Disclaimer: Yup, I'm involved. Man, I love the social media, don't you? I love it when you see people like Beth Kanter go all crazy and make change. I love Menu for Hope, a food bloggers initiative that raises money for good causes every year. And now, I love Passports with Purpose, the travelbloggers initiative that's doing the same.

To reuse is better than to recycle, which is why I decided to deep clean my existing carpet over buying new eco-friendly carpet -- though I put off that decision, aka actually cleaning the carpet, for longer than I'd like to admit.... But over the long weekend, I finally got to it!

"It was not a light bulb moment," says President-elect Barack Obama of his choice to add Senator Hillary Clinton to his National Security Team as Secretary of State. Clinton said leaving the Senate would be difficult for her, but said she believes that the best way for her to continue to serve the country is by joining Obama's administration. Excuse me a minute while I attempt to block out memories of Clinton in the primaries and pick my jaw up off the floor...

Yeah, I know, Thanksgiving is over.  And boy, we all ate too much.  I'm not going to pick on you and your winter weight, loves. I get it myself.  That five pounds starts now and tips the scales at its high end around early February, my birthday, when I look in horror at my dunlap (as in my gut dunlapped over my belt) and think oh, God, it's celery time again.

I'm tired of blogging about World Aids Day. Every year, I put it on my "to be blogged" calendar and every year I do it. And every year I think to myself, "Next year, I'll have some good news about AIDS/HIV to blog about for World AIDS Day." And every year, I have no good news.

Who is your family? What are their stories? And can you help to pass them on? The StoryCorps project designated Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving, the National Day of Listening. The purpose: This Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks you to set aside a new tradition holiday tradition - set aside one hour on Friday, November 28, to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose - an older relative, a friend, a teacher or a familiar face from the neighborhood.

What's happening this week in the world of fashion?  We have holiday gift guides, up-and-coming designers, and crazy winter fashion trends. Plus, Cyber Monday deals and sales!

I didn't understand the importance of BMI until last year around this time. It was getting cold and I couldn't fit into any of my jeans. I figured I had gained a couple of pounds, but when I got on the scale, it turned out I gained over 20 in less than a year. I was surprised by the number, but I couldn't bring myself to care. That is, until the day I decided to check my BMI with a BMI calculator.

Earlier this month, 37-yearold  Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero died because, according to police, seven teenaged boys in Long Island decided to "go find some Mexicans" to beat up.

Kombucha is a type of sweetened tea that has been fermented using a culture known as a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.) According to Wikipedia, the drinking of Kombucha dates back to 250 B.C., when it was found in early China and Japan, later gaining popularity in Russia. I can remember back in the sixties when even in a slightly un-hip place like Salt Lake, many people were making and drinking what was then called "mushroom tea."

When it comes to gift giving, I come from a one-gift tradition. Growing up, my parents gave the same gift for birthdays, Hanukkah, graduation, or random celebrations: cold hard cash.   No wrapping paper, no pretty bows, no anticipation of whether or not they got me what I really really wanted, and definitely no surprise because I knew exactly how much money I would be getting for each special occasion.