Flawless finish

via Serendipitous Romance

Love, love this article of a father writing to his daughter from the makeup aisle via The Huffington Post: "When you have a daughter, you start to realize she's just as strong as everyone else in the house -- a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same life and gifts and passions as any man. But sitting in this store aisle, you also begin to realize most people won't see her that way. They'll see her as a pretty face and a body to enjoy. And they'll tell her she has to look a certain way to have any worth or influence."

This is my favourite:

"Naked. The world wants you to take your clothes off. Please keep them on. But take your gloves off. Pull no punches. Say what is in your heart. Be vulnerable. Embrace risk. Love a world that barely knows what it means to love itself. Do so nakedly. Openly. With abandon."

Not to mention the concept of infallible grace.  So good.

Hipster nieces

Anya and Siona in NYC

 

When your nieces are hipper than you, the only thing left to do is blog them.

"A, You're Adorable"

One of the best things in life has to be waking up in the morning and talking to my three nieces in New York as they eat their dinner and I get ready for work.  This morning I got to hear 7 yr old (going on college kid) Anya tell me about auditioning for the Met Opera and the Brooklyn Chorus - I'm so proud of how brave and talented she is; while she isn't sure whether she will get in, the most important thing, she said, was that she had fun.  If only we could all have that outlook as adults!  Next up came Isla (aka Bean) or Smiley Isley, age 2 who excitedly sung "Happy Birthday" and can now count to ten.   Finally there was Sissie (aka Lulu), aged 5 who sung me the most beautiful ABC song ever, "A, you're adorable" - I was so impressed she knew all the lyrics and it was possibly the cutest thing I have ever heard! Click on the link below to hear her sing the same song on my voicemail at the 0.55 sec mark (after first singing me Happy Birthday - which it wasn't, my birthday that is).  Lyrics are below so you can sing-a-long to this very very sweet song!

"A," you're adorable, "B," you're so beautiful,
"C," you're a cutie full of charms.
"D," you're a darling and "E," you're exciting
And "F," you're a feather in my arms.
"G," you look good to me, "H," you're so heavenly,
"I," you're the one I idolize.
"J," we're like Jack and Jill, "K," you're so kissable,
"L," is the lovelight in your eyes.

"M," "N," "O," "P," I could go on all day.
"Q," "R," "S," "T," alphabetically speaking, you're OK.

U," made my life complete, "V," means you're very sweet,
Double-"U" "X" "Y" "Zee."
It's fun to wander through the alphabet with you
To tell you what you mean to me.



Whimsy

                                 

You must, must, must watch Kiki and Coco in Paris, this slideshow of whimsical and divine pictures from Stephanie Rausser (http://www.stephanierausser.com/) that I spotted over at the very pretty ABT (I love a bit of Spiro inspiration.)