Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to a fun fête this weekend in celebration of Teresa that little bundle who will be here fairly soon!

Other than that, I'm working on clearing my mind and trying to find inspection for a new project. I've spent the afternoon meandering through beautiful photos online while defusing lavender and bergamot...if anyone else has suggestions, let me know. Why is it that when I need to sit and think, suddenly I want to do all of the things I've been putting off forever? Anyhow, here's a wonderfully scattered roundup of things I've been looking at that probably aren't super helpful for my creative process.

Get ready, it's gonna be May. 

One of my favorite insta's to follow if you like cute pandas, that is.

A book that I love + an actress that I love= I'm excited for this show

Perspective is everything

I love this non-Beyoncé related story about lemonade.

Adventure cats!

Hermione Danger and other amazing roller derby names. 

Easy summer hair inspiration.

#nomomleftbehind was on TV in Seattle this week! (ICYMI, check out Teresa's post on 30/30's new campaign.)

Lastly, who else HATES putting on duvet covers? I'm tempted to wash my sheets today just to try this...

This is by far the fastest way to make your bed (via @porchdotcom) https://t.co/jPnjuvVxnU

— ELLE DECOR (@ELLEDECOR) April 25, 2016

Photo @zoerainphoto 

#tbt

So one GREAT thing about #tbt, you can go back and cover things you meant to post when they happened, but never quite got around to it. The story of my life, really.

Back when I was on tour in January, I got to meet Callie, a devoted blog reader. It was super fun to meet her in person and get to show her a little bit of what life on the road looks like for me. It was definitely a huge highlight of the tour for me!

Part of the fun of blogging for Teresa and I, is getting to share little bits of our lives and things that are important to us and it's always fun to see when that resinates with someone else!

Thanks for reading Callie & everyone else out there! 

On White Weddings

This week I came across this podcast on the idea of the "White Wedding" from Stuff You Missed in History Class, and whether you're in the process of planning your own wedding or not, it's super interesting!

If you've ever wondered why brides wear white dresses, where the idea of registering for gifts came from or why most engagement rings are diamonds, give it a listen. 

#NoMomLeftBehind This Mother's Day

I am SOOO excited, both personally and professionally, to share with you all first about our new Mother's Day campaign with the 30/30 Project, #NoMomLeftBehind. We are partnering with an incredible organization called Hope Through Health to build a new maternity ward in Togo, West Africa!

I'm particularly passionate about this campaign because I have so much to celebrate in my life this Mother's Day, as both a daughter and a mother, and am committed to giving back. 

As many of you know, my mom was given five years to live when she was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1990. In large part due to the incredible healthcare that she has received here in Washington State, she is still with us today. Not only do I get to celebrate still having my mom here, I am expecting our second little baby this May. My first labor and delivery was complicated, scary and unpredictable and I'm grateful that I had the incredible care at Swedish Hospital that kept Myles and I healthy. I look forward to an even better experience in just five short weeks (eek!).

Community Health Workers with Hope Through Health in Togo, West Africa 

Sadly, 1 in 46 women die in childbirth in Togo (compared to 1 in 1800 here in the US). I so strongly believe that these women deserve the same type of access that my mom and I have had. Will you join me in building this maternity ward? We are trying to raise $30,000 through this campaign and every dollar counts. Please check out our #NoMomLeftBehind website and share this campaign with your friends. Thank you so much for supporting the 30/30 Project! 

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! Hope you have fun plans for the weekend! We will be continuing to sift through out things and get the new house organized. Also, I'm excited to share with you all our Mother's Day initiative with the 30/30 Project on Monday! 

Here are some links to get the weekend started:

Happy Earth Day! Some fun eco-friendly products from Nordy's. 

Who knew all these quotes came from our favorite 90's family sitcom?

I hated this book even though everyone seems to have loved it. Maybe I'll like the movie better?

Didn't Kate Middleton look incredible on her recent trip to India and Bhutan?? All the outfits. 

20 uses for our new favorite essential oil. 

Have you seen this shirt yet? <3

Also, this baby shirt. 

Made me laugh.

This looks a little strange but also kind of delicious. 

What is it about train travel that is so fascinating to me?

Heartbreaking, incredible photography.

(Images from NASA for Earth Day- including one above in New Zealand)

#tbt: A Revamp of a Childhood Favorite!

