As soon as summer announces itself with its warm winds and bright, shiny mornings, I want to lay out and bake in the sun. Nothing feels quite like floating in a pool - book in one hand, ice cold beverage in the other - absorbing those delicious rays. And nothing looks quite as good with almost every article of summer clothing than some nice, tan legs.

I am fully aware that skin cancer is scary business and not worth the fake-baking/laying out for hours on end. I also have a pretty healthy fear of getting wrinkley in the future, so, to protect myself, I wear my sunscreen. But I recently realized that maybe sunscreen wasn’t enough, and getting my glow a different way may be a better option.

I started investigating.

My former roommate loved sprays, but I personally don’t trust myself with them. I am mildly OCD and need a lotion to ensure I’m not missing anything. I went on a quest to find the perfect lotion and came across a new product: Jergens Natural Glow Express. It looked just like the rest, except that it claimedto show results in 3 days. Conveniently, I was heading on vacation in 3 days, so I grabbed it. Read More »

Life…for every one of us, it’s a puzzle made up of different pieces, different moments. As that famed song in Rent says, there are “five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes” in every year that we live, so basically, that’s a whole lotta moments. For the most part it’s small, mundane moments; brushing our teeth, taking out the trash, traveling to and from work, school and other obligatory destinations. But, there are those few moments in our lives, both good and bad, that are truly life-defining and create us into the unique individuals we are.

A few of the good; getting accepted into and graduating from college, meeting our future spouse/partner, our wedding day and the birth of our children. And then the bad; our first heartbreak, parents’ divorces, our first experience of rejection from a college or job. There is, however, one inevitable part of life that we all must deal with at some point, and which I’ll venture out to say is the suckiest part of life; death. There is nothing quite like losing someone you love. It hits you at your very core, turns your world upside down, and makes life suddenly seem so REAL. For me, this jarring, life-changing moment happened just over a year ago when my dear grandmother lost her battle with ovarian cancer. Read More »

Have you seen this show Sunset Tan? If not, let me enlighten you. Employees who work at a tanning salon (Sunset Tan, natch) are filmed as they deal with celebrity clients, co-worker dramz, and a whole lot of spray downs.

Reality show meets real life, people. You can walk into their store and onto their set simultaneously.

Nick D’Anna, a member of the cast, answered some questions for me about the show.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE SHOW?
“The show was brought to us by E!…” Nick explained. He went on to say that the owner of the place was interviewed and E! loved him…then they decided to interview the people who worked there and it took off from there.

IS THERE A STIGMA ATTACHED TO BEING ON THE SHOW?
“Sure. People think it’s fake or that we’re fame whores, but you can walk in any day and there we are…” Read More »

Many years ago, I decided to make a major career change, and, oddly it was just when I finally began my career as a professor. At the same time, two life major events happened. First, my mother suddenly passed from away colon cancer – the deadliest of cancers. She was diagnosed and died three months later, marking the exact day of the doctor’s discovery.

On top of that, and, as the cliché goes, my big “3-0” was right around the corner. Like most vain woman, the mere thought of turning thirty made me frantic, and despite my youthful appearance (I was still lucky enough to be carded for cigarettes!), I was resigned to the idea that Botox would soon be part of my regular regime for maintaining my present natural beauty.

At least I could claim to be happily married, a rare gift that I possess to this day, so I knew there were other qualities besides my looks that I had going for me. And, despite my looks, I am not the most exciting lover. Nevertheless, I knew that my new job, that of being a junior professor, meant that I’d be drowning in more work than I had had previously.

I was in the first stages of becoming a young scholar, but given my mournful state, which was becoming an ever increasing strain on my personal life, I had serious doubts about this chosen career path. Up until that time I had always planned on becoming a scholar. After all, my own mother had been a leading scholar in feminist studies, and she had made it clear that I too was destined to become a professor, just like her. She was my goddess, so why would I have ever doubted this plan that she’d laid out for me? Read More »

My love-hate relationship with the Pill is something I have come to accept.

I always feel as if I technically should be on it for the generic reasons of being a 23-year-old female. But, then, when I am on it, it makes me super-emotional (which is out of character for me), moody, bloated, and just plain not myself. Now, that could just be because I haven’t found the “right” brand of pill, as my gynecologist rudely told me. But I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to numerous friends who stopped taking it for a multitude of different reasons.

I actually have a real problem with people expecting that just because I am a young recent college graduate (or for those of you still in college– a crazy co-ed), I should, without a doubt, be on birth control. It’s my body and I can choose to do whatever I want with it.

Certain studies and hazards of the Pill make me suspicious as to what’s the truth about the side effects and what is just fodder from the pharmaceutical companies trying to make big bucks.

That being said, I have to weigh the potential benefits of taking the Pill, and the results of a recent study just may cause me to reconsider…

Read More »

Here’s one last thing to go along with the scary Halloween television and disturbing décor: Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong are totally hooking up.

Frightening, right?

According to the ever-scandalous Page Six, Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong were seen together at the Gramercy Park Hotel’s bar on Monday night “making out” while Ashley “sat on Lance’s lap”.

The pair, 21 and 36, have a 15-year age difference between them and about a billion Ex’s. Armstrong was recently linked to Sheryl Crow and designer Tory Burch, while Ashley seems to have dated pretty much any guy who thinks she’s cool.

The creepiest part about this pairing is the fact that Lance Armstrong always struck me as a super-responsible, super cool guy. Something about winning 7 Tour de Frances and beating cancer made him seem laid back and experienced, a dude who sought out cool, traveled friends and mature women. To see him making out with Ashley Olsen crushes everything I (we?) previously thought.

Plus…ew. Read More »

• Did you know that our makeup is causing us to absorb over 5 pounds of chemicals a year? I’m going to go wash my face… (UK Dailymail)

• Some good news for a Friday afternoon! The trapped miners in South Africa have been rescued. All 3,200 of them, thank God. (Associated Press)

• A remix of sorts when it comes to those daily inappropriate teacher/student stories: Advice for young high school teachers. (valleyjew.blogspot.com)

• Drop that Diet Coke…it’ll give you cancer. For real, this time! (dmiessler.com)

• Most important First Aid myth you really should know about: Peeing on wounds DOESN’T HELP. (ririanproject.com)

My breasts and I, we have this understanding.

We have an understanding that they are awesome.

I LOVE my ladies. Peaches and Cream to be exact. Which is what I named them when I was 12 and they were beginning their slow journey to becoming the best boobs ever.

But what does scare me is that with the largest breasts in the family, I know I am probably predisposed to the breast cancer on my mother and my father’s side. And Lindsay Avner knew the same thing. In fact, she got tested for a gene mutation that is inherited and carries an 85% risk of having breast cancer.

And when she tested positive, she cut off her boobs.

Double mastectomies aren’t uncommon in today’s society, but when Lindsay opted for the surgery she was only 22 years old.

Being that three generations of women in her family had all had breast cancer, I understand Lindsay’s desire to want to protect herself from what she felt was inevitable.

But I just don’t know if I could part with my boobs until I had to. Or at least until they start sagging a little more.

Lindsay is using her surgery as a platform for letting other high-risk women know their options. She started Be Bright Pink as an educational and support outlet for those susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, both of which her mother had. Her crusade is understanable but completetly controversial. Read More »