Last week Saturday our favorite Bachelor couple, Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici Lowe (who married in January 2014), announced the birth of their first child, Samuel Thomas Lowe. And the pair haven't been shy about sharing pictures of him, either.
Both parents have been sharing photos of their son on Instagram, and while the snaps are adorable, there's one in particular that's catching everyone's attention: Lowe dressed his son up as The Bachelor host, Chris Harrison.
We're not sure if it's hilarious or incredibly creepy, but here it is, a picture of Samuel Thomas Lowe asleep while what appears to be his dad wears a suit and holds a yellow rose. Lowe captioned the photo with, "This week on The Bachelorette..."
Sean Lowe Instagram
Sean Lowe Instagram
Comments on the pic range from outrage to hilarity.
"@seanloweksu Why would you do this? If you think it's funny, it's NOT," nannybofanny wrote.
Countless others thought the picture was extremely creepy. Gailkimsey wrote, "This is creepy" and candice_cupido echoed those thoughts writing, "This pic is so creepy!"
"OMG, this picture should be cute but is somehow very very creepy," mojenz commented.
But not everyone was freaked out by Lowe's picture.
"Lmao why do people get so butt hurt. Let this goofy guy have fun with his baby how he pleases," m0rgan.tayl0r commented. And saraabreu9 thought the picture was "hilarious and cute."
Potentially creepy pictures aside, the first-time parents are clearly besotted, and a source told Us Weekly that they're really happy.
"Sean and Catherine are so in love with Samuel already and are excited to be a family of three," the source said, adding, "Catherine and the baby are doing great. They're both healthy and happy."
And Lowe is apparently particularly pleased that his first child is a boy, because he looks forward to raising him to be a "gentleman" and hopes to share with him the same bond he shared with his own father.
This morning we're singing, "Oh we've finally learned a recall lies / beyond the yellow brick road..." Yes, friends, General Mills is recalling its Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip cake mix along with its carrot cake mix. In addition to that sadness, Krusteaz pancake mix is also being recalled. Say goodbye to everything you loved about your childhood.
As you may have guessed, this is related to General Mills' earlier flour recall. The company says, "General Mills supplier used Wondra flour implicated in the July 1, 2016, recall to manufacture the flavor chips used in this recalled cake mix flavor." You can see all the recalled General Mills products on its website.
As for Krusteaz, Continental Mills is recalling the blueberry pancake mix, but get this — it's the blueberries that may be contaminated, not the flour. Apparently the blueberry "nuggets" are made with flour from the same supplier, Wondra.
Throw out those mixes, everyone. Maybe this will be the weekend you bake and cook from scratch?
Last night I had sex on my kitchen counter. I don't say this to brag (although, let's face it, it's kinda cool). I don't say it to be gross either. All counters were fully cleaned before any food products touched them, I promise. I more say it because I can't believe it. After 15 years together, 13 years of marriage and three kids, two of whom are hyperaware of every time Mommy so much as looks at Daddy in a randy way, I thought our countertop banging days were long behind us.
Of course, that was before sleepaway camp. God bless sleepaway camp. All those years I wondered as a child whether my friends' parents were sending them away just so they could have time to themselves, I now know the answer without a doubt. And it is yes. Yes, yes, yes. How sweet it truly is.
Don't get me wrong. I miss my children terribly. I write to them every single day and send them little gifts all the time. I think of them and cry from time to time. But I still have my youngest child here, though at 2, she's really much easier than the bigger two. And I have my husband. The time we've had alone together is like nothing we've experienced in years.
For the first two weeks they were gone, we were staying at my parents' lake house. My sister was also there. That means there were five adults constantly hovering over one toddler. My husband and I saw movies together. We went shopping. We had lunch alone every day in town and went for hours of paddleboarding fun far away from the family.
And, of course, the sex. It wasn't all on kitchen counters. But it's been much more leisurely and spontaneous than it's been in years. We've been making cocktails and watching movies after 7 p.m., when our toddler goes to sleep. We've been chatting more and laughing more and cuddling and staying up late rather than falling into bed, exhausted, by 9 p.m. I can't complain.
Back in the day, I resented camp. While I was busy making lanyards and friendship bracelets, I imagined my parents were doing something mysterious. They wanted to send me away. They didn't want to be with me every second? How dare they!
Now I get it. We parents need these moments. We need space for spontaneity and conversation and, yes, sex on the kitchen counter. Had my kids been home, we couldn't have risked that. They are stealthy and quiet. They may have caught us, and we may have traumatized them for life. But when the cat's away... I know they are off having fun and learning all kinds of new things about nature and about themselves.
So why can't their dad and I have a little fun too? It's all in the name of happy marriage. Summer camp for the win.
If you have a cat or plan to have a cat in the near future, it's good to prep your house just as you would if you were having a baby. While you may already know to hide your favorite shiny earrings, you may not know that the flowers on your coffee table could do your feline friend serious harm.
There are over 700 varieties of plants that can be harmful to your cat if ingested. Most are exotic plants that pose little danger to your domesticated kitty, but some common household plants can be dangerous as well. Tina Wismer, DVM, medical director of the ASPCA’s poison control center, suggests if you suspect your cat has eaten any part of the plants listed below, regardless of whether or not it’s showing symptoms, call your vet immediately.
