How to build your valentine vocabulary―and jump-start your evening

Alex Farnum
Aromatic, flamboyant Albariño
Aphrodite had her tools―apples, pomegranates, and a mythical girdle that, legend has it, made her irresistible to men. We reject the girdle in favor of a glass of wine with seductive edibles. A half-dozen oysters, a few almonds, some spicy chiles, and a racy bottle of Western white.
Have a Latin fling
Get cozy with the West's new wave of flamboyantly aromatic, thoroughly romantic Latin grapes. Don't be surprised if you fall in love―especially when you pair them with these aphrodisiac foods.

Alex Farnum
Almond cake and late-harvest wine
Almonds in ancient Arabian baking might have fueled The Thousand
and One Nights, but we'll settle for just one night and just one pastry: an Italian Almond Cake from Pacific Sourdough company on the Oregon coast ($25; almondcake.com)
Pair it with a wine that, as food editor Margo True says, "puts both arms around the cake"―Beringer's honeyed "Nightingale," a 2005

By Rachel Adler, Beauty High

As we get to the halfway point of awards season, we've had plenty of red carpet trends develop already, from matte red lips to side-swept waves. Tonight for the 19th annual Screen Actor's Guild Awards there was absolutely no question about which beauty trend took over the carpet: Veronica Lake inspired waves. The soft, gorgeous curls all had a deep side part and while still glam, helped to give a more casual look to a lot of fitted, bold hued dresses.

Many of us had eyes on the big contenders of the last few weeks: Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts, and they certainly brought their A-games tonight. There were also a few ladies who surprised us (and of course a few disappointments) with beauty looks that made our jaws drop and some that just didn't quite hit the mark. We chose are favorites (and least favorites) in the slideshow above - let us know your thoughts below!

More From Beauty High:

How To Get Glowing Skin For Your Next Big

Bored with a basic crab cake? These four recipes are delicious and unique!

Crispy Crab Cakes with Mango-Pineapple Salsa
Crispy Crab Cakes with Mango-Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 pound lump crab, drained and picked
1 1/2 cups panko, divided
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mango-Pineapple Salsa
1 cup chopped mango
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Preparation
Combine all Mango-Pineapple Salsa ingredients in a bowl; cover and chill until ready to serve.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a

Now that the hype of New Year's resolutions has faded, the real work begins. Avoid injury and burnout bybeach workout keeping your muscles rested and recovered. Keep your metabolism working at its full potential naturally, and your body healthy and fit well into the new year.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) has long been used in Ayurveda to stoke the digestive system. Due to its yang properties of warming and stimulating, it's thought to enhance the fire in the body. Everything from the digestive system to blood circulation to energizing the body internally.

Ginger for Sore Muscles:

If you don't have time for a long Epsom salt bath to soothe your muscles and mind, consider a hot cup of ginger tea after dinner or a refreshing ginger lemonade after your daily workout.

In two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, subjects were tested for muscle pain after exercising and taking 2 grams of ginger versus a placebo. The study concluded that daily supplementation with ginger reduced muscle

Image: eAlisa/VeerLike many mothers, I'm not one to spend a whole lot of time on my beauty routine. A quick glance at my roots is evidence enough to prove it. But in the late fall I won a raffle prize at a fundraiser to a local salon for a month's membership in their Blow Dry Club. What the heck was that I wondered at the time? But now that I've given it a go, I'm hooked, and it's actually not that surprising as salons that only do blowouts have been popping up in droves across the country.

Read More: 10 Quick and Easy Natural Beauty Treatments You Can DIY During Naptime

Remember how your grandmother used to go to the salon once a week to have her hair washed and blown out? It seems as more women started working and burning the candle at both ends to take care of their house, kids, and work that they stopped this habit. But these blow dry only salons are creating a resurgence of it. The salon that I go to is a full service salon that offers a Blow Dry Club. As it's a resort area, in the "off" season I

Brian Bowen Smith/Fitness MagazineWorkout by Steve Lee

The key to Alison Sweeney's crazy-toned midsection? This sneaky crunch-free circuit. "In each workout, we string together movements -- push and pull, up and down, left and right -- that always work her center," says Sweeney's trainer, Steve Lee. Try a couple of rounds of his five-pack below to help carve your six-pack as you sculpt all over. Alison uses 12-pound dumbbells, but newbies can start with five-pounders.

Related: Try Alison Sweeney's Couch Workout

You can either do this circuit straight through or pair some of the exercises to create killer combo moves like these from Lee:
Squat Military Press + Sprawl to Overhead Lock
Sumo High Row + Push-Up to Plank Row
Jump Lunge and Curl + Sprawl to Overhead Lock

Jump Lunge and Curl
Targets shoulders, biceps, abs, butt, and legs
• Stand holding dumbbells, arms by sides.
• Lunge or jump back with right leg, bending both knees 90 degrees, as you curl dumbbells to shoulders, palms facing each other.
• Step right

The art of texting in dating and relationships is a skill on which most of us could improve. In the age of constant contact via social media and especially texting, there are some Dating with Dignity guidelines to successfully navigate this world within your relationships.

When it comes to texting and relationships, there's a fine line between keeping him interested and driving him away. So are you guilty of over-texting your guy? Here are a few ways to find out:

1. If your text is longer than the length of your thumb, it's TOO LONG.
Texting is a great medium for communication, especially when it comes to things like wishing someone good luck on an interview or confirming a meeting place. It can also be great in a relationship to send a quick note letting your guy know you're thinking about him (provided you aren't only going into date number two). But if you're dating a new guy or in a relationship and your text is so long it has to be divided into three paragraphs,

Knock Your Interview Out of the ParkGive your interviewer a firm handshake. Make eye contact. Answer each question succinctly. Have questions to ask the interviewer at the end. If you've had a job, then you've had an interview, and you likely know those interview essentials. But if you want to move from being a viable candidate to the hiring manager's top choice, you'll need to go well beyond the basics. While the way you dress and present yourself is important, it will be the substance of your responses and interactions that leave the interviewer picturing you in the role-and, more importantly, being unable to imagine that anyone else could be a better fit. Convey these four messages in your next interview, and you're sure to hit a home run.

1. You Were Indispensable in Your Previous Jobs