Nancy O’Dell looks to be loving her bump! She is wearing the Isabella Oliver wrap dress in Crimson – both the color and the cut really flatter Nancy! And, her accessories absolutely make the look. What a great team effort, as always!

Sending lots of love this valentines day….and a little something on the “brain on love” from CNN. Now, we are constantly falling in love here - with slings and great ideas and radical concepts and new trends and dresses and even strollers — perhaps that is why loving what we do here at Forty Weeks has us all so happy…not sure - and thanks to all of you who keep us madly, truly, deeply in the game!

I am just back from an extended stay in New York. Highlights include: Lingeries America Show (Bravado was exhibiting and OH MY on the concept of live lingerie models), more meetings at In Style (making great progress for 2007!), and some very quality time with Working Mother’s Lisa Armstrong and much more. Andrea, our newest Forty Weaker started with us and Ruth was able to make some major progress on the technology front (also known as the “Ruth please fix this” department). I left the city yesterday with a very full follow-up list…and lots ready to get into motion.

On the train ride back, I took advantage of a first-class upgrade, sat back and enjoyed the unlimited bottled water and coffee (ok and bathroom!!!) – I also devoured a few newspapers (but of course) and fielded the usual barrage of emails. I was lucky enough to catch up with Pickles & Ice Cream Chief Song Pardue while en route…and she was full of news. Here is my favorite tidbit she shared: Song has 5 pregnant pickles owners (franchisees) – several of whom with number 3! I know, you are expecting me to say there is something in the water (brine?!?!) – so I will spare you. And still – what are we to conclude here? I suggested to Song that Spring 07 just looks so good – they wanted in on the great fashion. She laughed and admitted she honestly has no clue. There is a great story here – Maternity Business Breeds Babies? Pickles & Ice Cream Owners Crave Something New? I’m Not just a Pickles Owner, I’m a Customer? Whatever the headline, I am thrilled that her business is growing! Proof that where there is passion there is success (these women really love the business).

Now settled in the Maryland office this AM, snow and ice (but there is school!!!!) on the trees and visions of that follow-up list dancing in my head….

Thanks to the Allyson and Allison for the sneak preview tour of Apples Seeds, NYC. What an incredible facility and space. Their business model is inspiring. Nadine Harding (Bravado) and I took the tour and really saw endless possibilities. I was most impressed by how well thought out each inch of the club is – from top to bottom. And, as mentioned there in the space – how unusually democratic their membership model is – bravo!

I wish them the very best of luck!

Our new client, Everybody’s Nuts has been sharing their love with So Inn Love stars Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott.

First, the nuts were included in their Jack and Jill shower at Elixir in West Hollywood this weekend. Guests were treated to a blue box (for a boy, of course) along with an array of other equally nutty gifts, treats and amusements.

Next Everybody’s Nuts were messingered to the set of Tori’s shoot for Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine (and oh, how we do love what this new title is doing!). She was sent an assortment of Everybody’s Nuts pastashios in various flavors which were shared with all on hand including two separate film crews and the incredible fashion team of Erin Bransford and co. from Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine.

Warning, these nuts are highly addictive….we are very committed to them in the showroom, to say the least!

Is it possible we could legislate for good (as in extended maternity leave or enhanced support for family focused programs) – not evil? OK, this is obviously a rhetorical question…and still you have got to read this:
Texas could punish ‘truant’ parents

One of my favorite cultural commentators these days is Andrew Adam Newman. I have had the pleasure of working with Andy on a few pieces, and I must admit – I really adore the way his brain works. He gets it and that is certainly appreciated these days. His most recent piece, for Babble explores the Dog/Baby connection – and how the dog and baby industry are merging or at least sharing. He mentions brands that have gone “both ways” dog to baby and vice versa. And concludes with a Julia quote that attempts to explain the trend from a business perspective:

“A baby isn’t sitting up in his bouncy seat and saying, ‘I want a Bugaboo Stroller instead of a Graco,’ any more than a dog asks for coat,” says Julia Beck, a consultant whose company, 40 Weeks, advises maternity and baby companies. “People are defining themselves through their pets and their children. What breed of dog you have says a lot about you as a person, and there are certain people who put dogs in coats and certain people who don’t.”