Hands down, my favorite books for most of elementary school were The Baby Sitter's Club. Who else?

My sister just gifted me a revamped BSC (because that's what all the cool kids called it) graphic novel, by Raina Telgemeier. The graphic novels combine story lines from multiple books and reading one was a fun way to revisit my childhood. I also surprised myself with how much I remembered of the stories! Never mind that I seem to have forgotten half of the basic math I learned during 4th grade, it seems my brain decided to retain the names of all seven Pike children instead.

If you really want a throwback...

"What Your favorite Babysitters's Club Member Says About You"

Remember the TV show? How about the movie? 

Also, Kirsten Dunst was on a book cover! 

New House, Fresh Start

We are officially, 100% moved! Moving is so much work but we are thrilled to be in a bigger house and paying a mortgage instead of rent. We are adults now, it's real.

Renovating our new house and transitioning all of our stuff, our child and our cat is no small feat so I'm patting myself on the back this week for surviving it all. Rafa is now venturing outdoors for a few hours a day and Mylo loves giving people a tour of the house, including, adorably, "baby sister's room." Most of the house is still chaotic and we don't have nearly enough furniture but I'm excited to slowly share some picture of our new space. The one above is of Rafa surveying the new neighborhood next to my beloved ficus.

We are officially on baby-watch-- five weeks from tomorrow is the big day!

If You're In LA...

...you must head over to Highland Park to visit our good friend Rosanna's super cute new shop! 

I can't wait to visit the next time I'm down there!

Friday Roundup

As you might have noticed, things have still been fairly quiet around here... Teresa's still working on unpacking at her new house and I've spent the week recovering from jet lag, catching up on work while wide awake at 3 am and trying to convince myself that doing laundry is a good idea. But we hadn't done a roundup for awhile and I did have some fun links I wanted to share, so here you go!

I'm proud to say, I got 100% on this 90's movie quiz...how about you?

I'm a little behind on this, but Jason and I just binged 11.22.63, I'd recommend it.

Amy Pohler's Smart Girls featured one of my favorites, Mary Lambert! 

Teresa sent me this, pretty hilarious...

It's a miracle! Kimmy Schmidt is back and I'm excited.

On putting your phone down...

I've been on a pancake/crepe/waffle kick lately...I want to eat these! 

Gearing up for summer...who wants to have a campfire and make these with me?

IRL romantic love story that sounds like it's the plot of a rom-com.



Image @mazagranphoto

#tbt

There's no getting around it, we seem to be at an all time high for nostalgic reboots.

From Full House to Star Wars to the internet sending love to Beverly Cleary for her 100th birthday, so many things are coming back around again so I've decided to do new weekly posts about the ones that make me happy. AND I'll probably include some more awesome photos of me from my really cool childhood like this one :)

Be excited.

PS. You can always stalk Instagram for more of my hilariously dorky childhood photos...

New Music!

My friend Vicky-T just released a song and video that I love! 

Check it out, it's got a perfect spring-y vibe. I was lucky enough to hear the song a few months back and have been waiting for it to come out so I can listen to it all the time :) 

Namaste!

Hello there!

I'm home from a two week adventure in India and Nepal.

It was a very busy two weeks, but we had a lovely time. It was surreal seeing the Taj Mahal (above). I remember a photo of it being in a elementary school text book. It seemed so foreign and far away to fifth grade me, and then last week, there it was in front of me, big and breathtaking in person.

The purpose of our trip has been shooting photos and capturing video footage for Construction for Change and The 30/30 Project. In India, we documented a village where a clinic is being built, giving 20,000 people in the surrounding areas access to quality health care. In Nepal, we visited a safe house for women and children rescued from the sex trade.

I'm excited to tell you more about the amazing organizations we've gotten to see in action and the great work they are doing.

If you follow me on Instagram (@jennykoekoe) you'll have seen a couple of photos from our journey thus far, more to come on the blog later! 

Spring "Break!"

Looks like Jenny and I took a little impromptu spring "break" from the blog! She has been traveling throughout India and Nepal with Jason taking some incredible photos and video for Construction for Change and the 30/30 Project and I have been remodeling, painting, picking out carpet and packing to move into our NEW HOUSE! We are moving next weekend to south Seattle and couldn't be more excited (or exhausted). It's a busy season but we will try to be back up and running soon!

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