Bada-Bing! Cha-Ching!

Money, money, money. I’ve written about credit scores, shopping addictions, and real estate hassles. I’d like to say I’ve gotten a little more savvy with my plastic in the process; ideally my readers have too. Articles have been featured on Disney’s Family.com, SheKnows, PerkStreet, AOL, WalletPop, iVillage, and MintLife.

Credit Score

Pimp Your Credit Score (Without Hurting Your Reputation)

5 Things You Can Learn About Credit from Gangster Flicks (PDF)

5 Ways to Play Up Your Credit

Poor Credit Score? Kiss These 5 Things Goodbye (PDF)

Shopping and Budgeting

How to Raise Charitable Children

12 Websites to Help Moms Shop and Save

How to Shop Secondhand for the Holidays

How to Put Your Spending on a Diet

Want It, Need It, Gotta Have It – Shopping Addiction

Discount Shopping Made Easy (PDF)

How to Budget with Children

Work-from-Home Ideas for Stay-at-Home Moms

Real Estate

Renting with Bad Credit

Twisting Your ARM: Your Loan, Credit Score, and Options

Getting Out of Hot Water and Into a Home

How You Look and Feel

In the categories of fashion and health and beauty, I’ve covered hot topics such as whether or not to preserve your child’s cord blood, in-demand subjects such as alternatives to cosmetic surgery, and tough questions like how to place your loved one in senior care. Pieces have been featured on iVillage, SheKnows, SeniorsForLiving, and Disney’s Family.com.

Hair

How to Talk to Your Colorist

How to Tame Unruly Curls

Color for Curly Hair

Skin and Makeup

Winter Skin Care for Kids

Winterize Your Skin from Head to Toe

Acne at 40?

How to Manage Skin Problems During Pregnancy

Hollywood “It” Girls Due for Make-Unders

How to Get Your Feet Sandal-Ready

5 Tips for an Ouchless Wax

How to Select the Right Eyeshadow

Cosmetic Surgery and Body Issues

Get a New Face on Your Lunch Break

8 Ways to Boost Your Energy

10 Tips for Maintaining Weight Loss During the Holidays

Frown Turned Upside-Down: One Woman’s Adventure in Plastic Surgery

Mommy Makeover: Top 4 Cosmetic Procedures for Moms

Fashion

How to Shop Secondhand for the Holidays

Fall Maternity Fashion

You Know You’re a Fashion Nightmare When…

Who Says You Have to Match?

Discount Shopping Made Easy (PDF)

Bridal

Zen Bride: How One Bride-to-Be is Keeping Her Sanity

The Helpful Groom

Wedding Blues: Discover Something New & Blue for the Big Day

Pregnancy and Parenting

The Great Cord Blood Debate

Baby Brain? Think Again

Is Parental Stress a Cause of Autism in Children?

Medications During Pregnancy (PDF)

VBAC – Is Vaginal Birth Possible After a C-Section? (PDF)

Postpartum Depression: Gena Lee Nolin Shares Her Experience (PDF)

11 Ways to Beat New-Mom Fatigue

Food for Mom: The Dos and Don’ts While Breastfeeding

Sex

How to Keep Sex Exciting When Trying to Conceive

Do’s and Don’ts of Postpartum Sex (PDF)

Discussing Sex and Birth Control with Your Teen

Senior Care

Alzheimer’s Care: Options and Choices

Home Care: When Extra Help is Needed

Strategies for Making a Decision You’re Comfortable With

From Facebook to Twilight

These days, pop culture includes everything from vampires to social networking. Here are some of the articles I’ve done that fit into the broad definition of pop culture. Pieces have been featured on SheKnows and iVillage.

10 Tips to Feng Shui Your Christmas Celebration

Should You Hire a Baby Planner?

Should You Find Out Baby’s Gender in Utero?

Princess-Themed Bedrooms for Girls

5 Ways to Super-Scent Your Holidays

Facebook in the College Admissions Process

Spying on Kids Online

Hollywood “It” Girls Due for Make-Unders

Is Twilight Hurting Teen Relationships?

Shopping + Discounts = True Love

Every girl loves a bargain, especially when it comes to clothes, shoes, and accessories. But maintaining personal style can get a little pricey. Thankfully, discount shops exist for fashionistas on a budget. This article features tips from shopping guru Derek Warburton and financial diva Catey Hill (author of Shoo, Jimmy Choo!) who offer advice about the best ways to look hot… without being in the red.

