Getting Ready For Valentine’s Day

I love decorating for the holidays. Even the little ones.

My son and I have carefully placed paper hearts around our home, taping them to windows and scattering them about the table.

We have made homemade Valentines to give to his friends at school and picked out cards to give at home.

I have a small bag of goodies stashed away in the closet to set out tomorrow for my boys, mostly just cards, chocolates, and balloons.

Valentine’s Day is small here, but each year I adore the smallness of paper hearts and the bigness of little smiles from my boys, because even small things can bring big happiness.

Tomorrow I will spend the day with my son and set the table with Valentine’s surprises and we will make heart-shaped pizza tomorrow night. I could not be more thrilled about our simple plans!

But this Valentine’s Day, I also did something just for me. It’s a bit crazy, and a bit brave, and I need your help.

I entered to win a boudoir photography session….and I’m honored to be a finalist!

Boudoir photography is something I’ve been considering for a while, but have never been brave enough to do. I was inspired by Kristin with her post Boudoir Photos: The Naked Truth. I have been struggling with my body image since the birth of my son and I would love the chance for one moment, to see myself through someone else’s eyes to remind myself that there’s beauty still hidden here beneath the run-down Mommy facade.

You can read all about my reasoning behind wanting to try this very scary thing, (including that this would be by 30th birthday present!) and see the other finalists here: 2013 Valentine’s Day Boudoir Photography Giveaway Finalists.

To vote, email contest@taitboudoir.com with the name only of the person you are voting for in the subject line. (Julia)

Thank you all for your support. And of course, if I win, you will hear all of the details about how it went, as well as the difficulty of hiding this from my husband. (Don’t worry, he probably won’t read this post.)

Voting ends February 14th at 5:00 PM PST.

How are you getting ready for Valentine’s Day?

Update: February 15th: I did not win, but thank you so much to everyone who voted for me! Maybe I will make this silly little idea a reality another time.