The DeBroff DeBrief

Sara Lee Summit: A Mission in Bread Nutrition

Heather Collins, Director of Sara Lee Fresh Bakery, opened our Sara Lee Mom Blogger Summit in Chicago by talking about her deep passion for nutrition and debunking the myths surrounding whole grain, wheat, and white breads. Heather noted that kids often dramatically change our bread-buying habits. What you might want to eat, such as artisan breads, usually goes by the wayside when you’re focused on your kids’ likes, which usually only includes white bread without specks or texture.

Knowing this, Sara Lee introduced their Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made with Whole Grain White bread in 2005, offering the taste and soft texture kids love, but with whole grain nutrition baked in. It boasts 10 grams of whole grain (unprocessed grain, which directly translates into fiber) in a slice out of the 48 grams recommended for our daily diets.

Urban myth busted: Brown bread should not automatically be considered nutritious; often varieties like honey wheat brown contain no whole grains at all. Sara Lee jumpstarted the Smooth and Soft launch based on a survey they conducted with unexpected results that took their entire team by surprise: 73% of those Moms surveyed did not understand anything about whole grain nutrition. Traditionally brown bread, what they call the “soft wheat” category – lacks any whole grain content at all. Look for a bread that has whole wheat flour as the first ingredient, then you'll know it is 100% whole grain, making it the pinnacle of what you should be looking for when shopping for nutritious breads.

So Sara Lee embarked on a mission to educate Moms across America about the core necessity of whole grains in their children’s diets and to debunk the widespread myth of “bad” white bread. According to Heather, Sara Lee would love to toss out traditional white bread (literally throw it to the birds, I muse) in favor of whole grain bread, be that white or brown. A lively discussion among Mom Bloggers and the brand team ensued - from guilt about bringing white bread sandwiches to playgroups to widespread confusion of white versus brown bread, wheat versus whole grain, and issues of how much fiber, carbs, gluten, and calories each contains. We got to taste test new mini-bagels coming out with whole grain nutrition; they are soft and delicious…and where are the whole grains again?

Next up was an inside tour of Sara Lee’s brand new, state of the art research and development facilities, where we found meticulous scientists hard at work on new formulations of bread. Immediately I noticed there were no photos or cell phones, all jewelry was off, and big white hairnets and knee length jackets preserved the pristine environment. Now imagine diverse containers of ingredients, mixers that take on hundreds of pounds of batter, an enormous baking oven, and “discriminators” to see how the newly tried formulations come out in terms of sweet, sour, softness of texture, saltiness, and so on. Joe, our tour’s leader, explained how they aim to ensure that all of Sara Lee’s breads stay fresh for 17 days. Warning: do not put bread in the fridge, as this accelerates it getting stale.

Connie Diekman, a registered dietician and recent past president of the American Dietician Association who has been working with O’Malley and Sara Lee for several years, presented on nutrition and provided insider tips on label decoding. She cautioned that when looking at bread on the shelf, check first for the ingredient saying “whole wheat flour.” If it says enriched flour, then you look for a mention of “whole grains.” And what, exactly, constitutes a whole grain? It contains all three layers of the grain - the bran, endosperm and germ – each one providing its own nutritional benefits. A surprise way to easily get kids to eat whole grains: “Popcorn,” shares Connie. So hello popcorn and movie night! And Connie’s simple formula for an easy guideline when thinking about balanced nutrition for our kids at meals: one tablespoon of protein, grain, fruit, and vegetables for each year of age. Also, the darker the color and stronger the flavor, the better a fruit or vegetable is for you.

