We are less than 100 days away from election day and Barbie is sending the message to young girls about who they can be. The Barbie campaign team highlights a number of roles including the candidate, campaign manager, fundraiser and the voter herself. These diverse set of dolls were designed to inspire girls to see themselves in roles that make up a winning campaign. We love this very timely release! While an election themed Barbie was first released in 1992, this package looks a bit different. Instead of one individual, it is a team and highlighting different ethnicities including a Black candidate. The set was released yesterday and is retailing for $39.99.
The benefit of staying indoors is that it gives us plenty of time to catch up on television before the Emmys. Nominations were revealed this morning and we’re excited for a few! While I’m thrilled that Paul Mescal has been nominated for “Normal People,” I wish there had been more recognitions for the series. Additionally, we’re excited about Watchmen, Succession and Zendaya for Euphoria. Jimmy Kimmel will host the completely virtual award show on September 20th. Unfortunately for us, that means no red carpet post for us this year!
Seeing this post on Colossal is timely as I’ve been watching many Korean dramas in quarantine and these types of convenience stores appear often. In the most recent drama I finished, “Encounter,” the main character’s family owns a fruit shop very similar to the one above. Artist Lee Me Kyeoung captures the delicate portrayals in her paintings. By no means did this project come all of a sudden though. Kyeoung has been speaking with shop owners for decades and these painting are all part of her ongoing series, [A Small Store.]
Sports are back! Sort of. Over the weekend, Kevin told me that Matisse Thybulle has been documenting his return to the court and life in the “bubble” since COVID all began. The series started sometime in early July, but it’s already picking up a lot of attention. His vlogs have been getting over a millions views and he’s already been reached out to by the New York Times and LA Times. As someone who’s been watching it on my lunch break, I’m really enjoying it! They are quick snapshots of what’s been going on in the bubble including what basketball looks like right now and regular testing of course.
Thybulle, himself, is actually very entertaining to watch. Additionally, he’s responsible for all of the editing and recording on his own. We’re not sure how long he’ll continue on with this project, but regardless, when this ends, we hope he’ll keep up his side hustle.
When I first started Yow Yow! I didn’t want to hone in on one specific theme. I wanted to keep things broad so that I could always continue to write about whatever I wanted. This is something I still want today, but the things that I want to write about are shifting. Earlier this year, we said goodbye to “Sunday Words” our weekly dose of inspirational quotes. And now it’s time to say goodbye to “Wedding Mondays.” Both of these series have been with Yow Yow! since at least 2012 so while it isn’t easy to wind down, it does feel right.
I think it’s perfectly normal to want different things for your blog within an 11-year time span. I’ve done a lot of growing up during this time. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like weddings or that I will stop appreciating the details of a beautiful wedding or discontinue watching wedding videos. I’m grateful that the series has lasted as long as it did, but something that I’m realizing in 2020 is that I don’t want my content to feel like an obligation. Having a regular series is a huge undertaking. Keeping this blog afloat while having a day job at the same time has never been easy for us. Winding down this series means that we can bring the focus back to content that has become more important to me.
I want to sincerely thank those of you who came to Yow Yow! every week for this feature. We’ve seen some incredible weddings over the years and shared videos that were truly pieces of art and a trigger for tears. I had the chance to share the weddings of friends (always with their permission) and spin off the Wedding Wednesdays series with Mandi covering her entire wedding planning process. And lastly, having the chance to experience the Nordstrom Wedding Suite and capturing all of the details from the Seattle flagship will always be a special memory.
It is both heartbreaking and inspiring to see couples that I know and don’t know persevering through this time. None of them could have imagined what 2020 would have in store for them. All of them envisioned saying those two words solidifying their partnership and making it official official. However, all of them know that it’s not just those two words that make a partnership. It’s all not a grand ceremony that make a partnership. I appreciate both the couples that have moved their dates out of the concern and safety for others or the couples that have pressed on making adjustments to what they originally dreamed of.
