On Tuesday, Dec. 19, Kristen Bell’s daughter, Delta, celebrated birthday No. 3. But instead of sharing the usual cute kid pic to honor the occasion, Bell (in true Bell style) got candid.
“Three years ago today. 47lbs heavier. Getting through painful contractions with backrubs and breathing,” begins her caption. What comes next is a series of images that give fans a more intimate glimpse into Bell's pregnancy and Delta's birth. In the first image, we see Bell sitting belly out on an exercise ball. In the second, she's in a hospital gown bent over in front of hubby Dax Shepard as Delta is getting ready to greet her parents.
“Occasionally swinging from the IV pole to try and feel sexy and open up my hips,” Bell's caption continues — and yes, we see her swinging from a pole. “After 36 hours of labor, I met a girl I love more than all the molecules in all the world. Happy birthday, Delta. Love, mom.”
These never-before-seen-images have been a hit with fans and have already racked up a few thousand comments and counting.
Delta isn’t the only daughter in the Bell-Shepard brood; pair also has a 4-year-old named Lincoln. During an interview with Us Weekly, the Bad Moms actor confessed that the hardest thing about being a parent, for her, is sleep deprivation. She also explained the strong connection she felt with other moms while she was pregnant.
“When I got pregnant, I was like, ‘I’m so nervous. Oh my God.’ Then I was like, ‘Oh yeah, everybody’s mom did it, so I’m going to be fine,’” she told Us. “Moms almost need no discussion. You just need to know that someone else is a mom, and with eye contact, you go, ‘Oh yeah, I get it.’”
From the time women hit puberty, it's like we become personal investigators into whether or not we're pregnant. Many of us take birth control measures and still hold our breath every month waiting for our periods to arrive, and others who are pursuing pregnancy look for the smallest signs that they may have conceived.
Whether you're in the first camp or the second, we can agree we'd probably know sooner rather than later if we might be pregnant. For that reason, we spoke to doctors about what symptoms most often indicate a pregnancy.
First, before you panic or get excited or some combination of the two, it’s important to remember that not everyone responds the same way to being pregnant.
According to Dr. Grace Kong, an OB-GYN at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, every woman is different in terms of what combination of symptoms she may or may not feel during early pregnancy. Not only that, but each pregnancy can have different symptoms in the same individual, she added. So just because you didn’t get morning sickness while pregnant with your first child, that may not be the case with the second.
Here are a few early signs of pregnancy and when to visit your doctor.
Missed period
We’ll start with the most obvious. The missed or late period, which is what prompts most women to take a home pregnancy test. If it’s positive, make an appointment with your doctor.
If it’s positive and you’re experiencing any unusual symptoms, like severe pain or heavy bleeding, Kong said that you should be evaluated by a doctor right away to make sure there isn’t a concern for abnormal pregnancy such as an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage.
“As long as the patient is ‘low-risk’ — not on prescription medications, no history of medical problems and no complications with prior pregnancies — then it is best to see a doctor around 6 to 8 weeks of pregnancy,” Dr. Elizabeth West, an OB-GYN at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Long Beach, California, tells SheKnows.
But West advises that any patients with medical problems or other issues should see their doctor earlier to ensure they are doing everything they can to optimize the pregnancy.
Breast tenderness
Both Kong and West say that increased breast tenderness and swelling could be an early sign of pregnancy. Of course, fluctuating hormones can cause changes in your breasts throughout the month, but if they're feeling particularly sensitive, it might be the signal of something more.
Sure, we’re all tired all the time, but if you’re feeling extra tired and can’t figure out why, it could be an early symptom of pregnancy, which Kong says may present early on. In fact, as West points out, the fatigue could set in before you’ve even missed your period.
Nausea
As pregnancy hormones increase, it may result in nausea or vomiting, Kong says. According to West, this phase of pregnancy typically happens five to six weeks after conception, and despite being called “morning sickness," it can occur at any time of day or night.
Aversion to foods &/or smells
Some patients experience food aversions and sensitivity to odors very early in pregnancy, West explains. So if you’re normally all about the smell of baking bread but all of a sudden it makes you sick, that might be a sign.
Bleeding & cramps
Yes, this sounds a lot like a period, but it’s not. According to Kong, a small amount of spotting and cramps can occur as the embryo implants into the uterine lining.
When in doubt, there’s no harm in doing a quick at-home pregnancy test. No one likes peeing on a stick, but it’s totally worth it to put your mind at ease.
Image: Regina Ferrara/Sheknows
A version of this article was originally published in March 2011.
If there's one thing we love, it's when celebrities and their kids look exactly alike. Seeing out favorite stars with their mini-mes is just too much fun. Unfortunately, we'll never see Christopher Reeve's son, Will Reeve, side-by-side with his dad even though they look exactly alike.
Reeve, who was an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and avid equestrian, is probably best known for his role as Superman in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie. He died in 2004, but his legacy absolutely lives on in Will, who is a dead ringer for his dad. And in case you didn't know, that means he's really, really ridiculously good-looking.
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 1
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 1
Yep, feast your eyes on that tall drink of water. He's definitely got his dad's classic good looks. Man is chiseled.
