Now that all the presents have been opened, the cookies have gone stale and all the decorations have been disassembled, it’s time to start that awful period of reflection…similar to when you try to relive your Saturday nights in order to find your cell phone (or your underwear).

So, while we’re looking back at all the wonderful moments (and the not so wonderful ones, i.e. that time you threw up in your new boyfriend’s bed) here are a few articles that made my year just a smidgen better. I know for a fact after reading them you’ll feel ten thousand times better about all of your not-so-great moments of 2011. Read More »

Do you want to talk to your dad about sex? Study says yes.

7 things to do to live longer

Why am I sore after sex?

How to find Mr. Right

I want James Franco to handcuff me to bed

Who is more popular than Jesus on the net

More celebs without makeup (they’re just like us)

New Harry Potter photos from Deathly Hallows

I am SO lucky to have a really close knit group of girlfriends here at Loyola. It’s extremely rare that there is ever any kind of tension between us, but one particular topic has continually been a source of conflict between all of our girls. As you might have guessed, the issue revolves around boys. Or to be more specific, one boy.

One of our girlfriends has started dating this boy that nobody else approves of. He’s smart, but he doesn’t try hard in school. He lost his scholarship this year because he barely went to class last year, and it seems like he is always either drunk, high, or a some messed up combination of the two. Okay, so you get the point… he’s less than perfect. But our friend B is the opposite. She has her life planned out, is the only person I know to make it through honors with a perfect GPA, and would never dream of touching illegal drugs, let alone selling them.

So why is she with this guy? The girl has plenty (and I mean plenty) of other options, but she still chooses him…

It’s one of life’s eternal mysteries that we might never solve – why the good girls always like the bad boys, and why opposites really do attract. But oddly enough, the whole Miss Perfect/Mr. Stoner pairing is not my biggest issue with this whole scenario (even if I’ll never understand what she sees in this deadbeat).

After hearing B gush about her new beau, I was shocked to hear her talk about how casual it was, and how she liked it a billion times better than any serious relationship she’s ever had. B came out of a long-term, serious high school relationship just like I did, except they tried to make it work for part of their freshman year. Obviously, it didn’t go so well and she spent the rest of the year totally single. And now with this new boy, her attitude has completely changed. Read More »

Ok, wow – the September issue of Glamour is so thick and heavy I want to beat Spencer Pratt over the head with it whenever he tries to find enlightenment and become a better person by wearing tie-dye and rubbing his face with crystals.  It’s stock full of over 400 (!!) pages and it’s the biggest issue in 20 years.

That’s a lot room for ad space fabulous articles, Glamour. This is good!  Just another reason to love September.

Well, first of all – this issue was tantalizingly fabulous.  Honestly, after flipping through 89 pages of ads, I read it cover to cover in about 2 hours – the way you read a magazine when you have a lot of time on your hands and you want to sink everything all in (reading the copy of the ads and the editor’s note).  September’s Glamour featured a lengthy spread with Justin Bieber awkwardly hanging out in an arcade with a (significantly older) female model.  However, J-Lo spiced up the pages with a totally hot photo shoot wearing leopard print, writing on mirrors with lipstick, and eating Chinese take-out decked out in stilettos and cat woman glasses. Standard.

Other articles told me what my headaches really mean, how to perfect a beautoumous blow-out, a fab article about perfecting the ‘classic look’ with Tommy Hilfiger, and the ever-so-helpful ‘Girl’s Guide to Appetizers,’ which made me curse everything I’ve lived for since I’ve thought quesadillas were the healthy choice.  At 1,000 calories a pop, Glamour claimed otherwise. For some reason I just received the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as I did when my mother told me Santa Clause wasn’t real.

Anywho, within in the depths of the juicy pages of Glamour this month (I seriously had such a such a good time reading this issue that I brought it with me to the bathroom….twice. Stupid quesadillas…), a particular article made me stop my heavy page scanning in my tracks. Entitled ‘Six Ways to Rule the World,’ I, an ambitious yet unemployed recent grad, was ready for some inspiration. Read More »

I know where you are right now, Little Miss Single. Because I used to be there, too. You’re sad you don’t have a boyfriend. Your friends are going on double and triple dates, and you’re still sitting by your phone waiting for your last ditch effort at romance to call. But why is a boyfriend so essential? For as progressive and liberal we like to think we are as a society, it seems our love for single people is limited to “Sex and the City.” Sure, it’s cool when fictional characters do it, but let’s call it for what it is; it seems like the single gal in the group is usually pitied or looked down upon.

I’ve had friends tell me things ranging from, “It’s okay…you’ll be happy one day” (because obviously the only way to be happy is to get a man) to “I’m sick of defending your slutty ways” (awww you’re such a sweet friend). Why does casual dating get such a bad rap? It’s not like I go out every Friday night in a hot pink tube dress and ride a mechanical bull until a group of frat boys takes me home for a gang bang. Well, not every Friday, anyways.

