What do I do with all my old bras?
I’m going to need a new wardrobe and I’m sure I’ll be dropping off a lot of stuff at charity shops. But… can I do that with bras? Would you buy a second hand booby wrangler? What do you do with bras that are okay, but just don’t fit you anymore?
What do you serve a raw vegan for the holidays?
My sister-in-law is a raw vegan and I’m stumped when it comes to including her in holiday meals. Any suggestions on holiday, raw vegan food?
Give the gift of nerdy custom fashion with this nerdy screenprinting tutorial
My fiancé and would like to honor our friends with some gifts. They are all somewhat nerdy about one thing or another. So we’ve decided to DIY screenprint a symbol for each person that refers to their specific nerdy thing: Next Gen, Original Series, Doctor Who, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and Star Wars. Here’s the DIY screenprinting tutorial…
I think I’ve had three husbands: Navigating spousal career changes
Preacher’s wife. Teacher’s wife. Accountant’s wife. Huh? Yeah, I’ve been all three. And in the relatively short (five years) of marriage, I have found that with each career change my husband embarks on, I am challenged with re-learning how I perceive myself, my husband and our relationship.
The internet, the self, the furries, and you: we need to all watch this presentation so we can talk about it
In September, I went to a conference down in Portland called XOXO Festival. One speaker named Mike Rugnetta gave a talk called Disintermediation of Self. In it, Mike poked deep into the bowels of social psychology of both identity development, and community development on the internet. This talk was SO up my alley. Like, custom-catered to the things I like to think about. And with this talk, Mike’s basically stared deep into the deepest, weirdest parts of the Offbeat Empire readership’s minds. HE KNOWS, you guys. HE KNOWS. You need to watch this talk, and we need to talk about it.
Awesome-looking, space-saving tables for small space hosting
My husband and I recently downsized to a pretty amazing 875-square-foot apartment, and because of that we sold a lot of our furniture (including the kitchen table). So with the holidays coming up, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for awesome-looking, space-saving tables that could easily be folded up once the guests are gone?
Wàiguórén family dinner: how I preserve my identity while living abroad
My name is Nicole, or Nikki to my friends. But, every day for the last 15 months, my name has been 外国人 (Wàiguórén) — “Foreigner.” In America, I was the oldest sister to three brothers. I was the chick at the bar all by her happy self, reading a book while drinking beer. I was the girl who went pale at the thought of starting a conversation with a complete stranger (and for a rather dark-skinned African-American, that’s a feat). But here in China, my identity has come down to one word. Wàiguórén. Foreigner. Outsider. One who does not belong. But I’m also the one who, every few weeks, hosts a family dinner. For me, and I think for many of us, those family dinners are a safe space.
My tattoo is beautiful… so why am I regretting it?
Earlier this year, I decided to go ahead with my plans for a half-sleeve tattoo. The tattoo itself is beautiful, and for a very long time I was happy with it, but now I’m feeling some regrets. I don’t want to get rid of it; I want to love it. I want to learn how to accept not only this part of my body, but other parts of myself.