My family and I are on vacation on sunny southern California this week. That’s right…I decided it was time to soak in some vitamin D and bask in the warmth of that big glowing orb in the sky called the sun (Seattle winters can be tough!).

I’d planned to do work while I was here, but three days into my trip, it dawned on me that I need a day off. Actually, I need a week off! I need to recharge, replenish, and relax, and so that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m a big advocate of taking the day off… I think it’s one of the best things we can do when life gets super hectic and stressful. So I’m following my own advice and signing off for the rest of the week. But before I go, here is a recap from a previous post with some suggestions for things you can do the next time you need to take the day off!

XOXO Debbie

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10 Ideas For Your Day Off

1. Go to the movies: There’s nothing like a little escapism to instantly transport you to another world where your stresses don’t exist. And who knows…maybe the movie you choose to see will impart some wisdom to you that will apply to your classwork?
2. Go to a museum: Getting inspired from the masters, past and present, might help you tap into your creative side and find different approaches to handling your stress.
3. Take a break from TV & the computer: A day with no screen time? Give your eyes and your over-stimulated mind a break. You’ll not only feel calmer…you’ll have more time to devote to other things (like relaxing).
4. Volunteer: There’s no better way to put your stressful life in perspective than by devoting a few hours or an afternoon to helping out with one of your favorite causes.
5. Pamper yourself: Finding time for a massage, facial, pedicure, haircut…even a long bath at home, gives your body and soul the message that taking care of your well-being is a priority.
6. Go for a hike: If you live in the city, get out into the country. If you live in the country, head into town. Wherever you end up, wear comfortable shoes and walk, walk, walk. With each step, you’ll pound out some stress and do something great for your body at the same time.
7. Go to the zoo: What could be more zen than watching animals do their thing? A short trip to the zoo can be a great reminder of the wonders of nature, life, the universe and everything.
8. Read a book: Curl up on the couch, pull up your grandma’s crocheted afghan, and dive into a book (NOT a textbook or school work).
9. Organize or clean your bedroom: It might sound odd, but there’s something very zen and satisfying about putting everything in its place. Plus, cleaning and organizing can reduce your stress in the long run.
10. Spend time with your friends or family: At the end of the day, spending quality time with the people we love is really what life is all about, isn’t it?

When was the last time you took a day off? What did you do?

My friend Lee just passed along a great article from the NY Times called The Barriers Fell, One Year, One Step at a Time, which is about the journey women have taken to become runners (thanks Lee!).

While as a runner I’ve personally experienced the many benefits of this sport, and even wrote about why it’s such a great thing for girls and women to do in my book , I don’t know if I fully realized how far women have come in the sport in such a short period of time.

The article talks about how, even as late as the 1970’s, women were discouraged from taking part in any competitive sports, but especially running. In fact, women weren’t even allowed to run the popular Boston Marathon until 1972.

Okay, I’m dating myself a bit here, but I was alive in 1972 (a toddler, but still…). I find it almost impossible to believe that women and girls were denied so many incredible opportunities in my lifetime. But I’m also thankful things are much better today. I started running when I was in middle school, and still do it today. It’s done more for my body image, self-esteem, self-confidence, emotional well-being, and health and fitness than anything else.

So, I wonder what’s next for women and girls? We’re running marathons, we’re flying to outer space, we’ve got our own national basketball league. Well, I can think of one more barrier we need to break through…becoming President of the United States. I can only hope I get to see this first in my lifetime, too!

If you’re a future designer and are setting your sites on going to design college in fall 2010, here’s a scholarship opportunity for you. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Teen Vogue have joined forces with Target to offer scholarships for top design schools for a few lucky talented teens.

The grand prize winner will receive up to $25,000 in tuition, plus a trip to Target headquarters in Minneapolis to work with the Target Design team and a trip to New York City to attend the CFDA Fashion Awards. Five runners-up will win $5,000 each, and all six finalists will receive a Singer sewing machine as well a collection of design books and guides.