Chef Jill Houk, a corporate chef with Sara Lee and personal chef and mom of 10-year-old Sam, shared her insights on creating nutritious meals with kids in mind. There exist a number of red flags we need to pay attention to when it comes to our kids’ diets, since, overall, children get too much or too little of them. As for too much, watch for fat, sugar, and salt. Too little? Protein, iron, calcium and vitamin C. Chef Jill loves sneaking healthy ingredients into everyday foods. Keep a grocery list low on the fridge for small kids to choose their favorite fruits and vegetables. And don’t stop with the familiar; a new 5th taste sense (other than salty, sweet, sour, and bitter) was discovered in Japan: “umami,” which accounts for reactions to the taste of meat. You can also mix some sweet or salty with the bitter or sour to introduce new flavors to your kids. And make new foods fun. Challenge your kids to the longest chewing contest - your child will get you in a staring contest while talking about the transition from sweet to sour or crunchy to mushy. Put a picture of a rainbow on your fridge and put gold stars on the colors you have eaten during the week. No red? Time for raspberries or cherry tomatoes!

Complete side note - talk about weird coincidences! Two cameramen I've worked with before - Paul who produced a satellite media tour out of my kitchen a couple of years ago for Squid Soap and Frank who shot video coverage for Blink products for the car were both there. What a nice surprise!

Overall, I left more than impressed and eager to try out the new varieties of whole grains. Sara Lee bread gets delivered fresh daily to stores from regional bakeries. But those of us in the Northeast will have to standby - look for Sara Lee breads coming our way SOON!

Plus, check out a video from the event:

#saraleesummit

As a participant in the Sara Lee Summit, they covered my travel expenses to the event, and gave me Sara Lee items: a brand canvas bag, lunch box, digital photography book, snacks and fresh organic fruit (yum!).

Pepsi Natural: Recipe and Giveaway

In my house, summer brings with it one barbecue after another. Yet, eventually, my family grows tired of the standard fare: hamburgers, sausages, grilled chicken, and vegetables, and we face the challenge of coming up with unique barbecue dishes.

Recently, I had a chance to try out Pepsi’s new soda, Pepsi Natural, an innovative new soft drink.  Made with all natural ingredients, including caramel, natural sugars, natural apple extract for color, and kola nut extract, the new drink provides a throwback to the old days of natural ingredients in soda. With two teens, it proves difficult to keep soda out of the house entirely (and I have certainly been known to rely on the drink for an afternoon caffeine jolt), so it's nice to know that this is a soda Moms can feel good about giving to their families. Knowing that soft drinks can make a great addition to barbecue, I put together a recipe with Pepsi Natural that makes a great marinade for meats.

Southern Cola Barbecue Sauce

1 cup Pepsi Natural soda
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 T dark brown sugar
2 T light molasses
1/2 t grated lemon peel
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the above ingredients in heavy saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, about 20 minutes. Cool and transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Can be made up to 2 weeks ahead.

Marinate pork, chicken or beef to be grilled overnight in the sauce- grill to taste and baste with extra sauce.

To help inspire you this barbecue season, Mom Central and Pepsi have teamed up with a giveaway. Leave a comment below by August 14 to be entered to win a Natural Pepsi Apron, a 4-pack of the new soda, and a grilling cookbook. Good luck!

Mom Central received a sample of Pepsi Natural, an apron, a cookbook, and Hearst Ranch Grass-Fed Beef for the post courtesy of Pepsi Natural News.

Take the Pantry Challenge and Win $250

Moms know that getting a healthy meal on the table can be a challenge, especially when we spend our days working, shuttling kids to practices, and doing all of the things that make our households run smoothly. Changes in the economy have impacted eating habits, and a new food inventory study commissioned by the Canned Food Alliance reveals that three-quarters of our diets come from foods we prepare at home.

The popularity of eating in reaffirms the importance of having healthy food on hand. And the study, conducted among New Jersey Moms with young children, found that most families do, in fact, keep an array of nutritious foods stored in their homes. The problem, according to researchers, lies in the fact that many of us could improve our cooking and planning skills needed to make use of the healthy foods we already have hanging around our cabinets and pantries. According to Rich Tavoletti, the executive director of CFA, “The CFA gives families ways to get those ingredients off the shelf and onto the table.”