You read Vogue, you want the clothes in Vogue, but you’re so not living on a Vogue budget. What’s a fashion-forward girl to do? Head to the local discount store. You can snag trendy bags, designer dresses, and oodles of must-have accessories at places like T.J. Maxx, Value City, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, and Ross.

Featured on iVillage. Read the full article.

Are You a Fashion Nightmare? Or a Fashionista?

My sister often accuses me of mismatching my clothes on purpose. But I don’t go in my closet every morning and say, “Hmm… what can I wear today so I won’t match?” I choose clothes based on what I think goes together, and oftentimes those are colors or patterns outside the norm. So I fully endorse what I have written here.

Accessorize to Maximize
Wondering how to indulge your Technicolor fantasies without looking like a five-year-old? Fashion-forward femmes know that, these days, color is totally in—and the safest place to get away with it is by “mismatching” your shoes and bag (and, yes, in the same outfit!).

All Bruised Up
Forget that old rule about blue and black not matching. Belt up with black over blue, or slip on some onyx heels. It’s all good—you may even want to throw in some purple or yellow accessories for good measure. But you don’t have to take our word for it—these designers show that you’re never too bruised to be fierce.

Down the Rabbit Hole
Sometimes you have the guts to buy that outside-of-the-box, hard-not-to-notice garment that you know full well doesn’t match anything in your closet. But once you get it home, you don’t quite have the moxie to actually wear it in public. Take heart. You can dress like you’re in Wonderland without people thinking you’ve been smoking out of the wrong end of the hookah pipe. Take a gentle pattern and mix it with a bold one—like the polka dots and pastel plaid shown here.

Featured on iVillage.com. Read the full article.

Coloring Outside the Curls

Having endured my own disastrous (understatement) home hair-coloring adventures, I thought it only right to consult the curly hair experts about the best ways for corkscrew girls to get the color they actually want.

While many curly girls might prefer to show up at the salon with their hair in a less-than-stellar state and wait for the colorist to work his or her magic, that’s actually one of the worst things a curly girl can do. “Wear your hair as you would on a daily basis,” Harbinger says. Gals, this means no ball caps, ponytails or extra styling products so the hair designer can get a clear idea of where the curls fall. “You’re presenting the canvas that we’re going to paint,” she explains.

A technique patented as Pintura was developed at the Devachan Salon and “captures the movement of the curls without the use of foil.” Harbinger describes foils as the worst option for highlighting curly hair as the color gets loose and looks like one big blotch on the head. The Pintura method allows the colorist to choose selective curls and paint them in their natural form to create rippling highlights.

Featured on iVillage.com. Read the full article.

Embrace Your Curls!

Being a curly girl myself, naturally I understand the plight of my fellow corkscrew gals. For iVillage.com, I pulled together this slideshow of great products and methods for making the most of Mother Nature’s sense of humor.

First things first—to make your curls into happy curls, you have to love that you have them at all. And that means it’s time to detox from any straightening routine. The only styling tool you really need is hair gel so trash those brushes and irons. When you devote yourself to the scalp you were born with and let your curly girl out, you’ll create the enviable curls that so many women covet. Allow your curls to see the light of day and embrace what your mama gave you!

Featured on iVillage.com. Read the full article.

P.S. If you are a curly girl, I highly recommend Deva Curl and Deva Care products – they changed my life!

Headbands, Sequins, and Other Questionable Fashion Choices

I always have something to say about celebrities, including when their bad fashion behavior influences good people. In this article, I try to dissuade regular folk from adopting the heinous habits of the Hollywood paparazzi magnets… while also lightly making fun of the people who are just dying to be noticed, bad fashion or not.

A fashionista should avoid looking like an insect. We believe in UVB and UVA protection—absolutely. But, there is no need to cover up three-quarters of your face with sunglasses, like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson. Just because this is a trend (that just won’t go away, sadly), doesn’t mean it looks good on everyone (or anyone, for that matter)…

Some stars try to casually pull off that layered, just-thrown-together look, like Kirsten Dunst. But, let’s not kid ourselves. Those frumpy outfits are planned out, from their mussed hair to their mismatched ensembles. However, an actress going grunge or feigning nonchalance for the paps is one thing. You going out in various states of undress or mess is entirely another…

So many Hollywood “it” girls, like Mary-Kate Olsen, are guilty of channeling their inner flapper and flower child by sporting ropes around their noggins. But, no one should do this. Ever. Unless you’re in a stage production of Flashdance.

Featured on iVillage.com. Read the full article.