It's a Beautiful Day!

Good Times and Good People

It's always important to have a friend to share, laugh, cry and plain ole have awesome times with...

Tiffany, I appreciate you!

WE ATTENDED ED'S "SUNNY SIDE UP BREAKFAST MASH"

It's Pah-tee time!

This is  the before

This is the after.  We came, we drank, we danced until our feet hurt, we got soaked in the rain.  It was great!

Tiffany realized she was wearing an earring for a bracelet! Hey, the party started at 4am. At least I had my nails on both hands polished!  We crack ourselves up.

OUR LONG HOLIDAY WEEKEND KICK OFF

Tiffany charging her phone Thursday past as we hung out before the start of the long weekend!

Cheers to all the Married Working Mothers!  Hope you had an awesome weekend!

Life is to be enjoyed.  To be lived in the moment.  To be surrounded by the people you love and who love you.  Live a balanced life.  Choose to be happy and be inspired by all that surrounds you. 

We don't feel guilty about spending "me time" or doing things without our children and husbands.  It makes us better women!  #guiltfreelife


What have you done for yourself lately?


Signed,
A relaxed and happy Candilaria

MWMs @ Pretty Brown Girl Conference!

Pretty Brown Girl Conference Flyer

"Of course! We'd be honored to speak at your conference!" This was our response when Mrs. Yolanda Darville extended the invitation. 

Us? Candi and I! Two married mothers whose only goal was to have a blog to exhale and invite others to do the same!

Beginning of our presentation

On Saturday May 3rd after brainstorming, planning, rearranging, laughing, questioning, doubting and reaffirming, Candi and I spoke to a room full of women. I remember us sitting at our table waiting patiently. That's a lie. We were not patient, we were doubting...doubting our presentation and doubting ourselves. The women filing into the room simply did not look like our audience. How were we going to connect and make an impression? Seconds ticked by...minutes as Candi and I scanned the crowd. 

Throughout our tedious meetings at Lucianos over a glass of wine okay fine...glasses of wine, we contemplated what we wanted to express to the women about 'Mind, Body and Soul, Taking Care of Yourself'. I always chimed the one basic fact I believed to be true. Yolanda invited us to speak because of who we are. We can only be ourselves! 

It could not matter if all the women at the conference did not look like us or look like they would like us or be interested in what we would discuss, we decided to be authentically us!

Candi engaging the audience

And so, Candi began our presentation by doing just that. She said, 'Woohoo, we are alone! Let's celebrate that we have no children with us this morning!" (The conference began with a joint mother and daughter session then the girls were dismissed into groups according to their age leaving the mothers in the ballroom with us.)

Immediately there was a cheer. The women who we initially judged to be different from ourselves were just the opposite....they were like us. Women!

Candi and I had done what we as women do all the time. We judged! And just like many of us who judge...we judged wrong! We thought our audience was too serious but in fact they laughed and interacted with us throughout the entire presentation. 

Our presentation was very brief but our message was powerful. Our children love us so let's love ourselves by reviving our talents, our hobbies and tidbits of time away from our families to be the women we were before diapers, stretch marks and curfews!

Candi and Sandena Neely, one of our Guest Bloggers

Candi and her daughter 

Vendor Shopping

Vendor Sampling

Materials for Vision Board

Mothers and Daughters were invited to create a Vision Board filled with long and short term goals!

Mothers and Daughters were provided with magazines to cut out pictures to depict their short and long term goals.

Vision Board Sample

Of course in true MWMs fashion, Candi and I shared a real toast in celebration. We celebrated having the courage to be ourselves in a room full of strange women. We encourage you to do the same. Just be you, accept you and then you can enjoy you and celebrate you!

Thanks for joining us Monette...another time Melinda!

This is the message of the Pretty Brown Girl Organization. Little girls must learn to accept themselves in order to celebrate themselves at an early age.

I was brought to tears as they recited their pledge at the beginning of the conference. Positive affirmations coming out of the mouths of little girls.

Awesome Sauce!

