Baby Belly Bazaar

By a wonderful coincidence, the city of Greensboro hosted a Bazaar for pregnant ladies on the day of my shower.  All of my party planning friends told me to make myself scarce that morning, so I made sure to let Audrey and Lindzy, my two pregnant friends in town, that we had to hit it up.  The flyer promised belly painting, belly casting, chiropractors, and massage.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was larger than I thought it would be!

They had local health food stores with booths outside (on 40 degree days, yowch!) and passed out little free samples.  The ginger lemon slush was especially delicious!  Inside they had music and belly dancing, lots of local crafty people selling their wares, and of course all of the advertised services.  It was hard for us to walk more than a few steps before being approached by someone offering raffles and giveaways, or just being happy to see us and our bellies.  There were definitely some questionable services (placenta art or pills anyone?) but mostly it was just a fun time to enjoy with scads of other preggos.

As for what I actually participated with, I got to enjoy a free five minute massage, purchased a maple teething necklace, and dabbled in henna tattooing on my arm.  Definitely the safe option, but I was too shy to whip out my belly and to leave it exposed while it dried.

It was a little orange, but so cute!

Audrey was braver than I was and went for the full belly painting.  She was definitely a main attraction at the shower, it looked so great!

So intricate and pretty!

I have to say that my favorite part of the day was the time spent with Audrey and her best friend, Lindzy.  By amazing coincidence we are all pregnant together currently, and each of us is separated by 9 weeks (Audrey was 39 at the shower, I was 30, and Lindzy was 21).  I had only met Lindzy once before this day, at Audrey's baby shower, but she is the sweetest person you could ever want to meet!  I think we got along very well, and she even painted my fingernails while we waited for Audrey to get henna-ed.  I feel so lucky to have these ladies around and to know that we will be able to raise our kids together, figuring out this crazy process as we go!

Love this picture!