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December 31, 2009

My #Best09…Inspired by @GwenBell – Best Place, New Food, Biggest Change I Made to the Place I Live, Biggest Rush, Best Packaging

Continuing @GwenBell ‘s #best09 Blog Challenge…

Read all of my #best09 here.

December 11 – Best Place

“The Creek” at Vasona Park for Explorer Preschool’s 4Day class with Ben and Lily

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When Ben and Lily started preschool, we chose Explorer Preschool. Our neighbors kids had gone there and they raved about it. Kids learning while they take a hike, climb a tree, check out bugs? As one who believes our kids suffer from nature deficit, this place was definitely was for us. And the 4Day class, where the kids (aged 4-5 years old, this is sort of Explorer’s Pre-K program) spend 6 weeks in the Fall and 6 weeks in the Spring at Vasona Park for their class, was the class I came to Explorer for. The class did not disappoint.

I was always happy to be the “Creek Mom,” the parent worker who stands in the creek the entire classtime, with the creek. We found rocks, weighed them, let sand run through our fingers, saw a glint of light and found gold, watched ducks, counted trees, collected leaves, got wet, got dirty, dug for dinosaur bones, laughed, fell in the creek, found some more rocks, laughed again. It was fantastic, such a unique experience and I’m SO, SO, SO glad I did this with the kids. Ava and I will be there next Fall. We’ll grab our water shoes and jump in!

December 12 – New Food

Wraps made with Rice and Bean Salad and whatever else you want to throw in there

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Robin turned me onto this Rice and Bean Salad recipe sometime in 2009 that we make a lot. It is nice and light and cold. Then when we were in Cape Cod, Jen, Robin, Robin’s husband Mark and I decided that wraps were going to be our mainstay as lunches for the trip. Sometimes it would be hummus, leftover pork loin, swiss cheese, cucumber and tomato. Sometimes it was avacado, turkey, spinach  and tomato (pictured above). One day we had some of our rice and bean salad leftover from dinner the previous night, so we threw that into the wrap. Mmmmmmm. Love it with the cold pork loin. Love it with chicken. Love it with steak. Love it with tons of veggies. Really, it goes with anytime.

Here is the Rice and Bean Salad recipe:

RICE & BEAN SALAD
—————————-

1 cup basmati rice (cooked earlier and cooled to room temp)
- toss in a little olive oil

Add:
1 can of corn nibblets (drained)
1 can of black beans (drained)
green onions (chopped)
red peppers, tomatoes and/or cucumbers (chopped)
toasted pine nuts or walnuts (a bunch)

Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil/canola oil (split between the two to make it lighter)
a little garlic
1/4 tsp chili powder

Enjoy!

December 13 – Biggest Change I Made to the Place I Live

Ava’s Big Girl Room –> Kids Playroom / Ben and Lily’s Room –> Shared Kids Bedroom

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The biggest change I (…we) have made to our house is actually still in process. In fact, it will probably change a lot today. In 2008, Ava made the transition from nursery/crib to big girl bed (we took the side off her crib so she could get out). This summer she got a new bed, a hand-me-down from Jen’s daughter, Emily, when they moved away. Just a couple of weeks ago, the kids all decided they wanted to move in together. Ben and Lily have had a bunk bed for the past couple of years. Was there space for a trundle bed underneath? Score! There was. My parents (who are packing up their house today to leave for a year long RV trip) had a trundle bed that they brought over and we quickly set that up. Easy.

In Ava’s old room, we moved in more of my parent’s furniture (we are storing and using – thanks Mom and Dad!), and are turning it into the kids playroom. This morning I moved their coloring table and chairs and the keyboard (another score from Nana and Papa) into the room. I am still figuring out how to get all of their arts & crafts stuff in there, but the closet is pretty big and there are lots of shelves, so I plan to tackle that organization project over the next week or so.

I never would have imagined that we would be arranging the kids like this…our bedrooms are small…but they really love sleeping all together. And now they have a playroom to set up that is just theirs.