We’ve found some great tips to help families make the most of their home-cooked meals. When stocking your pantry, try keeping cereals with at least 2 grams of fiber and less than 2 grams of sugar, always buy 100% fruit juice, and make sure you have a supply of canned and dried fruits available for snacking. Also, don’t forget that organization is key! The CFA recommends storing the foods you use most on the eye-level shelves and heavy containers (flour, pet foods) on lower shelves. Canned foods also serve as an essential kitchen staple. From saving you prep time to providing substitutions for less healthy items, canned items can come in handy for basically any meal. You can find these and other great tips at www.mealtime.org.

You can also find the Essential Kitchen Toolkit on the website, created by food and nutrition educator and author, Roberta L. Duyff, in partnership with the Canned Food Alliance. The toolkit serves to give Moms everywhere new skills by providing tips and advice about everything from grocery shopping and organizing to cooking and kitchen safety. “The economic downturn, coupled with the decline of consumer skills, means that the climate is ripe for the resurgence of learning At-Home Economics and the kitchen skills that go along with it,” Duyff said. The CFA recognizes Moms as the traditional “nutrition gatekeepers,” but encourages the entire family to get involved in meal planning and preparation. By working together, families can make mealtime a healthy and fun experience.

In order to help Moms and their families organize, save money, and learn how to put together nutritious meals from foods they already have on hand, the CFA started the Pantry Challenge. Intended to foster creative, resourceful, and healthy eating, the challenge provides a great way to start making a change in family cooking and eating habits. Recently, I used some of the CFA’s tips to get my pantry in order. Using ingenious pantry risers to organize items on my shelves, grouping like foods together with those most often used in the most convenient locations, and swapping out old, unused items for new, more useful products, I managed to get a good start towards making use of the foods I have. And, afterwards, not only did I feel better, but throwing dinner together seemed easier than ever. Plus, my kids can now find things when I send them to the pantry to help out. Next I’ll be tackling the freezer!

Now, I’d love to invite the Mom Central community to get involved and try the Pantry Challenge with your own family. Grab your partner and kids and get started! Plus, we are offering a giveaway – the winner will receive a $250 gift card to help them in their task. To enter, take a stab at reorganizing your pantry and leave a comment below telling us what you did. Receive an extra entry by sending us before and after photos! You can also enter by visiting www.mealtime.org and then leaving a comment letting us know your two favorite tips – and any of your own, if you have them! The giveaway will run until August 21. Good luck!

Feeling Your Best: Healthy Eating and Exercise are Not Enough!

By Debi Silber from TheMojoCoach.com

Have you been putting a lot of effort into healthy eating and exercise?  Do you think that it will be enough for you to look, feel and live your best life?  Sorry – think again.

While focus on healthy food and exercise are steps in the right direction, there are other areas that are just as important to your overall health.

Have you ever noticed how, even though you may be eating well, a stressful situation can knock you off of the wagon and encourage you to binge? Maybe struggles within your relationships have caused you to lose energy and enthusiasm for your current exercise routine. Perhaps negative emotions discourage you from taking the time to preplan healthy meals and snacks.

Does any of this sound familiar?

While we’re all unique, we have common needs that fall within six areas. It’s only when all six of those areas are strengthened and tended to that we look, feel and live our best. These six areas are: nutrition/weight loss, fitness, stress control, emotional health, relationship wellness and spirituality. The interaction of these areas within your specific life is the reason that a one-size-fits-all approach to health and wellness won’t work.  It’s only when we strengthen the areas that we struggle with most that we can create lasting change and improved health and wellness.

Let’s start with nutrition/weight loss. If you struggle with sticking to a healthy eating plan, it’s important to discover what causes those struggles in the first place. The obstacles usually lie within one of these three areas: your food choices, your portions or your habits.

As for choices, would learning more about healthier options or preplanning help? Look at your portions. Are you “super sizing”, “economy sizing” or “value-mealing?” It isn’t a better deal to get more food if it is leading you to overeat. Finally, take a good look at your habits. Do you eat mindlessly? Do you eat more when you are upset or in social situations? What are you using food for? Is it to fuel your healthy lifestyle? Or is it to find comfort, to soothe, numb, calm or relax? Only when you’ve identified what drives your eating behaviors can you move towards creating healthier habits.

