Happy first weekend of February! Here's a roundup of 10 picks that caught my eye. I suspect we'll also engage in some of these Valentine's Day crafts and treats (#7 has my name all over it!). And if you're looking for more Valentine's Day inspiration, check out Asha's archives).

1. What will no doubt be an artful celebration of the Lunar New Year. (Salem)

2. A celebration of diverse talents and minds. (Boston)
3. Adopt a tree and enjoy some maple syrup later. (Sharon)

4. Bank of America cardholders can enjoy free admission to museums across the country (including 7 in Massachusetts). (Various locations)

5. Mary Poppins on the big screen. (Brookline)

6. Root Calvin on as he overcomes his fears. (Boston)

7. Flat Stanley! (Natick)

8. Take your pick from three shows at this theatrical winter festival. (Stoneham)

9. Chili lovers unite! (Cambridge)

10. Open your eyes to creativity. (Lincoln)

Image credit: Peabody Essex Museum

I have many friends who are passionate about Vermont and/or skiing, and after recently reading Left Neglected, I found myself contemplating both. It may not feel like winter here in Boston, but there is snow elsewhere. And one of those places is Killington Resort, where you can enjoy pristine trails, a range of winter activities, and even dinner in a yurt (awesome, right?). The kind folks at Killington extended a press visit to me, but I thought it would be fun to instead share some lift tickets with the experienced skiers out there (go rock that bunny slope for me!). I'm giving away a family 4-pack of one-day lift tickets (valued at ~$350!) to one of you awesome readers. This would be super fun for the upcoming February break, no? Here's how to enter to win:

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Christine!
+ + + + +

Rules*:

Simply e-mail contests@bostonmamas.com with "Killington" in the subject by noon EST, Thursday, February 9, 2012.

Local entrants welcome.

One entry per person (please do not enter off multiple e-mail accounts).

+ + + + +

*One lucky winner (drawn randomly via Random.org) will receive a family 4-pack of one-day lift tickets (valued at ~$350!) to Killington Resort. There are no blackout dates, but tickets must be used by the season's end in April 2012. The winner will be notified directly via e-mail, then listed back at this post using first name only.

And if you're interested in connecting with Killington on social channels, tweet with them at @KillingtonMtn or find them on Facebook.

By now everyone with media access knows the Komen Foundation defunded Planned Parenthood this week. I wish I could say it leaves me shaking with anger at Komen, but what it does more is underscore my belief that the private sector cannot be depended upon to be fair to people across income levels -- and therefore healthcare should not be run by the private sector.

We need universal healthcare, defined as:  a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.

If we don't have universal healthcare, organizations like Planned Parenthood that provide services -- of which abortion is only 3% -- depend on private donations. So private donations by wealthy people determine whether or not a woman like I was immediately post-college gets to have a pap smear or a STD test that year. Private donations determine whether someone like your mother gets her mammogram if she doesn't have health insurance. Private. Donations. Other people's generosity. 

People are fickle.

Private donors can be influenced by politics or emotion. They can decide no one's taking care of them, why should they take care of other people? They can get swayed by religious beliefs about when women want to have children -- and don't get me started on why women's health can be influenced by religion but not men's -- and decide because they don't agree with what's happening with 3% of an organization's legal health care services that they'll defund 97% of the cancer screenings and women's health services provided to women who can't afford to go anywhere else and will otherwise go without health care in the richest country in the world.

And the only one -- unless things go as intended in 2014 -- without universal  health care: 

Thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception [1]. 

People got so upset about "Obamacare." I got upset with the people who are upset, because it's completely clear to me when one women's health organization can defund another's so easily that all health -- but especially women's health, the only health tied to religious issues -- hangs completely in the balance unless it's universal. Women are held captive by their reproductive organs, which like any organs can get cancer and you know, kill you. Women can be held back from medical care for those organs if they're too poor to afford to go anywhere but Planned Parenthood and then Planned Parenthood doesn't have the money to help them because the private sector got honked off about something and refused to fund them. 

This whole Komen/PP issue reinforces for me so clearly all the problems I have with pure capitalism: People can be selfish fools who only care about themselves. I believe when we live in a First World country, we don't get to behave like prigs. When we hold ourselves up to a higher standard and pass judgment on other countries and step in to "help" them see the error of their ways, we have to be a shining example of democracy and capitalism and freedom ourselves, or why the fuck are we telling anyone else how to behave?

AND WE ARE NOT.

We don't take care of our own very well. We argue over "the food stamp president." We deny our women healthcare because their reproductive organs got tangled up in religion, whether we or they follow those religions or not.

We have to change!

We can't depend on the generosity of the private sector for something as important as our health care. It is clear, and I hope the events of this week make it crystal clear for anyone questioning why we need universal health care.

What if it was your cancer screening, your mother's, your daughter's -- because it could be, anyone's, any time. Everyone under this current system is one health nightmare away from poverty. And that's ridiculous and scary and this is America and it has to change. Part of the luxury of living in this country with all its shining highways and FDA regulations should be contributing to the health and safety of every single citizen. We neglect each other, we neglect America, we neglect our future.

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I had a post go up on BlogHer about the sources of stress. Not sources of stress like deadlines and traffic jams and being out of orange juice at 7 am, but sources of stress in your brainz. Here's an excerpt:

That said, I've spent most of my stress-fighting career thinking about how tohandle stress rather than what caused it in the first place. Things are rough all over, Ponyboy. And I've blamed myself a lot for not being tougher.

