you irl

Speaking as someone who earned a bachelor’s degree in writing even though many people advised me not to, I’m thrilled to report that writing is officially my day job — and I couldn’t be prouder of that fact. However, making money as a writer comes…

I feel like I’ve changed a lot in the past five years, and I’m mostly thrilled about it. Five years ago, I thought jealousy was a sign of passion. I hadn’t yet realized that Confederate flags are inherently racist, in part because I grew up seeing…

When I made my New Year's resolutions for 2017, I tried my best to come up with a tangible plan so I could manage them and keep track of my progress. For example, I wanted to increase my intake of water every day, so I resolved to drink eight…

For as long as I can remember, people have complimented my appearance. I’m not complaining about it, either. I think it’s safe to assume that most women, myself included, like being told they’re pretty. So for the record, it is OK to enjoy giving…

My New Year's resolutions are always the same: write more original fiction, spend less money, and convince Oscar Isaac to run away with me and spend the rest of our lives together in the Irish countryside. And every year, I look around in…

Although I’ve personally found that cutting off contact with exes who treated me poorly is the healthiest option for me, I still have love for all of my exes. Past lovers are an important part of many people’s lives, and that’s not always a bad…

I don't even know what a holiday season looks like anymore without the talk of weight loss that inevitably follows the gift-giving, wine-guzzling festivities. Just as Christmas is sure to come every year, so are the subsequent advertisements…

Thanks largely to the internet, it’s not difficult to educate yourself about sex these days. If you want to know what the big deal is with squirting or female ejaculation, (because they’re not the same thing, evidently) queefing, uncut penises, or…

No matter who you are or where you grew up, almost all of us are conditioned from childhood to believe that it’s impolite to refuse to give what is expected of us. Whether it’s our time, our bodies, our smiles, our stories, our forgiveness, or our…

Even if your inner cynic rolls her eyes at the idea, the New Year is a useful time to give yourself a fresh start. A clean slate, if you will. You can think about all the things that didn't work out for you in the last year, shed them, and start…

Tradition and society tell women that on Dec. 31, they need to make a list of all the ways in which they're failing at life, and then resolve to fix them starting Jan. 1 — as if we spend the entire calendar year spinning out of orbit and need the…

New Year's resolution season is what you make of it. The month of January can be all about setting achievable but ambitious goals that will help you feel like a more confident, put-together version of yourself — or it can be about making yourself…

The year 2016 has been hard on all of us. After 365 days of disappointing politics, rampant racism, blatant misogyny, and a whole lot of fear, it's easy to feel run down and defeated — but, trust me, things don't have to be that way. There are…

Even though I'm a yoga teacher and all that, drinking enough water throughout the day is not something I'm proficient in. I have a glass when I first wake up, but the only reason I reach for another one later in the day is because I feel like I'm…

If there's anyone on this planet who knows a thing or two about new beginnings, it's a mother. Giving birth to a baby is the ultimate fresh start, since life as woman knows it changes entirely in that moment. As we're flailing around, trying to…

Setting resolutions for a new year is always empowering and fun… it’s the keeping up with them part that makes them so difficult. If you’re one to set goals and resolutions at the beginning of the year only to promptly walk away from them by Jan. 5,…

If you walked into my bedroom unannounced, you'd see several stacks of library books scattered all over my nightstand and bed. There would probably also be a few novels hiding underneath a pillow somewhere (hey, at least I never get lonely at…

New Year's Resolutions are a tricky thing. On one hand, they can encourage self-improvement and give us that much-needed push to finally accomplish that goal we've been sitting on for months. On the other hand, New Year's Resolutions can make us…

Continuing her mission to support women, The Real Housewives Of New York star Bethenny Frankel recently created B Strong, a crisis initiative dedicated to helping women get the financial, legal, or mental help they need to be independent and lead…

Every New Year, I like to make promises to myself: This year I will go to the gym more often, we say. Or, this year I will stop texting Kyle. Or, if you're a writer-type, there's a good chance that you've promised yourself that this year, at long…