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 2
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 2
He currently works as a reporter for ESPN, making frequent appearances on Sports Center, in case you need more opportunities to look upon his beautiful face than you can get just from creeping on his Instagram. But creeping on his Instagram is also a great idea, because you'll get to see shots like these:
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 3
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 3
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 4
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 4
And he's clearly a sweetheart too; just look at this tribute he wrote for his late dad.
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 5
Will Reeve is a dead ringer for his dad, Christopher 5
Plane travel during the holidays. Did you just shiver? Me too. Holidays are some of the most hectic times for travel and near-doomed for snowstorms that keep planes grounded. Despite the sometimes-apocalyptic levels of delays, cancellations and stranded travelers, we still show up every year to hedge our bets and try to make it home for the holidays.
If you’ve ever been stranded at an airport gate after learning your flight has been canceled, you know what an intense rush it can be to try to rebook. Here are the best tips we could find to get through a cancellation unscathed.
1. Jump in line… at another gate
The computer networks are connected, so if you see another gate that currently has an attendant and isn’t as long, jump there instead of the gate you’re at.
2. Have more than one family member get in line
If you’re traveling with family and you’re all on the reservation, have other family members get in different lines. Whoever gets to the front first can let the others know they’ve got it handled.
3. While you’re standing in line, call the reservation line
Depending on how long the lines are, the phone call may be faster, and if you get through to an agent and get your flight resolved, you can step out of line.
4. Know your airline’s cancellation policy
Airlines aren’t required to provide compensation, but many of them have cancellation policies, and it will do you well to know them. You may have to haggle to get compensation, normally in the form of food or accommodation vouchers. If you’re on a flight to or from the EU that’s delayed more than three hours and the delay was within the airline’s control (e.g., not a strike or weather event), you’re entitled to the same compensation as someone whose flight was canceled.
5. If your flight is just delayed, still arrive at the original time
Delays become non-delays all the time, and you don’t want to miss your flight if the time bounces back.
6. No flights out of town? Consider traveling to a nearby airport
Many areas have more than one major airport, and it could be worth the drive if there are available flights out of that port.
7. Consider Megabus
The company just announced that they’re offering free bus tickets to anyone whose flight gets canceled over the holidays. Depending on what options the airline is offering you, it may be your best bet to be able to say, “I’ll be home for Christmas.”
If you, like me, immediately fell in love with The Devil Wears Prada when it was first released and then became increasingly obsessed with it as the years went on and over repeat viewings, then you know that Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) is not the actual best character in this movie. And no, it's not Miranda Priestly (I'm not going to apologize for saying that either). In fact, the best character in this movie — by a country mile — is Emily, played by Emily Blunt, Miranda's first assistant, and frankly, the best assistant. I mean, who else loved their job more than Emily? Who sacrificed more to make Miranda happy than Emily? Who was devoted to getting those Hermès scarves back to the office and on time? Emily.
So, if you, like me, are eternally in love with Emily, then you'll be happy to know Emily's story isn't quite finished. That's right: a book sequel to The Devil Wears Prada will be coming out soon, and it's going to focus solely on Emily and her life after working for Miranda. The book will be called When Life Gives You Lululemons(I. Am. Dying.) and the plot, according to Entertainment Weekly, is absolute heaven.
When we meet up with Emily again, she will be working as a high-profile image consultant who is forced to travel to Greenwich, Connecticut, for a job. The job, you ask? Working for A-lister Karolina Hartwell, who has to do a lot of image rehab after a DUI. It sounds like there's a potential for fireworks here, as Emily desperately needs to do a good job helping Karolina, although it's not entirely clear why (read: drama).
We learn in the additional excerpt from the book provided by EW that Emily is also married to a guy named Miles and that he has a "beautiful body," although it's not clear what he's actually like. Something tells me there might be something better awaiting Emily once she arrives in Greenwich.
So, I know this is only going to be a book for now, but uh, when can we turn this into a movie? Oh, and when is Blunt available to reprise the role? Let's make it happen, people, because I need to see this on the big screen ASAP.
There's no more denying it or relying on hearsay from gossip magazines' sources. Khloé Kardashian has made it official, formally announcing her pregnancy on Instagram with a steamy black and white photo.
Khloe Kardashian pregnancy announcement
Khloe Kardashian pregnancy announcement
In the snapshot, she's seen cradling her growing stomach with another pair of hands alongside her own. Presumably, it's the father of her child, Tristan Thompson. It's very exciting since fans of Kardashian have been waiting for months now for something concrete to merit a celebration. And boy, is it something to celebrate: part Janet Jackson throwback and part '90s Calvin Klein ad, the Instagram post is worthy of every single one of its 850,000 likes.
"My greatest dream realized! We are having a baby! I had been waiting and wondering but God had a plan all along. He knew what He was doing," she wrote alongside the photograph, putting an end to all the speculation. "I simply had to trust in Him and be patient. I still at times can't believe that our love created life!"
Kardashian also took some time to thank Thompson, writing about how much she appreciates his continuing support. "Tristan, thank you for loving me the way that you do! Thank you for treating me like a Queen! Thank you for making me feel beautiful at all stages! Tristan, most of all, Thank you for making me a MOMMY!!! You have made this experience even more magical than I could have envisioned! I will never forget how wonderful you've been to me during this time! Thank you for making me so happy my love!"
Like many moms, Kardashian confirmed she's feeling a slew of different emotions. Even though she's the epitome of cool and collected on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and her own spinoff, Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian, it's sweet to see her sweating (quite literally) the small stuff for once.
