Friday Inspiration

Moms need a little inspiration every now and then. Sometimes by Friday, they need a lot of inspiration. So each Friday I'll post a favorite article or essay in the hope that it provides some inspiration for the day (or at least the moment)!

My first find ran in the Modern Love section of the New York Times on Mother's Day. It's about a woman's experience planning her wedding years after her mother has died. With summer bringing the start of wedding season, I thought it would be an appropriate time to post this. Just be forewarned: I read this one with tears running down my face.

A Wedding Invitation For A Mom Long Gone, by Julie Buxbaum

(Photo from Flickr)

Nonchalant Mom

After seeing Carina Schott's fabulous kid-friendly family home in the newest issue of Domino Magazine, I had to check out the website for her equally inspiring store, Nonchalant Mom. With neither a superfluous ruffle nor offensive color in site, Schott's store is a study in cool, modern children's clothing. My favorite find was this dress by Kragh Rosenberg. I love the way it combines a peasant girl silhouette with a Japanese style print. And just to prove that it was truly meant to be, the lilac color is named the Ella dress, after my daughter Ella, of course. If only she was big enough to wear it!

(Pictures from Nonchalant Mom)

Neutral Baby Bedding

The best thing about not finding out the sex of your child before he or she is born is the amazing moment after delivery when you finally hear, "It's a ....!" The worst thing about not finding out the sex is planning the nursery. As more and more woman are choosing to learn the sex of their child before delivery, designers are coming out with fewer and fewer gender neutral bedding options.

So if you're like me and are focusing all your nesting instincts on designing the perfect nursery, you may end up spending days searching for the perfect blue fabric (not too masculine, not too feminine, you know what I mean) and then spending weeks teaching yourself to sew a pleated crib skirt and matching accessories. Oh, how much easier life would have been if I had only known about Fawn and Forest's Celestial Parade crib set. Made from 100% organic cotton fabric and fill, the reversible crib set even comes in its own reusable drawstring tote.

Sweet dreams little bambino/a!

(Picture from Fawn and Forest)