December 14 – Rush

Flying with my dad in his experimental airplane

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By biggest rush of 2009 had to be flying with my dad in his experimental airplane in September. I wrote about the experience over at SV Moms. It was awesome, terrifying, amazing…definitely my biggest rush. My dad was thinking of selling his plane since my parents are going on this long trip, but decided to keep it in the family. Who knows…maybe I will get my pilot’s license one day…

December 15 – Best packaging

Olive Smart sacks (unpackaging)

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As I was thinking about this one, I asked my husband if he could remember anything really cool from this year. He said “Packaging? How about unpackaging?” True. Should we really be celebrating good packaging that fill our landfills? I immediately remembered my Olive Smart sacks that I received at the SV Moms Group Holiday Party, reusable bags for groceries, etc. They come in a pack of 6 (or 3) and the bag that all the bags goes into fits nicely into the drink holder of your car or into your handbag. I love mine and I love that they are made local to the Bay Area, by two moms from Woodside. Very cool (un)packaging.

Disclosure: I received a free set of 6 Olive Smart sacks at the SV Moms Group Holiday Party. I was under no obligation to write about them.

Posted in #best09, Ava, Ben, Family, Getting Dirty, It's all about ME, Lily, My Twin Sis, Preschool, SV Moms, The Great Outdoors | Comments Off

December 30, 2009

My #Best09…Inspired by @GwenBell – Best Workshop/Conference, Blog Find of the Year, Moment of Peace, Best Challenge, Album of the Year

Continuing @GwenBell ‘s #best09 Blog Challenge…

Read all of my #best09 here.

December 6 – Workshop or Conference

CCPPNS – California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools, Sacramento, CA, March 2009

Writing Motherhood
In 2009, I went to a couple of great conferences associated with blogging: BlogHer ’09 (my second year there), the 2009 California Women’s Conference. And I LOVE conferences – I think I could be a professional conference go-er (in fact, I am trying to work out my conference schedule for 2010 and it looking packed!). But, surprisingly, my favorite conference was one that I only got to one day of and it was one associated with my kids’ preschool. I am a member of the board of the school and several of us, along with the teachers and our director, attended the CCPPNS (California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools) Conference in Sacramento. I got up very early to drive the 2 hours to the conference for the day and just made in in time for the keynote by Lisa Garrigues, author of Writing Motherhood. I am so glad I made it there for that keynote, because, for me, it was amazing. The company was good too :)

It was a really different keynote in that it had a workshop element as part of it. I had already read Lisa’s book and done some exercises as part of it, since it was one of the first book clubs I manage for SV Moms Group. I loved how she got every person in that room, most people non-writers, to write. She set a timer and everyone wrote for 10 minutes. And everyone had something pretty amazing to say. As mothers, we all have things we want to remember and things that we need to work through. Like Gwen Bell’s prompts for this #best09 challenge, Lisa Garrigues has many writing prompts in her book which are so helpful. Here is what I wrote in this quick keynote workshop:

The Long and Short of It – Topic: Breakfast Time

It used to be that I was the one who got up first, maybe to a crying baby (or two…or three), to prepare breakfast for everyone, of milk (heated, of course), applesauce, mashed bananas, zwieback biscuits, baby yogurt and baby oatmeal, while I nursed the newborn, but now I am awakened to sounds from the kitchen of running footsteps, doors opening and then slamming shut, cereal pouring, spoons clanging and water filling from the refrigerator while I still lie in bed. I sort of miss the old days.

