I am fair skinned, blue eyed and -- well, have had a little help in the blonde department -- which is about as far from the Kim Kardashian look as you can get. Although, this suits me just fine, there are times when I am trying to keep up, but...

At a recent neighborhood party, my friend Sarah passed me the new Nars blush she was sure I hadn't tried. "A bit dark for me," I replied, secure with my own shade of Deep Throat by the same brand. "Here," she said, thrusting the makeup brush into my hands. It...

I couldn't move on from the loose ends I created, and continually frayed the bottom of my pants -- in my mind. No actual pants were harmed for this blog post. I speak metaphorically. I had an unpleasant situation with local acquaintances, and in an attempt to make perfect right...

In a time before Tanning Mom, "tanorexia," obsessive SPF application and the over-saturation of self-tanners on the beauty market, I was a naïve intern at a major television station. It was the summer following my senior year in high school and the dawn of a new decade, the 1990s. My...

The fact that Mohammed Hameedudin, 39, is the first religious Muslim mayor in a town greatly populated by Orthodox Jews is an "old story," according to the man himself. ABC News and New York Times were among the media outlets to profile this, focusing on Hameedudin's close friendship since childhood...

Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in parts of the East Coast, and those of us who survived it, with homes and families intact, have a lot to be thankful for this November 22nd. However, the loss of power and heat affected many of us on a relatively more minor scale, yet...

The days were hazy, hot and humid, but it was my mind that experienced the storms that cruel summer. Sadness filled me each morning as I wondered how I would get through my days. My nights were comprised of back-to-back dreams: me hyperventilating only to wake up hyperventilating, antlers and...

DISCLAIMER: The following reflects my personal experience. Please consult your doctor before starting a new protocol for treating Dry Eye Syndrome. Excessive use of fish oil can lead to clotting and other adverse reactions. Before running to the store, consult a licensed M.D. to find out what is best for...

"Mommy, when you were a kid, did people have iPods and iPads or just e-mail?" This is a typical question my children will ask. When I explain that we just had the telephone, the response is "Oh, you mean, like your old Blackberry?" No, no, I explain, the old Alexander...

As educational philosphies go, it is far better to be at the head of the class than to be the one who is behind.

But is it far better to be ahead of the ones who are behind?

If your child is only struggling marginally, do you switch him to...

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

An apology seldom puts the kibosh on unsettling feelings, whether they stem from anxiety, guilt or anger. Often we look for absolution when we apologize so we can "move on" and feel positively about ourselves once again. During this time...

We often feel compelled to give, whether it is a material item or an hour of listening time to a friend in need. It could be that someone is in trouble and needs our reassurance, or a toddler is in the midst of a tantrum and could easily be soothed...

British author Robert Louis Stevenson once said "To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life." For the Israeli painter Moshe Givati, who died at age 78 this past April, the "end of life," what he became and the...

An email was recently forwarded to me with the subject "Mistakes Were Made." It was the second time this year I had seen the three-word sentence. In addition to the email, which talked about a person's mistakes in handling a situation involving a group dynamic, author Jonathan Franzen used those...

When I hear the word "closure," I immediately think of a former colleague whose work style clashed with my own when we were cubicle mates. Years later, we would meet up and compare how we had each matured and amended our work styles, and how we both would do things...

As a child in the 1980s, the "feminists" who I was exposed to made me cringe. I'm embarrassed to say it, but it's true. I was just a kid and these women were extremely vocal members of my community. They held protests and formed special groups, making their agenda clear...

This past winter, an article in the New York Times ("It's Not Me, It's You" by Alex Williams, January 28, 2012) shed light on how the Facebook act of "defriending" mirrors what happens in our real, offline lives. Not all friendships are meant to last a lifetime and some should...

I don't think I can use this computer to write a proper piece. I see traces of fingertip prints and speckles of the kids' cookie crumbs, but then again, this is not the computer that was dropped and has a bump on its left side. No. That's the other laptop,...

As my nine-year-old catches a glimpse of just the title (fear not readers, he sees no more than that), he mutters, "What a dumb name for a book!" The title, however, turns out to be the best part. As I read the first 50 pages of 50 Shades of Grey,...

"Guilt is a wasted emotion," said my rabbi from his pulpit, "You can't sit and mull over everything you've done wrong and have it bring you into a state of inaction due to your debilitating depression. You need to your live your life 'right' going forward."

Live life right...