It's been more than a year since Bobbi Kristina Brown died under tragic circumstances, and finally, the verdict is in. Her boyfriend, Nick Gordon, has been found responsible for her death in a civil case.
Brown's family and estate filed suit against Gordon seeking $50 million for her wrongful death and alleging that he was responsible. As of Friday, he had failed to appear in court to defend himself twice, and the judge presiding over the case ruled that Gordon was at fault.
The next step is for the judge to determine how much Gordon must pay the Brown family — though they asked for $50 million, the final amount is up to the judge.
"In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown," Brown's estate attorney said during a press conference following the ruling. "The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon's answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that."
What's important to note, however, is that Gordon's decision not to appear in court may have been strategic. Though he was found responsible for Brown's death in civil court, he hasn't been charged with anything criminally. Prosecutors are still investigating, and had Gordon testified in court, they could have used anything he said against him while they decide whether to file criminal charges.
Brown was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her home in January of 2015. She died the following July after spending months in intensive and hospice care. Her family alleges that Gordon killed her by injecting her with a toxic mixture of drugs after they had a fight.
When a male student at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, told a school counselor that the uniforms worn by cheerleaders on game day were making him have "impure" thoughts, clearly it should have been a matter to be dealt with by the boy and his parents. Alas, it wasn't. Somehow, the outcome of the conversation (with an email from the boy's mother to a school administrator chucked in for good measure) was that all Timpview Thunderbirds' cheer squads were told not to wear their usual uniforms to last Friday's football game against the Alta Hawks.
School administrators are trying to insist it was all just a misunderstanding, but some of the cheerleaders claim it's much more serious than that. (Although they're only speaking anonymously for fear of being ostracized.)
They claim that after an initial meeting, when no decision was reached about what to do — if anything — about the boy's complaint, one of the assistant principals told the cheer coach they shouldn't be wearing their uniforms to school.
Understandably, the cheerleaders are none too happy about the outcome, and their parents are pretty pissed too.
It's body-shaming for sure, but it's also sending a dangerous message to the students at Timpview High School. If cheerleaders' short skirts are to blame for a boy's "impure thoughts," will the way a woman dresses give him an excuse to assault her in five years' time?
This boy's problem with the cheerleaders' outfits is his problem and his problem alone. These girls are athletes, ambassadors for their school. They don't deserve to be objectified or made to feel ashamed of showing their bodies.
Tellingly, Timpview High is in predominantly Mormon Utah County. In the Mormon religion, young men and women are brought up to consider their bodies as sacred, and told to dress modestly. The danger of this is that it leads to body-shaming — and how the Timpview High cheerleaders have been treated is a perfect example of this.
Rape culture within Mormon communities — where the responsibility to stop sexual advances lies with women and girls, and men are often portrayed as the victims of the sexual advances of females — is blamed on outdated Mormon teachings. It's time for change — and the school administration can be active in setting a precedent for future generations of students. Whatever your religion, making girls responsible for the "impure" thoughts (or acts) of boys is never acceptable.
Remember when Melissa McCarthy started crying at the Emmys, and so you started crying and had to help yourself to that third glass of Champagne and the ice cream in the freezer? Oh, no? That was just me? OK, well... aside from that.
McCarthy arrived at the 2014 Primetime Emmys in hopes of accepting an award later that night for her role on Mike & Molly, but before the fun could start, she cried. Like, literally — just there in the middle of the carpet, tears started rolling down her face.
We didn't know what had made McCarthy emotional... Who had made our favorite funny girl cry? Who did we have to write a scathing article about? But then we saw McCarthy grab onto Orange Is the New Black's Michael Harney and give him a hug.
Was Harney being sweet and just comforting McCarthy, or was McCarthy so excited to see him that the tears were a product of her fangirl-ing? It seems now we'll never know, but McCarthy admitted earlier in the year that when she was younger, she used to cry a lot more. She told People, "In my 20s, I used to cry about why I wasn't thinner or prettier, but I want to add that I also used to cry about things like, 'I wish my hair would grow faster. I wish I had different shoes.' I was an idiot. It's a decade of tears."
Now, we don't think there's anything wrong with a cry from time to time (or every day), but McCarthy says that now she tries to always keep a positive attitude.
"I'll do almost anything for a laugh," McCarthy says of her bold characters. "I'm completely delighted by people who think, 'I don't care what anybody else thinks, I look great in this, and I rock it, and I love it.' It's such a delightful sort of confidence."
Something obviously had caught McCarthy's eye, and it was enough to cause her some tears on the red carpet, but she caught our eye, and it's been on her ever since.
Don't miss our 2016 Primetime Emmys coverage this Sunday, Sept.18.
The funeral of terminal cancer patient Rowena Kincaid, who died on Sept. 2, three years after being given six months to live, took place in her home city of Cardiff this week.
BBC picture editor Kincaid, 40, wrote and presented two Before I Kick the Bucket documentaries about living with cancer, raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities and campaigned to spread the message of the importance of early diagnosis. She defied doctors who told her she wouldn't live to see her 40th birthday and celebrated that milestone with a costumed ball at Cardiff Castle.
In February, Kincaid wrote an emotional, powerful open letter to her cancer, declaring that she would never give up fighting it. "If you’re waiting for me to give up, give up the life you’ve taken chunks out of, give up after fighting you so hard and so long, you are sorely mistaken! Thanks to you, I now have an even bigger fire in my belly, a huge lust for life, and have the mental strength of an Amazonian," she wrote in the letter that quickly went viral.