Next, take a look at your “fitness personality.” What motivates you to work out?  Do you want to improve your health? Improve your appearance?  Set a good example for your kids? Do you have realistic short-term goals?  Have you found an exercise routine you enjoy? Do your workouts bring results? Have you created the perfect workout plan for you, based on your current fitness level, you needs, goals, budget and time? Only when these questions are addressed and obstacles reviewed can you create a program you actually look forward to completing on a regular basis.

Then, take a look at your stress. While your level of stress may not change, the way you react to it certainly can. For example, picture two people sitting in traffic. One driver may be catching up on phone calls, listening to music and enjoying some time alone to unwind. Another driver may be cursing, banging on the steering wheel and drowning in a sea of stress induced hormones. It’s the same situation for both but their perspectives are completely different.  One approach can help create health and wellness…while the other may lead to illness and disease. 

Speaking of stress, unmanaged chronic stress creates aging, weight gain, illness and disease. When we’re feeling stress our bodies are flooded with stress induced hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol. These chemicals were only meant to be released periodically and are eventually replenished. This stress response can keep you safe and alive. For example, if a car were approaching, it’s this stress response that allows you to quickly jump the curb to safety. However, with chronic stress, this response is ignited…but doesn’t turn off. This system that’s meant to protect you in the short term can actually cause significant wear and tear over the long term. Hormones and chemicals that are only meant to be used occasionally are depleted with no time to replenish and rebalance themselves.

Have you ever seen someone and thought “Wow, that person looks like they’ve had a hard life.” The way they’ve handled their stress is written all over them.  Think about finding ways to manage your reactions to stressful situations to reduce the wear and tear on your body.

It’s also important to take a look at your relationships. Supportive, nurturing, positive
relationships are actually good for your health! The love, support and friendship we get from these relationships strengthen our immune system, offering bodily protection. Our immune system is like an internal army; when it’s strong it offers protection. When it’s weak it’s as if this internal army is fast asleep.

Negative relationships on the other hand can cause significant physical, mental and emotional damage. Think about it. If you’re spending your time with people who are negative, judgmental, critical and pessimistic, how do you feel? Chances are you feel deflated, discouraged and uninspired. If your goal is to become your personal best, negative relationships can move you away from your goal.  Consider opportunities to increase your time with people who support your goals and minimize time spent with those who are not supportive.

Finally, take a look at your spirituality. What brings you joy, passion and purpose? What are your unique gifts, strengths and talents? If you don’t know or can’t imagine what these gifts are, take a look at what’s prevented you from discovering it. Chances are, you may find fear behind it all. Fear of failure, the unknown, fear of change, hard work and even the fear of success may be what’s kept you from pursuing your passion and living your dream.

All six of these areas are critical to building and maintaining your best life.  Healthy eating and exercise are key for your physical body, but strengthening the other areas will ensure that your mind and spirit are along for the ride and not working against your success!

Debi Silber, MS, RD, WHC The Mojo Coach™ is a Registered Dietitian with a Master's degree in Nutrition Science. She's a Certified Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach, Lifestyle Expert - just for moms, speaker and the author of The Lifestyle Fitness Program: A Six Part Plan So Every Mom Can Look, Feel and Live Her Best  and From Mom To Wow: Your Ultimate Body, Mind and Life Makeover Guide. Debi’s been branded The Mojo Coach™ because for nearly 20 years she’s inspired and empowered overweight, overwhelmed and unfit moms to “get their mojo back” through gradual, lifestyle change. Sign up for a free report, 52 weeks of weekly tips and a subscription to Debi’s newsletter Mojo Moments at www.TheMojoCoach.com.

Have an Epic Summer with Vail Resorts

When thinking about summer getaways, it often seems impossible to find a destination that offers adventures and activities to thrill each member of our families. Vail Resorts has come up with an ingenious solution, drawing on the majestic national parks and forests of the West to transform their village at Keystone Mountain into a family base from which daily adventure trips take place. Set in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, the Epic Summer Family Adventure offers families an action-packed getaway with four or seven-day itineraries.

