It’s official.  The holiday season has started.

I’ve spent weeks and weeks bemoaning the fact that Christmas commercials were airing in November. Macy’s has had their holiday decorations up for months. The Starbucks baristas have been wearing Santa hats since the day after Halloween. “It’s not even Thanksgiving yet,” I kept saying. “Why are people already doing their holiday shopping, why are the decorations already up? The holiday season starts after Thanksgiving. That’s the way it goes!!” The early start seriously upset me. And I refused to take part in it. But now, it seems, I have nothing to complain about.

Thanksgiving is over.

We’ve watched the parade. We’ve carved the turkey. We stuffed ourselves with stuffing and cranberry sauce and ate pumpkin pie until we wanted to puke. And then, when the feeling passed, we ate more. The holiday season is upon us. So I better just get in the spirit. Here’s how.

10. Watch a Christmas movie. Everyone has a favorite holiday movie. So what better way to get into the holiday spirit than by watching Tim Allen in The Santa Clause or the Olsen twins in To Grandmother’s House We Go? There’s always the recently made into a musical, Elf, or the kind of creepy but still enjoyable The Polar Express. Everyone has a favorite. Just find yours on YouTube and enjoy.

9. Order a peppermint mocha or a caramel latte. These have been available since the first of November and although I drank my coffee from Starbuck’s Christmas cups I refused to indulge in a peppermint mocha until the day after Thanksgiving. So after I did some cyber shopping, I went out and got one. It was worth the wait.

8. Decorate your dorm room. Don’t wait until you’re back home to decorate for the holidays. Get into the spirit now. Studying for finals and finishing out a semester that should have ended the day before Thanksgiving is depressing enough without prolonging your holiday cheer. So don’t. Hang twinkle lights. Make paper snowflakes. Throw tinsel everywhere. And while you’re decorating… Read More »

I have an obsession with all things lips: lip buffer, lip gloss, lipstick, lip balm, Ms. Lippy…  This obsession has resulted in me trying just about any kind of product I can get my hands (or should I say my lips) on.

After spending money on a lot of products that don’t live up to their promise, I can attest that the following four are definitely some of the best products on the market. If you know what’s good for you (and your kisser), get thee to the mall and stock up on these ASAP:

Lip Buffer: C.O. Bigelow’s Soothing Lip Buffer,  made with aloe extract and coco butter, will make your lips perfectly soft and smooth. If you apply the lip buffer onto your lips and take a warm wash cloth and rub the buffer in, you will not only exfoliate your lips, but you will rub in its relaxing peppermint extract. For $4.99 you can pick up a tube that will last you months and months. Although you can buy C.O. Bigelow products through their website, Bath & Body Works also carries them.

Lip Gloss: Nothing gets better than Yves Saint Laurent’s Golden Shimmering Gloss. This YSL lip gloss stays on for hours, and it actually protects the lips with natural oils instead of drying them out like most glosses do. Each tube of lip gloss has real 24-carat-gold flecks (baller!), which cause extra shine and luster on your lips. Although this lip gloss is expensive – $30 a tube – the quality and 31 different shades make it 100% worth every last cent.  Read More »

My bartending style tends to run less towards the carefully measured, tried-and-true recipes and more towards the “What’s in my fridge right now?” trial-and-error method. I rarely use actual measures, because what is “good” depends on how many people are drinking, how liquored up they want to be, and how well they hold all that liquor.

That being said, I have a few favorite drinks that do really well in cold weather.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate:

This ain’t your grandma’s hot cocoa. (Or maybe it is…) I like to add a few drops (or shots) of Peppermint Schnapps to hot chocolate for an immediate warm-up. Make the cocoa with milk if you like it creamier.

Cinnamon Vanilla Cream:

One day my love of Starbucks and alcohol collided, and this drink was born. I just poured some Cinnamon Schnapps into my Vanilla Crème, and – voilà – an innocuous looking brew. Yes, I did keep it all in the Starbucks container. You can make your own Vanilla crème by warming up milk, adding a drop or two of vanilla extract, sugar to taste, and topping it off with whipped cream.

