swaddlers are useful for about 100 other purposes!). We had way more success with the Summer Infant SwaddleMe because they have velcro to keep the little guy from busting free. 

Pretty Pictures

What do you do the night after you win a VMA? If you're Jason and I, you post a bunch of wedding photos to Facebook while spooning on a tiny bed in a studio on the upper west side. So if you like JKoe Photography on Facebook, you might have seen these pop up Monday night.

Check out some of our favorite shots the summer! 

Sleep Deprivation and Cat Videos

As you can imagine, this new mom is sleep deprived about 90% of the time right now (apparently five week old babies don't like to sleep at night!). One of the results of this is that I get pretty loopy and the laughter gets a bit out of control (like to this ridiculous commercial). Seriously though, at 3:00am sometimes the only thing that gets me by is a marathon cat video viewing session. And boy did I find a gem. You won't regret watching this one -- the keyboard player and drummer are my favorite!!

And no, I haven't watched it like six times in the past 24 hours. ;)

VMA Recap

Jason and I had a wonderful time at the VMA's on Sunday night. I still can't believe we're gonna have two moon men statues living on our mantle! Crazy! 

I ended up finding an Alice + Olivia dress that I loved and Stewart Weitzman peep toes to go with. My purse was vintage eel skin, a great goodwill find. 

When we arrived, not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty nervous. We were told that the professional categories (best director, cinematographer, etc.) wouldn't be announced until the end of the evening, so we were shocked when they were announced at the first commercial break. I was beyond shocked to see the very familiar images from "Can't Hold Us"pop up on the screen as the winner for Best Cinematography. I was shaking, jumping, cheering, waving to our friends seated in other rows, etc. In contrast, we were sitting across the aisle from the guy who won for Best Editing for Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" he played it cool when his win was announced.

Here's a screen shot of when "Can't Hold Us" won Best Hip Hop Video. Can you spot Jason and I standing in the crowd? We're about 5 rows directly behind Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. 

Other fun things you don't see when you watch the VMA's on TV:

During commercial breaks servers come through the aisles passing out shots of Patron, Champagne, vodka sodas and finally a bit later in the night, water as well.

Lady Gaga didn't change after her performance. She sat in her seashells & thong the entire night which is impressive to me because the A/C was pumping.

Everyone famous is much shorter in person, especially rappers. Taylor Swift towers over them all. 

Will Smith somehow still looks 25...

Some famous people  have crazy security details who sit with them and escort them them to the bathroom, other people, who you'd think would have security, are totally walking around like normal...

For the most part, everyone was really friendly- congratulating winners, walking around in the aisles during commercial breaks and chatting, etc.

I'm the first to admit, I might have gotten a little too excited when NSYNC showed up, but I wasn't the only one, everyone (well, all the ladies) in our section were standing, jumping, screaming. I fit right in.

Also, they don't give you your moon men statures. They come in the mail later!

Monday Motivation

BIG CONGRATS TO JENNY, JASON AND THE MACKLEMORE/RL TEAM FOR THEIR VIDEO MUSIC AWARD WINS LAST NIGHT!!! SO EXCITING! 

(Etsy Print)

Friday Roundup

NEW YORK! We're comin' for ya! Jason and I are headed to Brooklyn for the VMAs on Sunday. I have a dress! We've gotten Jason's clothes squared away. Now we just have to get a bunch of work done, rock a wedding shoot on Saturday, board a very early flight east on Sunday morning and stay awake for the award show. Thankfully "get manicure with Teresa" and "buy pretty shoes" are two of the many things on my list for today, so I can't complain. Life is crazy, but I like it.  

Speaking of New York, check out these beautiful photos from a beach in the Bronx.

I'm loving Volcano Choir, otherwise known as new music from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. 

If this is true, I'm really, really excited.

Has anyone seen "The Butler" yet? I really want to and am hoping it's as good as it looks...

On another side of the movie spectrum, this article made me want to see "The Spectacular Now"

Wonderfully odd obsolete words (friends, read this so you won't be offended if I call you a wonder-wench or a snout fair) 

The Smiths meet Charlie Brown on Tumblr and it is great.

I always wanted a pet hamster...

Inventions humanity could really do without but are totally hilarious.

Get paired with the perfect pet

Auditioning for SNL

Above, one of my behind the scenes shots from "Can't Hold Us"

Myles Is One Month Old!

Myles turned one month old on Tuesday! I can't believe how fast this first month has flown by.  He has started to give us little smiles this week that are not related to passing gas (see evidence below!). At his doctor appointment last week he weighed in at 8lbs 11oz so he is growing really quickly.

I'll stop with the weekly updates now and start with monthly ones, thanks for following along with all my photos and updates this first month.

Super Groomsmen

Here's a simple way to add a little kick of fun to your wedding day...

PS. You can't really see in the photos, but the Batman and Superman socks have little capes!

End of Summer Blues...

