I DON'T WANNA GROW UPPPPP

While most people begin planning their birthday celebrations months in advance and turn the entire birthday month into a party all about them, the thought of my November birthday is making me ill. Instead of spending my back-to-school days partying with my friends at football tailgates and planning my Halloween costume, I’m having near-panic attacks about my impending b-day.

Why? Because I’m turning 20 and it is scaring the crap out of me.

I haven’t always been afraid of my birthday. When I was a wee tween, I was so excited to turn 14 I had a countdown on my wall. I was constantly reading books that made it seem like the age to be. The girls seemed so sophisticated and mature, usually because they were dealing with things like getting their first kiss (which I coincidentally got when I was 14…I knew it would be an awesome age). Getting older was exciting, too. There were so many great perks that came with a new year: higher allowance, driver’s license, R-rated movies. But then I turned 18 and all the scary changes that came with that age threw me for a loop. Read More »

Once upon a time, women sat around on Sunday nights sipping cocktails and tuning in to their favorite fashion friends on Sex and the City. But whether you were more of a Samantha or a Carrie type doesn’t matter anymore because there’s a whole new gang of girls in town.

The new fashionistas to watch are the girls of the hit series Mad Men.

The buxom Joan Holloway, the poised Betty Draper, and the spunky Peggy Olsen don’t just entertain us but allow us to feast our eyes on the fabulous designs of yesteryear, coordinated by the show’s talented costume designer, Janie Bryant. Pair the dresses walking down the halls of Sterling Cooper with period pumps and handbags and you’ll look a bit dated, but it’s easy to glam them up 2009-style with tights, belted cardigans or ankle boots.

Check out the StyleHive slide show for some vintage delights for Mad Men fans. Now you’re one step closer to becoming Joan Holloway.

Don't let her size fool you.

Just recently, the Army made Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King the first female drill sergeant. No woman has ever held this top position. Another leap for womankind.

It made me think about all the women who have paved the way for King and the rest of us to reach great heights. As we sift through homework assignments and curse the injustice of thesis papers, we should take a time-out to gain inspiration from those who have already made it to where we want to be.

Oprah Winfrey
My bookshelf contains every single one of Oprah’s Book Club recommendations.  She is my lifestyle guru, and her talk show has gotten me through some dark times. Not only has she been ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women by CNN and Time.com, but she’s also one seriously cool lady. She inspires all of us to live our best life and share what we have with those around us. I always find myself asking, “WWOD?” And every time, it’s something that makes me a better person and my life a little more enriched. Read More »

After plowing through “The Lost Symbol” last week, I was looking for something a tad shorter to read. Scanning my bookshelf, my eyes fell on a tiny sliver of a novel that my mom gave me years ago. She and many others have praised the book to me, so I decided that I would give it a go.

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is already considered a classic. Despite the fact that it was only published in 1988 (1994 in English!), many readers have been captivated by “The Alchemist” and it has somewhat of a cult following. You don’t know how many times I have heard “Everyone should read this!” when a customer stumbles upon it at my bookstore. And you know what? They are absolutely right.

Similarly to “The Little Prince” (one of my favs!), “The Alchemist” is a short, simple story with a deep, profound lesson. It begins with the main character, who is only ever referred to as “the boy” in Andalusia. He is a modest shepherd, but through a course of strange events, he decides to travel to Egypt to find treasure that he believes is buried at the pyramids. Along the way, this boy meets several people who influence his journey, including, but not limited to, a gypsy woman, a crystal salesman, a woman of the desert and, of course, an alchemist. The boy is also taught to listen to omens, which speak to him and help guide him to his treasure.

However, it is not the story that is of importance in “The Alchemist.” It is the beautiful lesson that Coelho teaches through this story. Coelho proclaims that everyone on Earth has a Personal Legend, but few ever discover what this legend is and fewer fulfill it. He urges readers to be aware and passionate, living life to the fullest, while working towards their Personal Legend. A charming twist at the end teaches yet another lesson (but I won’t spoil it!). Read More »

So I’m taking a break from makeup and hair tips because I have a major idea block, and I wanted to add product reviews into our weekly meetings. I know what it’s like to see new products on store shelves and not want to waste money on something that could totally suck, so let me know what you’re looking for. I’ll tell you if it’s worth the money and, if not, what product is. So post ideas of tips, looks, and reviews that you want to see from me!

In the meantime, this week I’m reviewing one of my favorite products: Mario Badescu’s Whitening Mask. It’s totes amazing and will leave your skin looking faboosh! Yeah, I just said faboosh. It’s the only way to describe the miracle-worker that is Mario Badescu.

Hey, Kristin: apology NOT accepted!

Lady Gaga…before she got all kinds of crazy.

Back-to-school fashion at its finest.

Oh you know. Rihanna looking fabu as always.