Hot (Spiked) Apple Cider:

First, you need to find some alcoholic apple cider. It’s probably somewhere between the beer and wine sections. Two bottles is a good amount to start with. On the stove, get it simmering with two cinnamon sticks, a tablespoon of cloves, a little bit of sugar and some nutmeg. What really makes it piping hot though, is the addition of either rum or apple brandy. Be generous, ladies – the apple cider has lost most of its alcoholic content in the heating process. Read More »

Candy canes are a highlight of the holiday season, and chocolate is the highlight of life, so why not put these two together in a delicious holiday creation? Below is a simple recipe for one of my favorite holiday treats: Peppermint Bark.

It is tasty enough to eat all year round, yet easy enough to whip up for tonight’s family dinner. So, get to it!

What you’ll need:

-Candy canes

-White chocolate (many specialty stores and grocery stores will carry chocolate in large chunks. If not, chips work fine. I prefer to use Godiva chocolate…cuz I’m a baller.)

-Milk chocolate

-A double boiler (this is because when melted in a regular pan, chocolate will burn. If you don’t have a double boiler, fill one pan with water to boil and rest an equal-sized pan on top to put the chocolate in.)

-Freezer paper or regular wax paper

-Cookie Sheet Read More »

Happy Black Friday! Are you out soaking up the sales and bitchy soccer moms Christmas Spirit at the mall? Or are you home attempting to digest the 6 pounds of food you ate last night? Maybe you are spending the day with family and friends.

Whatever you are doing, welcome to holiday season! Sure, you may not be able to shop, shop, shop like you usually do this time of year (thank you, Wall Street!), but that doesn’t make it any less glorious! There’s the music! And the movies! And the general good mood of everyone around you. We, like everyone else, loooove this time of year…and we don’t even celebrate Christmas!

What is your favorite thing about the holiday season? We asked our writers and here is what they had to say: Read More »

There are some things that are so good they just shouldn’t be messed with. And there are some that, while absolutely delicious, can be made even more amazing with a few simple additions. Brownies fall into the latter category.

While everyone loves a good brownie, a brownie can be made exponentially better by adding peppermint (or peanut butter, caramel, marshmallow… the list goes on).

Mint chocolate brownies are the perfect treat as the weather gets colder, but really, they’re perfect for any time at all. Is there ever a bad time for a brownie? Read More »

It’s no secret that Starbucks captures both my heart and my wallet.

There is just something about entering those doors on a daily basis that calms my usually antsy self and makes me squirm with delight while I debate over my drink of choice: double tall nonfat, one-pump, white mocha or double tall, soy, no whip, one-pump, pumpkin-spice latte? (Hey, I’m a girl who knows what I like- but I do admit I hate appearing to be high maintenance every time I order!)While I’ve been able to budget my funds to fit in my Starbucks addiction (I just can’t give it up), I often turn a blind eye to the hidden calories that lurk in my green and white cup of java.

Especially with all the delightful super hot and super yummy speciality drinks this season! (hellllo peppermint mocha!)

But now thanks to starbucks.com, you can customize your drink the way you order it (or close to) and see just how much damage you are doing to your booty. Customize your drink of choice by size, milk, whip, etc and calculate… leaving you no room to ponder how you gained that extra pound when you step on the scale. Read More »

After 30 minutes on the elliptical, sweat trickling down my back, face red and unattractive, legs shaking, the first thing I think is, damn, I wish I smelled like peppermint.

Reebok must have heard those imagined thoughts (because I certainly never thought them) and created a product that pretty much defies all logic but still probably sells well: the scented sports bra!

For a mere $28.95, your breasts can smell like they just brushed their teeth…or something. What’s the value in having minty fresh boobs?

I guess for the sweaty chicks among us, the minty scent can mask the otherwise offensive odors that may eminate from our chest, right? I mean sports bras and boob sweat go together like Bret Michaels and strippers! Read More »