I live in Rancho Cucamonga, California, a city revolving around commerce, raised trucks, and some of the best hot wings around ( Buffalo Wild Wings, people). About 20 minutes from Pomona, where I grew up and lived for the majority of my life, and just over an hour east of the heart of Los Angeles, lies Rancho, one of the more uppity cities of the Inland Empire, you might say.

(Written by Elana Pruitt)

Florida gave me a lot. I got my degree. I gave birth to my youngest daughter. I found myself and solidified my identity. However, over the past few years I have been suffering losses. My oldest children are grown but did not leave the nest, and along with maturity there had been contention. I found myself giving more and more and receiving back resentment.

(Written by Lisa A. Trimarchi)

Since when did fashion get so serious that a girl can’t shave her head and not make it on every gossip magazine at the grocery store? It’s just hair, people, really. But Britney’s move was definitely shocking…for me to watch, at least. I’ll admit it. I myself enjoy playing around with braids, weaves, and scarfs; how my hair looks is nearly as important, if not more, than the jeans on my butt and the shoes on my feet.

(Written by Elana Pruitt)

As I lay on the table in the stark white room, the skillful technician placed one eyelash at a time on my lids. I closed my eyes and imagined just how lovely I would be in the tropical islands that I would be visiting on my trip to the Caribbean. Some people thought that what I was doing was indulgent, but I saw it as self-preservation. After all, I wouldn’t have the time to apply false eyelashes after a long day’s excursion in Key West, Cozumel, or the Caymen Islands. I had to look glamorous. Why? Because I was on a cruise!

(Written By Kaylene Peoples)

I’ve spent a fair amount of my adult life in serving others. I helped initiate three of my children into adulthood and single-handedly provided them the support they needed to launch out on their own and start to accomplish things and discover their dreams. While doing this, I put many of my own dreams aside and fell full into serving society, family, and others.

(Written by Lisa Trimarchi)

I’m not sure exactly what turned me on to a day of outdoor modeling. Maybe I was tired of hiding behind the computer. Maybe it was to prove my sister right—that I really am the “cool auntie” my niece would grow to love. Maybe it was to explore a new art concentration. Or maybe, as an avid “America’s Next Top Model” viewer, I just wanted to see what all the hype was about… was it really that difficult?

One word: YES.

(Written by Elana Pruitt)

It’s that time of year when winter weather leads to dry skin and dry hair. Don’t have time or money for the spa treatment? Not to fear. You can treat yourself to the spa treatment right in your own home. Your kitchen has just what you need!

( Written By Lisa A. Trimarchi)

A Jerry Seinfeld episode sums this article up perfectly. Seinfeld had a barber who never cut his hair to his satisfaction. One day, while in his barber’s chair, he saw a new barber who was much better—his barber’s nephew. Jerry was always too scared to complain about his hair. One day, after yet another bad haircut, he snuck off to get his hair done by the new barber. He crossed enemy lines. What happened next? His old barber found out and went ballistic. Sometimes the fear to confront a less than adequate stylist is not always unfounded.

(Written By Kaylene Peoples )

The Christmas season is upon us, and while it is often disparaged as being too commercialized, I believe that is just a way for us to be less and less introspective about how even now in this day of commercialism we still find ways to bond with one another. We find ways to show we care throughout the year. We do. It’s simply more popular to put ourselves down and say we are a cold, unfeeling people who care only for ourselves. That simply is not true.

(Written By Lisa Trimarchi)

…That is what I remind myself when I stand nude in front of my full-length mirrors studying my hump: size 12 is the new two…size 12 is the new two… size 12 is the new two. O. K. Fine – it should be the new two. Now even though a lady doesn’t reveal her true size (or some bull like that), I’ll admit it – I’m a six-slash-eight. But I will say that I floated in the double digits almost immediately as I turned 21; a time in a gal’s life when she has the ticket to buy alcohol herself before bar hoppin’ and clubbin’, all the while looking forward to a midnight drive-thru at Del Taco with her favorite friend.

(Written by Elana Pruitt)