The occasion of a friend’s East Coast wedding introduced Tod and Jennifer Owsley to a brand new style of tent, both elegant and unique and perfect for sophisticated events and weddings.

Creatively designed by New England craftsman and accomplished sail maker, Steve Sperry, these tents are set apart from the ordinary. The Sperry tents are built with stylish nautical flair, hand-sewn panels of waterproof sailcloth, stainless steel grommets, and tent lines with rigging cleats. The wooden support poles are reminiscent of a ship’s mast and are hand cut at the Sperry sawmill. Tod and Jennifer immediately began to acquaint West Coast consumers with this striking alternative; a tent beautiful on the inside.

Upon graduation from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Management, Jennifer Owsley moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in the events industry at the acclaimed Paula LeDuc Fine Catering. The company’s fast paced atmosphere as a high-end, full service caterer provided a fabulous working environment during the five years she handled event production and sales. Jennifer now uses these skills consulting to wedding planners and caterers.

As General Manager of Best Beverage Catering in San Francisco through the mid 90’s, Tod Owsley coordinated such major hospitality events as the Super Bowl 1998 in San Diego, San Francisco’s Black and White Ball, and the Major League Baseball World Series Hospitality Village 1998. Subsequently, Tod became director for City Access Providers, a nationwide corporate concierge.

After more than 20 years in the San Francisco Bay area, the Owsleys expertise and professional guidance in the special events industry have brought high degrees of satisfaction and pleasure to their clients.

In addition to servicing the entire West Coast with their unique tents, Zephyr Tents also designs and manufactures their own custom line of furnishings. These include Early American wood farm tables and coordinating benches as well as a custom Early American wood bar for rental. Zephyr Tents is looking to give the wedding and events world a new look that will stand the test of time. Visit our website for elegant and unique ideas for your next event. Find out more about Zephyr Tents here.

After picking up their children from yet another birthday party, two busy moms got to talking about presents, parties and plastic. They knew there had to be a better way. Little did they know, their growing desire for a meaningful solution, could actually spark a movement.

After countless meetings in the school playground, in the parking lot and even the planetarium, it became clear - their desire to improve the world, along side their children, was actually possible. Time starved, sleep deprived and energized for change, they set out to create ECHOage.com – a ONE Gift, ONE Cause, solution to the current trend in birthday party madness. With their combined backgrounds in teaching, design, marketing and motherhood, they believed they could give children a hands-on opportunity to do something for the planet, their peers and even their parents! Without borders and without waste, these two mothers discovered that by actually doing less, children can easily give back so much more.

EchoAge follows a "ONE Gift, ONE Cause" philosophy that pools together funds customarily spent on birthday presents. Half the total goes to one memorable gift for the child and the other half is donated to one charity of the child's choice (such as Nourish America, EarthCorps, Feed The Hungry. No need for guests to shop, wrap a gift, drive around or even pick up the phone. EchoAge arranges everything from the hip, paperless invites to the RSVP's, etc.

Already, over 50,000 meals have been fed to hungry families, kids with cancer are going to camp, green spaces are being created, carbon emissions of 40, 000 trips to the toy store have been averted, and wrapping from 40,000 gifts has been saved because children are choosing to use their birthday to make a difference in the world. ECHOage.com. Where Children Celebrate Giving

Children have always been the central focus of Peter Tsakanikas' life. "There is nothing more important than children," he says, and throughout his lifetime, his actions have confirmed this philosophy time and time again.

Before Peter dedicated is his to children's causes, he was a mechanical and environmental engineer. In 1987, he led 3M's research and operating facility for the production of the magnetic tape used in videocassettes developing the first-ever 100% recyclable and environmentally safe tape product, saving 3M millions of dollars in hazmat disposal costs. 3M sold the process shortly after to DuPont.

Peter left the corporate world in 1990, seeking independence. He launched a consulting company called Enviro International; it was, he says "the best decision of my life." Though the company grew rapidly, expanding into several separate companies and becoming a world leader in groundwater pollution consulting, Peter's primary focus was his family and the many children in the world who had no families of their own. He'd married in 1980 and had his first child, Dmitri, in 1989. By 1994, when his second son, John was born, Peter was a self-made millionaire, using his money, energy, and time to make the world a better place through organizations such as the Arizona Children's Home.

In 1995, Peter suffered a life-altering tragedy: his son John died of head trauma in a babysitter's care. Says Peter, "When an event like this happens in your life, people deal with it in different ways. I decided to work with children as much as I could." Though he and his wife separated shortly after, they remained close, adopting Natalia, a four year old girl, from a Russian orphanage in 1999. It was there that he learned the needs and operations of orphanages, and began to sponsor Natalia's.

