May at GHK.com

May saw the launch of the project I'm most proud of at GHK (so far)

It's a huge editorial package looking at the ways we raise boys today. As the mom of a daughter and a parenting editor, I get so many pitches about how to raise empowering girls. I started to wonder, "Well, what about the boys?" We look at the messages boys receive growing up, and how that impacts them into adulthood. There are so many good essays, quotes, and eye-opening stats in here. Take a look!



What else? Summer has just barely started, but I'm already starting to think about back-to-school. Like many adults, I still find shopping for supplies to be a small pleasure, so I threw many of my favorites into a gallery of teacher gifts. 


25 Dorm Room Essentials Every College Student Needs



But beyond the pencils and the books, I also wrote these stories.

Health/Safety

What Is Surrogacy? The Process, Types, and Costs, Explained by Experts

The 5 Best Toddler Swim Safety Tips, According to Swim Experts

Entertainment

Jennifer Lopez's Young Daughter Just Blew Us All Away With Her Amazing Singing Voice

All 21 Pixar Movies, Ranked From Best to Worst





April at GHK.com!



April was another month full of a little of everything: Some interviews, some fun round-ups, some quickie news items. One project I really enjoyed involved digging into research into different parenting styles, and how they help or hurt kids in the long run. I even got to be on WBAL-AM to talk about "lawnmower" parenting. (Listen below!) I'm trying to take these lessons to heart and not hover on the playground, but it's hard.




Health and Safety


Entertainment



Autism Awareness Month

Sesame Street Launches New Material Starring Julia and Her Family in Honor of Autism Awareness Month

10 Things Parents of Kids With Autism Spectrum Disorder Wish You Knew

Shopping

Here's How Walmart's New Baby Registry Actually Works

Rent the Runway Just Launched a New Rental Service for Kids' Special-Occasion Clothes

15 Mother’s Day Mugs That Are Better Than the Ones That Say “World’s Best Mom”

Etc

Dole Is Releasing a New Smoothie Bowl That Tastes Just Like Dole Whip


In Honor of Equal Pay Day, Here Are the Jobs With the Smallest Wage Gaps for Women

The Best Camping Activities for Families to Try This Season

And then I didn't write these, but I had the pleasure of assigning/editing them:

I Cried When I Found Out I Was Having Boys
I love this essay. Jackie Goldschneider gets really honest about gender disappointment, and how it's not about the baby — it's about letting go of her vision of motherhood.

I Don't Want to Make "Mom Friends." Can I Just Stay Home Alone?
Another really brutally honest reckoning with one aspect of motherhood. 

Bustle TV Coverage: August 2015

Ahh, the August stretch of TV season—aka the dregs. Still, this month for Bustle, I...

...ranked all of the OK Go videos I could find to honor the anniversary of their album, Oh No, which gave us the famous treadmill video. 

...recommended that Saturday Night Live add more than on young, white, male cast member. They need someone who can do a decent Hillary!

...scoped out the competition for two of America's Top Model Cycle 22 contestants—Nyle DiMarco and Mame Adjei—plus the prizes they'll get if they win

...rooted for Project Runway underdog Amanda Perna, who almost made it on the show once before.

...hoped that Job or No Job's Jane Buckingham would give me career advice.

...dug up some more train based entertainment to kill time while waiting for the second half of the last season of Hell on Wheels

...discovered who the heck Michael Carbonaro is, and what make his prank show different. (Close-up magic!)

...looked into what's cooking for Below Deck's new chef.

...found out there's no one, real sugar baby behind Lifetime's Sugar Babies

...speculated about the possibility of more seasons of Becoming Us, Hollywood Cycle, Humans, Stitchers, and Proof, and gave advice on what to watch while we wait. (Phew!)

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty


Working Mother: July Web

This month, on Working Mother's website, I...

...interviewed Chris Nee, the creator/showrunner of Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins (and she was the best). 

...asked fathers for important things they learned during their paternity leaves. It made it clear that dads should definitely stay home, too, if they can.

...rounded up the most extreme donuts in the country for National Donut Day, then found options for 11 healthy desk-drawer snacks to keep on-hand instead. 

