If we decided, ‘Hey, I’m wearing what Blake Lively wore in the Gossip Girl re-run last nigh,” we may not make it through the day without our little sister, boyfriend or lab partner giving us a look and asking, “WTF?” It’s hard to make your own what a stylist can do on television, but we want to, damn it!

The good news is: it’s possible. If you do it right. So, take away the cameras and lets make that TV fashion work.

Gossip Girl:
On GG, Blake and Leighton often rock different patterns and colors and pull together a look that is personally unique. You can do this too. First, think of your own fashion staple. Leighton often wears head bands or scarves. Do you have a favorite belt or bunch of bracelets that you wear regularly? Wear them with each outfit, soon they’ll become YOUR signature.

Also don’t be afraid to mix stripes with checks, or even polka dots; just stay within the same color range. And if you choose to wear a multitude of colors, don’t mix different patterns.

Finally, feel to take some fashion risks… the most attractive accessories these girls have is confidence. Read More »

I have an account on a dating site. But I never use it. Unless I want to depress myself. Then I use it.

It’s easy to depress oneself on an online dating site – especially if A) you know for a fact you’ll never find the person you want online and B) all your “matches” are either really unattractive or cover their profile with flowery prose that’s so full of sh*t there’s no room for actual talent.

Aside from the shirtless mirror shot attached to a Faulker-esque description of New York City in the winter or a predisposition for “coding computers”, there’s nothing that turns me off faster than when one of my weird, douchebag-like “matches” has NPR listed as one of their loves. Which is strange. Because I love NPR.

I love being serenaded on long Sunday car rides by Ira Glass’s calming monotone during This American Life. I enjoy All Things Considered, BBC World Service updates, and the occasional funny op-ed by a slightly famous quirky writer. I feel comfortable with NPR’s obvious liberal bias – as I myself own such a bias – and there’s nothing better than sitting alone in my apartment with a glass of wine as deep-set, unhurried voices click their well versed tongues against my eardrums. NPR is like a womb. A liberal, literary, sophisticated womb where I take comfort at least twice a day (if not more).

So why the shuddering when I notice a potential mate might enjoy themselves some Fresh Air with Terry Gross?

I’m not sure, exactly. Maybe because most of the people I know who listen to public radio are bleeding heart liberals, and even though I consider myself one of those bleeders (with a shot of hippie thrown in), I get a little nervous when a guy describes himself that way. Read More »

As I was typing this up and most likely while you are reading it, I was and still am chuckling. I can’t help but be amused. I know you’d like to know what’s so funny. Well, it’s nothing, really. I mean, it’s no big deal. It shouldn’t even upset you. Everybody loses the Game at some point, right? Your time had to come.

What Game? I bet you didn’t even know you were playing a game, did you? There are a ton of people right now playing the Game, and quite frankly, most of them are doing better than you. Now, I know it’s not really fair of me to tell you that you lost the Game when you don’t know the rules, so I guess I should lay them out for you. Don’t worry; there are only three of them.

1. You are always, always playing the Game. No exceptions. Everyone in the world is playing the Game in some capacity, really.

2. When even the very thought of the Game comes into your head, you lose it.

3. When you lose the game, you HAVE to announce it. Read More »

My TV watching habits are pretty well documented. You guys know that I watch at least two (pretty bad) reality shows and that I never got into “Sex and the City.” But I do like good shows with real writing, like “Lost”, “South Park” and “The Daily Show.”

Do I have any right to declare that a show is so terrible that even I cannot watch it? I think so. I mean, I’ve seen episodes of “Ice Road Truckers.” Freaking “Ice Road Truckers.” I am aware that I watch crap.

And given that love for crap TV, it might surprise you to learn that I never watched “A Shot at Love” when it was on MTV. For real. It was too fake for me and I never thought that a show would come along that was too sh*tty and fake for me. I mean, this is ME.

