Radiant (from Webster's Dictionary): 1. Radiating rays or reflecting beams of light2. Vividly bright and shining: glowing 3. Marked by or expressive of love, confidence, or happinessI don't know about anyone else, but that's not remotely how I feel when I have my period. There are the double-me-over cramps, fingers so swollen my rings barely fit, and oily patches on my forehead and chin that rival the ones I had in high school. ... Read More

You would think peeing in a cup would be as easy as, say, peeing in a cup (which, as a woman is a bit challenging but not rocket science). Turns out, I had no idea that there was a greater picture to all this, and with proper instruction and prior knowledge, I most likely could have saved myself weeks of unnecessary aggravation, stress, subway travel, borderline panic, and testing. And so, going forward, I'll be sharing what some (including ... Read More

This past weekend I watched Hoarders for the first time. It was uncomfortable, disturbing, painful at times, watching these people lose their lives in, often, to their stuff. Their junk. Whether you call it collections or memorabilia or memories or garbage, it's stuff. Out-of-control stuff. I had a moment or two of satisfaction knowing I'm the opposite. I love to purge. There are constantly give away bags in my bedroom, full of clothes to ... Read More

  Last night I went to my very first kirtan. From what I'd heard about them—hours of hot, sweaty ecstatic chanting and dancing, I never felt compelled to attend one. I'm far too cynical to let go and get swept away in those kinds of moments. But, Laughing Lotus was hosting a big summer solstice celebration and I replied yes to my facebook invite mostly to be polite, not really planning on attending. After several ... Read More

  I’ve been writing about my experience with giving up sugar and have been thanked, admired, and smacked down for sharing. Here’s the deal: I write my life. I don’t judge anyone else’s. Everyone has their own paths, their own relationships with their bodies, their own points of view, their own comfort zones. Sometimes hearing about what either people have gone through helps. It helps me knowing I’m not ... Read More

I gave up sugar a few weeks ago, after realizing it was the basis of much of what I was eating. A hot chocolate (or 2) here, some chocolate sorbet there, the occasional poptart, pumpkin bread with chocolate chips,  chocolate hazelnut biscotti—yes, there was definite theme going on. The detox was brutal but now I'm finding I don't miss it. But, a few days ago, I fell back under its spell. I was browsing etsy.com and came ... Read More

    Last week I gave up sugar. I realized that while I thought I was a relatively healthy eater, I was basically living sugar fix to sugar fix with not much in between. Hot chocolate in the morning. Lunch time iced coffee with half and half and double splenda, a squirt or two of chocolate syrup stirred in. Chocolate sorbet on the way home from yoga. Mini ice cream cones before I went to sleep. A salad or some pasta thrown in ... Read More

It's almost impossible to comprehend that less than 100 years ago sending information about birth control through the mail was considered not only illicit and obscene, but was illegal as per the Comstock Act of 1873. It wasn't until the 1930s that doctors were allowed to distribute information and contraceptives across state lines. And when the pill first went on sale, it was illegal to practice birth control in some parts of the country. ... Read More

My local coffee shop in NYC has been promoting a new product called Fat Pig. The concept and packaging almost feel like a design student’s portfolio project, edgier than you’d expect to actually see produced in real life. Each think square brick is wrapped in hot pink foil, on top of that, a hot pink wrapper imprinted with a pig’s snout. So, should you want to be cute/funny/silly/entertaining/flirty, you hold the bar up ... Read More

Last week Kathy Griffin held a pool-side press conference to bring awareness to cervical cancer. To make sure she'd get the press to pay attention, she had a pap smear done in public. While the up-close-and-personal details were kept under a drape, the chair and stirrups were there for all to see. She dressed for the occasion in a blue spangled bikini—something I'd never think to wear to the gynecologist–a matching vajazzle ... Read More