Later in the day, I went to a workshop with Lisa Garrigues, which was more of the same, but a bit more focused. It was nice to meet her in person, after emailing with her so much about the SV Moms Group book club the previous summer. She is a captivating speaker and teacher. I was really amazed at how much we got down on paper in an hour. I loved hearing what Teacher Annie wrote in this workshop – having college-aged girls, she has different things she carries (see the topic below) than I. We all carry something. Here is my writing from that workshop:

Workshop Topic: The Things We Carry

I carry a laptop bag today, but no laptop, which was very hard for me to separate from for one day. I carry the wonderings of what my children are doing today while I am not with them. I carry the guilt of taking this one day off. I carry the irritation with people who give birthday presents to others two to six months late every single year, but who pretend that they don’t. I carry my Flip camera, because I love to capture the present to watch in the future and the cooresponding feeling that I am missing the present altogether by recording it. I carry “The Power of Less” book that I only have time to read 5 pages of every weekend and the desire to eliminate the non-essential and gain more value and joy in my life., I carry the knowledge that I will be cramming to get Ben’s Kid of the Week poster done by Monday, as usual.

There were some other sessions that I really loved as well. The theme, “Play for Life,” is one that I embrace pretty seriously for my kids. I was bummed to have missed the Ooey Gooey Lady…there is always next year!

December 7 – Blog Find of the Year

1000AwesomeThings.com

1000 Awesome Things

You are sitting with your favorite and oldest friend (your sister) on vacation, chatting about this and that. She thinks of something to show you on her laptop and suddenly you are sucked into cheesy theme songs from 80′s sitcoms and reading the nutritional label and eating it anyway and all sorts of awesome things that make you smile.  She told you about 1000 Awesome Things and it is truly…

AWESOME!

Seriously, this must be the funnest blog to write, ever.

December 8 – Moment of Peace

Mother’s Day at Yoga Source

YogaSource Los Gatos

For Mother’s Day 2009, I decided to treat myself and go to a yoga class at Yoga Source in Los Gatos. I hadn’t been to a live yoga class in probably 6 years, before becoming pregnant with my twins. I had been doing yoga via yogatoday.com, which is great if you can’t get to a class…but a class is oh, so much better. The heat, the people, the audible breath, the wood floor, the instructor who comes around and adjusts you or gives you a quick massage if you are one of the lucky ones. I felt present, there, smooth, strong. Om.

December 9 – Challenge

Teaching at Solo Practice University

Solo Practice University
As a lawyer who has operated her solo law practice for the past 5 years, I know what it is like to be out there on your own. I wanted to give back to my profession and to help other lawyers who are starting out on their own (especially in this economy – law firm jobs are not what they used to be…if they are there at all). I agree to teach a class called “Outsourced General Counsel” at Solo Practice University, which just finished up. I could have taught another 20 classes (or more!), but decided I had to give it up due to the time it takes to prepare the classes (at least the way I do it).

Therein lied the challenge. First of all, the video intro. Who knew that talking for 60 seconds (and ONLY 60 seconds) into a video camera was so hard. Memorize lines much? No. Sit up straight much? No. Dress up and do movie makeup much? No. Thankfully, my husband helped me and it only took me 150 hours or so to do a 60 second intro.

Then the actual teaching of the class. Putting together a class, even if you know the material very well, proved tough for me at times. Knowing it would be online was even tougher, because you don’t have that immediate feedback to know if people are getting it. It took me a while to figure out how to set it up technically – I ended up doing mostly slidecasts with powerpoint and an audio track. It was fun to conquer the technical side of it, because it was not easy (and I am fairly techy, I think).

It was also challenging to give it up. Truthfully, I feel like a quitter in some respects. But…I am committed to focusing on the essential and this just didn’t make the cut. I really enjoy speaking and teaching and sharing with people, and I’m still looking at ways to do those things that make sense time and effort-wise. I learned a lot from this experience (and other speaking and teaching I have done over the past couple of years) and I will carry that with me into the future.

December 10 – Album of the Year

Matt Nathanson – Some Mad Hope

Some Mad Hope
I bought the album for the song Come On Get Higher, but love the whole thing start to finish.

