LA Times Article About Industry Moms

Megan Underwood sent this in:

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-moms7-2008dec07,0,1362581.story

Mommy hood as Networking - only in LA...

Getting Bigger & Stronger

Hey Industry Mamas,

Our group is already 100 strong!

We held our inaugural planning meeting on Nov 16th and started to define what specific needs this group will address.

Our apologies if you wanted attend. We tried to get the word out as best we could via e-mail and postings on this blog.

Eleven great women attended the meeting at Lisa Cole's house in Glassel Park.
We were all very excited to be a part of the launch of this great venture and agreed that we like the name Industry Mamas for our new group.
Lisa has purchased the domain name and we're on our way to figuring out how best to serve our new community both online and up close & personal.
We also agreed that we wanted to keep the group exclusive to "The Industry" and, like Booby Brigade, membership should be by invitation only.

Some of the things we want to see the group provide:
- Nurturing community within the industry.
- Place to post job needs and leads (on the blog or website, NOT as a mass e-mail blitz or personal request)
-Great online resource that's easily searchable by topic/category (essentially a place to organize all the great advice & online resources that get shared on places like Booby Brigade every day).
- "Members" section that introduces people and includes photos and an "About Me" (maybe even what you want to bring to or get out of the group). This can have a link to your professional website, personal blog etc…
- Babysitting co-op / Pool childcare resources
- Social – Networking for moms and socializing for babies. Ie, Moms Nights Out
- Events - We talked about having a charitable or event based focus for a mixer (IE Blood drive at Children's Hospital, $2 Clothing Swap for Charity, to support DEC – Drug Endangered Children. Maybe 4 times a year??
- Resource for weekend Mommy & Me events.

We are also knocking around the idea for a standing monthly Stuff Swap. It would be fantastic to be able to bring everything we no longer need and do a big Yard Sale / Swap with the remainders going to a charity. If it were once a month, nobody would feel pressured to go every time and we wouldn't have crap (I mean awesome baby stuff) sitting around our homes.

We still have things to iron out and much more planning to do including the day-to-day of operation responsibilities and expenses. As it may be impossible to answer everyone's emails individually at this point, we ask that you visit the blog site for updates, etc.

If you have other mommy friends in the industry who would be interested in joining this community – please have them send an e-mail to Lisa Cole: lisa@jerkswithunderwoods.com with the subject line : NEW MEMBER and the following details: Name, job description, age of children.

We hope to go live with a website in late January and will send another e-mail to all members with further updates. We appreciate your patience as we continue to formulate the game plan. We're working moms, but committed to having this thing fly.

We're so glad to have connected with all 100 of you!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to you and yours.

Warmly,

Aliyah Silverstein & Lisa Cole

What About Us Working Moms?

Swim lessons, Baby Yoga, Yoga with Babies, Music Together, Babylattes...why should SAHMs have all the bonding fun? I'm kicking off a list of things I know of that happen on weekends.

Please add things you know of in the comments and I'll compile a list of resources. Hope to see you and your kids on the weekends!

Things to Do:
Outside The Box - http://www.otbee.com/
Music Together - http://www.musictogether.com - 3 Saturday classes at Dragonfly Dolou, 3 Saturday classes at Play on 3rd near La Brea
YMCA Swim Lessons - to find your local Y - http://www.ymca.net/maps/?address=90016&latlng=(34.0255188%2C+-118.3520389)#
Gymboree - http://www.gymboreeclasses.com

(Limited) weekend parent/infant classes:
http://growcreativeseeds.com/
http://www.play-losangeles.com/
http://www.thetreehousesocialclub.com

Places to Go:
Noah's Ark at Skirball Center Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific
Barnes & Nobel at the Westside Pavilion - have a storytime

Welcome To Your Blog - Let Us Introduce You

Please send me links to your personal websites, favorite web resources, links to activities that your kids enjoy or that other moms might be interested in. I'm even happy to post a link to your personal blog if you'd like.

If there is anything you want to see here that you aren't - let us know that too.

