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Forget about the poolboy and the cocktails. I’ve discovered the true secret of vacation relaxation and it has nothing to do with alcohol and tight buns. It’s all about the backrub.

I’ve never been a terribly touchy feelie type. I like massages but don’t regularly seek this service out.  As a result, the lovely massage gift certificates I’ve received at baby showers and birthday celebrations have sat in drawers for a good year or two before being redeemed, at the last minute, in a fit of stress about them expiring.

Think I enjoyed those massages much? Yeah. Not really. I found myself worrying through the entire massage about the work I should have been doing, if only my gift certificate was not about to expire and I was not about to waste a perfectly good, well intentioned, and potentially expensive gift.

Recently however, I was talked into getting a massage while on vacation. I was away from home, miles from work, the kids were accounted for and my only responsibility at that very moment? Relax. Which is harder than it sounds. Just thinking about how to get my vacation on is enough to  stress me out. Sort of like how thinking about sleep is enough to make me lay awake for hours.

But I was game. I was on Catalina Island where I was promised that in Deanna Stone’s expert hands, I would leave my cares behind. I went along with this plan, because honestly, what else did I have to do? I was on vacation! I’d already nixed the Buffalo Milk cocktail as providing anything more than a fleeting buzz and the only poolboy in sight was my husband. “Go get your massage already,” he urged.

An hour later I was completely chill. Not an ache in my body and not a care in the world. My kids pinched me. “Mommy? Are you ok?” they asked. “You’re so… relaxed or something”

It lasted almost all through the rest of my vacation. Only running for the boat, back to the mainland brought back some of the stress. Back home again I’ve made a resolution. First activity on all vacations from here on out? The vacation massage. And if I go back to Catalina, it will be straight back to Deanna Stone’s studio for me! Heading off for a relaxing trip yourself? Make a little time for a massage. Preferably at the beginning of the trip. You’ll be glad you did.

When Ju Ju Be released their newest line of wallets and diaper bag accessories, some of the ladies that chat on their infamous pink room message board commented that the new Ju Ju Be BusinessBe small wallet for business and credit cards should be called the BeCarded instead. We agree that is a much cuter name and have started referring to it as the BeCarded around our store. No matter what is is called – we guarantee once you start using this mini Ju Ju Be, you’ll never go anywhere without it!

I decided to get one since I always try to carry business cards with me. I find there are an incredible amount of pregnant women who comment on my stroller while on line for the ultra-popular ice cream store I take my kids to on nice days – they always ask where I bought it! Anyways I thought it might look a tad nicer to fish out a neat card from a little business card holder instead of fishing for one at the bottom of my diaper bag that doesn’t have goldfish crumbs caked onto it. Professional huh?

First I loved how the Ju Ju Be BusinessBe had a loop to slide onto my key ring so I could have it with me always instead of having it go to the bottom of my bag too. Then I realized when I stopped for quick errands, I could just stick my credit card in with my business cards and leave my bigger wallet at home. Well nowadays you get asked for id with credit cards so much so I added my drivers licence to the nice clear windowed slot on the top flap. Before I knew it I had stuck a few “just in case” bills in there as well.

Well on my recent trip to Las Vegas (see my last post), I found this was the only wallet I needed. I just kept my id, 2 credit cards and some cash in there, attached it to my key ring and I was set for 2 days in the city that never sleeps. (Luckily I did though).

If you are sick of lugging a big wallet around wherever you go, have business cards you want to keep orderly, or you just want a miniature alternative for nights on the town & quick errands, I can’t say enough about how clever and easy-to-use this newest Ju Ju Be is. Like my Amex card, I won’t leave home without it now!

Did you know that you are a brilliant photographer? Yeah you, the mom on the other side of my screen blinking confusedly at me. So your pictures are all out of focus lately, and you can’t figure out why the faces looks so washed out. So you’ve never ventured off the "auto" setting on your digital SLR. So what? It’s not your fault. You just haven’t had the chance to reach your potential. Because you’ve never met Me Ra Koh.

Me Ra Koh is a brilliant photographer, an inspiring speaker, and a wanna-be-photographer-mom’s very best friend. She’s nothing at all like the scary photography instructors you may have run across in past attempts to learn how to use a camera. She won’t make you memorize the manual or do calculus. But in just a few short moments, she will have you using your camera, and seeing the world in an entirely new way. Like the artist she knows you are.

I had the great fortune of meeting Me Ra at a one day workshop in La Jolla several months ago. Her in person workshops are often booked out months in advance, and I can see why. She makes it all so simple, and encourages everyone to learn by experimenting. Pick up a camera and start using it. Learn one setting at a time. Simple! There is no definite right or wrong with her approach (although taking the lens cap off is somewhat essential!). Spend a few moments with her and terms like aperature, ISO, F-stop and shutter speed, which may have seemed daunting in the past, suddenly make perfect sense. She has a way of simplifying and explaining all your camera settings in a way that just works. Case in point is her description of white balance. She compares it to applying make-up indoors, when you know you are going to be seen outside. Something most women understand all too well – you have to adjust for the light. Who knew using my camera was as simple as applying my foundation?

After meeting with Me Ra Koh I brought home her videos, "Refuse to Say Cheese" and "Beyond the Green Box" and watched them with my husband. He’s a scientific type and had struggled through photography classes in high school and college, grasping some of the mechanics, but perhaps less of the gestalt of photography. After watching her videos he understood that he was coming at it from the wrong angle. Instead of assessing the scene and the lighting and choosing the "best" general settings for the camera (which is what the auto feature essentially does), he was inspired to make the camera do his bidding instead. Making the camera see the scene the way he saw it. Both of us were excited to head out and try out the techniques discussed on the two videos. The videos make it easy for you to build your skills at home. Each section contains a photography exercise that targets a specific skill set. As you complete each task, you add to your bag of tricks. Want to blur a background? No problem. Capture solar flare? You can do it.

I cannot recommend these videos enough to my fellow moms. We, more than almost any other group of people, have the ability, the responsibility, to make a huge impact with our cameras. We have the ability to document our kids’ lives. And with Me Ra Koh’s advice, it really is not such a stretch for us to do this with style. So order the Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box videos and get ready to impress your friends and family with your brilliance! Can’t wait for the videos to arrive and looking for a little inspiration? Check out Me Ra’s Top Ten tips for Mom Photographers from BlogHer ’08.

Yesterday we brought you to the front lines of a battle raging in our school drop off lanes and mall parking lots. The Minivan Wars. We met with the rebel front – moms who told us about why they would rather drive pretty much anything besides a minivan. Their arguments were compelling.

Today we hear from minivan loving moms who have drunk the Soccer Snack Kool-Aid, and lived to tell the tale. They answered my query in overwhelming numbers. They also sported such a consistant story line, that I initially felt they were either members of a bizarre cult, or truly on to something .

While the Anti-Minivan Moms had a real knack for poking fun at the van drivers,  the Pro-Minivan Moms seemed to take this in stride and had no problem poking fun at themselves. They were nothing if not good sports. Their message to moms everywhere?

Time to Get Over Ourselves

 When it comes to moms who love their minivans, the politics are still at play, but priorities have shifted. For most of these women, it was a shock to find themselves at the wheel of their minivan. How did they get there?

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