At the funeral on Tuesday, her sister read aloud another letter from Kincaid — this time a farewell letter.
First up, you'll need a tissue. Secondly, it's a letter everyone should read, whether they've had cancer, are fighting cancer, are trying to help a loved one fight cancer or have lost someone to cancer. (Which, after all, is pretty much all of us, as 1 in 2 people born after 1960 in the U.K. will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime. Yup, scary.)
Part of Kincaid's letter is a set of "rules" that she has lived by. If there's anything every one of us can take from her legacy, it's these:
Be forever kind to yourself. Know your body and listen to your gut instincts at all times. Follow what it tells you and have faith in what you feel from it, it's there to protect you. I listened well and it looked after me for as much as it could.
Acknowledge your weaknesses, as to do so is also a strength. To fight them or focus on them is a waste of time. So concentrate on the positives, then more positivity and strength will come your way.
Remember a problem is only as big as you make it, no matter how bad it seems there are always solutions, and can always be overcome. It will only last as long as you allow it to.
You can do what ever you dream. Don't stop yourself from living it, as it will only be you that does — you are the boss of your life, you have more control than you realise.
Slow down sometimes and look around. Life does move fast and time is not your friend.
Make time for the small things, the things we take for granted, as you will be surprised how good that feels. Do that thing you've always wanted to do, why wait?
Love, but don't fall in love with the idea of love.
Everyone you meet in your life will teach you something, whether they are in it for a short time, or forever. What they teach you, in time, you will see is a gift.
Always and never forget; to believe in yourself.
Read Kincaid's incredible farewell letter in full here. Then visit Cancer Research UK to find out why early diagnosis in breast cancer is so important.
It all started with a tweet that Doute actually posted herself, showing side-by-side images of herself and co-star Jax Taylor's ex-girlfriend, Carmen Dickman, pushing their stomachs out like they were pregnant.
Kristen Doute food baby pic
Kristen Doute food baby pic
"Mexican food isn't the same without you," Doute wrote. "@CarmenDickman I feel like I've successfully matched your push-out-pregnant-belly #success."
Both stars have the faux pregnancy look down. They get their bellies out so far, they actually do look pregnant, so no wonder rumors started flying. A quick look at either of their Instagram accounts is all it takes to discount the talk, though. Neither of them looks pregnant in any other photos.
Doute even went a step further to clear things up. On Snapchat, she posted a video of herself (with one of those adorable, squeaky-voice filters), addressing her fans about the baby talk.
"OK, you guys. I'm really tired but I have to set the record straight," she said. Then, she pointed the camera down and showed, from several angles, how flat her tummy actually is.
Kristen Doute clears up pregnancy rumors
Kristen Doute clears up pregnancy rumors
She continued, "It was a food baby. Goodnight."
That is some food baby.
It's not completely outside the realm of possibility to think Doute might be pregnant. She and her boyfriend, Brian Carter, have been living together for almost a year, and everything Doute says points to this being her strongest relationship ever.
"The best thing about him is that he's just very honest and communicative," she told E! News soon after they moved in together. "Our communication skills are spot-on. It works. It just does. When we met, we just sort of knew on the first sight. My friends love him, his friends love me. It just works."
90 Day Fiancé on TLC is starting its new season, and the quest for love showcases people with different cultures getting together. The show is about finding love abroad and making it work in 90 days in hopes of marrying and staying together. It describes itself as a mix between “matrimony and international dating."
The question is can it work? Can couples successfully overcome challenges of distance and cultural differences to forge a healthy union? I would think that the answer is definitely yes. But only if these couples can appreciate the differences and be able to grow together as a healthy couple and create a commitment that might need more time than just the 90 days. If they can create and maintain a solid, loving, caring relationship, and share some similarities and appreciate their unique challenges, they might make it. Differences can be beautiful in couples and should be appreciated and valued. If the couples can do this, I believe some will have successful futures together. But what does science say about differences and similarities in a couple's long term success?
Does the old that myth that opposites attract hold true, or do “birds of feather flock together?” The Association for Psychological Science describes the phenomena saying, “Dozens of studies demonstrate that people with similar personality traits are more likely to be attracted to each other than people with dissimilar personality traits.” So this tells us that, “Similarity in personality traits isn't merely a good predictor of initial attraction. It's also a good predictor of marital stability and happiness.”
Applying these ideas to the show 90 Day Fiancé, it does appear that some of these couples are opposites attracting (due their different cultures). However I think by taking a closer look at the similarities in personality and other compatible qualities, the differences that show up stemming from their different cultures can be something positive and add to the relationships. For example, the top five personality traits are “openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.” So if looking at the research, the more people match on personality traits the more the relationship can develop stability.
Of course there is more to it than just matching up personalities to create a healthy relationship. Having chemistry is important as well. The similar personality styles might be a great start for any couple to begin with, but they will also need to build upon that and grow together as a couple. Even though the 90 Day fiancé couples might have come from different parts of the world, love can develop as the two might have similar personalities that attracted them to each other in the first place. The idea that love can develop for people near or far away is definitely true here. If these couples can find a genuine love and a healthy relationship style, I think a future can be found.
For now the couples will have to explore the chance that they are compatible enough to create a long lasting union and marry after the 90 days.
Two of this year’s Daytime Emmy winners are now gone from the long-running soap. If you add fan-favorite Teresa Castillo, whose character, Sabrina, was killed off, you have lost three beloved actors from GH.
We’ve talked a lot about the chaos on the set over at GH, from gossiping executives to tumultuous contract negations. It hasn’t been an easy year. With such upheaval comes fan outcry on social media and they want their voices heard.