My e-mail is lionlit@aol.com or you can post a comment below.

Aliyah

INDUSTRY MAMAS PLANNING MEETING - DATE SET!!

Hello everyone

I've received about 12 inquiries about the meeting... Looks like the 16th will work for the majority of us as the 23rd is the holiday weekend and many are traveling.  Sorry if you're one of those women who said the 23rd was best.  We'll miss you!

So, how about 3pm-5pm at my house, Sunday 16th... I live in Glassel Park.  I'll email everyone who reached out individually now... and if you can make it I'll then send you my home address.

Cheers!

lisa

INDUSTRY MAMAS meeting suggestion

FOr those of us interested in getting this INDUSTRY MAMAS group really going... how about we meet at my house Sun Nov 16th or 23rd?  I live in Glassel Park - which is between Eagle Rock and Mt. Washington - just east of Silverlake, north of downtown, before South Pasadena...

It's going to take a meeting of the minds to transform this into something amazing... Shante said I was spearheading, but I can't do this alone.  SOOOO Glad you guys started this blog site - a GREAT beginning!  I just know this can blossom into an amazing resource where we offer support for one another both as mothers and fellow industry women.  The sky is the limit as to what this can become over time...!  Woo hoo!!

Lisa Cole

310-490-6890

lisa@jerkswithunderwoods.com

Life in Pajamas - by Anna Cranage Conathan (tv & film writer)

Who wears pajamas all day?

Infants. People in prison. The infirm. The insane. Writers. Mothers. You can call ‘em yoga pants, girlfriend, but you know you slept in ‘em.

Life in pajamas, while appealing in concept, can be quite dangerous. To your health. To your appearance. To your standard of what makes an attractive outfit. You know this because you have spent so much time in your pajamas that you have lost the ability to select suitable attire for visits to The Outside. Juicy sweatpants and a fleece without baby boot or peanut butter on it, is not an appropriate outfit for touring the Senate Daycare Facility.

When you first make a slovenly commitment to your bedclothes, it seems funny. Amusing. On the phone you brag to your friend, “It’s four o’clock and I’m still in my pajamas,” and the friend laughs and says something cute like, “must be nice.”

After a while it occurs to you that if you’re still in your pajamas there’s no point in putting on deodorant. You are, after all, in your pajamas. Who cares? The UPS guy? Because you have a rabid watchdog, the UPS guy never even rings the bell anymore. He leaves your deliveries between the bushes and the trash can.

And with pit stench no longer driving you to the powder room it is all too easy to forget about brushing your hair. Or teeth.

Yes, teeth. Nasty.

When you drink as much coffee as a writer and mother does, there is never an ideal time to brush your pearly whites. Which are now kind of khaki. Coffee and toothpaste are two great tastes that do NOT taste great together. So, you put off the tooth brushing.

Around six o’clock, you notice your teeth have knitted themselves little cozies of filth. But it’s six o’clock. Cocktail hour. And the only thing worse than toothpaste with coffee is toothpaste with gin. But, you discover, if you gargle gin and tonic, the tiny scrubbing bubbles of the tonic and the citrus snap of the lime leave your mouth feeling as fresh as a sit-down with the dental hygienist.

So, there you are. Stinky. Sweaty. Reeking of coffee and gin. It’s eight o’clock now. Hungry? Hells, yeah. But going out at this point would take so much effort. So you order in.

Does the delivery dude from Capitol Hill Tandoori care what you look, smell, or taste like? If, he does look a tad concerned when he arrives, you just move fast and tip well and he has almost no time in which to judge you.

That you can see.

What he does in the privacy of his Tercel is his business.

After you watch a bad movie – you were too tired to bother looking for a good one – you shove the remains of your take-out into the fridge and grab a paper towel. (If you’re feeling motivated, you moisten it.) You wipe your mouth and hands.

You are clean and ready for bed.

Scuffing your way to the boudoir you consider changing into pajamas. But then remember you are already in them. Feeling very satisfied with your ability to plan ahead, you fall into bed and await the magic of morning.