1. Lilies (all varieties)
Just one bite of a leaf or the flower’s pollen could cause lethargy and vomiting within one hour of consumption. If left untreated, your cat could go into kidney failure. The pollen alone can be lethal to your feline friend.
2. Any calcium oxalate plants — including philodendrons, Chinese evergreens, Virginia creepers, spinach, agaves, tea leaves, rhubarb and taro
The poisonous part of these indoor and outdoor plants are the microscopic needle-like barbs on their stems and leaves. If bitten, they cause inflammation in the mouth and gums and result in excessive drooling and vomiting.
You can take care of the symptoms yourself by giving your cat calcium in the form of milk, yogurt, sour cream or ice cream. In rare cases, the swelling could inhibit breathing, so keep an eye on your pet for 48 hours.
3. Dracaena plants
There are about 40 varieties of this popular, leafy houseplant, including the dragon plant. If cats eat the long fronds typical of these plants, they’ll become depressed, lose their appetites and possibly even vomit blood. However, it’s usually not a fatal reaction, and symptoms tend to go away after 12 to 24 hours. Still, you should keep an eye out for worsening symptoms, and take your cat to the vet if it doesn't start to recover after 24 hours.
4. Autumn crocus
Eating any part of this flowery plant can cause an intense burning sensation in the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, liver damage, kidney damage and even heart arrhythmias. Get your pet to the vet immediately if you suspect he/she has snacked on it.
5. Daffodils
If you have an outdoor cat, be very wary of its tendency to get into your or your neighbor’s daffodil beds. Ingestion of any portion can cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, arrhythmias, convulsions and a major drop in blood pressure. Call your vet ASAP.
6. Tulips
If you have them planted outside, or in a vase inside, they’re a big no-no for cats. While not fatal, taking a bite of them (especially the bulb) can cause oral irritation, excessive drooling and nausea.
This long-leafed, tree-like plant is extremely poisonous to cats. It used to be mainly an outdoor plant, but now it’s often found on indoor window sills. While the seeds and pods are the most poisonous, any bite can cause bloody vomiting and diarrhea, bleeding disorders, liver failure and death. This is definitely worthy of an emergency vet trip.
8. Azaleas/rhododendrons
Even just a few leaves can result in oral irritation, vomiting and diarrhea. In severe cases, ingestion can cause a drop in blood pressure, coma and death, so you’ll want to at least give your vet a call if you notice symptoms.
9. Kalanchoe
Also known as the “mother-in-law plant,” this common indoor plant has a bunch of small, very dense flowers and is thus super-tempting to cats. However, if a cat eats any part of it, it can cause vomiting and diarrhea. In rare cases, heart arrhythmias can occur, so while not a dire emergency, a vet appointment should be made to assess the situation.
10. Marijuana
While you might think it would be funny to get a cat high, ingestion of cannabis can cause a whole host of problems. It will affect the nervous system and your pet’s coordination, then cause vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, increased heart rate, seizures and could even put it in a coma.
If you suspect he/she ate even one bud, get him/her to your vet pronto.
11. Aloe vera
It may cure your burns, but it’ll set your cat back significantly. Symptoms of ingestion include vomiting, depression, diarrhea, seizures, change in urine color and can even cause anorexia (for real). Again, not life-threatening, but the side effects if left untreated could severely affect your pet’s quality of life, so call your vet.
12. Ivy (all forms)
This is certainly relevant if you have an outdoor cat. Symptoms of ingestion include vomiting, abdominal pain, hypersalivation and diarrhea. Not fatal but certainly distressing. Make sure your pet gets lots of fluids if it eats any of the ivy leaves especially, and keep an eye out for worsening symptoms.
What to expect from your vet
Obviously, a vet will want to know what your cat ate that made it sick. If you’re not sure, take pictures of the plants in your house and any nearby that are on this list to help your vet narrow it down. If your cat ingested a toxic plant but the symptoms are not life-threatening, she/he may suggest inducing vomit at home via charcoal tablets, so it’s a good idea to have some on hand for emergencies. However, even if you suspect a poisoning, don’t just go for the charcoal without contacting your vet first.
If your cat ingests something more toxic, like lilies, your vet will most likely put it on intravenous fluids for a few days to flush out the toxins. If you don’t have a vet on hand, call the ASPCA’s 24-hour emergency poison hotline number at 1-888-426-4435 for help.
Too many people with a Twitter account and far too much time on their hands seem to be drunk on the power of being able to tweet whatever they want about whomever they want. Free speech is a right, but things start to get really gross and wrong when mean and hurtful comments are directed toward children.
Lil' Kim is no stranger to criticism about her appearance. But when the rapper brought her 2-year-old daughter, Royal Reign, with her to the VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens event in New York City, an absurd number of adults, who should know better, tweeted some really hateful things about her toddler, whose left eye appeared to be slightly closed and/or asymmetrical to her right eye.