Imbued with a new purpose, Peter began to sell his corporations and focus on children's issues. Discussion with friends in Greece birthed the concept of Vive, a all-organic, all-natural baby clothing line that would focus on the protection of the baby and the promotion of children's issues. In 2007, Peter put together "an exceptional group of people that aspire to the principles of Vive: to devise an organic, non-chemical, non-polluting luxury lifestyle for the baby."

Peter's "soft spot" for South America was one factor among many that led to the selection o fan organic farm and a Fair Trade factory in Peru for Vive's production. "To deal with children's issues," Peter says, "sometimes you need to extend that with women's rights, environmental rights, etc. " Vive's organic, environmentally and socially conscious, children's-centric policies are an amalgam of Peter's goals. John's loss helped him realize this. It was, he says, a "confirmation of what I believed ever since I could remember."

Find the exclusive Vive Line here: viveforbabies.com

Although Julie Grim works for a large pharmaceutical company as a specialty sales manager, painting is her passion.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1992 with a Bachelors Degree in Zoology, Julie began dabbling in different art schools in the evenings. In 2002, she began pursuing her studies more seriously and continues to attend many workshops around the country learning from many different nationally recognized artists. Two years ago she traveled to the French Countryside to paint in the Loire Valley studying Plein Aire painting with impressionist Gay Faulkenberry. She lived in a castle and painted outside everyday. It was the trip of a lifetime! She enjoys the intense outdoor elements of fleeting light and shadows that easily translate into an impression of nature onto canvas, dancing in light and kissed by strokes of color.  

Julie really loves to paint dogs. “Painting their eyes is the most fun,” she says. “There is happiness, sadness, and mischievousness in every animals eyes.” She finds herself smiling and giggling while painting them. She paints from photos, and finds that the best paintings come from photos that have a good contrast of warm light and cool shadows on the pet.  

Not surprising, she paints a lot of deceased dogs. Owners want to capture their pet’s personality in a fun yet sacred way, and her paintings seem to offer that. All she needs is a good photo.  

Julie paints at her home in Keller with her husband Rob, who built her studio, her 13 year old son Garrett, who is great at helping figure out and solve problems in the paintings, and of course, her Jack Russell Terrier, Sally.

Her work is currently featured at www.juliegrim.com, JH Interiors in Colleyville, TX, Elite Suites in Southlake, TX, and City Pet Supply in Dallas, TX.

For the past three decades, director, writer, and Emmy-award winning actress Melanie Mayron has successfully contributed to the television and film industries. Schooled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a student of Lee Strasberg, and a member of the Actors Studio, Mayron’s career highlights include acting roles in television and films, most recently in “Lipstick Jungle” on NBC. She is best known for the role of ‘Melissa’ in “Thirtysomething,” the award-winning indie film “Girl Friends,” Costa Gavras’ “Missing,” and her own “Sticky Fingers” which she co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in. She has recently directed episodes of “Tell Me You Love Me” and “In Treatment” on HBO, “90210,” “Lipstick Jungle,” and “Greek;” and the features, “The Babysitter’s Club” and “Slap Her She’s French.” However it was the role of motherhood that inspired her to launch a new natural skin care line called Mayron’s Good Baby. Twelve years in development, the product line has been a family affair–down to the selection of each and every ingredient.

Before the birth of her children ten years ago, Mayron approached her chemist father David, with over 45 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, about formulating a natural diaper and barrier cream that was safe enough to use at every diaper change. A partnership was born. After the debut of the diaper cream formula, the father and daughter team have gone on to create a number of additional products that will be released in winter and spring 2009.

“The entire Mayron’s Good Baby natural skin care line is free from synthetic fragrances, paraben, sodium lauryl sulfate, and DEA,” says Melanie Mayron. She adds, “It was a wonderful experience to work with my father on the creation of these natural products.”

Mayron likes to joke that her cruelty-free products have never been tested on animals and instead, “only on actresses’ babies,” many of whom she has worked with personally over the years. In fact, Mayron’s Good Baby’s “Our Best” Barrier and Diaper Cream has become increasingly popular with several celebrity moms who sing its praises.

For more information or to order products, please visit www.mayronsgoodbaby.com.

From the time she was young, Stacy Denney’s life has been about passion and commitment.  Attributing her motivation to devoted family and friends, Stacy has built an exciting and unique business model that caters to the physical, psychological and emotional needs of the expectant mother, both online and in her award-winning maternity spas.

The nation’s first maternity spa, Barefoot & Pregnant opened its doors in fall 2003. In just five years, Stacy cultivated one of the most respected and trusted names for information, services and innovation among expecting women and their circle of influence.  She planned and launched the spa, from architecture, design and construction management to systems and equipment purchasing. Additionally, Stacy operated the employee-based business for 2 1/2 years.

For the last five years, Stacy’s life has been a whirlwind of pregnancy, from her own to those of women from around the world.  Experiencing the needs of expecting parents first-hand, Stacy realized the need for community on a wider scale.  To meet the demand, she is launching the preeminent online educational and social community for expecting parents. BarefootandPregnant.com will provide connection, information and reassurance during the experience of having a baby.  

