** 1. Braided Back Updo Holiday Style Want a quick yet elegant updo for that holiday party you’re headed to? Try this braided back style. Simply part your hair in the middle, french braid your hair down on opposite ends, and then Bobbi pins the two end pieces in the back together. Don’t forget to top it off with Dove Style+Care Compressed Flexible Hold Hairspray for a long-lasting look!...

A staple for some of our personal hair heroes, this A-list favorite offers a high-impact, low-maintenance look. Despite the relatively tame after-care needs, creating these intricate braids does take some serious practice and patience if you’re doing them yourself. We promise with this style, you can give your strands the rest from daily styling. Not only that, but you’ll definitely get bang for your buck if you decide to get our box braids done by a professional!...

“I had a rush of emotions,” he says. “And, obviously, I don’t know what was happening. Maybe she forgot something.” He pauses, then adds, “but I don’t think so.” As a young man he would have been angry—at the situation and the woman. “But now, I was sad,” he says. “And, at the same time, I knew it was complicated—I could feel what she must be going through, to be afraid of a tall black man....

On a recent meditation retreat, I asked assembled students to share their favorite “evasive maneuvers” from the present moment, the ways we all hide out from having to be here with the direct simplicity of right now. People said all kinds of funny and not so funny things. In a discussion group later in the weekend, one student wondered why nobody had brought up Twitter and Facebook. Another student joked “Ethan asked us what our individual evasive maneuvers were, not our shared ones....

So here’s how it goes down. You take a bunch of fabric hearts (or you could easily use paper if sewing isn’t your thing) and hide them all over the recipient’s home. Closet, bookshelves, cupboards, clothes, etc. Then you give them a jar that has an adorable tag attached that says, “Remember, I love you.” Anytime they find the heart, they’ll be thinking of you and how much you mean to them....