"I am so thankful, excited, nervous, eager, overjoyed and scared all in one!" she continued, giving fans everywhere one more reason to see her as the most relatable Kardashian sister. Now that Kardashian's made it official, it looks like there's just one more mystery pregnancy to announce. Hear us, Kris Jenner? Spill it about Kylie, already!
During the winter months, I pretty much live on soups and stews during the week. I rarely have time to cook an entire meal after work, so making a big batch of soup on Sunday is my favorite way to meal prep. One of my favorite go-tos? French onion soup. It's so easy and so delicious, and it reheats so well. The only part I dread is chopping onions for 20 minutes. I've tried everything to combat the seemingly impossible-to-avoid tears that accompany my favorite root vegetable — chewing gum, breathing through your mouth, wearing ski goggles (yes, really). Sure, some of these methods work, but wouldn't it be great if someone could just invent onions that don't make you cry?
Well, Sunions has done exactly that. A Sunonion looks and tastes every bit like a regular onion, except they don't cause you to produce any tears when chopped. How exactly is this achieved? According to a press release from Golden Sun Marketing, "It all comes down to the levels of volatile compounds responsible for pungency and tearing in onions. The levels of those compounds in other onions remain stable or increase during storage. In Sunions, these compounds do the exact opposite and decrease in prevalence to create a milder, sweeter and tearless onion over time. This natural process also promotes a strong level of consistency from bulb to bulb."
The development of Sunions actually began 30 years ago, and the final product first premiered back in October at Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit in New Orleans. Sunions have begun their first season of retail availability, and we don't know when exactly they will be available in grocery stores, but all signs point to sometime pretty soon. So you best believe I'll be scanning the produce aisle for them during all future shopping trips.
You are 5. You are unacceptably tall. You like Paw Patrol and dancing and marshmallows. And in two days, you are moving across the country without me.
When I placed you up for adoption five years ago, I knew without a doubt I was making the right decision. I was so relieved your new daddies wanted the same level of openness in our adoption that I wanted. I was thrilled I had found the perfect family to raise you. I was, maybe, the luckiest birth mother of all time.
And yet, losing you absolutely destroyed me. When you left the hospital without me, I literally couldn’t stand up straight. My body folded in half as though of its own volition, and I broke down sobbing, even as I knew I was making the right decision.
But now, I am losing you yet again. Your daddy has gotten a job on the West Coast, and good for him. You deserve a life full of sunshine and avocado and all that Los Angeles has to offer. New York, as much as I love it, can be a terrifying place.
Still, I want to howl at the moon like a wolf. I want to send a primal scream into the universe that penetrates the sun. I want to crack in half with the injustice of it all. I already lost you once; now I have to watch you move across the continent without me. What fresh hell is this?
I know, because I know other birth mothers who’ve gone through this exact thing, that all kinds of joys await me. I know, because I’ll be staying with you when I visit you, that I’ll get time with you that I never would’ve gotten otherwise. The pleasure of tucking you in at night or having breakfast in our jammies in the morning. I know I’m lucky you’re 5 years old as opposed to a little younger; you’re old enough that we can have our own conversations across the miles. I know your adoptive parents are dedicated to keeping me in your life, to visiting this coast and bringing me to your new one every so often.
But oh, my God, this just sucks. This is just terrible. I can’t find any other words for it than that.
Today, you and I made two crayon and marker drawings together — one to hang on my fridge, one for yours. At your request, I made you hot chocolate. You watched Creative Galaxy while I looked at my phone. We floated the idea of visiting a cat café together, but since that would require an hour-plus on the subway each way, you were happy to meet my new roommate’s cat instead. And of course you tried, for the umpteenth time, to pet my cat Sophie and make her love you; I’m sorry she’s so skittish and scared. I always feel so guilty when I can’t give you what you want.
When it came time for your goodbye party, I held your hand as we made our way through the streets of Queens. You informed me I wasn’t allowed to step on any cracks or I would die. You dropped all the pennies that were in your pocket, and I shined the flashlight on my cell phone onto the sidewalk trying to recover them all. We spent the evening surrounded by your family and friends, snapping pictures and eating Greek food. I got to watch you loving your friends, hugging them and giggling and all showing your brightly colored tongues to each other as you ate your Blow Pops.
I am terrified you won’t have any memories of New York. I scarcely remember anything from before I was 5. The only memory I vaguely recall is spending one Easter in someone’s driveway. I remember that someone was on a skateboard, and I think my cousins were there. I don’t want you to think of New York the way I think of that Easter: fuzzy, out of focus, so vague it might as well not have happened. I want you to remember the froyo place with the gaming iPads and riding the streets of Astoria on your scooter and the burger place we always go to and the bounce house where you spent your fifth birthday. I want you to remember the skyline and the subway. I want you to remember my apartment and your daddies’ apartments in Jackson Heights and Astoria and the doorknob in my hallway where we hung the valentine you made for me.
But none of that is up to me, is it? All I can do is love you as hard as I can and hope some of that love hangs around in your memory.
Dear Leo: I don’t know what’s going to happen when you get into that car on Tuesday and make your way to Los Angeles. All I know is that your daddies and I are wholeheartedly committed to figuring out what our weird, self-made, queer little family looks like in a cross-country relationship and that we all love you madly and that I’ll see you soon — one way or another.
