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

Furby -- updated for 2012 -- is one of the hottest and hardest-to-find toys of the season. (Photo: Amazon.com)The hottest holiday toy for 2012 is an old favorite: Furby, a fluffy owl-like robot that sleeps, dances, talks, eats, and constantly "learns" new behavior, is flying off store shelves—and going for big bucks on the private market—around the world.

Related: The Truth About "Hot" Toys

Furby is one of the only toys to make it to the top of nearly every big retailer's "hot toy" list this holiday season; it's a big seller at Walmart, Toys R Us, Amazon.com, Kmart, and Target. The $54 toy comes in 10 colors, and while many stores still have at least a few of them in stock, most colors are sold out online, a Target representative told Yahoo! Shine. The most-popular colors—including "voodoo" purple, teal, and hot pink—are nearly impossible to come by.

"I remember when Furby had its first go around, so it's interesting to see it come back," Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala told Yahoo! Shine. "I don't know which colors are selling fast... but as we receive additional allocations, we'll be sure to

Read More »from Furby: The Hottest Toy for 2012

What would your workout be like if men and women switched stereotypes? (Photo: Yahoo! Screen)You know the stereotypes. At a bar, the guys are usually the ones trying to muscle in on Girls' Night Out. At the gym, the women are doing yoga and contemplating frozen yogurt while the guys are comparing protein powders and wondering why they signed up for the yoga class in the first place. And in a relationship? Do we even need to describe who's shopping and who's bored?

Yahoo! Screen has taken those stereotypes and turned them around in their new video series, "The Flip Side," directed by Jay Diaz and featuring a fun -- and funny! -- cast of characters. What happens when men and women trade roles? Take a look.

At the bar:

At the gym:



In a relationship:

Read More »from The Flip Side: What Happens when Men and Women Switch Roles?

The controversial Urban Outfitters 2012 holiday catalogIn what may be an effort to connect with a younger crowd, Urban Outfitters has laced its 2012 holiday catalog with words that most news outlets aren't allowed to print, prompting parents to call for a boycott of the trendy retail store.

Related: Gap Pulls "Manifest Destiny" T-Shirt

"My whole family will be boycotting Urban Outfitters because of your profanity-laced products," Mary Streetman Lewis posted on the company's Facebook page. "SHAME ON YOU!!!!"

The products themselves aren't offensive: Candles, photo albums, mugs, and other knick knacks. It's what's on them that's causing outrage. One $24 candle, for example, looks like the classic LOVE sculpture, except that the four letter Urban Outfitters' version starts with F and ends with K. (It's available in the "Gifts for Guys that Don't Suck" section of the retailer's website.)

Other profanity-laced products include "Magic S**t" (a slime-like "stress reliever"), hip flasks emblazoned with curse words, and a throw pillow that

Read More »from Urban Outfitters' Curse-word Filled Holiday Catalog Sparks Outrage

Chris Hanmer's Chocolate Almond Cake.Cooking for a crowd this holiday season? According to world champion pastry chef Chris Hanmer, 2011 winner of "Top Chef: Just Desserts," Chris Hanmer, one of the best ways to reduce the stress levels is to start cooking -- or, at least, baking -- early.

"The great thing about desserts is that you can make a lot of them in advance," he told Yahoo! Shine in an interview.

"You don't have to do all your baking in one day," Hanmer, who is also the founder of the School of Pastry Design in Las Vegas, Nevada, explained. "My mom and other moms throughout the world have a count down clock. But you can actually push that back a couple of days."

Cookie dough freezes wonderfully, and you can make extra batches a few weeks before the holidays and then bake them up the day before company arrives (scoop the dough into balls before freezing).

