Who will officiate your wedding? Friend? Dad? Religious figure?

Would you ever consider having a friend or family member officiate your wedding? Our friends Leigh and Taro got married in the Hudson Valley, and their dear friend Everett performed their ceremony. "He actually surprised us in the middle of the ceremony by singing a beautiful song he wrote just for us," said Leigh.
Jen and Patrick had their fathers officiate an impromptu and totally unscripted ceremony. Then the dads pronounced them "husband and wife" in unison!

Here are six more couples who did the same...Read More >

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Do or Don't: Pedometer bracelet

Last weekend, I went to a baby shower brunch with a bunch of really cool women. One woman looked cute in a plaid dress, cool glasses and a black bracelet. She explained that her husband had given her a pedometer bracelet for Christmas—UP by Jawbone—which tracks your movement all day, so you can see if you're getting enough activity. You can also track your light vs. deep sleep. ("I slept terribly last night, apparently," she laughed.) If you want to take it a step further, you can set it for more specific things: to alert you after you've been sitting still for too long, say, or to wake you up after a power nap once you've been asleep for the optimal time (26.5 minutes). And you get all your results on an iPhone app. Cool, right?

Would you ever wear a pedometer bracelet? Alex and I are intrigued. I'm guessing it would motivate you to walk or take the stairs more often, and it would be fun to watch the numbers add up. What do you think?

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Vacation photos: LA and Palm Springs

For the holidays, we went visited friends and family in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. We were psyched and lucky to be there for a full ten days, since next year—with the new baby—we'll probably be more homebound. Here are a few photos, if you'd like to see...
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The Best Crunchy Roast Potatoes You'll Ever Have

My mom always made super crunchy roast potatoes alongside roast chicken and a green salad. We found it impossible to eat only the potatoes on our plates; you need a second helping and maybe a third. Crunchy roast potatoes are one of life's great pleasures, don't you agree? Lucky for us, Katie Quinn Davies from the blog What Katie Ate has agreed to share her mother's perfect recipe...
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Girls: Q&A with the costume designer

On the HBO show Girls—the second season premieres this Sunday!—the characters wear gorgeous, crazy and awkward clothes, depending on the day. Costume designer Jenn Rogien is the mastermind behind it all, so I was thrilled to ask her my 9 most pressing questions. Her answers were eye-opening...Read More >

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Friendship bracelet tattoos

Tattly, the Brooklyn-based collection of temporary tattoos, just came out with friendship bracelets! Designed by Julia Rothman, each $5 pack comes with two: one for you and one for your buddy.

P.S. Thank you so much for your sweet comments yesterday. It was so fun to share the news with you:)

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Very happy nine-month news...

After holding my tongue for months, I'm really excited to announce that Alex and I are expecting our second child! We are completely over the moon. I'm three months along, so the baby should arrive around July 3rd. Toby has requested that we have a "glurl" and name her "Thomas," after this friendly guy.

Pregnancy and new motherhood felt both wonderful and disorienting the first time around, so I'm curious how different it will feel the second time. Funnily enough, this pregnancy already feels much more real. With Toby, my pregnancy felt surreal and was hard to wrap my head around, but now we know more about what to expect. My friend Sari and I were talking about the experience of expecting a second child, and she said, "Because I knew what it felt like to love Jude, I was able to tap into this deep, true kind of love for Teddy from the very instant I knew I was pregnant with her." I loved that.

How mindblowing to think we're going to experience a newborn again along with all those sweet steps: growing a belly, finding out the gender, giving birth, choosing a name, cuddling a newborn, breastfeeding, doing tummy time, acting a little crazy, waking up early, swapping drool-y kisses, trying to figure out a good work-life balance, standing up, taking first steps, saying first words....

I can't wait. :)

(Photo kindly taken by our friend Shannen Norman. Thank you again, Shannen!)

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