Cardigans are big for fall 2009, but what's the strategy for making a cardi work for you? The key is to choose a shape that works with your figure, and then style it in a way that flatters your wardrobe.

I have two particularly embarrassing addictions. The first is witchy chick-lit. The second, very bad but dance-able pop music. It's not that I have anything against others that love cheesy romantic literature and cruddy pop music, it's the shock that registers on people's faces when it's ME that is holding the latest Candace Havens novel and dancing around to Robyn's "You Can't Handle Me" as it blasts at high volume through the ear buds of my i-pod. I don't know.

So I have been taking Salsa lessons and I am really loving it. It is strange for me to have to dance with a partner--I am so used to dancing by myself at the club or anywhere in my house but I have become more comfortable with sharing that space with people in a social setting if that makes sense.  I don't have to see it as a sexual advance but rather a fun activity of sharing.  We had like 5 or 6 weeks of beginner lessons and now I'm in the intermediate class.

Recently, I wrote an article on the importance of personal branding when dealing with online journalism.  One topic I broached but didn't go into detail was on being authentic.  Part of this is being truthful.  Readers can smell a liar and a fake a mile away.

  No more nasty aerosols or overpriced faux- scented potpourri for us! A thrifty bitch brews up her own home scents. Mix herbs and spices with a cup or two of  water. Bring to a boil , turn to a slow simmer and release the delicious fragrance. We love a mixture of  cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon.  Make your own combinations using rosemary, lavender, peppercorns, juniper berries,  star anise, orange peels… Spa for free.

 Let’s ponder what $1.4 billion will do to “drive education reform” and save jobs in Pennsylvania—from the perspective of a povertized, disabled, overeducated, Latina mestiza single mother of four.

My friend Penelope.... I sent my friend Penelope my website link the other night. I told her about being surprised at seeing web books and job search articles mentioning getting a website and creating a 'web presence'. I told her how I felt about it. I told her how it so surprised me to hear “get a Facebook account”....and “if you don't have a website, why not?” and on and on about how awkward it feels to be writing websites about yourself.

I’ve written about those moments where you connect, just for a moment, with a person you don’t know. I refer to that heady phenomenon as Synchronized Strangers. I love those moments but, in truth, what makes those instances magical is the fact that we usually never see those individuals again. That moment lingers in memory alone.

The holiday season is only a couple weeks away, so many of us are starting to make details To-Do lists for all the parties, festivities and family gatherings being planned. Count our dinner plates, check the good silver (then consider locking it away?), getting out the serving pieces and table cloths. We're making sure all the basics will be ready to go at a moment's notice. For the FIRST big holiday of the season -Thanksgiving- let even consider using a centerpiece to dress the table. Most of us put off doing a centerpiece for good reasons:

In the most uninspiring season ever. Featuring the least stylish designers ever.  

I think we all have memories of books that we read when we were in our tweens. They were passed around from girl to girl, each one devouring it before passing it on to the next one in line. When I was about 11 or 12 years old the literary crack of choice was Christopher Pike. I'm not sure why but it feels like my generation of readers have all gone nostalgic at the same time. Maybe it's the Twilight mania that is making us remember our own crackliture. It seems everywhere I turn these days I'm seeing remembrances and rereadings of Christopher Pike.