About a year ago, I walked the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in Wales. It was one of the most physically satisfying trips I’ve done!

Since I’m stuck in Canada today (no offence, Canada, but I’d rather be walking) I’m reminiscing about that trip. Why not wander down memory lane with me?

From Ireland to Wales By Sea

Peeing Like a Dude on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Personally, I’m not a proponent of blowing your life savings on great big slabs of foie gras every Friday. I can think of about a thousand things I’d rather buy.

Like caviar.

(Kidding)

However, there are times and places for big culinary splurges. Game Creek Club in Vail, Colorado is definitely one of them.

The journey to this restaurant alone is unforgettable.

First, you must board a gondola in the black of night (there are no lights on board – someone in our party made the keen observation that if you were feeling particularly amorous, you might take advantage of this darkness). Pumpkin-coloured blankets are provided as a buffer between your tender derriere and the icy gondola seats.

Like the gondola isn’t whimsical enough, you’re then whisked down a remote mountain road BY SNOW CAT!!!

I had the pleasure of riding up front with the driver, Roy.

“So, do many people reference The Shining when they ride in the snow cat?” I asked (I’m overly familiar with all things Shining because I once visited the hotel that inspired Stephen King to write the novel. Incidentally, it is also located in Colorado).

“Oh yeah…ohhhh yeah,” he replied. “But you know, I’ve never seen that part of the movie.”

I decided not to push it, otherwise twin girls may never have the pleasure of dining at Game Creek.

As if by magic, Game Creek materializes. And, thankfully, it’s far more welcoming than The Overlook Hotel.

Located at 10, 300 feet, it is a private dining club by day and open to the public by night.

The ambiance is evocative of a European ski chalet-meets-hunting-lodge and is both elegant and casual.

As for the menu, it’s prix fixe. You choose between three ($85), four ($95) and five courses ($105). Considering the price includes the gondola ride and the snow cat, I think that’s quite reasonable for an extra-special evening out.

Sometimes, on press junkets, we’re taken to fine dining restaurants that I interpret as “overpriced meh.” I won’t rave about anything that doesn’t either capture my imagination or dazzle my palate. Game Creek did both.

And so, my friends, I leave you with a gallery of “food porn.”

Shrimp, jicama, chorizo, tomatillo, corn, grain mustard, micro cilantro

Sweet onion & endive soup, lobster palla, pancetta, creme fraiche

Elk achiote, poblano macaroni, mustard greens, cilantro pepper

Chocolate valrhona bombe, avocado, lime, licorice, gold. Yes, gold. My mom is going to explode with disbelief, since I recall she was once blown away when orchids were served on waffles at a hotel in Quebec City. At the time, she inquired (rather seriously): “is this what Brad Pitt eats for breakfast every day?”

Well, now we know what we eats for dessert. Any guesses as to what’s for lunch?

Travel arrangements courtesy of Vail Resorts

Skiing is the undisputed attention-hog in Vail, Colorado (if you missed my post on learning to ski, it’s here). But businesses are well aware that when visitors tire of the slopes, they’re ready to move on to additional amusement. And so are their wallets.

So what’s good in Vail Village itself? Here’s my unabashedly subjective take:

1. Mudslides at Bully Ranch Restaurant – with all the shiny snowboards glinting in the sun and the unmistakeable scent of money wafting on the breeze, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Colorado. This bar’s frontier atmosphere, complete with antler chandeliers, provides a good, solid dose of the Wild West.

2. Outdoor skating - when you’ve had a few spills on the slopes, a flat sheet of ice with no downhill gravity may be a welcome sight. There’s a rink at The Arrabelle and one outside Solaris.

And if you think skating is boring…this guy disagrees.

3. John Elway’s newest restaurant – it’s not exactly hot dogs and peanuts. Rather, this is a pricey joint for fancy schmancy steaks and lobster. But don’t you fret, sweaty football guy: the upscale vibe is mitigated by black and white football photography.

