Let me just start off by saying that this is a really not fun article to write.

This is coming from a person who really likes to have fun and this…well, this is not fun.

Yeah, it might also be unpleasant to read through, but I have to write about all the ways cancer is killing thousands and thousands of women. Awesome. Considering I’m a woman who has a long family history of all different kinds of cancers…even more awesome.

Then there is the upside to writing this: I’m educating myself about all the scary facts of life. While I can’t guarantee that the 1% will be devouring all the facts written below, I’m hoping that the other 99% of us will use some of this as a launching pad. Women – actually, everyone – should want to know about the cause and effect of cancer on our bodies.

October takes the cake for bringing awareness to breast cancer, a cancer that deeply plagues the female population. The strides that breast cancer awareness month makes toward raising money and mindfulness both helps and hurts the rest of the cancer community. Read More »

Let’s face it: we all make stupid decisions. Like choosing a fifth over a review session, or bringing that guy home…who stole our iPod in the morning. That’s part of college life… and a big part of what makes it so memorable. But there are some choices that have longer lasting repercussions; things we do now that will haunt us later.

So here are the 11 things from your 20’s you will most definitely regret when you’re 40. Read More »

I know I’ve taken a mini-hiatus for the holidays on my no smoking resolution, but let me fill you in. The holidays for me require lots of drinks, food, laughs, and the obligatory smoke here and there. So, I let myself smoke when I wanted for the holiday…I smoked up until New Years Eve. One week ago.

And since then, I have been completely 100% smoke free.

No packs. No puffs. No nothing. I went completely cold turkey after NYE and I’ve maintained it for an entire week. It’s very difficult; especially when I had a few glasses of wine this weekend and desperately wanted one, but I had the will power to say NO to myself.

I am a strong willed person and if I set my mind to something, I stick to it. After seeing a series of horrific smoking commercials, I made a serious resolution to myself that, on top of not wanting my teeth to turn yellow and my hair to permanently smell like an ashtray, I don’t want to die from lung cancer (cliché but true).

So, for now, I’ve a week smoke free. I feel cleaner, healthier, and will hopefully continue on this path. Wish me luck!

(Photo courtesy of smokefreezone.org)

In another blow against the tobacco industry, Disney has recently decided to eliminate all depictions of smoking within their films. They also vowed to discourage smoking within films aimed toward adult audiences through Touchstone Pictures and Miramax.

Famous villains such as Cruella DeVille of 101 Dalmatians had previously used smoking to enhance their infamous personas within Disney movies. Who could forget those long, thin cigarettes that Cruella puffed away at throughout the classic film? The rings of smoke swirling around her added a mysterious, evil air to her character. Read More »