(I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I also love the Glee soundtrack :) )

Posted in #best09, Book Club, Challenges, It's all about ME, My Twin Sis, Solo Practice University, SV Moms | 1 Comment »

December 30, 2009

My #Best09…Inspired by @GwenBell – Best Trip, Best Restaurant Moment, Best Article, Best Book, Best Night Out

December is almost over. My Christmas decorations are all put away and I am ready for the New Year. Every few days, I see a tweet from Gwen Bell about her Best of 2009 Blog Challenge #best09 and promptly email myself the link, as a to-do. Since I like to procrastinate and do things Right Before They Are Due, I am jumping in….now. Better late than never, right? Here are Days 1-5:

Read all of my #best09 here.

December 1: Trip

Sandwich, Cape Cod, July & August 2009

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There were a few great trips in 2009: Jeff and I’s 10 year anniversary trip to Oregon, our annual Disneyland trip with friends. But my best trip in 2009 was to Cape Cod. Though it was a husband-less 3 weeks (Jeff had to work, annoyingly), Ben, Lily, Ava and I had the best time with my best friend Jen and with my twin sister Robin. It was a very relaxing three weeks, really the first true vacation I have had in a really, really long time. I did no work, very little stuff online and didn’t pressure myself to DO much of anything. I mean, except for take care of the kids (that goes without saying, right?) Robin and I would wake up and say “what should we do today?” We had rules for the kids like: say please and thank you, clean up after yourself and have ice cream every day. I wrote this while I was there…

At the beach cottage I have my own room. It is all mine.
Not that I spend a lot of time in it, except for sleeping. But I appreciate just having the space. No one sleeps in there with me. Sometimes one of the kids will tiptoe in during the day, somehow knowing it is sort of of-limits, to help me pick out what to wear for the day, but it never lasts long. They vacate quickly.

At the beach cottage, there are seashell lamps, a mermaid stone, mismatched chairs in shades of ocean and beach, American flags, a “no smoking” sign in a simple wood-carved plaque in beachy colors that blends into the cottage walls.

At the beach cottage, there is noise of the five kids, playing and fighting…and fighting and playing. There is noise of our iPod playlists – Sting, Bebel Gilberto, Jack Johnson – and, sometimes the Grease and Mama Mia soundtracks. There is noise of conversation about life, how to enjoy it, when not to work and what kind of work is the “best fit” for us, about the kids and the funny things they do, the challenges they and we have, their upcoming school year.

At the beach cottage there is a new nighttime routine of wine and chocolate and early bedtime. But before that, at time, there is trashy TV, which we suck down with our wine and chocolate – Big Brother 11 (or whatever number) when we can catch it, otherwise Punk’d, That 70′s Show and, once, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Alng Blog when nothing was on and we thankfully had the internet to turn to.

At the beach cottage there is less yoga than I though there would be, but also less guilt. At the beach house, there is solace.

December 2 – Restaurant Moment

Sharky’s Cantina, Martha’s Vineyard, August 2009

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This one is also from Cape Cod. It was a horrible day. We had gone to Martha’s Vineyard – Robin and I with all 5 kids, no husbands. Sam had a bad burn on his ankle from the previous day during a jogging stroller incident (be careful when putting too many children in a jogging stroller!) and Robin was having a tough time with him (whining and crying All Day). We went on a pedicab ride out to the beach and back. We had ice cream. We tried….but we were honestly ready to throw in the towel and leave. We decided to quickly get something to eat and take the early boat back to the Cape. We went to Sharky’s Cantina on a recommendation from the lovely people at Vineyard Pedicab. It is truly amazing what a couple of margaritas, a plate of nachos and some toy sharks will do for a family’s mood. It turned into a late night – we got a second wind, bought Black Dog sweatshirts since it has turned cold, rode the carousel (trying to get the brass ring!) and took the night boat back, a beautiful sight. Sharky’s truly saved our day and we thank you and your margaritas.