4. Thanking your lucky starts that technology has improved at the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum –  if you think skiing is dicey now, cast a horrified look at the boots and bindings of the past. The museum traces skiing’s roots (it dates back to at least 2,500 BC in Norway) through its introduction to Colorado in the 1860, winding up in the present. And snowboarding gets its due as well – check out an early model from 1963!

The museum also has a great collection of reasonably priced Vail souvenirs.These retro posters are so boss!

5. The snazzy lanes at Bol – not only is it a sleek 10-pin bowling alley, it’s a full service restaurant with a full cocktail menu and wine list. Indeed, so many distractions that you won’t even miss the stale cigarette stench that usually lurks in a good bowling establishment.

Bol also does double duty as a club of sorts because it regularly features DJ’s. And as for the multiple TV screens – frankly, I’m surprised that they’re not all showing Kingpin.

6. Sausage party at Pepi’s – whenever I’m in a fancy place, I look for an unpretentious, affordable option. My stomach is a social activist.

This place, Pepi’s, has been a Vail staple since 1964.

The interior is all old Austrian charm, with lots of wood and antlers figuring prominently in the decor, and the menu is equally rustic and Euro-flavoured: Bratwurst, Goulash, Schnitzel, etc.

7. Apres-ski massages – in Vail, you can probably justify a hedonistic rubdown. Soothe your ski-strained legs with a customized massage as you inhale The Arrabelle’s signature spearmint and sage oil. Needless to say, the spa is also a choice hideout for the non-skiing wife.

8. Creative fried dough at The Beignet Café – the posh version of the fairground mini-doughnut, these goodies pump a tantalizing aroma straight into the heart of Vail Village. Resistance is absolutely futile. There isn’t a creature on the planet who would interpret this smell as anything other than heaven’s perfume.

Fried to order, the beignets come in inspired flavours that you can mix and match: peanut, chocolate chip, coffee, Oreo, pecan praline, ginger, apple cinnamon and Snickers.

9. Luxury ski apparel at Gorsuch – I thought I’d hate this shop, seeing as how it deals in hoity-toity winter wear and other richer-than-thou sporting goods. But, truth be told, Gorsuch is surprisingly charming and quite welcoming. You should pop in for a look, even if you can’t afford the $2,600 ski jacket.

10. CinéBistro - if you’re getting a feel for Vail now, you understand that a run-of-the-mill movie theatre simply won’t do. Instead, they’ve got CinéBistro, a beautiful 2-in-1 cinema/restaurant.

Yes, they’ve got popcorn and Milk Duds on the menu, but if you prefer steak frites with a glass of wine, followed by creme brulée cheesecake, that wish is just as easily granted. By the looks of it, those guys in the upper row are nursing beers before the trailers even begin. And how sensitive are they that they’ve chosen to see The Vow?

In my next post, I’ll describe an extra-special Vail dining experience.

Travel arrangements courtesy of Vail Resorts. 

I swore, oh so many times, that I’d never ski.

My parents don’t ski, so that was the first setback. Then, I somehow missed the high school ski trips.

I might have given it a go in my twenties, but by then, the horror stories were circulating in full force. It seemed like everyone and his dog had bungled his knee skiing and, frankly, three months of crutches wasn’t the kind of apres-ski I had in mind.

And the chairlifts. Oh god, the chairlifts. I had it on good authority (mine) that people were falling out of those on an hourly basis.

I figured my days to start skiing had come and gone. It became an exotic, foreign cult in my mind – a club to which I would never belong. I would wisely stay at sea level, slipping only on the occasional unsalted sidewalk. Leave the uncontrollable speeding down sheer, forbidding inclines to others.

But then something strange happened. I received an invite to Vail Ski Resort in Colorado. And instead of instantly dismissing the email, as I’ve done in the past, I actually considered accepting. 

Why?

