Must-Have: The Glow Book

I think I have been a fan of The Glow since its very first post three years ago.

The site was started by two New York-based women – one an editor at InStyle and the other a photographer, both with a great innate sense of style – before they even made the foray into motherhood. It was their way of showing the world (and their nervous selves) that today’s modern woman can embrace motherhood and career and personal style and balance and wellness…and do it beautifully. Kelly Stuart is the talent behind the lens and she captures their subjects with such an ethereal, organic sensibility that makes motherhood look peaceful and empowering and inspiring. Even though it’s often not.

Stuart and her partner, Violet Gaynor, have just released The Glow: An Inspiring Guide to Stylish Motherhood, a new coffee table book version of the much-loved blog, filled with many of the subjects already featured online and an assortment of all-new ones (I wish there were a few more new ones, to be honest). The book is divided into sections devoted to birth, home design, nursery design, beauty, and more, and each accompanies Stuart’s lovely photography with words of wisdom, quotes and tips from their subjects.

The book brings everything you love about the blog to life beautifully with pretty details, including a scrapbook style recipe section, and detail shots that draw you right in. I think my favorite image is one of Tracy Anderson nursing her baby girl in a stunning yellow dress.

I don’t think I will really look to this book for advice or product recommendations or must-haves (that stuff is always fun, but it’s not the forte here) but I definitely appreciate it for its unique, inspired point of view on motherhood today. It shows the act of parenting in a new light that leaves you feeling renewed and appreciative. It introduces you to women – many of them admittedly living rather extraordinary lives – who are balancing career and children and personal interests with style and grace. But what I really love is that at the same time it also makes them seem a little less extraordinary through the intimate details they share of their own experiences that, at the end of the day, are universal to us all.

So while my little life may not have Stuart’s signature style imprint on it at all times, seeing motherhood through her and Gaynor’s eyes certainly gives it a much-needed new…dare I say it, glow.

The Glow: An Inspiring Guide to Stylish Motherhood is available today.

*image above via The Glow