December 3 – Article

How to create your personal manifesto, how to want very little, and the Shriver Report

The article blew me away this year? This is hard. There are so many good ones and I am not that good about using Delicious (I am restarting right now…getting my password reset…right. now.). I am torn between a couple:

This year has been for me about getting to the core of what I want to do and a lot of that has to do with letting go of a lot of things, both material and ideal. And not fighting what I naturally gravitate towards. I am finding myself a lot happier at the end of this year that I was at the beginning. Both of these articles have really helped me gain a lot of perspective on life and what I truly want and need. So many more good ones! Delicious is restarted…now!

Also, a series of articles that I read over Thanksgiving after I went to the 2009 California Women’s Conference as press for Silicon Valley Moms Group blew me away in so many ways: The Shriver Report. I was amazed by the statistics, the stories, and the impacts that having half of the U.S.’s breadwinners being women is having. Things I learned: Women after not necessarily opting-out, but being forced out of the work place. Companies with women in the board room are more profitable. And work-life balance is a HUGE issue for all of us – not just women, but men. After all, women and men are sharing home duties more than ever. The notion that jobs are designed for people who have no home life (or do have a home life, but have a full-time stay-at-home wife to take care of said home life) makes me appreciate my flexible work, but know that companies (and government and society) has a lot of work to do to deal with this new reality.

December 4 – Book

The Power of Less by Leo Babauta

The Power Of Less

My mom, my sister Robin and I have all been reading and re-reading The Power of Less by Leo Babauta all year long. The main tenant is focusing on the “essential.” I really like Leo’s writing style (very simple and easy) and have had many conversations with friends (hi, Jane!) about these ideas. Sometimes my mom and I will take the kids on a day trip to the San Francisco Zoo or the Monterey Bay Aquarium and she’ll read me a chapter during the hour or so drive. I think I will be reading this book for years to come.

December 5 – Night Out

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There were two nights out that were memorable for me in 2009. The first was the night before BlogHer ’09 in Chicago. I was out with my roommates, Carla and Ana. We were at different spots for the beginning of the night. I started out at the Social Luxe Lounge party (a client of mine), then headed over to the Silicon Valley Moms Group party, where I co-hosted with my partner Beth Blecherman. Carla had been at a BlogHer event, she being the official photographer for BlogHer ’09. Ana was getting pampered and had a modeling session for a cute LBD. I met Ana at the SV Moms party, then we hooked up with Carla and Chris, a colleague of hers, at the (somewhat crazy) Room 704 party. Funny things were said by Ana (“Are you here for a conference?”), I was honored to pose for a photo with the Clever Girls Collective founders (a client of mine), we drank some apple martinis, we decided to head out on a tour of Chicago led by Chris. First up was the Chicago theWit beautiful rooftop bar – $32 for 4 kamikazes?….Ok! Then we went…somewhere else and…somewhere else. We danced and danced and danced and….I fell into a champagne ice bucket. Don’t worry, my iPhone in my back pocked was perfectly fine. Whew! Carla did tease me about it for the rest of the trip (well, really, to this day she brings it up…), but no matter. It was so fun and I will always remember that night as one of the best nights out ever. Great ladies, a fun tour guide, beautiful views of a city that I had only been to once before, losing ourselves in dancing…embarrassing moments…ahh….

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The second night out from 2009 that was so much fun was a girls night out with my best friend Jen right before she moved away to Cape Cod. Jen and I have danced the night away many a night (we have known each other for almost 20 years, since we met as sophomores in college), but this night all the cards aligned to make it a perfect going away/not going away party (we were not allowed to be sad or say the words “going away” the entire night, otherwise she threatened to leave). Present were other friends Laura and Marya and Jen’s sister Christy. The V Bar in Santana Row kicked us off (no, we did not order 5 chocolate cakes like birthday cakes, we ordered 5 chocolate cakes like the shot!), then we crashed a 70′s/80′s party next door (Marya has a way of acting like she belongs places and making fast friends) where we danced to Journey and made fun of older ladies in go-go boots (we really should have been embarrassed to be there, but we hung in there). When that party ended, it was time for Rosie McCann’s, where there was a long line, but Jen batted
her eyelashes and got us a jump pass. There, we danced and danced and danced. It was 3am by the time we got home. Truly, a night to remember.