Moving on… Read More »

The August issue of Cosmo brings us this year’s annual “Hot Issue” (not to be confused with the “Sexy” issue). Cosmo informs the general female public on how to get and stay hot with helpful tips such as  putting shaving cream in your hair and telling your boyfriend he’s hot—before someone else does. (I especially enjoyed this article because they used John and Elizabeth Edwards as the example couple, Hot Issue indeed!)

Besides a semi-interesting interview with Katy Perry and a tabloid-esque dissection of R-Patz and K-Stew’s body language, Cosmo introduced me to my new favorite mascara and taught me how to rub fruit all over my face and hair to look hotter. These were all great tips, but it wouldn’t be Cosmo without a ridiculous article, and this month’s “He’s Perfect But…” had me LOL-ing from my first glimpse.

Basically, Cosmo helps girls who’ve managed to find a decent, normal boyfriend nitpick until they find flaws, and then assists said ladies to “fix” their boyfriends. Here are a few gems of helpful advice if he’s perfect but… Read More »

Once upon a time, I cared a whole lot about my number of sexual partners. I remember hearing a girl in high school tell me she had slept with 5 people, 5 whole people, and I remember thinking, ‘WHOA!!! What a slut! I’m never going to have sex with that many people! Ever!” But, you see, that was when I was religious and very into the idea of marriage…and the idea of waiting for the ‘right one’.

So, I waited for the right one. Two years later, after we’d finally had sex, I knew he wasn’t really the one for me. It was like pushing the Go button on our sexual relationship facilitated him finally showing me who he really was. I maintained some faith and made another guy who was ‘the one’ wait. He broke up with me the day after I finally slept with him; four months into our relationship.

I started to really doubt there was a ‘ONE’ for me. But I still really wanted sex. I longed for it. I didn’t want to be tangled up in emotions anymore. I didn’t want to be a part of the pursuit of my perfect match anymore. I didn’t want to be in love. I didn’t want any of THAT anymore. I just wanted to still have sex. You know why? Cause I thought sex felt really good. Read More »

In my most recent article, I discussed the fact that my boyfriend does not read what I post here. As I am a delicate, ladylike and discreet young woman, I did not publish his name – or, for that matter, any details that could have identified him to the reading public.

I have good news for you. He read my article. We talked it over. And we’re ready to go public.

Here he is.

It’s been a whirlwind romance. When I first saw his Craigslist post, “Mr. Right Iz Here Waiting 4 U,” I knew I was in for something huge. Mr. Right! There! Waiting 4 me! I never dreamed it could be so easy. Yet, when I looked into his eyes – or, perhaps, more accurately, the portions of his eyes which could be viewed through the slits of his oh-so-cunning neon-green sunglasses – I could no longer restrain my passion. I simply had to respond.

Our dates, of course, are wonderful. We stroll through New York, patronizing the various vendors of airbrushed shirts. We go to ATMs and withdraw cash, making fans of $20 bills with which to rouse each other to erotic frenzy. Read More »

The other night, while eating dinner with a friend at one of the 4874 Thai restaurants in my neighborhood, we got into a discussion about being single.

“I’ve decided that deep down, no girl really wants to be alone,” my friend announced as she cut into her spring rolls. “Even if she says she doesn’t want a boyfriend, if the right guy stepped into her life, she’d take him.”

“What about So-And-So?” I asked, naming another mutual friend. “She kept saying how happy she was without a guy, and how she was too busy anyway. She seemed fine.”

“Didn’t you hear? Last month she landed a dude.” My friend handed me half of her spring roll, using the other half to point in my direction. “She bumped into this guy at a party and two weeks later she was updating her Facebook status to read So-And-So is totally in love.”

“Ew. Really?” Inwardly, I was jealous. When was the last time I had updated my Facebook status to say I was totally in love? Never, I realized, since the last time I was in love, Facebook hadn’t even been invented.

“Really.” My friend declared. “Us women all need to face the fact that being single just isn’t our natural stasis.” Read More »

There is nothing better than meeting – and totally loving – your friend’s boyfriend. You may not think so consciously, but I know deep down everyone fears that they will absolutely hate the boy their best friend falls for.

Either that he will be totally ogre-ish with a unibrow or chest hair that just doesn’t end, or a total dick with pink popped collars and a bracelet. Or, even worse, just an all around asshole.

So when you finally meet the boy of your friend’s dreams and he is totally awesome, it is always cause for one big giant sigh of relief (followed by a night on the town; he probably has awesome friends too, right?).

Well, not always. Not if, like me, you find yourself not only obsessed with friend’s boyfriend, but maybe a teensy tiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit in love with him yourself. That, my friends, is just one craptastic situation. Read More »