tips

Photo Tips with Kate Seward

Josie Girl 4 Comments

Ken and I are just back from Norway and one of the most amazing wedding celebrations/weekends we have ever been a part of.   There are some Norwegian themed posts to come, but in the meantime, Ali Berlin, Contributing Editor, to the rescue! Take it away!

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My dear friend Kate Seward is a cool, brilliant captor of beauty.  Street style photographer, pro blogger and wordsmith, her way of witnessing the world stirs my insides.  Kate and I met through our mutual BFF Carrie when we all lived in San Francisco, and I was instantly intrigued by her choices: lifestyle, clothing, books, words, perspective and humility (yes, I believe humility is a choice).  Her talent is profound, her self-expression exquisite.

Kate started her blog The Styley in March 2011, and since then the New York Times has featured 25 of her streetstyle photos.

Since I am a wannabe amateur photographer (Bixby, my dog, is my main subject), I went straight to KS with my questions on how to snap better.  Thought we could all use a few tips so here are her responses, along with some images which are individually labeled with the Hipstamatic film, lens and flash used on each one.

Kate Seward

Kate Seward, Mistress of Light and Lens.

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2013 Nutrition Tips from Dr. Klauer

Josie Girl 9 Comments

Back in July, I had the opportunity to talk with physician, author, and top-selling nutritionist Dr. Jana Klauer and share her health advice with all of you. She was such a hit and so informative, that I sat down with her again to find out answers to more of my burning questions! Here they are!

dr. klauer

Question: What are your suggestions on how to create a healthy lifestyle within a family?

It all used to be so simple. The family sat down for dinner together, ate a wholesome home-cooked meal. No ordering out or eating fast foods. This is the way it was before both mom an dad worked.  Now moms struggle with finding balance between work and home responsibilities.  Today there are not enough hours in the day! So what to do?

I think most of us feel this way on how to balance all of life responsibilities.

Many of us feel this way. Balancing is tough! (picture courtesy abbyofftherecord.com)

Here are a couple of ideas that might help:

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Traveling Tips

Josie Girl 5 Comments

Recently, every blog and newspaper has featured traveling tips for summer holidays. Two sites provided me with the best information; Goop and The New York Times (both of these sites are constant sources of inspiration and happiness for me. I am not a Gwenyth hater and the NYTimes is my source of news). That said, I have my own tips on traveling for people — especially for families.

 

This past weekend, we made our first cross country trip as a family of four. And boy, let me tell you, did it take a lot of planning, to do lists, and effort. Thankfully, we will not have to do this trip again for another two months when I head back out east. Yep, that is right folks, I am spending the summer in Heaven on Earth — good ‘ol Eugene, Oregon. I will be there with my parents and kiddos, with Ken coming out three times for some family fun times. I am not the most successful traveler, but I have had a lot of experience traveling with ONE baby (not two) and feel that despite some bad trips, we generally have everything covered.

 

PACKING BAGS

 

I started traveling early on as a child and my parents showed me how to pack everything in an organized and systematic way (perfect for me and my organization OCD ). The key was the use of  Eagle Creek Packing Cubes. Discovering these is comparable to discovering gold or oil. It just changes your life. You have a cube for your shorts and pants, a cube for your cute and fun outfits, a cube for your workout clothes, etc…It just makes life so much easier when you are packing, dealing with your items upon arrival, and repacking everything back up. You can find them online at Amazon or in various stores such as The Container Store. I swear, a game changer.

 

packing cube

The packing cube. Now that we are a family of four, we have almost 20 packing cubes. Everyone in the family uses them (or truth be told, ***I*** use them to pack everyone) and it is easy to keep track of what you have.

Note: packing clothes in cubes does not prevent you from overpacking

Our porter Cruz “helping” us out

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Tips for Expectant Fathers

Josie Girl 19 Comments

Yesterday, I provided some tips to help expectant mothers stay sane (if possible) and fashionable (not really possible, but it’s all relative).  While women do almost all of the hard work, pregnancy isn’t necessarily a bed of roses for men either.  So with that, here are 10 tips for expectant fathers from Ken.

 

Tips for Expectant Fathers, written by Ken

1. If your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat, don’t say no. She will tell you you are lying.

 

2. If your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat, don’t say yes. (Hopefully, this is obvious.)

 

3. If your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat, don’t clam up and say nothing. She will tell you you are being uncommunicative.

 

4. If your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat, either fake sharp chest pains, or start shedding spontaneous tears of joy. (May not work more than once).

 

5. Pregnancy related hormones are very real, as are pregnant wives’ denials of the existence of pregnancy related hormones. Translation: pointing out that your wife may be feeling the effects of pregnancy-related hormones is a lose-lose battle. (See 1-4).

 

6.  Heard of “push presents” and “babymoons”? You aren’t alone. I hadn’t either.  But it doesn’t matter. Pregnant women talk about them and expect them.  And playing dumb won’t get you out of them.

 

7. Yes, your wife is uncomfortable. And yes, it is your fault.

 

8. Do not plan to move a month before your wife is due… If I had to make a recipe for divorce, it would include two-parts third trimester pregnancy, one-part feeling displaced, with 3 heaping teaspoons of moving boxes and reorganizing your life, and a pinch of debating over redecorating tastes and budgets. (Yes, we moved a week before Cruz was born. And yes, it was all my fault.)

 

9. Buy flowers. Trust me: I think flowers are stupid. I don’t get it. You buy them, and then they die. But during a time when it is very hard to do anything “right”, buying flowers is about as safe as it gets.

 

10. Every time you bite your lip or think about how challenging your wife’s pregnancy can be, take a deep breath, and appreciate the fact that you don’t have to push a baby out of your body. When you see what she has to go through in the delivery room, it will all make sense!

KCNandCKN

Hours after the birth of our son, Cruz in October 2009.  Waiting for number 2 due this May!

KCN, a.k.a, The Josie Girl’s hubby