Bonjour, mon amis!

Sorry, couldn’t help it. I’ve just taken up French and I’m getting so obsessed! The language is so gorgeous (especially when it’s coming from the lips of a sexy Parisian man) and a nice change from Spanish, which I’ve studied all my life. Plus, every French class I sit through takes me back to my days in Paris this past summer. I loved everything about it: the food, the people, the fashion, the scenery.

Well, everything except for all the smoking. It seemed like everywhere I went there was a cloud of smoke around me. Call me crazy (a lot of people do), but all that smoke just made me super paranoid. I couldn’t shake the vision of my lungs getting just a little bit blacker and my skin getting clogged with wrinkle-causing smoke particles. Not that I know if smoke particles exist, but my imagination usually doesn’t adhere to scientific fact, so whatev.

This made me imagine what it would be like to actually be a smoker, which led me to wondering: Read More »

Dear readers, I come to you now because I, like most girlfriends I’m sure, need to vent.

While I love my boyfriend Matt to death, there comes a time (OK, many times) when he drive me insane. Sometimes all of the little annoying habits he has make either want to barf or slap him upside the head. I’m sure some of you will think “That’s terrible! I would never be grossed out by or want to hurt my boyfriend!” But I’d put money down on the table right now that most of you feel my pain and are sitting there right now thinking, “OMG, sometimes my boyfriend annoys the crap out of me.”

For instance, let’s just take the fact that men, by nature, are gross. Matt is no exception (obviously). While yes, it’s appreciated that he showers regularly and brushes his teeth, it still grosses me out to no end when he wakes up in the morning and immediately starts hacking and coughing up God knows what. I know that people have to take care of some phlegm in the morning on occasion, but this is every. single. morning. And it’s not one cough either – it’s several loud and, from the sound of it, very productive hacks. Trust me, it’s not what you want to hear at 6 a.m. when you’re trying desperately to get a few more precious minutes of sleep.

Then there’s the failed attempts at humor. While Matt has a great sense of wit and is usually really dang funny, he’s got one flaw in the comedy department: accents and impersonations. That really wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that he tries to do them just about every time we’re with people. As a former theater major, bad accents get to me. I did a year of Irish dialect training, so when he tries his hand at an Irish brogue, it’s not only totally unfunny, but it has the same effect on me that nails on the chalkboard have one the rest of society. And our friends have noticed as well. Read More »

I’m pretty sure I don’t have OCD, but sometimes I really convince myself that I do.  And by “sometimes” I mean “every time I watch Obsessed on A&E.” Although my habits don’t come nearly as close to those of the people on that show who have to touch the fridge 46 times before they can get some milk, I do have some quirks that make me go hmm…

I know a lot of people have weird things with numbers, but my thing with numbers is just wacky.  For example, when I’m on the treadmill planning on going for a run, I make sure I walk for exactly half a mile before.  The treadmill must say exactly .50 before I can start running.  .49 is not okay, and, to be honest, I’m not sure what I would do if it went to .51 and I wasn’t running yet, but I guess I don’t have to worry about that because I won’t let that happen.

Now, is that just routine or a blatant obsession? Read More »

When I first glanced at the title of a recent article from the UK’s Daily Mirror, I brushed it off and figured that “Think like a man.. and be happier, healthier and slimmer” was another cheesy piece that was not applicable. But, after reading through it and giving the tips some thought, it actually doesn’t sound so bad.

See what you think:

THEY DON’T DIET

“But men don’t really diet,” says nutritionist Carina Norris. “They rarely attach emotion to food and they tend to listen to their bodies. When they’re hungry, they eat. When they’re not, they don’t. And if they fancy steak and chips, they go ahead. Whereas women eat when they’re sad, lonely and bored, and not just because they’re hungry. Women also avoid ‘bad’ foods and stick to ‘good’ ones, then feel dissatisfied, which can lead to bingeing.”

What to do: Don’t make any foods off limits and listen to your body’s hunger needs.

THEY EXERCISE

“Pictures of Posh’s dimpled legs prove that dieting alone won’t keep you toned. Women are more likely to diet to stay slim, than exercise. This means they don’t have any lean muscle, so they don’t burn as many calories as men, and can end up with sagging skin.”

What to do: Make sure you are mixing cardio and weight-lifting. Don’t be scared of “bulking up.” Read More »