Each day your family has an exciting fun-packed day ahead, from hiking up cool mountain trails, going white water rafting, zip lining, trail horseback riding, exploring National Parks, and adventure biking to attending a real cowboy campfire dinner under the stars. Best yet, all of the details have been taken care of for you, from transportation to guides to picnic lunches, adding up to the ultimate outdoor family experience. Moreover, back at home base other options await: Dad can hit the golf course while we Moms sneak off for some wondrous spa services.

With everything from meals to outdoor trips covered, all you have to do is show up with sneakers, a bathing suit, and a sense of adventure! Plus, the all-inclusive pricing proves surprisingly affordable. What better way to create lifelong memories than a vacation where the only thing you have to think about is how much fun you're having.

Top 10 iPhone Apps for Moms

Today more Moms than ever swear by their smartphones, using them for work, organization, entertainment, and to keep in touch with family and friends. Although I love my iPhone, it’s not hard to feel overwhelmed by the numerous applications, more of which come out every day. In fact, with over 50,000 apps to choose from, I tend to limit myself to perusing the “top rated” section on iTunes or searching specifically for the ones I see in Apple commercials. But when I heard that PC Magazine completed a review on the top 10 iPhone applicationss for parents, I knew I needed to check it out. And, after reading through the list, I wanted to share my favorites with you:

•    Kindle – This app is perfect for long afternoons in a doctor’s waiting room when the only magazines around are from 2006. Kindle lets you read an unlimited number of books and magazines on your iPhone to pass the time. Although my iPhone probably won’t become my favorite way to read a book, the application proves perfect in a pinch.

•    Sit or Squat – If you have ever had a bathroom emergency on a long car ride (and who hasn’t with kids?), this app is right for you. Sit or Squat takes your current location and creates a list of the nearest restrooms with information about cleanliness, changing table availability, and handicap access.  With this easy to use application, you will never be far from a quick bathroom stop.

•    GoodFoodNearYou – The GoodFoodNearYou app, just like their website, allows you to search for healthy food alternatives in your area, especially great when you find yourself on the road this summer. This application proves perfect for vacations or daytrips when you still want to ensure your family eats healthy meals.

Our last family trip would have been improved with convenient applications like these, so I look forward to using them this year. Let me know which apps you have tried out and what you and your family find to be the most helpful!

Undermining Dad

Recently, Sue Shellenbarger wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal about Moms engaging in negative “gatekeeping” by criticizing dads when they engage in parenting tasks the “wrong way.” Which proves fairly easy to imagine – how many Moms have changed their baby’s clothes when they found him dressed by Dad in mismatched stripes and plaid? Too often, we women like to do things our way: kids must be fed certain things at certain times, laundry must be folded in a particular way, and dishes need to be stacked and put away correctly. But when we ask Dad to do it, he doesn’t do it our way, he does it his way – which, almost always, doesn’t meet our standards.

So do we as Moms subtly undermine Dads? According to Shellenberger, we do. And although her view that every time we criticize our partners it equates to undermining them seems a little harsh, I can’t help but wonder if Jon and Kate provide a prime example of this. Watching the show over the past several seasons, viewers could see Kate constantly undermining her husband, making him believe that he was never good enough or smart enough as a father. Her micromanaging soon led to berating him about the shoes he put on the kids or what he fed them for a snack. Is this an example of undermining a dad to the point that he feels belittled? Even when Jon had the kids’ best interest in mind, she made him look like an idiot who wasn’t on top of things the way she would have been. And while, obviously, a number of factors led to the couple’s divorce (not the least of which, I’m sure, was his alleged infidelity and the pressures of the reality show itself), even early viewers may have seen this coming.