Upon further reflection, I realized that:

a) Facebook has been coughing up pictures of a friend’s daughter skiing. She’s THREE. Am I really being out-braved by someone who can’t even spell “ski”?

b) Last year, I met a British travel writer named Norma Rowlerson (left). She started skiing at the age of 51, then went on to become the first woman to ski every continent, including Antarctica. She got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for it. If that doesn’t prove that there’s no such thing as missing the boat, I don’t know what does.

c) Self-improvement. How boring would it be to stick to all the absolute claims you made over the years? Sometimes, you’ve just got to surprise yourself.

So, yesterday, I found myself in Vail, ready to put my foot in a ski boot for the very first time.

If you’re new to skiing, the spectre of all that equipment alone may be a turnoff. Let me break it down for you:

• Ski jacket and pants
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Boots
• Poles
• Skis
• Helmet
• Long underwear and whatever other layers you choose to wear

If it’s your first time, I suggest you bypass the big spend and just rent as much as possible. Here at Vail, I was able to rent the helmet, skis and boots from Vail Sports. The jacket and pants were delivered straight to my hotel from All Mountain Sports. That covers the big stuff – you don’t want to rent goggles, anyway. They’re too intimate.

Can’t exactly say I felt dainty like Cinderella when my instructor helped me with my boots. Ski boots are about as flexible as Optimus Prime’s skin. Of skiing, our gal Norma Rowlerson observed: “it is like stapping a large saucepan to each foot and then attaching 2 long planks of wood.”

Seriously, I think the hardest part of skiing may be walking in the boots.

Recently, I joked that I wanted to wear a helmet with my name across the forehead, like I did when I was in hockey as a kid. Can you believe this helmet? All I need is a bit of red tape and I can change that D to a B and all my dorkiest dreams will come true.

Another thing about taking up skiing: you have to take lessons. Don’t let any peer-pressuring friend or family member coax you onto a hill before you’ve consulted an expert.

I was very lucky to have Vail set me up for a private lesson with a truly awesome ski instructor: John Weiss. He’s been teaching here at Vail for 27 years (which means he started in 1985…so I’m taking the liberty of imagining him in a fluorescent ski suit with Wham hair).

Before we even started, I bombarded John with a flurry of concerns about my knees, neck and other crucial body parts. He told me that the people who regaled me with horror stories “probably didn’t use an instructor the first time. You have to start slow – you don’t want to push it too far. Most of the time, people go out on terrain that’s too much for them.”

John rode the gondola with me and we disembarked at Eagle’s Nest, where there is a vast area for beginners. If private instruction is too expensive, you can also opt for a group lesson, like the people above. See here for Vail’s adult ski school.

John took me through the basics, and in no time, all my fears of sliding all the way down the hill straight into a chalet where people are eating fondue evaporated. We started with just one ski on, to get a feel for the equipment. I was wearing tiny little skis that are suitable for beginners. Someone in the gondola actually asked me “do you have a kid with you?” and looked behind me in search of my invisible child.

There were a lot of youngsters up there, and they were far superior to me in both skill and helmet fashion.

As soon as we got the two skis on, the real fun began. I’ve often said that I prefer travel that involves some sort of physical activity – I’d rather be moving than talking or sitting – and this really appeased that part of me. We started to turn on a gentle hill, then moved on to bigger inclines.

There was a handy conveyor belt to haul your beginner’s butt back up at first, but then I found myself on…

The chairlift!!!!!!!!

Once again, seeing kids on it really drove home the fact that my paranoia is mostly irrational.

I only fell once – and even then, it wasn’t painful. The whole morning was, in fact, incredibly enjoyable.

Vail is doing this cool thing called EpicMix. You can download an app or visit the EpicMix website, and it keeps track of all your stats and awards “pins” for certain accomplishments, like riding this or that gondola or clearing a certain number of vertical feet.

All over the mountain, there are professional photographers hanging around and they take photos of you that end up in your EpixMix account.

We stopped for lunch at Vail’s newest on-mountain restaurant, The 10th. It’s named for the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, who trained here during WW2.

The 10th also offers complimentary use of slippers, so you don’t have to feel like you have robot-feet at lunch.

