Kate Meyers: My friend M.C. and I could solve the world's ills on our hikes. I mean, we girls get down to it, get our endorphin fix and our cardio on track, and discuss everything from confidence in adolescence to the new Bare Fruit dried apples (excellent!) at Costco. I love these outings because they're a double win: exercise and girl time -- the latter making the former seem like complete fun. 

I exaggerate about the world's ills; we don't have an answer to the oil spill, the current situation in Afghanistan or the economy (though we do share tips on saving and budgeting). We do, however, make progress in our own lives through sharing our thoughts, victories and dilemmas. Really, it's cheap therapy -- and the time is only up when we say so.

Today, M.C. was brilliant. She said she has decided to be her own wife. "And so I say to myself," she said, as we huffed up the mountain, "'M.C., what is it you need?' And the answer I said back to myself was, 'Pampering.'" So she went to Massage Envy (we both like the no-frills concept, HATE the name) and had a 90-minute massage. 

M.C. then did an imitation of herself, in her altered state, picking up her oldest daughter from high school -- not normally the best time of day for either of them. (M.C. is a working mom of four.) Post-massage M.C. was a super-loose, happy mom smiling in the SUV, and the ensuing mother-daughter conversation was so pleasant that she decided to JOIN Massage Envy, signing on for a monthly rub. 

I'm about to call and sign up myself, but my inner "wife" tells me I need a pedicure first. This, my friends, is a marriage truly made in heaven.