Every year it’s the same thing: You know you’ve got to get a gift for those difficult people on your Christmas list, but — despite the fact you’ve known them forever — you have no idea what to get. Generally, after weeks of trying to forget about...
The time has finally come: This Christmas will be the first I’ll be spending with my partner’s family, and not only her close family — every last aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandma, grandpa and that one weird lady who’s somehow lumped into the bunch, too. Which has...
There has never been so much meat available as there is today. We’re so far beyond our local hunting ground days that not only can you buy your familiar beef and pork at the supermarket, you can even bid on exotic meats like Spanish octopus or green iguana on Facebook. One day all...
Question: Would you pay more to send your kid to preschool or to college? Don’t laugh! Preschool — the land of finger painting, naptime and jelly sandwiches with the crust cut off — really can be more expensive than college. Nationally, it runs from $6,000 to $19,000...
Moving across town sucks — no matter how sweet your new digs are, packing up your belongings, cramming them in a clunky truck and potentially tumbling down a flight of stairs while lugging your couch is a huge pain, sometimes literally. Moving to a new state, however, is a...
The relationship one has with their in-laws is bound to be cumbersome. Being married to their offspring means you have to hear about — and sometimes deal with — every single problem that plagues their family. Being someone outside of the actual bloodline, though, usually means you...
My boyfriend’s sporadic sleep schedule means he’ll probably die young of intestinal cancer. His shifts at work begin anywhere from 5:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night, meaning there’s no true pattern to his sleeping hours — or time spent with me. Not to mention, he can’t...
Battery scientists do the extremely important work of figuring out sustainable ways to store energy to make things last longer, help protect people during natural disasters and basically ensure the planet can keep functioning. I do the extremely important work of disrupting that essential research by emailing...
I’ve got some good news that might seem like bad news at first: People who do housework live longer than those who don’t. You might be thinking, Ugh, another thing I’d rather avoid, even if it takes years off my life. But instead, look at it this...
There are a whole bunch of ways you could end up contributing to a mortgage beyond the traditional route of joint homeownership with a spouse. Maybe your partner took care of the down payment, but you’re splitting the monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’re already partway through paying...
Bathing a pet is almost always an unpleasant experience for both parties. The animals we often keep around tend to have an aversion to being forced into porcelain prisons and subsequently drenched with water, so washing them can prompt a spirited freakout that inevitably results in pet...
My boobs are strapped to my chest like a muzzle on a dog. I don’t think about that much while I’m sitting at my desk all day, but once I walk through the door of my apartment, I become acutely aware of every inch of my bra,...