What a timely article! I’ve been on a monophasic pill of some sort for the last 17 years, with a few breaks here and there when I was insurance-insecure (I mean working retail or unemployed and unable to afford COBRA). This is my first month off for procreative purposes and I realize how out of touch I am with my…

Especially considering my cousins grew up in Bucks County. It would have been truly cruel. Although, in its defense, the new high school looked nice (I think it was built 15 years ago, maybe?) Although I recall it also being right down 940 from a police station.

North of Evanston and south of Gurnee. That’s all I shall say. It’s not a bad place, at all. For me, though, it was relentlessly the same all the time. I felt like I had to conform, even when I was punk or “alternative.” Maybe this has changed, but when I was growing up, and where I was growing up, people were very…

My family spends every summer in the Poconos, and my uncle always used to threaten his daughters that they were going move there and send them to Mt. Pocono regional high school. I could not imagine growing up there, especially with the winters. Gramma lives there year round.

I get wistful for some aspects of the Midwest, like warm summer nights and dusk filled with lightning bugs, and the sprawl of the prairie in central Illinois. But I grew up in a Chicago suburb, that was more liberal than conservative, and I know it’s gotten more liberal as time has passed. It was a painfully boring…

Have you tried their Amazonian blush? I bought one, and thought it was too bright at first, but now that I've picked up some color from being outside, I am in love. It's long-lasting and really pretty. Thanks for the rec on the lip pencils. I love Clinique chubby sticks and fat lip pencils in general, because they are…

Yes and no. Pilling is directly related to the length of fiber twisted into the yarn. That's why cheap cashmere sweaters pill (short fibers are cheaper to spin into yarn) and expensive cashmere sweaters do not. Or merino wool sweaters, or cotton t-shirts or cheap fabric compression pants. Basically any knit fabric…

This episode was bonkers, and I, too, cried out "Holy Shit!" when Huck slit Sue's throat. After last season's reliance on the Fitz-Liv barffest, I'm happy where things are headed now.

If you are looking for a giant bottle of PG that is not named, check out Barefoot. My mom drinks it exclusively, and for a cheap-o bottle, it's pretty drinkable.

Don't get too excited. Woodbridge winery is one of the defendants named if you look at the list. Yikes!

I don't believe that you spent less than a thousand on a Napa elopement. Sonoma, sure, but Napa? Unless the house you rented was actually in the town of Napa... The valley is so freaking expensive. Now I'm thinking about the dinner I once ate at Bouchon, or the delicious smelt fries I had at Bistro Jeanty many years…

Our wedding cost about $22,500, with $15k coming from family.

Orgasm blush from Nars is a goddamned lie. The girl at Sephora talked me into it. I wore it once and felt like a fucking disco ball. so. Much. Gold. Shimmer. I returned it for one of the Tarte Amazonion clay ones instead. Much better.

When I was a newbie teacher with zero experience teaching language arts, Lessons that Change Writers really helped me out. I started out with a single subject in social studies but quickly realized if I actually wanted to find a job in CA I'd need a single subject in language arts , too. This was during those halcyon…

I was just having a conversation with a colleague about readjusting expectations after giving birth. My husband and I are in what I like to call exploratory stages of having a baby, and I've talked a lot about it with my coworker as she is my teaching partner, about 15 years older and very wise. She said for teachers…

I'm a 6th grade teacher in an upper-middle class district and this rings true for me. I'm constantly writing "you put great effort into this" on students' essays and projects. It's awkward, but I hope it helps shift the focus. Now we just need to figure out how to get kids to take healthy academic risks so I no longer…

That was wonderful! 👍

I am also an educator (of wriggly 6th graders) andd the jeggings and a button down look are my uniform! I'm also a busty gal, carrying weight in my stomach, and I have shapely legs, so I feel like this look is a god-send in a casual professional environment. I can dress it up with a cool statement necklace or warm it…

That is shady.

Maybe not the French Revolution or the Hbombs, but I distinctly remember my brother, at 17, telling me that he HAD to join the Marines instead of going to college. And this was pre-9/11. He felt like it was his duty to serve and he wanted to carry on the tradition of my grandfather (who served between WWII and Korea).…