The Joy of All-Female Gatherings

"I've got the wrong equipment to be Nell's girlfriend, Rip. 

Just… just see if you can spend some time with her. 

Go out on the boat, or go shopping or…" He gestured vaguely. 

"Paint each other's toenails."

"Excuse me?"

"Give me a break. I don't know what you 

people do in your mysterious caves when men aren't around."

"We have pillow fights in our underwear."

He brightened because she wanted him to. 

"Really? I was afraid that was a myth. So, be a friend, okay?" 

Dance Upon the Air

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In the newsletter Dolly Mail, London-based writer Violet Hudson made the case for lady-only gatherings. “There are covens all over this city,” she says. “The libations we make are spilled red wine. The spells we cast are conversation. And the potions we brew are pasta or roast chicken. The Wiccan religion that we all practice is simple: girls-only hang outs.”

A Cup of Jo

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“She said she had some things to do, and you’re 

supposed to keep me company. So what does the

Quartet do after pizza when the guys are away?” 

She sat across from him, took a sip of wine. “Oh,

we have slow-motion pillow fights in our underwear.”

“Another fantasy come true. Want a cookie?”

Happy Ever After

Why do we use 'baby talk' with puppies?

“Oh, it’s a little puppy! She’s like a little toy.”

“He. This is Earl Grey. I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t want to leave him home alone.”

“Oh, oh, he’s precious. Just precious.”

“Would you like to hold him?”

“I’d love it.” Miranda gathered the dog in her hands, immediately lapsed into lisping baby talk.

Lila just slanted a look toward Ash, and smiled. “Is there anywhere I could take him for a little walk outside?”

“Oh, of course! I’ll show you. Want to go for a walkie?” Miranda cooed, rubbing noses with Earl Grey, then giggling when he lapped his tiny tongue on her face.

The Collector

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You can't help it. You see that sweet little face and immediately begin to blabber in a sing-song voice, "Hello, sweetie pie! Who's a good boy?!"

We tend to talk to puppies as we do to babies, speaking slowly in a high-pitched voice. An international team of researchers recently looked at the science behind what they call "dog-directed speech" to find out why we do it and if our canine friends truly respond to it.

Mother Nature Network

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She cradled the pup, who immediately bathed her face as if they were reunited lovers. She caught the

faintest whiff of leather on his warm puppy breath.

“Aren’t you cute? Are you a pretty boy?”

“He’s a monster.” Simon snarled it. “An escape artist who doesn’t sleep. If I take my eye off him for two minutes, he eats something or breaks something or finds the most inappropriate place to relieve himself. I haven’t had a minute’s peace in three weeks.”

“Um-hmm.” She snuggled the pup.

The Search

👠 Girls Night In

“Clare,” Avery said as Clare walked to the door. “Saturday, I’ll bring a second bottle of

wine, something gooey for dessert. And my pj’s.”

“Even better. Who needs a man when you’ve got a best girl pal?”

Clare laughed as Avery shot a hand in the air.

The Next Always

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Slip into holiday PJs and enjoy a relaxing night with friends

By Purple Sherbet Photography from Worldwide! - 

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Lifetime 14 New Christmas Movies

Lifetime just announced their official holiday movie schedule and we can’t wait to watch them all. See the official schedule and start planning your Christmas movie marathons!

Better Homes & Gardens

Hallmark Just Announced All 36 New Holiday Films 

Get your coziest blankets and most festive cocoa mugs ready because Hallmark just announced the official schedule of all 36 new Christmas movie premieres (a record-breaking number of new flicks!) and we are totally ready to watch them all!

Better Homes & Gardens

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“In that case, how about lending me a pair of pajamas?”

“Why don’t you put that in the oven on low, and we’ll both get some pajamas.”

“Deal. I feel like a chick flick. Do you feel like a chick flick? Dinner and a movie?”

“Sounds really good actually.”

Vision in White

Post-Thanksgiving Game Plan

"I don't see how I could, I'm just worn out .

The holidays just about did me in this year. 

Every time you turned around, there was another party. 

I don't think I've caught my breath since Thanksgiving."

Black Rose

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Photo by Surrey Lane - Search home design pictures

Once you’ve recovered from the big day, 

take these steps to make welcoming 

the next round of holiday guests easier.

