If you don't want to swat bar-flies all night or deal with the drama of your town's hot spots, you can stay home for a fun, laid-back bachelorette party.

Chat Chew & Chocolate offers party kits, which include games, plates, cups, BROWNIES & COOKIES, goodie bags, and a "Sex and the City" DVDis an instant party for eight women: just add wine. Okay, so I added the "wine" part -- good chocolate would be plenty intoxicating for many women!

When the weather turns cold and our clothes turn clunky, our closets seem to shrink. That's especially true if you -- like me -- still have leftover bridesmaid dresses crammed in there.

My sister is only a few weeks away from delivering my first nephew (okay, her first child) and she's been "nesting" for months. She's cleaned out any extra stuff from every closet, drawer and shelf in her whole house. Every time I visit, she offers some of her unearthed findings to me before she makes another trip to make a donation to Goodwill. One of the items I happily took home with me was a box of Space Bags.

We've all seen the infomercial (photo at left): take a closet full of bulky comforters, clothes and pillows, stuff it in the clear plastic bag, zip, and attach your vacuum hose to the bag. Voila -- the stack shrinks to a shadow of its former huge self. Could it really be that easy? Yes, it is!

I reclaimed some precious space in the closet by putting all of those dresses into a slimmer, shrunken hanging space bag. There are only two caveats. One: don't overfill the hanging bag or the hanger holder at the top could come apart, which breaks the vacuum seal. Two: don't put in clothes you want to access easily -- you'll have to re-seal and vacuum the bag every time you remove/add items.

Overall, though, it feels fantastic to reclaim some closet space. It's the closest thing to returning to a time when you didn't have to allocate a corner of the closet to dresses you didn't even pick out... back in the BB era... "Before Bridesmaid-dom."

Oh the lengths we'll go to show our love!

My Mom had grand plans to grow out her hair and cut it off to donate to Locks of Love in celebration of her 65th birthday. Nearly eight months before her big milestone, her hair was barely long enough to make a ponytail so we assumed she wouldn't be able to cross that finish line in time.

But in a bittersweet twist, she was able to make the hair donation after all... because she shaved her head before the hair started falling out from the chemotherapy treatments she'd just started.

It was a year ago this week that our family heard news that changed our lives forever: my Mom told us she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, she was only 64 years old. The good news is she's OK now. After a lumpectomy then months of chemotherapy and radiation, she's finished her treatment with a positive prognosis. The bad news is, she's not alone.
I went to my favorite hair stylist to make the big cut (photo above) for my Mom's one-year anniversary to donate to Locks of Love or Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I'm incredibly thankful and relieved that this small gesture was in HONOR of my Mom... not in memory.

Sadly though, at the exact moment the stylist was cutting off my ponytail, the mobile phone in his pocket began ringing. It was unthinkably terrible news: his Mom has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

I'm disheartened that I have an idea what the next year will be like for him and his family. But I told him that the support of loved ones will sustain him. The women who were my bridesmaids were among those who kept my spirits high during the lows.

Be grateful for your friends... they'll stand beside you during the wedding and every day thereafter.

Hug your loved ones... get regular screenings... pray/send positive thoughts to those who are on the path to get well again -- and to those who are just beginning.

"For better or for worse"... we know it's part of the bride's vows. But it can also be part of a bridesmaid's vows: you'll wear whichever dress the bride chooses... for better or for worse.

BridesmaidEssentials.com co-hosted a bridesmaid fashion show today at the Southern Women's Show, featuring the best and worst of what's worn down the aisle.

We started with the "for worse" styles (at right), which were entered and worn by finalists of a local radio station contest. You can see why this lovely frock -- I deemed it the "Prom Hell" look -- was the audience choice for the worst bridesmaid dress.

But there are many designers now who provide the "better" end of the deal (at left).

The show's exclusive fashion partner was Bella Bridesmaid, which features a collection for the modern bridesmaid. The company has 25+ locations all over the country. Each boutique offers stylish, wearable bridesmaid dresses, shoes and accessories.

Our models were four young women with College Nannies & Tutors and they were fabulous! The fashion show highlighted dresses from Coren Moore, Dessy, Jenny Yoo, LulaKate, Priscilla of Boston, Simple Silhouettes, TwoBirds, Vineyard Collection.

The dresses illustrated the current trend for brides to choose bridesmaid dresses for their gals that are coordinated -- not cloned. The bride picks a specific color (or palette) and fabric, and lets the bridesmaids select the style. (This is easiest when all the dresses/styles come from the same designer.)

As for the rest of the purchases and expenses bridesmaids must cover, let's talk about the vow of "for richer or for poorer"...

Once the wedding & baby floodgates open, you'll hardly go a few months without attending some kind of shower for your gal pals. If you're the lady of honor at one of those soirees, it's always a good gesture to give the hostesses a little "thank you" gift to recognize their efforts on your special day.

Today, I helped host a tea for my best friend from college, my then-roommate Lee (photo at right - in the middle). We celebrated the upcoming birth of her baby boy.

It was -- by far -- the easiest shower I've ever co-hosted. We held it at a local tea room called La Tea Da's and one of the other hostesses set the menu. I just showed up, smiled and took photos!

After a wonderfully intimate (and delicious) lunch, the festivities ended. Our beautiful guest of honor gave us a humorous hostess gift that's also environmentally friendly: note paper made from elephant dung! I'm not poo-ing you, I'm serious! You can find it and other poo products at the online "poo-tique" of the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company.

Besides saving the dung from the (ahem) dump, the company says its "wide range of fun products also contribute modestly to the welfare and conservation efforts for endangered elephants."

This is not only a thoughtful present (everybody can use some extra note paper!) but it's conversation starter. It's also a gift that's responsibly green.... or, um, poo brown.

Planning a wedding can sometimes feel like an Olympic feat (the bride gets gold in the end!) but every four years, we're reminded of the true endurance of the real Olympians. And while most people go through their lives without seeing an Olympic athlete in person, I was lucky to attend the same wedding as beach volleyball gold-medalist, Misty May-Treanor (far left), last fall.

My husband's cousin, Lauren Lahmeyer (middle, with sister Jenna Lahmeyer Brannon, right) married Taylor Tankersley in Florida. Taylor and Misty's husband, Matt Treanor, both play pro baseball for the Florida Marlins.

Since spotting her at the wedding, it's even more thrilling to see the coverage of Misty and her volleyball partner, Kerri Walsh, in Beijing. These gals are the women to beat: they came into the 2008 Olympics as the reigning world champions.

During all of the reporting on these two sports stars, I read that Misty doesn't wear her wedding band in matches but Kerri does, and she accidentally lost her gold wedding ring in the sand in a match on Sunday. Thankfully, it was found after volunteers searched the sand with metal detectors. Now, if the ladies just had a good bridesmaid nearby who could've held that ring until after the ceremony... the medal presentation ceremony!

(p.s. Thanks so much for the photo, Uncle Wayne! I spotted myself in the background, too...)

You could choose a "Hello Kitty" diary with a little lock and a pen with feathers on the end... or you could be fancy, and pick up a formal, leather-bound tome with an elegant Pelikan pen. Or you could just download and print out several copies of the food journal from BridesmaidEssentials.com. Either way, that food diary just might help you double your weight loss!