But still, this trend plays itself out, to some extent, in households across the country. Mom wants the kitchen towels cleaned, folded in thirds, and placed carefully in a drawer under the sink. Dad says if the towels are clean and ready to be reused, why refold them? Who cares if they get wrinkled when we only use them to wipe up messes? And he’s right, of course, but it’s this kind of mindset that creeps into parenting and subtly starts to cause problems. Because, more often than not, Mom doesn’t just care when the dishtowels are thrown haphazardly into a drawer, she also cares when the kids wear their play shoes to school and their school shoes outside or when bath time gets pushed back a half hour because Sports Center is on.

This proves especially true lately, as more and more dads find themselves at home during this recession, and having them around – and involved in the day to day – can come into conflict with how things normally get done, from packing lunches to putting groceries away. As soon as one person sets up a system and the other interlopes, it creates tension, both as a family and in a relationship. Because while we Moms might feel that Dads undermine our bedtime rituals, our lunchtime routines, or the manners we expect at the table, Dads can simply feel undermined as parents.

As Moms, we rely more and more on dads these days to help divvy up the work, but at the same time, we have to let go of the belief that “it’s my way or the highway.” Part of parenting has always involved realizing that there are different ways of doing things, and we’d all be better off if we could come to a place where we know that however we do things will be good enough as long as they get done.

How do you handle it when your husband doesn’t live up to your standards? Have the two of you struck a parenting balance?

An Inside Look at the Sears Home Design Summit

I recently had the unique and amazing opportunity to attend Sears Holdings Corporation’s Home Design Blogger Summit in Chicago. I arrived with peaked curiosity to see what Sears and Kmart had brewing for home products, especially given I’m the Mom usually walking through Sears in a fast pace with blinders-on straight to the appliance department. I found myself marveling at the high-quality, luxurious goods the Kmart innovative and dynamic design team has managed to create at startlingly low prices.

 Throughout the daylong event, I turned bloggers next to me whispering, “Wow! Who knew?” A team of more than 200 designers from top retailers and fashion schools have converged north of Chicago to form the innovative team at the state-of-art Sears Holding Company Design Center, launched in 2007 with the aim of transforming the way Kmart and Sears approach their brands and products.

The design team, led by the simply remarkable Theresa Strickland, heralds from all around the country - from the heart of Manhattan to San Francisco. They have diverse backgrounds working with top-end companies from Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Ralph Lauren, Esprit, to Martha Stewart. As group, they stand out as complete perfectionists, angsting over every last design detail until they get it right. Can they add a special French ribbon detail here or pretty patterned stitching over there on a comforter while still keeping down the price point? Together they’ve transformed the quality, texture, and attention to detail of their home design products.

Amy Parker, the Chief Marketing Officer for Home Sears and Kmart, described how the company new progressive focus which embraces social media. As part of this, they hoped the Design Summit would help them better partner with bloggers and ignite dialog about the exciting transformations going on within Sears and Kmart.

Theresa Strickland, Chief Home Design Officer (@chiefhomedesign), exudes passion and bold vision as she presents her team. This smart, uber-chic, design aficionado and erstwhile business professor at Santa Clara University challenges her team daily to think outside the box and “Break the Rules!!” With two kids in college, Theresa has plunged into the challenge and science of innovative design work.

Rick, the Trend Director, integrates the new products into store layouts and has already begun to implement some head-turning changes in how Sears and Kmart home products departments look. Look for designed rooms and ensembles that pull all the products together making it easy to implement the design philosophy “things that do not exactly match can beautifully go together.” Next up: Chris, the Paris trained Brand Director, who joined the team after having worked everywhere from room design for Starwood Hotels to top design houses such as the Polo Ralph Lauren Home Collection. He flies in from Manhattan each week and brings a New York urban feel to the team. Elba, the Soft-Home Design Director, lives in Arizona in a totally eco-friendly home she build and worked previously with Theresa at Pottery Barn. Esther, the Tabletop and Housewares Design Director and a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and brings a unique style to the table that combines vintage and retro. Miller, the Seasonal and Décor Design Director and graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, previously worked for Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, and Pottery Barn Kids. The newest member of the team Seth, a talented furniture designer who commutes from New York City.