The loss of Craig also signifies the loss of an important storyline. As Morgan Corinthos, he portrayed a young man struggling with mental illness in a very sensitive way.
The storyline was important because it tied into GH co-star Maurice Benard's real-life struggles with the illness and how he got his life back on track. The father-son mental illness journey is one of the reasons Craig won the Daytime Emmy.
With fans mourning the loss of Christopher, Craig and Castillo, it’s hard to see the direction GH is moving into. The soap once had razor-sharp writing and now it seems like the future is murky at best.
While all three of the actors are exiting with gratitude toward the producers and love for the fans, it does make you wonder what’s really happening behind the scenes. There seems to be an awful lot of chaos in Port Charles.
From the controversial, twerking, pot-smoking star she's been known as in the past, Cyrus is toning things down to fit a more family-friendly mold in her new role on The Voice, her first regular TV gig since she appeared on Disney's Hannah Montana as a teen.
Now, she's navigating her fame as an adult and trying to use it to its full potential to give back to the world. The 23-year-old star sat down as Elle magazine's cover model and answered some questions about her new image and how she's using it to change the world.
One of Cyrus' most surprising statements is that she doesn't plan to appear on any more red carpets.
"[A year ago] I had to do the [A Very Murray Christmas] premiere, and I will never do a red carpet again," she said. "Why, when people are starving, am I on a carpet that’s red? Because I’m 'important?' Because I’m 'famous?' That’s not how I roll. It’s like a skit — it’s like Zoolander."
Cyrus' upcoming role in Woody Allen's Amazon series, Crisis in Six Scenes, really captures that activist part of her personality, she said.
"I’m playing this ’60s revolutionary. Woody plays someone who grew up in the suburbs of New York. He’s got an ice cream machine, and I’m like, People are starving and you’re sitting here making ice cream?! That’s my thing [in real life]. For a long time, I couldn’t sleep because I just felt so guilty. I was covered in rashes because I was so stressed. Even today, I dropped my water on my hike and felt like such an asshole. There are children being sold into sex slavery; how can I go on a hike right now? So now I try to do as much as I can through Happy Hippie."
Image: Derrick Salters/WENN.com
And when it came time for the Crisis in Six Scenes red carpet, she stuck by her vow and didn't walk the carpet. She even addressed it during an interview on The Today Show, saying, "It's really not about the color of the carpet. It's more about, especially women, we get yelled at to blow them a kiss, and I don't feel like blowing you a kiss. And then you're just kind of putting yourself out there for people to talk."
Teaching your kids healthy dental habits early in life will keep their teeth pearly white and prevent all sorts of other diseases related to poor dental hygiene, from periodontal disease to diabetes. But getting kids excited about taking care of their teeth can be tricky. Start your kiddos out on the right track by using these tricks to make taking care of their teeth a fun part of their everyday routine.
1. Sing a song
Let's face it: Singing a song automatically makes everything more fun. Use a song to make sure you're spending enough time brushing and to help make it a fun part of your everyday routine, both morning and at nighttime. Here are videos of seven of the best tooth brushing songs from the American Dental Association, including a couple of Sesame Street tunes even a few parents might remember.
There are a couple of advantages for getting your kids electric toothbrushes over manual ones. First, they're just more fun. And anything you can do to make brushing more fun will encourage kids to do it regularly. But an electric toothbrush also has practical advantages. Little, developing hands don't work so well, and an electric toothbrush boosts the amount of work those bristles can do on those tiny teeth.
There are plenty of apps out there to make brushing and flossing fun for kids and encourage them to set healthy habits. Here's a list of more than 100 apps to get your kid brushing in no time for kids who think doing anything with the help of a phone or tablet makes it cooler.
4. Model good behaviors
As a parent, you know your kids are going to follow whatever examples you set. If your kiddos see you religiously brushing and flossing and taking care of your teeth, they'll be more likely to do the same.
This is just a tip from one parent to another: Think about going to a dentist that specializes in treating children, also known as a pediatric dentist. Many dentists cater specifically to kids with games and activities that make the trip to the dentist far more fun and relaxing, from fun sunglasses to protect their eyes from the light to bubblegum-flavored toothpaste. Anything you can do to create a positive, fun experience for your child at the dentist while they're young can give them a positive feeling that will last through adulthood, when it gets easy to put off those recommended visits every six months.
6. Handheld flossers
Dentists recommend flossing between teeth daily, and as little hands develop, it might be hard for them to handle a strand of floss wrapped around their fingers. Try a handheld flosser for kids. They're easy to use and come in bright, cartoon colors.
7. Talk about healthy nutrition
Again, this is all about example here. And just like modeling good brushing and flossing habits, it's important to talk to your kids about good nutrition and the damage sugary sweets and soda can do to your teeth, to make plenty of healthy choices available and to make sure that when you do indulge, you brush those teeth afterward to keep cavities away.
This post was sponsored by ProNamel® 6-12 Years Toothpaste for Kids.
We've all watched our share of childbirth scenes in movies and thought, um… in what world is that what happens? A little like on-screen sex, all too often it's far too clean, too perfect, too different than what we've all experienced in real life.
So we're pleased to hear that the pregnancy and birth scenes in the new Bridget Jones instalment have been based on the experiences of real women having real babies. And we know this to be true because it comes straight from the mouth of Bridget herself, aka, Renée Zellweger.
During an appearance on The Late Late Show on Thursday, Zellweger told host James Corden that the creators of Bridget Jones's Baby "poached" ideas from Channel 4's award-winning fly-on-the-wall series One Born Every Minute. The actress revealed that she watched the series, which follows the happenings of a U.K. maternity ward, showing the perspectives of both the parents and the staff.
