My friend Harry, whom I’ve known since we were both 12 years old, and with whom I went to this prom (he’s pictured here with me) dug up this photo of the two of us at our senior prom.

Me: Laura Ashley dress (bien sur!), patterned gloves (!!) and tights a la Madonna circa 1984, topped off with bad, bad, VERY BAD perm (what the hell was I thinking?)

J and her best friend S – both age 14 – got to spend the last few days together, which has been wonderful. S’s family travels most months out of the year on the highest-level hunter jumper circuit. Her brother is one of the top young riders in the country, so they spend most of their time as a family at shows all up and down the East Coast. This means that J and S don’t see each other in person as often as they would like, although they talk on the phone and online almost every day.

The girls have been bestest friends since they first met at about age 5, taking riding lessons together. I realized yesterday that over the years, I’ve collected a photographic history of their growing up years, and I pulled it all together in this slideshow. They are such awesome girls, and I can’t wait to see what great things they accomplish in the decade ahead!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

My friend Julianne Applegate recently launched her own line of gorgeous, super-environmentally friendly handbags.

Julianne is a former VP and designer for LeSportsac,  but with the launch of JulieApple – her very own, start-from-scratch company – she’s kicking it up a notch!

(Photo courtesy of the Knoxville News Sentinel)

I am in absolute awe of Julianne’s boldness in getting JulieApple off the ground in this economy, including handling all design, manufacturing and distribution for her bags by herself. Plus, she’s dedicated to running her business in ways that are consistent with her values as a person, so all of her bags are created and produced using innovative green technology, and she adheres to equitable trade and labor practices. Last, but not least, Julianne is a very busy, hands-on mom; she and her husband Toby have three terrific children, ages 8, 7 and 2.

JulieApple is the American dream, done right.

I am a huge JulieApple fan, and having been lucky enough to actually see and touch her beautiful new collection firsthand, I KNOW her bags will be a big hit – and her start-up company will be a success – if we can get enough people to see JulieApple products and tell others about them.

So that’s where y’all come in!

I would like to ask all of my blogreaders, whether you are a daily visitor here or just stopped by for the first time today to consider doing me a personal favor; please help me get the word out, guerilla marketing style, about JulieApple.   If all of us spread the word to our own online networks of friends, followers and fans, Julianne’s mom-run, bootstraps startup can get some traction. And truly, she deserves it. It has been an inspiration to me watching her throw everything she has into something that many people told her wasn’t possible, going out on her own and turning her passion into a business in a very challenging economy.

What can YOU do to help, you ask? Well, here are a few options:

• Use your Twitter and/or Facebook account to let all of your friends and followers know about this great contest that JulieApple is running at the moment (and more of these contests and giveaways will follow in the weeks ahead).  Basically, everyone who tweets about @JulieApple or becomes a JulieApple Facebook fan before noon on Tuesday is entered to win a beautiful JulieApple Hardworkin’ Hobo bag, a $128 value, shipped free straight to the winner’s door. On top of that, EVERYONE who gets 50 or more retweets of a @JulieApple Twitter post during that same time frame gets  a $50 gift certificate toward anything in the JulieApple Online Store. It’s a supereasy way to help the word out about my friend’s company and her handbags, plus, you may win a beautiful JulieApple bag yourself! You can read all the details on the contest at the JulieApple Blog. Please join in, and let all your friends know!

• If you have a blog yourself, please consider writing up a little post about JulieApple, asking your own readers to help spread the word. Feel free to cut and paste any and all of what I’ve written here, and just copy it on your own blog, or you can write up something new. You could tell your readers about the contest, or mention the cutting edge ways that Julianne is minimizing her company’s impact on the environment in her design and production process. Or you could simply direct folks to the JulieApple Flickr feed, where they can get a look at dozens of her gorgeous designs and fabrics for this season.

