The Fab Gal

Labels: celebrity trends, fab gal, Jamie Lynn Spears, Juno, media, teen pregnancy

Labels: Coco Chanel, Dolly Parton, fab gal, Fannie Flagg, Jennifer Lopez, Jordin Sparks, Judy Garland, Katie Couric, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Oprah, quotes, top 10

Have you ever watched a little kid and noticed how comfortable they are in their own skin? I think it's so funny - they know themselves and what they need better than a lot of adults. I don't think you would ever catch a little kid pinching their fat in the mirror or overeating or getting mad at themselves. Kids have this amazing ability to know what their bodies need, no worries. It's intuition - but somewhere along the way we lose it.

I know how it is, Fab Gals: life is really crazy. Once you start to grow up, there's school and friends and everything is changing all the time. There's a lot of pressure, and sometimes it feels amazing just to make it through the day in one piece! Don't get me wrong - there are major perks to being a teen. I know I didn't get a cell phone or to go to the mall by myself when I was 5. And it's nice to be away from time-outs and footie pajamas.

Maybe, though, we can tap into some of the things that we knew as a kid. Intuitive eating, a new big movement in health, is a "no-diet" philosophy that is based on listening to your body, eating what you want, and stopping when you're full. Nobody knows how to do that better than a kid! Kids are truly free spirits - they live in the moment and are who they are, no complaints. And they enjoy themselves! There's no reason we can't have that too.

So go ahead Fab Gals- grab a jump rope. Make Kool-Aid. Wear jelly shoes. Then pick up your cell and go to the mall. Just remember: you know who you are and what you need, you just have to listen. Leave room for your imagination and room to grow. And always feel free to play.

What about you, FGs? What do you miss about being a kid? What are the best (and worst) parts of being the age you are? Leave a comment to let me know what you think!

xoxo

The Fab Gal

Labels: being yourself, fab gal, intuition, listening to your body, play

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - You probably learned the three R's in kindergarten, and it was no mistake. The best way to do your part is to reduce what ends up in the landfill. Start dividing out your papers and plastics at home, then find a local recycling center.


• BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) - When you go shopping, reduce the amount of bags you waste by bringing your own totes. There are all kinds of cute options, like the ones at Delight.com (that's where Cameron Diaz gets hers!).


• Unplug - When you're done with your electronics, don't just turn off - unplug 'em! They are still wasting energy, even if you hit the off switch. Or you can plug it all - your cell phone charger, blow dryer, etc. - into a power strip, and turn it off when you leave the room.


• The Light Switch - Switching your regular light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones can save a lot of energy over time. The curly bulbs look silly at first, but you really won't notice any difference.


• Water Works - Saving water is just as important as saving electricity. Cutting back your time in the shower by a few minutes and turning of the faucet when you're not using it has a big impact.

So there it is FGs - some easy tips for helping the environment and going green. I'm sure the polar bears will thank you for it.

What have YOU done to go green, Fab Gal? Do you think this is a trend that will last? Leave a comment to let me know what you think!

xoxo

The Fab Gal

PS - if you are a Myspace user, make sure to add me at http://www.myspace.com/thefabgal!

Labels: environmentalism, fab gal, going green, recycling

Hey there Fab Gals!

I don't know about you, but I had to watch Camp Rock this weekend... and then two times more. I confess: I love musicals, and I love the Jonas Brothers. Even still, the reasons I loved it so much was I could totally relate to Mitchie, and I'm pretty sure every Fab Gal can in some way.

Mitchie is a girl with a dream, who unfortunately has been "invisible" for too long. She keeps herself that way, because she's afraid. She's afraid the person she is isn't someone worth any attention, but she is so wrong. When we're not sure of ourselves, we do bad things - like lying that our mom is the president of Hot Tunes China when she's really a cook. Yikes! So some of us haven't gone that far, but we all know what it's like - lying, being with someone who's mean to us to be popular, hiding who we are, trying to blend in. But that is no way to live our lives.

All movie long, we think:  Gosh Mitchie! What are you doing? You are so talented and beautiful and unique! Why are you letting Tess push you around? You could be kissing Shayne right now! Okay, so that's what I was thinking. Of course, this is a movie - real life isn't as obvious sometimes. But for all you know, someone around you might be thinking the same thing. Once you decide to live your life your way, things will fall into place, and you won't have to be invisible. You, Fab Gal, deserve to be the star of your life - no one else! Who knows what's waiting for you - new friends, fabulous opportunities, a Jonas Brother - to stop hiding and start being who you want to be.

