Lifestyle
For the lives that we love, and everything that comes with it.
Must Have Products to Mask Pet Odor
We love our pets no matter what they do — they’re just innocent little fur (or scale) balls that literally mean no harm. Even if they broke that expensive vase you recently bought. Or if your cat decided to randomly attack, ripping holes in your curtains… for the fourth time. But they are animals since they go by instinct, so dogs are being dogs and cats are being cats. Can’t help it, right?
By Rachel Blanchard8 years ago in Petlife
#metoo: Thoughts for the Men We Love
I am really looking forward to the day when I don't first need to preface this post by saying I understand a lot of readers may not necessarily agree with this, and that clearly I am not casting all men into a pit of shame and blame. I'd really like to not need to remind the men who I love dearly that I do not see them all as mainstream jerks who've ruined my, or other women's lives.
By Katie Froese8 years ago in Viva
The #metoo Denier
I’m a sexist. This revelation was as much of a surprise to me as I’m sure it is to you reading it. Even more so when I consider my family, made up predominantly of strong women, and my friendship group full of bright, intelligent wonderful ladies, to whom I regularly preach the importance of women and female friendships. Not to mention the fact that I identify as a feminist.
By Lara Dolden8 years ago in Viva
I Am Strong
It was the start of my sophomore year of high school, I was scared and excited. Worried and carefree. I was far from popular but I had friends, lots of them. We were the outcasts, the kids in Japanese culture club. We played Magic the Gathering in study hall, Pokémon on our DS’s walking through the hallway. I was a tough cookie. I joined protests, silent and loud. I protested animal abuse, the firing of the lunch ladies, sexual assault. I wore the teal ribbon in April for all of my friends who had suffered through sexual abuse and assault. I taped over my mouth on the Day of Silence for those who fought depression silently and didn’t win the battle. I was strong in what I believed in and I was even stronger in knowing who I was.
By Emma Bukovsky8 years ago in Viva
Fickle Fifteen
The day was scorching, just like the day before it. The air always feels hotter in the Dominican Republic for some reason. My mom bought my flight the day before, assuring me that my school work would be fine, that the trip would only be for a few days, and that I had to go say my final goodbyes to my great-grandma, who by the way was more alive than ever staring at me from across the table. I tried to find a way to address the elephant in the room; the fact that it's the middle of the school week, my grandma isn't dying, and yet here I am. I hear the phone ring and thank God for the break in the tension. It's for me. I race over to the phone hoping someone was going to let me in on the big secret soon; nobody has explained anything to me since I got off the plane.
By Cristal Hernandez8 years ago in Families
Marriage on the Brain
As a mother of a seven year old, you would think that the normal dinner conversation would be about video games and toys. Nope, not my seven year old. My son Mikyle is smart for his age and very advanced, he was surrounded by a lot of adults as a toddler. His sarcastic charm made his personality. Now I’m going to take you back to when it all started. One day leaving the staff nursery, we said goodbye to a little girl and her mom. The little girl moved in to give Mikyle a kiss, but he didn’t realize and he slightly moved and she mistakenly kisses him on the lips. Shocked and embarrassed Mikyle, started to freak out and shouts, “Oh no I kissed Hannah on the lips now I have to ask her dad for her hand in marriage and I have to get a job I can’t go to pre-K.” I told him it’s ok it was a accident and he’s not in trouble and that it doesn’t mean he has to marry her. He says, “If you kiss someone on the lips you have to marry them." The parents and I joked about it before I took my embarrassed Mikyle home. That’s when things started to get serious for him about marriage and love.
By Ayanna Dore8 years ago in Families