• If you are a member of the media or a blogger, and you would like to do a story on JulieApple or interview Julianne yourself, send me an email (katie.granju – at – gmail.com ) and I will get you set up with a digital press kit right away.  I’ll also get your interview scheduled at a time convenient for you. This is an inspiring story about a passionately determined female entrepreneur and mother of young children working to start her own company in a highly competitive industry – fashion.  Not only has Julianne Applegate managed to launch her startup in this down economy, she’s walking the walk with unique and forward thinking green, sustainable and fair trade practices.  Julianne would be a terrific guest for your TV or radio show, as she’s articulate, poised, attractive, and funny.  So if you are interested in covering the JulieApple story,  let me know how I can help you.

• If you are a blogger with a significant readership,  or you host a TV or radio show, and you would like to request a comped JulieApple handbag or yoga tote to review or giveaway to your audience, send me an email (katie.granju-at-gmail.com) letting me know what you have in mind.  Julianne is very happy to offer bags for review and legitimate promotional purposes.  Each request will be reviewed on a case by case basis to make sure it’s the right fit for all involved, but please ask!

• If you practice yoga, or have a yoga blog, please let your yoga pals and online friends know about the JulieApple line of stylishly sustainable yoga totes.

• If you own, manage or buy for a boutique, store or catalog – online or bricks & mortar – please consider carrying some or all of the JulieApple line for your customers.  You can contact Julianne directly at Julianne – at – JulieApple.com to talk about her line and how to carry it in your own store(s) or catalog.

• If you live in Knoxville (or even if you want to come into town for the event), please join Julianne for the Official JulieApple Holiday Launch Party,  starting at about 8:30 pm on December 4.   The party will be a First Friday event, held at KnoxIvi on historic Market Square, and will feature tasty food and drink, plus an afterparty ’til 1am with a DJ.  Guests will be able to meet Julianne, check out the JulieApple collection for themselves, and be entered for the chance to win a JulieApple bag at a drawing during the party.  It’s all free and open to the public, although if you let Julianne know that you plan to attend with an RSVP via the party’s Facebook invitation,  that would be great. Let your friends, coworkers and family know about the JulieApple Holiday Party, and even if you can’t attend that night, you can keep up with all the fun via the LIVE blogging, photoblogging and twittering that we’ll be doing from party central. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

• And last, but CERTAINLY not least, SHOP JULIEAPPLE! Consider buying a JulieApple bag for someone special on your holiday gift list, or as a treat for yourself.

Thanks to all of you who are willing to help with my totally volunteer (Julianne is not my client and isn’t paying me), shoestring, word-of-mouth-marketing initiative for my pal.  Consider it good karma if you take just a few minutes out of your busy day to let your friends, family and coworkers know about JulieApple, and about what makes this wonderful, family-owned startup truly special.

Thanks, y’all!  – KATIE

Two year old C has a real-life fairy godmother, and her name is Georgia. Since the day I told friends I was pregnant with C, Georgia has been sending C boxes full of amazing, wonderful surprises – toys and books and games and LOTS AND LOTS of the most gorgeous little girl clothes on the planet. And they generally arrive with no warning, making the whole thing even more fun.

Georgia has the most wonderful taste in children’s clothing imaginable – not surprising, as she’s a designer herself – and with her stylistic guidance, C has been so well dressed since birth that I kid you not, at least a couple of times a month I have people tell me that they just LOVE her clothing, and can I pretty please tell them where I find these amazing dresses and shoes that she’s always wearing. I have even had more than a few blog readers email me after seeing a photo of C wearing one or another of Georgia’s gifts to ask where they could find the dress to buy for their own little girl.

I always have to tell them that I have no idea where the outfits come from; around our house, we only know that they are gifts from C’s fairy godmother, who lives in Delaware, and who is beautiful both inside and out.