Some people tend to fall into a baking rut around the holidays, serving up the same old sugar cookies, fruit cakes, and holiday pies. To add interest to a

Read More »from Chris Hanmer: A Top Chef's Tips for Holiday Baking

Author Carol Cooke says that unskilled parents are the problem, not unmotivated kids.In "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," Yale law professor Amy Chua declared her "Chinese mother" parenting skills superior to those of lazy, touchy-feely "Western parents" and seems to say that pushing children to succeed academically is the best way to guarantee their success later in life. Longtime educator Carol Cooke says that she agrees -- up to a point.

Related: The Opposite of a Tiger Mother? Leaving Your Children Behind

"We all want our children to succeed academically because today, more than ever, education is the key to success. Holding high expectations and communicating those expectations to our children on a regular basis is a point on which Amy Chua and I absolutely agree," Cooke told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "Our points of view diverge on what comes after that, and the differences are clearly cultural."

In her new book, "America's Answer to the Tiger Mother: How to Raise Successful, Happy Children" Cooke points out that unskilled parents are the problem, not

Read More »from Forget Tiger Mothers: Teach People How to Be Good Parents Instead

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting! (Photo: Getty Images)Now that the palace has confirmed that the Duchess formerly known as Kate Middleton is pregnant, questions abound. Does it matter whether the royal couple has a little prince or a little princess? Do members of the British royal family actually breastfeed? What will  the royal birth announcement look like? We've gathered up a few of the frequently asked questions out there right now, and tracked down the answers.

Kate Middleton's Maternity Muse? Lady Di's Pregnant Years Provide Inspiration

Will Kate have a baby shower? Baby showers are an American tradition, not a British one, though no doubt well-wishers will send the parents-to-be plenty of presents. As they did for their wedding, the royal couple may encourage friends to make a donation to charity instead.

PHOTOS: Kate's Maternity Style

Who will be the godparents? Traditionally, the couple's best man and maid of honor are later asked to stand as godparents for the couple's firstborn child, so Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton are

Read More »from Kate Middleton: Royal Pregnancy Mysteries, Solved

This former men's bathroom on the Boston Common has been made into a restaurant. (Photo: David L. Ryan/Boston Globe/Getty Images)The location of Boston's new Earl of Sandwich restaurant can't be beat—it's right in the middle of one of the busiest and most-visible parts of the Boston Common, the oldest public park in America. But the building's history may give some diners pause: The stone kiosk where workers will be prepping sandwiches for the lunchtime crowd used to be a public bathroom.

Related: Dirty Restaurant Secrets the Kitchen Crew Won't Tell You

Known locally as The Pink Palace (the stone blocks used to build it are rose-colored), the 660-square-foot octagonal structure was built in the 1920s and used as a "men's comfort station" for about 50 years. It was closed in the 1970s and has spent four decades locked up tight, filled with old urinals, decrepit toilets, and rusting pipes.

Related: The 10 Weirdest Restaurants in the World

When the Florida-based Earl of Sandwich company announced that it would be opening a restaurant in the former restroom, reactions were mixed.

"This is a great opportunity to

Read More »from New Boston Restaurant Located in Former Public Restroom

Twin toddlers can be a handful by themselves. But when you add in a couple of newborns, the potential for chaos—and happiness—is enormous.

Thirteen-month-old twins Grayson and Garin Martin welcomed identical baby sisters, Hayden and Harley, last week. And their parents, Jaclyn and Chad Martin of Weatherford, Texas, are still reeling from the reality of having two sets of twins in a row. (For now, the tired parents tell which baby is which by looking at their hospital bracelets, which are still around the newborns' tiny wrists.)

Related: In One Family, Two Sets of Twins Born on the Same Day

"More than anything I was shocked to hear twins again," Chad Martin told CBS News. "I didn't believe it at first."

Having consecutive sets of twins without having undergone fertility treatments is very unusual. The odds "might be one in 10,000" says Jaclyn's OB/GYN, Dr. Stephen Stamatis, who delivered both sets of her twins at Weatherford Regional Medical Center. "It's pretty rare. It's the first

Read More »from Family Welcomes Second Set of Twins in a Row