Lemondrop

You move to a new town, and suddenly you're back at square one: Why it's actually harder to find friends as an adult.

What would you do if you were pregnant in a new relationship?

Lemondrop readers share the most inappropriate gifts they've received from their exes.
Reason to worry about our double chins: Neck fat may be a better indicator of excess weight than BMI.
Decoding celebrity dreams: What does it mean if Beyonce pops up in the middle of the night?
Cute, comfortable, danceable -- try these suggestions for music-festival-friendly outfits.

Part Rubik's Cube, part click-the-pairs-and-make-'em-disappear, Firecracker Frenzy is a fun twist on a few classic games. The point is to build as big a reaction with same-colored firecrackers as possible, moving the rows and columns back and forth to create the longest chain you can. Enjoy!

The first week of 9 to Fine? We're not going to lie. It was a bit of what the Germans call eine asskïcker.

Since our first post last Tuesday (We'll be posting more frequently going forward -- our arms have just been so exhausted from pumping iron this week that it's been hard to type. Seriously.), we've met twice with Rowdy (the adorable yet evil taskmaster who trains us), started logging every morsel we put in our mouths through the dotFit program, and used some HIP NEW ACCESSORIES to figure out how much we're burning on the daily.

The dotFit site is a really powerful tool. It forces you to be conscious of your caloric intake and helps you realize your weaknesses. (Erin saw how prone she is to overdo it on the afternoon snacking, even if it's something "healthy," like pretzels.)

But the food log is just one part of it; dotFit is a serious treasure chest of fitness info including customized workouts, a "virtual coach," recipes and a sh**-ton of other important stuff that those of us who read US Weekly instead of Woman's Health know nothing about. (Frreal? Just check out the subjects the "Fitness Vault" covers. Mind-blowinggg!)

Even if you're not a Crunch member, you can still use dotFit. It's $29.95 to start and then $9.95 a month. But if you do want to join a gym, Crunch is offering Lemondrop readers a 1-week free trial and a bonus personal training session (click here to go straight to the Crunch page to redeem the offer).



So, how'd we do? Check it, yo.

Today, Julieanne and I stopped in at American Eagle. We both needed jean shorts. Since it's basically winter in retail time, there weren't a lot of options to choose from. (Why do they do that? I'm just now starting to feel sweaty comfortable enough to expose my legs to the world.) But there were the AE Shorties. We picked up, like, four sizes each and went to the dressing room.

Erin: Dude, come check these out. This is so inappropriate.
Julieanne: Not really, they're short shorts. That's the point.
Erin: No, I feel like a suburban mom trying to wear her high school daughter's clothes. Like the mom in "Mean Girls."
Julieanne: [busts out laughing]
Erin: [heads back into the fitting room to change; leaves store empty-handed]

So, now we ask you, Lemondrop readers: What do you think about super-short shorts like these?

Most of us have been there at one point: 88 signs it's time to leave the bar. (CollegeCandy)

We'd imagine it's not the worst way to die: 30-year-old nanny dies with a vibrator at her side. (TheFrisky)

This furry friend has a better social life than we do: the life and times of a stuffed dog named Fifi. (via reader Hally J.)
Bikini shopping's all done, but don't miss the accessories: 20 fun beach bags in every style. (CollegeFashion)
Passport prices are going up -- here's why it's the best time to renew yours now. (SavvySugar)
Honor killings -- or the murder of a woman for "shaming" her family -- are common abroad. Now they've washed up in America. (MarieClaire)

Days after GLAAD started a petition to protest the exclusion of gay couples from a "Today" show wedding contest, NBC called the organization and has since opened the contest to all couples. To help gay marrieds-to-be play catch-up, they've also extended the wedding competition's deadline from July 7 to July 12. The contest winners will (much like the one Liz Lemon's ex-boyfriend won) be married on live TV. Initially, NBC did not allow same-sex entrants because "the couple must be able to be legally married in New York," but GLAAD argued that the show is awarding a "wedding celebration, not a marriage license," which would help squeeze gays under the umbrella of the rules. This is a great example of a squeaky wheel getting the grease of justice. "Today" show, we applaud you. (USA Today)

My very first column for Lemondrop was about the various methods I've used to reject women over the course of my adult lifetime. I've used carefully nicknamed techniques and others over the years (perhaps in a later column I'll divulge my patented "It's Not You, It's Carl Weathers" brush off), and I've also been rejected by countless women in countless ways in turn. Really, there's no good way to dump somebody.

But as I've gotten older? I've realized there are ways to be a good dumpee.

We all have a touch of "Single White Female" about us, that desire to say, "No, Bridget Fonda, you will love me!" Acting like a psychopath from time to time is pretty much unavoidable when it comes to trying to get in the pants and heart of another human. The thing is, it actually hurts worse when you do nutty things in the name of love and get rejected anyway.

So now -- in this season of heat-induced romances that flame out as intensely as they once flamed -- here are some mistakes to avoid to help you become the Jennifer Jason Leigh of your breakups and achieve a little Rejection Grace:

Mistake #1: Believing You Just Lost The One
You know how I know that dude who hasn't called you in a week wasn't The One? Because The One would really like you, which means not losing your cell phone number or making some vague catchall excuse about being "out of town a lot this summer." Look, it's over, and this person who you had an amazing connection with is just no longer interested. I know that sometimes things feel so right and you just can't accept that it's one-sided, because you both cried during "How to Disappear Completely" at the outdoor Radiohead concert.

Yay! State fair season! Time to wander around smelling the manure smells and eating the various foods on sticks. That is, unless you live in Iowa, of course, where they're taking heart-exploding cuisine to a whole new level. This year they'll be serving chocolate-covered tiramisu, "turtle mousse bars" and, oh, Twinkie logs -- frozen Twinkies dipped in white chocolate and rolled in crushed cashews. Suck it, arteries -- we've got some cattle to judge! (WCF Courier)