The "Crush on You" star was honored at the event with an award for groundbreaking MC. In her acceptance speech, she proudly gave a sweet shout-out to her daughter: "My beautiful baby, Royal Reign, is in the building," she said. "My beautiful baby!"
And a beautiful baby she is indeed. Instead of using Twitter as a platform where they could extend the conversation about Lil' Kim as a performer — whether they are in agreement that she is one of the most memorable female MCs of all time or anything else they want to say about her career — some folks tweeted horrific comments like these:
Some commenters wondered whether Royal Reign has a "lazy eye." A birth defect. But, you know, not out of concern.
Lil Kim eye
Lil Kim eye
Others just made silly and insensitive remarks about her eye and about her mother, forgetting, I suppose, that Royal Reign is a defenseless child and that there is no excuse for trolling a defenseless child — or her mother, for that matter.
Children and, yes, even the children of celebrities who put their lives out there for public consumption, deserve our protection. What kind of message are we sending when we use social media to mock a 2-year-old for her eye? Obviously appearance is, above all other things, the most important thing of all, and the sooner a toddler learns to hate her body, the better. Second, if we don't like the changes a woman like Lil' Kim has made to her own appearance, then by all means, it's totally within our right to harshly judge both her and her child.
Whatever happened to "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Hiding behind a computer and spewing hatred about a child adds a whole lot of damaging noise pollution that society certainly doesn't need.
Many of us have a fond (or not so fond) memory of being forced to wash our mouths out with soap when our parents caught us peppering our sentences with profanity. Having soap in our mouths felt as normal as running through sprinklers and eating frozen Kool-Aid popsicles. Having a bar of soap saturating my tongue was a hallmark of my youth, and yes, evidence of my early potty mouth.
I remember laughing until it hurt when I watched the scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie was forced to keep a bar of soap in his mouth and fantasized about going blind to make his parents feel guilty for their cruel punishment. The scene resonated with me because, while I accepted soap-eating as a natural consequence for my cursing crimes, I still hated it.
Years later, as a parent, I didn’t think twice about stuffing a bar of Dial or Irish Spring (whatever bar soap I had on hand) into my sons’ mouths when they innocently blurted cuss words in my presence. In fact, I was so delighted the first time my youngest said “shit!” that I took a picture of him holding a green bar of soap in his mouth and even posted it to Facebook to memorialize the moment. In the image my son, whose cheeks were puckered and tongue slightly swollen, looked stoic, focused intently on the bar in his mouth, but I remember him laughing between takes.
Now, seven years since that photo was liked and laughed at on social media, I have a completely different view on this form of discipline. I’ll just say it — I think it’s stupid, and even worse: abusive.
Over the years that followed, I learned about chemicals and how they impact our bodies. While my parents and their parents didn’t really have a grasp on how items that didn’t have a skull and crossbones clearly marked on their packaging could hurt us, modern medicine tells us otherwise. Detergents, dyes and perfumes can cause burns, swelling, stomach upset and diarrhea, just to name a few detrimental effects.
Why on earth would I want to poison my child for saying a word he most likely learned from me or his father? How fucked up is that?
Not only is it potentially toxic, it DOESN’T WORK! Never did a bar of soap in my mouth deter me from cussing up a storm to impress my friends. It just made me better at hiding it around my parents. Now that my sons are 18 and 16, I can attest to the fact that soap didn’t make them clean up their expletive-laced vocabulary, either.
As an older, wiser mom, I’m sad that when my children were still children, I didn’t have the sense to evaluate my discipline style. If I could do it over again, I wouldn’t jump to the first trick in my parenting bag without weighing the impact it could have on my sons. I wouldn’t potentially poison my children for using language I modeled daily to them and then told them not to use.
Instead, I’d most likely talk to them about why they shouldn’t say things like "shit" and "fuck," and make an effort to curb my own cussing as well. If that didn’t work, I’d institute a less-toxic consequence, such as a swear-word jar or a loss of privileges. I’d also know that my kids, most likely, will still cuss. It’s a part of our vernacular, and using “adult words” can make a child feel powerful. If I could have a do-over, I’d work on finding other ways to empower my children so that they didn’t have to rely on bad language to do so.
We all get to choose how we discipline our children, but just because our parents did it doesn’t make it right for our kids. Having consequences for bad behavior is important for children to develop a sense of right and wrong, but we should also take a moment to evaluate whether or not those consequences make sense or do more damage than good. Otherwise, we’re perpetuating a cycle of hurting our kids instead of truly teaching them how to behave.
As June becomes July and as even the last elementary, middle and high schools start their summer vacations, many families begin to consider their summer plans. Trips — whether by boat, car, plane or train — are a popular option, and families may devote several days or weeks to these during breaks from school and work.
But this does not mean academic lessons are entirely abandoned during this time. Parents frequently choose to incorporate education into their summer vacations in a diverse number of ways. If you hope to do the same with your child this summer, here are three tips you can use to plan (and enjoy!) an educational summer vacation.
Ask your student to participate in destination research
If your child is old enough, invite her to help you research your vacation destination. What will the weather be like when you visit? What languages are common in this country, region or city? What historical events occurred here, and which historical figures called your destination home? What landmarks should you see? What is the food like?