Fans of the royal family have been waiting for this special day to arrive, and it’s truly a Christmas gift to us all. On Thursday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released their official engagement photos. The photos, along with a statement from Prince Harry and Markle, were posted via Kensington Palace, which shared the news in a thread on Twitter and in posts on Instagram.
“Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle have chosen to release official photographs to mark their engagement,” Kensington Palace wrote. “The photographs were taken by @alexilubo [Alexi Lubomirski] earlier this week at Frogmore House, Windsor.”
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement-2
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement-2
What makes this set of photos so stunning is how authentically they capture the relaxed nature of Prince Harry and Markle’s relationship. The stuffy conservative vibe we see in most traditional royal portraits isn’t present; it’s all about a couple in love.
It’s similar to what Prince Harry’s older brother, Prince William, did with his engagement photos with Kate Middleton in 2010. The couple released one formal photo and one casual photo. However, Prince Harry and Markle’s photos seem to take it one step further, and it’s refreshing.
Prince Harry wore a blue suit with a white shirt while Markle donned a formal black gown with mesh and gold adornments at the top of the dress. In all of the photos, they are either leaning into each other or cuddling.
Even their photographer was in awe of their love for each other. Lubomirski posted the same sweet close-up photo of the couple that Kensington Palace shared along with his own message. "A huge thank you to His Royal Highness Prince Harry and Ms Markle, for allowing me to take their official engagement portraits. Not only was it an incredible honour, but also an immense privilege to be invited to share and be a witness to this young couple’s love for each other," Lubomirski wrote on Instagram. "I cannot help but smile when I look at the photos that we took."
In fact, the reaction to the photos was so tremendous, a candid photo was shared two hours after the initial release by Kensington Palace.
“Thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments following the release of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle's engagement photograph,” said the Kensington Palace Twitter account. “The couple are so grateful for the warm and generous messages they have received during such a happy time in their lives.”
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement-3
Prince Harry Megan Markle engagement-3
Then a gorgeous black and white photograph was posted. It shows the couple looking off into the distance with Markle grabbing Prince Harry’s arm and snuggling him close. They are also holding hands as huge smiles are seen on their faces.
Markle will be included in the royal family’s Christmas festivities as they head to Queen Elizabeth’s country estate, Sandringham. The celebration will continue into 2018, as their wedding will be held in the spring on May 19.
Cheese is precious, and like a gem nestled in a protective jewelry box, so should your cheese be properly and safely stored. But for too long, I (and pretty much everyone I know, TBH) have just been keeping cheese in whatever package it came in, usually plastic wrap. But it turns out cheese has some very specific needs if you want to keep it at its best (#relatable). This guide will walk you through the simple changes you can make to ensure your little cheese babies sitting in the fridge can live up to their full potential instead of turning into rotten teenagers screaming, "You're LITERALLY suffocating me!"
First things first, you've got to stop wrapping cheese in plastic wrap, because while that wedge of Brie might seem inanimate, it turns out cheese is actually... alive! Plastic wrap makes the cheese take on a funky flavor, and considering the ridiculous amount of money most of us are willing to spend on cheese, we want to make sure it tastes just as good on Day 4 as it did on Day 1. It makes it hard for the cheese to breathe, which can especially speed up the spoilage of soft and runny cheeses like Brie.
The best way to store cheese
Cheese should be wrapped in wax paper or parchment paper and kept in one of the lower drawers in your refrigerator. The temperature and humidity there remain consistent, protected from the opening and closing of the door. If you have a problem with cheese drying out when you use this method, you can also loosely wrap the cheese in plastic wrap or foil so long as they're only coming into contact with the paper wrapped around the cheese, and not the cheese itself. You can also buy special cheese paper, which helps keep your cheese from drying out. Softer cheeses that are hard to wrap should be taken out of the plastic they came in and placed on a piece of wax paper in an airtight container.
Now that you know how to best care for and nurture your cheese, it's probably time for a shopping spree, right? I'll trade you a bite of crumbly aged Gouda for a schmear of Cambozola!
Serious Game of Thrones fans can’t bear to think about the final season that is currently filming in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Don’t worry; they aren’t the only ones feeling the stress of Season 8 — Kit Harington is surprised he’s experiencing the pressure too.
“I will say I think I’m understandably more affected by it than I thought I would be,” he told Deadline in a recent interview.
For him, it’s about making sure fans aren’t disappointed in the final season because he knows they don’t have another season to right the ship if things go off course. “Well, I think there’s a certain pressure I’ve not felt before. Whereas before, every year there’s always been a bit of pressure, this season is one where we could easily let people down,” Harington shared. “Obviously, we don’t want to do that so we’re very much stepping up everyone’s game which is very apparent, at least to me. We’re all growing a bit and I think everyone’s attention is very focused on what we’re doing in a way that it’s always been, but it may be more apparent.”
In addition to doing his best for longtime GoT viewers, he wants to stay present for himself since this is their last hurrah on the HBO series. “I love it, you know. It’s also I think that thing of just trying to get everything you can out of it while we’re still doing it,” he said. ”Really kind of explore every inch of it.”
