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Movie Night: Mother's Day Special

BuzzSugar — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:55:26 PDT

In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday May 13, spend a movie night with these great, interesting moms.

Pieces of April
Katie Holmes is surprisingly cool and down-to-earth as April, a young woman who's hosting her family's Thanksgiving dinner at her New York apartment. April dreads and resists the event, having been estranged from her mother for years. Yet now her mother is terminally ill, and this Thanksgiving may be her last. April has help from her boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke) in preparing the meal, but everything still manages to go awry and April finds support in unexpected places. Though the subject matter is heavy, the story is actually humorous and redemptive. The ever-great Patricia Clarkson plays April's ailing mother as pitiable, human and very funny.

Two more if you

read more Thirteen This may not seem like standard Mother's Day fare - it's certainly no Steel Magnolias, say. But the bond between the teenage daughter and her mother by the end is so achingly beautiful you'll feel a surge of gratitude towards your own mother (or mother figure) for having helped you through those extremely difficult years. Holly Hunter plays the harried mother of a thirteen-year-old "good girl" Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) whose life spirals out of control when she befriends the popular, reckless Evie. Evie introduces Tracy to a variety of risky behaviors, from tongue piercings to drugs to casual sex. It's a startling look at the dangers teenagers often have to confront and the challenges these pose for modern-day parents. Laurel Canyon In Lisa Cholodenko's indie sleeper from 2002, Frances McDormand plays the archetypal irresponsible mom, who embarrasses her own kid but seems impossibly cool to his friends. Jane (McDormand) is a successful record producer with a hip pad in Laurel Canyon and a string of hot young boyfriends. But her hard-partying ways don't sit well with her very responsible son Sam (Christian Bale), who has just finished his residency and gotten engaged to a proper young lady named Alex (Kate Beckinsale). When Sam brings Alex home to mom, his fiancee is seduced by Jane's exciting lifestyle, and Sam's relationship with his mom takes on a new dimension. Pieces of April photos source Source

15 Salty Snacks Under 150 Calories

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:34:00 PST

If you're craving something salty, don't reach for greasy potato chips. Here are 15 low-calorie healthy snacks that are sure to satisfy your salty desires.

Four-ounce snack-size container of low-fat cottage cheese: 81 calories, 459 mg of sodium
Salted cashews (16 nuts): 147 calories, 77 mg of sodium
One and a half cups of edamame in pods: 150 calories, 45 mg of sodium
Two and a half cups of oil-popped popcorn: 138 calories, 243 mg of sodium
A quarter of an avocado (80 calories, 4 mg of sodium) topped with one tablespoon salted sunflower seeds (47 calories, 33 mg of sodium): 127 calories, 37 mg of sodium

Continue reading to see 10 more salty snacks under 150 calories.

Breaking Dawn's Nikki Reed Sets Her Sights on Dexter!

Lauren Turner — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:12:00 PST

Nikki Reed popped up in San Francisco last week to promote Breaking Dawn Part 1 with costars Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, and Charlie Bewley. We chatted with the cast about the upcoming film and the Twilight stars shared their plans for the future as well. Nikki told us she has her sights set on Dexter, though she also opened up about shooting difficult Twilight scenes and the important person in her life who she won't let see the series.

Nikki on why she wishes Twilight could go on: "It's nice knowing you have a job. I'm just being honest. People want to make it more dramatic than it is, it's not like we were on a TV show that got cancelled out of the blue and it's such a big shock. We knew how many books there were going into it and then there was a fourth book that came out later and that was made into two so we've been given a bonus trip. I'm very grateful we made it as far as we did and I'm very positive about the future."

Nikki on difficult Breaking Dawn set conditions: "We shot this battle scene for the second movie in a warehouse that was filled with fake snow, and it was giving everybody eye infections. Also, the wedding is absolutely beautiful but what no one sees is that we were standing in 25 degree weather and it's raining and muddy and you're walking in your beautiful dress."

Nikki on her husband Paul McDonald watching her movies: "I won't let him see the Twilight series. He hasn't seen any of the films. He saw Lords of Dogtown when it was on TV, and he watched Thirteen - I watched it with him."

Nikki on her small screen aspirations: "I would love to be on a TV show. I love True Blood. Right now what I'm fighting for is Dexter. There's no role right now but I'm waiting, I love Dexter so much I can't sleep at night because I'm waiting for Dexter."

Link Time: Melted Cheese, DIY Halloween Decor, and More

YumSugar — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:16:05 PDT

Cheese-meltingly hot creations to try right now. - Food Republic
The secrets behind delicious-looking food commercials. - Yahoo! Shine
A new study shows sweet tooths may be sweeter people. - Delish
Creepy DIY Halloween decor. - The Daily Meal
Some supermarkets are refusing to sell Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls ice cream. - Eater
Whoa, Nelly: the majority of Americans haven't dined out in a year. - Seattle Weekly
Thirteen cheeses everyone should know. - Serious Eats
Making quinoa cakes at home with Gail Simmons. - KitchenDaily

Source: Flickr User pink_fish13

Google's a Teenager! 13 of the Year's Best Google Doodles

Kelly Schwarze — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:54:23 PDT

Thirteen years ago today Google was born in a legendary Palo Alto garage. In honor of its first year as a teenager, we've compiled our favorite Google doodles of 2011.

A way of celebrating the birthdays of pop culture legends and national milestones, the Google Doodle is a nod to the playful side of the company with a day-long redesign of its corporate logo on the site's homepage. The Google Doodle concept started while the search giant was still in its infancy when founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin added a stick figure to the logo as a way of saying they were out of the office attending Burning Man in the Nevada desert. Over 1,000 doodles have appeared on Google homepages in the US and abroad in the years since.