Posted in #best09, A good read, BlogHer, Family, Friends, Getaway, It's all about ME, Just keep swimming, Let's Party, My Twin Sis, SV Moms | Comments Off

December 9, 2009

Giveaway Time: Curious George Holiday Special

CGholiday3 While my twin sister, Robin, was here over Thanksgiving, we set up the kids with a movie party (five kids aged six and under – you do the math!), while we moms cooked and baked up a storm. I am not usually one for cooking – frankly, I despise making dinner every single solitary night – BUT I do like cooking when it is social (like for Thanksgiving) and I LOVE baking. I could bake cookies, pies, muffins, breads, whatever all day long. No problem. Fun, fun, fun. I think I go that gene from my Grandma Nita, who we lived next door to (over the river and through the woods) when we were growing up in Seattle.

The movie the kids watched? We had a special pre-release copy of Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas so we had a little party. This is Curious George's first holiday movie and it is so cute. We are big fans of this curious little monkey – love the science and math teachings and how PBS Kids is able to integrate the experimentation at home ("Go ask your mom for a box of cheerios and a cup of water. Drop cheerios (and nuts and sticks and whatever you can get your hands on) into the water and put the cup in the freezer. Check back tomorrow." Of course, they don't say this outright, but they show a little kid movie after the Curious George show that make the kids go ask their mom this. And see? We learned about liquids and solids and freezing.)

Here's the giveaway: I have 2 copies of the Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas DVD to give away to two lucky readers. To enter, please leave a comment below, telling me how many days are left until Christmas and what is top on YOUR Christmas list. I will ship to the U.S. only (unless you live in Newfoundland, Canada, in which case I will ship it to my sister with her Christmas gifts and you can pick it up from her!). The winner will be chosen randomly by random.org. Contest ends on Friday, December 11th at 12pm PST. Good luck!

About the movie: In
the Curious George holiday special, George and The Man with the Yellow Hat are
having a very merry time counting down the days until Christmas. There’s only
one puzzle: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a
present. The Man is having trouble reading George’s wish list and George
doesn’t have a clue about what to get for The Man who has everything. 
Maybe you can help! PBS Kids will be airing the special throughout December, so be sure to check your listings and watch it live too.

Disclosure: I received a box of complimentary goodies from PBS Kids for our Curious George holiday special party, including a pre-release version of the movie, the soundtrack, a Curious George puzzle and book, popcorn and a fun Curious George jiggler game (very fun experiment!). Thanks PBS Kids!

Posted in Family, Good Luck on the Giveaways, Home life, My Twin Sis | 7 Comments »

August 22, 2009

Time on the Cape: a three week chronicile of vacationing with three kids and no husband

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On the heels of BlogHer '09 in Chicago, I returned home for one day to unpack my swag and repack for a trip to Cape Cod with my three kids. My best friend just moved to Sandwich, Massachusetts on the Cape, after her husband (who is a Boston native and has had this summer house on the Cape for about 10 years) was transferred to Boston for his work. My twin sister, Robin, her husband and their kids also joined us there.

I never thought I would be one of those moms who takes her kids on vacation without her husband…but there I was. We hoped that Jeff would be able to join us at some point, but his work made it impossible. That, and ticket prices were just too high to justify coming for just a weekend.

It was…lovely. Yes, I missed Jeff (we all did – the kids, our friends, my sister, my brother-in-law), but it worked out fine. And we all got some time off. I got time off from my work (mostly) – I took a long, long break (thanks to all of you who let me do this!), I got very accustomed to going to bed early, not getting on my computer at night after the kids got to bed, to just being idle. My sister and I spent a lot of time just listening to music, reading, writing, talking about life, the universe and everything. I have not taken a break like that in a long time. I did post photos to Facebook quite often to keep Jeff and my parents up on what we were doing and we had webcam conversations with Jeff, but apart from that, I was pretty turned off.

