Girlzone Category

I’ve made it back home after a three week solo roadtrip on the west coast – and I am in one piece. My limbs are all still attached, my physical state is intact except for a bike scrape on my ankle. I’ve returned with all my possessions present, minus one lost hair elastic and one tube of lipstick. I would consider my sanity partially stable, and my mental health only mildly shaken. My bank account will need a whole year to recuperate, but I feel exponentially richer than before IRead More

We can’t stop, and we won’t stop—Well, you should stop. New Year resolutions are great—if you’re the type of person who is so self-disciplined that you can actually follow through with your promises for longer than one week—aka, you’re probably not human. So, as imperfect humans, we are typically more prone to listen when we are told no, don’t, STOP. The negative is always more powerful, and I’m going to put that to the test.   15 Stop-It’s for 2014 Stop spending more on material goods than on experiences. It’s greatRead More

It’s time to stop kidding ourselves.   Resolution #1: Lose weight Actual outcome: Go to the gym a couple times a week but still eat like shit and drink like a frat boy on the weekends, resulting in maybe a pound lost and regained over the course of a month. Rinse, repeat.   Resolution #2: Cook for myself and stop eating pasta and salad every night like a scrub Actual outcome: Maybe cook quinoa or lentils every once in a while. Continue to buy the Publix pre-made roasted chicken.   Resolution #3: Keep a budgetRead More

Making resolutions for the new year is easy: lose weight, read more, eat healthy, blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, these life changing commitments are typically abandoned well before the second month of the year. Instead of setting yourself up for failure with vague resolutions and no plan of action, this can be the year that you actually follow through.   Instead of “lose weight” 1. Don’t drink during the week. Alcohol isn’t doing us any favors when it comes to our health. For most people, it’s pretty unrealistic to cut out alcoholRead More

When you start dating someone truly fantastic, a weird thing happens.
Your heart swells and you become acutely aware of how happy and excited and nervous you are all the time. You have this fullness that you never really knew you were lacking, but you like it. When you go through a break up with someone in a truly gut-wrenching fashion, a weird thing happens. 
That swollen heart can shatter into a hundred thousand different pieces and those shards of your broken heart travel through your body and begin poking atRead More

New Years Eve is often filled with alcohol, smooches, and regret. We’ve all spent many January firsts wishing we could go back and not take that shot, drink rum instead of wine, or steer clear of that clingy person lingering nearby when the clock struck midnight. While I don’t have the secret to turning back the clock, I do have some delectable recipes from Captain Morgan and Crown Royal Regal Apple that are sure to become holiday favorites. Whether you’re partying with family, friends, or strangers – there’s something for everyone toRead More

The desire behind closure is, of course, the idea of order. The order in which our life existed before one particular person came into our lives and changed what felt like everything. Sometimes for the better, other times for worse. The disarray we are often left in when the person leaves us has us feeling a dishevelment of frustrated, depressed, and hostile feelings which never existed in the first place. These feelings can be towards the person or ourselves. We long for the closure that will allow us to neatlyRead More

Four years of higher education at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Inspiration Boards. Multiple sketches of a gown on a croquis. Draping multiple looks. Patternmaking. Muslin creation. Re-evaluating the pattern based on the results of the muslin. Cut the expensive fabric based on the new pattern. Hand sew the outer shell. Line the dress. Hem. Hand sew the finishing touches. This whole process for only one gown. This photoshoot had six. As a fashion designer, creating gowns is a labor of love. Organizing a photoshoot is a laborRead More

“Long distance is hard.”  -Everyone It was years ago the first time it happened.  He lived in New York.  Brooklyn, to be exact.  I was living in San Francisco.  Where we met:  the Caesars Palace pool.  He was tall, (deviously) charming, and had just gotten his Masters at Stanford.  I was impressed but so what?  Why would anyone get involved with someone who lived in a different city, especially one on the other side of the country?   I mean, seriously.  Maybe it was the dizzying Vegas sun or theRead More

When you’re on a date with someone and there’s a lull in the conversation, sometimes that lull grows into a black hole of silence that there is no returning from. And the more you realize it’s growing, the more you panic, the deeper you sink into the quicksand of quiet. So before it gets to the eerie point of a borderline monastic silence, you should enlist the Art of So. The Art of So is centered on the theory that people love to talk about themselves. This is usually theRead More

The holiday season is here, and, for many of us, that means going home to the places and the people that have been watching us grow up. Returning home means running into everyone I never wanted to see again at one of the five bars in my hometown and having to relearn how to drive a car after months of walking and taking the subway. It means getting to eat my mom’s bombass breakfasts and snuggle with my cat whenever he lets me. It means spending every second with myRead More

Like it or not, alcohol and pie are two staples of American gatherings, especially those involving family. Whiskey is often thought of as a “man’s drink,” and women who fraternize with such strong beverages are revered by less bold onlookers. The truth is, whiskey is an everyone drink, especially when it’s pie-flavored. That’s right, the geniuses at Piehole have blessed us with Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, and Pecan Pie flavored whiskey, and I have been lucky enough to try all three. When challenged with creating my own recipe using Piehole Whiskey, IRead More

It happened.  The best night of the year, in my opinion – the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. I haven’t missed a show since I was 15 and now beautiful things such as DVR and smart phones allow me to watch the entirety of display of perfection at my own convenience. If my assumptions are correct, it would be safe to say that more girls are excited to watch 47 models display breathtaking beauty than most men. I’ll admit it. I’m more excited than most of my guy friends.   TheseRead More

Remember when you placed second in that declamation contest back in sixth grade? That supporting role you played during a school event? Or that masterpiece you worked hard day and night for but wasn’t published? You know you won’t let yourself forget all those so-called mediocrities, so you just sulk in your nook and cringe your way through the day trying to convince yourself you’ll never be good enough for anything, for anyone. You get so shell-shocked with all that has been going inside your brain, thinking about every possibleRead More

We’ve all heard Meghan Trainor’s song called “All About That Bass” which is essentially about learning to love yourself the way you are, regardless of your size, and to kick guys to the curb if they don’ t love your curves. You have to admit, this is a great song promoting healthy body image and self confidence for young girls and women everywhere. I recently watched a short interview between Trainor and Editor Amy Odell at Cosmopolitan, where Megan was asked, “Have you always loved your body?” Trainor answers rightRead More