Lovely Mommy, Jessica Alba graces the March 2009 cover of Elle.

ELLE: You agreed to the concept for our shoot without ever seeing any of the designers’ clothes before. That’s pretty brave.

JA: I’m all about supporting anyone whose art is also the way they make their living. I was always a slave to the commerce end of [acting]—I needed to survive, make a living, get some grounding in the business. These guys probably aren’t making any money now, but at least they won’t be 50 and say, “Dammit, my dream was to be a designer.” They’re making it happen at 22.

ELLE: And they’re cute.

JA: So cute! I was telling my friend last night, You must have to be beautiful, very, very thin, ultracool, and very young to be a new designer these days.

ELLE: Sounds like being an actress.

JA: Not really, no.

ELLE: You don’t think being beautiful and thin has helped you?

JA: You have to be the best of whatever you are, but successful, cool actresses come in all shapes and sizes.

ELLE: True, but it’s hard to name an A-lister who’s not sample-size.

JA: It’s interesting that A-list also means commercially viable, versus being Frances McDormand, who’s amazing and A-list to me but doesn’t sell as many tickets.

ELLE: And doesn’t headline movies.

JA: She’ll probably have a more fulfilling career and a more fulfilling life, and maybe doesn’t need to make $20 million to be okay.

ELLE: Still, you snapped back into shape pretty fast after giving birth.

JA: I did it for the Campari job. [The workouts] were horrible. I cried. And I haven’t worked out since.

ELLE: Did you have to do anything besides exercise?

JA: I wore a girdle. Eight weeks after my girlfriend had her baby, you could see her six-pack. She told me to put an elastic band around my waist—any kind of band or girdle works. She was like, “I slept in it.” I didn’t recover as fast as she did. I don’t have a sixpack—that’s just not my body at all.

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Sadly we said good-bye to the ski season this past weekend. Sixty degree weather, near empty slopes and happy children made for a wonderful last hurrah.  Sticky snow made for easy bullet (straight down the hill) skiing for the kids, while parents lounged around the fire pits.

Reluctantly we packed away our ski equipment that will be too small next season.

More of Me Maternity certainly makes the frumpiest of us prego mamas, look absolutely chic and stylish.

Jessica Boulanger’s sophisticated and amazingly comfortable maternity dresses are pieces I’d wear any given day, baby  or not.

Although the price may seem a bit steep for a dress only worn for a few months, remember it is important for us to indulge every so often. Especially when we are pregnant.   wink, wink.

The beautiful Reese Witherspoon shares will Elle Magazine that she has been reading Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers, which attempts to explain why some people gain unusual success. (Love Gladwell, btw) Witherspoon was, she says, “struck by the idea that to be a master at anything, you have to have 10,000 hours of practice at it. And that is what you accumulate over a lifetime. And I started when I was 14, working and working and working.”

On her divorce: “Very humiliating and very isolating…But, by the way, if it’s not painful, maybe it wasn’t the right decision to marry to begin with. Those are the appropriate emotions. When people get in your face and say, ‘This will pass,’ you think, Are they crazy? I’m never gonna feel any better than I feel right this minute and nothing’s ever gonna make sense again. And I still have moments where I’m like, Nothings ever gonna make sense again.”

On dealing with the pain that stems from divorce: “You see a lot of people play this blame game. Blame, blame, blame. You know? And it’s a really easy thing to do, and I’m certainly guilty of it. [You have to] look at yourself and go, ‘What part of this do I need to own? Which part of this is my responsibility? And that’s the painful work that you have to go through to hopefully get some real life knowledge out of it.”

On boyfriend, Jake Gyllenhaal: “He’s fabulous. He really is a fantastic guy. Unfortunately, he’s not in the movie, so we can’t really talk about him.”

On being a young mother: “When I first had Ava, I couldn’t afford [help]. And it was so hard. I was out in Los Angeles, living [away from my family]. I really didn’t have any friends. And I had a baby,” she says, laughing. “No one else who was 22 had a baby. I couldn’t go out.”

A tight circle of girlfriends  became her “salvation,” she says. “That’s always been the center of my life, female friendships. I’ll drop anything for a friend.” “It’s hard having kids. It’s hard having a job. It’s hard having a relationship–for anybody.”

On her reported Type A personality: “I don’t think I’m a control freak. I think I’m just fearful. I operate from a lot of fear, like, of things being lost or forgotten or neglected. Losing the spiritual rather than the physical. It’s so funny to me that somehow I’ve been portrayed as a very, like, closed-off or uptight person. I’m very open.”

On the paparazzi: “Fascination is gonna die off. I honestly know it. But it’s just like I keep waiting and waiting, and then it’s just more tabloid magazines, and it keeps going. I don’t take a shower everyday. I don’t put on makeup everyday. I wear a lot of sunglasses, in case you noticed.”

On not being diet obsessed: “I’m made of cookies after the holidays. Everything inside me is made of sugar and flour and a little red wine–a lot of red wine.”

Read the full article here.

Just 30 minutes up the canyon from Salt Lake City, Deer Valley is a skier’s paradise.  Perfectly groomed trails, limited crowds, delicious food, lots of amenities and an excellent ski school, it’s a great place to splurge on a family ski trip.

Their Children’s Ski School is top notch and their private lesson staff is an added bonus. Note that Deer Valley does not allow snowboarders, which some may appreciate or dislike.  Personally we love this.

There are lots of lodging options from hotel rooms and lodge rooms to condos and mountain homes.  Best lodging option is a mountain home rental with ski-in and ski-out access, but you have to be comfortable with the steep prices ($3K+/night).  But there are certainly more economical options.

And certainly if you are a double black diamond skiier, you might want to avoid this resort and save 30%, but for families with a range of skills, this is perfect.

How cute are Giddy Giddy’s Hair Clip Holders?  Made of felt and ribbon they are colorful, sweet and just perfect to keep track of any loose clips.  Giddy Giddy also makes adorable hair clips as well.