Briana and Kris were one of those couples who had a wedding impacted by COVID-19, but decided they couldn’t wait until next year. Instead they threw the most beautiful intimate ceremony with guests that all promised to get tested beforehand. Vogue did such a beautiful job of capturing the special moment in their day through this summary and the photos will stick with you long after you’re done reading.
Artist Seamus Wray wins for quarantine project of the year. Seeing this first photograph of Wray painting a portrait of himself wearing the exact same outfit is impressive to say the least, but don’t think that it starts and ends with this. He repeats this process of painting portraits of himself five times and the end result is too good. I don’t want to spoil it for you so I’m going to send you to [Colossal] for the full effect.
“Wray hopes the potentially infinite project begs the questions, “What comes next? Another painting. Are we all just living in a painting? What if this is a painting, within a painting?”
To All the Boys is still my favorite Netflix rom-com series, but fine, we’ll give into this. After The Kissing Booth premiered and was incredibly successful, I decided months later that it was time for me to see what it was about. It wasn’t exactly what I had predicted, but in a good way. The characters were likable and I really did feel like I was rooting for them. In the sequel, it was thrilling to see Elle struggle in a different way. Noah is kind of a bad boyfriend? And we like the dynamics of the new characters that join the film. What you don’t see from the trailer is that they spend a significant amount of time in another location and the film revolves a lot around this plot. We’re a fan when trailers don’t reveal the entire movie.
What We’re Listening To: Taylor Swift – Folklore
While I consider myself a fan now, I can’t say that I haven’t wavered in the past. We aren’t big enough fans to listen to her album the night it premieres though. I actually don’t know if there’s anyone that I would do that for. When new albums come out that I am generally excited about, I like to set aside time for it. It’s not the kind of album that I’d have in the background because I want to pay attention to the lyrics. Plus, sometimes we write reviews on here and I need to be able to construct my thoughts. From the poll that I did on my stories, many people seem to lean positively on it. I think we’ll save it for tomorrow!
What We’re Wearing: A White Blouse
Already labeled the closet staple of quarantine, the white blouse is one of my favorite versatile pieces. It has saved me for work days when I want to look put together on top, but comfy while wearing it with plain black leggings or cozy shorts. It’s funny to think that I almost left this behind in Seattle on my last visit because it has been the piece I run to regularly these days.
I’ve been doing a good job of cooking at home when I can and only reserving take out for special occasions or once a week. Tomorrow, Kevin and I are exploring another neighborhood in the city and one place I’ve been excited to try is Queen’s which serves hot meals that you can take away, but also doubles as a market. We’re likely going to be doing some shopping while we’re there and I’m excited to try a few of their dishes!
It’s a funny thing to observe one’s taste while in quarantine. I watched myself not want to wear anything, but leggings for a whole week and then change my mind completely. The next week was a different dress for every day. For many still, it doesn’t quite make sense to fully dress up to go nowhere. However, I’ve discovered that getting dressed and sometimes getting really dressed up helps contribute to my happiness. That’s why when I discovered that Sandy Liang was releasing a new capsule collection of jewelry, I didn’t question it.
In Sandy Liang’s first release, we get a glimpse of jewelry paying homage to the 90’s. Necklaces, rings, and earrings will all range from $95 – $375 USD.
If you told me the college version of me that IKEA would one day excel beyond affordable furniture, I wouldn’t believe you. But they proved that point almost immediately when I tried their meatballs during my first visit. Now, IKEA is getting into the fashion game, and honestly, we don’t hate it. The above photo is a glimpse into what we can expect from the line and I have to admit that the plain white tee with a bar code across it is calling out to me.
The capsule collection titled, “EFTERTRADA” will include both separates and accessories and will first launch in IKEA’s Tokyo store. Available merch will include hoodies, tees, umbrellas, water bottles, towels, and tote bags. Items are available for pre-sale beginning July 31st from [IKEA’s Japan website].