It turns out Corden is also a fan of the show, saying: “It is the best show ever, it is fantastic. You find yourself crying." Although he said watching it with his wife when she was pregnant was a bad idea because "it is women literally screaming and in pain and she was looking at her stomach and then looking at me”.
One Born Every Minute began on Channel 4 in 2010, won a BAFTA in its first year and to date there have been nine series, several of which are available to watch online.
As well as watching OBEM, Zellweger revealed that she also "met with a midwife and had lots of conversations about the progression of a lady's pregnancy" to prepare to play Bridget as a mum-to-be.
Feldman is being pretty universally torn apart for his instantly viral performance with his band, Corey's Angels. And I don't get it. Everything about the performance was weird, sure, but it was also quirky in a way that leaves no question that Feldman is doing this stage of his career exactly the way he wants to.
Corey Feldman and his band perform on the Today Show
Corey Feldman and his band perform on the Today Show
From the Goth/reaper outfit he wore in front of his angel-costume-clad band (complete with halos!) to his hilariously erratic dance moves, Feldman is totally following his passion and living his best life. But the internet, of course, can't just let that happen.
Ppl can't just let Corey Feldman live his life 1
Ppl can't just let Corey Feldman live his life 1
Ppl can't just let Corey Feldman live his life 2
Ppl can't just let Corey Feldman live his life 2
Hey, guys, maybe you missed this memo, but Corey Feldman is kind of weird. He always has been, unapologetically. His rise to fame came from starring in The Goonies for God's sake. It's a weird movie. He's a weird guy. Can't you all just let him live? Leave Corey Feldman alone!
I, for one, will be watching that video on repeat all day, giggling at my desk the entire time. All you haters, enjoy your Haterade.
Welcome back to Parental Advisory, where I answer all your social media and IRL parenting etiquette questions. This week, let's talk about Facebook pages for babies and kids as I respond to two questions that deal with the same subject from different perspectives.
Question #1, from a soon-to-be parent:
Very weird question, but is it at all acceptable to have a Facebook page for your baby/child? (Ignoring the whole "Facebook policy" issue.) I'm pregnant, and I want to be a "Mom's Gold Star" mom and not baby-spam my entire news feed with baby pics and updates when I have the kid (I have professional clients as friends as well).
I realize the simple solution is to limit what I post, use restricted albums, etc. That seems pretty easy. The hard part is when other people post pictures of or stories about your kid, then tag you. I can't count the number of times that I've found a long-lost friend on Facebook, then scrolled through their tagged pictures, only to feel like they must be a 2-year-old toddler now. I don't want to untag all of the pics of my kid, as I'm sure other family members, etc., might want to see them in their feed when posted, and it seems like a whole lot of work to copy each pic, then upload it into my own restricted album. It seems like the simple solution might be to have a page for the kid with only specific friends, then post updates about the baby from there, and people can also tag the kid individually all they want. Of course, the opposite side of this issue is that I would have created a Facebook page for my freaking kid, which sounds insane.
First off, congrats! You already sound like a Mom's Gold Star candidate to me. By considering your friends, clients and whoever else might be privy to seeing content from your Facebook page, you're light-years ahead of other parents who make the assumption that everyone is dying to see more pictures and updates about their baby (which can be the case but usually isn't given the number of babies in most people's news feeds). As far as having a dedicated page for your baby, if you anticipate a lot of photos and tagging, a "baby page" could work.
The key in that case would be to not bombard people with endless streams of minutiae, like up-to-the-minute updates about feedings, diaper changes and naps, just because you can. To do this would be to abuse the concept altogether, which is what many parents have done and one of the reasons baby pages get such a bad rap. But in a way, that's also what those dedicated baby pages are for — after all, if you're not over-posting or oversharing about your kid, what's the point of creating a Facebook page for your baby in the first place? Some parents relish the opportunity to have a digital scrapbook devoted to their baby, but since that's not the case here, I think your approach might be misdirected.
The average Facebook friend is genuinely happy to see pictures of babies and kids, so I don't think it's necessary to create a separate page. Sure, clients might see the updates or images too, but if you're concerned about what they think, maybe the solution is actually to create a separate business page. A true baby-spammer is someone who is always posting about their kids, not just your average parent who enjoys uploading a few pictures a week or a month, and if someone tags you in a bunch of baby photos, that's really not your problem. If it feels excessive to you and you're afraid it might annoy your friends, you can untag the images or change your personal settings to only show pictures tagged with you in them to certain friends. I don't think you would need to download and then re-upload them to your own restrictive photo album. That sounds like a lot of work. But there are so many ways to customize your profile, it sort of makes creating a whole other Facebook page for an infant seem redundant, if not a bit obsessive, at this point in time.
I vastly prefer to see my friends' kids in my regular feed and not have any 3-month-old "friends" who can't read or chew meat, because the person whose content I want to see is my actual friend's. Intermingling updates about yourself with updates about your baby seems like the way to go here, and then you can cull your friends list (if you must) or adjust your settings per friend. Something to keep in mind, though, is that eventually everyone's Facebook page becomes chock-full of baby photos. How you choose to handle updates about your baby is up to you. I wouldn't go too far out of your way to try to tailor every image or baby update, or you'll drive yourself crazy. Just be considerate about what you post, like always, and go from there. And if you do decide to create a separate Facebook page for your baby, please, for the love of the internet, don't write updates in his or her voice. It is truly the worst. If your kid can't type it or even say it aloud himself, he doesn't need to "say it" on "his" Facebook page either.