Interested? Submit a completed application (including high school transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and an essay explaining why you want to be a designer) and a mood board (with sketches) illustrating your views on fashion between July 15 and July 20, 2009. Oh, and application forms won’t be available for download after June 30, so don’t delay!

Find out all the details here, and good luck!

I just found out about a new documentary film screening across the country: “Straightlaced: How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up.” The film takes a powerful and intimated look at how popular pressures around gender and sexuality are shaping the lives of American teens.

The filmmakers made the film to draw attention to the fact that gender-based stereotypes and anti-gay attitudes affect the lives of all students today. The girls who won’t play sports because they don’t want to be called “lezzies”; the boys who make crude comments about girls’ bodies just to prove to their peers that they aren’t gay; the students who won’t raise their hands in class because it’s gay to be smart.

Here’s some more info from the film’s sponsoring organization, Groundspark:

The heart of Straightlaced is candid interviews with more than 50 teens from diverse backgrounds. With refreshing honesty, the diverse youth in the film open up about the pressure to conform to rigid gender role expectations. Boys who have to act tough even though they may feel vulnerable, or girls who have to dress provocatively just to fit in, reveal the toll it takes on them to live up to gender role expectations and how that limits who they really want to be.

Any student who watches the film will find someone whose experience with these issues mirrors their own. This is not a film for students about “those other people” — it is a film about them. Audiences will walk away from the film inspired to challenge anti-gay assumptions and actions among others, and for themselves.

Check out the trailer below and find out where you can see the film on the .

When it comes to the world’s hot spots, we all know about what’s going on in Iraq, Sudan, and maybe even Zimbabwe.

So it might surprise you to know that the world’s most deadliest conflict since World War II is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. More than 5.4 million people have died from the war and its aftermath so far.

Women are the backbone of society and the best, brightest hope in the Congo, but as is the case with many conflicts around the world, the women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis. In fact, right now eastern Congo is the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or a girl. That’s because sexual violence and rape exist on a scale seen nowhere else in the world – it’s used as a weapon of war intent to destroy and exterminate women, their families, and their communities.

A campaign called Raise Hope for Congo is trying to inspire people all over the world, including teens, to join together and bring awareness to this crisis. You may wonder what you can do from here, but Raise Hope has all kinds of suggestions, including things like joining the cause on and , customizing your email signature to include an appeal to join the movement, subscribe to the Raise the Hope iTunes and , download a Congo graphic to your cell phone, and much more. Watch the video below to find out more, and then get connected with Raise Hope for Congo on their website or on , , or Youth Noise to get involved.

If you are a lover of young adult literature and you live in New York City, check out this incredible teen author festival hosted by the . Today, Thursday, libraries in all five boroughs will be hosting some of your favorite authors who’ll be reading from their beloved books. Here’s a sampling of who’s reading around town:

• BROOKLYN: Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, Leslie Margolis, Abby Sher, Matthue Roth, Robin Wasserman
• BRONX: Coe Booth, Madeleine George, Paul Griffin, Brian Sloan, Melissa Walker
• MANHATTAN: Matt de la Pena, Daphne Grab, Mary Hogan, Bill Konigsburg, Barry Lyga, Carolyn MacCullough David Levithan, Bennett Madison, Lauren McLaughlin, Billy Merrell, Marie Rutkoski, Lisa Ann Sandell, Courtney Sheinmel, Rachel Vail, Cecily Von Ziegesar, Martin Wilson
• QUEENS: Tara Altebrando, Laura Dower, Heather Duffy-Stone, Aimee Friedman, Eliot Schrefer, Siobhan Vivian, Rita Williams-Garcia
• STATEN ISLAND: Kate Brian, Judy Goldschmidt, Michael Northrop, Micol Ostow, Lynn Weingarten

Other special events include a performance by TIGER BEAT, the first ever YA author rock band (Books of Wonder, Thursday, 6pm), Teen Authors Celebrate Teen Readers (Sunday, NYPL Main Branch, 1pm), and the Biggest Teen Author Signing ever featuring more than 40 authors (Books of Wonder, Sunday, 4pm).

