For the healthy, the holiday season can be hectic and harried. For the “Breast Cancer Warrior,” it’s all that and more. As a Breast Cancer Warrior  since November 2005, our girlfriend Brooke Jones knows that holiday gift giving can be challenging. After learning that she had become the 5th of 6 women in her family to hear the words: “You have breast cancer” she created a unique website for women, www.BreastCancerWarrior.net, featuring crucial information, expert articles, links to the Internet’s most-respected breast cancer web sites, and…humor. She hopes to reach every girlfriend with knowledge, education and laughter. So listen on as she guides us through gifts worthy of giving to the girlfriends we love.

By Brooke Jones

If there’s a BC Warrior on your holiday list, you might be asking yourself this question: “What do you give to the person whose one wish is to live?” Though the question is deep, the answer is simple: You give YOU. (and no, I’m not talking organ donation, I’m talking ENERGY donation).

Breast Cancer Warriors frequently describe the exhaustion caused by treatment as ‘feeling like somebody yanked out my batteries”. Every shred of energy is suddenly gone. Who knew it takes energy to just close your eyes? Trust me — it does, and in the midst of chemo and radiation therapy that was almost more energy than I could muster. So, speaking from extensive personal experience, I say to you that one of the greatest gifts you can give to a Breast Cancer Warrior is hands-on assistance with the innumerable tasks of day-to-day living.

And so, I recommend the following free and fabulous holiday gift idea: a Gift Card, from The Store Of You. Made redeemable for any of the following, it will be a priceless gift for the Breast Cancer Warrior in your life:

Babysitting

If the BC Warrior in your life is the mother of youngsters, offer to watch the kids (in your home) on specific days, for specified hours.

Even better: Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to Trin! Thanks to all who entered. Hey, girlfriends! As you may know, we just opened our t-shirt and gifts shop on Cafe Press, and we’d sure love you to consider our “Girlfriends Make Life Better” items when you’re making up your holiday gift lists. We’ve added some “gifty” items to the top of the shop for the holidays.

You’ll find aprons, ornaments, and more. Scroll down a bit and you’ll find t-shirts for any body— from organic fitted, to ringer tees to plus size. We’re so excited about these cute designs that we wanted to give away a t-shirt to celebrate! So, just to say “Happy Holidays” to our readers, we are giving the t-shirt of your choice to a lucky winner!

How to enter: It’s SO simple!

1.Just visit our Cafe Press shop RIGHT HERE and have a look around.

2. Then, come back and leave a comment telling us which item is your favorite. We’d appreciate any feedback you have on the items too! Read the rest of this entry »

Do you believe, as we do, that Girlfriends Make Life Better™? Well, now you can proclaim it to the world with your t-shirt, water bottle, coffee mug, and more. Yes, our Girlfriendly Goodies Shop is finally open on CafePress! Three cute designs let girlfriends of all ages show their solidarity with their gal pals. Whether you like chilling with martinis, cozying up with a cup of coffee, or sharing an ice cream sundae with your best friends, you’ll find the right way to make a fashion statement.

You’ve been asking for t-shirts and we’re super excited to be bringing you so many great style options. From spaghetti tanks to fitted tees to organic cotton to baseball-style long-sleeved tees to hoodies, there’s a shirt to fit every body.

And, keep in mind, holiday gift-giving is just around the corner. With everything under $40, and most items under $30, you’re sure to find a girl-friendly gift or two.

So, click on over to www.cafepress.com/girlfriendceleb and take a look. Let us know if you like what you see. We really do like to hear from you! Read the rest of this entry »

With swimsuit season staring us in the face, we’ve been thinking a lot about fitness. Getting in shape is definitely one of those things that is better with a girlfriend. It’s so much easier to stick to a fitness regime when you have a partner to check in with, to cheer you on, even to commiserate with you. So, we girlfriends-in-chief have embarked on another little fitness quest together. This time, we’re working on our tummies! Read on for the details, as well as a few more easy suggestions for getting fit with a girlfriend. And, we’d love to hear your suggestions, as well!

