Cynthia Rowley, Alexis Bittar, Lori Goldstein

Fashion giants shared early career anecdotes and advice with over a hundred scholars at the Fashion Institute of Technology last night, where the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF) hosted a panel featuring designers Cynthia Rowley, Alexis Bittar, and Michael Bastian along with stylist Lori Goldstein and Saks Fifth Avenue's and NBC's Fashion Star buyer Terron Schaefer. The event was the last of a career-focused series for recipients of scholarships from YMA FSF, a national non-profit association providing over $800,000 to students studying fashion arts.

Students and YMA FSF donors enjoyed cocktails provided by Vikingfjord before proceeding to the informal discussion, moderated by Paper magazine's rambunctious editorial director, Mickey Boardman. Topics ranged from first jobs-Rowley bartended while Bittar dropped out of school to be a street vendor-to unconventional

Tips for Booking a Last-Minute TripSometimes you just need a vacation -- NOW! Tips and resources for finding a last-second trip:

Think off-season The deepest discounts on travel will be for places that are "off-season"-say, wintertime in Chicago, or late summer in the Caribbean. If a getaway for you isn't about escaping the weather, you'll be rife with options.

Be flexible with your days A weekend trip that leaves Saturday and comes back Monday or Tuesday will be cheaper than one that leaves Friday and comes back Sunday, and a weeklong trip that leaves Wednesday and returns Tuesday will be a lot cheaper than a trip that starts and ends on the weekend.

Related: Travel Sites that Minimize Planning Time

Sign up for e-newsletters that offer great last-minute deals. Travelzoo.com and airfarewatchdog.com (two of my favorite travel sites), as well as all the sites listed below, send out deal-packed e-mails that may set your travel bug buzzing.

To find discounts on...

Flights: Check out your fave airline sites (these usually

IF YOUR DOCTOR .prescribed marijuana,,,GROW YOUR OWN,,BETTER YET MAKE IT LEGAL FOR ANYONE TO GROW,,FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES,,,JUST AS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LEGALIZED HOME MADE RUBBING ALCOHOL..,,DURING PROBATION
DON'T WORRY,,CONTINUED USE OF MARIJUANA , LOOSES ITS CHARM,,, ,,,,SOME GIVE IT UP,, SOME GO FOR THE HARD STUFF,,
WHEN EVERYONE IS ALLOWED TO GROW THEIR OWN FOR WHAT EVER REASONN HOW CAN THERE BE LARGE SUMS OF MONEY MADE,,, TRYING TO SELL IT,,,,
IT WILL BANKRUPT THE DEALERS,,AND REMOVE THE CRIME ELEMENT..
TRY SELLING CIGARETTES,, TOBACCO,,WINE,WHISKEY,,OR CAFFEINE, FOR A PROFIT,,,

By Locke Hughes

Renée Maloney, 43, (left) and Cathy Deano, 58, Mandeville, LA

THEIR BUSINESS

Painting with a Twist, with 62 franchise locations in 15 states

THE CONCEPT

An art class where friends drink a little wine and have a lot of fun while learning to paint

EARNINGS

Over $1 million in 2011

Their Best Business Advice

PUT YOUR IDEA TO THE TEST

After Hurricane Katrina tore through Louisiana in 2005, friends Cathy and Renée felt compelled to help their community recover its spirit. On their morning walks, they'd brainstorm business ventures. "We couldn't agree on an idea until we came up with an art class paired with BYOB wine, which would give people a creative way to burn off stress," recalls Renée, who managed an orthodontic practice at the time. She and Cathy, a caterer, tried out the concept in Cathy's backyard. As an artist friend taught them step by step how to re-create a portrait of a woman, the two followed along and produced

8 Ways to Get Ahead at WorkEven if you love your job, you'll likely find yourself stuck in a rut at some point in your career. You may have gotten so good at what you do that it has become automatic (and perhaps a bit boring), or maybe you'd like to ask for a raise but don't know how to broach the subject. Whatever your goal, we spoke to career experts to learn what techniques will help you gain momentum at work.

Read:Tips On Turning Your Talent Into A Career

Top 6 Lessons Learned From Bad Bosses

1. Take on diverse assignments.

If it seems like the only thing that ever changes about your job is the day of the week, it's time to ask your boss for "stretch assignments" to enhance your growth, says Jodi Glickman, president of a communication training firm and author of Great on the Job. Offer to help with new projects, even ones that fall outside your department. Or, if you have a particular skill that isn't part of your job description, be on the lookout for opportunities to indulge your

The Republican Party's "war on women" is one of the biggest political stories of the year. So are female GOP voters standing by their party? By Shushannah Walshe

Voter RegistrationIs the Republican Party antiwoman? In recent months, (mostly male) Republican pols have pushed for or passed numerous measures making it more difficult to get birth control and abortions. In Congress, Republicans lobbied to create a stricter definition of rape and to weaken the Violence Against Women Act, and opposed a bill addressing gender-based wage discrimination. High-profile Republican men have also made several off-key remarks about women, most notably, Rush Limbaugh's notorious comment that a Georgetown University student was a "slut" and a "prostitute."

12 Celebrity Body Secrets

Coming into the campaign season, Republicans already had a woman problem: In a 2011 Pew Research survey of registered female voters, 52 percent said they were Democrats and 40 percent said Republican. And as of May, President