A team of Google designers work on the doodles, but they are open to receiving suggestions and doodles themselves from the public.

Dakota Fanning Celebrates Her High School Graduation With Kudos From Her Little Sister Elle!

Allie Merriam — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:24:20 PDT

Dakota Fanning passed a big milestone yesterday by graduating from high school in LA! The ceremony took place at the Disney Concert Hall, and Dakota's family, including her little sister Elle, were on hand to offer congratulations. Dakota came to the end of her four years at one of the city's most prestigious private academies, and now she's bound for college. She was spotted checking out East Coast universities like NYU two Summers ago, though she has yet to announce which one is her destination this Fall. Thirteen-year-old Elle will stay behind in California, focusing on her own studies and blossoming movie career. Elle Fanning wore Dolce & Gabbana to Sunday's MTV Movie Awards, where she made the rounds to promote her upcoming J. J. Abrams movie Super 8.

Rest Up! Study Suggests Sleepy People Eat More

Michele Foley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:54:13 PDT

People who sleep less, eat more - about 300 calories more per day. A Columbia University study looked at the eating habits of sleep-deprived individuals and found that not only do they eat more, but they also choose unhealthy foods.

Thirteen men and 13 women were kept in a controlled environment for six days at a time on two separate occasions. During one visit they were allowed nine hours of bedtime, on the next, four hours. For the first four days of each visit, the group was kept on the same diet; researchers then allowed participants to eat anything they wanted to on day five. On the fifth day, participants ate an average of 300 more calories when sleepy compared to the previous visit when they were well rested. Interestingly, the added calories did not come from eating more simply because they were up for an extra five hours. Most of the participants stuck to their normal eating times, but chose foods high in saturated fats during these meals.

While the study is small, in both size and scope, researchers feel that it may provide evidence for a link between sleep and obesity. Previous research has shown that lack of sleep is linked to weight gain because the body functions poorly when sleep-deprived and ends up storing more fat. Just another reason to make sure that you're getting enough sleep.

A Teenage Boy Makes Bacon-Scented Candles

Annie Tomlin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:00:47 PDT

Watch out, Yankee Candle. Thirteen-year-old Hart Main is hot on your trail. The teenage entrepreneur has created a line of candles scented with "masculine" aromas like buttered popcorn, grass, garage, sawdust, and bacon. Each hand-poured Mancans candle is packaged in an empty soup can (Hart reuses them after donating food to a soup kitchen) and shipped from his central Ohio home. And if that weren't enough, the budding wax mogul makes his own commercials to show how his product can magically transform Justin Bieber into one of the manliest men in music history:

Count Your Roses to Decode Your Valentine's Hidden Message

Colleen Barrett — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:50:35 PST

"The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem," said Shakespeare. No day is that truer than on Valentine's Day, when Cupid's preferred arrow is a red rose. Never mind that 53 percent of women said red roses are cheesy in our Valentine's Day survey with Ask Men, most men think they're classic.

As old superstitions fade and Emily Post-like etiquette evolves, you're probably not counting the number of roses or orchids or hydrangeas you received today (or, like most people, didn't). But the number of roses a man once gave a woman held hidden meanings, so check out what your Valentine either intentionally or, more likely, unintentionally told you today.

One rose: Love at first sight, or years later "you are still the one."
Two roses: Mutual love and affection . . . so you may owe him two roses!
Three roses: The traditional three-month anniversary gift also simply means "I love you."
Six roses: Infatuation, or "I want to be yours."
Nine roses: A big jump up from six, nine roses symbolize eternal love or "I want to be with you forever."
10 roses: A perfect 10 means "You are perfection."
12 roses: A dozen is like picking the best heart from a Sweetheart candy box, it means "Be Mine."
13 roses: Thirteen may be a baker's dozen, but not so in love. Its meaning is actually disputed: Teleflora says it means you'll be friends forever, but several other sources, like Love Letter Box, say it means you have a secret admirer.
15 roses: Does he have a reason to apologize? Because 15 roses means "I'm sorry." If not, take it as credit for future remorse.
20 roses: The red starts to get excessive around 20, and supposedly that means "Believe me, I am sincere toward you." Usually, sincerity does not need to be proved with quantity, but that's just me!

People send more than 20. See what they mean below.

Neti Pot Use Could Cause Sinus Problems?

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:15:00 PST

Pollen and cat fur are not my friends, and when I become so stuffed up I can't smell a thing, I turn to my neti pot. It looks like a little teapot. You fill it with warm salt water, place the spout in one nostril and as the water passes through your nasal passages and comes out the other nostril; it helps get rid of irritants and mucus so you can breathe easier. I know it sounds medieval, but it really works whether I'm stuffed up from smelling flowers or if I have a cold. Last Spring I was happy to hear that science backed up the use of a neti pot to relieve congestion, but I've got some bad news for my fellow neti pot lovers. A new study shows that long-term use of the neti pot can actually cause sinus problems. The study followed 68 people who used their neti for a year, and then took a break for a year. The rate of sinusitis actually dropped by 62 percent in the year that the participants stopped using the neti pot.

Researchers believe that the mucus in your nasal passages acts as a defense against infection, and flushing it away disrupts your body's immune function. They recommend that neti pots be used every once in a while to relieve congestion, but should not be used daily for an extended period of time. If you have issues with constantly being stuffed up, see your doctor so they can help figure out the cause of your congestion and how to treat it.

If you've never heard of a neti pot and want to see how it's used, check out a how-to video when you

read more.
Source: Flickr User Thirteen Of Clubs