Now THOSE are some lashes.

Wear your perfume. Literally.

Happy fall, everybody!

After months of sun and sweat, it’s finally time to enjoy good TV and cozy autumnal fashion—or not. The weather is perfect: it’s warm enough to work out outdoors, if you’re into that kind of thing, but cool enough to make getting close to a special someone—meaning someone who can take direction—even more appealing… especially if you’ve already had a few.

Fall also carries a few dangers with it. We’re going to have to start resisting the temptation to take any shortcuts with our schoolwork, being vigilant about that porky flu, and keeping track of how many baked goods we eat (especially if we choose to pull a Michael Phelps. Munchies can be murder). But as long as we still get to party—responsively, of course!—it’s all good.

Also, this happened this week. It doesn’t really have anything to do with anything; we just like linking to a picture of a giant baby every now and then.

“That’s not how she can do it in our family. She acts like she’s the queen, and we’re the sorry people!”

I’m going to level with you guys—it’s Friday. If there was ever a time to put off work by watching funny YouTube videos (or, you know, to avoid writing a real blog post by posting a funny video instead—hypothetically speaking), now is that time.

Meet King Curtis. King Curtis is somewhere between the ages of 9 and 12 (… I think. I stopped knowing how to judge how old kids are when I hit puberty), and he rules his household with a tiny, iron fist. When his indulgent mom gets swapped with another, stricter lady on ABC’s Wife Swap, King Curtis is forced to face the unthinkable: that he may not be allowed to stuff himself with spray cheese and bacon for the duration of filming.

But King Curtis won’t take this assault on junk food lying down—he’s royalty, goddamnit, and he deserves better. For your viewing pleasure, here’s the greatest tantrum ever captured on camera: Read More »

My mother (yes, my mother) once told me that if there aren’t fireworks between the sheets, it’s just not meant to be.  I immediately dismissed this advice, partly because it meant my menopausal mother was having better sex with my overweight father than I was with my supposedly sexually prime bedmate. But mostly, I rejected this theory because I didn’t, and still don’t, think its entirely true.

Sex – the good, the bad, and the ugly – where does it all fit in?

We make such a big deal about sex. It consumes us.  We lie about sex – we say we’re having less when we’re having more, and more when we’re having less. We worry about our relationship if the sex isn’t “above average.” We worry about our health, our sanity, our bodies and our worth if he simply rolls over. We use sex as a barometer for the status of our relationships when there couldn’t possibly be a less reliable, standardized or empirical indicator.

I, for one, do not believe that the caliber or frequency of the sex we’re having – or not having – is necessarily an accurate representation of what lies beneath. Now this is not to say that sex is not an important component of a relationship, because it is.  I fancy a good ole shag just as much as the next gal. What I am saying, though, is that thanks to soft core porn, (aka cable television), Megan Fox, and Cosmopolitan articles with titles like “Give Him the Best Sex of His Life” and “101 Sex Positions to Try Before You Die,” we have been made to believe that not only should we be having sex every night, but great sex every night, and this just isn’t realistic.

These fallacies also spawn a kind of sexual competition among men, women, and couples alike. “Do you guys have a swing? Where have you done it today? Have you tried the Reverse Amazon? What about the Jellyfish? The Bent Spoon?” It’s like losing your virginity automatically (and unwittingly) qualifies you for the sex Olympics and suddenly everybody’s keeping score, or being judged, or being stripped of their medals for performance enhancers. The whole world was turned upside down when Sting revealed that he has epic bouts of tantric sex with his wife on a regular basis, and women everywhere were making statements about “how lucky his wife is.” Now, I’m sorry, but I have no time to be having seven hour sex sessions; I have to eat an Italian sub, pass a bowel, and watch reality TV all before 1 p.m., so this just isn’t going to work. And quite frankly, I have no desire to play hide the canoli for four hundred and twenty minutes. Should I feel bad about that? Read More »

With all the crazy diet fads, weight loss pills and general hysteria over how to shed extra weight, it’s no surprise when another completely ridiculous tactic comes out.

And I’m not talking “only eat bacon” ridiculous.

Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Nikolas Chugay’s mesh patch. When sewn onto the tongue it becomes so painful to eat, that you just can’t. That’s right this doctor from California who has a PhD in medicine is going to make it so painful for you to eat that you won’t have any other option but to stick to a liquid diet.

Ten women have already done it and – surprise, surprise – some have lost up to 20 pounds. (Really, if you don’t eat any solid food, you’ll lose weight? Who knew!)

Now if this guy has actually found women desperate enough to inflict physical pain on themselves to lose their muffin top, I think the world of medicine is ready to radically expand. Can you imagine how much money can be made inventing other completely unreasonable ways for women to keep their stomachs empty?

I have a couple of ideas already. Read More »