I will be trying to work in some limits to my every day life as a result of this trip. It is something I have been working on for the past year, but this long three weeks on the Cape really did me good and showed me that it is possible to just turn it all off for a bit, stick my feet in the sand and live in the present.

Some highlights from our trip are coming soon….

Posted in Family, Friends, Getaway, It's all about ME, My Twin Sis, The Great Outdoors | 1 Comment »

August 5, 2009

My Yummie Tummie shapewear has left BlogHer’09 Chicago and gone on vacation to Cape Cod

About a month ago, I was at the video shoot for the Silicon Valley Moms Group's new video series A Byte Out of Life, when one of my costars, Sheila, co-founder of Clever Girls Collective, asked me if I would like to be a brand ambassador for Yummie Tummie shapewear at BlogHer'09 in Chicago. I had separately just heard about the Yummie Tummie line from a twin mommy friend of mine has a couple of these magic little items. Um, yes, twins. It is a doozy. Even for those of us, like me, who don't get stretch marks. Yes, I work out and I do weigh the same as I did pre-babies, but the tummy has never been quite the same. I said….SURE!

Coincidentally, that next week I went shopping for a few fun clothing items to wear at BlogHer….and I took my three darling little angels along with me. They were actually VERY good kids and were in great awe of the "mommy store" – Ooh, pretty! Wow! You should get this! You should get that! I went for minimal damage on the pocketbook, which was slightly disappointing to them. But I did let them pick out a couple of things. As you can see…being a mom has left me craving…ahem…coverage in the tummy area. Sometimes I go for awful things, like this ruffle top (dress? For a teenager, perhaps).

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Mommy and my three kids in the dressing room, trying on clothes to wear at BlogHer'09

At BlogHer, I did not wear the ruffle top number. No, no. Because I had my Yummie Tummie tank on. Instead, I wore a fitted shirt. Yes, a fitted shirt. And I LOVE the fact that the tank is MEANT to be seen. I am a fan of the layering look anyway, but a layer that actually benefits me? Great. I also really liked how the bust area is separated from the tummie area, so it actually holds EVERYTHING in place. No more annoying jiggle. The tank actually seems to have two layers of shapeness in it. While the top layer might ride up a bit, the inner layer clings to your body, making everything pretty much stay in place. Adjustments ARE necessary from time to time, but overall, I felt everything stay where it needed to and be really comfy and lightweight.

Big Stuff! I was starstruck to take a Yummie Tummie photo with Carson Kressley from Queer Eye from the Straight Guy (loved that show! miss it…even though they did get to be pretty much the same over time), right after he stripped to take off his sweater and put on a RIPT (the guy version of the Yummie Tummie).  (Yes, that's my fabulous friend and BlogHer roommate, Carla taking photos in the background.)

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Me and Carson Kressley at BlogHer – me in my Yummie Tummie, Carson in his RIPT. Photo credit: Carla Duharte/BabyJIDesign

This first day at BlogHer, I tucked the Yummie Tummie tank into my jeans. The second day, I wore a looser shirt, but tried out the layered on the bottom look. Worked out very well.

Now…I am in Cape Cod, vacationing with my best friend, who just moved to the Cape, and my sister, who lives in St. John's Newfoundland. The Yummie Tummie tank has continued right along with me, when I am not wearing a swimsuit, that is! I am loving these things, even in the hot and humid weather here. Really want to try the shorts, the spagetti strap tank, and maybe something in leopard.   

Get your Yummie Tummie today – there is a 30% discount in effect through August 7th! Use the BLOGHER30 discount code.

Full disclosure: #1: I am legal counsel for Clever Girls Collective, the fantastic new social media agency that is representing Yummie Tummie. #2: I received two complimentary Yummie Tummie Boyfriend tanktops as part of being a Yummie Tummie Brand Ambassador.

Posted in Getaway, Girl stuff, It's all about ME, Let's Party, My Twin Sis, Travel | 2 Comments »

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