Verena von Pfetten is the Sr. Editor, Lifestyle and Entertainment for Air America Media. She is the former Living Editor at The Huffington Post and a graduate of Columbia University, where she majored in English and graduated with Honors from the Creative Writing Program. Besides her Huffington Post-hosted Spiritual Journey and unapologetic thoughts on style, she has written for Jezebel, The Daily Scanner, and Town & Country. She has also made appearances on GMA Now, Good Day New York, and CNN Headline News.

Her interests include reading (a lot: blogs, books, magazines, and subway grafitti), writing, and her French Bulldog, Dumbo, who's both as unintelligent and adorable as he sounds.

Oh, and also: She's Canadian.

Blog Entries by Verena von Pfetten

Michelle Obama's Dress: In Defense Of Her Decision

Posted November 4, 2009 | 12:34 AM (EST)


Editor's Note: In honor of the one year anniversary of Barack Obama's election, we thought it would be fitting to re-publish this defense of Michelle Obama's controversial election night dress. It originally ran on November 5th, 2008. Read designer Narciso Rodriguez's thoughts on the frock here.

Good morning! Happy...

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7 Lessons In Life From Lauren Conrad

2 Comments | Posted June 19, 2009 | 12:44 PM (EST)


Originally published at Air America Media.

Though she is arguably one of the least interesting characters to ever grace the screen of a reality TV show, Lauren Conrad -- star of MTV's increasingly vapid and increasingly fake, "The Hills" -- has managed to weasel her perfectly groomed, throaty-voiced self...

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In Honor Of Bo Obama, HuffPosters Share The (Puppy) Love

Posted April 14, 2009 | 09:25 AM (EST)


This is it, people! Today is the day. Bo Obama is coming home! We've all waited breathlessly for every little leak -- It's a portuguese water dog! His name is Bo! Oh, look! There's a photo of him running with Obama! Squee!!

Even Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald, our...

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7 Lessons To Be Learned From Carla Bruni

Posted April 4, 2009 | 11:00 AM (EST)


So here's the thing. There's no shortage of articles dedicated to that certain je ne sais quois of French women. You know, like how they eat more, but weigh less. Shower less, yet get laid more. They have accents, we have Billy Ray Cyrus and though we undoubtedly crush them...

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Brow-O-Wow: Bushy Eyebrows Make A Comeback (PHOTOS, POLL)

Posted March 30, 2009 | 02:48 PM (EST)


Eyebrows. They're the most under-appreciated feature on your face with arguably the most impact -- a good brow can make eye makeup a moot point or take an ordinary look extra-ordinary places.

While there's no right or wrong way to shape your eyebrows -- every face is different! --...

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HuffPost Review: The Decemberists -- The Hazards Of Love

Posted March 24, 2009 | 01:44 AM (EST)


The Decemberists make for a particularly twee-tolerant type of fan. If you like them, it's likely you've made peace with the somewhat self-indulgent (which is not to say unwarranted) baroque lyricism and folklore narrative-as-album frame technique. And there's even a certain level of pretentiousness that one comes to expect (and...

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HuffPost Readers, Hit It Home: Submit To Us A Poem That Inspires You During Hard Times

Posted March 17, 2009 | 06:30 PM (EST)


We spend a lot of time on the Living page focusing on all the different ways we can work on improving and bringing more meaning to our lives. And one of the oldest and most effective ways to do this is through art -- whether you're a veritable artiste or...

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Calling All Readers! What's Your Favorite Charity?

Posted March 17, 2009 | 08:49 AM (EST)


On Wednesday, Arianna will be a guest editor of Metro, the free daily newspaper delivered all over New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Metro is giving Arianna space in the paper to promote a charity of her choice -- so we'd love your feedback on your favorite service not-for-profit.

As...

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HuffPost Readers: Share Your Random Acts Of Kindness!

Posted February 6, 2009 | 02:35 PM (EST)


Madoff, bailouts, layoffs, and subprime mortgages. I don't think you need me to tell you that the news as of late has been nothing but doom and gloom, and if you're anything like me, well, then, it's all getting a bit heavy. And let's be honest: though things aren't great,...

