Even though it’s been a full week since I returned from my adventures in Europe, I’m still on a high from my trip. (Although that might have more to do with the sheer volume of coffee I’ve been consuming to combat the jetlag….) It seemed like the chic little Parisian hotel we stayed at was in the center of everything I wanted to see and do. There were tons of shops, little brasseries with beyond delicious food, and impressive monuments nearby.

With so much to do, whenever I came back to the hotel, I was exhausted. So I’d plop in bed and watch BBC or CNBC, the only two English channels the hotel offered. On one particularly exhausting day, I kicked up my feet and watched a show about entrepreneurs who made their dreams come true on which Sara Blakely, the inventor of Spanx, was featured.

The entire thing was fascinating. The woman started with an idea for shapewear and ended up creating a multimillion dollar business, changing the lives of women around the world, and getting tight with Oprah in the process. (Editor’s Note: And that little hole that allows for quicker bathroom trips….BRILLIANT!)

I’m in awe of Sara, and she’s proof that if you believe in a great idea and really push for it (in the beginning, she walked around on the street, quizzing random women about their underwear insecurities and getting the word out!), great things can happen. So, of course, that got me thinking… Read More »

It’s finally here! The glitz, the glamor, the celebrities stuffed into Spanx so they look flawless in their couture gowns. Yes, the Golden Globes pre-show is about to start and, OMG, we could not be more excited! Sure, the actual awards show is gonna be fantastic (go Gabourey Sidibe!), but we’re all about the fashion around here.

Are you ready for some Golden Globes Red Carpet action? Get that TV tuned into E! for Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic’s coverage and watch with us. We’ll be sharing our reactions right here and we want to hear your fashion critiques/”OMG-She-Looks-STUNNING”s, so put them in the comments section below.

We’ll be looking out for a few of our favorite fashion icons and crossing our fingers for some real red carpet trainwrecks. So let’s get to the show! Read More »

Guys want Spanx, too!

The last decade brought about a wave of liberating changes for women. We stopped wearing pants. We (successfully?) raised children on our own (by choice, or by force). We kissed girls..and Russel Brand (and we liked it. A LOT.). We are so amazing, in fact, that men are starting to get a little jealous.

With every new year in the 2000′s (is that what we’re officially calling them?), new products for men come out that bring us one step closer to finally closing the gender gap that has existed since the beginning of time…and confirming the fact that Freud totally had the penis envy thing all wrong. Read More »

"What the eff am I supposed to do with a pap smear?!"

Oh, how I love Christmas morning.

There’s nothing quite like waking up to the smell of slow-roasting, honey-baked ham and my dad’s own personal off-key rendition of “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” But, let’s be honest, as much as I love food/my family/blah blah blah, I (like most of you reading this) like getting presents the most. But, if there’s one thing I’ve come to learn in my 23 yrs. as an expert-present-opener, it’s that some presents (or maybe, some people?) just SUCK, plain and simple.

Believe me, as a poor college girl, there’s almost nothing I won’t take (or take and then pawn), but there are some presents that even I wouldn’t appreciate hiding out under my (fake) Christmas tree. Read More »

There are many difficult decisions we women must make at different times throughout our lives: tampon or pad, Brazilian or bikini, Pantene or Herbel Essense, Gossip Girl or The Hills? Difficult, difficult decisions.

It wasn’t until recently, however, that I faced one of the toughest short term decisions of my life. Or night. This choice would affect it all: my looks, my weight, and my potential for pulling some major booty.

Here was my dilemma: Do I wear Spanx, the best body shaping underwear that eliminates panty lines and takes about 10 pounds away from my curvaceous bod, or do I wear the sexy, skanky, black lace thong?

I know I’m not the only girl out there who has pondered this perplexity. And I am definitely not the last. So, what should you do? Let’s break it down: Read More »

No one's getting booty in this room. Trust.

It’s the Scout Motto: Always be prepared. But I don’t think my Girl Scout troop leader was referring to booty calls when she ingrained that piece of advice into my head.

On a college campus you never know who you’re going to meet… and then want to take back to your room… to get to know each other better. The last thing you want is to bring a suitor home one night and have them leave the next morning without their wallet because it’s lost in a sea of your dirty laundry (true story). Or worse, bring them home and have them remember they have “somewhere to be” (at 3 a.m.) after spotting your My Little Pony collection on your nightstand.