Now enter “That’s Amore.” Read More »

So, I know we’re already a few episodes into Season Four, but…who cares let’s talk about LOST.

We saw lots of things happen in this episode. The best things for me though, are all the increasingly ‘Giligan’s Island’ moments that the castaways are stumbling into. Oh, if only LOST had a laugh track…

First scene is between Ben and Locke. Locke’s got Ben locked up independent of Miles now, and he brings Ben some breakfast. Mmm. Eggs, my fave. Not even just any eggs- the last two eggs. Locke wants answers, Ben does the ‘Ben Thing’ to Locke, telling him that “he’s more LOST now than he ever was”. Mmmm.. incorporating the title, that’s some nice cheese to throw on those scrambled eggs, LOST.

Meanwhile, back at the old barracks… Kate and Claire are yucking it up, relaxin’ all cool being the hottest women in the barracks. It’s pretty satisfying to see them interract, because for the past season we didn’t get to see much of that. Claire was too busy bein’ a bitch to Charlie… Is it weird to anyone else that she hardly shed a tear over his death?!

So, Sawyer’s all up in Kate’s thing, “come stay with me, but you better not be pregnant” blahblahblah. Snooze. Don’t care about their romance. Not that I care about Kate’s romance with Jack either. I didn’t mind watching the mounting flirations between them in previous seasons, but they’ve just taken it all way too far. This is what they’re distracting us with, so they have more time to figure out why the hell time is so fucked up on the island, who Ben really is, and what’s been going on with Walt + Michael. Read More »

For most of my life, I’ve somehow escaped getting pulled into prime-time dramas. It’s probably because I’m ususally too busy doing other things during prime time to care about Joey + Dawson, those crazy kids in the OC, Buffy, or even (on a slightly less teeny-boppery note) anything that happens on Law+Order--that goes for SVU too.

But all that changed for me the summer of 2006. I was spending the summer abroad in England, and countless phone calls to my then boyfriend back in the states would go like this:

Me :”I miss you honey!”
Him: “Me too, Babe!”
Me: “So how are you!?”
“I’m gr–Oh babe, gotta go–the guys are about to watch LOST,”
“But-”
“I love you! I miss you! Bye!” Read More »

I don’t want to post another of those “F&%k Valentine’s Day” blogs, or the “Not to be all bitter, but F$%k Valentine’s Day” blogs. And yet here I am.

Here’s the thing about Valentine’s Day: It lasts for freaking ever. It’s all, “Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!” and, “How’s your Valentine’s Day going?” and then, “Can you believe there are only 364 days until Valentine’s Day rolls around again?” And the cycle continues.

And then there’s Valentine’s Day At Work. It’s the same for everyone. There’s always:

-The sad single girl who clearly spent all night making pink cupcakes for the staff which no one eats.
-The annoying work couple who crack little post-coital jokes February 15th that make you want to puke or get married over the Internet.
-The boss who schedules you to work until 11pm Valentine’s Day evening because she “assumed you would be free…”

How to tastefully deal with Valentine’s Day? It’s a toughie. Some people have those “Anti- Valentine’s Day” parties, but to work these either need to be flooded with movie stars or take place in the Village. Otherwise they can be reminiscent of those “Anti-Prom” parties you and your Literary Club friends had junior year of high school. Read More »

Ugh. I read the most annoying thing while I was watching Lost on DVD the other Saturday evening and refreshing my email (I like to multi-task).

And that is that the stupid writer’s strike might go on for stupid four more months.

What to think about that strike? It’s tough. And the insides of me are dueling like one of those famous New York black and white cookies. Mmmm. I really could go for one of those right now.

There are two sides of me vis a vis the writer’s strike. Side one is in sympathy with the Writer’s Guild. This is the side that moved to New York City eight months ago expecting to “make it.” This is the one who self-righteously stays home Friday nights to perfect her “art” and ends up watching Bring It On Again on ABC Family. Read More »