For a complete schedule of events and more information, .

So much about being a teen is figuring out who you are, what makes you tick…what your identity is all about. And while these things can’t be taken from you, identity theft is a very real phenomenon that is most recently targeting teens.

What exactly is identity theft, anyway?

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, identity theft is “when a criminal (or unauthorized person) uses your information to start new credit accounts, commit crimes in your name, get loans and even perhaps a job.”

A recent study by the Federal Trade Commission found that more than 20,000 kids and teens were the victim of identity theft in 2008.

But how exactly can your identity be stolen? Perhaps the most common way is for the wrong people to get a hold of your social security number, either by taking it from your wallet (note: Social Security cards should never be carried with you… always keep them in a safe place) or by infiltrating the security of one of the many places your number is on file (like the doctor’s office, insurance company, etc.). Teens are also especially vulnerable online, where sometimes they’ll provide too much info on blogs, multiplayer online games, and other peer-to-peer software.

The biggest concern regarding teens as victims of identity theft is that it can go on for years and only come to light once a teen is ready to apply for a job or a student loan. And then there’s a huge mess to clean up.

There are lots of ways to protect yourself from identity theft, including:

• don’t store sensitive information on a computer you use for file sharing
• don’t make your full name public when posting comments on a blog
• don’t give your highly personal information to anyone, even friends (including credit cards, bank cards, driver’s licenses, video rental cards, and even library cards)

To take a quiz and find out how savvy you are at protecting your identity, as well as learn some more identity theft prevention tips, visit the Identity Theft Resource Center here!

I just stumbled upon this article over at the fabulous blog Jezebel that I had to share. It seems a 17-year-old girl in Indiana was planning to wear a tuxedo to her prom until her principle told her the dress code forbids girls from wearing tuxedos and that she had to wear a gown instead.

Seriously?

Thankfully, the girl did what any smart girl would do…she stood up for her rights! The girl (her name hasn’t been made public) who happens to be gay, hooked up with the ACLU and sued the school, saying that she doesn’t wear dresses because she feels they indicate a sexual identity that isn’t her own. According to the ACLU, it’s a free-speech issue, since wearing a tuxedo is essentially the same thing as making an affirmative statement about her sexual orientation.

On top of that, the ACLU said that any policy allowing only boys to wear tuxes to a prom is a violation of Title IX, which prohibits schools from discriminating along gender lines.

The good news here? The school reversed their policy only four days after the suit was filed, saying, “School policy for this year’s prom will be that all attendees shall wear appropriate formal attire with no gender-based attire requirements imposed. Female students will be permitted to wear tuxedos if they choose.”

At least this story’s got a happy ending!

The Divas over at readergirlz are gearing up to host the second annual Operation Teen Book Drop! Created by readergirlz in 2008, Operation TBD gets books into the hands of teen patients in pediatric hospitals across the country. This year, more than 8,000 YA novels, audiobooks, and graphic novels donated by 18 publishes will be distributed.

Want to be a part of the good energy? Participate in Operation TBD on April 16th by leaving a YA book in a public place – a bus stop, a coffee shop, a dressing room…anywhere teens go and might stumble upon your gift to them. Then, head over to the readergirlz blog for a TBD Post-Op Party on April 16th, at 6pm PST.

The readergirlz Divas are always making cool videos for their special events and Operation TBD is no exception. Check out their new trailer below!

What do teens do when economic times get tough? According to a new study by World Vision, they roll up their sleeves and step up to help out.

The new survey found that nearly 7 out of 10 parents say the current economic climate has made their teens “more aware of the needs of others.” More than half the parents surveyed said their teens actively support charities.

Another interesting finding of the survey is that when it comes to volunteering, teens are more likely to give their time than adults are. I love that today’s generation of teens are so cued in to the fact that every person can make a difference!