A young Pearl Bailey reminds us to take some time to embrace the rhythm.

As we age, so might our confidence. And this is exactly why we need Pearl Bailey’s Frankie to pull us through tough times. Sure, an impromptu dancing and singing number on stage can be seen as a ploy for attention, but it can also be an empowering move of self-expression when one hears the music calling. Sometimes, a girl just wants to dance.

Megan, of the movie Bridesmaids, remembers the joy of just being yourself.

If you work from home, you often make interesting style choices. One choice could be a negligee tucked into yoga pants capped off by a plaid wool shawl purchased in 1991 Edinburgh (where it was terribly stylish at the time). Another choice could be an upturned ponytail, fresh from the shower, paired with frayed jeans and the “Save the Earth” t-shirt they were handing out free at yoga.

7 ways to moisturize your hair in the dry, winter months.

It doesn’t matter if we are raven-haired, red-headed, blonde or brunette. It doesn’t matter if our hair is thin, thick, textured or kinky. During the dry winter months, we might as well hook our heads up to outlets for all the static electricity we produce. The cold, dry temperatures of winter can siphon the moisture from our skin and hair like a sponge. So how best to fight back against winter?

Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth I shows us how to behave in the face of adversity.

Anyone who believes life is easy probably lives under a rock, inside a cave or in the magical, enchanted land of Denial. Life is more like a visiting carnival in the local church parking lot. You climb into that rickety “Black Hole” spinner ride – it shakes, spins, and pins you to the sides of its walls until you have the strength to peel yourself out of it at the end of the ride. But you have to know how to cope with the pressure when life straps you in for that wild ride.

Body snark is the universal language of women, translating across all cultures.

Getting a professional manicure is like sitting in on a group therapy session, but with acetate fumes. Everyone is over-sharing, and it’s often to people whose mother tongue is way more complicated than yours. “His mother is staying with us for two weeks. She leaves the bathroom door open all the time,” shares the newlywed with the freaked out eyes and the French manicure. “It’s about crossing the line. I told him that I didn’t want to have this conversation again, especially when I’m in Happy Baby pose,” sighs the women with the bitten down cuticles. “Những người này là idiots,” says one manicurist to another.

A weekend with the in-laws, an alcoholic husband and a slinky white slip push emotions to the forefront.

As children, we are taught to take all our bad feelings and put them in a place where we can’t find them. Negative emotions go to a place where they are ignored, starved, and neglected to the point that rebellion is inevitable. And usually at the most inopportune moments. Anger will demand to be expressed, usually over a holiday dinner.

15 good reasons to approach the season of cocktails and cookies with healthy aplomb.

Caring about our weight is part of the American experience, like finding a Victoria’s Secret next to a Cinnabon at the mall. We shouldn’t count calories but we do, despite reading subscriptions to Cosmo and remembering that beauty comes in all sizes. 

How far will the branding of Occupy Wall Street go?

For anyone born after 1965, the current political climate feels like we’re living the pages of a history book. But now, Flower Power is repackaged into 140 characters or less. An iconic image of young protesters flower-bombing police officers is replaced with a soon-to-be iconic image of an 84-year-old activist bombed with pepper spray. For many of us, supporting or opposing the ideals of Occupy Wall Street places us firmly in roles that feel familiar. We’re the hippies, now. The police. The veterans. The armchair activists. We are the American experience.