Also of note: sunscreen dispensers in the washrooms. My mom would approve.

Time for food porn!

Had a warming lunch if ever there was one: a  nice hot cider, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich and truffled fries.

After lunch, John asked if I’d like to try a “real” run – a green circle. That may be the epitome of wimpiness for a seasoned skier, but for me the prospect of graduating from the safe haven of the bunny hill was quite terrifying. But there I was, in America’s largest ski resort, with the most encouraging instructor a girl could ask for. John wouldn’t let me die, I was pretty sure of that (it would look bad on the blog).

So we did it.

As we came down this hill, I could hardly believe where I was and what I was doing. They say that travel expands your horizons – well, just look at that view, baby!

I’ve never felt this kind of pride from visiting a museum or eating at a restaurant. Not that there is anything wrong with those, but I’m reminded: the greatest rewards come when you challenge yourself.

Travel arrangements courtesy of Vail Resorts. 

Dear readers: I’m in Vail, Colorado and I’ve got a great big post coming up on learning to ski! I’d like to hit you with it now, but my schedule’s just a little tight so I’ll be getting it up later today.

In the meantime, be sure to follow me on twitter for sporadic updates (I pledge to tweet at a manageable frequency): @rebstevenson

It’s March, 2008 and there’s a guy sitting alone in Future Bakery & Café.

I don’t know this yet, but this very guy will make me laugh thousands of times. He’ll sing songs using only the lyric “shabbadoo” and threaten to tickle me when I’m really tired and slightly grumpy. I’ll help him find a basement apartment on a muggy summer’s day. On Halloween, we’ll carve our first conjugal pumpkin in that subterranean hideout. He will introduce me to Survivor. I will introduce him to more vegetables. He’ll move out of the basement apartment and we’ll move into the apartment upstairs, where only half the windows that should open, do. We’ll want the Pottery Barn couch but we’ll slum it with Ikea’s brownest, cheapest couch instead. It won’t really matter – there will still be plenty of cuddling on it. Actually, he will get naked on the couch and let me take a picture of him for Naturist Geographic. I will think it’s the funniest thing ever. He’ll comfort me when I’m crying about freelance writing and video-making and blogging and I will reassure him when he’s fretting about music recording and animating and puppet videos. We will create a cartoon series called Ed and Jenny, but we’ll agree that the true star is Mr. Tobobo. I’ll take him on his first overseas trip. I’ll go on many other trips, but he will never complain or act jealous. He will be my best friend, my hero, the wind beneath my— ok, wow, it looks like one day he’ll almost inspire me to type that he’s the wind beneath my wings. The best thing is, he’ll be unbelievably positive. He’ll show me what a happy relationship really looks like. He will support me 100% and always make me feel like I can just be myself. Unless being myself is going to the bathroom with the door open. He’ll put his foot down on that one.

But it’s March, 2008 and I don’t know this yet. All I know is there’s something about that guy sitting alone in Future Bakery & Café and I’m going to make sure I meet him.

Happy Valentine’s Day Bill. xoxo

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, and, for many couples, there’s added incentive to turn the heat up a notch in the bedroom.

Sure, you could run that bubble bath, book a table at a sumptuous French restaurant or do a quick lingerie grab at La Senza. But if those are feeling a little stale, why not go a little more risqué and surprise your someone with a goody from a real “hope I don’t run into a co-worker in here” sex shop?

However – without getting too graphic here – some toys don’t really scream romance. Particularly the anatomically correct items that aren’t portable unless you have an extra saxophone case.

Not to mention the fact that those toys are an embarrassment just waiting to happen. Just you wait until mom drops by when you haven’t had time to clean, landlord lets himself into your apartment to fix the window while you’re out or you invite your brother do some house sitting and he decides to go looking for some Advil…

Hence, a look at three sex toys that don’t look like sex toys. 

(FYI, some of these links may not be safe for work, depending on where you work. St. Paul’s Cathedral? Not safe for work. Strip club? Click away).