Theresa calls this impressive design team “my family” with clear sincerity. “That’s my Elba,” she says, and “Essie Bessie- we call her Ess - she’s like little Mary Sunshine here, always happy: our cheerleader and inspiration.“ As for Theresa, the staff affectionately calls her “Mama T”- and she brings her obsession for details in approving every product before it goes out the door. And this is one dynamic woman whose design instincts I immediately came to trust along with her mission of getting customers to think about Kmart and Sears design: “great quality, great design, and affordability,” and in that order.

With an outpost of Kmart Design Studios in New York’s SoHo, the design teams also traverses Europe on trend-spotting trips and returns with fabric finds to incorporate as inspiration on their creative boards for their home design lines. This video highlights a recent European expedition of Theresa and her team.

Next we heard about MySears.com, an online community involved in social media for Sears Holdings. Started only two years ago, this team has been tasked with gathering an online group of brand enthusiasts to engage in open feedback and product reviews. This social media team has made tremendous strides, building up the community to over 250,000 registered members and driving huge online sales. Today, by talking with customers one on one and learning what their shoppers want from both a product and a service perspective, the feedback gets rapidly incorporated into the next wave of product development. To connect with the team, visit MYSears.com and MyKmart.com and follow them on Twitter: @mysears, @searsdeals, and @mykmart.

The brands we looked at were Cannon, Jaclyn Smith, Ty Pennington and Country Living.  Cannon is their biggest brand, creating big luxurious towels they somehow to be able to sell for around $4. The team walked us through how they think about every detail, like what makes sheets pill (the texture of the weave, not the thread count), and explained how they travel the world for inspiration, examining everything from 500-year-old artifacts to Southwestern wool sweaters.

Ty Pennington, who works with the design team, is all southwestern male, bringing in earthy and desert tones and a rich tapestry of textures. When the team visits him, he regales them with tours of new furniture he’s made by hand or a huge batik he tie-dyed in glee. Filled with energy and endless design ideas, his sprawling collection from linens to cool kitchenware all echoes his larger than life personality.

Next, Theresa describes Jaclyn Smith, the award-winning actress, model, and designer, with vast affection, as an extended family member. Her line provides classical elegance with a modern twist, comfortable yet sophisticated. Jaclyn gets inspiration from her house in LA and from Houston, her hometown. A “regular girl,” with five dogs (most French bulldogs, including Theresa’s favorite - one named Tank), she’s close to her kids, her husband, and her Mom. When I complimented her on her latest collection on Twitter, she sent back a warm and personal direct message reinforcing everything wonderful Theresa said about Jacyln.

I was impressed to see that the design team created a new Country Living brand from scratch, basing it on the successful magazine. Drawing their inspiration from antiques, the team has come up with blue and white and red and white checkerboard patterns and styles, designing amazing aprons and comforter sets. I was amazed not only by the complexity of how they’re building and translating the designs, but by the team’s deliverance of quality products at a price point that takes your breath away.

The results of their work? Truly surprising. I was thinking, “An entire 7-piece bedding set with comforter and pillow must be $200!” and then I hear that it’s $39! The Sears Holdings Corporation is the nation’s fourth largest retailer and has about 3,900 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada with flagships Kmart and Sears. This means high volume and lots of room for negotiating discounts!

The brand also has a phenomenal quality control lab to oversee details like how many washings an item can take and still resist tears, pills, or damage. They also work on six seasons’ worth of designs at a time – at this point, 2010 has been wrapped and they have moved onto 2011. Going forward, they will focus on eco-friendly items made in the US, planning to go green with environmentally friendly plastics for shower curtains, no PVC on the floors, bamboo towels in Cannon, and more.

Sears and Kmart have also started to focus on dorm rooms, striving for creative storage and easy packing. They want both Moms and college kids to feel comfortable with both the styles and the price. They even have a Facebook application where students can find their roommates and then design their room together in 3D, planning out what they already have and what they need and finding inexpensive designs that match or complement each other. Beyond dorms, they want the designs to allow kids to grow into their first apartments. 