I know we are all sick of the FirstBabyName-MiddleBabyName hashtag, but I'm also kinda concerned about babies who are given their own social media pages. I know one person who has done this: friend-requested me (via the baby's account, and no, I did not add them) and tags the baby in her posts like a consenting adult. It's parents' prerogative to raise their children how they see fit (and the person in question is a loving and attentive parent, of course), but I almost feel like this is wrong on an ethical level. If I had to ask a simple question, it would be, "Is it cool to simply ignore friend requests from people under the age of 2," but depending on the format of your advice column, I would be interested in your thoughts on the topic in general in terms of starting the internet identity footprint of a person that can't consent to it.
—Grace
Answer:
Yes, it's cool to ignore a "request" from an infant or toddler. You can tell your friend directly but lightheartedly that you don't accept friend requests from babies, but if you think that will hurt your friend's feelings (and it could), I would just leave it alone. Your opinion won't influence the parents' decision to have a Facebook page for their baby, so unless he or she asks why you haven't accepted the invitation (which would possibly be an even bigger faux pas than telling your friend that you won't be accepting the request), you can keep your thoughts on the subject to yourself and remain blissfully ignorant of that page altogether.
Regarding the ethics issue, everyone has a different opinion on this subject, since it's only a decade or so old, and the ethics of building an internet identity for a baby can be argued many ways. From some parents' standpoint, the baby has no say in the matter, much like children don't get a say in a lot of decisions that are made on their behalf, and that stance is enough justification for parents to do whatever they want. I think it's typically assumed that parents will be ethically responsible and not post pictures of their kids in questionable contexts, but we know that isn't always the case. A good example of this is the story that went around this week about a woman who is suing her parents for posting photos of her on Facebook without her consent. She cites "nappy changes" and "potty training pictures" as part of her argument, and the universal response seems to be that people aren't surprised by her lawsuit. So, are there ethical issues to treating a baby like a consenting adult (or even a consenting minor) when posting on Facebook? Definitely. Is this issue made worse by creating a child's digital footprint and starting social media pages on their behalf? That's still up for debate. But it's possible, depending on how far a parent takes the page and for how long.
If the page is used to share only a small handful of cute images or updates per year, it's less likely to impact the child later in life. If parents post hundreds of updates year over year, as the 18-year-old in Austria is alleging in her lawsuit, things can take a turn once that baby grows up and has a will of his or her own. This is why parents should always try to be respectful of their kids' privacy, and treating Facebook like a digital scrapbook probably isn't the smartest or kindest move. But there are some parents who create a Facebook page for their baby with the pure intention of keeping the content even more secure, so I can't say Facebook pages for babies are the biggest hitch in this modern dilemma. In some ways, they're a partial solution until that baby is old enough to say, "Stop posting about me on my own page." Until then, you're welcome to opt out of being friends with infants entirely, and no parent should blame or question you for doing so.
Do you have a question about parents on social media? Send whatever is on your mind to stfuparentsblog at gmail.com!
The Emmys air this weekend! Are you ready with your snacks and drink? You could rely on your usual bottle of white wine, but we've got some more-exciting options for you. Here are two cocktails created by mixologist Johnny Swet of The Skylark in New York City — one inspired by Downton Abbey, the other inspired by Game of Thrones. Which will win? You decide.
Shake all the ingredients with ice. Strain into a tall glass.
Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs and ice cubes.
To make thyme syrup, heat 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of water until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, and add a thyme sprig. Infuse overnight, and then strain.
Country singer Kramer recently headed to see her good friend Carrie Underwood perform in Los Angeles, and while she was there, she filmed a very cryptic video.
During Underwood's hit, "Before He Cheats," Kramer sang along and, at one point during the video she filmed of the song, turned the camera to face herself as she sang the song's chorus.
Jana Kramer hints at cheating ex in cryptic insta video
Jana Kramer hints at cheating ex in cryptic insta video
So was that meant to be a nod at Caussin? When Kramer posted the video on Instagram, she included the caption, "‘Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats’. Thanks @carrieunderwood. #music=therapy," making it look an awful lot like some infidelity may have preceded the pair's separation.
Kramer and Caussin split up last month just before Kramer started her stint on Dancing With the Stars. During her debut on the show, she mentioned that she hopes the dance competition will help her through her breakup.
"I think this show will help me let my guard down," she admitted. "My personal life kind of took a hit. I have recently separated from my husband. I really think this process is going to be a huge healing process for me."
While Kramer is competing on DWTS, reports say Caussin has checked into a rehab facility, but no one knows exactly why he's there.
Can I talk to you for a second? Well, not all of you. In the spirit of full disclosure, it's about sex, so about half of you can excuse yourselves right now before it gets weird. I'm referring of course to all of you gorgeous mother goddesses with glowing hair and supple skin and a sex drive that has somehow managed to persist and even increase, probably because you are one of those women who hasn't accidentally woken her partner up by puking on them during an early-morning bout of hormone-induced nausea. You probably don't have hemorrhoids or a swollen vag or ankles the size of comically large inner tubes. Go away; I'm not talking to you.
But for the rest of you — the ones for whom the nausea has only recently begun to abate; the ones who are struggling with that phase in between "cute pregnant" and "medically perplexing intestinal blockage presenting visually"; anyone who can only now begin to stomach the idea of mashing your bits up against your partner's bits after months of a self-imposed booty embargo — stay right where you are.