Last week, the doorbell rang and it was the mailman, with a “Georgia box” with toys and goodies, and perhaps THE most darling dress that either of my daughters has ever worn. I love this dress so much that there are no words. Unfortunately, these photos – taken on my crummy BlackBerry camera – don’t do it justice at all. But you can get an idea. Today C wore the dress to church, and no fewer than four people asked me where they could find the dress. After she heard me telling the story several times to several different people, C began calling her dress the “faiwy Georgia dwess.”

So that’s what I will call it from now on.

Thank you, sweet Georgia

Seriously, I have found THE best massage therapist in Knoxville, and he just happens to be my neighbor, Knox Janowick. I have had many massages at many spas and salons and other locales over the years, and I was always feeling like there was something I wanted, but wasn’t quite getting, even when the massage felt quite nice.

Now that I have had Knox work on me, I know what I was missing: acupressure done right. I have always been somewhat skeptical of the whole “acupressure and energy flow” claims, but Knox has officially cured me of my skepticism. When he focuses on a particular pressure point, I literally feel electrical impulses coming out of that spot and radiating across my entire body. It’s intense, but in a really amazing, pleasant and good way. One friend of mine who has been having Knox work on her told me that he found a pressure point on her body that immediately released a flood of bottled up “body memories,” leading her to literally weep during the massage. After, she felt free and relaxed in an entirely new way.

Now, here’s the best part, Knox doesn’t make you come to him; he COMES TO YOU! He comes to your house, after your workday, and brings his massage table and anything else your body work requires, and he does your massage on-site. No making appointments with snippy spa girls. No driving across town. No having to get up and get dressed and go drive some more right after your relaxing massage. Instead, you get your massage, he leaves, and then you stay at home, feeling great and not having to rush off anywhere. For those of you moms like me who have busy work schedules, the fact that he will book an in-home massage as late as 8-9pm, after the kids are in bed, and after your work day is completely finished, is simply brilliant.

And did I mention that his rates are really competitive? (Understatement).

Knox is a special and fantastic person, with a true gift for this work. I feel lucky to count him, and his wife Emily as my friends. If you schedule a session with him, you will enjoy getting to know Knox almost as much as you will enjoy the massage he gives you.

Go check out all the info on his new website, and spread the word to your friends, family and coworkers in Knoxville about Knox and his work.

Thanks!

-Katie

Today is our third wedding anniversary, and I can honestly say that it’s been the best three years of my life. Jon is the finest man I’ve ever known, and I am honored to be his wife. I have no idea how I came to be lucky enough to end up with a husband like Jon, but I am grateful every single day. I am a better person with Jon as my husband. He makes me better.

Happy anniversary, honey!

And now, my annual photographic homage to our fantastic wedding, which was exactly what we wanted it to be. Thanks to good friends and family all pitching in, we were able to plan our lovely Bell Buckle wedding and post-wedding party in only about 6-8 weeks. It turned out wonderfully. Thanks to everyone who shared our special day with us. We love all of you, and feel lucky to have you in our lives.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

This is J and her best friend S recently.

I can’t believe how fast they are growing up. It just seems like yesterday that they were at this stage. (Love this photo of the two of them when they were both about 7 years old)

A message my friend BBK sent my husband yesterday:

jon, you are a dear and I cannot thank you enough for loving and cherishing my oldest and dearest chum. You clearly adore her and have made her the happiest I have ever seen her, aside from a handful of times, but they involved (REDACTED BY KATIE ) so they don’t count. Anyway, my point is this, she is a fabulous lady, but there as some things she must never, ever be allowed to do, one is be in charge of giving you medications. Specifically, translating orders for medication. have E or J do it, or even the dog. Number two is be in charge of any sort of keys. I’ll make a list. Glad you are feeling better.

Yes, BBK knows me very, very well… And that’s actually quite excellent advice she just gave my husband (who seems to be recovered from his Benadryl overdose).

Thanks to Stepdad Man and his bride, as well as Dr. Neighbor for inviting us to such fun soirees yesterday! We had a blast.

Happy New Year!!!!