Mother's Day, A Recipe, and a Trend (Three Days in One)

I'm just getting caught up on the blog, and rather than skip the past few days of posts, I thought I'd give you three short posts for the price of one!

I'll start with Trendy Wednesday.  Who knew that there was a "luxury stroller" market out there?  Until I found out about our bundle of joy, I had not given much thought about strollers except that I imagined pushing a Silver Cross pram through Audubon Park.  

Well, given the price tag and the fact that I don't think this gorgeous baby limousine could handle the crazy streets of New Orleans, I have had to find another alternative.  I have done a ton of reading, and some looking around, and I discovered four choices of strollers that I thought complemented our needs and lifestyle.  We have looked at the BOB, the City Mini Elite, the Uppababy, and the Bugaboo.  We have weighed the pros and cons of all of these amazing choices, and I think we are going to go with the very versatile Bugaboo Cameleon.  I love the bassinet feature and the fact that the stroller can be arranged in a slue of configurations.  Plus, it has a sleek and stylish look that I can't help but admit sold me on it!

For Tasty Tuesday, I have to share one of the recipes from our mother's day brunch.  We served a Four Berry Salad that was simple and perfectly refreshing on a warm and sunny day.  It could easily be served as a side or as a dessert over ice cream or with a bit of homemade whipped cream.

Serves 4
 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  2 teaspoons light-brown sugar
 1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved, or quartered if large
 1 cup blueberries
 3/4 cup raspberries
 2 tablespoons small mint leaves
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions

  In a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar and sugar. Add strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mint. Toss to combine. Transfer to serving bowls and sprinkle nuts over top if desired.

Finally, I was intending to post each Monday about my thoughts on being a mom-to-be, but I think I found writing about it more overwhelming than I thought it would be.  Sunday, I was so excited about being home for Mother's Day for the first time in four years and celebrating my mom that I had not considered that my family and friends would take time out on this special day to celebrate me.  Everyone made the day so special, but what made it perfect was knowing that before we know it, we will be a family of three.  I won't lie and say I don't find thoughts of motherhood completely overwhelming, because I do.  I worry about everything from what kind of baby monitor we should get to where we should send our child to school to whether this baby will know that we love him or her unconditionally.  But I am also so overjoyed at the thought of teaching this baby what it means to love and learning from the baby even more about love than I thought I knew.  As of today I am one third of the way through my pregnancy and I am looking forward to every moment along the journey of meeting our little one.  I hope all of the moms and moms-to-be out there had a wonderful day.

Thanks to my mom and to all of the moms in my life who have taught me that it is possible to be an amazing career woman, philanthropist, wife, daughter, friend, and mother all at once.  I don't know how I'm going to juggle it all, but you give me the confidence to know that it can be done.

It's Wednesday night and you're more than halfway through the week!!!!