1. Tenga Eggs - technically, these are toys for men, but what man doesn’t like a helping hand every now and then? Tee hee.
2. Liberator – fun furniture to give you some extra support.
3. We-Vibe 3 – a waterproof, remote-controlled toy designed specifically for couples, the We-Vibe charges up in a discreet white case .

Are you aware of some other sneaky sex toys? Tell me about them in the comments area below.

Winter has made a comeback ’round these parts, and you know what? It could be worse. In fact, it’s kind of pretty when you’re ensconced indoors, drinking copious amounts of tea and devouring a steady stream of educational BBC TV programming.

Yes, in this rare glimpse into my weekend, I’m revealing that I’ve been heavily geeking out on a show called Tales from the Green Valley.

It’s a 12-part series that originally aired in 2005. Five historians and archeologists – all brilliant hosts – spend a full calendar year on a farm on the Welsh Borders, working and living as though they’re in the 17th century. Since my home between the ages of 11 and 18 was a small commercial apple orchard, I’ve retained an urge to “work the land.” That’s one of the reasons this show is super-appealing.

I love seeing how, in the 17th century, you got almost everything you needed from your own patch of earth. And here I am, sitting at a computer for hours at a time. Do you suppose that evolution is baffled as to why I’m suddenly parked on my rear, when my ancestors have been physically labouring for centuries? I feel uncomfortably restless sometimes, like I’m meant be swinging a farm implement in the hot sun or something. A scythe. I need a scythe.

Tales from the Green Valley was the first of several similar programs. I’ve also watched Victorian Farm and Victorian Pharmacy, which was filmed in Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire. I visited Blists Hill in 2009 (before the show was shot)  and it was a highlight of that trip.

Victorian Pharmacy cast in front of the pharmacy.

A shot I took in front of the pharmacy.

I just dug around in my archives and found shots of the pharmacy’s wares -

- and the pharmacy’s chairs.

Anyhow, back to both Canada and the year 2012.

The tea bender is due to this Sweetheart Collection from David’s Tea. They sent me a sample and I figured I’d better try it before Valentine’s Day because the whole point is to gift this to someone (a individual who shuns chocolate, perhaps?)

Inside, there are five packets of loose tea. To come full circle, I daresay the components of these teas aren’t unlike what I saw in drawers in the Victorian Pharmacy. Nothing overly poisonous, though.

They’re all romance-themed and – it must be said – I thought “love tea #7″ was quite the seducer. I didn’t realize tea could be so chocolatey!  David’s Tea claims it’s an aphrodisiac, but, to be honest, I’ve been drinking so much tea the most desirable thing in the house is currently the bathroom.

I’m off to Colorado tomorrow for my very first skiing experience! True, I’m a late bloomer but isn’t it fun to mock a newbie? I’ve got some other fun stuff planned as well, so be sure to pop by.

Goodnight.

*presses “play” on Edwardian Farm.*

After my last stove test, Mark McEwan’s Fabbrica, I had reservations about tackling another Canadian celebrity chef.

But, as I cooked from Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen, I realized that Michael is not the intimidating schoolmaster – he’s that encouraging high school teacher who makes you feel good. Ahem –  the hunky encouraging high school teacher who makes you feel good; the one who sends your heart aflutter when he bends over your desk (is it just me, or does he have a bit of an Aidan from Sex and the City thing going on?)

Yes, Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen is a kind book, indeed. Exactly what you’d hope for, coming from “Prince Edward Island’s Food Ambassador.”

The idea behind “Stove Test” is to date a cookbook for a while. No one night stands or quick flings – I want to be sure before I pronounce that you ought to run out and commit. The pictures here are mine, the results of me trying to mimic Michael. Go on, call me a teacher’s pet.