Harington also surprised himself with how connected he feels to the show and the experience of the last eight years playing Jon Snow. “You know I wasn’t quite cynical about things, I’m quite straightforward and English. But, really, eight years of your life is a long time to connect with anything,” Harington revealed. “I didn’t know at the beginning if this would be a show that no one would watch or if it would be a show that a lot of people would watch. And I’ve never been in a situation, a show, that’s lasted this long. In my life, it’s a pretty significant thing that’s happened to me, and coming to the end of it is understandably quite emotional.”
While Harington knows how the storyline is unfolding, fans are going to have to wait until 2019 to find out how Game of Thrones concludes. The pressure is on!
There are two things you need to know about me that relate to what you're about to read. The first thing is that I'm a millennial, which means I came of age in the '90s and thus hold all things '90s-related quite near and dear to my heart. This feeds directly into the second bit of crucial information: I freaking love Robin Williams. My love for Williams is deeply embedded thanks to the movies he made during the '90s, like the rousing adventure film Jumanji.
This movie, which is about a supernatural board game that brings together a man (Alan Parrish) who's been trapped inside it, his childhood crush (Sarah), and two adolescents (siblings Judy and Peter), captivated me as a kid. I dang near wore out my VHS copy of Jumanji in the mid-'90s (how's that for a throwback?) because I would get so wrapped up in watching Alan warn the group about a stampede coming through the library or Judy and Peter use their '90s ingenuity to defeat a poacher from the game inside a home and sporting goods store. The music was thrilling, the suspense was tautly drawn and yes, it has Robin freaking Williams.
So, imagine just how dejected I got when I first caught wind of a sequel (a sequel? Really?!) to Jumanji with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart leading it. "This is just perfect," I thought. "Budget Laurel and Hardy are coming in to muck with the memory of a damn near perfect film." Imagine the sheer annoyance I felt when I learned that Jumanji would no longer be a board game — although the board game kinda-sorta exists in the beginning of the film — but would be transformed into a video game that would suck our four unlikely heroes into it. Excuse me? Oh, and don't even get me started on actor Karen Gillan's deeply stupid costume for this film. I don't care if it gets made fun of in the film. It's dumb.
I'm sorry, but last I checked, there was no pressing need for a Jumanji sequel. There were never droves of people taking to the street, shouting "More Jumanji! I must have more Jumanji... or else!" while wailing and tearing their hair out. There was no clamor for more story, no outcry, no wheedling questions burrowing their way into our subconscious minds, driving us into madness as we demanded to know the answers. No. Never. So, why does this sequel exist? Why was it made? We were doing perfectly fine replaying our VHS copies of it, thank you very much.
Much like an incredulous Alan Parrish, suddenly spat out of a board game and totally unaware of what year it is, in the name of all that is good and right in this world I, a dazed and bewildered Jumanji fan, must reject whatever nonsense has now hit theaters. I cannot in good faith give my money to something called Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, where there are only Easter eggs and slight homages to the original film but, for some reason, I'm forced to endure "jokes" like Jack Black playing the Jumanji avatar of a self-obsessed high school girl and hear how Hart's character has a weakness for... cake? Really, bro? Cake?
I don't care if it feels like Welcome to the Jungle is reinventing the story and adapting it for a new generation. That younger generation should have been introduced to the original, not this imposter version which, incidentally, relies on the mythology of the original to really make an impact, seeing as it's a sequel and all. Sure, you can appreciate Welcome to the Jungle on its own, but the fatal flaw is that it is built on a world and a mythology already established in a film and a book.
So, again, why did Welcome to the Jungle need to be made? Aside from the fact that the film is a blatant cash grab from a studio seeking to capitalize on the charming, cheeky bro-chemistry of Johnson and Hart, there's genuinely no reason for it to exist. And, not for nothin', I'm sure there's plenty of interesting original scripts that got passed over to make this nonsense. So, there's that.
I'll end this essay on a bold yet deeply sincere statement: Boycott Welcome to the Jungle, brush the dust off your Jumanji VHS and pop it into your VCR. You can thank me later.
2017 will be remembered as the Year of the Woman, and in that same vein, it will also be remembered as the year of Gal Gadot. With her incredible success with Wonder Woman, Gadot is now being honored by The Association of National Advertisers and The CW at the 2018 Critics Choice Awards with the second annual #SeeHer Award. Viola Davis received the inaugural award last year.
Pushing boundaries is exactly what Gadot did this summer with a film that earned $820 million worldwide. She will be returning for a sequel in 2019 along with director Patty Jenkins, who helped define a female-driven superhero movie people of all genders enjoyed.
This award is important because the group’s goal is to make sure women and girls are portrayed accurately in the media. That is one of the reasons Gadot and Wonder Woman made such an impact this year.
"Gadot broke through this year as a powerful voice advocating for women, not only on screen as the iconic Wonder Woman but in life as well, using her platform to encourage those in the entertainment industry and beyond to strive for fairness and parity across genders,” said the Association of National Advertisers’ spokesperson.
Besides being a strong role model on-screen, Gadot also freely spoke her mind on the red carpet and beyond this year.
“All of us should be feminist. I’m here because of the feminism movement. And I think that feminism is all about choice and freedom and equality," she said to Moviehole earlier this year. “And I think that this is something that Wonder Woman certainly represents."
