Shellie R. Warren

Is it just me, or has Cosmo covered the gamut of men and sexuality? “How to Get a Man” (blah). “How to Keep a Man” (blah, blah). And, once you have him? “How to Make Sure No One Else Pushes Her Stiletto Heels Into His Heart.”

You know the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but be real. Given the amount of time many of us spend getting ready in the morning, it’s cause to wonder: is beauty something that we rely on Cover Girl to create for us, or are we really at peace with the faces with which we were blessed?

I’m a workaholic, and pardon the pun, but I’m working on it. I think that workaholism is one of the challenges that comes with doing what you love for a living. Because I do a large majority of my work writing online, I can easily be on my computer for 12 straight hours and not even realize it. But my room, my car and sometimes even my kitchen do.

Something old, new, borrowed and blue? Yes, of course you need all of these things to ensure a happy, long-lasting marriage. Love can only go so far! OK, the love part was a joke, but what is it about these and the myriad of other traditions that make brides so superstitious? What do they really mean, and where did they originate? It’s time to lift the veil on bridal traditions, ladies, and get down to the facts.

Something old, new, borrowed and blue? Yes, of course you need all of these things to ensure a happy, long-lasting marriage. Love can only go so far! OK, the love part was a joke, but what is it about these and the myriad of other traditions that make brides so superstitious? What do they really mean, and where did they originate? It’s time to lift the veil on bridal traditions, ladies, and get down to the facts.

No childhood is perfect, but when I reflect on my Christmas memories, I must admit that most of them are pretty darn good. My mom was always big on holidays, so for me and my little brother, Christmas meant stringing popcorn, baking cookies, making handmade ornaments, watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and going caroling. (My mom is generally a pretty quiet person, but for some reason, she’s close to obnoxious when it comes to door-to-door caroling!)

I remember when I was 16, I came into the kitchen one morning for breakfast. I wasn’t greeted with my mother’s usual, “Good morning,” but rather by a look of shock mixed with a slight hint of amusement.
“Shellie, where did you get that?” she asked, trying to hold back her laughter.

What Bono does for AIDS awareness, Becca Stevens does for prostitutes. Of course, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Bono, but I have seen some interviews, and he seems to be a really cool guy; someone who is celebrated as one of the most influential philanthropists of our time (cool) and yet his focus seems to be more on his cause than the fame he’s gained from it (so much cooler).

Cold feet. That’s the best way to describe how I felt when my sweet, smart, loving, committed boyfriend of four years and I started talking seriously about marriage.