What about you, FG? Did you watch Camp Rock? Love it? Hate it? Have you been hiding who you really are? Leave a comment to let me know (see the "how-to" guide on the left for help!).

No more hiding who I want to be...This is me

xoxo

The Fab Gal

PS - You can always keep in touch with me at fabgalsite@gmail.com or the Fab Gal Myspace.

Labels: being yourself, Camp Rock, fab gal, individuality, self-confidence

Labels: Aly and AJ, Carrie Underwood, Cheetah Girls, Demi Lovato, fab gal, Hannah Montana, Jessica Simpson, Jonas Brothers, Julianne Hough, music, Taylor Swift, top 10, Vanessa Hudgens

Labels: fab gal, insecurities, My Feet Aren't Ugly, self-confidence

• Don't add people you don't know - It might seem self-explanatory, but a lot of gals ignore this rule. The Internet might seem safe, but you have no clue what is really happening on the other side. Your mama said don't talk to strangers, and the Internet is no different.
• Watch what you put on your profile - Do not put any personal contact info, like your address or cell phone number on your page, and set your profile to private (each site will allow you to change security settings). And as a general guideline, don't put anything up you wouldn't want your grandma to see.
• Don't take nasty messages - If someone starts to harass you online, stop communications right away. Myspace, as well as the other sites, will let you block or report a cyber-bully.
• Listen to your intuition - If something or someone makes you feel uncomfortable, don't hesitate. Your intuition is usually right, so don't ignore it.

Hopefully that helps set you on the right path. Learn more about cyberbullying at STOP Cyberbullying. If you are a myYearbook user, sign the Megan Pledge to prevent cyberbullying.

How about you, FG? Do you use Myspace, Facebook, myYearbook, or another social networking site? Leave a comment to let me know what you think about them.

xoxo

The Fab Gal

FG Update: Check out the new poll feature located on the side!

Labels: cyberbullying, Facebook, internet safety, Myspace, myYearbook, social networking sites

Labels: change, fab gal, individuality, Labels, yearbooks

1. Legally Blonde: I love this one! Elle Woods starts out really ditzy at first, and she chases a boy to Harvard (Bad Idea!). But in the end, she realizes she doesn't need him to be a fabulous, always-pink lawyer.

2. Miss Congeniality: An FBI agent turned beauty queen? No way. Of course, she is reluctant at first, but she learns a LOT about judging appearances (and what the pageant girls really use hairspray for...).

3. Hairspray: Super-fun music and a good music. Tracy Turnblad is a crazy girl trying to live her dream and have fun along the way. Sounds like some Fab Gals I know.

4. What a Girl Wants: Of course, I love Amanda Bynes! In this one, she gets in some wild situations as she tries to get to know her father - who happens to be royalty - and figure out who she is. Super-cute ending!

5. The Devil Wears Prada: Scary fashion villain alert! Andy Sachs tries to break into the journalism world by working at Runway magazine, but gets wrapped up in the superficial life of the fashion world.

6. Super Sweet 16: Based on the TV show, two best friends get in a major party war to have the biggest blow-out. Although the girls on the show never seem to learn, I promise this one turns out well! Plus - Aly & AJ rock!

7. Pillow Talk: If you don't know who Doris Day is, you should! She was an actress in the '60s, and the ultimate Fab Gal. Her characters were always classy, successful, and wouldn't fall into any guy's trap... until she falls in love. Aww!

8. A Cinderella Story: A modern-day version of the classic, starring one of my faves - Hilary Duff. It's safe to say that the evil stepmomgets what she deserves in the end, and the "princess" finds her Prince Charming.

9. The Little Mermaid: You've gotta love this one! My favorite part is that Ariel never stops dreaming or going on adventures. She wouldn't have found her prince if she didn't!

10. Mean Girls: Fab Gals gone bad! Cady learns her lesson after getting wrapped up in the glam but troubled life of "The Plastics." Very funny, too!

Enough about me, what is on your Top 10 list, Fab Gal? Leave a comment to let me know!

xoxo

The Fab Gal

PS - I'm going to be adding polls and working on the site to make this more fun and interactive for us. If you have any suggestions, write to me at fabgalsite@gmail.com.

Labels: A Cinderella Story, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, Miss Congeniality, movies, Pillow Talk, Super Sweet 16, The Devil Wears Prada, The Little Mermaid, top 10, What a Girl Wants

Labels: beauty, fab gal, self esteem, self-confidence

Labels: fab gal, shopping tips, swimsuit shopping

Labels: drama, fab gal, gossip, self-confidence

Labels: Amanda Bynes, Atoosa, Dolly Parton, Ellen Degeneres, fab gal, Hayden Panettiere, Hilary Duff, Jessica Weiner, Marilyn Monroe, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, top 10

Hey Fab Gals!