...created a head-to-toe guide for staying comfortable at work while pregnant

...shopped for the best work life accessories for spring

...lamented that Mothers' Equal Pay Day comes even later in the year than Women's Equal Pay Day

...asked doctors for posture tips for working, even if you have a newfangled standing desk. 

...recapped Working Mother Media's amazing 2015 Multicultural Women National Conference

Bustle TV Coverage: 7/1/2015 to 8/2/2015

This month on Bustle, I...

...read way too much into the (possible) symbolic meaning behind Felicia, the waitress with the scars, on True Detective

...learned I wasn't the only one with crazy True Detective theories

...wrote an ode to True Detective's Paul Woodrugh, the show's true underdog. 

...made a case for why Halt and Catch Fire deserves another season (love you, Cameron).

...speculated about some of the (many, many) cameos in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and (fewer) returning castmembers for the last Teen Nick episodes of Degrassi

...figured out the real-life musical inspirations behind Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, including Denis Leary himself and his previous hit single.

...explained how non-Stewart, non-Hamilton Dean Geistlinger fits into Stewarts & Hamiltons, and what his (surprisingly big) claim to fame is.

...researched who plays Jim Gaffigan's wife on The Jim Gaffigan Show (and how she compares to her real-life counterpart),who plays Fin's (replacement) daughter on Sharknado 3 (since you never know—the last daughter is now the star of the Jem and the Holograms movie), and who is the host of VH1's Twinning (spoiler alert: she's not a twin).   

...found a clue that suggests Laura Prepon will return next year on Orange Is the New Black. (But will it just be a flashback/dream sequence?) 

...explained to viewers what to expect from Spike's Tut.

...told fans of the brothers Winchester that they'll have to wait for a while still before Supernatural season 10 comes to Netflix, but there are other movies they can stream in the meantime if they need a fix.


Bustle TV Coverage: 6/15/2015 to 6/30/2015

Recently on Bustle, I...

...wondered if True Detective's Ray Velcoro could be the new Rust Cohle.

...came up with some theories about what True Detective's mysterious Black Mountain could be (though I'm pretty sure my first guess is correct).

...praised Orange Is the New Black for forcing its actresses to use different creative muscles, like taking singer Annie Golden and making her character near-mute.  

...speculated about whether or not Fake Off, The Comedians, and Happyish will be renewed for more seasons. 

...explored Boom! host Tom Papa's friendships with Seinfeld and Soderbergh.

Image: Lacey Terrell/HBO

New Gig: Working Mother Magazine

Part of the reason I've been so behind in posting my clips is that I've started a new, full-time job as a writer and editor at Working Mother magazine. Already, I've had some interesting assignments, including...

...showing how Mad Men's Matthew Weiner is a champion of working mothers

...finding the companies with the most extreme maternity leaves

...asking a host of HuffPost Live about naming her daughter after herself

...finding the most enviable programs for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

...looking into the gender wage gap for Equal Pay Day.

...decoding the Supreme Court's ruling on pregnancy discrimination.

...highlighting why mompreneurs are important to the business community and shouldn't be ignored.

...soliciting advice from an expert on what women need to do for a personal finance tune-up.

...asking a professional organizer how to de-clutter for spring cleaning. 

...talking with a participant in Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Week about how the organization benefits working moms.

...offering advice to kids—and parents—separating for sleep-away camp for the first time and taking care of pets for first-time owners.

...rounding up the best spring work/life accessories, confidence-boosting booksEarth Day board gamesCinco de Mayo books, Memorial Day cookout must-haves, and gifts for elementary school grads and high school grads.

Bustle Catch-Up

I've been behind in posting my Bustle articles—very behind—but here are some of my favorite posts I've done in the meantime:

Mad Men Season 7 Premiere "Severance" Has An Ominous Title, But Does It Actually Tell Us Anything?