Both baby and pet product purchases, Beck says, “are about caring for the most beloved creature in your life — and pumping up the adorableness of said creature.”

I might add that today (so freezing cold) I suggest we all put our ideals aside and put coats on both our dogs and our babies!

And Andy - you ROCK!

Take a look at Rachel Dodes’ Style and Substance column in today’s WSJ. Her profile of Marc Beckman’s Designers Management Agency (DMA) is a worthwhile read. What his group is doing in terms of brokering deals for these uber creatives is important and impressive, to say the least. Rachel discusses some very large scale, mass-brand deals.

Immediately, I think of the power of connecting authentic design houses and their faces with the pregnancy and new parent market – the power of this demographic (best described in psychographics, clearly as the stats on births does remain stable) is widely known yet grossly untapped. Take an expectant woman who fits the bill – educated, successful and affluent – factor in her desire to remain connected to her very strong sense of self (aka “life before”) and you have a very fertile (ok, I should stop that!) breeding ground (it just gets worse, really!) for a designer to own a piece of the category. Consider Kate Spade with her Maclaren stroller or Cynthia Rowley with her Graco collection. And, this is just gear. There has also been a bit dabbling in the maternity fashion space as well – where, for now the emerging, indepenant designers such as Emilia Fabricant (Cadeau) or even Isabella Oliver own the upper space. Limited collections also exist via Pea in the Pod (DVF, for example). Bottom line – this market is unique. It offers an incredibly eager, engaged and open consumer who is in mid-shift – as well as the boomer grandparents who feel equally passionate about the category. In the words of MasterCard - priceless.

I look forward to seeing more of the design world enter into the pregnancy and baby space. I can think of about 1000 partnerships and programs are begging to be inked…let’s hope the Marc Beckman has been paying attention to the Bump and Baby craze – the time is ripe (I will stop now…)!

Tori Spelling and husband Dean are getting ready for their Jack and Jill (co-ed) shower…many of our clients will be part of the celebration via the goody bags or as gifts. Full details to follow once People publishes their exclusive next week!

I am not sure if Forty Weeks has ever been in motion quite as much we were in January. It was an energizing start to the New Year. And so far, February is showing no signs of letting up. And this is not a complaint, rather an observation. Our time with clients both new (it has been an exciting month for new business development – more to come on this) and old (many of our stable has hit new, exciting landmarks – Amy Abreu with the launch of Oopa Baby Cashmere and her preparations for ENK March in NYC and Bravado! Designs strategic product development and plans to launch an array of new items in 2007 and beyond) has been powerful and positive. We have been given incredible latitude and license in terms of developing customized, comprehensive and frankly ground-breaking programs within the category. And what feels most exciting is the new array of opportunities at our door from both within and outside of the space.

February saw me in NYC, DC, Toronto (iced in, natch!) and LA. What luck - some of my favorite places with some of my most beloved clients, friends and associates (yes Bob, I now know the difference). And (OK, I have been really on a bit of a whining roll with this one) – I pretty much have been eating my way through these fabulous cities. For those of you who have had the privilege of hearing my endless praise of Chowhound (there is no better source for finding your way to exactly what you crave) coupled with my “do you think it looks like I have been eating non-stop since October?” mantra — – well, sorry for the broken record (my kids, by the way, don’t “get” what this means – and that is so scary in and of itself).

Finally, a major thank you to Danielle at CBB for posting about the Graco celebrity signed stroller to benefit EGPAF auction! This is the final phase of our labor of love and how fantastic to see this in February’s In Style as well as on the sites that make it happen like CBB!