Every other Tuesday, my roommate and I have fresh, organic produce delivered to our doorstep in a box overflowing with in-season delights. Each delivery is a surprise. Will a pound of juicy white nectarines make my day, or will I have to settle for the pluots, again? (Yes, I know, a first-world complaint.) The whole idea is a total win for the everyday busy, but still-cares-about-good-food person. You’re essentially hiring a local farm to do your fruit and veggie shopping for you. I recently found out that Blissmo, an eco-friendly daily deals / flash sale site (off which I recently bought...

Yes. I’ve decided to go vegan. After years of fascination with the topic of food and where ours comes from, and having read several books and numerous articles on the topic, I’ve finally reached the book that tipped me over the edge of vegetarianism into veganism. I’m reading, and have nearly finished, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. Rather than preaching a no-meat lifestyle, Foer simply embarks on his own quest to analyze the stories we tell ourselves about the food we eat (and thus the stories that guide our food-related decisions), the important roles food plays...

A first date. I take the approach that it’ll either be a good date or a good story. (Or I suppose if you’re lucky, both.) A win-win, if you think about it. More often than not, bad dates make for the best stories. And so much of what can make a date go downhill faster than a skier in a grand slalom is bad conversation–or worse–no conversation at all. Last week, a good friend of mine–and fellow dating blogger–got to talking about this. About what kind of advice we give friends, readers, and in his case clients, about how to get through those getting-to-you-know...

This afternoon, I met Bay Area-based artist Christopher Elliman in his downtown San Jose studio. I dropped by simply to pick up a sticker he makes. A sticker that in bold white letters against an orange background reads: Make Love Your Law. I’d seen the sticker at a friend’s house two days before. She’d received it as a gift and had no idea where it came from. The sticker had no hint of its origin. No trademark of its creator. Until I realized that the sticker was a trademark. A quick Google search and a few emails later, I couldn’t be happier to be in touch with the local...

On Wednesday, I leave for The Gambia. My sister and brother-in-law live there (running a small business selling solar-powered LED lights), and I figured now was as good as ever to go for an extended visit. It's that itsy-bitsy sliver of a country that's in the middle of Senegal. My bags aren’t quite packed … though I have a list scribbled on a post-it and a devoted section of my closet for what’s going into my suitcase. Most importantly, I have my visa, all six of my shots + malaria medication, and my supply of specially made, packaged with love Inspired Cookies to get...

Talking about sex never gets old. So when faced with the opportunity to do so for two whole days at Sex::Tech, how could I resist? The weekend, while enlightening, also decidedly startled me. I realized what is completely missing from our conversations about sexual health: passion and pleasure. We are lucky enough to be among the few species that can actually enjoy sex because it feels good, and perhaps take for granted that we don’t have to fight for survival when making love with a partner. And yet, we continue to omit from the sex education conversation our innate, normal and healthy drive...

When we’re hungry, it’s simple — we eat. When we’re thirsty, we drink. But what about when you just want to and need to be touched? There are no touch cafes. Touch doesn’t come as a gift with purchase at the Lancôme counter. And if you’re not in a romantic relationship, how do you fill up your touch tank to full? There are often not enough outlets for affection in platonic relationships. Friends provide emotional support, memorable nights out, advice and adventures, but few friendships are so close that it’s comfortable and acceptable for you two to, say,...

I’ve always pondered the notion of “forever.” Of true love. Of what it takes to make a lifetime partnership work. When I think about marriage, about the thought of spending the rest of my life with one person, I continuously wonder: what does it take to devote yourself mentally, physically and emotionally to one soul … forever? My parents divorced when I was six, and I grew up with my mom’s boyfriends walking in and out of my life. I wasn’t raised in a functional version of “forever,” nor have I since encountered a seasoned marital relationship —...

“Oral sex” isn’t a bad word. It’s not a four-letter expletive; it’s not even a nickname for a sexual part of human anatomy. And yet, because it has to do with sex, it MUST BE BAD. That’s how some parents down in Menifee, California think, anyway. So passionately that a complaint about “oral sex” being in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionaries purchased for advanced readers at the local elementary school caused the books to be banned. Banned! It’s a dictionary. At an elementary school. How else are kids expected to develop a vocabulary?...

In 2009, a light bulb turned on. (I sure hope it was a CFL.) Someone in mainstream media — new or old, internationally or nationally — an editor, an assistant, maybe it was a PR rep, realized that “Oh hey! Not everyone is a size 2, huh? All the other ‘beautiful’ people in this industry deserve a chance.” Dove was, however, already way ahead of the game. Their Campaign for Real Beauty launched in 2004 and continues to empower girls and women of all ages and shapes. But last I heard, Dove doesn’t drive home magazine sales. Sexy things do. And naked sexy things...