LilSugar

Lil's Favorite Five: Fabulous Moms Over 50

LilSugar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:00:17 PDT

Men may age like fine wine, but nothing is more attractive than a woman who struts her stuff after she has hit the half century mark and had children. Today Madonna, mother to Lourdes, Rocco and David, meets that milestone. Happy Birthday to the material girl who now joins the ranks of seasoned celebmamas who have aged gracefully in the public eye and raised offspring! Check out our favorite five talented mums.
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Tips For Building an Effective Online Dating Profile

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:02:33 PST

In this digital age, men and women aren't just hitting bars and coffee shops to snag a date. More and more, they're heading to the Internet. In fact, 50 percent of men have met a woman online according to a recent survey. It's obvious that online dating has become the norm, and for good reason - the Internet gives you more options because you can cover a wider area of partner possibilities (as in, the entire globe). And while your chances are better of finding a compatible mate on the worldwide web than, say, your small town of 13,000 people, the Internet can't help you if you don't give off the right signals. First impressions are everything - even virtual ones. Beef up your online dating profile with these tips, and snag yourself one of those "many fish" your mother is always talking about.

Make sure you're fishing in the right pool -You wouldn't go to Craigslist's Casual Encounters to look for a serious relationship, so don't go to Match.com if you're just looking for a little fun on a Friday night. Sites like eHarmony and Chemistry have had a lot of success by getting scientific about the dating process (taking your likes and dislikes and matching you up with someone who's compatible), so make sure you're ready to commit before diving in!
Lose the negativity - No one wants to meet up with a Debbie Downer, so if your online dating profile is riddled with sarcasm, negativity, and pessimism, you can be sure that you won't be getting many date requests any time soon. This doesn't mean you have to be fake, just keep the "I'm too cool for school" attitude to a minimum.

See a few more tips, including some important dos and don'ts for your profile photos, when you read more

Birthday Girl Marion Cotillard Heads Home to Paris With Adorable Marcel!

Allie Merriam — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:50:38 PDT

Marion Cotillard carried her baby son, Marcel Canet, yesterday when they went through security at LAX. The mother-son duo boarded a plane to Paris, where they dealt with luggage this morning and said hi to Lea Michele, who had apparently made the same journey. They're home in France on a special occasion - Marion turns 36 today! Marion was just on the West Coast completing work on Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises with costars Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway. She also did her part to promote Contagion, which hit theaters in the US earlier this month. The Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller is still hanging out at the top of the box office three weeks after its release, and we'll see how it fares over the next few days against new movies like 50/50, Dream House, and What's Your Number?.

25 Best Burgers From Coast to Coast

YumSugar — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:01:24 PDT

What makes a hamburger a hamburger? We could ponder the question for days, but wouldn't you rather bite into a juicy burger?

But not just any burger: we've taste-tested our way around the country to find 25 amazing hamburgers you shouldn't miss. Whether you're a local or a tourist, it's certainly worth seeking out these must-have hamburgers.

YumSugar's Top 5 Burgers

Shake Shack, New York, NY: Danny Meyer's burger empire has the beast down to a science, with cloud-soft buns, subtle "shack sauce," and meltable American cheese for a creamy experience every time. For us, this cheeseburger sets the standard.
Spruce, San Francisco, CA: This cloth napkin burger doesn't come cheap, but it's one of the juiciest we've ever had, and its piquant accompaniments - house-pickled onions and zucchini, duck fat fries - lend it a distinct point of view.
Radius, Boston, MA: Chef Michael Schlow is no stranger to good burgers. His ideal involves fried onion rings, melted cheddar cheese, and a spicy and smooth horseradish sauce - pretty much our ideal, too.
B Spot, Strongsville, OH: Michael Symon's burger joint, B Spot, serves beef on a bun that's as close to perfection as we've ever had. His Yo! burger is filled with fried salami slices, coppa, hot peppers, provolone, and "shasha" banana pepper sauce.
Rosamunde, San Francisco, CA: Rosamunde is known for its sausages, but it serves cheeseburgers every Tuesday at lunch. Be prepared to wait in line for the flavorful, medium-rare burgers, which are some of the city's best.

Check out 20 more favorites from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, after the jump.

Tori Spelling on Shopping Estate Sales

Tori Spelling — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:01:39 PDT

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week we're bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, which is Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week Tori teaches us how to shop an estate sale.

Estate sales are a great place to find everything at a range of price points, from furniture to antiques to art to jewelry and vintage clothing. You never know what you’re going to find when you enter one, and each estate sale is different.