Answering these questions (and many others) can encourage your student to exercise her internet research and reading literacy skills while simultaneously allowing you to plan a pleasant vacation more easily. Destination research can even reinforce math literacy — a trip to London, England, for example, is an excellent opportunity to practice division, multiplication and subtraction skills when converting Fahrenheit temperatures to Celsius.
Connect cultural experiences to classroom lessons
Hands-on learning experiences can be some of the most powerful educational opportunities available to children, and a summer vacation is rich with them. From food to music to traditional customs and dress, a trip within the United States or abroad offers the chance to explore your student's strongest academic interests and to address her greatest academic weaknesses.
Travel can allow you to reframe previously sterile material into a lesson that lives and breathes. For instance, perhaps your child dreads writing, but she happily volunteers to pen postcards to other family members. Or perhaps her developing counting skills are reinforced by the opportunity to count change and make small purchases independently. You may find that the authenticity of the tasks soon spurs her interest in the subject itself.
Balance educational opportunities with simple fun
While it is true that virtually every experience and pastime can impart an educational lesson, it is important to strike a healthy balance between learning opportunities and simple fun while on vacation. Well-planned trips can help families stave off summer learning loss, but children of all ages also require time to decompress and rest their minds.
A day at the beach might enable you to discuss sandcastle engineering or the role of the moon in ocean tides, but it also allows you to swim, sunbathe, relax and build lasting memories. Ultimately, you know your student's needs and limits better than anyone. This information can assist you in planning a vacation that refreshes your family and positions your child to return to school ready for success.
For more tips and strategies to help your student succeed in school, visit varsitytutors.com.
Sources tell TMZ that Odom was kicked off a Delta Airlines flight on Monday because he was drunk and vomiting onboard before the plane took off.
According to the site, Odom went to Delta's airport lounge at Los Angeles International Airport to kill some time before his scheduled red-eye flight to New York. In the lounge, witnesses say he was pounding beers and whiskey, and that by the time he left, he was completely wasted.
A couple of first class passengers told TMZ that Odom took his seat on the plane, but just before it started taxiing to take off, he got up and ran for the bathroom. He reportedly vomited in the plane's galley, and then again in the bathroom with the door open. He emerged from the bathroom with vomit on his sweatpants, witnesses said.
Onlookers reported seeing flight attendants escorting Odom off the flight "gently," removing his carry-on luggage and calling a cleaning crew to take care of the vomit on the floor. Ten minutes later, passengers reportedly said, Odom reboarded the plane and returned to his seat, still with vomit on his clothes. Supposedly thought, that only lasted a few minutes before Odom got up and headed for the bathroom again, this time using other passengers' heads to steady himself.
By this point, TMZ reports, the flight was late, and passengers were getting irate. One reportedly told a flight attendant, "Don't you know his history? I don't want a dead body at 30,000 feet." Finally, Odom was reportedly escorted off the plane again, and it took off 40 minutes late.
So, not many parents use a vintage assault weapon as a prop for their baby picture. But Bristol Palin isn’t afraid of controversy, so that’s exactly what she’s done.
Palin's Instagram post showing her husband, Dakota Meyer, and their 6-month-old daughter, Sailor, grinning behind the gun has triggered a passionate debate online.
Bristol Palin baby gun
Bristol Palin baby gun
The caption has added fuel to the fire: "Future member of the NRA." The response to Palin's picture is mixed. One commenter described the picture as "frightening" and "scary," while others have applauded the fact that Palin and Meyer are "raising [Sailor] right, with conservative beliefs."
Whatever way you look at it, this comes down to politics. If you agree with Palin and Meyer's pro-gun stance, you'll dig this picture (or at the very least, won't be bothered by it). If you don't, you won't.
It's not surprising that many people find an image of a 6-month-old baby with a gun as a photo prop shocking. But you have to view it in context. Meyer is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Ganjgal on September 8, 2009, in Kunar province, Afghanistan.
With everything that has happened recently, both on home soil and abroad — the shooting at an Orlando nightclub last month, the murders of police officers in Dallas last week and the Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, just last night — it's no wonder that many people are sensitive to guns, and particularly so when children are involved. But a mother taking a photo of her baby beside a gun isn't a threat to national security.
You've probably found this out the hard way by now, but naming a fur baby can be just as hard as naming a baby human. Beyond the old favorites like Mittens, Fluffy or Snowball, finding a totally unique cat name that matches the independent personality of your frisky feline friend can seem darn near impossible.
Fellow cat lovers, we're here to help you out. That's why we went on a mission to find 100 names inspired by everything from technology to fashion to make sure your kitty has a name that's as awesome as she is. (Fiskars and Gatsby are some of our personal faves.)
Unique cat names inspired by fashion
Hey, they call it a catwalk for a reason, right? Naming your kitty after one of these fabulous fashionistas may not catapult you to the top of the best-dressed list, but it's a start.
Maybe you can't walk the red carpet to get your stargazing in, but if you name your cat after one of these high-profile peeps, you'll feel like they're sitting right next to you (purring).
If literary nostalgia is more your thing, get bookish with one of these names inspired by our favorite authors.
