Blog Posts by The_Stir

Mouse'Tis the season for mice to turn up in your house, like those unwanted holiday guests who outstay their welcome. Apparently in some parts of the country (hello, East Coast), it's been so rainy that the critters are being driven out of their soggy little holes in the ground and coming into our nice, dry homes in greater numbers than usual this year.

A few of my poor friends at work have had to deal with this phenomenon firsthand, with one colleague having an army of mice move in until she could get an outside exterminator to plug up all the holes in the walls in her apartment in New York.

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It reminds me of the time I suddenly found myself face to face with my own mouse intruder in my own Manhattan apartment. I'd like to think I came up with a pretty creative -- and obvious -- way to scare the little guy off.

It's simple, really. I lectured him. Well, first I screamed, like any self-respecting

EyeglassesOne of the most forgotten figures in the fashion and beauty world is the Woman Wearing Glasses.

Most fashion and beauty magazines leave her out of the picture altogether, despite the fact that millions of women out there wear eyeglasses for at least some of each day.

Well, the makeup artists at Salon NFuse here in Nashville wanted to change that.

They helped me put together this makeup tutorial just for you.

EYEGLASSES WEARERS, UNITE!

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Salon NFuseSo this is Chelsea. She wears eyeglasses and little to no makeup each day. Makeup artist Stephanie Littrell started by quickly putting a light foundation on Chelsea's face with a sponge. You could also opt for a powder foundation (I do!) like M.A.C. StudioFix.

Salon NfuseNext, concealer. Concealer is key, even if you're not wearing much other makeup. Chelsea was taught how to dab a little concealer right under her eye at the lashline in order to brighten it, and

levi's wash jeansIf you've ever ran through a rainstorm without boots but with a heavy pair of denim jeans, you know how much water those pants can soak up. Apparently Levi's does too, and they're getting environmentally conscious about how they "wash" their stone wash jeans. They're taking out the wash part, and just using stones on dry denim. (Side note: Why not just stop trying to revive the stone wash trend? It's still ugly, 20+ years later.)

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But Levi's isn't content to stop there with their eco-friendly ways. Now they're telling you, the Levi's consumer, to stop washing your jeans so much, as someone freaked out when they saw that one pair of Levi's uses 919 gallons of water during its life cycle. Whoa. That's a serious amount of jean washing.

People, stop washing your jeans so much! Be dirty like me.

Maybe it's the dark colors or just the thickness of the material, but I never feel the need to wash my jeans after

Neiman Marcus

Colorblocking -- graphically mixing colors for eye-catching contrast -- is everywhere you turn this season, and it's an easy way to look super stylish this fall. Neiman Marcus is all over the look this season, but even if you can't afford one of Fendi's two-tone dresses or Jason Wu's colorblocked sweaters, you can still get the look on a budget. Read on to find out how.

I just ordered this Muse colorblock dress (Last Call, $99), which is an additional 30 percent off this price if you order it before tomorrow. I can't wait to get it!

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For a more casual look, I'm crazy about this colorblock tee (J.Crew, $39.50), which comes in several different color combinations.

I've also got my eye on this Inc. Colorblock Dress (Macy's, $69.99). CUTE.

Here's a sophisticated colorblock sweater dress from M.S.S.P. (Dillard's, $128). I'd totally wear it.

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brideMy mother was a Betty Friedan loving feminist, raising me to believe that not only were women AS good as men, they were probably BETTER. It's a life-lesson that's saved me from dating too many losers, too many lousy lovers, and too many people who simply weren't worth it. I was as shocked as she was that she was actually -- and still is -- married, as she's the sort of woman who doesn't need a man.

Which meant that I was as surprised as the next person when I found myself waltzing up the aisle in a puffy white dress back in 2005. I'd never been the sort to fantasize about my future wedding or future husband. In fact, I'd spent that time fantasizing about how I was going to conquer the world or what I'd name my robot monkey butler.

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Recently, I came across several articles recently that echoed those lessons my mother imparted upon me: women are settling less and achieving more.

Since the downturn

iphone screenIt's an easy trap to fall into. You have your smartphone next to you while you're in bed next to your partner and BAM! you hear it go off. It's probably an email requiring your attention. At least you think it is. Maybe it's just Facebook telling you that one of your exes "friended" you. Maybe it's someone on Twitter telling you that you're really great and if you respond RIGHT NOW, you'll get a new job.

Maybe it's not.

But you won't know until you pick it up.

So what do you do?

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If you're like many of us, you pick it up. The suspense is too great and you simply must know what that buzzing noise means.

Once you do, you've successfully allowed the Internet into your bedroom. What next?

Rather than sit on the couch together, happily watching television or a movie, you both sit side-by-side, each on your respective smartphones. It's Angry Birds. Words With Friends. Twitter. Facebook.

MistressI'm sure I've confessed this before, but I'll admit it again: I'm addicted to crime shows. Aside from reruns of King of Queens, Seinfeld, and The Golden Girls - and my other indulgences, Lie to Me and now The Walking Dead, which I'm somehow brave enough to make it through - my TV doesn't stray far from the channels that pump out Deadly Women, Forensic Files, and 48 Hours Mystery. I love sitting through the process of investigating the crime. When it's condensed into an hour-long airtime, anyway.

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But my favorite is Snapped. As the narrative voiceover is explaining the back story behind the final showdown that usually ends up in a murdered husband, I'm thinking about how I would've handled the situation. In one case, a woman was furious because her man had left her and married his mistress. Bad. But the homewreckin' hussy wanted their children to call her "mom." Worse.

Now that's the kind of scenario I try

It's a debate that's been around as long as restaurants have been in existence: Which night of the week is the best to eat out? Some people think there are certain nights during the week -- compared to others -- in which the food is the freshest, the specials are the tastiest, and the service is the best. Sure, it might seem like a minor dilemma to worry about, but it's no small potatoes when you decide to order the spicy tuna roll only to discover the raw fish has been sitting around for days.

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You'd think the best nights of the week would be Friday or Saturday when it's the busiest and likely the best people are working to accommodate all the customers and serving the highest quality food, but the truth is, there's NO best night. Here's why:

If you try hard enough, you could arguably dream up an excuse why you shouldn't eat out any night of the week:

Monday: Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain famously