This is what I cooked from Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen:

• French Toast Sandwiches Oatmeal Crusted with Blueberry Stuffing and Marmalade Butter (pictured)
• Extra Blueberry Muffins (pictured)
• Sausage and Red Pepper Hero with lots of Fennel Seeds
• Iron Chef Battle Snack: Avocado, Tuna and Tomatoes (pictured)
• Leftover Roast Chicken Broth with a Few Extra Things Thrown In
• Lentil Stew with Forty Garlic Cloves
• Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Soup with Moroccan Spice Roasted Peanuts (pictured)
• Speedy Shrimp Penne with Chardonnay Cream Cheese Sauce
• Tortilla-Crusted Whitefish with Salsa Salsa
• Italian-Style Meatloaf with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Black Olives, Oregano, and Parmesan
• Lemon Garlic-Scented Broccoli Rabe
• Pan-Roasted Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes and Oregano

That’s a dozen recipes, but I’m not done. I want to make everything in this book! The desserts are all grounds for divorcing your diet – Caramel Milk Chocolate Mousse, Triple-Treat Creamsicle Marshmallows, Old-Fashioned Doughnut Factory….OMG! And, if I didn’t have a crush on Michael already, the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups would seal the deal for sure. I’d marry Freddie Krueger if he proposed with peanut butter cups.

What I appreciate most is that the recipes are interesting but EASY. This book is for everyone. Big kudos to Michael for choosing ingredients that you can easily acquire at any Canadian grocery store (if you’re going to be cooking out of this book, I suggest you stockpile some green onions. When you do a “Stove Test” you quickly determine the writer’s food fetishes and Michael is clearly besotted with the tall, willowy onion).

Michael’s recipes are interspersed with little notes, all of which emphasize being casual about your cooking. My favourite passage is:

“Food is really just one part of a meal. As brilliant as your creations may be, full of artful flavours and impeccably sourced ingredients, they’re not the main event. Spending time with your friends, family, and community is the real occasion.”

He closes with a tribute to those generous souls known as dishwashers, “the unsung heroes of every kitchen.”

Aww, Michael, now you’ve really done it.

I’m going for another cuddle with the book now.

The beach was nice. Ditto for ice cream cones. But that week each summer when my dad splurged on MuchMusic and SuperChannel was practically transcendent.

It gave this small town girl a glimpse into the Canadian epicentre of cool – MuchMusic HQ in Toronto. Suddenly, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Rick Astley (I thought he was smokin’ hot) were in our home. And, right in there amongst those mega pop stars, was VJ Erica Ehm. She came across like your most awesome babysitter  - the one who is allowed to wear crop tops, makeup and floppy hats. Even my dad knew her name.

Rather than cling to that earlier version of herself (and ’80s hair, as many unfortunate heads do), Erica has changed with both the times and her personal milestones. Now 50, she continues to be a voice for her generation – this time, as the ultimate mommy blogger. Erica, mom of two, is at the helm of Yummy Mummy Club, a website that has recently had a very snazzy makeover. I’m seriously digging the design.

I sat down with Erica at the BlogHer conference in San Diego in August to find out more about her site and mommy blogging in general.

What inspired you to go ahead with this site in the first place?

When I had my son, it really threw me for a loop. I wasn’t prepared for life as a mother. I experienced probably most of the same difficulties that every other mom experiences – I was in shock and I felt very isolated.

I also felt like everyone else around me was such a good mother and yet I couldn’t figure it out. Then when I started to secretly speak to other moms in supermarkets and other places that moms hang out, I discovered that most of them were experiencing many of the same difficulties that I was but everybody was acting like they were okay. So I wanted to start a website called “The Secrets of the Yummy Mummy Club” because so many women keep their challenges to themselves. We say it’s okay not to be perfect and it’s okay to feel like you’re failing, because you’re not. Once they understand that we all feel the same then they’re not alone and they get on with their lives and feel better about themselves.

You have a blog component on your site. Tell me about it. 

I’ve always had a place on the site where I could talk about my own experiences as a mother, but also as an entrepreneur because I think those are equal parts in my life. I call the blog “Exposed” because sometimes I expose the inner workings of a website and the inner workings of a mother’s brain.

