Our exurbanites-in-chief took the mobile office to the beach yesterday for a high-level planning session. The decision: not to plan. Why ruin the spontaneity, right? Just kidding…actually, look for a nifty new design in the coming months and several new contributors.  If you have ideas or input for Exurb, please email: editor@exurbmagazine.com. Thanks for reading!

Sandra Bullock won last night for her role as heroic mom Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. We loved Sandra’s heartfelt acceptance speech. She thanked all the moms who take care of all the babies of the world. It made our hearts soar. Now Exurb would also like to bestow an award on Sandra’s– or, rather, her character’s– hair: Best Portrayal of Stereotypical Suburban Mom Hair. Bangs + a little too blonde + a little too coifed =  Stepford Wife Exurb Wife (in the worst sense, of course). This ends the ongoing and important controversy over whether or not there is such thing as suburban hair. There is. It’s called the Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Many of us swear we gave up living in hot spots when we moved to the burbs, but guess what? We’re wrong. That is, according to Forbes. The magazine recently released it’s list of top 10 places to live to get ahead. According to journalist Francesa Levy, all the places have one thing in common: They’re suburbs of major cities. That’s right, dearies. We are, indeed, living in the hot spots. Now hurry up because you’re probably late for Gymboree.

check out Francesa Levy’s article on MSNBC.com

Athough your meeting with a Living Trust/Will attorney may not end with the same question “surf or turf?” for your burial preferences, like ours did, it should happen. Yes, couples of our age and demographic should talk about “the end” and what happens after our demise.

You’ve bought the house, paid the mortgage, had the kids, bought the life insurance. Now it’s time to think what happens after “happily ever after”. Our attorney made it (somewhat) pleasant. We went through several scenarios to determine what works best for our needs. It depends on your assets. And to our surprise, Congress has made some pretty hefty changes to the “death tax” limit. Yes sir (and lady!) taxes at your death can mean 45-55% of your assets being handed over to the government instead of your survivors. If you don’t want this to happen, I suggest you too, meet with an attorney who can explain this to you, help you develop your Living Trust, and for a price, have it filed.

We opted to go see Grant Pederson, at Pederson Law Offices in Thousand Oaks. I actually remember when Grant was born. His sister is a friend from elementary school and they lived up the street from us. Now he’s all grown up and helped walk us through all the steps to make the right decisions for our family.

Not always the most pleasant of thoughts, or the most exciting thing to accomplish from your Bucket List, but believe me, knowing it’s taken care of feels better already.

Thanks to Stephanie G. for sending us this reader link. WARNING: it’s NOT for your children’s ears!