BuzzSugar

Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" Video - Love It or Leave It?

Molly — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:00:46 PST

Kelly Clarkson's new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You," quickly made its way onto our iPod workout mixes after it debuted, and it sounds like most of you are on the same page. Now, here's the video for the track featuring a cute but rocky love story between childhood sweethearts and starring Kelly herself. Check it out below and tell us: Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You Video" - love it or leave it?

Link Time! 1/13

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:30:55 PST

Was Neil Patrick Harris the best SNL host this season? - Clique Clack TV
Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You": Love It or Leave It? - PopSugar
Here's a rant on the increasing Slumdog Millionaire backlash now that the movie won some awards. - Cinematical
Gasp! Two Ugly Betty stars are leaving the show? Sad. - Watch With Kristin
Also, Melissa George is leaving Grey's Anatomy. - The Ausiello Files
Aaron Eckhart is hinting at the possible return of his character Two-Face in the next Batman movie. - MTV Movies Blog
Would you go to a screening of Barack Obama's inauguration at a movie theater near you? - CitizenSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 12/24

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:00:10 PST

Clive Owen is in talks to star in a movie titled Cartagena as an undercover agent amid Colombian drug cartels. - Hollywood Reporter
The Screen Actors Guild has delayed a vote that could call for a strike until at least Jan. 14. - The New York Times
Tina Fey has been voted the AP's entertainer of the year. - AP
America's Best Dance Crew will return to MTV on Jan. 15 for season three. - The Futon Critic
Citing "cultural sensitivities," Warner Bros. has decided not to release The Dark Knight in China. - Variety
Dexter co-star Lauren Velez has been cast for multiple episodes on Ugly Betty, but the details of her character might be spoilery. - The Hollywood Reporter
Kelly Clarkson's new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You," will hit U.S. radio outlets Jan. 19. - Billboard
HBO has picked up a series based on the documentary Cocaine Cowboys, to be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. - Zap2it

Source

Why You Shouldn't Eat at Chain Restaurants

Wise Bread — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:15:17 PDT

Think twice about eating at that chain restaurant. Our pal Wise Bread gives reasons why you shouldn't eat there.

I’ll reveal my bias upfront - I can’t stand chain restaurants. From their oversized, cheese-topped portions to the excessive use of adjectives in their menus, grabbing a bite at a big-box just doesn’t hit the spot for me. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the amount of food that people are consuming outside of their own kitchens has been growing pretty steadily since the 1970s, which may account for why chain restaurants seem to keep on multiplying. But despite chains' obvious popularity, I also believe that there are some sound reasons to skip them in favor of smaller local eateries.

There's Too Much Food

One of the top reasons that many people give for favoring chain restaurants is the portion sizes. I get it. When you go to a restaurant, you want to actually eat. I definitely don’t appreciate being presented with a pretentious morsel of an entrée any more than the next girl. If that bite of food is really tasty, it’s almost worse - as if I could be satisfied by taste alone, even when my stomach is empty! At the same time, many of the top chain restaurants boast dishes that top 1,000 calories each. I mean, let’s be honest here - most people could do without those “stacked” and “stuffed” caloric monstrosities. And while many restaurants now offer lower-calorie menus, it’s pretty hard to order those calorie-labeled little offerings when the guy at the next table is ordering a steak that could feed a family of four.

Read on for more.

5 Ways To Leave Your Lover

YourTango — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:00:06 PST

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango.

An accomplished, smart and beautiful woman sits across from me in my office. She tells me about her relationship; the one she appears to be in but her boyfriend doesn't. She has tried to leave him, she assures me (and herself), but every time she manages to walk out that door, he gets to her. She turns around and walks right back in again. Once she's back, he acts like a jerk. Again. Leave. Get sucked back in. Repeat.

Who can't relate to this scenario? God knows, I've been there. Before meeting my husband-to-be, I was in a relationship with a guy who would only show interest in me after I decided to break up with him. To get me back into his orbit he would swear I was the love of his life. As soon as I returned, he would go cold as a dead snake on an iceberg.

What made me take him back more times than was healthy for anyone's tender self-esteem?

We give ourselves a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is that when we allow a guy to treat us as less important than we really are, our self-esteem is critically injured. Once our self-worth is low it is too easy for the ex to come over the wall of our good defenses and pillage what's left of our confidence.

4 Steps to Silence Your Self-Critic, Improve Self-Esteem, & Free Yourself From Guilt & Shame
What remains is fear. Fear that this jerky guy is as good as it gets. Fear of never finding love again. Fear of being alone with a dozen hungry cats for the rest of your life. This fear is so awful we make excuses (cognitive distortions) to stay in a bad or even a 'not good enough' relationship. After all, he's a known entity...right?

Result? The discomfort of sticking with him is not nearly as scary as what your distorted thinking is imagining life without him is like. So you stay put. What's a girl to do? Fight back those nasty, distorted, self-esteem abusing thoughts with empowering, righteous, healthy goddess thoughts, of course!

