This weekend in New Orleans I popped into the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, a building I've walked by several times but never entered. The usual things brought me inside this time: curiosity, a compulsive search for cool pictures that increasingly defines my days, and a sudden desire to find a calm spot in a nonstop city I love that can nonetheless can be exhausting.

"Go with the flow, Laurie. Go with the flow. It works every time." So said my new friend Frances Ellen as we walked along Fisherman's Wharf, in the middle of a day where I was distinctly not following this directive for a variety of reasons, and she was nudging her daughter and my friend, BlogHer Health and Wellness contributing editor Catherine Morgan, to buy a tote bag in which to...er, tote the conference swag back to Florida.

Mother's Day is just around the corner, and today BlogHer is launching a series called "Mother Knows Best". We're inviting you to join us in celebrating the best things our mothers taught us. In the comments section below, or on your own blog, post about the best lessons you learned from your mom. We'll all learn something!

Disclosure: I received a copy of Celebrity Detox from Hachette Book Group for review. People often assume I'm a big Rosie fan because, well, because all lesbians are Rosie fans, right? Or maybe it is because I can often be found wearing my "go blog urself" t-shirt gifted to me by a friend and former co-worker. Or maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe people assume I am a Rosie fan because I like brash, outspoken, real women. Until today, I wouldn't have called myself a Rosie fan at all. Today, I finished Celebrity Detox - and it made me a fan.

A quick recap is in order here, because I feel as if I failed to mention a minor, possibly insignificant detail. It’s just a little something that bears no importance. I got a new! fantastic! job!

Like the blogger at Chasing Rainbows, I too support freedom of speech. After all, it's a basic right guaranteed to all Americans, isn't it?