Sonoma Index Tribune:

You can give a local child a priceless gift this year by volunteering to be a mentor in the highly successful Stand By Me Mentoring Program. It takes only one hour a week devoted to one-on-one interaction with a local student, yet it can work wonders in that child's life.

More than 300 Sonoma Valley adults are volunteering their time, each for an hour a week, each for a different child, yet there still is a long list of children who are hoping that they too will receive the gift of their very own mentor.

Mentors receive training and support from the Mentoring Alliance, and the knowledge that what they are giving is truly making a difference in the life of a local child.

Many local business owners are also not only allowing their employees to take time off from work one hour a week to be a mentor, but also paying them, as though they were still on the job.

Wrap this gift to a child up by calling mentoring director Kathy Witkowicki at 707-996-6843 today.

San Francisco's Jerel and Lesley Cain of Theratopia, Inc. "Massage at Work", celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary this past weekend, and decided to try something new. Instead of mudbaths in Calistoga, they went for Enzyme Baths in Freestone, California (just one-and-a-half hours north of San Francisco).

Cedar chips mixed with rice bran and enzymes create a natural fermentation process that is very hot. You sit in a tub of what feels like moist sawdust... very, very ruggedly elegant (relaxing, soothing, therapeutic... and gritty).

Go to Osmosis (the only one in the States to offer enzyme baths). The Cain's do not have any affiliation with the spa. However, they highly recommend it.

Tell them Jerel & Lesley Cain via The Rugged Elegance Inspiration Network referred you.

Thank you Jerel & Lesley for this recommendation! We understand Travel & Leisure rated Osmosis among the top 10-day spas in the U.S. This Japanese style retreat, with bonsai and bamboo gardens, sounds like a great destination get-away, especially for those looking at taking in the Sonoma Coast, along the way.

~Jennifer