Being prepared for spontaneity may be an oxymoron, but it has safely guarded my dignity and late night encounters thus far. Here are a few life tips I have adapted in my quest to divide and conquer, without letting those boys see my Spanx. Read More »

Earthquake rocks California.

A Spanx clothing line? Where do we sign up?!

Something’s wrong with Josh Hartnett.

Does PETA kill animals?

Gisele makes me want to work out cry in the corner.

Fox’s newest dating show…for the larger people.

P. Diddy is racist?

A cure for the bikini bumps.

Madonna won’t let Octomom out mom her.

Wonder weener? What!?

Everyone wants a set of killer abs. If you have a svelte midsection and you automatically feel healthier and sexier. But are you clocking in hours at the gym and hundreds of crunches a week with no results? There’s a new fad diet out there that’s sending everyone atwitter.

The editors of Prevention magazine have come up with a diet plan that aims to send your excess gut to the gutter…or so it seems.

“The Flat Belly Diet” boasts a flat tummy in 32 days. The flagship website gives you everything you need to get started (read: sh*t you have to buy) including cookbooks (with cupcakes on the cover), exercise DVDs (for the “optional” exercise component), and online subscription program to track your progress. Best of all, what kind of diet would it be without a catchphrase (so you KNOW it works): “A MUFA at every meal!”

What’s a MUFA, you ask? Short for monounsaturated fatty acid, MUFA foods include almonds, peanut butter, olive oil and dark chocolate. The Flat Belly Diet encourages you to eat a serving of one of these foods at every meal. That’s right, glob some peanut butter on your crackers for lunch, and grab some dark chocolate cookies to nosh on with dinner. Does anyone else think this sounds a bit too good to be true?

Just from evaluating the website and the basic diet facts, I don’t feel so confident that the Flat Belly Diet could yield real results. Optional exercise? Chocolate with dinner? It sounds like a recipe for Too-Tight-Jeans-Syndrome, if you know what I mean. Not to mention that the “after” photos of alleged Flat Belly Dieters look like they simply donned a pair of Spanx (see above).

Ladies, what do you think?

[image courtesy of flatbellydiet.prevention.com]

I have something to tell you: I am not petite. At 5’10 and not a size 4, I am what many would consider a biggish girl. And that makes it hard to date. Especially because I want to date a nice, Jewish boy…who also happens to be bigger than me. No offense to my people out there, but there are very few Jewish males who reach above 5’5. (And I have been looking for years!)

People always yell at me and tell me I am being too picky, (“What is the big deal?” “Why not someone who is at least your height??”) but I can’t help it. And trust me – I have tried.

Last weekend, I went home with a very attractive boy – my height, super hot …but really, really skinny. I was already nervous enough to strip down to my skivvies, considering my post beer belly. But, thanks to the power of that very beer, I was feelin’ frisky, so strip I did. We had our fun. When it was time to go to bed, though, I couldn’t find my undergarments in the pile of clothes on the floor, so the boy threw me a pair of his boxers to sleep in. And it was like putting in a pair of Spanx. Or plaid biker shorts.

Totally true.

Totally embarrassing. Read More »

Step aside, Spanx!

There’s a new brand of body shaper in town, but this time it’s…for men?

WHAT?!

Now, ladies: we all do it. Whether it’s a padded bra (oh, excuse me “lightly lined bra”. Honey, you’re still faking it), control top pantyhose or even the aforementioned, miracle-working Spanx, we’re all guilty of some, shall we say, false advertising.

I am the first to admit it, and frankly, I think it’s great. Seriously, some dresses just require that I shake more (or less) than what my Mama gave me, and I will happily snap up something silicone and/or lycra-based to make it work.

From corsets to girdles and beyond, body-shaping is nothing new for us girls. It is not new, nor is it novel; on the contrary, a certain amount is expected. I like to think it adds to the feminine mystique of preparing for a night out, like eyelash curlers, body scrubs and complicated lingerie.

But on a guy?? Really?? I’m sorry, this is not something I can get behind. Yes, we all agree that modern menfolk can have body issues just like their female counterparts. Metrosexuality is de rigeur, and I’ve accepted that sometimes men will smell better or have softer skin than I do. So, when I read that men’s underwear brands like 2(X)ist were creating new lines featuring ‘spandex briefs and tank tops designed to have a trimming effect’, I tried to keep an open mind, but suspected it was an isolated incident. Read More »