Turn any old piece of furniture into a total tile icon Whether you’ve got a boring table or an ugly nightstand, a little mosaic-style tile and grout is an easy way to give just about any piece of furniture a brand-new look. And it’s way easier than the dramatic finish would have you believe. Tiles are available at just about any home-improvement store, but it’s worth a visit to your local independent tile shop—they typically have more interesting options and will often have leftover tiles from...

The first eclipses of 2022 occur on April 30 at 4:28 PM ET in Taurus and May 16 in Scorpio at 12:15 AM ET. This set of eclipses will help us glow and grow in the upcoming months, as well as pushing us to take responsibility and accountability for our actions in order to evolve. We may change our paths or see matters in a different light, as we are being cosmically gifted with knowledge which will help us become the people we always wanted...

Whether it's a shit work-from-home setup, long hours of crafting, or simply “phone neck,” modern life can really do a number on our bodies. Discovering exercise biologist and mobility coach Alexandra Ellis on TikTok (@aewellness)— and her therapy-ball-based self-massage techniques—is one of the best gifts the Internet has given me. “Rolling,” as she calls it, lets you dig into your sorest spots, relieving tension, improving blood flow, releasing fascia—the connective tissue that basically holds everything in our body together— and getting more “ooey and gooey”...

This crunchy, zesty veggie is the unsung hero of spring snacking   Growing up, the only radishes I knew were the little round red ones that showed up sliced like a pile of nickels on top of my salad. Sometimes I could blame a restaurant for the travesty, but usually it was Mom trying to be fancy. I attempted to like them, but the spicy bite* was too much for me. It wasn’t until a girlfriend of mine introduced me to radish and butter sandwiches that...

Nowruz mobarak y’all! Translation: Happy New Year…y’all! This year, Nowruz (pronounced NO-rooz), or the Persian New Year, lands on Sunday March 20, 2022 (the spring equinox). Every year, pandemic permitting, I trek from Chicago to California to celebrate the holiday with my family. The moment I set foot into my parent’s home, I’m overwhelmed with the smells of Nowruz: hyacinth flowers, wheatgrass, and rosewater sweets. *Sigh*.  Nowruz isn’t just celebrated by Iranians or folks with Persian roots. Actually, roughly 300 million people across the globe celebrate...

Portland’s sex workers get a little love in return from Meals 4 Heels With approximately 54 establishments—or one club per every 12,000 or so residents—Portland, OR, is known for having the most strip clubs per capita in the U.S. That’s one reason why veteran chef Nikeisah Newton, 40, is on a mission to make healthy food more easily available to Portland’s sex-work community, one vegetarian grain bowl at a time. Founded in 2019, Meals 4 Heels  started as a late-night meal delivery service catering to sex...

These sweet crystals, made from sugar cookie dough and topped with royal icing, are the ultimate rock collection—beautiful, colorful, and totally delicious. As a professional cookie decorator, dreaming up unique designs with a hint of realism is my favorite part of the baking process. These edible gems also embody the whimsy of natural shape and pattern, so don’t be intimidated—the process embraces imperfection, making them the perfect project for a first-time cookie decorator. Give them as gifts, add playfulness to any party platter, or use them...

When I remember my mother, I remember Galentine’s Day – colorful fizzy cocktails and baskets of butterfingers, old rom-coms and upbeat pop music, commiserating about failed relationships and revealing our latest romantic endeavors.  Galentine’s Day, which began as a fictional holiday in an episode of the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, is now widely recognized as a day to celebrate platonic love and female friendship.  Before my mom died in 2019, we celebrated it together every year. The first time we celebrated was after my parents...

This is the Tweet that started it all:    every noom ad is like “we’re NOT a diet. we’re an eating disorder :)” — big red (@spalinabean) January 25, 2022   Last week, Noom, a fitness and weight loss app that caters to over 45 million people worldwide, came under fire on Twitter for its false advertising as a weight loss app that is apparently “above diet culture.” Since its founding in 2008, Noom has distinctly differentiated itself from other weight loss apps by claiming to create “behavioral changes” in users’...

A few years ago, I had just started grad school and found myself in need of a workout routine. The pandemic had recently shut down my university, and along with my fellow graduate students, I was tasked with learning to both teach and study entirely online. I was staring at a computer screen for twelve hours out of the day – the rest of the time was spent consuming any and all coverage of the pandemic, searching for good news. Meanwhile, my body was shouldering...