Here’s a little bit of background about what they are and how they work:

First of all, the term "estate" in this context refers to the belongings that an individual has accumulated over a lifetime. Estate sales are held for all sorts of reasons – sometimes people are moving or just want to get rid of stuff! An estate sale is different than a yard sale in that a company is usually hired to run the sale. It’s a lot of work; so for many families, it’s well worth it to work with an experienced company.

Insider Tips First, get there early! The best stuff goes the fastest, so you want to have first dibs. It’s easy to feel like a kid in a candy store at an estate sale, so arrive with a budget in mind and stop at an ATM on the way - many estate sales accept cash only. Even if the sale accepts cards or checks, bringing a set amount of cash will help you to stick to your budget.

People shop estate sales for all sorts of reasons. Collectors go to find rare and beautiful pieces to add to their collections. You can also shop for furniture, clothes, or items like gardening tools and kitchen utensils that were made with more care back in the day.

Related: Stella's Style - '50s Glam

Be picky, and arrive with a list in mind. Don’t buy $100 worth of antique dolls if you came intending to find a mosaic table for your patio. Stay open to inspiration - maybe you find a smooth, slate table you’d rather have instead - but don’t set yourself up for buyer’s remorse. When you decide what you’d like to buy, get ready to bargain! The more you buy, the more leverage you have.

Shop Around Want to get started shopping estate sales? Go to EstateSales.net to find sales near you. For many sales, you can even view the items on sale in advance, so you can plan what you want to buy.

I usually research what estate sales are in the area and come up with a game plan, but this one we just randomly drove by. Score!

Entering the estate sale. Always get a little rush wondering what treasures lie ahead.   

Love all these sea treasures. They have so many uses! Great for display on tables, mantles, armoires, or shelves. Also make great bookends, paperweights, door stoppers, or centerpieces! If shells look a little not so fresh, a little bleach will whiten and brighten them right up! Or be creative and lacquer them gold or silver.   

Small tchotchkes are great to sort through to find gifts for friends or family that have collections.   

A beautiful Indian fabric would make chic pillows, napkins, place mats, or part of your wardrobe! Think outside the box when sorting through estate sale treasures. But try to buy with an endgame in mind.   

Not sure exactly what I'll do with this vintage kids fabric but it was a must have for $15! In the kids playroom it could make adorable throw pillows.

Estate sales can be for the serious shopper, seller, decorator, or collector, or can be a social outing. I love going with my friends who love antiques as much as I do. We make a fun day of it! We grab coffee on the way (early bird gets the worm), pop in and out of local sales, and then discuss our great (or sometimes lack of) finds over a fun, weekend brunch.   

More great stories from ToriSpelling.com:
Photo Contest: Back-to-School Pictures
Fashion Forward: Wedge Yourself Into Fall
Fashion Forward: Tribal Chic
Weekend PicTORIal: Malibu Chili Cook-Off Fair

Birth Control Is Now Covered: Why You Could Save Up to $18,000

LearnVest — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:15:14 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

As we learned from our article on the fate of Planned Parenthood, women’s health issues spark intensely opinionated debates.

While the government’s stance on Planned Parenthood funding is still up in the air, a definitive decision has been made regarding birth control: The Obama administration released new standards last week requiring health insurance plans to cover all FDA-approved forms of contraception, with no co-pay required.

The idea is to take a preventive approach to health problems rather than dealing with them after the fact. In addition to birth control, these other preventive services will now be provided by insurance companies free of charge: well-woman visits, HPV testing for women 30 and older, STI counseling, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support and supplies, and domestic violence screening and counseling.

Why Is This Even Necessary?

As it turns out, getting all of the recommended preventive health measures for women can be pretty pricey - even if you have health insurance that shares the cost. According to the website Good, the average American woman spends 30 years trying to prevent pregnancy. Assuming an average co-pay between $15 and $50, a woman should expect to pay between $5,400 and $18,000 for birth control in her lifetime - and that’s with health insurance.

It’s easy to say that using oral contraception or getting an IUD (also expensive) is a personal decision that women make, and they should live with the ramifications. But in reality, contraception - or the lack thereof - is a national matter because of the cost of unplanned pregnancies.

Read on for more about free birth control.

Your Minute-by-Minute Guide to the Royal Wedding

Annie Scudder — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:42:47 PDT

Whether you're pulling an all-nighter like us West Coasters or waking up before the sun on the East Coast, we have everything you need to know about Kate and William's big day! Start preparing your fancy hats and English breakfast tea, and check out this minute-by-minute cheat sheet for the wedding of the year. And don't forget, we'll be live streaming the royal wedding on PopSugar, from the arrivals to the balcony kiss!

