Never fully dressed without a ....

Yummy Tummy. I know, you thought I was going to say "Smile," right?

I'm a 36-year old mom whose had the pleasure of two c-sections and an abdominal wall that apparently will never recover from pregnancy no matter how many barre classes I do. While a "Mommy Makeover" is in my fantasy future, until we get to that point, my go-to item has been a Yummy Tummie tank. 

I've posted about them before (calling it my "adult lovie"), but this time I'm posting {begging?} for a personal style session with Yummy Tummie at BlogHer '11. Why? Because I'm one of their biggest fans. I wear my strappy tanks daily (I have 3 of them) and it's now gotten to the point that I don't feel fully dressed unless I'm donning a YT. Under t-shirts I feel smoother. Under a buttoned shirt, I don't worry about popping that one button that shirt makers strategically place in the middle of your boobs. And best of all? The length of the tanks are perfect for tucking into even low-rise jeans to avoid "Mom Crack" when bending over to pick up the toy my kid sitting in the shopping cart just dropped for the 30th time. I've been lusting after the leggings for awhile, and I'm DYING to try the jeans. If the jeans do for my lower half, what the tops do my upper half I will be in heaven.

If you feel the same way that I do, you should check out Yummy Tummie! ( Yummie Tummie Facebook page, Yummie Tummie site and Yummie Tummie Twitter ) 

While I've been buying Yummy Tummies on my own, this post is part of a contest that SDMOMfia Mama Christina (@MommyLuvsCoffee) is hosting for a Say Wow Not Ow Private Yummie Tummie Style Session at BlogHer 11. This post is an entry because really? I could use the help.

Spa La Costa and the SDMOMfia's Spa Social

Friday night was the event we SDMOMfia Mamas have been planning for months...200 women lounging in robes and bathing suits, enjoying drinks, food and a beautiful spring night at Spa La Costa at the La Costa Resort. 

I kept an eye on the weather all week. Two weeks before it was raining. The week before it was chilly. But by Wednesday of event week the sun was shining, the sky was blue and temps were climbing. And by Friday? Pure. Weather. Perfection. 

Now there is La Costa Resort and then there is the Spa La Costa. The resort, which is finishing up a major renovation, is one of my favorite recommendations for people to stay when they come to visit us - especially with kids. The grounds are stunning, the newly remodeled rooms are fantastic and the pools are beautiful. Honestly, when I need to mentally go to my happy place, it's poolside at La Costa on an 80 degree day with a fruity drink in my hand. 

But the Spa...the spa is on a different level. It's in a different area of the property than the main pools, making it secluded and quiet...unless you have about 200 of your closest blogging/twittering/facebook ladies sipping champagne, and munching on sliders and lobster sandwiches... 

Regardless, my obsession with Spa La Costa is known. So when the Spa La Costa team came to the SDMOMfia a few months back and said they wanted to host us for a fabulous event, it was hard to contain our excitement. Remember going on a first date, being so excited about it that you're worried that you look desperate? Yeah. We honestly were so excited about this event that we had to check ourselves a few times. And just like a good first date, the more we met with them, the more we talked to them, the more we LOVED them. After 12 years of marketing, PR and events, I have to say that I have NEVER had a more enjoyable work experience than dealing with the people at La Costa. 

At first, the Spa Social event was going to be an intimate event with about 50 people. When that "sold out" in a day, we went back and asked about making the event a little bigger. La Costa was thrilled and we upped the number to 100. When those tickets were gone the next week, we sat down and re-evaluated once again.... next thing we knew we had 200 ladies RSVP'ed and even a few more on a waiting list. 

The event itself went off amazingly. A bunch of people won prizes ranging from a weekend at Rancho Las Palmas (a sister resort in Palm Desert) to Starbucks gift cards to passes to Legoland. We even raised money for a local non-profit, Home Start, with their Quarters Count initiative, helping them get a little closer to reaching their goal of raising $1million to help prevent child abuse in San Diego. And while the intention was just a wonderful relaxing evening that introduced all the fabulous new spa treatments and the remodeled spa area, the night turned into so much more.... 

Theresa, Stefanie and I have been working our booties off to make the SDMOMfia something different, something fabulous and new. A network of women that blog, that tweet, that facebook or that are just amazing MOMS...and Friday night was a perfect example of how our hard work and dedication is coming together...and creating something wonderful. 

And yes, now it's time for a group hug and a round of Kum-ba-ya.  

Jessica + Elizabeth = 4Ever

1984: I was 10 years old. I loved dolphins and Barbies and spent hours wishing that I was 16, drove a red Fiat, and that my identical twin, somehow separated from me at birth and that my parents denied having (hey, I saw The Parent Trap! If it could happen to Hayley Mills it could happen to me!) would show up.

Giving credit where credit is due, Francine Pascal inspired a love of reading for me. While I was (obviously) reading before I discovered the Sweet Valley High series, I have this distinct memory of laying on the bottom bunk of my knotty pine bed-set wearing polyester dolphin shorts and not wanting to do anything but read about the lives of these idyllic twin girls in this fictional town that sounded, like, WAYYYYY better than the VALLEY. 

While we didn't have matching lavaliere necklaces, Annie, Debbie and I shared a 3-way best friend charm and and an obsession for these books. We traded older copies back and forth as we waited for book #5 or #6 (out of what turned into a 150+ book series) to be published and dreamed of being cheerleaders, dating and having our own phone lines. 

Then? We grew up. SVH was traded in for Flowers in the Attic (a series to this day I chastise my mom for letting me read), Stephen King and even Clan of the Cave Bear (on another note, a new book in that series was also released last week). Dreams of being a teenager were replaced by the reality of being a teenager and by the time I turned 16 the only car I wanted to drive was a convertible VW Rabbit. 

Last week, Francine Pascal re-ignited the 9 year old girl in all of us with the release Sweet Valley Confidential. Jessica and Elizabeth, "10 years later." And while it's fuzzy math on that 10 years (yet it's modern day in the book; they Facebook and Twitter and use their iPods, yet they are only 27) "something has torn the twins apart and they are no longer speaking!" Well, duh. Of course it's that Jessica did something horrible to her "4-minute older" big sister and for the first time, Elizabeth stood up for herself. Didn't we all see this coming in 1986?

Let's be honest here. This book is no literary work of genius. This isn't an epic Freedom-esque tome in which Elizabeth delves deep inside her soul to see that she has settled for less than she dreamed. This is Sweet Valley High as we all remember it. Remember how each of the books always used the same lines to describe things like the Wakefield's house, the Twins' good looks, the restaurant they always went to eat at? All those phrases are back... but instead of being annoyed, I was relieved and almost comforted by the memory of these words.

The story is what you would expect. No more, no less. But it was perfect for what it was: nostalgia. In fact, i think this book was just Francine Pascal's excuse to finally let Jessica and Elizabeth swear, drink and have sex. As my friend Annie (now Ann) so eloquently put it, they "turned into us." 

Yes, just like us, Jessica and Elizabeth have also grown up.