more about: blogger contest

Drumroll, please! RealSimple.com editors read through hundreds of entries to select this pool of nine finalists in our 2nd Annual Simply Stated Blogger Contest. You can read each of the nine finalists essays here on Simply Stated, and then head to Facebook to read and vote for your favorites. And mark it on you calendar, you can vote for each […]

Walking is Overrated Anyway I got my first job, fresh out of college. Okay, I’ll admit that I spent several months adjusting to the reality that, for the second time in my life I had been flung unprepared into the world with little more than a slap and a “Congratulations!” But once the shock wore off, I managed to land […]

May I have a minute of your time? My friend’s company does political polling.  You know, the ones that make annoying calls at dinnertime asking your opinion on the Mayor’s stance on crime or a Senator’s voting record.  The answers are tallied and reported back with the hopes that findings result in policy change or funding or (let’s face it) […]

As if the act of leaving home weren’t enough, the beginning of college is a whirlwind of stress, excitement, and utter confusion that even the best Judy Blume book cannot prepare you for. Some react with recklessness, diving headfirst into curfew-less life by refusing to sleep, eating Cheetos for breakfast, and shamelessly laundering colors along with delicates. Me? I reacted […]

Red silky hair. A dazzling smile. Charm that’ll knock your socks off. How could you resist? Sure, it’s 11:00 p.m. and your body is telling you its tired, but he’s just too tempting to say ‘no’ to. You finally give in, and surrender – mind, body, and soul – to the best late night comedian around, Conan O’Brien. (I should […]

I quit the neighborhood playgroup. In return, I experienced a lot of mommy guilt. I never wanted to join a playgroup. I’m fickle, noncommittal and quite frankly, was scared of them. Playgroups seemed to me an incubator for my generation’s special brand of over-achieving, hyper-competitive, manual-reading and obsessive parenting. In other words, a place to expose my many imperfections. Once […]

Toilets. Most people despise them. I wanted to hang onto mine for dear life. I live in a home as the only female, surrounded by males – one of which is potty training – so you would thinking giving up toilets would be an answer to prayer. But for me, handing over my toilet cleaner wand meant only one thing. […]

Sleep Number 7 (at least) As a mother of four young children, I thought exhaustion was just part of the deal – along with an expanded waist line, stained carpets and legs in desperate need of a shave. My fatigue didn’t ring any alarms in my head until I noticed that takeout for dinner had become the norm, the laundry […]

Worry. That answer came to me the moment I read the question. Worry is the hardest thing I have to give up to balance my schedule. It’s a constant. I, like others, waste so much time worrying about what happened yesterday. Worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow and all the things in between. Am I going to lose […]