Here are some typical distorted thoughts with which we lie to ourselves and suggestions for strong self-esteem building self-talk to combat them:

Instead of, "I'm afraid of being alone." Tell yourself, "I am not alone. I'm with Me. I am good company. If I get lonely, I can check out meetup.com or connect with friends I haven't seen in ages. Most importantly, this time is an opportunity to dive into the world of Me and, for a change, listen to my heart first rather than someone else's!"
Instead of, "But the sex is so good!": Tell yourself, "Sweetie, it's time to grow up. The toxic effect he has on my self-esteem when we're not in bed is not worth the price. If I am that horny, I might just explore the exotic, erotic world of self-stimulation. A lot of people say their best orgasms are experienced alone!"

Get the other ideas when you finish reading the rest of the story on YourTango: 5 Ways To Leave Your Lover

Written by Dr. Elvira Aletta for YourTango.

11 Rules to Dramatically Increase Your Productivity

Wise Bread — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:35:04 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

There's a problem with a lot of productivity advice out there, and it's this - your "rules" for personal productivity are often going to be different than mine. Sure, sometimes there's overlap. Sure, you can always learn from others.

But if you want to see a dramatic increase in your productivity, spend less time reading and memorizing other people's rules, and more time figuring out what your own rules are. You'll be more productive and in a way that works with who you are.

So I'm sharing a few of my personal productivity rules. Maybe some of them will work for you or inspire you to think of your own.

1. Small Daily Movements Become Big Accomplishments

I tend to think that I must have big blocks of time in order to get any forward movement. So I hesitate and procrastinate, waiting for that "open time" when I can really push and get a lot done on whatever the current project is.

Turns out, that's a waste of time. Small daily movements add up. It's just that the movements or steps themselves are so small, I think they don't count. They do.

I have to constantly remind myself that I don't need a whole day or a whole week to devote to some project. I just need to take the 10 or 20 minutes I have here and there and use them. I need to achieve a little bit of forward movement every day. That adds up, and it builds momentum, and pretty soon there's been quite a lot accomplished.

For more rules, read after the jump.

The Vampire Diaries "The New Deal": The Good, the Bad, and the Bloody

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:16:02 PST

The Vampire Diaries made its triumphant return after a long hiatus, and boy was this episode worth the wait. It's not the most action-packed episode we've ever seen, but there was a hell of a lot of plot development to make up for that. More specifically, I'm talking about the major OMG moment that happened in the final minutes!

Family is the running theme this week, as Klaus is trying to recover his ~~coffins~~ family members, and naturally he uses Elena's loved ones as bait. Meanwhile, Elena is having some problems relating to Jeremy, who is suddenly acting like his rebellious, season-one self. And, of course, it wouldn't be The Vampire Diaries without some friction between Damon and Stefan. Ready to break down this particularly juicy episode? Just

The Good

That kiss. That kiss. THAT KISS! OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's rewind.
Elena's feeling a little paranoid now that Klaus has disappeared, particularly when a dude starts following her on her morning jog. Turns out that she has a right to be worried: he's one of Klaus's new henchmen. Might I suggest that Elena get a gym membership? Running around alone isn't going to help keep her safe.
Now that Bonnie and Jeremy are over, she's back to being preoccupied with witchy business. She can't stop dreaming of finding four coffins in the dusty old haunted house and doesn't know what to make of the vision. I'd be confused too, especially since she seems to be dressed for clubbing in the dreams.
Jeremy is having his own trouble getting over the breakup, so he turns to Tyler for some day drinking and crossbow practice in the woods. Tyler can't stop crowing about how much he loves being a hybrid, and Elena and Alaric are immediately alarmed by Jeremy's newfound friendship. Jeremy has a point in calling Elena a hypocrite, but it's clear that Tyler is totally brainwashed by Klaus.
While Damon is busy enjoying "brunch in a bottle," Klaus shows up seeking help from Elena and Damon. He promises to leave them alone if they help him find Stefan and Rebekah, but Damon and Elena aren't buying it. Later on, Damon gets the whole coffin story out of Klaus over a drink, but Klaus sees through Damon's faux attempts to bond and decides to send a message to Elena.
That message is using his hitmen Tony and Tyler to hurt Jeremy. The only problem is that Alaric gets Jeremy out of harm's way and ends up getting hit by Tony's car. At least Tyler pushes back with Klaus a little bit when he realizes that Klaus has no problem killing people.
Stefan recruits Bonnie to help him hide the Originals, but Bonnie spills the beans to Elena almost immediately. Elena then confronts Stefan, who is icier than ever and earns himself another slap in the face when he says he doesn't care about Jeremy's well-being.
Damon decides that he's the only one to get through to Stefan, and they engage in a good old-fashioned brotherly staking. Once Damon has Stefan pinned, Stefan confesses that the only reason he let Klaus go was to protect Damon. Here's where I'm confused: if Stefan has no humanity whatsoever, why would he care about what happens to Damon? And if he does have a little bit of a humanity left, why is he still being such a jerk to Elena?
Elena gives Rebekah up to Klaus, believing that it will keep Jeremy safe. It takes about three seconds before Klaus starts threatening every other person in her life, so so much for that idea. However, I did notice that Elena seems much more confident around Klaus, which is an interesting development since I'm so over her damsel in distress act.
Once Elena learns that Jeremy will really never be safe, she takes her big puppy-dog eyes to Damon for help. I can't get enough of the tender moments between them when Damon gets all nurturing and tells her everything will be OK. On her request, he compels Jeremy to leave town and live with friends in Denver and never look back.
And then - the kicker! During introspective porch time, Damon tells Elena the truth about how Stefan saved his life, and admits that he didn't like hearing it because it gives him more reason to feel guilty about his feelings for her. Just when you think that he's about to take off, he turns around and goes for the kiss. The best part? Elena totally reciprocates! It is so on.