Who else starts to get sad at the end of August? This time of year I have to avoid certain stores' back to school displays and continually remind myself that my life usually calms down a bit with the coming of autumn. 

Part of the sadness for me is a sense of regret about all the summery things I had planned in June that I still haven't managed to get around to. Hiking, picnicking, outdoor movies, picking berries...

This year, I'm trying to focus on the positive. Even though the only truly great summer in my mind would be an endless one, it has been a really great season and despite being crazy busy with work, I've definitely managed to squeeze in some fun. I got a bike and rode it a ton, been swimming, paddle boarding, boating,  and read a few good books. 

My goal for now until the weather turns cold is to not dread the end, but enjoy the rest and ignore the beginning signs of the changing of seasons, who's with me?

Designer Disney Dresses Up For Auction

Harrod's in London is apparently auctioning off designer interpretations of our favorite Disney princess dresses for charity. Oscar de la Renta designed the Snow White number below, Roberto Cavalari designed the Pocahontas one and Missoni the Mulan. Which is your favorite? Belle was always my favorite Disney princess so I'm loving the yellow. They are currently on display in LA and will be auctioned off in November. 

Monday Motivation

I've always loved this song. 

Via Pinterest

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! We are home from Priest Lake and trying to get into a routine. It is a lot of work to get a baby out of the house! This weekend we are going to venture down to Tacoma to visit family and I might attempt to bring Mylo to Target-- wish me luck!

Cute videos of the week: Otters holding hands and a kitten fighting the air.

Gorgeous "pinhole time-lapse" video of Paris. Swoon.

40 books to read before turning 40.  I have some work to do in the next 10 years!

Definitely need to follow this advice right now: 7 tips to looking well rested when you're sleep deprived.

These homemade popsicles look AMAZING.

Hilarious camping tent. 

Cute photobooth ideas.

Unpublished photos of Marilyn Monroe as a young actress.

Now that I can almost fit in normal clothes, this dress is on my wish list. (Also, these flats)

40 fascinating maps, very interesting stuff.

(Sundowners Photo)

Mary Poppins

Were you a big Mary Poppins fan as a kid? I loved that movie growing up, Julie Andrews is such an icon. Have you seen this preview for the new movie about the making of Mary Poppins staring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as the writer PL Travers. I think it looks pretty cute, I hope it gets good reviews.

PS. What "Tuppence the Birds" means and Buzzfeed's funny (and unsettling) list of why Mary Poppins is actually a pretty messed up movie.

What to Wear?

On August 25th, I will be at the VMAs. This may sound fun and exciting, and hopefully it will be, but currently it's really stressing me out. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO WEAR?

I feel like I'm back in high school and going to prom, only this time the popular kids at my school are Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Kanye, Lady Gaga...you get the picture.

It's silly, really. I have work deadlines, tons of emails to respond to,  a house to clean, and yet- as I work on it all, in the back of my mind a little voice keeps saying, WHAT WILL I WEAR?

I know this isn't a life of death issue- the world is filled with much larger problems, bigger things I should be concerned about and more important things that I should be spending money on. Yet, still, that little voice keeps saying, WHAT WILL I WEAR? 


So, any ideas? I'm totally open to suggestions.

PS. Here are some looks I won't be rocking...

Image

Mylo's Third Week

Well it's been a big week for little Myles, we've spent most of it up at Priest Lake in beautiful Northern Idaho. Yesterday he rolled over three times from tummy to back-- not sure if it was a one time fluke or if he's a super strong baby! It's been great to get out of Seattle and enjoy the sunshine here but definitely a different experience than in years past, having an infant is a whole new world.

Hula Hoop

Just a reminder to add your character to your wedding! Gretchen, our bride last weekend, loves hula hooping so naturally there were a pile of hula hoops at her wedding reception. It made for some unique and awesome photos. 

Image jkoephoto.com

Kate Somerville Facial

I got this amazing Kate Somerville "ExfoliKate" scrub in my Birchbox a few months ago and am about to purchase it in full size I like it so much. My face feels amazing after I use it and I used it on my back when I had some breakouts during pregnancy. My sister, who is an esthetician, has also recommended Kate's products for  hormonal breakouts and anti-aging.

WIGS

I've gotten sucked into the WIGS channel on YouTube. I'm not even sure how I found it, but I'm glad I did. They have great short series and short films with a much higher production value than I expected to find on YouTube. The entire channel is original content and features dramas with female leads. Among others, there's Jennifer Garner in this short, and Maggie Grace and Anna Paquin in this series.  

My favorite thus far is Blue, starring Julia Stiles, an actress I've loved ever since she nailed late 90's teen angst in 10 Things I Hate About You. Anyway, Blue is the story of a young mom who juggles single parenting and a full time job while moonlighting as a-ahem-call girl (lady of the night, prostitute...what's the nicest way to put this?) anyway, there's a bit of a hooker with a heart of gold/Pretty Woman vibe going on here while delving into the character, giving you a peek at how she got into prostitution and how it impacts the rest of her life. Check it out.

