So, who’s nominated this year?

Keep your eye on little Jenny Humphrey.

Style Dos and Don’ts of 2009.

Anthropologie makes me feel insecure.

Design your own Keds. They’re actually cool!

Jackson family train wreck now on A&E.

We all have that super-environmentally conscious person in our life, lovingly (most of the time) referred to as the Tree Hugger.  While they’re always giving back to Mother Earth by reminding you to recycle, to take shorter showers or turn off the lights, they are not so easy to give to.  It seems like there are many ways to offend your favorite tree hugger during the holidays, be it by using non-recyclable gift wrap, too much packaging, or buying them a gift that somehow depletes the ozone layer.

But they still deserve something this holiday, right?

Let me take the guess-work out of buying for the environmentalist in your life, with a few eco-friendly gifts that even Captain Planet could love.

But first, a few tips:

Tip #1: Look for products with sustainable materials and processes.  Items made from recycled materials (there are tons of these on Etsy!) are very environmentally friendly, as well as unique!
Tip #2: Consider where the product was made.  Items made in your area require less fuel to reach store shelves, and therefore have a smaller impact.  It’s also good to know whether an item is fair trade.
Tip #3: Redefine what constitutes a gift and give to a charity in your recipient’s name.  Use Charity Navigator to make a donation to an environmental organization your tree hugger supports.
Tip #4: Think about how you’re wrapping the gift.  Gift bags can be reused, or you can reuse newspaper for a free way to wrap your present.

And now for some fun gifts! Read More »

Kourtney Kardashian has a boy!

Is Russell Brand putting a ring on it?

Lindsay Lohan didn’t save any children.

Taylor Swift is generous.

Let’s talk good fats.

Looks like I’ll be buying a lot more Armani now…

It’s finals time, meaning us college girls are holed up in libraries across the country, listening to Christmas music on our iPod’s as we daydream of shopping and sharing gossip over coffee instead of cramming our head full of crap we were done caring about at Thanksgiving.

But let’s be honest, there’s only so much studying you can do until you can’t possibly memorize any more formulas or essay questions. That’s when you throw in the towel, pop some popcorn and let yourself relax with one of your favorite TV shows.

Except, wait. NONE. OF. THEM. ARE. ON.

Why the television world decided it would be a good idea to put all shows on hiatus during the one week that we all desperately need our favorite shows is beyond me.

Glee. Gray’s Anatomy. The Hills. Gossip Girl. The Office. 30 Rock.

All of them. Gone. When we need them most. (Thank God we’ve got Jersey Shore!) Obviously we are going to need some things to get us through this week of hell. So here are some suggestions of ways to fill the time slots that your primetime obsessions have vacated. Read More »

We're gonna stay together forever...or until we get to college and grow apart/find better options.

Upon graduation, my high school sweetheart and I left for different universities in the same city, vowing to stay together, no matter what. “No high school couple lasts beyond their first semester freshman year,” someone told me, to which I replied with a scoff and an eye-roll. That kind of advice was meant for bicoastal couples separated by thousands of miles, and people who just weren’t committed enough to making it work. I resolved to survive the turkey drop.

But by the middle of second semester, I had unceremoniously ended a four-year relationship, citing midterms and the “different directions” in which our lives were headed. What was once was a comfortable refuge ultimately felt stifling, and the messy breakup regrettably tainted years of good memories for a long time after. But I had to do it and it was definitely worth it in the long run.

For those contemplating the High School Sweetheart Breakup (and those of you who are and just refuse to admit it), here’s why it might be better to shelve your boyfriend’s varsity jacket with the rest of your senior yearbook memories: Read More »

Job Wanted.

When we all entered our senior year of high school, the question on everyone’s mind was where they’d be going to college. We worked our asses off to get decent SAT scores and spent every weekend for months writing essays about why we were more wonderful than the thousands of other students applying for the same coveted place on campus.

Four years and a degree later, I now find myself asking a different question: I did all of this for what, exactly?

Of course, I’ve had the time of my life in college. The parties, the late night gossip fests with my roommate, the 4 a.m. diner visits – all of it was totally worth memorizing SAT vocab words and relearning geometry. But when it’s all said and done (which in my case is way too close for comfort), with $120,000 down the hole, what does my little graduation certificate get me exactly?

Apparently, not much. Read More »

Style can be really stressful, especially for someone that is so obsessed with fashion that I can’t walk a street without being drawn in by some supernatural force to pretty much every store I see. No matter how full my closet is, there is always a new trend coming out that makes it feel incomplete (and keeps my wish list a mile long).

So anything that takes a little stress out of fashion, I’m all about it.

Which is why I am in love with the new Frannie boot by Michael Kors.

Why, you ask?

Well it’s leather, it’s chic, it has an adorable fold over top. And, oh yeah, did I mention it’s four trends in one?

Read More »

College. Sigh. It’s unlike any other time in your life. It has its own set of rules, its own unique circumstances. And it’s not always easy to navigate. Everyone needs a little guidance now and then (or always) so we’ve pulled together a variety of perspectives (the does-it-all girl, the party girl and Ms. Study Lounge) to weigh in on your life conundrums and give you the best advice we can.

Every week they’ll be tackling your questions about college. From classes to keggers to keggers before classes, they’ll do their best to respond and be your Pez dispenser of collegiate wisdom. Got questions? Unsure of a decision? Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics?

Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”!

Question:
So, along with my 3 final exams and this mega paper that is worth 50% of my grade all happening next week, it’s my best friend/roommate’s 21st birthday this weekend. Any thoughts/tips/miracles that I might be able to use to fit it all in, do well and find time to pack to go home? I really don’t want to miss anything… Read More »

Brad and Jen, married July 29, 2000

Within a couple of weeks it will be out with this decade and in with the next. Can you freakin’ believe the 2000′s are almost over?! It seems like only yesterday we were strutting our bad-ass-bell-bottom-wearing selves through the halls of our middle schools, blasting Britney Spears and stocking our Y2K bunkers with cans of beans.

But that wasn’t yesterday. That was an entire decade ago and we’ve come a long way since then, baby. (i.e. we lost that baby fat and grew out the bangs…)

It got us thinking about how much things have changed since we rang in the beginning of the last decade. The new technology (we were still using CD players back then), TV (No, For The Love of Ray J didn’t exist back then…), celebrities (Paris Hilton’s sex tape had yet to surface), and the fashion (sparkly Michael Stars, anyone?). It’s insane to think about life in the year 2000, so let’s take a much needed study break and take a trip down memory lane.

Cue the Conan O’Brien song.… Read More »

It’s strange, considering I write the a column on health and fitness, but I really don’t like exercising.  I like the benefits of exercising, though, so I’ll do just about anything to get those without having to step foot into the stinky, sticky gym. So when a shoe company’s all, “PSH girl, you don’t need to go to the gym! Just wear these shoes instead!” I get a little excited. Okay, REALLY excited. But could a pair of shoes really tone my lower body enough (making me look like the girl in the ad) to make them worth the $50+ they cost? Do these things really work?

Here are the facts:

Fitflops/Shapeups/Easytones work by messing with your balance (an effect similar to walking on sand) to work your muscles more than usual. They claim to tone you up without going to the gym (making “your boobs jealous”) and burn more calories than walking in a standard shoe. And women are totally buying into the claims. These shoes are flying off the shelves faster than the holiday-themed chocolate-covered strawberries in my fridge (and let me tell you, those are disappearing really quickly). Read More »