*******************************************************************
Sponsor message: KENNETH COLE REACTION KIDS
The world is his playground. The modern little boy on the go needs an outfit for the journey.
Kenneth Cole Reaction Kids apparel keeps them looking cool wherever the destination.
For more info go to kennethcolereaction.com/signup.
*******************************************************************

Hi everyone,

Wow! This month's "A Letter To My Body" has blown the virtual doors off at BlogHer and just keeps growing! This week, two women who have struggled with eating disorders ask you to help them interview Jess Weiner, the "Queen of Self-Esteem," while we introduce more of your writing on body image. Hey, how often do you get to hear an interview co-written by a top model whose image has been airbrushed into a D-cup and a director of the American Anorexia Bulimia Association?! More below...

But first, we want to share an exclusive BlogHer Conference discount offer created specially for readers of this newsletter. As we head into another conference season that we expect to sell out, we want to make sure that we deliver you with your engraved invitation first. Here goes...

(1) BlogHer Conference Series discount - exclusive to newsletter readers



As many of you know, Elisa, Jory and I created BlogHer as a labor of love in 2005, never realizing that in 2008 we'd be planning our fourth conference season. We have you to thank, dear readers -- this newsletter email list includes many bloggers who have attended multiple conferences. In thanks, we'd like to provide you with two discounts to BlogHer's first conferences of the year:

$200 discount for BlogHer Business '08, April 3-4, New York, NY
I'm so excited about our April BlogHer Business Conference, created to bring cutting-edge, insider expertise to professionals whose businesses, competition and customers frequent social media. This year, we'll feature case studies from eight companies, including Graco, Hearst, HP, Kodak and Goodwill and two keynote panels feature experts on consumer marketing (Maria T. Bailey, Mary Furlong, Ellen Siminoff and Robin Wolaner) and experts on building community (Melissa Anelli, Elise Bauer, Kerry Miller).

To make this line-up as accessible as possible to our community, we're offering a $200 discount to all readers of this newsletter: Click here to register for BlogHer Business. When you get to the appropriate page, enter the word "exclusive" as your special registration code and you'll get a $200 discount.

Also, a hint -- click here to reserve your room at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel where the conference is being held.(After BlogHer Business sold out last year, we decided to increase our room block at the Affinia Manhattan this year...and already sold out! We were able to up our room block again, but if you are coming from out-of-town and would like to stay on-site, please make your reservations asap.)

$100 discount for BlogHer '08, July 18-20, San Francisco, CA
Some of you may already have taken advantage of our special earlybird pricing for BlogHer '08, which has received an overwhelming response. Unlike last year, however, this year's awesome, all-in-one venue means that once we sell out, we simply won't have room for more. So if you're thinking about attending, we encourage you to register early.

As a service to the readers of this newsletter, we want you to know that we have extended earlybird pricing ($248 for the full three days) another four weeks; it will now end on March 31. After that, pricing will go up to $348 for the full conference pass.

(2) "A Letter to My Body" - Help Magali Amadei and Claire Mysko of 5resolutions interview Jess Weiner, the "Queen of Self Esteem" and write your next essay - letters to our bodies when they don't work like we want them to



The response to our new community event, "A Letter to My Body," has been overwhelming! Our initial call for essays, led by Suzanne Reisman, has resulted in more than 90 essays linked from BlogHer (bottom of this page) and dozens more on BlogHer.com and around the Web.

More please! This week we invite you to join these events:

So now it's time for the infertile girls to speak. Those without fertility issues are invited, of course, as well to add their link too. But I would especially love to get my fellow stirrup queens addressing their bodies. Frankly, this was a pretty cathartic exercise and I bawled while writing my letter below. And the rest of the world needs to know how we view our bodies. We are a diverse bunch--from those who knew going into conception that they'd need assistance to those who were shocked by the diagnosis. Some of us have pursued treatments or adoption and others have decided to live child-free. Don't even get me started on the myriad of ways we process infertility emotionally. We all have strong feelings--good and bad--about our bodies.

Dear Body:

I think we know each other pretty well by this point; best friends more than general acquaintances. So I think I can be frank with you and not have it ruin our relationship. Since best friends let each other know when they have food stuck between their teeth or when they're acting like a raving bitch. Body, I think you know in your heart what I'm going to say. You've really let me down...
~ Melissa, aka The Town Crier, in her own A Letter To My Body

Melissa has already recruited four posts at the bottom of hers -- we'd love to read yours too.

And if you don't already read Claire and Magali's body image blog, you'll want to start here: What is your six-year-old's beauty routine?

Mine included overalls, dirty knees and bedtime stories. How about yours?

Hope to see you soon in New York or San Francisco!

Best,
Lisa

for

Elisa, Jory and Lisa

Subscribe to this newsletter