Vince Vaughn on His Family News

The actor told Ellen about the impending arrival of his second child, and how potty training is going with his first!

By Steph Davis
Author of Learning to Fly

Rafting down the Amazon would undoubtedly be a character-building experience, but most of us are not actually going to do it, for all the obvious reasons. Some people gravitate toward the unknown and shape their lives around that drive, but there are a lot of barriers to breaking out of a normal routine-time, money, commitments and fears of getting hurt, wasting time, failing, getting disappointed or desperately uncomfortable.

Having traveled to a lot of places that made me nervous and done a lot of things that made me nervous, I know that one approach to reasonable anxieties is to just "Go for it!" Most people will agree that stepping outside your comfort zone is something we all should do, and most people think it's kind of like ripping off a band aid-just shut your eyes, grit your teeth and and do it real quick and then you'll be happy you did it.

But I've come to learn that having wild experiences doesn't have to mean

Read More »from How to Start Doing… Anything and Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Drinking more than one caffeinated beverage a day can have a negative impact on women who are trying to increase their fertility. Learn more from Jessica Porter of The MILF Diet: Let the Power of Whole Foods Transform Your Body, Mind, and Spirit... Deliciously!

Caffeine messes with fertility. According to a Danish study, drinking even small amounts of coffee affects the ability to conceive. Women in the study who consumed more than the equivalent of one cup of coffee per day were half as likely to become pregnant, per cycle, as women who drank less. The more a woman drank, the lower her chances for becoming pregnant. Studies also show that coffee drinking increases the risk of miscarriage.

Let's examine this: Could it be that the relaxed receptivity that is characteristic of our womanhood flies out the window when we're jacked up on the joe? It's well understood that stress affects our ability to climax, can interrupt our menstrual cycles, and can even stop a labor, so why

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Bring the beautiful and elegant look of flowers into your spaces with these simple and stunning projects. Whether it's a small accent or a dramatic scene, these floral decorating ideas will add to your room's budding style.

More from Martha Stewart Living:

10 Clever House-Cleaning Tips

Spring Cleaning To-Do List

Top 50 Everyday Money-Saving Tips

Read More »from Flower Power: Decorate with Bright Blooms

By Gabrielle Reese
Author of My Foot Is Too Big For The Glass Slipper

Like most other women in the first world, I'm aware of my weight. I also love food. And I'm not one of those people for whom kale chips are a genuine substitute for barbecue potato chips. Still, I like feeling better in my body more than I like pigging out. This has lead me to employ (most of the time) a set of attitudes that allow me to eat well without feeling like I'm depriving myself, while still maintaining a healthy weight. And, by the way, it's not all blueberries and smoothies around my house.

That's not to say it's always easy! We're up against a lot. Added to the mind-boggling menu of non-healthy items that we're faced with daily, women-especially wives and mothers-have been trained to put everything and everyone else first. Which means we're at risk for eating whatever's handy (hello, french fries!).

Here are some rules I try to live by for a healthy life:

Dieting
Don't. Do. It. I

Read More »from Gabby Reece's 9 Simple Ways to Be Healthy (Without Dieting)

Happiness interview: Heidi Grant Halvorson.

For a long time, I've been fascinated by Heidi Grant Halvorson's work: she studies the science of motivation.

She has a new book out: Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence. It's about how to understand yourself and others better, so you can use that information to motivate yourself and the people around you. It's grounded in science, and very practical as well.

Motivation is an issue that comes up frequently when you're trying to make your life happier. How do you stick to the resolutions that you've decided to make? I was very curious to hear how Heidi would answer these questions about happiness.

Gretchen: What's a simple activity that consistently makes you happier?

Heidi: I like to take little breaks throughout the day to find something to laugh about - fortunately, the internet has made this very easy for me to do. I'll be in the middle of writing and begin to feel tired or

Read More »from Happiness Becomes More and More About Being Content in Our Current Circumstances

By Amy Sinatra Ayres | vetstreet.com

Morris the Cat in 1978 CommercialSure, those felines made famous by YouTube are all the rage this week with their new documentary, Lil Bub & Friendz, in the spotlight at the Tribeca Film Festival. But before there was YouTube, Buzzfeed recently reminded us, there was Morris.

Remember him? The big orange cat was made famous by his 9Lives commercials. What you might not know is that Morris was a rescue cat, who was "discovered" in an Illinois shelter in 1968.(Below is a classic from 1978.)

As legend has it, Bob Mardwick, an animal trainer who worked for the Leo Burnett advertising agency, found Morris when he wandered into the Humane Society shelter in Hillsdale, Ill., according to Morris' 9Lives biography. Mardwick brought him in for a casting call for 9Lives.

Morris "jumped on the table… and he walked right up to the art director, the big cheese, and bumped him in the head. And then Morris just sat back," Mardwick said. "The art director said, 'This is the

Read More »from Morris the Cat: America's First Famous Feline

Photo Credit: DCLQuestion from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan: Your family is so musical! Do all of the kids learn how to play a musical instrument?

Jim Bob and I are sadly not musically skilled at all so wanted our children to learn how to play and read music. Luckily for us, there was a precious widow who went to church with us and offered to teach our children for half price. We jumped at the offer and Josh started taking piano lessons with Nana when he was 5 years old. We call her Nana because we just love her so much, and she still teaches our kids piano now. She comes over every Monday and teaches our younger ones along with Jinger, who is getting ready to do her senior recitals.

Read More: The Duggars' Instant Stress Buster: Music

We learned that by teaching them the piano first, they get a really strong base in music. Then they can pick up another instrument very easily and transfer that knowledge by reading music. We started out with Nana teaching each one at about the age of 5; they

Read More »from The Duggar Family's Musical Background