Maybe your partner is starting to sleep-hump you at night or actual-hump you when you come home after work or sigh really loudly when you sashay past in your "don't fucking touch me" sweats. Maybe you are totally down to get down but don't really know how to put all the sexiness back into your relationship now that you feel like a juvenile beluga that has swallowed a yoga ball. Maybe you're horny as hell but your partner is a little apprehensive of putting his penis just a few spare inches from his future child's head, so you're trying hard to seduce him anyway you can.
Maybe you're thinking of making a sex tape.
Listen to me, pregnants. DO NOT DO THIS.
I speak from unfortunate experience when I tell you that I know that the thought of reclaiming a little bit of the sexuality that was yanked away from you by sciatic nerve pain or barfing up your own saliva in the form of a little naughty cinema is tempting. I also speak from experience when I tell you that this will go terribly, start to finish.
When the two of you — who are not porn stars with bleached assholes and pimple-free inner thighs and hairless scrotums — decide to do this thing, you must contend with so many obstacles. Among these? You both suck at using a video camera, although by this time it's probably just your phone's camera, which — and you have to trust me on this — you also suck at using. Yes, you take a bitchin' Vine with a hilarious horse mask, but you do not know how to capture all of the best angles of you and your partner bobbling up-and-down on your shitty futon for way too long.
Here's another thing: your belly. I know that fetish porn exists. I live on the internet, for chrissakes, and I'm fully aware that people have managed to stick things places and do all kinds of unspeakable things to each other, even when in the family way. You are not those people. You have a terrible center of balance and less patience than those people, and the chances are very high that when you attempt to get it on doggy-style, your idiot husband or boyfriend will misjudge your stability and their velocity. At which point you will go sprawling head first into the wall, scream a string of profanities at the top of your lungs, and knock the camera over, so the next shot that you will see — if you make the terrible decision to actually look at the abomination that you've made — will be your partner's left ball as he mistakenly teabags the camera in an attempt to pick it up.
Remember, I speak to you from experience.
The next thing to consider is your poor cervix. You probably know by now that during your pregnancy your entire uterus will sit lower in your pelvis, so when you decide to give up on doggy and just do some girl-on-top (angles, people) after making a series of unfortunate noises with the now near-empty container of personal lubrication, you will discover the horrific sensation of a full on dick-to-cervix collision. Whereupon you will probably say something like "UUuughAaiijgh" and/or "Getthefuckoffofmerightnowshitshitshitshit" before driving your knee into the love of your life's sternum in an attempt to rocket yourself to the other side of the planet to get away from the pain.
Again, I speak to you from experience. And also from beyond the grave, because I am dead right now, actually. Here's why.
The good thing about pregnancy sex tapes is that you will eventually move past them. Perhaps you will watch the video once, and then the two of you will bury the video camera or the phone in a box marked "evil shit" or "kitchen stuff" and you will swear to never speak of this dark chapter in your life again.
But because of your pregnancy brain, you will forget to douse it in gasoline and torch it before salting the ashes and spreading them to every corner of the earth. You will forget all about it. And this will be a mistake.
Because it will be at that moment — the one where your brain, in all of its benevolent wonder, allows you to finally heal the wound that was your jiggling buttcheeks and inhuman grunting on that dark, dark night through the magic of selective amnesia, by forgetting it completely — that your in-laws will find it.
Your father-in-law will call you and tell you that he had been going through some old boxes and thought he would send the hi-8s he found in them to a digital archivist for posterity but thankfully (?) went through them first. He will inform you that he found some "erm, personal" material and ask you if you would like it back. You will hear the embarrassed amusement in his voice as your own words from long ago echo in your ears: "Just put it in! I'm gonna have to pee in like, five minutes."
Fortunately, you will immediately die of mortification, so the panic-induced dry mouth and full-body cringes won't last for very long.
Don't let my death be in vain, pregnants. Heed my tale, and learn from my mistakes. Do not make that pregnancy sex tape.
Hi, my name is Bryanne, and it’s been 10 years since I gave my son his first cellphone. I should probably mention that he was 8 at the time, and despite what the internet parenting police might think, I’m not sorry about it in the slightest.
Yes, I've read all the blogs and Facebook rants that complain young children shouldn’t have technology like cellphones or even computers. They warn that access to these devices hinders a child’s innocence and sets them up for dangerous things like sex and cyberbullying. They even warn about the possibility of brain cancer.
What drove my decision to arm my son with a phone was simple: I wanted to be able to stay connected with him, and I also wanted to give him a tiny bit of freedom in a world that can, at times, be scary.
My 8-year-old wanted to ride his bike with two of his friends to the elementary school a block away. Riding bikes with friends was something I did, my parents did, and assuming my grandparents had bikes, they probably did too. None of us had supervision past the age of, I dunno, 5, and even though I watched the news, as a parent I felt he and his friends were mature enough to pedal down to the playground and have some fun.
But I’m also a realist. I knew that something could happen to my son when he was out of my line of sight. That’s a risk I took the minute I gave birth, fully knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep my child in my womb for the rest of his life.
While I trusted my son and his buddies, I still felt better knowing he had access to calling me if he needed to (and that I could call him). My husband, who had just deployed to war, had left his mediocre flip phone at home since he wouldn’t be able to use it. I handed it over to my elementary schooler.
“There, now you can keep your eye on the time and call me if you need anything,” I said. My son’s eyes were huge, like I’d just given him pancakes and ice cream for dinner (we weren’t at that stage of the deployment yet). “Just be careful with it,” I told him.