Boys
Vonnegut
Rudyard Kipling
Nietzsche
Hobbes
Lord Byron
Girls
Ayn
Angelou
Huxley
Alcott
Zora
Unique cat names inspired by fictional characters
You know your cat's so special she's too good to be true. Keep the fictional theme going with one of these names inspired by the imagination of popular storytellers.
I've always loved Andrew Zimmern's show Bizarre Foods. I mean, watching a grown man eat wild geoduck is basically one of the funniest things you can witness on a food show (Google geoduck, and you'll see what I mean). He's tried everything from fermented Greenlandic shark to something called the Giant Sea Squirt.
But there's a lot more to his show than the fun of watching someone eat something that we might think is, well, bizarre.
"My entire purpose is that I'm trying to teach people patience, tolerance and understanding in a world that doesn't have a lot of it," Zimmern told me in a recent interview when I asked him why his show is important.
"Everyone likes food. But we like Ethiopian food more than we like Ethiopians, we like Mexican food more than we like Mexicans... We like the foods that come from people who speak a different language that we don't often hear, or who have a skin color that's different than ours, or who believe in a spiritual system that's different than what we believe in," he elaborated.
This rang so true to me, especially considering our current political climate. It seems like many Americans (and those in other Western nations) are more afraid of the "other" than ever before, whether that means people who have come to America from far away to start new lives or those they see in news footage who are fighting wars that are hard to understand.
But according to Zimmern, understanding those who are different from us can be pretty simple, really — just try their food.
"The vast majority of people in America experience other cultures first through their mouth. I'm just using the most popular medium — and the one through which I view the world — to try to get people to be less prone to contempt prior to investigation. If I can get them to try food that's a little strange from another place and they like the idea of it, then maybe they'll be a little less squirrelly about the people who also come from that place. The world is not about food; the world is about people, but for some reason we seem to have a hang-up about people."
But rather than shoving intense geopolitical narratives down your throat, on his show, Zimmern is able to share his love of food, travel and experiences with new cultures in a way that's totally relatable. After all, when he's not traveling for his show, he's a husband and a father who calls Minnesota home.
His favorite meals to cook for his family probably look a lot like your own.
"I have a wife and a son who don't want Daddy to make his fermented puffin casserole that he recently tried. I make roast chicken and a big plate of roast vegetables more often than I cook anything else. We also will have three or four side dishes at every meal. It helps us keep the animal protein in balance with the rest of what we're eating."
Similarly, Zimmern wants to remind people that just because you're at home or unable to travel doesn't mean you can't seek out unique cultural experiences and try foods from around the world in your own community.
"I happen to remain convinced that you can 'travel' in your own hometown without leaving. You just need to hop on a bus." For example, he told me that he had recently gone to the other side of town to share iftar (the evening meal during Ramadan, when Muslims break their fast) at a community meal.
"There were about 200 people at the iftar on the southside of Minneapolis, in a community that's mostly populated by Mexican and Somali families. It was a $9 all-you-can-eat buffet of traditional East African food cooked by people who are from that culture. It was, like, 3 miles from my house. And when I left there, I was floating. It was such a great experience, and the food was delicious."
If you're interested in cooking food from other cultures at home, Zimmern says there are a few simple ways take the first step.
"Just cook something each day that you haven't cooked before. Choose a cuisine you like to eat. If you like Thai food, go to the grocery store, get some Thai ingredients, and make something. You can also pick up a food magazine in another language — there are tons, by the way — in any given neighborhood," he suggests. If you don't know the words, just Google them. "You'll start to learn the language and find other recipes," he said.
It seems like when you travel so much (Zimmern has been to more than 150 countries), you might start to get bored. But Zimmern told me that in fact the world seems to get both smaller and more infinite the more he travels.
It can start to feel smaller because you meet so many people and realize that, fundamentally, you have a connection with them. "We are way more alike than we ever imagine, which is why I am so deadset on presenting the world as I see it through food in hopes that others will see our commonalities through that as well. The fisherman who lives in a grass hut on the southern end of Madagascar, that fisherman struggles with the same issues as I do. How to be a good husband, how to be a good father, how to keep providing. He does it in a different context, but I have more in common with him than I do my neighbors down the street who don't have a family to take care of."
So, he said, "Yes, the world is smaller, and we are are more alike than we could ever imagine. But also, our lives and ways of doing things are so complex... It's like a never-ending explosion of color shot through a prism on a wall," he explained.
"I believe you are the best version of yourself when you're on the road," Zimmern told me, "and I think food is the best way to view a culture. When you put that all together, I think it makes a very compelling reason to tune in."
You can watch Zimmern's adventures on the new season of Bizarre Foods Tuesdays on Travel Channel. In the meantime, why not check out some of our recipes and find something totally new to cook for dinner?
Here's the world we live in: You can be a 20-year-old Olympic gold and silver medalist, and people are still worried about whether you've had plastic surgery. McKayla Maroney has moved from gymnastics into the entertainment world, but she still has her eye on the gymnastics competition in Rio, so she participated in a video sending luck to the Rio 2016 athletes.
olympic trials video
olympic trials video
Naturally (and sadly), fans were left wondering if Maroney had plumped her lips since the last time we saw her in the spotlight. Seriously, guys, this is what we're worrying about?