Gal Gadot GQ Man of the Year
Gal Gadot GQ Man of the Year
The accolades for Gadot have continued to roll in as award show season approaches. From GQ’s Man of the Year — yes, she was invited to the man's table — to AFI honoring Wonder Woman as one of the best films of the year, 2017 has been a good one for her.
For fans wanting to see Gadot receive her award, the 2018 Critics Choice Awards will be broadcast on The CW on the night of Thursday, Jan. 11 live from Santa Monica, California, at 8/7c.
Former first daughter and SheKnows' #BlogHer17 speaker Chelsea Clinton may not have an office in the White House like the current first daughter, but she's not letting her opinions go unheard. In a letter published in Teen Vogue, the mother of two addressed the current political state and constant battle against "people with racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic views" by penning a powerful letter to her kids, Charlotte and Aiden. In the letter, Clinton says all the things that she fought for in the 2016 election can still come to fruition — as long as we all keep fighting for what we believe in.
"While your grandmother’s name was on the ballot, for me, it was an election fundamentally about our country’s future, about your future. I am so proud to have campaigned for her — and fought for you," she starts.
She explains that her two kids are lucky in many ways. They don't face hunger or fear for their safety, so they're already better off than so many kids growing up in this country and around the world. Clinton also tells her children she wants them to form their own opinions about what happened in 2016, because while historians (and their grandmother) will certainly have their own memories and views, it's up to Aiden and Charlotte to decide their own.
The most powerful part of the letter, however, comes halfway through, when Clinton explains just how personal politics have become.
"I foolishly used to believe that the political and the personal could be separated," she writes. "I no longer believe that. We have a president who excuses neo-Nazis, who wants to ban members of our military because of who they are and keep out immigrants because of who they worship; that’s personal regardless of our religion, our gender, or where we’re from. We have a president who denies science, whether it’s vaccines or climate change or evidence that, yes, health insurance helps save lives; that’s personal, too, because it’s about protecting our public health today and in the future. The marked rise in bullying in our schools, with some kids citing President Trump’s words to taunt others? That’s personal, too. Protecting children isn’t someone else’s job; it’s all our jobs — even if the president doesn’t think it’s his."
Clinton adds that everything that kept her going through last year's election cycle — speaking out against hate speech, fighting for civil rights and trying to ensure that everyone has access to health care and education — are still motivating her. She closes the letter with a particularly strong statement: Her hope for her kids' futures hasn't changed. To make sure they — and all kids — get the bright future they deserve, Clinton's not backing down.
"It’s never occurred to me to pull the proverbial (or actual) covers over my head. There’s no such thing as neutrality or opting out when everything is at stake," she says. And if Clinton — who saw the election from an angle few others did — can keep fighting, so can the rest of us.
Watch Clinton's panel with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards at SheKnows' #BlogHer17 conference below.
If you dream of home improvements but have been too intimidated by the idea of DIY to try, well, you aren't alone. Plenty of us have let our fear of turning our house into one giant Pinterest fail keep us from picking up so much as a hammer and nail.
But let's put this into perspective. How much could the reward outweigh the risks? Author Benjamin Mee said it best: "Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just literally 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it."
In the case of the ambivalent would-be DIY'er, that courage can come from finding a guru to bolster your confidence. Enter Monica Mangin, host of the original DIY show The Weekender on Lowes.com. Give Mangin a power tool, a can of paint and some reclaimed wood, and she can whip up the kind of room that is serious Pinterest #goals. Just think of her as the modern-day MacGyver of home improvement.
We caught up with Mangin in between Pin-worthy makeovers to ask her some of the most common home improvement questions novices contemplate. Here's her take — it may be just the nudge you need.
SheKnows: People stress over the perfect paint color like they do naming their firstborn child (speaking from personal experience here). What’s your secret for picking such spot-on colors for home makeovers?
Monica Mangin: When I walk into the paint section, there's always one color that immediately catches my eye. I always pull the swatch for that color and just hang onto it. Then, I play the normal pick-and-choose game that everyone does, but if I end up accidentally pulling the first color again, I usually take it as a sign that it's "the one"!
I also have some go-to colors that I think work in so many spaces. "Tricorn Black," "Icy Avalanche" (light gray) and "Nebulous" (cool white) from the HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams line are some of my favorite neutrals.
SK: Speaking of babies, we love the idea of getting kids involved in home makeover fun. You have a few little helpers in your household — what are some easy (and safe) ways to get kiddos involved?
MM: My four kids are pretty over helping with all of my DIY projects at home [laughs] — it's not easy having a DIY designer as a mom, but I do love getting kids involved in projects. In Season 3 of The Weekender, we recently did a kitchen makeover in California for a family with four daughters ranging from 5 to 10 years old, and the kids were a big part of the makeover. They helped us with demo — most kids would love permission to break things! The key was choosing certain parts that were safe for them to help with like cabinet doors and also having all the right safety equipment (eye protection, gloves, kid-sized tools, etc.). That episode will air in January, so you can see how fun it was to get the girls involved.
Painting is another great kid-friendly activity — just make sure you protect your floors or choose a project you can paint outdoors!
SK: What are some materials most people have around their home that they can upcycle or retrofit for home projects?
MM: Furniture upcycling is a great option for a home project. There are so many pieces of furniture around your house that if you look at in a different way, you might be able to give a whole new life to. For example, in Season 3, Episode 4 of The Weekender, I took an old dresser, removed the drawers and used them as wall shelves instead. I just used some sandpaper and paint from Lowe's to give it a vintage vibe.
