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How I Learned That Being Thin Is Not a Requirement For Being Good at Yoga
This pose was “impossible”… until I did it.The first time I took a yoga class in a mirrored room, I was shocked by what I saw. What I saw was that I am pretty good at yoga. I don’t look like anyone...
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IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Cut My Abusive Family Members Out of My Life Before My...
Photos by Lauren BelknapPlease, please don’t pick up, I thought as I paced the bathroom floor.The automatic voice messaging system picked up — not him — and my heartbeat slowed. “Hey, Dad,” I said into...
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I Messaged 225 Men Just One Word From Their Online Dating Profile — And 73...
See?Editor's Note: Mandy is working with PlentyofFish and writing about her dating life in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. She is receiving compensation for the project. This is the first of...
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xoFOOD: How to Bake Bread at Home Even in a Freezing Cold Apartment With No...
Let's be honest: Baking bread is complicated. Recipes often involve fancy equipment like proofing baskets, stand mixers, or — my favorite unattainable accessory — a "warm, draft-free location."...
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My Heart Health Scare Came As A Total Shock, So I'm Here To Tell You It's...
I’m going to admit to something ugly: growing up, I never bothered to really think about heart health or feel in danger of heart disease. To my knowledge, there is no history of it in my family, and...
View ArticleCalifornia Considers Getting Rid of Vaccination Waivers
If you read xoNews on Wednesday (and you should have), there was a whole lot of news about vaccinations, and today I have even more information about what is being done to prevent future outbreaks. I...
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GROSS OUT FRIDAYS: I Found Pee-Stained Underwear in My Craigslist Couch
I have no shame when it comes to secondhand. I love me some vintage, and I don’t see how anyone can purchase furniture at real retail prices. I’m an avid thrifter, so, although it’s my worst nightmare,...
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IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Ran Off to Vegas and Married Someone I Barely Knew
If someone told single-me in the spring of 2013 that three months later I would be sweating profusely in a Vegas wedding chapel bathroom, shakily applying lip-liner, and getting ready to walk down the...
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Colour Pop Cosmetics Is My New Holy Grail of Lip Color (And I've Tried All...
I have a love/hate relationship with lip colors. I love them because, well, who doesn’t love a great lipstick? But I hate them because I can’t ever decide on just one. I’ll look at a full range of...
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Juice Cleansing, Butter Coffee, and Bone Broth: Why There Isn't a Drinkable...
First it was juice cleanses, then it was (and still is) butter coffee, and now the newest (though actually ancient) drinkable cure-all is bone broth or, as I like to call it “stock.”All three of these...
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I Made a Guy Go on a Scavenger Hunt to Find Me on a First Date
This is Chris. He is awesome.Editor's Note: Mandy is working with PlentyofFish and writing about her dating life in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. She is receiving compensation for the...
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IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Tried to Help a Blind Man on the Street, and He...
On a cold day in late December, I was in an unusually good mood; I had woken up on the right side of the bed, my coffee was strong, and Spotify’s "Have a Great Day" playlist blasted through my...
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OUTFIT OF THE WEEK: Never Enough Denim
I don't wear jeans all that often, but when I do, they're always Levi's. I started buying Levi's denim in my teens and haven't been able to shake the obsession since. What started with the world's...
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How I Came to Stop Obsessing About My Aging Chin
My parents’ Skype call was about their new condo association rules. Or about their new floors. Or about both. The reason I don’t remember the exact topic of our conversation is because I spent its...
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Say Something Outrageous in This Down-to-the-Wire Open Thread
Throw your hands together if you wait until the last minute for everything always. I'm writing this from my phone. There may or may not be spelling errors. If there are, blame my iPhone. If there...
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I Love Working With Women And Anyone Else Who Isn't A Dude
Recently, I wrote about slumber parties and the strange duality of the girlish friendships I had when I was a kid. The topic of female friendships in general has been much on my mind. Most recently,...
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Got a Small Living Space? I'm an Interior Designer and I'm Here to Help
If there is anything I always suggest that my clients must do before purchasing any furniture for their home, it’s space planning. Especially if you live in a small space. When you space-plan your...
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I Can Get Everything I Need to Make My Curly Hair Look Great at One Store
Seventeen years ago, I discovered that I have naturally curly hair. Looking at me now, some of you might wonder: How could you have missed that? But if you're black and American, you can probably guess...
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11 Stories I Couldn't Get Anyone to Write About, Including How Facebook Is...
This week, I got back from spending a lovely little overnight in the Toronto airport (if that "pilot" who was also waiting and told me our flight would definitely take off in spite of Juno hadn't been...
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Self Care for Poor Folks: I Am Moving Away From Poverty Brain
Hey, holy crap, it is 2015. (And February already at that.)Happy New Year, y'all. I'm glad we all made it through.So much happened in 2014 that was both great and really terrible that I don't really...
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