Maroney opened up to Seventeen about the pesky rumors. "Your face changes, you get older, your face fills out, and you fall into liking makeup and different stuff like that," she says. "And for people saying that, for the most part — it would kind of hurt my feelings when you haven't done anything. You just kind of have to keep being yourself and move forward with what you love." Let's all remember the (huge) difference between being 16 and being 20. The girl's allowed to start wearing lipstick. Now let's leave her Insta comments alone.
Actually, Maroney probably doesn't need me to defend her. She was also able to take matters into her own hands just fine. She posted on Instagram and captioned the photo, "me thinking about how to get my face to look like I've never done anything to my face when I've never done anything to my face." You tell 'em, girl.
Kesha is back in court today to hear the verdict on her appeal to get out of her Sony contract. A New York judge has already ruled that she must stay in her contract with the record label and producer Dr. Luke. Kesha is appealing the ruling, however, in a last attempt to save herself and her music career.
Right now, the appeal hearing is still going on and we haven’t heard any news about the verdict, but that hasn’t stopped Kesha’s fans from showing her support outside of the courtroom. So far, there are more than 34,000 tweets on the #FreeKesha hashtag, and fans continue to tweet at both Dr. Luke and Sony Music in hopes that they can still free her from her contracts even if a judge doesn’t rule in Kesha’s favor.
The reason Kesha and her fans are fighting so hard to get out of the contract with Sony starts with Dr. Luke. He and Kesha have a long history of working together to create her massive hits, but in 2014, Kesha filed a suit against him, alleging that he "sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused [Kesha] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life."
Despite these abuse claims, Sony is refusing to let Kesha record or release any new music outside of its contract with her. Sony is basically forcing her to choose between giving up her dream and her passion and making music with the man who she claims to have abused her in all the ways that someone can abuse another human.
Obviously, Kesha's fans are passionate about her making music again, but more than that, they are furious that Sony and the court system won’t value a human beings’s life, health and happiness over a stack of papers.
I don’t get it either, but there are a lot of things that have confused me lately in the world.
The hope for today is that Kesha wins her appeal, that she will be allowed to record and release music with whomever she chooses and never has to set foot inside a room with Dr. Luke again. But even if that doesn’t happen, Kesha will always have a huge fan base continuing to fight with her.
Call me old-fashioned, but it just warms my heart when two gorgeous, rich, famous people get together. Such is the case for Adriana Lima and Scott Eastwood, the latest, prettiest couple to come out of Hollywood. According to a new rumor substantiated by Us Weekly, the two spent a "cozy night" in NYC. We all know what that means — they're one step away from canoodling.
Eastwood and Lima were at Catch for a group dinner, but an insider caught them looking especially flirty. "The two were close and affectionate throughout the night," said the source. They were "were always right next to each other and laughing at each other's, assumingly, flirty jokes, and Scott had his arm around her every chance he could." OK, there are plenty of assumptions in those quotes, but the world has had quite a bad week. It feels nice to take a breath and be happy for these two (did I mention this?) beautiful people.
Extra sprinkles on the sundae come from the fact that almost six months ago, Eastwood joked about checking out Adriana Lima on the red carpet. We all thought he was kidding, but perhaps he was hinting at a new romance?
scott adriana
scott adriana
Either way: Kudos to the soon-to-be happy, gorgeous couple. Please take lots of photos together.
I can't remember the last time I was out of the house when I didn't buy a toy for my son. If I'm grocery shopping, I'll let him pick out a balloon at the cashier's counter. If we're off to the donation center managed by our local church to unload clothes that no longer fit, we'll also make an extra stop on the way home to purchase a model dinosaur or two. And if I'm on the way to the home improvement store, we'll stop at McDonald's, so I can buy French fries, apple slices and (you guessed it) the Happy Meal toy.
What I'm trying to say is I'm that mom who always buys her 4-year-old a toy when we're out.
Now, before you nail me to the cross and call my son Titan "an entitled little snowflake" as some will undoubtedly do, it's important to understand that I do these aforementioned things for a few reasons. The first is because I want to. The second is because Titan doesn't ask for anything. In fact, the only thing he does request is to help.
Titan first learned the concept of pitching in when he was 1. As any active toddler would, he'd get himself into some pretty precarious situations — stuck behind the couch and the radiator, wedged under the bed or jammed tightly between heavy boxes somewhere in the depths of my closet. And as a mom with a rare form of dwarfism, diastrophic dysplasia, I had to think of creative non-traditional ways of rescuing him. So, I came up with this ridiculous rhyme: One, two, three. help me! We'd combine our strength and, somehow, together figured things out.
As Ty got older, he watched more intently as Mommy and Daddy worked as a team. Does he understand how painful things can be without Daddy's help? Can he read the pain on my face? I'm not sure, but like his dad, Titan always takes my hand whenever near stairs. And in his sweet little voice, he encourages, "You can do it, Mommy!"
Now that my husband is deployed, Titan has begun to do even more things to help me. And it's really taken me by surprise.