SK: What is a low-budget project that makes a really big impact?
MM: Paint is always a great way to completely transform a space. You can dictate the feel of a room with a simple coat of paint. But if you're not feeling like painting, I love temporary wallpaper. I've used it multiple times for The Weekender. When you head to Lowe's, look for temporary peel-and-stick wallpaper, which is like a giant sticker. This is especially great for renters who can't paint.
SK: Macramé is having a moment in home décor again. What are some of your favorite DIY macramé projects that anyone can do?
MM: In Season 3, Episode 1 of The Weekender, we actually combined macramé and lighting. I picked up some lamp cord kits at Lowe’s, and we jazzed them up by macramé-ing the cords — we simply wrapped and knotted rope around the plain white lamp cord, basically making a giant friendship bracelet! It's a quick and easy project that adds some awesome texture and totally levels up a very basic light.
SK: What is a home improvement tool you couldn't live without that people are often too intimidated to use — but shouldn’t be?
MM: I absolutely love the Dremel 3000. It's great for anyone who is starting out in the DIY space. It comes with a ton of different attachments so you can do everything from cut and grind to sand or carve. It was the only tool I used in one of The Weekender Season 3 episodes!
SK: What aisle do you spend so much time on at Lowe's that you're one step away from establishing residency (and why)?
MM: Ha! That’s a great question — I spend a ton of time in the lighting section. I think that lighting plays a HUGE role in the way a space feels, and Lowe's has so many options that look super high-end but don’t break the bank. I love browsing that section thinking about lights for all kinds of future makeovers.
SK: How do you think The Weekender inspires everyday people to try their hand at DIY projects?
MM: The entire concept behind The Weekender is to inspire and empower people — to give them the confidence that they can truly transform a space over a weekend's time and within a realistic budget. I think that people feel confidence seeing everyday homeowners learning as they go.
SK: If someone wants to tackle their very first DIY weekend warrior project, where would you recommend starting?
MM: There's inspiration everywhere! If you have a project in mind, don't be afraid to dive in. The Weekender is a great place to start for creative inspiration.
If Jennifer Garner decides she doesn't want to make movies anymore, she has a solid backup plan with her cooking show idea.
Garner released a fun video on social media, which she titled "Pretend Cooking Show" and showed off her bread recipe, including using the dough to make little bread men.
"I’m not an expert, but if you want to make your family happy over and over again, this is one recipe that if you get it down, you can do anything with it. And it’s by Ina. Love you Ina!" Garner said and added a kiss to her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook.
"Here’s what I love about this dough — you can do anything with it," she added, "My mom made bread men for my sisters and me when we were little, and they were our favorite things ever. So that’s 1. Cinnamon bread — everybody loves it. That’s 2. And then a plain old loaf of honey white bread. That's 3."
The little bread men are absolutely adorable and definitely bring back those nostalgic childhood memories of baking with mom.
She continued, "The thing I love about making bread men with half your dough is they are ready right away. And they remind me of my mom. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know what you’re doing. These could not be less perfect, but my kids will love them!"
Garner concluded the video by using the caption to asked Garten what video she should do next. Here's to hoping the Barefoot Contessa responds, because that's one friendship we definitely want to see blossom.
It was a Thursday. I was a day shy of being 41 weeks pregnant when it came time to make a tough decision… should I have an induction?
As a first-time mom at 39, I decided to go ahead and induce. The pressure was on to make the decision, too… I either did it then or would have to wait three days, as the hospital didn’t offer inductions on weekends.
Despite a good report days before that the baby had enough amniotic fluid, I ultimately decided to do it because of my age. Besides, your placenta can conk out after 40 weeks. Even though my midwife said jump-starting my labor with Pitocin wouldn’t make labor more intense, I knew it was going to be worse. (And it was. Long story short, I wound up having a C-section.)
Women in my boat often face this choice if their baby doesn’t magically appear before or on the due date. And a new study finds that new moms who are late to the mommy game should go ahead and get the ball rolling if their bodies don’t do it naturally shortly after the 40-week due date.
The researchers also found that earlier inductions were linked to a higher rate of C-sections, but they say that could be due to the fact that women with complications are more likely to be induced.
Induction wasn’t fun. That Thursday, I tried to cram in a nap before rushing to the hospital to have Cervidil inserted — a medicine that would “ripen” my cervix to prepare it for the Pitocin. Cervidil looked the size of a tampon and was a thin piece of plasticlike material. Easy-peasy, right? Nope. My midwife had to insert it up to my cervix, and it felt like it scraped my insides going in because it was hard and did not have rounded edges. I slept through the night and got Pitocin the next day (and begged her to let me pull it out on my own). My son was born the day after that.
I don’t regret my choice to induce. My son, Ben, experienced distress toward the end of my labor when I stalled — and I wasn’t going to risk his health to wait for my stalling cervix to get its act together. And 30 hours after going to the hospital, I practically begged the midwife to take me to the operating room. I just wanted him out safe.
The C-section wasn’t really that bad, either. Not what I wanted at all, but I wanted a healthy baby more than anything, and thank God I have him.
The study, though, does raise a good point for women in the over-35 crowd: Be prepared to talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of induction or post-40-week plans.