I made sure my son understood the importance of respecting the phone (don't throw it) and that he actually knew how to use it. Fortunately he did. He was given a curfew of one hour, and he left on his bike, screaming, "My mom gave me a cellphone, guys!"
He called me five minutes later, then two minutes after that, and again in seven minutes. The phone was a novelty, and I didn't mind the calls, especially since they allowed me to stay home with my very sick 6-year-old.
My son made it home right on time and asked if he could keep the phone, to which I said no. I looked at the call log to see if he’d done what I would have at his age — prank calls — but nope, nothing.
The next time he wanted to go somewhere I felt was safe enough for him to venture to alone, he again got the phone. After about a month, he stopped giving it back to me, and frankly, I stopped caring. We were still paying for the phone service and rarely used it; he could call his friends, and I could call him when he was out playing.
When I was 8, I frequently tied up our home phone line, talking to friends or (my favorite) prank-calling my least favorite teachers who were (luckily) always listed in the phone book. The fact that my son had his own phone wasn't much different, except teachers were smarter and had stopped listing their home numbers.
Six months later, my husband came home and purchased a better phone for himself, and he let our older son keep the hand-me-down. Then, two years later, when our younger son turned 8, he got that same old phone, and we upgraded our older son with (you guessed it) my husband’s two-year-old phone, keeping the cycle of trickle-down economics in full swing.
It's been a decade, and I've never regretted giving either of my kids a phone. Throughout their childhood, their phones have served as a tool to keep us connected more than I had been with my own parents. When something was wrong at school, they called me. When I wasn’t home and they had a rough day, they sent me a text. Thanks to their phones, we’ve always been able to reach each other. It's been a wonderful thing to have.
My sons are now 16 and 18, and as I expected they would be, they're totally fine. They have much better phones, and they have and jobs and skills, like building computers or looking up how to do cool things like play the guitar on YouTube. If you ask me, I think having a phone is pretty rad. At 16, I was still trying to figure out how to do my eyeliner. My kids are way cooler.
Gibson has seven children with his former wife, Robyn Moore.
Ed Gibson instagram 1
Ed Gibson instagram 1
He also has a 6-year-old daughter with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. Now, he and his current girlfriend, Rosalind Ross, are expecting another child.
A close friend of the couple told People, "Mel loves being a dad and he and Rose can't wait to be parents together. The last two years have been some of his happiest years he's ever had."
Find out more about Gibson's brood of children below.
1. Hannah Gibson (Age: 36)
Hannah is Mel's first child with Moore.
She married blues singer Kenny Wayne Shepherd in 2006 and now has three children of her own — Mel's only grandkids to date.
2. Christian Gibson (Age: 34)
Christian, along with twin brother Edward, was born in Australia in 1982.
Though Christian hasn't pursued acting, he did have a minor role in the 2002 movie We Were Soldiers.
Milo Gibson Instagram 2
Milo Gibson Instagram 2
Christian has had some run-ins with the law, like his father. In 2005, while studying at the University of Colorado, Christian was arrested for a DUI.
He is also a landscape photographer and told the Malibu Times that he's inspired by Australian photographer Ken Duncan.
3. Edward Gibson (Age: 34)
Edward, Christian's twin, has also had some struggles like his father's. In 2007, he entered rehab to help him recover from alcohol and cocaine addictions, according to the Enquirer.
Now, Edward seems to be on a great track, though. He makes furniture out of reclaimed wood from Fiji.
Ed Gibson instagram 2
Ed Gibson instagram 2
He's also into motocross.
Ed Gibson instagram 3
Ed Gibson instagram 3
4. William Gibson: (Age: 31)
William had his share of trouble, too. He was reportedly kicked out of school for a weed-related offense back in the day.
But the Gibson boys aren't all bad, despite their run-ins with the law. A neighbor described the kids as "a rowdy bunch, but also nice — very 'Yes, sir, no sir,' which you don't get a lot of around here."
Louis seems to be the Gibson kid who is most out of the spotlight. There is very little information that we could find about him online, aside from his age.
6. Milo Gibson (Age: 26)
According to the Daily Beast, Milo is the closest to his father of all the kids.
Milo Gibson Instagram 1
Milo Gibson Instagram 1
Milo's IMDB bio says that he "trained and worked as an electrician in Malibu for a number of years before following his dream." He is now studying drama in Santa Monica.
Milo will have a key supporting role opposite Jennifer Garner in the upcoming film The Tribes of Palos Verdes, according to The Wrap.
7. Thomas Gibson (Age: 17)
People reported that Robyn Moore filed for divorce from Mel just a day after Thomas turned 10, though the family apparently worked hard to protect him (and the other children) from the "confusion and increased scrutiny" on the family.
Gibson and girlfriend Rosalind Ross have been dating for two years and are currently expecting their first child together. The baby is expected to be born at the beginning of next year. Ross is a writer and a former champion equestrian vaulter. This will be her first child.
When you're sick, it's cold out or you just need some comfort food, nothing hits the spot like a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.
But if you're still subsisting on the bland, salty stuff from a can, have I got news for you. One spoonful of the light yet fragrant broth from a bowl of Vietnamese pho ga and all thoughts of Campbell's will be completely driven from your mind.
You may be familiar with pho (pronounced "fuh"). It's a Vietnamese soup that features a flavorful broth seasoned with charred shallots or onions, garlic and ginger and spices like star anise and clove, then filled with meat and thin rice noodles.
Beef pho seems to be the most popular, and it's certainly the one I'm used to hearing people rave about. And don't get me wrong, beef pho, whether you get it with thinly sliced flank steak or go all out with tripe, tendon, beef balls and brisket, is totally bangin'.