After grocery shopping, he'll take the grocery bags and drag them into the house. He happily becomes an acrobat and reaches for things I struggle with and without first being asked. Placing dishes in the dishwasher and setting the table seem to be another favorite. And with a smile, he'll hold doors for others and take the reins of my wheelchair to push me around the store when my legs begin to tire.
So, when we go out and I see something I know he'll love, you're damn right, if I can, I'll buy it.
I am not by any means denying Titan's typical defiant 4-year-old moments. Just ask his gymnastics coach. By the same token, I'm by no means adhering to the idea my actions are spoiling him. I see it as giving him a little extra for being so kind and considerate. And I always reinforce my decision with a reason — he helped mommy pick up little brother's toy's today, for one — and a thank you.
Kindness always deserves a reward of some size, shape or fashion. And as his mom, I reward him, just as my dad rewarded me as a little girl with shopping trips to the fair for doing physical therapy without complaint.
My dad, a man whose tireless blue collar work ethic can be seen merely looking at the tough calluses of his hands, taught me that rewards for working hard can be part of the norm. And it doesn't mean you're spoiled. It means you earned it.
At 65, my dad still wakes up at 4 a.m. to do maintenance around the house and then heads off to a long day of work. Just before he comes home, he'll stop to snag a treat — a DVD and bag of M&M's. No one in my family says a thing.
He's earned it.
Maybe I do feel a bit guilty my son picks up the slack my body should tow, so I purchase a trinket to make myself feel better about the burden. Then again, maybe not. Maybe I just enjoy that consuming adorable smile and look of surprise he delivers each time. I haven't thought about it enough to lose sleep. What has kept me up at night, though, are the multitude of ways I'm going reward him for being so thoughtful and caring.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have made their uncoupling official. The pair reached a divorce settlement recently, two years after announcing their separation. When they announced that they were going to make a “conscious uncoupling,” we all mocked them for such a weird way to say divorce — but maybe we shouldn’t have, because everything is still amicable between the two.
In the settlement, Paltrow and Martin have a written agreement regarding their property and child support. They also mutually agreed that neither would ever ask the other for spousal support. All in all, it remained a very civil and mature divorce settlement, which is very much in line with their conscious uncoupling statement from two years ago.
In the 2014 announcement, they assured everyone that they would remain close, stating, "We have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much, we will remain separate. We are, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been."
It wasn’t just talk, either. Paltrow and Martin frequently spend time together as co-parents. Most recently, Paltrow hung out backstage with their daughter, Apple, to support Martin and his group Coldplay.
Gwyneth Paltrow Chris Martin
Gwyneth Paltrow Chris Martin
Whether or not you like the strange language they use to talk about their separation, their dedication to remaining close and keeping their family together is admirable. When so many celebrity divorces can drag on for years with a lot of dirty laundry aired, Paltrow and Martin found a way to remain loving toward one another.
They were one of the first couples to put their children first. They paved the way for Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck and many couples like them by setting the standard for mutual respect and a devotion to doing what’s best for the kids.
For that, I applaud Paltrow and Martin and wish them good luck as they continue to raise their children.
Girl Meets World is going back to one of the darkest moments of Boy Meets World history in “Girl Meets Ski Lodge.” The two-part episode, which airs July 22 and July 29, will find Mr. Cory Matthews and his class of high school students on a field trip to Mount Sun Lodge. Let me rephrase: Cory is taking his daughter, Riley, and her best friends to the ski lodge.
Boy Meets World fans will remember the lodge as the site of one of the most heartbreaking moments in BMW history: Cory’s kiss with Lauren. If you’re unfamiliar, or you’ve managed to block out the horror from your memory, here’s a refresher. The year was 1998, when Cory (Ben Savage), Shawn (Rider Strong), Angela (Trina McGee) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) traveled to a ski lodge on their senior trip in “Heartbreak Cory.” After spraining his ankle while getting off the bus, Cory, who was very much dating Topanga, is forced to spend the entire trip inside with a cute lodge employee, Lauren (Linda Cardellini). Long story short: The two kiss, and though he breaks it off — he’s in love with Topanga, after all — she slips a love letter in his bag before he leaves... which Topanga finds. A few episodes later, Lauren showed up again, this time leading to the most devastating breakup scene in Boy Meets World history.
Boy Meets World clip
Boy Meets World clip
It was not a good time for Cory and Topanga shippers, which means it was not a good time for anybody watching Boy Meets World at home. Personally, it took a lot of time and effort for me to forgive Cardellini for briefly breaking up my favorite television couple, and I still want to cry every time I watch that breakup scene.
Luckily, it seems that Cory feels the same way as I do. Topanga might have forgiven him, and they might be living their happily ever after on Girl Meets World, but some wounds never fully heal. In a special sneak peek at the new episode, Cory is seen telling his students about the perils of the ski lodge: “The ski lodge was almost the end of Cory and Topanga, America’s sweethearts, and now I know something’s going to happen there for you, so I’m preparing you. For nature!”
