I’m soooo psyched right now to be going away to a friend’s cottage in Upstate New York for the Labor Day Weekend. As I was frantically packing this morning and running late for work in turn, these are the following things I just couldn’t leave the house without. They are the “must have with you”s while away at the country house, chilling with a bunch of young people and drinking coors lights and swimming in the lake all weekend:

• Sunscreen
• Shades
• Manicure-Pedicure (get it beforehand of course)
• 2 pairs of bikinis / bathing suits
• A deck of playing cards – for low key tired evenings, or drinking games
• A fashion magazine or two, or a light and “fluffy” summer novel like Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
• A huge beach towel
• Lotsa cash for Coors Lights and Bud Lights

Things to leave behind:

• Your laptop
• Your E-Leash (aka BlackBerry)

Enjoy your long weekend ladies! xoxo!

- 20somethingirl

I have always wondered how couples that work together bear to stand
each other and stick it out day in and day out, with each other, every
single second of the day!

I work in the same company as my BF but in separate departments and we
never see each other in the office unless we specifically plan to meet
for lunch or coffee.

I’ve seen an older married couple working together very closely at a
previous job I had and it was slightly strange. It was weird to see
the boss treat his wife as any other employee and get mad at her, and
it was equally weird to see him being extra harsh on her because she
was his wife or being rude or dismissive towards her in a personal
rather than professional way.

For sometime, I thought it would have been cool to work with my future
partner and maybe open up a business together, but now that I’m older
and have a better taste of working life, I realize that is clearly a
horrible idea.

Here’s my advice to 20 somethings or 30 somethings, or women in
general is that if you can avoid it, DON’T get in business with your
husband or boyfriend!

Look at what happened to the Magnolia bakery girls – they were BFFs and then
broke up after going into business together.

A little separation in a relationship will only make the time spent
together more special, so keep work and love separate. That’s this
naive and inexperienced 20 something girl’s 2 cents.

This only works on TV! and NOT in reality.

I have to admit that the thought of marriage is super scary to me; that is the thought of being with someone forever and ever, and also the thought of breaking up with someone who you live with and are completely dependent on.

.. In sociology and psychology classes in college, I learnt that the likelihood of divorce increases by something like 50% if you cohabitate before tying the knot. That’s an added 50% risk you are taking on top of the terrible divorce stats these days, (everyone knows that half of all marriages in North America end in divorce). So, in the end, if you live together, statistically, the chances of you staying married and not getting divorced is ONLY 25%!!!

Think about it, and don’t do it.

I hate to admit it, but the following article from www.drlauraberman.com actually says it quite well:

• According to DrLauraBerman.com, these are the reasons why you should NOT move in together with your boyfriend before marriage.
• Heaps of studies over the past two decades have found a higher risk of divorce among couples who live together before marriage. While some of this may be explained by the fact that less-traditional people are more willing to live together before marriage — and perhaps more willing to end a marriage in which they’re unhappy — studies still find that playing house before you are actually Mr. and Mrs. can decrease your chances of ending up happily-ever-after. With nearly half of all couples deciding to move in together at some point in their relationship, this is an important correlation to consider.
• Living together before marriage may weaken a couple’s conflict resolution skills and willingness to compromise. When you know that you can walk away at any time, working through difficult relationship problems is less of a priority. And that can be a hard habit to break once you’re married.

Lower My Bills is one of the advertisers on the site that I work for, and one of our users hates their flash ad so much, that she went through the trouble of making this little depiction of her feelings. Since I feel exactly the same, I thought I’d share it here:

I was at a Rare Bar the other day and happened to overhear two older gentlemen, in their late 30s and early 40s talking about how young they should go when dating girls. The gentleman in his 40s was trying to convince the one in his late 30s that he can go as low as a 24 year old girl.

And at that point, I moved myself away from this conversation. haha.

Anyway, after consulting with my fab coworker Lauren the next day, I was informed about the golden rule in dating older men. Here it is:
The girl should be at least half the man’s age, plus 7.
So let’s say the man is 30, the girl should not be any younger than 22. (30/2=15, +7=22).

Although I personally think that’s pushing it a little.

Purple Skinny Jeans

I bought a pair of skinny jeans on Wednesday for $12! from Regine‘s in Spanish Harlem, my neighbourhood. So excited to wear them!
I would never have spent money of “purple” jeans unless they were so cheap and they fit me perfectly. I’m not that experimental with jeans and specially colored jeans, so this will be interesting. I hope I can pull it off. That’s why I plan to wear it in a very basic style, like the pic below:

Image via Wikipedia Have you ever had the street light randomly turn off just as you walk underneath it? If it has happened to you, like it has to me, you are not alone.

It is not a ghost, or a spirit that’s following you, or Casper, it’s called Street Light Interference.

I was freaked out for the longest time about this, but just today Jenny told me that it happens to her too, and many others.

Read this wikipedia article for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_light_interference

I’m sure that last year many of invested in ankle boots… (well, I did). So the big questions is, will it look too “last year” if we pull them out of our shoe racks and wear them this year?

According to In Style magazine, ankle boots are actually “in this fall. However, the In Style recommendations are ‘updated’ from last year.

This fall’s ancle boots are platformed, open-toed and brightly coloured.

But, there is still hope for your pair from last year. Here is how to wear you ankle boots in the Fall or Winter of 2008:

• Wait till late fall to wear them, at which point pair them with light coloured tights.
• dress them down – wear the ankle boots even if they are patent leather and super shiny, with skinny jeans, faded cotton on woolen tights.
• Dress it down even more with a big “boyfriend” hoody or relaxed extra long cardigan.
• Wear them in so it looks like they are a part of your daily wardrobe rather than you trying to make a fashion statement.

If you’ve got any more tips or styles for your ankle boots, send them my way! email: 20somethingirl@gmail.com