12:30 a.m. PDT / 3:30 a.m. EDT / 8:30 a.m. BST: The first guests begin to arrive at Westminster Abbey, almost three hours before the I dos!
1:50 a.m. PDT / 4:50 a.m. EDT / 9:50 a.m. BST: VIPs including prime ministers from the Realm countries and British diplomats arrive.

2:10 a.m. PDT / 5:10 a.m. EDT / 10:10 a.m. BST: Prince William and best man Prince Harry leave Prince Charles's residence, Clarence House.
2:15 a.m. PDT / 5:15 a.m. EDT / 10:15 a.m. BST: William arrives at Westminster Abbey with Harry by his side!
2:20 a.m. PDT / 5:20 a.m. EDT / 10:20 a.m. BST: Invited foreign royals arrive.
2:25 a.m. PDT /5:25 a.m. EDT / 10:25 a.m. BST: From Buckingham Palace, some members of the royal family head to the Abbey.
2:27 a.m. PDT / 5:27 a.m. EDT / 10:27 a.m. BST: Mother of the bride Carole Middleton arrives, along with Kate's brother, James.

2:35 a.m. PDT/ 5:35 a.m. EDT/ 10:35 a.m. BST: William's aunt the princess royal, along with Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, the duke of York, cousins Princess Eugenie of York and Princess Beatrice of York, and the earl and countess of Wessex depart from Buckingham Palace.
2:38 a.m. PDT/ 5:38 a.m. EDT/ 10:38 a.m. BST: Father of the groom Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, depart for the wedding.
2:40 a.m. PDT / 5:40 a.m. EDT/ 10:40 a.m. BST: The queen herself, along with Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, leaves Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.
2:45 a.m. PDT /5:45 a.m. EDT / 10:45 a.m. BST: The queen and Prince Philip arrive.

2:48 a.m. PDT/ 5:48 a.m. EDT/ 10:48 a.m. BST: From the Goring Hotel, bridesmaids and pages make their way.
2:51 a.m. PDT/ 5:51 a.m. EDT/ 10:51 a.m. BST: Father of the bride Michael Middleton escorts Kate to Westminster Abbey! Now's the chance to look for a glimpse of the dress!
3 a.m. PDT/ 6 a.m. EDT/ 11 a.m. BST: The wedding service begins!
4:15 a.m. PDT/ 7:15 a.m. EDT / 12:15 p.m. BST: Newlyweds William and Kate have a carriage procession, followed by the queen's own procession, from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

4:40 a.m. PDT / 7:40 a.m. EDT / 12:40 p.m. BST: Guests including members of the royal family and foreign royals arrive for a reception at Buckingham Palace. After that, other guests begin to arrive.
5:25 a.m. PDT / 8:25 a.m. EDT / 1:25 p.m. BST: Prince William, Kate, the queen, and members of their families make a balcony appearance. And we wait for a kiss!
5:30 a.m. PDT / 8:30 a.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. BST: Get ready for a Royal Air Force fly over!
Later that night: Prince Charles will host a private dinner and dancing party for close friends and family at Buckingham Palace.

9 Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Diet

Prevention — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:42:25 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Rules to help you eat less junk and slim down naturally
By Joe Kita, Prevention

Back to the Basics
Base your diet on Mother Nature's finest foods and the weight will come off

Food used to be simple. You ate what you grew on the land or you bought from nearby farmers. Processed food was nothing more than canned, frozen, or cured. Today, food is much more complicated - and we're both better and worse off for it. We can eat a greater variety of healthy foods than our ancestors did (think fresh berries in Winter), but we also can eat a lot more highly processed, chemical-laden ones. And that fare seems to be winning the day, if our epidemics of obesity and diabetes are any indication.

But an increasing trend toward clean eating - with its emphasis on whole, fresh, traditional fare - could mark a turning point in our sometimes dysfunctional relationship with food and help us achieve good health, culinary satisfaction, and optimal fitness.

To help you clean up your own diet and reap the benefits (weight loss and possible decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), we created these nine rules. Start taking baby steps to adjust your diet, and you'll be eating clean in no time!

7 Healthy-eating mistakes you could be making.

Toss a few heavily processed staples
Instead of overhauling your pantry all at once, start by eliminating corn oil and soda - both highly processed, says Nina Planck, author of Real Food: What to Eat and Why. "That alone," she says, "is a huge first step." Another easy step is replacing refined breads and pastas made from white flour with ones made from whole grains.

Focus on favorite foods
To keep it simple, assess what part of your diet supplies the most calories, suggests Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Maine. If you're an omnivore, buy meat that comes from grass-fed cattle and eggs from pasture-raised chickens, but stick to conventional produce instead of organic. If you're a vegetarian, buying organic produce makes more sense.

There's more so keep reading.