The memory of his betrayal and time away from Topanga appears to have left quite a mark on our (new) favorite teacher. “Those were very bad times for Cory and Topanga. But everything’s fine now, except we can’t ski ever, or say ski, or walk downhill,” Riley explains. If their tweenage daughter knows about their high school drama, then I’m going to go ahead and say that the whole Boy Meets World ski lodge debacle was almost as traumatic for Cory and Topanga as it was for me.
Hopefully, Riley and her friends won’t go through anything quite so emotionally scarring at the ski lodge.
Back in January, Track was arrested for assault, interfering with a domestic violence charge and possession of a weapon while intoxicated, stemming from a fight he had with his girlfriend. Apparently, while in a fight with his girlfriend, he was so enraged that he punched her in the face. He also threatened to fire a rifle, according to police and court documents.
Earlier this week, Track entered a plea deal with the courts in which he would plead guilty to possession of a weapon while intoxicated but the courts would dismiss the other two charges. They also agreed to move the case from the regular Anchorage civilian court to Veterans Court. The final terms of the plea were that Track wouldn’t face any jail time but would instead seek therapeutic treatment at a rehab facility.
On July 25, Track will go back to Veterans Court to be told which treatment program he will have to attend. The Anchorage District Attorney, Clinton Champion, said that the program "could take months. It depends on his needs.”
Because why would we care about the needs of the assault victim when we have Sarah Palin’s son to protect, right?
When Track was arrested the first time, Sarah blamed her son’s behavior on PTSD from his time serving as an Army reservist in Iraq in 2008. At the time, she said, “My son, like so many others — they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country.”
She then went on to blame the president for what her son has been going through because, well, she’s Sarah Palin.
Maybe the treatment center will work wonders on Track to make sure he never does this again. But he was never diagnosed with PTSD, and none of his records indicate that he ever saw any combat.
Oh, Tara. Oh, Dean. Oh, Tara and Dean. (As one fan of Marriage Boot Camp put it on Twitter, "You make me miss Heidi and Spencer.") Tara Reid and Dean May spent every moment of the latest Marriage Boot Camp episode furthering the certainty of viewers that they are definitely not a couple.
Things didn't exactly go swimmingly when it came to the famed puppet/sex drill, in which the couples demonstrate what's going on in their sex lives via puppets. Tara refused to do the drill (surprise) and called her rep to complain about it. This, by the way, marks the umpteenth time a couple or one part of a couple has freaked out about a drill as though they've never seen the show before. I don't know how getting one of these reality-show gigs works, but I assumed there was some kind of information available ahead of time.
Tara must really not have gotten the memo about the sex drill because she claimed not to know that puppets, which apparently terrify her, were involved. Ultimately, Tara and Dean took part in the drill without the puppets, but their reserved behavior only fed into what Twitter fans are already convinced of: that this is all a front to get on TV and that these two aren't a couple.
I don't know, you guys. The rest of the Marriage Boot Camp crew claim that they've never seen Dean and Tara kiss, and they definitely don't think the two have sex. We've seen couples who hold back on this show before, so reserved behavior doesn't necessarily mean they aren't together — it just means that they've got some serious stuff going on that they're not ready to reveal. I'm not totally ready to write off Tara and Dean as not being together at all because people don't all act the same way when they're in a relationship. Not crawling all over each other doesn't mean they're not together, and not participating in drills just makes Tara and Dean look like disrespectful jerks who don't care about the show or the other people who are there to actually work on their relationships.
At the end of the episode, Dean told Tara that he's "tired of lying." About what, Dean?
Next week, I might be eating all these words I'm writing about my willingness to give these two the benefit of the doubt, so let me just say that I don't think it's impossible that Tara and Dean are using whatever relationship they have to be on the show. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they admit that they don't want to get married or that they aren't that serious. But that's not necessarily the kind of reveal that reality TV traffics in, so either we're being baited into nothing by Dean or the truth is exactly what everyone thinks it is: these two were never an item in the first place.
Give your outdoor space a makeover by adding a decorative rug! When it comes to decorating, area rugs can be expensive due to the size, style and material. Instead of paying the price to buy a colorful outdoor rug for your patio, pick your own pattern and DIY a painted rug. You can achieve the high-end look of an area rug with just a can of paint.
Whether you have a concrete patio or a wood deck, get inspired to DIY your own outdoor painted rug with these five easy tutorials from the blogger community at Porch.com.
Be bold this season and paint a bright, colorful statement rug on your concrete patio with this fun painted rug idea. From cleaning and priming to tracing and painting, follow this step-by-step guide to create this DIY rug that is perfect for summer!
Keep it simple by choosing an easy striped pattern for your outdoor painted rug. Thick navy and white stripes brighten up this wood deck without dominating the space. Check out this tutorial to find out the best way to paint a rug on your deck.
This DIY rug is all about the details. Starting at the center, this painted rug tutorial involves repeating the same stencil several times to create an overlapping pattern. While the process of stenciling can take a few hours, this outdoor rug will last all year long!
Dress up a concrete slab with a pretty stencil to instantly take your outdoor space from drab to fab. Follow this step-by-step tutorial to see what tools you will need to make this DIY painted rug.
Would you paint a rug on your patio or deck? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