What are the key themes in the site and in your blog?

I guess key themes are the power of imperfection, the absurdity of motherhood, the power of being a mother, the importance of girlfriends, the stress of parenting, the search for love, the deep love mothers and fathers have for their children that can feel like your’e going to die at times and the ongoing search for information to solve the ongoing dilemmas and concerns about children.

How do you juggle your job and motherhood?

I’m happy knowing that I’m not perfect. I don’t put that stress on myself. My family loves and supports me and they love watching my passion for what I do. My kids are very happy. I listen to them and I help encourage them with their own passions. My husband is also similar to me – he’s an entrepreneur and runs a crazy business. I have a very supportive family and I think that’s how I’m able to, in many ways, have it all. Just not at the same time.

There are a lot of motherhood-themed blogs out there. Is there room for all of them?

The more I see how many blogs are out there, I wonder if there is enough for everyone. But as my husband has so eloquently put it, “there’s a seat for every toilet.” And I think that every woman has their own personal point of view. Some of them will be very micro and only a few people will relate to it. And there are other people who will really hit a nerve and attract a larger audience. But that’s the beauty of blogging, that anyone now has the power to broadcast their voice and it’s up to them to get heard.

What goes into a really good blog about motherhood? What would you suggest to someone who might be reading this at home and is considering starting one?

You need to be a good writer. And you need to be able to use words to articulate the conflicting emotions that you, no doubt, are going through. And you need to be able to identify the emotions as you’re experiencing them. Perhaps you have insight that other women could find helpful. Most times, women are going through things that are universal, so if it’s true for them, I’m sure other women can relate to it. And you have to tell the truth. It’s the blogs and websites that are most true that really cut through and resonate with readers.

Do you find it hard to decide what to reveal and what to keep private?

Yeah, I do. And I think that’s a very important lesson for women: when you blog about something, you need to be aware that anyone can read it at any time. I’m not worried about people judging me, but I’m worried about the effect that it will have on the people in my life and the people that I write about. And sometimes people don’t think about that when they write.

There’s been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere and on Twitter about parents whose kids are now 10, 11 years old. They’ve been tweeting and blogging about their kids for many years, and they are just coming to the realization that “oh my god, my kids can now read the posts that I’m writing about them.” So a lot of moms have stopped writing about their kids, which is great, because it’s no one’s business and their friends can google their names and find embarrassing stories about them, etc.

So I am very, very careful about what I write and I always stand behind what I write. Don’t forget, I was on TV for 20 years, so I learned very early on to watch my mouth and to be very careful about what I say. I used to walk around with a microphone that was live for four hours a day but I was only on air for two minutes, then off air for twelve. So I had a mic that was potentially live for twelve minutes. I learned to turn my mic off and test it twice before I spoke in my real life, in the office. And I use that same attention when I write my blogs.

I think a lot of women have regrets now that they’ve gone a little bit too far.

So, as your son approaches adolescence, how will you pull it back?

I’m just very respectful of my son. For example, I wrote a blog a couple of months ago about these paintball parties. I dropped my son off at a paintball party where they’re surrounded by adults in camouflage holding these huge, lifelike rifles. Yes they shoot paint, but they’re playing war and I was very uncomfortable. So I wrote about that experience, and when he came home form the party I showed him the blog. He read it, he looked at me and he smiled because it wasn’t embarrassing for him. It was my point of view on people in general, but it sparked a good conversation with us.

So I use it as a means of conversation, but I would never write anything that was slightly embarrassing. It’s no one’s business.

Do you have any crazy mom stalkers as a result of the site?

No. I wish I did. Come stalk me, that would be awesome! The more stalkers the better.

You’re going to regret that you said that.

No, I think, really, the website is an online community. And it’s moms who experience the same things together. So I love it when I get to meet women with kids, anywhere and everywhere. That’s why I do it; that’s why I love it. I don’t love it for the technology, trust me. It’s for the real moms that are all in the same boat as me.