I recently read Stress Less (for Women) by Thea Singer, a book that appeared in the mail for review. One passage struck me in particular -- one that talked about stress research being flipped on its head when researchers stopped thinking about stress or age atrophying parts of the brain and instead studied whether people who stressed more started out less equipped to deal with the stress in the first place:

The vulnerability hypothesis of stress -- that is, that a smaller hypocampus, whether due to genes or early exposure to stress -- can predispose you to the damaging effects of stress, rendering you more vulnerable to age-related memory loss and disorders such as PTSD.

There was good news at the end! Read the rest on BlogHer!

PS: Last night the little angel asked for a drink of water while in the bathtub. I handed her the crappy hot pink water bottle we got with Culver's points. She took one drink and gagged. Then she said, "I don't know why, but yesterday I put Goldfish crackers in here." I opened it and there were bloated Goldfish floating in two inches of tepid tap water. And then I threw up in my mouth. 

Happy February! While I don't pay much attention to Valentine's Day from a commercial standpoint -- Jon and I don't exchange gifts -- the day does offer a fun inspiration point for crafts and food around our house. (Plus, I love the colors red and pink!) As I've mentioned before, I adore Pinterest and decided to round up 10 pretty craft and treat ideas that caught my pinning eye. Oh, and if you need a Pinterest invite, drop me a line and I'll be happy to send you one! Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Crafts

1. I love the simple and chic of this pop-up Valentine.

2. Brilliant. Turn your collection of random broken crayons into Valentine's that will craft it forward.

3. Pretty heart ornaments.

4. Pinned from my archives: crepe paper rosebud Valentine's cards.

5. I'm tempted to make one of these DIY scratch off cards for Jon. So cute!

6. A pretty printable Valentine's book.

Valentine's Day Treats

7. Red velvet brownies. YES.

8. Easy cut out cupcakes.

9. You could totally serve this as a healthy Valentine's Day snack.

10. Figs for Valentine's Day? Brilliant and easy. Also high in fiber.

All images via Pinterest.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8YhED4IgQA] 

As a former musician and music psychologist, it's not surprising that I'm all for tapping into what I believe is kids' innate appreciation for music (baby Violet rocking out to music is such a cheerful sight!). And on February 12 at the Tsai Performance Center in Boston, you can introduce your family to something different via Boston Musica Viva's family concert -- a contemporary classical rendering of The Tortoise and the Hare and The Pied Piper featuring narration and the Marimba Magic Ensemble. And how cool is this? The kind folks at Boston Musica Viva are offering a 4-pack of tickets to share with one of you awesome readers. Here's how to enter to win:

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Jessica!
+ + + + +

Rules*:

Simply e-mail contests@bostonmamas.com with "Boston Musica Viva" in the subject by noon EST, Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

Local entrants welcome.

One entry per person (please do not enter off multiple e-mail accounts).

+ + + + +

*One lucky winner (drawn randomly via Random.org) will receive four (4) tickets to the Boston Musica Viva family concert in Boston on February 12, 2012 at 3pm. The winner will be notified directly via e-mail, then listed back at this post using first name only.

Greetings, friends! I hope you had a great weekend -- we enjoyed a lovely one here, filled with nostalgic moments (I was honored to deliver a keynote and do some filming at my undergraduate alma mater. Also, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the current students were born in the 90's...), friends, family visits, great food, and some very, very gooey brownies. I'm excited to tackle the week and hope you are as well; here are some handy/fun ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:
January 31: Hopefully the weather will cooperate for this charity competition at Frog Pond (which includes some free ticket giveaways to Disney on Ice).

February 1: Enjoy a Celtic spring celebration.

February 2: Celebrate groundhogs at Drumlin Farm and Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.

February 2 (to 12): Support budding thespians in Stoneham.

February 3 (to 5): Enjoy Chelmsford Winterfest.

This week: Enter to win some awesome tickets! Specifically, Dan Zanes (entry closes January 31) and Disney on Ice (entry closes February 2). (Also, I'll have another fantastic ticket giveaway going live soon -- stay tuned!)

This week: If you like Ann Taylor, check out their sale section. As of this writing Ann Taylor is offering an extra 40% off sale styles (+ free shipping on orders of $150 or more). This weekend I ordered some fantastic looking items that will be perfect for upcoming work events...fingers crossed that returns will be minimal! **UPDATE: I just checked the site and today only (Monday, January 30) they've upped the sale section discount to 60%. Sweet!

At your leisure: Schedule lunch or coffee with someone who makes you happy. This month I've managed to get together with some of my dear girlfriends. It's so rejuvenating!

At your leisure: Consider exploring a dance class,

At your leisure: If you're running a business and (like me) have forgotten to do this until now, update your copyrights on your websites.

At your leisure: Think about joining Pinterest. I adore this platform as a way to visually catalog inspiration and resources.

Image credit: Mass Audubon

It's Monday. I'm trying to embrace that emotionally, and it's so not working. 

MONDAY. Whoo, hoo, Monday! We love you, Monday! I couldn't wait for ... Monday.

Nope.

Here are some things I'm telling myself right now to pump me up.

1. The world didn't end on Sunday, which is nice.
2. Monday is a chance to start that whole "eat healthy" concept all over again.
3. We're one Monday closer to the return of Boardwalk Empire.
4. If I had weekends all the time, I would be either a) extremely bored, b) retired and c) unemployed -- and I'm not ready for any of those options.
5. I haven't listened to Pandora in two days.
6. Only four more days until Friday.
7. Two more months of winter. Only eightish Mondays to go before grilling season.
8. This might be the week the library emails to say I'm up for Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star.
9. This is the last Monday I'll be 37. I should embrace it!
10. I don't work in an office where someone would tell me I had a case of the Mondays. Instead, I can sit here and flatline orange juice until I get my mojo back.

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY 

How do you pump yourself up on Monday?