For me, I had hours to decide if I would go to the hospital that Thursday night or wait it out until Monday. Had I gone into labor over the weekend, that would have been fine, but it put me in the 41-week range. If I waited until Monday, they wouldn’t have started me on Pitocin until Tuesday — he may not have been born until Wednesday, when I would have been nearing the 42-week mark.
The important thing is to be prepared for what to do if you hit the 40-week mark.
We spend a lot of effort getting through our pregnancies and preparing for our babies. We may not consider that we could face a last-minute induction decision. It’s good to keep in mind that you may have to face this choice, and it can put you at ease to be informed about decisions you may have to make in a pinch.
Olivia Munn isn't just standing up for herself in the wake of her sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Ratner; she's standing up for all women who've had to deal with misconduct anywhere, ever.
In a new essay penned in Entertainment Weekly, Munn powerfully explained, "We should create a zero-tolerance policy with actionable consequences for sexual assault and any other forms of abuse. Heads of studios, bosses, and CEOs should enforce equal pay because continuing to pay us less perpetuates a bias that women are inferior."
In Munn's opinion, this change in behavior can become a part of anyone's worldview beginning at a young age.
"This trains boys at a young age not to recognize when girls are refusing their advances and grooms young girls to believe they can’t or shouldn’t fight back," Munn continues. "So when a 14-year-old girl is on a date and tells her boyfriend she doesn’t want to have sex but he pushes her to do it anyway, there is an inherent feeling that he’s allowed to do what he wants because he’s worth more. It’s not a conscious thought, rather it is the collective unconscious of the world that has been encoded in all humans for centuries."
And Munn isn't just asking politely. Munn is challenging those around her to take action.
"How will anyone know you’re worth it if you don’t?" she asks after explaining that her experience with Ratner only made her more confident in her belief that she should be able to reach for her dreams without being harassed.
Her essay seems to serve as a warning as well, a warning against those who abuse power because the tide is turning.
"Together, our voices are mighty, powerful, and earth-shaking. We’re strong," Munn writes. "We’re not afraid to call each other out — and we’re not afraid to call you out anymore either."
It's been a year since Katherine Heigl gave birth to her son, Joshua Jr., so she's taking some time to celebrate. But instead of posting photos of a perfectly planned birthday party or gold balloons spelling out his name, the actor took the time to throw things back to when she was pregnant, sharing a few photos — and the story — of her difficult C-section. Us Weekly reports that these are never-before-seen snaps of what went down in the delivery room.
Like a lot of moms faced with a C-section, Heigl says she had no idea what to expect. All she knew was that Joshua Jr. had been in a breech position for over a month, and it didn't look like he was going to flip around anytime soon. "I had never been hospitalized or had ever had any kind of surgery and had no idea what to expect," she wrote.
In the other photos, Heigl's followers can see Joshua Jr. right after his birth. Heigl explained that the C-section was particularly difficult, adding that the doctor had to literally pull Joshua out of her womb. Even after that, the little guy didn't breathe right away, so the team had to rush to get him oxygen. And though Heigl says she experienced it all through "a morphine haze," these photos are definitely a way for her to remember what happened. Having her husband, Josh Kelley, by her side helped too, she explained, especially since Heigl wasn't completely aware of what was going on with Joshua Jr.'s breathing.
But shaky starts aside, this was a celebratory post; Heigl went on to celebrate all the good things that have happened since her difficult delivery.
"Here we are, a whole year later and it’s only the photos that remind me my brute of a boy was ever so new and small! Now he’s 26 pounds of rolling, tumbling, grasping, giggling, shouting, curious, jolly energy!" she added. "He is everything and more than I could have hoped for and he has brought our family even more joy, love, laughter, abundance, bliss and yes, exhaustion and exasperation too!"
Joshua Jr. is the youngest of Heigl's three children. His older sisters, Naleigh and Adelaide, were both adopted before he was born — and it sounds like they've got their hands full with this little guy.
We love a good Christmas tree. If we could, we would keep a pine tree in our living rooms year-round. There's something about walking into a room and smelling the citrusy aroma of a pine tree or having twinkly lights on in the evenings that makes us extraordinarily reluctant to leave this one piece of Christmas behind.
Alas, Christmas will soon be over, and the time to take down our beautifully decorated, delightful-smelling trees is fast approaching. Although some people (perhaps a Scrooge?) are thrilled to get an oversize plant out of their house, many of us feel quite sad about letting go of the tree. We're happy to put it off for as long as possible — maybe even a little too long.
Before you decide to get rid of the tree, it's a good idea to check your city to see if there are any restrictions for throwing out a tree or if they have scheduled pickup dates for them. If you can basically get rid of your tree however you want, here are some popular dates.
Dec. 31: Take your tree down on New Year's Eve before the bells toll at midnight. Otherwise, it's said you'll be dragging all your baggage and bad luck from last year into the new year... if you're superstitious about these things, that is.
Jan. 5: Take your tree down on this day, traditionally considered the Twelfth Day of Christmas — i.e., the last of 12 days of Christmas merriment. Think of it as getting closure on the holiday season.
Jan. 6: Take it down on Jan. 6 in observance of the Epiphany, a Christian holiday marking the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus. Again, some would say leaving your tree up beyond the 5th or 6th brings bad luck.
