Mom-to-be Aubrey Plaza was the picture of maternal bliss as she stepped out for a dog walk in New York on Saturday.
The pregnant Parks and Recreation alum, 41, showed off her burgeoning bump in a comfortable-looking ensemble featuring a striped long-sleeved shirt and loose-fitting pants.
At one point, she stopped outside 180 the store in Tribeca to chat with a friend while caressing her bump all the while.
Plaza, who has found happiness again after struggling daily with her former husband’s death, was apparently in the mood for a little retail therapy while out and about, judging by the shopping bag in her hand.
Earlier this week, Plaza’s representative confirmed the star is expecting her first child with partner Christopher Abbott, 40.
The two were long-time friends and co-stars in the 2020 film Black Bear and the Off-Broadway play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and were first romantically linked in July 2025.
Mom-to-be Aubrey Plaza was the picture of maternal bliss as she stepped out for a dog walk in New York on Saturday
The former Parks and Recreation star, whose representative confirmed the star was expecting a baby with partner Christopher Abbott, stopped a moment to chat with a friend in front of 180 the Tribeca store
Their romance emerged roughly six months after the death of Plaza’s husband Jeff Baena, from whom she had been separated since September 2024.
Plaza and Abbott have kept their relationship under the radar for the most part.
However, on Thursday, they made their first appearance together since the baby announcement as they attended the afterparty for opening night of the Broadway revival Death of a Salesman.
Earlier this week, a source told People that the pair are due to welcome their child into the world in the fall.
‘It was a beautiful surprise after an emotional year. They feel very blessed,’ the source said.
Aubrey’s late estranged husband Baena, a screenwriter and film director, took his own life in January 2025 at age 47.
Late last year, Plaza opened up about how she learned to ‘have fun and move forward’ from her grandmother, which helped inspire her children’s book Luna And The Witch Throw A Halloween Party.
Without mentioning her late husband by name, Plaza told the Today show, ‘She taught me from a very young age that life is a party and no matter what happens, we have to have fun and move forward, and so I think this book was inspired by that.
Plaza and Abbott made their first appearance together after the baby announcement while attending the afterparty for the new revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman on Thursday
The actress set tongues wagging over a possible pregnancy with her fuller figure during Paris Fashion Week last month (pictured March 6)
Plaza and Abbott were long-time friends and co-stars in the Off-Broadway play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea before they were romantically linked in July 2025 (pictured in 2023)
The two also starred in the 2020 movie Black Bear (pictured in 2023)
‘I think on both sides of my family, I have a lot of witchy women that raised me, so this is an homage to all the women in my life.’
The actress previously admitted every day has been a ‘struggle’ since her ex’s death.
His body was discovered at his home in Los Angeles, California by his dog walker.
Asked how she is doing by her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, Plaza said, ‘Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning.
‘I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m okay, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously.’
She compared her grief to The Gorge, insisting it felt like a ‘giant ocean of awfulness.’
‘This is a really dumb analogy and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it,’ Plaza said.
‘Did you see that movie The Gorge? It’s like [an] alien movie or something with Miles Teller.
Plaza’s pregnancy follows a tragic year, which saw her estranged husband, Jeff Baena, die by suicide in January 2025 (the couple was pictured in 2017)
The actress previously admitted every day has been a ‘struggle’ since her ex’s death (they are pictured in 2017)
‘In the movie, there’s like a cliff on one side and there’s a cliff on the other side, then there’s a gorge in between and it’s filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them.
‘I swear when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like… or what grief could be like,’ Plaza shared.
‘At all times there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness, that’s right there and I can see it. Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just be in it.’
She added, ‘Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it’s always there.’