So I try my best to stay aways from the celebrity gossip scene, because I know how nasty and (mostly) untrue it is. But there was one recent piece that caught my attention: the Miley Cyrus photos. There was the infamous Vogue shoot, but even before that there were some silly pictures of her and her friends at a slumber party. After the first set, people labeled her as gross, inappropriate, and a lesbian. Then after the Vogue pics, outrage ensued – and people were calling to have her kicked of Hannah Montana.

What this made me wonder is this: Why are we so angry? Sure, over the past year, Miley has become a role model for millions of young girls, and I think for the most part she has been a stellar one. But she also a 15 year-old, a living, breathing teenage girl. She won’t get it right all the time. But we put celebrities at this super-high level, like they’re our Barbie dolls, or the cool kids we’ll never be. Then when they fall down, it’s hard to remember that they really aren’t part of a different world. Maybe it’s jealousy, maybe it’s our expectations for ourselves, whatever – but it’s not fair.

Then when parents started calling for her to be removed from her own show, I was stunned. Of course, they were worried about what kind of example she was setting for their daughters, but what message would it send if they kicked her off? That if you mess up, that’s it – no second chances? I’ll be perfectly honest: I know that somewhere, in the messy corners of my closet, that I too have some silly, goofy photos from slumber parties past that yea, okay, I would be really embarrassed if anyone saw. But that doesn’t make me a bad girl, and I would like to think that no one would respect me any less if they got into the wrong hands.

Fab Gals are bound to mess up, but they know that it’s all about handling your mistakes with style and class. Miley  proved her Fab Gal status – she apologized to whomever she offended, learned her lesson, and moved on. Case closed.

What do you think Fab Gal, do we put too much pressure on young celebs? How would you want to be treated if you were in Miley’s position? How do you handle your slip-ups?

Let me know what you think FGs, and check back tomorrow for the countdown of my top 10 fave Fab Gals.

xoxo

The Fab Gal

P.S. - Below is a video of the Miley & Mandy show, Miley Cyrus’s Youtube web show with her BFF. Totally unrelated, but it’s fun to see what two Fab Gals will do with a camera…

Labels: celebrity gossip, fab gal, media, Miley Cyrus

Do you believe everything you see?  Or rather, do you buy everything you are sold?  The media is a powerful thing, and unless you’ve been living in a cave, it’s pretty much unavoidable.  TV, billboards, magazines, those signs on the side of the bus – they’re everywhere, 24/7.  And they’re always selling something.  As much as I’d love to believe that we don’t buy into it all – the diet pills and the waif-y models – we must, because otherwise the selling would stop.

Well there is a new movement against all of that – Time magazine calls it body activism, or a type of civil disobedience against the nasty media.  High school and college girls have been participating in a program called the Body Project, with a high success rate at preventing eating disorders.  They talk about and critique the images they have been sold, but here is the intriguing part:  they have to come up with some type of nonviolent act against the media they disprove of, like leaving body-love notes in the diet books at a bookstore or writing letters to Mattel about Barbies.

Since I’m always one to stir up some good trouble, I had to try it for myself.  On a recent afternoon shopping trip, I pulled out my pen and notepad and headed to Barnes & Noble.  I wrote out just a few notes, like “You are too beautiful to waste life dieting,” and when the coast was clear I snuck over to the Diet section (btw – I’m not sure why I was sneaking around, since it’s obviously not illegal.  It just felt like I was breaking some sort of code, like “The Media” is the Godfather that’s always watching).  Anyways, I decided to find the trashiest diet books possible, and was shocked to find how easy it was.  They were everywhere – the “Fat Flush Diet,” the “Hot Latin Diet,” the “Skinny Bitch Diet.”  None of them sounded healthy or normal, or very nice for that matter.  It was a little sad to think, Are we that desperate to be thin that we are going to buy into something that doesn’t even sound healthy?  And what does the Skinny Bitch know that I don’t?

So if you need a reality check, I would definitely recommend this exercise.  It’s eye-opening to see what we have been buying into. 

But what do YOU think Fab Gal?  Is the media to blame for our negative body images?  What have you been sold that you really don’t want to believe in?  Most importantly, how do we change it? 

I’d love to hear from you FGs, and as always I can be reached at fabgalsite@gmail.com. 

xoxo

The Fab Gal

Check out the article in Time, Taking on the Thin Ideal

Labels: body activism, fab gal, media, Time

Labels: fab gal, girls, teens