Monday Motivation

Print available on Etsy.

Friday Roundup

Aloha from Maui! I'm still working in Hawaii. I've been staring at the ocean all week but haven't made it into the water yet. I'm excited to have a few hours off this afternoon  and foresee some snorkeling in my future.

Brian Williams Raps (sort of...)

The trailer for Homeland season 3 

Presidents on vacation

Beautiful Missed Connection 

Krochet Kids + Vans

National Geographic on Instagram

Shark on the subway

Young Hollywood

Here's a hilarious little ditty about instagrams.

The Downton Abbey cast is hardly recognizable on the red carpet. 

Occupation: "Princess of the United Kingdom" 

Words that don't mean what some people think they mean...

Image @mazagranphoto

This...

I have nothing to say. Just though everyone's lives would be made better by watching this. 

Mylo's Second Week

Here are Mylo's second week photos, as you can see he wasn't interested in cooperating with my photo shoot. It's been that kind of a week for us around here. For baby boy it's quite an adjustment joining this earth (and for us it's an adjustment becoming parents!). Poor little guy has been pretty fussy this week and we're just doing our best to interpret his little cries and soothe him. He finally took a pacifier yesterday so we are hoping that will be helpful!

This weekend we are headed out to Priest Lake to be with my family for a few days. I'm really looking forward to a change of scenery since we've been trapped in the house for the majority of the past couple of weeks. Hoping that 6-7 hour car ride will go well, wish us luck!

A Gorgous Angle...

Image JKoe Photography

Kindness

When I was up with Mylo at 3:00am last night I ended up reading this inspiring graduation speech by George Saunders that was posted this week in the New York Times. It's a good read if you have a few minutes, definitely motivating me to not sweat the little stuff this week and focus on what's really important, being kind.

Aloha!

The JKoe team is shooting in Maui all this week and next. Definitely not a bad place to have to work, but don't be too jealous. We really are shooting all day everyday while we're here and staying up late to keep up with all the rest of our regular work.

What sort of a shoot is it? Glad you asked, because it's totally random. I get to write on people! Really! We're at huge corporate event and basically we are doing a totally killer photo booth with amazing backgrounds and the people get to choose whatever they'd like to be written on them. Here's me in a sample photo...

Both images @jkoephoto 

Monday Motivation

Happy National Oyster Day!! Since I'm allowed to eat them now I'm going to have to partake today! 

Print available on Etsy.

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? We are buckled down at home with Myles and welcoming a lot of visitors to meet him.

Thanks for all the nice comments this week, it's been fun to share photos of Mylo's first couple of weeks of life.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Talk about an extravagant wedding! Game of Thrones style.

How to talk to your daughter about body image. Inspiring.

A great story about Seattle and Nordstrom. Gotta love this city!

Famous women describe happiness.

Dress made from books!

Delicious summer dessert. 

This monthly box might be worth trying out.

Cutest Instagram ever.

Hilarious t-shirt for dads. 

Cute way to wear long hair on a hot day.

(Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward photo)

Life at Home

We've been home from the hospital just over a week now and it feels like we are all finally starting to settle into a rhythm of sorts. For now everything revolves around our little guy and his cries dictate how our days take shape. He nurses every 2-4 hours and is either sleeping, crying or staring at whoever is holding him the rest of the time. A few people have commented on how alert he is for a newborn, he loves to observe and we often find ourselves wondering aloud what is going on in his tiny brain. 

As you can see from the photo above, Myles loves his dad so much. When we were in the hospital I was more or less bedridden for several days and Patrick had to take care of his every need with the exception of nursing. He changed all of his diapers, helped give him his first bath and recorded every move he made for the nurses. Also, when Mylo was born I was still under anesthesia so Patrick was the first one to hold him and sit with him skin-to-skin. The two of them hit it off right from the beginning. 

I know you all must be wondering how our kitty Rafa is doing will all of the change?! ;) He is taking it all in like the sweet cat that he is. We followed some advice online to send home a blanket that smelled like the new baby from the hospital before we arrived home so that he could start getting used to the new scent. I think it worked well. The first night Rafa came and sniffed Mylo and then settled down at the end of the bed. But by the second night he snuggled right onto my lap at 3:30am (see photo below)! He is the best.  

Thanks for indulging all of my Mylo updates this week! I'll be back to regular posting next week, with more photos and stories thrown in here and there of course.

Jacqueline Kennedy: White House Tour

Did you know that New Year's Day used to be an open house at the White House? Really! Anyone could come in and shake the president's hand. If you've got a free hour, this is a lovely tour of the White House, filled with fun facts and history all in Jacqueline Kennedy's soft and sophisticated voice.

PS. Yes, I know I'm a huge dork for finding things like this super interesting. But seriously, this is a first lady we can all pick up some decorating tips from.

Via Huffington Post