HOUZZ

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Of course, she'd had the house full only a couple weeks earlier, 

with all her boys home for Thanksgiving and her birthday. 

Austin and Mason would be back for Christmas. A mother of grown sons 

couldn't ask for better.

God knew there'd been plenty of times when they were growing up

 that she'd yearned for some quiet. Just an hour of absolute peace 

where she had nothing more exciting to do than soak in a hot tub.

Then she'd had too much time on her hands, hadn't she? 

Too much quiet, too much empty space.

Black Rose

Which sport are you made for?

"I went for a run."

"A run?" he repeated, distracted from trying to place the vague accent.

"Yes, I'm into running." She lifted her face and studied the perfect sky. "Actually, I was into running before it was something to get into. Even though I resent being part of a trend, I can't stop. Do you swim every morning?"

"Whenever I can."

"Maybe I'll try that instead. Swimming uses more muscles, and you don't sweat."

"I never thought about it quite that way."

Tonight and Always

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By Ed Yourdon, CC BY-SA 2.0, 

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Take 30 seconds to dash through the 13 quick questions in our sports quiz and we'll have our best stab at suggesting which events from the Commonwealth Games could match your physical and mental abilities.

BBC

"Rewrite The Stars"

When he sang to her, it was as if he told her there wasn't anyone else,

had never been anyone else. It was more moving than a kiss, more

sexual than a touch.

When they finished, their voices hung a moment, locked together.

Once More With Feeling

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🌽 Happy Thanksgiving 🍂 Quoting Nora 📖

The Changing Roles of Men on Thanksgiving

She handed him a plate to dry. "Did your father do dishes?"

"Only on Thanksgiving." Rafe polished off the plate, set it aside.

"Buck MacKade was a man's man."

The Return of Rafe MacKade 

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My father was a couch potato. My husband makes the whipped potatoes.

In her exploration of gender roles at Thanksgiving, author Linda Lowen asked:

“Could a holiday so clearly rooted in patriarchal traditions ever evolve into a more gender equitable celebration?”

The Good Men Project


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“The pie looks great. Did you make it, Ma K?”“I did. If Maureen’s in the kitchen, I’ll take it back to her.”“We’ve got the women in the kitchen where they belong.” He winked. “The men are in the media room watching the game as per Brown family tradition. Let me take you back, get you a drink.”


Happy Ever After

Eugenia Martínez de Irujo and Narcís Rebollo, surprise wedding in Las Vegas

He flipped it open, took out a snapshot. 

"I can't give it to you," he said. "It's the only one I've got. 

But I thought you might like to see it. Wedding photo. Sort of. 

We drove out to Vegas and got it done in one of those 

get-hitched-quick places. In fact, we looked for the tackiest 

one we could find. We had some guy take this for us outside, right after."

Birthright

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The image shared by Eugenia Martínez de Irujo in her Instagram profile has set off alarms. Has the Duchess of Montoro married Narcis Rebollo in Las Vegas? The daughter of the Duchess of Alba and her current partner, the President of Universal Music in Spain and Portugal, appear dressed as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

ELMUNDO

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"You look terribly in love," Suzanne managed. 
"Stupid with it." 

Birthright

Quoting Nora

Who needs small talk?

“I might do that. So, how did you go from doing stunt work in LA to owning a garage in Greenwich?”

“Is this small talk, or are you interested?”

“It can be both.”

Happy Ever After

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When I was single and dating, my friends made fun of me for jumping into deep  conversations with guys I just met.

I've never been interested in small talk, or its cousin, flirting. I'm genuinely curious to get to know people, and I'd rather not talk if it's going to be about nonsense. Turns out, I have something in common with the "silent Finns" who are also known for not talking small, but diving into meaningful conversation — or none at all.

Mother Nature Network

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He’d expect conversation, and she wasn’t sure she had any more. 

Between him and his mother, she was out of what struck her 

as appropriate small talk.

The Witness

Amazing Brookie Recipe

“Let me be the first. And I picked this up at the bakery. 
Have you had their brookies?”

“No. What are they?”