But sometimes you crave a simpler comfort food, and pho ga is just that.
First you have the broth, clear and fragrant. It's made by simmering chicken with aromatics and spices until the chicken is cooked. The chicken is removed, and the broth can then be refrigerated overnight, so you can skim off any fat and strain out any impurities before continuing to make the soup.
The next day, when you're ready to eat, the broth is skimmed and strained and added back to the pot to heat up. It's seasoned to taste with salt, fish sauce and sugar, until the perfect balance (according to your preference) is struck. Cooked rice noodles are added to your bowls, along with the sliced cooked chicken, thinly sliced raw onion, cilantro, scallion, bean sprouts and finally a few ladlefuls of bubbling broth.
Each diner can then season their personal bowl of soup as they like with additional fish sauce, lime juice, sliced green chilies, hoisin sauce, chili sauce (if you have a cold, heaps of chili garlic sauce will clear your sinuses right out) and Thai basil. It's like the humble chicken soup of your childhood, but kicked up to a whole new level thanks to the use of flavorful Vietnamese ingredients.
There are purists who may tell you that if the pho is made correctly, you won't need to add any additional condiments to your bowl. I say, "Follow your heart." I basically give myself side-eye due to the amount of chili garlic and hoisin sauce I put in my pho, but each bite makes me shiver with happiness down to my toes, and that's what comfort food is all about.
If you're curious to try pho ga, I suggest hitting up a Vietnamese restaurant in your town. If that's not an option, you can make it yourself.
Try this recipe from Viet World Kitchen — refrigerating the broth overnight takes a little planning, but it isn't that much harder to make than your classic chicken and egg-noodle soup.
And if you don't eat meat, never fear — you can make delicious vegetarian pho too (my personal favorite). Just be careful if you're ordering it at a restaurant. Many serve a "vegetarian pho" that consists of noodles and vegetables in a meat broth — your best bet may be to search for specifically vegan pho in your area.
So the next time the thermometer drops, you find yourself reaching for your coziest sweater or you come down with a case of the sniffles, never fear — Vietnamese pho ga is here.
Canadians finally have our own Bachelorette — and with that, we get to watch Jasmine Larimer deal with some painfully relatable dating scenarios. Who hasn't been hit on by a drunk cowboy from Calgary or had one too many guys try to impress with acoustic guitars in a night? Here are all the times The Bachelorette Canada reminded us what dating while Canadian is actually like.
1. When the bachelorette perfectly captures how slim your dating options are in a small Canadian town by explaining how to make out with your hand — and you know just how she feels
3. When someone uses "I have a very good dental and medical plan" as a pickup line and it actually kind of works because this is Canada — you've been saving to get that tooth filled for years
8. When your date might just have a script tattoo across his chest that says "Living the Dream" because he's been working on the oil rigs and is all about that life
10. When half the guys you meet at a party are secretly dying to bust out their breakdancing skills, convinced they have perfected the best possible version of "the worm"
Since filming wrapped on the dating show three months ago, Alex Nation, 25, has been enjoying some time with Strahan, 32, away from the cameras. The series finale, which aired this week, showed Strahan choosing Nation over fellow contestant Nikki Gogan — although he didn't opt for the usual Bachelor proposal, presenting Nation with a "promise" ring instead.
Now that the couple can go public with their romance (and fulfil their contractual promo duties, of course), they've had to deal with some pretty heavy criticism. Some fans labeled Strahan an "idiot" and an "asshole" for choosing Nation over Gogan. He was even accused of "ruining lives."
Another bone of contention for many is Nation's 5-year-old son, Elijah. On the show, Strahan's mother Kate expressed her concern about the "burden" being a stepparent would put on her son. But Strahan followed his heart and chose the Melbourne mum anyway.
To make matters worse, Ashy Smith, the girlfriend of Elijah's father, Nation's ex-husband Joel Porter, has stuck her oar in. While his mum is on her promo tour with Strahan, Elijah is staying with Porter and Smith.
Just days before the finale of the show, Smith posted cryptic Instagram messages (that have now been deleted and, um, may not actually have been so cryptic after all): "Too bad you are only a good mother on Facebook and the rest of the time you neglect your child," she wrote, adding, "Think this speaks volumes!!" and the hashtags #goodlucktoyou, #sosad and #growup.
Another post was a meme reading, "Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience. You are raising a human being. You cannot pick up and drop when it suits."
Porter regularly posts pictures of Smith with Elijah on his Instagram page. Clearly, they are close and she's an important person in his life.
Joel Porter
Joel Porter
Surely this means that whatever has gone on with Nation — and we can speculate all we want, but nobody knows the truth — the best thing Smith can do for that little boy is keep her mouth shut and her social media posts neutral. If Elijah has spent most of the last few months or weeks with his dad, what's the big deal? It can't be classed as child neglect in any shape or form. Porter is just as much his parent as Nation is, and attacking the Bachelor winner during her 15 minutes of fame only makes Smith look bitter (and perhaps a little jealous).
So far, Nation has kept a dignified silence in response to Smith's apparent digs. She has, however, posted a loved-up picture of herself with her new man along with a declaration of her love for him.
The couple revealed this week that Elijah hasn't yet been introduced to Strahan, with Nation saying she didn't see "any reason to rush into something like that." Anyone who slams her for that has never been a single parent. If Nation had taken a different tack and introduced her kid to her new boyfriend early on in the relationship, she'd no doubt face a barrage of criticism for that. She's basically in a no-win situation. But hey, welcome to the world of reality TV.
