A Mother's Blessing

Earlier this week I was honored to be a part of a beautiful ceremony celebrating my friend Sharon. She is a few weeks from giving birth to her second child, and she wanted to do something different than a baby shower this go-around.

So some of her good friends gathered around her and threw her a Mother's Blessing.  (aka. Blessingway)  It was one of the coolest evenings I have ever experienced!  Here is a brief recap of the night in seven {Awesome} quick takes!

And thank you Sharon for letting me use your photos!! :)

1.

The night started with amazing food and great conversation.  Our favorite wine sommelier (everyone needs one of these in your friends group!) poured up some awesome wine and we started the night off right.

2.

Knowing Sharon would love it, we hired a Henna artist to paint a tattoo on Sharon's belly.

You guys. I am not exactly the type to show my bare belly during pregnancy, but I would seriously consider getting a Henna tattoo next time I'm pregnant.  It is just so beautiful!!!!

3.

After we ate, we went outside to this amazing set-up:

4.

We then each lit a candle that we had brought and went around the circle offering encouragement and our favorite things we love about Sharon.

5.

Then we each took a rock and wrote a word on it that we wanted to offer Sharon to think about, or know that we were praying for while she is in labor.  Strength, peace, grace, etc...

6. 

Throughout the ceremony there were beautiful readings from the Bible as well as from the book shown above, Jesus Calling.  Then at the end we did two things - we connected ourselves by one piece of string around our wrists, and then cut it.  We will wear it until she goes into labor.  Then we laid hands on her and prayed.

7.

At the very end of the night we took home the candle we had lit.  We are then going to re-light it when Sharon goes into labor as a reminder for us to think about her and send her positive thoughts and prayers.

You guys, what an amazing night.  I highly recommend doing something similar for any mom you know who is about to give birth.  It can be done so many different ways depending on what kinds of things the mom likes to do.

It was just such a meaningful night for everyone, and while the night was all about Sharon, it really bonded us as fellow mothers and friends.  

It was -- you guessed it --  freaking awesome.

8th bonus and completely shameless take: 

I released the 3rd and final part to the Child Development and Identity podcast series today!  It is an awesome interview, you have to check it out!!!!

In it I interviewed MaryRuth Hackett, a developmental Psychologist and mom of four.  In the 3rd part of the series we talk about how to help instill confidence and a healthy self-esteem in our kids.  We talk about things like body image, family culture, and the importance of the language we use with our kids.

Check it out! :)

...Ahem.  This is part of my current 31 Days of Awesome Kick.

Five One-Piece Swimsuits Under $50!

Hello from the new-to-me world of stay at home motherhood! 

After finishing a big furniture rehab project (post to come), planning and throwing a bridal shower for a good friend, and doing random things all day that I swear keep me busy but have no tangible outcome, I decided it was time for my annual "one-new-swimsuit-for-the-season" search.

Early you might think? Noo..it's never too early.

But, one thing has changed this year.  I'm finally taking the plunge into the one-piece swimsuit category.  

Not because I'm self conscious about my body or think I won't look ok in a bikini; Not because I am going to start dressing like "a mom;" but because of a thought I've had for years (that - "I feel like I'm wearing my bra and underwear in public, anyone else? no?" thought), and a video I watched about 8 months ago, that I'm sure you've seen or heard about, that finally convinced me to change how I "suited up", at least in public.

My friend and fellow-blogger Aubrey over at Parenting the Pipsqueak wrote a post about modesty last June with the video linked also, so I definitely have her to thank for indirectly showing it to me!

I'm not going to get into the modesty discussion right now, but since there are many reasons a girl needs a good one-piece, I thought I'd share some great, budget-friendly finds from the online shopping kick I was on this weekend!   (Warning: Healthy Happy Home is fa-har from a fashion blog.)  

And with that:

1.

J.Crew's Watercolor Ruched Halter Tank

On sale for $44.99!

I love the colors of this one, and the ruched halter.  And since it's J.Crew you know it's great quality.

2.
Land's End Paisley Bandeau Tunic Top 
On sale starting at $45.50!
I'm not an expert but I think tunic tops are so flattering - they totally elongate your torso, and this one also has the ruched sides which are also super flattering.

3.
Loft's Colorblock Bandeau
Originally $79.50 but their 40% Off Sale right now (4peeps is the online discount code) brings it to
$47.70!
Once again, I'm not an expert, but the white stripe totally accentuates the smallest part of her torso. Aka. it looks great.

4 .
Loft's Striped Tie Waist One-Piece
Same as above...$44.70 after you use the online discount code!
I love, love blouson / tie waist suits.  What a great idea for when you don't want the suit to be skin tight but you still want to look cute.

5. 
Old Navy's Black and White Print Swimsuit
$29.94
I'm a big fan of the halter tie, and I've "heard" that black swimsuits are in this season.

BONUS: #6.
I love the blouson tops so much, I had to add another one . It's super simple, but as shown in the picture, it goes great with a different color / patterned bottom that you probably already have, and is, say it with me, "So flattering."  

Land's End Scoopneck Blouson Tankini Top
On sale for $55.20, a tiny bit over our $50 goal, but hey - it's a staple if you ask me!  Especially for moms like me who plan on getting pregnant again and living that "secretly pregnant," look, to the early "I'm pregnant but it just look like I gained $10 lbs" look, to the "I just had a baby" look at some time or another. Just sayin. :)

I hope you like these picks, and find a great suit for this summer's beach and pool-side fun!  I'm linking up with Hallie over at Moxy Wife - now go and check out the other 5 Favorites!

Womanhood

One of the things I’ve had to submit recently was my “profile,” which consisted of a few questions, one of which being  - What is your favorite quote?

So I thought it was a great opportunity, since I don’t really have a Favorite, favorite, to really pick out a good quote that I love that not a lot of people have heard.  So…you’ll have to wait for my real (much shorter) answer till the pageant of course, but here was the runner up:

“To a great extent, the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood.  When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her.  The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her…” – Bishop Fulton Sheen

This is one of my favorite quotes, and especially for this situation, because a) it speaks about the value of a virtuous woman, b) pageants are all about “womanhood”, c) a man said the quote, d) women need to hear things like this every once-in-a-while to remember our influence, d) I think it also goes both ways… “better men” in society will also lead to “better women”, e) this has a lot to do with what I am “standing for” in this pageant…what is true womanhood, what is true beauty, etc. 

There was also a good quote I almost chose relating to this from Proverbs 31:30… “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”  I think keeping our “beauty” in perspective of our other strengths, virtues, values, etc. is one of the key ingredients to real beauty.

And a key ingredient to real womanhood?  Respectable Undergarments.  So I went over to the house of this lady, as sweet and innocent as my grandmother….wait, I mean I went over to the house of this lady as sweet as my grandmother and also innocent, (you know what I'm talking about, Grandma), to get my evening gown fitted.  She brought me in to her sewing room and without a blink, said “Ok let’s put your dress on.”  I said, “umm, just right here?”  She replied, “Yup. Don’t worry – nobody’s home.”   I mean…ok.   Pretending like this was standard protocol, I got to business.  And literally as my skirt hit the floor I thanked God and my Mother for teaching me to wear respectable underwear.  Let's be serious...there is more than one worst-case scenario floating around in your heads right now.