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Dear Kate Hudson: Please Stop Wearing Wigs

22 Comments | Posted January 9, 2009 | 08:55 AM (EST)


Editor's note: We first posted this in late July, back when Kate Hudson was still dating Lance Armstrong and before he was expecting a baby with another woman. We just thought it would be fun to re-post this plea on the opening day of her new movie "Bride...

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My Election Makeover

Posted October 31, 2008 | 09:00 AM (EST)


Hi everybody! Some of you might remember me from such illuminating and hair-related posts as Frizzy Is The New Fabulous, A Blogger's Guide To Judging People (By Their Hair), Dear Kate Hudson: Please Stop Wearing Wigs, and my infamous Adventures With The World's Worst Makeover. And...

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7 Hipster Fashions We Love To Hate (SLIDESHOW)

Posted September 26, 2008 | 02:37 PM (EST)


It's mid-September and it's getting harder to deny the fact that fall is just around the corner. Or maybe it's here already. (When's Daylight Savings, again?) Anyway, fall is a new season and new seasons mean new trends, and while, in general and as a rule, we hate trends,...

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Tan Is The New Tacky

Posted September 23, 2008 | 05:23 PM (EST)


I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be able to declare, "Tans are out!", mainly because I never thought I'd be the one declaring anything, but well, here goes nothing:

Tans Are Out!

Yes, you heard me. Tans have gone the way of shoulder pads, dark...

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Dear Fashion Industry, Please Stop Showing Boring Clothes At Boring Shows

Posted September 5, 2008 | 08:05 AM (EST)


Last year I praised Rebecca Taylor and BCBG for the wearability of their clothes, but this year I'm going to go ahead and throw out a big "F that!" (What can I say? Fashion is fickle and so am I.) Last night, while I lay awake suffering the...

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HuffPost Oasis: Meet The Chefs And Drool Over The Food

Posted August 27, 2008 | 05:45 PM (EST)


As you may have noticed, we're doing a lot of eating here in this Oasis of ours, and most of it is thanks to Tal Ronnen, the Executive Chef and Founder of Veg Advantae and Lex Townes, Chef.

Before I post all the drool-worthy photos, I wanted to take a...

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Fred Armisen Steals My Laptop, Interviews Himself

Posted August 26, 2008 | 07:22 PM (EST)


I didn't think it was possible, but the Oasis just got even cooler. In addition to Will.I.Am, SNL's Fred Armisen also just came by to hang out, drink smoothies (he likes the chocolate kind), and, well, take dorky Photo Booth shots with me and my little MacBook.

We set...

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Will.I.Am Drops In To Discuss Making Music, Working Hard, And Cheetahs

Posted August 26, 2008 | 06:33 PM (EST)


I know I've been going on and on about how awesome the Oasis is, and how it's the place to be, and yada-yada-yada, but seriously, I am not exaggerating. Will.I.Am. just stopped in to hang out, drink smoothies, and answer a couple of my Oasis-related questions.

But before we did...

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Katie Couric Stops By The Oasis, Shows Off Her Moves

Posted August 26, 2008 | 04:28 PM (EST)


Katie Couric stopped by the Oasis today to film a segment, but took a quick break to find her center.

2008-08-26-0katie1.jpg


And it turns out that Katie is no amateur yogi, as she gamely kicked off her shoes, flipped upside down, and showed...

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Live From Denver: LiveBlogging The HuffPost Oasis - Day 2

Posted August 25, 2008 | 12:39 PM (EST)


Hello all and greetings from Denver! The Living page has temporarily relocated to the Huffington Post's Oasis - it's the place to be (and unplug and recharge), after all - and your friendly HuffPost Living editor (which would be me) is here to keep you apprised of all the...

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Talking Super Food Sustenance With Essential Living Foods (VIDEO)

Posted August 24, 2008 | 04:37 PM (EST)


I took a quick break from my liveblogging to interview Kip Stroden and Amrit Khalsa of Essential Living Foods (which oh-so-adorably acronyms into ELF. And yes, I just used "acronym" as a verb.) ELF (as I will continue to call it for the remainder of this post) is...

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