The Perfect Hope

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I’m going to cut right to the chase – this right here is literally the most amazing brookie
 recipe EVER! As is usually the case with my recipes, it’s seriously simple to make. 
But the good stuff doesn’t just stop there, oh no. 
This beauty starts with a luxuriously buttery cookie base that’s 
packed to the rafters with chocolate chips and is topped off 
with an intensely rich and gooey chocolate brownie. 
I’m telling you now, life does not get much better than this! 

Kitchen Mason

Is Your Snowblower Ready for the First Big Dump?

Snow buried the East Coast and caused school-age children to dance with joy. 

Hard winds blew down from Canada and brought bitter cold. 

Pipes burst, cars stalled, and streets turned to ice rings.

The brave or the determined crowded the shopping centers and malls to 

hunt for Christmas presents, to ponder bright wrappings and ribbons. 

Holiday cards arrived in the mail, and kitchens smelled of baking.

Boston shivered, shoveled out, and watched another six inches of snow fall.

Bundled in layers against the cold and armed with a snow shovel, Laura 

trooped out to clear the driveway. The sunlight bounced off the white ground 

and stung the eyes, so she tumbled a pair of sunglasses out of her pocket. 

The chill air bit her cheeks, burned her throat.

She couldn't have been happier.

Laura @ MacGregor Brides

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It could happen in October or it may happen in January. Depending on where you live, the season’s first big snowstorm could be just days or weeks away. But no matter where you live, now is the best time to get your snowblower ready for the season’s first blast of snow.

It takes about an hour to get your gas-powered snowblower ready for winter. 

Family Handyman

Refugee children see snow for first time

The world her mother told her of from time to time was nothing

more than a fairy tale to her. Snow was just something

that danced inside a little glass ball.

Sweet Revenge 

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Footage of two Eritrean children enjoying their first snowfall in Canada has been viewed millions of times on social media. 

The 42-second clip, taken by Rebecca Davies, shows the boy and girl jumping in their oversized jackets as the snowflakes come down.

Dancing around the back garden of their Toronto home, the appear to marvel at the sight. 

INDEPENDENT

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Adrianne thought of the little glass ball and her brother. 

All at once she wanted to lay her head in her mother's  lap and weep. She wanted to go home, to see her  grandmother and her aunts,to smell the smells of the harem. 

But there was no going back.

"Will it snow?" she asked.

"Sooner or later."

Sweet Revenge

Forest Fires Make Their Own L-ish Weather

“Hey, Swede.” Gibbons, acting as fire boss, hailed her over the din. 

Ash blackened his face, and the smoke he’d hiked through 

reddened his eyes. “I’m taking you, Matt and Yangtree off the saw line. 

The head’s shifted on us. It’s moving up the ridge to the south and building. 

We got spots frigging everywhere. We need to turn her while we can.”

He pulled out his map to show her positions. “We got hotshots working here, 

and Janis, Trigger, two of the rooks, flanking it here. 

We’ve got another load coming in, and they’ll take

the saw line, chase down spots. We’ve got repellent on the way, 

should dump on the head in about ten, so make sure you’re clear.”

“Roger that.”

“Take them up. Watch your ass.”

She grabbed her gear, pulled in her teammates and began the 

half-mile climb through smoke and heat. In her mind she plotted 

escape routes, the distance and direction to the safe zone.

Chasing Fire 

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Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=264533

The most useful thing scientists can tell a fire crew in the field is what the fire's going to do. And that means understanding how the winds may shift—even when they come from the fire itself.

Popular Mechanics

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She felt the change in the wind, just a flutter, and saw the fire grab its tail to ride. A cut to the

west now, still north of Trigger’s crew, she noted, but moving toward them.

She circled around, contacting him by radio.

“She’s shifting, curling back toward you.”

“We’ve got a Cat line here, a good, wide one. I don’t think she can jump it. Escape route due

south.”

“They’re bringing mud. I just called to tell them to dump a load west, down your flank. Stay

clear.”

“Roger that. Cards just got here with reinforcements. We’re going to hold this line, Swede.”

“After the mud drops, I’m going to get an air report. I want to take four from your team, same

from mine, get them up to the head. Squeeze it. But if she jumps the road, get gone.”

Chasing Fire