Today, Friday, December 7, is the one-year anniversary of  the day that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius surprisingly overruled the Food and Drug Administration on emergency contraception, also known as Plan B or EC.  Last year, Sebelius refused to allow emergency contraceptives to be sold over the counter to young teenagers.

Here’s what happened: First FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg announced that it was safe to sell Plan B over the counter after consulting studies and the agency’s scientists.   (keep reading)

(A note before I bluntly begin: this post is an emotional, visceral reaction to an openly racist piece of writing. If you think the only “appropriate” manner in which to discuss race is to sit in a circle and join hands and talk calm, cool and collected, let me direct you to Derailing for Dummies.)

I started my morning with a gynecologist appointment, so it already hadn’t been the most fun of days. (keep reading)

Every year when the leaves start changing I get super nostalgic for a certain type of drink, a particular scarf, a long hiking trail and the perfectly fitting music for the weather change. Being a born and raised New England gal I used to cruise the backroads with my hand out the window blasting music as the chill hit my face. (keep reading)

WAY TO GO, AMERICA. WE DID IT!!!!!!!

On top of re-electing President Obama, who has made it clear time and time again how pro-woman he is, we also elected a whole bunch of badass ladies into office. Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin will become the first openly gay senator, Mazie Hirono from Hawaii the first ever Asian-American woman, Tammy Duckworth from Illinois the first female disabled veteran elected to the House of Representatives, and Elizabeth Warren the first female senator for Massachusetts. (keep reading)

It’s Halloween and I’m dressed as Rose from Titanic. It’s possibly my most embarrassingly hilarious costume ever–I’m wearing a long tank top I painted to look like a naked body and the Heart of the Ocean necklace and I want you to draw me wearing this and only this. We’re outside of a party on the stoop, some of us are smoking cigarettes and others are chatting and I’m holding a small plastic cup of clementine vodka and 7-Up when a police van rolls by real slow and then stops. (keep reading)

Hey guys! Hope everyone is still doing well. I know everyone here at LL survived the storm, but the weather has definitely set us back this week. Half of our mods live in NYC and have a lot going on right now, so we’re going to resume posting next week. (We may be back sooner!) Just wanted to give a little update since I know some people were worried. (keep reading)

Now that Hurricane Sandy is almost upon us, I hope all you East Coasters have stocked up on enough supplies to make it through the next couple of days. (I went out and got Spam and Cheetos, TYVM.) Although the power here in Philly hasn’t gone out yet, I don’t think it’s going to hold out through the night. It’s getting windier as the day goes on and Sandy hasn’t even hit the shore yet. (keep reading)

Remember when you would sit at your boombox for hours listening to the radio to catch that one song because you just HAD to have it on a mix tape you were compiling for your crush? (Because we all know the way to a 14 year old boys heart is K-Ci and JoJo.)  Well, I hope to make you feel that way once a week with my Spotify playlists, except now you can download them and not have to rewind the tape. (keep reading)

Sometimes one of the bravest things you can do is go to a party alone. That and playing dead around a bear. It’s a toss-up. I don’t know if this is limited to women, but all my lady friends have issues going to parties alone. The usual fears swim about in our heads: what if I wind up sitting in the corner all by myself? (keep reading)