Recently while making dinner together, a friend asked me a pretty mortifying question out of nowhere. I was dicing up green onions when he went glib and hollered from the couch, "So, what is the biggest regret of your life?" He certainly caught me of…

Social media hooked its pixelated, mental health-deteriorating claws in us long ago. We know it's straight up bad for us. There's hope — we can quit social media. But will we? Probably not...at least for a while. As we take a moment to swallow that…

I never meant to end up in New York City, yet somehow I managed. I followed a boyfriend to Brooklyn who was following a sick internship opportunity, and even after we split, I ended up, well, staying. For awhile. It's a pretty magical place we grew u…

Even just affording to LIVE — groceries, rent, health insurance, allergy meds, water bills, paying back student loans, replacing brake pads — adds up. That's all sans luxuries like the occasional manicure, new tattoo, or restaurant meal. It can reall…

I never really noticed I started operating in a new way until others started calling me out. After 26 years of managing to dodge shower-cleaning duties, I miraculously flipped a switch. First, my dad made note: "Either you clean a lot or lie to me of…

When you consider chance and its wily nature, it's a GD miracle any two people ever come together in a romantic way. It's not just a combination of right place (emotionally, physically, spiritually, intellectually) and right time. There's gotta be at…

Texting is kinda dumb, but unfortunately, it's an unavoidable thing in 2015. Through practice and patience, we learn the careful nuances necessary in crafting a perfect text. It's almost as if vocal tone, facial expression, and IRL human interaction …

If habits were easy to break, the servers at my local Tex-Mex joint wouldn't immediately chariot over a deep dish of queso before I got the chance to order. There also wouldn't be so many ways to trick your brain detailed on the internet, aimed to di…

Love isn't blind, and we sure know dating isn't blind, either. There are a lot of nuanced factors that go into triggering that ultra-dopamine rush... especially one that can be sustained long enough between both parties to necessitate developing a re…

Foraging friendships as an adult is typically awkward. It's a mission lubed up with ridiculous activities like joining a knitting club that meets at a kombucha bar, or trying to smile at cool-looking people at the record store also perusing the twee …

It is never not shocking to me when I meet an adult human I respect and trust who does not know what a shower beer is. Here, real quick, I'll explain. A shower beer is pretty simple: it's a beer you drink while in the shower. Related: other beverages…

Traveling is lovely, although easily complicated. That's probably why some people opt to travel solo, à la Cheryl Strayed, who famously hiked thousands of miles alone before chronicling it in her memoir, Wild. On the other hand, I'd say most of us pr…

Let's be honest: Group texts suck. I feel like if you ask anyone their true feelings about them, you'll get some fairly unanimous gripes. And yet, we're all still on them. We're even guilty of starting one or two ourselves. But I'll bet many of us ar…

After a certain age — I'd optimistically wager 14 or so — I think young women should permanently shelve the whole backhanded compliment thing. Not that it should really ever be acceptable, but let's be real; it happens. A lot. And it usually occurs b…

Some people may try and tell you that eating in bed is a "bad habit" or something, but not me. Here's the real and unequivocal truth, if you want my real opinion: Eating in bed is THE EFFING BEST! And those "other" people? They are clearly not living…

We've all been there: You stroll into a party, see someone you kinda-sorta know walking towards you, and immediately launch into an internal panic over WTF their name is. Your mind races; things that shouldn't be sweating start to; and while you know…

If I'm being honest, I don't really understand (nor do I want to) people who ruin their coffee with things like "milk" and "sugar." And don't even get me started on the whole butter in coffee phenomenon. No offense to you if you're a big fan of any o…

Let me start off by saying that New York is a spectacular place to live, especially if you're a young person with creative career goals. While it was never part of my personal life plan, I followed my college boyfriend here some years back, and soon …

Almost always, I vote waking up early as the better option when it comes to climbing out of bed. However, there are clearly exceptions, and who am I to deny their existence? Some sort of rule-making wizard with ceaselessly shiny hair and a penchant f…

A rock solid appreciation for hot tubs, I'd wager, is pretty much a universal thing. I mean, what's not to love about a good hot tub, amiright? Well, apparently... there are things. While they may masquerade around as seemingly lovely, gurgling pools…