Blog Posts by Babble.com

Summer is right around the corner, and with it comes the heat. But how to dress for comfort while staying chic? Enter this season's hottest (or should we say coolest) dresses to throw on and step out into the sunshine. From linen eyelets to swingy jersey numbers, these 7 frocks won't let you down. Happy summer!

-By Chelsea Fuss

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pregnancyFile this one in the OH GOD drawer. According to New York magazine, "birth-control sabotage and pregnancy coercion" is on the rise. Kat Stoeffel writes, "If you don't hear much these days about the stereotypical gold digger who lies about being on the pill to ensnare a man into marriage or eighteen years of child support payments, that may be because doctors are now being told to look for just the opposite: The woman whose partner sabotages her birth control. She's not so hard to find."

This phenomenon has become so problematic that "the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a committee recommendation urging ob-gyns to screen patients for these behaviors, collectively known as reproductive coercion." So the next time you go get a pap smear, be prepared to be asked something like, "Does your partner support your decision about when or if you want to become pregnant?"

Related: 10 reasons why he wants sex when you're pregnant

Over the past few years we

Brooklyn Magazine recently wrote a piece called "The 5 Stupidest Things in the Hipster Home," in which the author comments on the recent "Brooklyn hipster home decor" staple: the urban teepee. Apparently young Brooklynites are building their own indoor teepees - for adults, not kids - and it bugs the heck out of the author. (Before we go further, let me go on the record by saying how much I despise the word "hipster" - probably because it's used so disparagingly toward my fellow 20-somethings, cloaked in mean-spirited irony. As you were!) But it's not just urban teepees - there are actually several hipster home trends cited in Brooklyn Magazine, including the 3 trends in the slideshow below. - By Michelle Horton

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salad"It's practically a health food," is a claim my husband and I like to make when we are consuming something particularly indulgent. "It's got eggs for protein and healthy fats, butter - which is totally natural,and flour, which is made from a plant! And don't forget the anti-oxidants in the chocolate chips. See, there's lots of good stuff."

It's a joke for us, of course. As I'm sure it is for many other people. But in reality, there are a lot of foods out there that make health claims that lead to people making unhealthy choices. A recent study out of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland demonstrated that people will usually serve themselves more of a food that claims to be "reduced fat" or "low-fat" or in some other way "healthier" than the standard fare.

Related: The 10 craziest things women do to lose weight

That's because people tend to see claims to healthfulness as a license to eat as much as they'd like, guilt-free. That attitude, however, can lead to a

ADHD linked to obesityWhen you hear the term "ADHD", don't you immediately think of your high school class clown - the one that couldn't sit still and was constantly doing anything but paying attention in class? That's a complete and total stereotype, I know. That description certainly doesn't encompass all kids with ADHD, but it does have the word "hyperactivity" in the name, leading you to imagine a kid constantly running around in circles and jumping up and down. Using that (flawed) logic, you'd think kids with ADHD would be skinny, based on all the extra activity. A long-term ADHD study recently revealed just the opposite: that ADHD may be a cause of obesity. (Coincidently, research is also pointing towards breastfeeding preventing ADHD.)

A study performed at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center found that males diagnosed with ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, were twice as likely to be obese as adults. Although ADHD is associated with over activity, it's also

Sweet & Salty!I'm absolutely nuts for peanuts. I crave them at every ball game, and love peeling off the shell as I cheer for my team. I use them in several recipes from desserts to salad toppers. I especially enjoy them with a cold drink, and go giddy when a little plate is placed in front of me at a bar or restaurant. I recently went to a Chinese restaurant and a small plate of sweet and salty seaweed peanuts was served as we looked over the menu. I thought it was a unexpected combo but dig in anyway, WOW….. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Within a few minutes the whole plate was gone. I came home and recreated the peanuts for a small gathering I was having that weekend. Yes, everyone loved them and asked how I came about this recipe. I told them about the Chinese restaurant and how I had to have more. Enjoy!

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Ingredients for Sweet and Salty Seaweed Peanuts:
2 - cups roasted Spanish peanuts (with the skin on)
3 - tablespoons

Strawberry Milkshake! We are huge fans of milkshakes in the summer. They are the best of both worlds - ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry, all in a drinkable form. The other day we went to an old fashioned soda fountain and had a milkshake with our lunch. The old fashioned strawberry was my daughter's favorite. It is creamy, smooth and topped with just the right amount of whipped cream and a cherry. It even came with the extra metal cup full of milkshake on the side! We decided to make them at home and I came up with this technique for making a soda fountain milkshake that tasted just like the real thing!

Related: 10 simple 4-ingredient smoothies for summer

Ingredients:
3 scoops strawberry ice cream
1 tablespoon strawberry syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
Whipped Cream
Cherry

Directions:
1. Place the ice cream, syrup, vanilla, and milk in a blender and blend on high speed for five minutes or more. The milkshake should be whipped and frothy.
2. Pour the milkshake into a

Taking undignified photos of cats is always hilarious. There's just no getting around that. And the latest trend in being undignified with your cat is making the underside of your cat's face look like your beard, which is also known as a "catbeard." (The verb form, obviously, is "catbearding.") This presents lots of new accessorizing options and fashion options, including the "Dumbledore" and the "Santa." There's really no other way of explaining that, unless I just show you the photos, so here you go: my picks for the top ten best catbeards out there right now! - Joslyn Gray

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