Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

Urban Outfitters T-Shirt

The clothing chain Urban Outfitters is promoting a provocative new line of t-shirts with slogans such as "I Vote For Vodka" and "USA Drinking Team." A version modeled by a young woman, who appears to be a teen, is emblazoned with blurred letters reading, "I Drink You're Cute." Sadly, what's apparently meant to be a joke isn't far from the truth: alcohol use is associated with increased rates of sexual activity for teens as well as decreased condom use.

Related: MADD supports National Drunk Driving Crackdown on Labor Day Weekend

A recent survey reported that one out of five teens is drinking, using drugs, or smoking during school hours. For parents already rattled about kids and booze, it's a jolt to discover these items when fall clothes shopping with one's teen or 'tween. The majority of customers at Urban Outfitters (whose representatives did not respond to our calls and emails) are between 18 and 24 and the second largest demographic is under 18. "Kids shouldn't be wearing

Souffle style pancakesHow do you make breakfast pancakes extra light and airy? Clayton Miller, Executive Chef at Wit and Wisdom, the new tavern at Baltimore's Four Seasons Hotel, developed this unique method early on in his career when he worked as a pastry chef. "One of the items on the menu was a classic French soufflé," Miller tells Shine. "That's where I got the inspiration for this dish." The secret is folding in extra egg whites, but he promises, "The pancakes aren't temperamental like a soufflé."

Read: Chef Sara Moulton Answers Cooking Questions

Miller says the dish is delicious with butter and maple syrup, but a simple caramel banana sauce makes them swoon-worthy.

Related: McDonald's New Breakfast Time: Midnight

Soufflé Pancakes (adapted from Clayton Miller)

Makes 6-8 substantial pancakes

5 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 whole eggs
2 eggs yolks
3 egg whites


Pre-heat oven to

Author Caitlin MoranSince when did "feminism" become the new f-bomb? Caitlin Moran's 'How to Be A Woman', a UK bestseller, aims to rehab the maligned term while dishing Gaga, Brazilian waxing, the wonder of motherhood, and why porn could be a beautiful thing-but isn't. "Without feminism, you wouldn't be allowed to have a debate on women's place in society," writes the London Times award-winning columnist, "You'd be too busy giving birth on the kitchen floor--biting down on a wooden spoon, so as not to disturb the men's card game….The more women argue loudly, against feminism, the more they both prove it exists and that they enjoy its hard-won privileges."

Part memoir, part manifesto, Moran's work was a hit with British readers and now she's ambushing United States with her rambunctious mix of teenage confessional, social critique, and celebrity gossip. Scared of political rants? Fear not, Moran hacks through the prickly thicket of being a woman in the 21st Century with more of a rubber chicken than

Do you know what's under the hood? Nowadays, people barely read their automobile manual, let alone tinker with their engine. Audra Fordin, the owner of Great Bear Auto and Body Shop in Queens, NY, tells Shine that you can save hundreds of dollars a year by tackling basic repairs yourself. "There are a ton of things you can fix--from wipers, to fuses, to headlights--with ten dollars and a screw driver instead of a trip to the garage."

Related: 10 Painless Tricks to Save Money Every Day

Fordin, a fourth generation mechanic, learned her trade by her father's side. "My dad was a workaholic," she laughs. "I was a little girl who wanted to hang with daddy. In order to do that, I had to work." Fordin is spreading the knowledge. A mom of three, she works with the Girl Scouts and runs workshops and an instructional website, Women Auto Know. "Its always easier to be ripped off when you are uneducated," she warns. "With education comes confidence. You won't be messed with as easily." 

Here are her top

New York City-based photographer Rachel Hulin got the idea to create shots of her baby Henry flying last summer, when he was six months old. "He was a baby who loved to be lifted up," she tells Shine. "I was always taking pictures of him and I had an epiphany that it would be interesting to try that without another person." Hulin recalls the first images looked a little "spooky." Like many new moms, Hulin was always wondering what was going on in his mysterious baby brain. "It was Henry's world," she says. "The pictures were kind of an allegory for that." Now, at eighteen months old, Hulin says it's getting harder to photograph him airborne. "First we investigate and find a good spot that Henry is interested in," she explains. "My husband will lift him really quickly and see what pose he strikes." Mom says that about half the time the picture doesn't work. "But sometimes it's magical!"

Hulin is compiling the photographs to illustrate a children's book. Flying Henry will be

When Carolyn Giles posed for Volvo in 2007, she was told her image would be used to advertise the company's car company's S40 sedan. She could have never imagined a picture of her would pop up years later on a single's website promoting a party sponsored by Volvo under the suggestive headline, "Spend a Night with the Swedish Model of Your Choice." The caption underneath her photo reads "Rev Up Your Love-Life." Now, the recent Columbia University graduate, who modeled through college to help pay the tuition, is suing the company along with Hertz and her agency, Ford, for $23 Million.

Related: Dismissal of Suits for STD Experiments Appealed

A spokesperson for Volvo said in a statement that the ad was "a play on words" and "Swedish model" referred to cars not women. Giles isn't buying it. Her lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, told the Daily News, "It looks like something you'd see in the old yellow pages directories under escort services." He added, "It makes her look sleazy."

Julia's favorite browniesMaster chef and teacher Julia Child, who would have been 100 Wednesday, is famous for complicated French dishes such as her six-page cassoulet recipe, but one of her favorite sweets was a straight-forward, all-American brownie. Developed for the cookbook Baking with Julia, these decadent confections have a deep chocolate flavor and cakey texture that firms up and gets chewy if refrigerated. Bon appétit!

VIDEO: Julia Child Gets the Autotune Treatment

Julia's Best-Ever Brownies (adapted from 'Baking with Julia' with Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

8 ounces unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

Directions:

1. Put a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees.

2. Sift together the flour and salt; set aside.

3. Melt the butter and

If you can't say something nice...

Do you ever catch yourself spouting some worn out threat to a kid that probably should have been retired a couple of generations ago? Lisa Belkin, writing for the Huffington Post recently noted that #ThingsEveryMomSays was trending on Twitter. Some of the tweets:

"Don't talk to me like that, I'm not one of your little friends."

"My roof, my rules."

"Why? Because I said so."

"I'm so sick and tired of your attitude."

"If you are bored, go clean your room."

It's sad that kids all over the world mainly tweeted the irritable, disconnected ways that some parents use to communicate. Belkin makes a point that while moms and dads don't define themselves by these "ticked off" clichés, their children often do.

"I regularly find myself listening to harsh exchanges between parents and children out in public and think, 'Is that how you ever thought you would sound back when you decided to have children?'" writes Belkin. "And I also wonder, 'Do you even know how you sound?'"