Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Students at a middle school in Maine who wore shirts like these in memory of a friend who committed suicide were told to remove them.Her friends were heartbroken when 13-year-old Harley "Kitty" McGuire killed herself at home last week, allegedly after being bullied for months at her middle school. But when they decided to wear T-shirts in her honor, calling for better anti-bullying efforts, the officials at the school told them to stop.

Also on Shine: Have Kids Become More Cruel?

Heather Perry, the superintendent of Regional School Unit 3, which oversees the Mount View Middle School in Thorndike, Maine, confirmed that school staff members have discouraged students from wearing pins and shirts that refer to McGuire, bullying, and suicide, the Portland Morning Sentinel reported. They wanted to avoid "accidental memorializing" of the death, Perry explained.

Also on Shine: Bullied Boy's Heartbreaking Message is One All Kids Should See

The homemade shirts were black with the dates of her birth and death, hearts, and phrases like "Her strength ran out" and "stop bullying Mount View" written on them with multicolored

Read More »from School Says Students Anti-Bullying Protest Could Glorify Their Friend's Suicide

Country music superstar Carrie Underwood has discovered the secret to a happy marriage, and it's kind of retro: Look hot, have date nights, and let your her husband call the shots.

Is Your Career Killing Your Relationship?

Sheryl Sandberg, avert your eyes: Underwood, a six-time Grammy Award winner, says she would totally "lean out" of her career if her husband, professional ice hockey player Mike Fisher, wanted her to.

Also on Shine: 12 Actors Who Say They've Quit Acting

"If Mike ever told me he needed me to quit, I'd quit," she tells People magazine this week. "When you make that promise to somebody, and you stand before God and your family and friends, you've got to do everything that you possibly can to make that work."

It's easy to make a sweeping statement like that when a.) you're independently wealthy and b.) it's unlikely that your husband would ever ask you to give up your very lucrative and successful career just because he wants you to hang out with him at the rink.

Read More »from Carrie Underwood: I'd quit my job if my husband told me to

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge on a visit to Baker Street Underground Station on March 20, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Indigo/Getty Images)When she appears in public in a particular dress, retailers scramble to keep the frock in stock (and designers work overtime to create knockoffs). But the Kate Middleton effect goes far beyond the fashion world -- so much so that the royal family's foundation has moved to stop others from capitalizing on her name recognition.

Also on Shine: The Kate Middleton Nose Job is Now a Thing

According to the Telegraph, St. James's Palace confirms that it has applied to the U.K.'s Intellectual Property Office to trademark her name, along with Prince William's and Prince Harry's.

Also on Shine: Kate Middleton's Uncle Shares Private Family Details

Originally set up by Princes William and Harry in September 2009, the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry received a record number of donations after Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement. (The foundation's name was changed to include the Duchess's title after the royal wedding in April 2011).

Read More »from Royal Family Moves to Trademark Kate Middleton's Name for Charity

Many little girls dream of swimming with or meeting a mermaid, but Linden Wolbert actually left her day job to become one.

"I have always had a magnetism to water," she told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "I have always been fascinated with it, not just because of the animals that live in it, but because I feel so comfortable swimming in it. I just was always a swimmer and loved to be in the water."

Also on Shine: The Mermaid Trend -- Shine Tries It

After three years of working 9 to 5 as a residence director for Emerson College, "I was just daydreaming over every single lunch break about being in the water and among the fish," she said. An avid swimmer and SCUBA diver, Wolbert also loves freediving, in which you dive as deep as you can and swim back up to the surface in a single breath—perfect training for a professional life as a mermaid. She made the leap from office worker to mermaid in 2005 and hasn't looked back since.

Slideshow: 25 Chic Mermaid Gowns

Though Wolbert, 32,

Read More »from Linden Wolbert on What It's Like to Be a Real-Life Mermaid

Princeton grad Susan Patton reads from her open letter to the University's female students. (Photo: CBS News)Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says the key is to "Lean In." Xerox Corp. CEO Ursula Burns jokes that the trick is to "marry someone 20 years older." But executive coach and Princeton University grad Susan A. Patton offered up some "have it all" advice last week that has left many women baffled: Find a husband before you finish college.

Also on Shine: Western Wedding University, Where Students Go to Earn Their Mrs. Degrees

"For most of you, the cornerstone of your future and happiness will be inextricably linked to the man you marry, and you will never again have this concentration of men who are worthy of you," Patton, who earned a degree in art and archaeology from Princeton in 1977, wrote in a letter published in The Princetonian. "Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate."

Also on Shine: Why Are We Blaming Feminism for Our Inability to Have it All?

"I sincerely feel that too much focus has been placed on encouraging young women only to

Read More »from Dear Princeton Grad Susan Patton: Why Aren't You Pushing Marriage on College Men?

Khloe (left) and Kourtney Kardashian in Miami in December 2012. (Photo: Olivia Salazar/FilmMagic via Getty Images)On Sunday's episode of "Kourtney & Kim Take Miami," Khloe revealed that she and her husband, Lamar Odom, are battling infertility -- and her sister Kourtney offered a touching (if conveniently TV-friendly) solution to their problem.

Also on Shine: 5 Surrogates Share Their Stories

"I just wanted to say that if you did need someone to carry your child, I would volunteer my services," 33-year-old Kourtney, already a mom of two kids, told Khloe, 28, during the episode.

Also on Shine: Maine Woman Gives Birth to her Own Grandson

But playing surrogate to a family member is easier in theory than in reality. For starters, not everyone in your family may be on board with the idea. "You don't just go putting babies in other sisters because you can," Kourtney's partner Scott Disick rants. "It's too much for me. This is freaking me out!" -- but he eventually comes around.

Still, before anyone—Kardashian or otherwise—embarks on this kind of undertaking, there's plenty to consider.

In 2010, 

Read More »from Kourtney Kardashian offers to carry Khloe's baby. What's sibling surrogacy really like?

Vicki Gunvalson in 2011 (left) and this year. Does it look like she got a chin implant? (Photo: Bravo and WENN.com)When it comes to plastic surgery, what's left to do once you've already had everything else lifted, sculpted, or tucked? You focus on your chin, apparently.

Also on Shine: Surprising Plastic Surgery Trends Around the World

Just in time for the Bravo reality show's 100th episode, "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Vicki Gunvalson has debuted her newest improvement: A more prominent chin. And her catty frenemies Tamra Barney and Gretchen -- no strangers to plastic surgery themselves -- didn't waste any time picking apart her new look. “Does she not look different, look at her chin!” Barney squeals while showing Rossi a photo of Gunvalson. “She got a chin implant!”

Also on Shine: The Most Coveted Celebrity Body Parts

She's not the only one. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' 2012 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, chin augmentations were the sixth most-popular cosmetic surgical procedure -- and the second most-popular type of implant -- performed last year.

Read More »from Did Real Housewives Star Vicki Gunvalson Get a Chin Implant? They're Totally a Thing

A new report released this week from the Center for Science in the Public Interest has found that a whopping 97 percent of the nearly 3,500 fast-food kid meal combinations they analyzed didn't meet basic nutritional standards for calorie, fat, and sodium content -- not even the so-called "healthy" ones. "Given that children consume on average 25 percent of their daily calories at fast-food and other restaurants, the nutritional quality of those meals is important," CSPI said in their report. CSPI set limits of no more than 430 calories and 770 milligrams of sodium per meal, with no more than 35 percent of calories coming from fat; another group, the National Restaurant Association's Kids Live Well program, put the cut-off at 600 calories. Here's how some of the most-popular fast-food places fared. -- Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Read More »from Fast Food Meals for Kids: Worse Than Ever?