diapers and skinny jeans

This Wednesday was a great day. Sofia took naps with her Papa. My cinnamon roll muffins were a disaster. Abby's crumb cake was delightful. Our friend Abby ( from Abbyblujay ) who I really hope purchases abbyblujay[dot]com, came over for coffee, tea, baking and all things Apple. And because I know you're all curious, the main reason I'm banking on this domain purchase is mainly so I can introduce her that way in our future ultra-secret totally not-so secret endeavor. Eeep! I had such an awesome time geeking out over the Keynote, and as of late, Erick has been helping me in another big project: bringing life to the website I've been designing in my brain.  When I start to see all these things I've been daydreaming of start to really happen, little zaps of excitement follow me wherever I go!

Hey there, Kate here!  I'm finally getting around to wrapping up the last of our Goal Setting series!  I'm glad to hear your feedback that you enjoyed it, and I hope to follow up with these fine folks toward the end of 2012 (if we're all still here.. har har) and give you all a recap!  Up today, we have the talented and strikingly beautiful Katherine Ross of Gathered Heart .  I've been following Katherine's blog since I first starting blogging a year ago, all thanks from a helpful tip from my friend Abby.   Working as a graphic designer, you can tell even from the blog she's mastered the simple, clean and layed out perfectly look, she has a knack for curating amazing finds from around the web, and really has a knack for typography.  I'm so happy to have "met" her through the interwebs, and hopefully sometime in real life too! ;)  Take it away, Katherine: "To be honest, 2011 was a such fantastic year and I'm a little nervous that...

I know many of you might recognize this face right away. It's unmistakable.  And also very beautiful. I'm so pleased to be featuring Abby from Abby In The Arts on this week's Goal Setting :  Abby and I just had the opportunity to spend some time together recently outside of work, and I really cherish those experiences and memories we have together.  Abby has singlehandedly taught me about the ins-and-outs of life, creating tiny nervous systems (ha!), and just being a great friend in general.  She's a fantastic designer, knitter, baker, and really- a jack of all trades.  She can light up a room and make you double over in laughter. Her energy is infectious and I hope we remain close for years to come. I've got some fantastic new people lined up for next week's feature,  and just as a reminder, anyone is free to join in on the fun of sharing your goals for the new year.  Submit your entry here.

I'm so incredibly happy I was able to snag a few hours of this girl's time today.  It means a lot when I have those moments with friends and I just get to be myself sans-baby for a minute.  The day was dreary, relaxed and filled with great food from Toast.  Can you tell we like this place?  We found tons of inspiration for our apartment therapy over at west elm and then may or may not have stopped at a Lush store.  Just saying.  I mean, how could you not?   I hope to have more days like this because as much as I love my beautiful, teething daughter it's nice to take those short breaks every once and a while.  Renewed, restored, refreshed. you can find abby over at Abby In The Arts for more great reading.

I'm so happy to be featuring another good friend of mine, Ashley on the blog today for Goal Setting.   I've known this girl pretty much since I've started at the job I'm at and we've had nothing but good times!  She definitely helped me get through a lot of my past pregnancy melt-downs, and can definitely rock a dance floor. In case you missed it, she recently featured a short documentary on Erick, Sofia and I right here.   I wish nothing but the best for you in 2012, and look forward to visiting you down in Orlando this summer ;) **  I actually just got word from Ashley that Disney isn't doing an internship this year.  Bummer!  Everyone over at DASJ still wishes you great things in 2012 and look forward to your sewing adventures! Just a reminder, if you want to be featured on the blog, submit your entry right here!  It's been so much fun to share our goals, hopes, and dreams for this new year together.   - kate

Certain people out there-- beautiful people-- you know, the type you think can't possibly get even more beautiful  with age or while expecting or any of that?  Well.  I can say without a doubt that I've proved this to be wrong with Justina.  She is expecting her first baby who we know is a little girl, and I don't think I've ever witnessed a more gorgeous glowing soul than what I saw during the day with her. We spent the sunny afternoon hanging around the house, talking about similar fears and hopes we've had as expecting mothers, adventuring out into the (freezing!) snow and eating delicious buffalo wings.  I was able to witness a friend that I've grown up with during this exciting transformation and I couldn't be more proud.  Justina, you are going to be a fantastic mother.  Thank you for letting me share your story. * note: these aren't even half of the photos we took today, there will be much more coming throughout the week...

★   First thing we're excited about is this  sweet video Ashley of AboutAGirl  put together for our family.  It's pretty neat.  And by pretty neat I mean it's AWESOME.  So awesome, in fact, that I don't even mind that I have a double chin in some of the shots.  I call it my post-baby "bad angle". I'm sure all you other mamas got one of those too, right? Good. Thanks guys. ★    The other thing that I'm sure we can all be excited about is... it's FRIDAY.  Not that the weekends have any particular meaning for me anymore besides it's the END of the WEEK.  And I'm happy to have had another 3 days of working behind me.  If I were going anywhere fancy this weekend, I would totally be wearing these shoes to go to said fancy-pants soiree. ★    Finally, I'm excited that I have a little maternity session planned with the lovely and also uber-talented Justina Olenick who has an adorable little girl baking in the oven...

"this year for me, it's all about feeling more confident in my own skin" I'm so happy to be hosting the one and only Rebecca Votta from reeliferebecca this week on goal setting.  Side note- she's my sister!  She's a recent college graduate who moved to California to pursue her dreams.  Working now on a reality TV show, I'd say she's off to a fantastic start.  Here's what Bec had to say about some of her 2012 goals for herself: "I want to have fun with work and keep learning. Editing is my specialty and I wont stop doing that, but at Katalyst Films I'm learning how to do other things in the field, as well as edit, and I'm really enjoying it. 2012 will be about continuing on this crazy ride I jumped on a couple months ago and see where it takes me." / take better care of myself and my body / keep moving up in work / post a new vlog once a week / try new activities (kickboxing, rollerskating, snowboardi...

I'm woken up at 8:30AM daily to the cutest, most painful fistful of my neck caught between the fingers of an adorable 7 month old girl.  Sofia now figures out that by grabbing on with full force and pulling toward her mouth, she can get anything her little heart desires 7 MONTHS OLD: Holy cow.  Can I just start off by saying this has been one of the funnest months we've had so far?  Cuz it has been. Sofia has been skilled, yes SKILLED I tell you, at using those tiny paws of hers lately.  Whether it means waking me up in the morning, grabbing for my boobs, grabbing the spoon out of my hand (or water bottle I'm drinking) the girl knows what she wants, darnit.  It's been hilarious to see her scootch across the floor reaching as hard as she can to try and get the toy that happens to be so ironically  just out of reach. My Current Stats: Weight: 20lbs Teeth: none Hair: longer Tricks: sitting up by myself We're closer than we've ever been to gett...