For my birthday last week, I received the most amazing gift from Leticia and Phil Gomes. From the outside, you would swear it’s a lens, but it’s actually a coffee mug. In fact, I just recently bought the exact same lens, and it looks so real that when my brother-in-law was over and saw it sitting out on the kitchen table, he questioned why I wasn’t more careful about putting my expensive lenses in a safe place.

And even better, it’s from Photojojo, whose founder, Amit Gupta, started Jelly—an organization that has connected me with some of the most incredible people I know (over coffee, no less!).

It’s hard to believe that I’ve known Tiff Fortna for nearly four years now. I met her the summer I moved to Chicago, at a time when I knew almost no one in the city, and I was eager to get to know other recent transplants. Today, Tiff and her sister, Kim have started a company together creating stunning floral arrangements for weddings and other events. It seemed natural that we should get together for a shoot to show off their work. Many thanks to our beautiful models, Rochelle, Allison and Alejandra.