Her success with Barefoot & Pregnant has led Stacy to pen two popular books “Spa Mama” and “Fit Mama” (Chronicle Books).  She is an iVillage expert, and is a regular contributor to iVillage.com’s Pregnancy and Parenting channel.  Barefoot & Pregnant is also a Fit Pregnancy Magazine partner.  

Before launching Barefoot & Pregnant, Stacy spent more than 15 years in marketing.  Shortly after earning a degree at Florida State University, she entered the advertising world with a vengeance, working on national accounts ranging from hospitality and tourism to telecom and finance.  With deep experience and an entrepreneurial spirit, she decided to take a risk and launch America’s first true community for pregnant women.

Of all her achievements, Stacy considers her most significant to be her marriage to her soul mate and being a mother to her two young sons.  With their love and support, Stacy will continue to make a difference in the lives of expecting moms.

John Black is a dad of twins and a residential landscape designer in Palo Alto, Calif. While his work has earned local acclaim and national exposure on HGTV and MarketWatch.com, John didn’t start out designing gardens. With a Bachelor's degree in communication and a Master's in sociology from Stanford University, he spent the first part of his career in advertising, building up brands such as Kimberly-Clark, C|NET and Saturn Corporation. After a brief turn founding a non-profit arts agency, in 2001 John realigned his work with his lifelong interest in the natural world: “I loved the creativity of advertising and the arts, and I wanted to channel that into directly enriching people’s lives,” he says. He enrolled in the horticulture program at a local college, and today is the principal of Verdance Fine Garden Design.

The flexibility of self-employment allows John to divide his days between his family and his work, while at night he pursues his career certificate in landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. He still finds time to write a widely-read blog, "A Verdant Life," as well as lead classes on "kidscaping" — designing yards that not only are fun and safe for children but also foster emotional and psychological development. “My hope is that parents recognize the importance of being connected with nature," he says. "These courses help us all create safely chaotic spaces to encourage play, creativity and self-awareness in their children.” John is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the California Landscape Contractors Association, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and of course Mid-Peninsula Parents of Multiples.

The idea for How Fast They Grow was born out Cathy Bennett’s frustration with traditional paper scrapbooking after the birth of her son in 2004. As most moms know, there is an enormous amount of social pressure for mothers to create a baby book, baby scrapbook or otherwise memorialize their child’s first year. Cathy thought there should be a beautiful, easy way to make a baby book from one’s own computer using digital photos.

How Fast They Grow™ allows its members to easily create 12 by 12 inch pages by dragging and dropping their digital photos into pre-designed templates. They can send a link of their pages to friends and family, free. Then, they can order their pages for $7.50 each. Commercial photo websites sell books, not pages, so it is impossible to build a baby book over time. How Fast They Grow members start their books when they are pregnant and usually order 3-6 pages at a time. To date, How Fast They Grow has over 7,000 active members, and the number is growing every day.

Find How Fast They Grow here: http://www.howfasttheygrow.com

My name is Lisa Brown. I’m a widowed mother of two children: Joey, age 11 and Sarah, age 9.  I am also a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who has learned through my work the importance of active parenting and the significance of the guided development our children need.  My life has taught me the value of love and family.
 
While driving to work after another harried morning of breakfast, making lunches and some strong encouragement for teeth brushing, I found myself reflecting on how difficult it is to find time to just sit with the kids and talk. The idea hit me to design a tool that would do just that - help us communicate and make the most of our precious time together.
 
That night I told the kids!  My son’s response “you already work too much!”  My response - “That’s why we’re going to do this together.” We went out to dinner and started brainstorming for topics and questions and here we are!
 
We have learned a lot together about product design, setting up a web site and the like.  We have enjoyed Mat Chats with each other and with dinner guests.  Mat Chats has brought us some challenges, increased our quality time together and allowed us to share some laughs.

www.matchats.com  

L’il Darlins was born in mid 2006 as my mother, Jeanne Roth and I set out to design children’s specialty items that were creatively constructed and designed to hold up against wear and tear. Our products reflect who we are…mothers looking for children’s products that are appealing to the eye, washable, grow with your children, and are all around fabulous! We’ve actually expanded our line with two new accessory purses, one for teens and one for breastfeeding moms on the go!

Having a Master’s degree in education, I’ve been around children for many years, however, it was my three daughters that inspired us to create this adorable children’s accessory line. My partner, my mom, has owned many successful businesses and between the two of us, we have created a children’s line of accessories that Moms will love.  ALL of our products were thoughtfully designed because we know first hand how important a good quality bib, burp cloth, cozy blanket, kids apron, and accessory purse really is.  For more information about L'il Darlins, LLC please visit our website at www.lildarlins.org or contact Leslie Smith directly at 610-420-4546 or lil_darlins@lildarlins.org