The Bad

Tyler is almost insufferable when he's not with Caroline. I loved seeing them as a couple, but now that they're broken up he's back to his obnoxious ways. I'm longing for the days when he was just a werewolf instead of a self-important hybrid.
Is this really the end of Jeremy? I hate that Elena's whole family has disappeared over the course of the seasons, and I find it hard to believe that they couldn't do more with his character.

The Bloody

How crazy did Jeremy look taking that cleaver to the hybrid? I'm just glad that we were spared the gore.
Though there was no blood-sucking this week, watching Alaric cough up his own blood was more than I needed to see. Yuck.

Are you as pleased with this episode as I am? Will you miss Jeremy? And most importantly - do you think we'll be seeing Damon and Elena action on a weekly basis now? Sound off in the comments!

Photo courtesy of The CW

Beautiful Wedding on a Budget: 5 Insider Tips From a Wedding Planner

Yahoo Shine — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:15:52 PDT

We're happy to present this article from one of our favorite sites, Yahoo! Shine:

Sure, it's fun to get all dreamy about having a wedding of Kim Kardashian-proportions. But since most of us won't be wearing a dress that equals several salaries or handing out thousand-dollar baskets of organic soap at the door, it's probably best to (eventually) wisen up about how to plan your own day, your own way. Shine spoke to veteran professional wedding planner Laura Patterson of The Ideal Day in Chicago about how to host an A-list wedding on a budget.

She shared these five insider tips.

How to Work With (Not Against) Your Yoga Instructor

Heather Dale — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:51:00 PDT

I've gone to yoga classes where I grit my teeth for the entire 60 minutes, loathing the teacher with the passing of each second. But then there are those classes where I feel like a halo hangs above my yoga instructor's head, and that she can do no wrong. Having a love/hate relationship with different yoga instructors is perfectly normal. The key is learning to work with your yoga instructor to get the most out of your practice. Here are some tips to help you achieve this.

Buzz Blabber: The Odd Life of Timothy Green Trailer Is Magical

BuzzSugar — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 03:05:00 PDT

This week had you guys buzzing about upcoming movies, like The Odd Life of Timothy Green and The Hunger Games, but you also had a lot to say about the latest developments on True Blood. Check out some of our favorite reader comments below.

You're entranced by the magic of The Odd Life of Timothy Green trailer

"I love this. I don't think there are enough of these kind of magical realism [films]; Big Fish; Tuck Everlasting; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button kind of movies (and I didn't even like Benjamin Button - I just like this genre). It looks sweet and sad; hopefully it's well-written. . . ." - lizlee89
"It brought tears to my eyes!! I can't wait for it to come to theaters. I loved Big Fish as well, Benjamin Button, not so much. These movies help you believe in the magic of what could be."- shoegirl365
"Magical, heartfelt, and sweet. I like it!" - krispin

To find out what else made you guys talk back in comments, just

New Hunger Games pictures draw mixed reactions

"It kinda sucks that they didn't dye Josh's hair but he's a good actor so I'll allow it. Jennifer is rocking the heck out of that hair." - awesomepants
"Josh Hutcherson is a great actor, but I feel like these movies are destined to be terrible." - jrosenberg02
"Jennifer looks amazing - I wasn't convinced when they first cast her but these pictures totally change my mind!" - littlemunchkin

True Blood's new spirit sparks intrigue

"I think the ghost was called to baby Mikey due to whatever Arlene and Holly were doing out in the woods in season 3 when she was asking for Holly's help in getting rid of the baby. Maybe whatever spirit that she and Holly called to them when they were doing that spell, manifested itself to watch over that baby?? I don't know. But I'm sure you can't do those kinds of rituals without calling out something from the spirit world. Arlene might need help from one of the witches to get rid of this spirit, who probably thinks that Arlene doesn't want her baby." - TammyO
"I think Mikey is some sort of baby medium (or maybe not) and [the spirit] just protective of him. Maybe was a nanny in her former life or she lost a child." - HoneyBrown
"If Mikey can see/sense the spirit, I would think he's also a medium or something 'supernatural'...I just wonder if she's protecting him from the creepy-dirty-doll or is a malevolent spirit (possibly connected to creepy-dirty-doll?) I just have to say, though, overall I'm liking this season a lot more than last. The plot seems tighter and is actually moving toward a common purpose, whereas last season, it started strong and kinda floundered toward the end. I can't wait for Eric's memory to come back though!" - dreamalittledream

Photo courtesy of Disney