.letters to my daughter.

i am thirty-two years old. when my daughter, who is presently budding in my womb, reaches young adulthood, i will be around fifty. when i am fifty, my perceptions of life around me will surely be worlds different than they are right now. at this moment, i am closer to my own young adulthood and have clear memories of those times. at this moment, i am not holding this little girl in my arms who i will surely have a magnetism to protect against the whole world. at this moment, i do not have a daughter embarking on adulthood who is exploring all her life has to offer.



when i am fifty, what i am willing to share with my daughter, what advice i give her about life and how i present my lessons will be biased by my years of motherhood and guarded with walls of protection for her. plus, i'm probably way cooler now than i will be then. (see, i use uber-awesome terms like way cool). for these reasons, i have written my daughter, at this time in my life, letters to give her when she embarks on adulthood herself. i want her to be armed in her college years, twenties and beyond with what i consider wisdom from my current self.



i want to be open and honest with her. since early in my pregnancy, i've been writing her these letters. they're bound together in a journal that she can carry with her through her adult life. i'd like to imagine her being away at college and needing some reassurance about heartbreak or friendship and grabbing this journal to find some comfort...from her mom...from her mom when she was just another lady giving her advice.



the letters are written on a variety of topics that i feel like sharing with her. from the benefits of kindness to some of the trials of relationships to the joys of traveling to the need for a great chocolate recipe...there is no theme. the general idea of these letters i've handwritten to her are to share about all of life. there are so many facets of it worth exploring and that is what i attempt to do.



the letters are personal, written to elise, signed by her mom. some could be read to any girl and some are specifically about how her name was chosen, what her coming into the world means to me, favorite things of mine. regardless of the content of the letter, the ownership of it is granted from my heart to hers.



i hope she treasures them as she grows in life. and i pray that she knows how very special she is to me and how my love and respect for her are given in each pen stroke, on every page.

.sweet, sweet sunshine.

putting together our daughter's nursery was a labor of love. the vision was mine and the labor was my eye guy's. it turned out to be a great balance.



i knew as soon as she was a double stripe on a pregnancy test that our child's nursery would be reading-themed. i have a passion for books and i hoped this would translate to our baby.



once we discovered our little blessing was bundled in the package of a girl, i immediately got the bedding i had picked out for this scenario. instead of all pinks, i wanted her room to be drenched in sunshine with dashes of soothing gray. for this look, i found the perfect bedding.



as you may remember, we DIYed her dresser and then promptly began filling it with her little, bitty things.



some of my favorite elements of her nursery are mementos from my own childhood. my bedroom of long ago was strawberry shortcake themed and here is my little rocking chair to prove it.



another of my favorite elements of our babycakes' nursery is this little blue dress hanging from her closet door. this is the very dress that her mommy wore when she was a wee thing. i can't wait to see our own little doll baby in it!



to hang all her little bows, i crated her this framed holder to also serve as wall art.





to personalize our daughter's nursery, my dear friend tammy custom-made some darling elements that were proudly displayed at my baby shower. believe it or not, her official name will not be babycakes, but elise.



the pennant banner you see hanging in all its adorableness was a custom order i placed on etsy from this cute shop . we communicated back and forth until we found just the perfect fabric for the nursery. i love how it turned out. i can picture little elise lying happily in her crib looking up at the sweet banner.



this will most likely be my new favorite spot in our home. in this comfy corner, i plan to snuggle my baby girl, read her lots of books and sing to her with my tone-def best. (poor baby)




this nursery is already my happy place, my serenity and peaceful escape. i can only imagine how very much i'll love it when my little lovey is here to fill the whole room with her glow.

.style kick.

there is something mesmerizing to me about target. i'm not proud to say that on a beautiful weekend day when i should be sitting on patios sipping lemonade, perusing my local farmer's market or taking my dogs to the park, i instead wander through my nearest target with awe. it is the same awe that finds me often weaving in and out of aisles, filling my shopping cart as if it magnets were attached to each item.



this past weekend, i found myself back in the baby section- where i have worn down the floor over the past few months. that is when i came across this irresistible treasure. clearance priced baby shoes. now, you may look at these and realize they're marketed to little boys. but hey, my girl is already hip.



with a little bling, i started adding some girlie touches. i took a strip of crystal stickers and fabric glued them to the back of these kicks.



see how super cutie that is!



next, i found some ribbon in my craft tub, cut it and tied it into little poofed bows.



with a dab of hot glue this time, they embellished these sneakers with just the right about of "yep, i'm a hip girl."



for under 5 bucks, my babycakes has some snazzed out sneakers! oh, and the best part- i got to text my eye guy when i left target to brag that i made it out of the store with only spending $7. i think that is a record for me.