Graciously accepting our thank you gifts from Mrs. Anita Bain and Mrs. Yolanda Darville

Until I blog again,

Tiffany

P.S. Moms, did any of you notice Candi's hands at the conference? Just so you know...this is a new trend we at MWMs are starting. We are pioneers for you! This is called, 'The one Hand'! One hand is painted, preferably the hand you do not write with, the least popular hand. Here at MWMs we polish this hand because the polish stays on longer, undisturbed. You will notice that Candi's right hand is clear. At MWMs we have discovered there is no point polishing these fingernails...the polish never stays on...like seriously! So why bother! We like to call this 'Fashion with Functionality'! Like I stated earlier. We are pioneers. Be a pioneer too!

Okay alright fine...not a new trend. Candi forgot to polish her other hand the night before! What do we call this...... say it with me MOTHERHOOD!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the MWMs' readers and every mother...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We wish ALL of you the most delightful, amazing, wonderful, fun-filled Mother's Day.  May your heart be content and surrounded by those you love and those who love you!

Enjoy YOUR Day!

Courtesy of: http://www.sharefaith.com/faith/powerpoint.do?id=213766&slide=1

Signed, 

Us

GUEST BLOG: Puffy Hair Please!

“I want puffy hair like you, Mommy” said my then 3 year old.  “Please, please make my hair puffy like yours,” she pleaded. At the time, I wore my naturally kinky hair in a big afro puff that was like a huge black halo around my head. My daughter’s hair was the exact opposite of mine.  While my tightly curled hair reflects my strong African roots, my daughter’s loose curls reflect her diverse, multicultural heritage.  My husband and I were blessed to adopt her at birth and were pleasantly surprised when she started growing a headful of unique, silky curls as a toddler.

It was so strange to me that my baby wanted “puffy hair” when her own hair was amazingly beautiful.  Perfect strangers stopped us on the street to ask how she got such great hair.  Children and teachers at school would often pull one of her curls just to marvel at how it would spring back into place with an imaginary “BOIIIINNNGG!” sound.

               

I have since cut my hair and my daughter has learned to appreciate her own beauty.  But this conversation made a mark on my mommy-heart.  This conversation with my innocent little girl showed me that we mothers have power.  Our daughters look to us as their first image of beauty.  They want to be just like us – right down to our puffy hair. They compare and contrast themselves to us to see how they measure up.  They look to us for affirmation, seeking our eyes for approval.  Ultimately they want to know that we see them as beautiful and valuable.

And those little probing eyes look for something else.  They look deep into our souls to see if we truly believe in our own beauty as women.  Children have an amazing way of seeing the truth – no matter what we try to hide.  They can tell if we’re insecure women.  They can sense it if we don’t feel good about our looks or don’t value ourselves.  We can talk to our daughters all day long about how amazing they are as young women, but if they know that mama has no self-worth and has low self-esteem our message falls on deaf ears.  As moms, we have to do more than talk to our daughters about self-esteem.  We have to believe the message and live it.

Pretty Brown Girl (www.prettybrowngirl.com) is an organization that is dedicated to uplifting the self-esteem of girls and their mothers.  Just a year ago, my co-leader Anita Bain and I brought this amazing organization to Nassau and made Pretty Brown Girl Club #14 the first club outside of the United States.  We currently have 35 girls in our club and conduct innovative and fun monthly activities designed to let girls know that they are beautiful and capable just the way they are.  We’ve had so much interest from girls and their mothers, that we’re now reaching out in the wider community by putting on Nassau’s first ever Mother-Daughter conference on May 3rd at the British Colonial Hilton.

“Building Leaders From The Inside Out” Mother-Daughter conference will feature dynamic presenters and exciting hands-on activities to inspire and uplift girls ages 6-16 and their mothers. Sheri Crawley, the founder of Pretty Brown Girl from Detroit, Michigan, will be here to share her vision with moms and daughters.  Candilaria Thompson and Tiffany Hall, the founders of this amazing blog, will also be in attendance with an empowering message for moms.  

 

The entire event is only $5 per person.  The ticket price is low because we believe that building the self-esteem of girls and women is critical to improving our society.

So come out on May 3^rd, bring your daughter and spend a day together celebrating your beauty.  Send a message to your daughter that she is AMAZING.  And send a message to yourself that you are worthy, you are talented and you are unique! Let’s throw off the chains of insecurity and start creating a nation of women who love and respect themselves one girl at a time!

 

Written By:

Yolanda Darville

Yolanda Darville is a wife, mom, freelance writer and nonprofit strategist.  She is the co-founder of Pretty Brown Girl Club #14 in Nassau, Bahamas.