Lemondrop

OK, sorry, rephrase: Almost more adorable beagles than we can handle. Because, as proven by all-time-unprecedented-cutest-in-the-world-ever blog Have a Beagle and Carry On, there can never be enough baby beagles.

The best part of the blog is the setup: no scrolling required, just pages and pages and pages of beagle photo grids, updated multiple times daily. We know, it's a mighty big and mighty adorable Internet, but are we that far off-base in calling this blog tops?

Finally, a modeling competition in which contestants will be required to have a little meat on their bones.

Re/Dress, a boutique for plus-size women in Brooklyn, N.Y., just kicked off a modeling competition, reports the New York Daily News. The catch? The call for models starts at size 18.

In theory we're all for it; we're just a bit confused by all the body-image absurdity these days. Shall we review?

-The fashion industry refuses to look twice at a woman who's one potato skin past a perfect size 4. In fact, they prefer perfect 0s. Or any women who resemble a "hanger," the famous fashion dictate which says that clothes look best on a woman whose body most resembles the wire accessory.

-- When a size 10-ish model with tummy pooch appeared in the September issue of Glamour magazine, the response was so rabid, she was quickly rechristened "the girl on page 194," and the magazine vowed to be the first to include more models who reflected "real women" in its pages. We sighed: Finally, a model who looks like us.

-- Despite that pledge, two months later, Glamour featured famous plus-size model Crystal Renn in a dress she didn't quite seem able to zip up. And we argued that most of the models the magazine deemed "plus-size" were actually smaller than the average American woman, who is a size 14.

-- Now, one of the first modeling searches celebrating real women and their curves skips over the sizes 12, 14 and 16 -- and jumps straight to 18 and up.

We ask: Is promoting women who are size 0 -- or size 18 -- beautiful or irresponsible? And why can't magazines -- and anyone who's going to send women down the catwalk -- select more models who aren't at either extreme?

There's nothing about the CLAREVIVIER collection of bags that we don't love. Timeless design with hints of French style? Check. Thick, buttery leather that only gets more luxurious over time? Check. A socially conscious manufacturing process that results in a teeny tiny carbon footprint? Check. An exclusive 20 percent discount for all Lemondrop newsletter subscribers? Check.

How long could you last without shopping? Nearly 100 women have embarked on the Great American Apparel Diet, a 12-month no-shopping fashion fast. (TheFrisky)

Sometimes you're just not in the mood ... but how do you break it to him without hurting his feelings? Three guys weigh in on the best way to say, "Not tonight, honey." (Em&Lo)

10 great reasons to be single on V-Day: A free pass on getting sloshed with your girlfriends, guaranteed single men at the bars, and more. (MarieClaire)
Is Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" a deep, dark, cautionary tale about the plight of our planet? (Audubon)
From floor cushions to massage candle sets, 9 ways to create a sexy bedroom with minimal effort. (Shelterpop)
Don't let a tight schedule put a damper on your love life: the busy person's super-easy guide to romance. (YourTango)
All images from linked blogs

Breakups. In the moment, there are few things in life that feel more soul-shattering than getting thrown under the bus by the person you care most about most.

In last week's GuySpeak/GirlSpeak, we asked: How do you deal with the heartache of losing the person who is your best friend, lover and big spoon all rolled up in one?

Here's what Lemondrop readers had to say about moving on from your ex.

1. Go cold turkey.
Dr. Castellanos says, "If you break up with someone that you have been with for awhile (at least several months), your body goes through an actual withdrawal phase. This is accompanied by a change in neurotransmitters in your brain and feels horrible. The best way to get over this is to stop your ex cold turkey -- don't look at pictures, don't listen to voicemail messages, don't keep around articles that have their scent or cologne. That will just set you back into painful territory."

"I also agree with the cold turkey method," says Lindsay. I delete all emails and pictures, trash notes, cards or gifts I can live without, throw meaningful jewelry in a river, etc."

2. Live the single life.
Nonymou advises us to get used to independence so that we can start fresh when the next guy sweeps us off our feet. After a six-year hiatus between boyfriends, she says, "I got so used to being alone that now that I am in a new relationship, its like starting over as a young'n."

In 1955, Dodge unveiled a car made just for women. Painted in "Heather Rose" and "Sapphire White," with a rosebud interior, the La Femme was designed "with every sophistication your heart could desire," such as a matching purse and lipstick case.

The vehicle was discontinued within two years.



Six decades after La Femme, marketing to women hasn't progressed much. In a male-dominated industry, designers who can't seem to relate to female buyers continue to rely on stereotypes. Or worse, they don't seem to consult women at all. Take, for example, Apple's latest offering -- the iPad. Within hours of its announcement, posts about the "iTampon" flooded Twitter.

"Naturally, women were going to associate the word 'pad' with menstruation because we have heard the word over and over for years -- period," says Stephanie Holland, executive creative director of the advertising agency Holland+Holland and creator of the blog She-conomy. When a brand decides to create a product for women, designers often succumb to "pink-thinking," also known as promoting female stereotypes.

The New York Times recently took a compelling look at the effects of increasingly female-skewed enrollment in the world of college dating.

Women have made up the majority of post-secondary education for a while now, but the Times reports that certain schools are feeling the vas deferens deficit more than others; at places like the University of Vermont, which is 55 percent female, crazy sh** is happening. Women are hitting on men! Pigs are raising tiger cubs! The falcon cannot hear the falconer!

At such schools, notes one student in the article, "Girls feel pressured to do more than they're comfortable with, to lock it down."

Well, taste my pain, New York Times. Where I went to school, the girl-to-guy ratio was seven women to every one guy.

Sometimes literally.

Bennington College, a little liberal arts school in Vermont, has produced Carol Channing, Brett Easton Ellis, me and more sexually overconfident young men than you could wag an exhausted vibrator at. The college's Web site puts female enrollment at about 70 percent (but these are the same stats that list three American Indian kids in the ethnic makeup of the student body every year, and I never noticed any of them running around campus).

Super Bowl ads love to present guys as horny dolts and women as sexpots or shrill harpies.

However, this year Google brought out its softer side and definitely played up the "aww" factor with its "Parisian Love" commercial.

Starting off with an American guy who searches Google about studying abroad in Paris, the ad goes through the stages of a love from courtship to baby-making in less than 60 seconds.

And while the commercial solely relies on this elusive typist, our hearts skip beats as we see him Google the translation for "You are cute." While some guys may think that this is pretty lame, this Google search story really hit home with the Lemondrop gals. And with Valentine's Day coming up fast, it might give guys some ideas on how to woo their ladies. Enjoy!