Have you read Marley & Me? It’s a book that should come with a warning. Seriously… don’t read it in public. And truth be told, don’t read it if you have a pet. I wish I hadn’t. But one afternoon last year, arriving early to meet my husband for dinner, I stopped in at Chapters for a quick browse and a big mistake.

Forty-five minutes later I was heaving in the New Books section wiping snot all over my sweater, so distraught that I was no longer in the mood for our date and had to head straight home to be with Marcus.

My friend Julie suffered the same fate on a plane. Half way through the flight she was wailing with an audience of 200 surrounding her – the kind of crying when you’re unable to breathe, when all you want to do is hug yourself and rock back and forth.

I’m telling you – Marley & Me is brutal.

So of course they’re making it into a movie starring Owen Wilson and the teary-eyed queen herself, Jennifer Aniston.

They say in Hollywood that working with animals and children is the death of a career. I’d say this case is an exception. Because if the film is as tender and as humourous as the book, it will probably be a huge hit.

So in advance of the two new projects she’s just lined up, Jennifer joined BFF Courteney Cox and her family in Hawaii for a little downtime this weekend.

Here she is rowing alongside Coco and her parents showing off her super cute body in a bikini and neon shorts. Once upon a time, Jennifer Aniston was so weight obsessed, she chose “happy” over food and lost five personal trainers, who refused to accept her dangerous eating habits, in the process.

These days, a mellow Jen has chilled out. And the results are lovely.

source and source