For me, the key takeaway was that the design team members have really challenged themselves, and they face their task with passion, energy, and a can-do attitude. They have rethought their brands, and Theresa leads her design team with an irresistible and contagious enthusiasm. She challenges them to think about things differently than they ever have before, and they work hard to differentiate themselves from their competition.

 

At the end of this Design Summer immersion day, I realized that Sears and Kmart’s home departments had just been added to my must-check-out Mom shopping list thanks to their unique combination of quality and affordability, starting with an awesome black chair for my daughter’s bedroom and one of the latest modern comforter sets from Jacyln Smith.

Have you seen a real difference in the products you’re finding at Sears and Kmart?

Is Hollywood Glamorizing Teen Pregnancy?

With two teens of my own at home, I not only take the ever-present issue of teen pregnancy seriously, but I have recently read with alarm that it’s on the rise. From Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin to TV shows like MTV’s “16 and Pregnant,” teen pregnancy seems to have become the latest trend in Hollywood. Even ABC Family has joined the bandwagon with its hit series, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” which started its second season this week and follows the life of Amy, who, after giving birth to a son in the first season, moves easily between being a mother and a high school student with the help of her parents, friends, and the suddenly responsible baby’s father. 

This depiction of teen pregnancy proves typical of television and film; while  not advocated, it is still portrayed with an air of allure and simplicity that fails to convey the true hardships and emotional stress that comes with the territory. A recent study found that for the first time in fifteen years, teen pregnancy rates are on the rise, while teen contraceptive use has gone down, a development that Hollywood does little to discourage. Television shows in general tend to send teens the message that sex carries few risks and liabilities, especially when teenage pregnancy receives an almost debonair and glamorous depiction.

Surprisingly, MTV’s new show “16 and Pregnant” presents one of the better cases against teenage motherhood. The show, which first aired early in June, follows the lives of teens as they navigate their way through pregnancy and the first few months of mothering. However, although the series shows a more realistic depiction of the difficulties of raising a child at such a young age, it still does not deviate completely from glorifying teen pregnancy. Five minutes into the first episode, a pregnant 16-year-old Maci is surrounded by friends as they look adoringly at baby clothes and discuss plans and gifts for a baby shower. In this and almost all similar instances, pregnancy is portrayed as sure-fire way to give teenage girls just what they want—lots of attention and unconditional love.

 The recent tendency to weave teen pregnancy into more and more television story lines and to feature adolescent celebrities with their babies on the covers of popular magazines reflects society’s new attitude towards teen pregnancy as an acceptable fact of life. In the past, teen pregnancy was hidden from sight and ignored. Today, though, the issue is longer dealt with privately or in secret; rather, it has become ubiquitous, and with schools across the country getting more conservative, it becomes important for parents to open the appropriate discussions with their kids about either birth control or abstinence and talk about the real life altering consequences of teen pregnancy. After all, we can’t trust Hollywood to do it for us.

Mom Central's 5Qs: Michele Nachum of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

This week we speak with Michele Nachum, Account Director at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.  Michele shares with us the powerful and moving story of how social media helped her adopt her adorable 5-month old baby boy.

Who have you connected with via social media that you would not have met otherwise?

MN: Social media literally is responsible for the adoption of our beloved son.

We met our birth mother because of using online tools such as Web sites, blogs and Facebook to find and connect with her as well as others.

When my husband and I decided to adopt a baby a couple of years ago, we made the decision to do it independently here in the US  – without the help of an adoption agency – and would hire lawyers and social workers as needed.  Our goal – to find a “birth mother” who would be interested in developing an adoption plan.

We knew that if we were going to find a birth mother – we needed to advertise online (weird to think one needs to “advertise” in order to adopt – but it’s a reality!)  Birth mothers are generally young – anywhere between 15-35 years old- and most likely reading and connecting online (like nearly everyone).  It’s funny though, you still hear many adoption experts telling couples to advertise themselves in community newspapers (remember the movie Juno for instance, where she finds her adoptive parents via the Nickel?). We did some print advertising – but with no results – no Juno came our way.  I personally love reading newspapers, but the reality is, people are looking for information online.