15 Selina Meyer Quotes That Prove The President (Yeah, President!) Has The Perfect Thing To Say In Every Situation

As Justified Rides Off Into The Sunset, Here's What's Going Ro Be Missed The Most

Aquarius Lead Sam Hodiak Vs. Fox Mulder: They Have More Than David Duchovny In Common

Halt And Catch Fire Season 2 Emphasizes The Women Of The Show & We Couldn't Be More Excited

Here are the rest of the TV shows I've covered since I last posted:

AD: The Bible Continues (2); Agent Carter (2, 3); American Odyssey; The Americans; Aquarius (2, 3); Battle Creek; BetweenBlack-ishThe Blacklist;  Blood, Sweat, and Heels; Brides Gone StyledCatfish; The Casual Vacancy; Cleveland Abduction; The Critics' Choice Awards; The 87th Academy Awards (2); Dancing with the StarsEmpire (2, 3, 4); Gotham; 500 QuestionsForever; Halt and Catch FireHindsight; The Josh Wolf ShowLake Placid vs. Anaconda; Labor GamesThe Last Man on Earth (2); Little Women: NY (2); The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2); Mad Men; The  Making of the Mob: New York (2); The MessengersMTV's ScreamNew Girl (2, 3); Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards; Orange Is the New BlackParks and Recreation; The Prancing Elites; ProofThe Returned (2); Saturday Night Live (2, 3); Seeds of Yesterday; Sense8Shark Tank; StitchersSons of WinterSwab Stories; Texas Rising'Til Death Do Us Part; The Tony Awards12 Monkeys; Turn: Washington's Spies (2); UndateableWeird Loners; The Willis Family

I also got to spoil Fifty Shades of Grey for people who didn't want to watch the movie and just wanted to know if the ending deviated from the book.

Image: Justina Mintz/AMC

Bustle TV Coverage: 01/26/2015 to 02/08/2015

...researched the music behind some of the biggest Super Bowl ads, figuring out what band does the "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" cover in the Budweiser ad, the "Pretty Woman" cover in the Nationwide ad, and the song in the BMW i3 commercial.

...found out when Better Call Saul takes place in relation to Breaking Bad.

...explained why I want to be Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran when I grow up.

...detangled the Dr. Crane/Scarecrow connections in Gotham.

...put a few things on the wedding registry for Donna Meagle on Parks and Recreation

...figured out where I might have seen Allegiance's Gavin Stenhouse before (opposite Kevin Spacey).

...distinguished Paz Vega from Paz de la Huerta, Alexa Panvega, and other actresses with sound-alike names.

...investigated what Little Women: LA's Briana Manson does for a living (apart from being on a reality show).

Image: Ben Leuner/AMC

Bustle TV Coverage: 12/29/2014 to 1/24/2015


Yikes! I've been behind in posting my Bustle articles. In the past month, I...

...investigated whether or not Agent Sousa could end up marrying Agent Carter (because she deserves the best).

...argued that Nasim Pedrad deserves better than Mulaney

...flexed my 12 Monkeys fan muscles, explaining the movie's inspiration (La Jetée!), comparing the movie to the TV show, and looking into how the show changed Brad Pitt's character in a major, major way.

...tried to find a new career for April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation without defaulting to Moon Ambassador.

...remembered the good, the bad, and the Gosling-filled films of George Clooney's directing career.

...felt happy that Colin Hanks won't be in the next season of Fargo, because it means Gus Grimly is safe. 

...looked into the familiar face of King Richard and the not-yet-familiar face of Isabella on Galavant

...basically wrote a love letter to Lee Pace, who played Mindy's ex on an episode of The Mindy Project.

...recapped the fifth season of Justified, the one with all the Crowes, so that fans can be fresh for the final season.

...came up with some New Year's resolutions for the girls of Girls and guessed how long Hannah will be able to stick it out in Iowa.

...looked behind the curtain at the HFPA, the shadowy organization behind the Golden Globes.

...appreciated Jon Hamm's cameo on Parks and Rec, and guaranteed his character's return.

...told true history buffs to stay away from Sons of Liberty and its lack of historical accuracy.

...bemoaned Benedict Cumbebatch's poor odds for winning a SAG award.

...said goodbye to Cougar Town, A-to-Z, and, saddest of all Justified

Image: Gavin Bond/Syfy