You may remember a while back we did the Mama Mio Bootcamp for Butts, with good results. Well, our girlfriends at Mama Mio came out with a Bootcamp for Tummies and we were two of the first lucky ladies to try it out! First of all, we simply adore Mama Mio products. They smell heavenly, they are loaded with high- quality ingredients, they are smartly packaged, they are labeled with good humor,  and most importantly, they work! For the Bootcamp products, Mama Mio has teamed up with exercise specialists to create targeted, efficient exercises that you can realistically do in just minutes a day. (For the tummies bootcamp, maternal fitness expert Julie Tupler developed the exercises.) The tummy exercises are easy to do, and you can literally do them sitting down (in the car, at your computer, anywhere!) The rest of the regime consists of two skincare products: Tummy Toner Skin Tightener and Get Waisted Body Shaper—each of them a great product on its own. If your tummy is puffy, crepey, and mom-like, you will see a difference from using these products. We’re into about the third week of our bootcamp, and we both are seeing our waists look more whittled, and the look and texture of our skin has definitely improved! One important lesson we’ve learned from using Mama Mio products is that by paying attention to a body part and treating it nicely, you actually start to feel better about it! And when you feel good about yourself, you look good!

So, here’s our point: Doing this bootcamp together is much more motivating than doing it alone. We can check in with each other and say “Did you do your exercises today?” or “How’s your tummy doing?” It’s fun to hear each other’s progress and share in each other’s successes. If you are “stuck” in your fitness regime, we challenge you to call up a girlfriend and get her to be your fitness partner. Just give it a try for 30 days and see how much better fitness can be with a girlfriend!

We’re all about easy, quick, ways to fitness, so here are a couple of our other fave ways to get fit with girlfriends:

Wii Fit Club: Invite your girlfriends over to work out on your Wii together. Using Wii Fit or the new EA Sports Active for Wii, you can create indivdual profiles and track your progress together. Do you workouts at home, then get together once a week for a check-in and group workout.

Walking Group: Maybe it’s from reading the new novel Wildwater Walking Club, but we’re newly inspired to walk! Walking and talking is seriously good for the soul. Take to the sidewalks, hiking trails, or woodland paths with your girlfriends at a regular time. Invest in a pedometer and pledge to reach 10,000 steps a day. 

Your turn: Do you exercise with girlfriends? We’d love to hear how that is “working out” for you. Give your fingers a workout and tell us in the comments! Read the rest of this entry »

What do you give to the girlfriend who has everything? Or, what do you give when you and your girlfriends would rather help a human being than shop for stuff you don’t really need? There are so many beautiful opportunities to commemorate your friendship while also helping women and children in need all over the world. Here are some of the best charitable gifts we’ve found for girlfriends this holiday season.

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Want to give your whole girlfriend group a special gift? How about one that keeps the fun going all year long? Some of the best girls-night-activities-in-a-box are right here. They make great gifts because they are items your girlfriends might not buy for themselves, and they encourage girlfriend parties. So go for it: Give the gift of girlfriend cheer—it will make you happier all year!

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Got a girlfriend who is into all things green? A recycler extraordinaire, composter, animal-lover perhaps? The truth is, there’s a little bit of green in all of us these days. We don’t know anyone who isn’t interested in helping out the planet. But for those with a particular interest in greening up their world, here are some gifts we think she will enjoy.

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Do you have a girlfriend who is permanently plugged in? Perhaps she’s a social media junkie, a blogger out to change the world, an Ebay aficionado, or a web surfer extraordinaire. Whatever the case, she’s never without a keyboard and a screen. Here are some cool gifts for that girlfriend, whether she’s a student, an entrepreneur or a mommy blogger.

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Books can make great girlfriend gifts, especially if they are of the “I’d never buy it for myself but I really love it” variety. So, what to get for that girlfriend who always has her nose in a book? Well, buying a novel for a friend can be rather personal and tricky; unless you really know her taste, we find nonfiction is best for a gift. You can nearly always find a book to complement your girlfriend’s interests, no matter what she’s into. Here are a few of our current how-to, gift book, and inspirational favorites. Since most of these books can be found for under $20, you might even want to pair them with something to enhance her reading experience: Coffee, tea, chocolate, bath salts, scented candles, or a pretty bookmark. We think all of them make great gifts!

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Have a girlfriend who needs some extra nurturing this holiday season? Perhaps she has been down in the dumps, or she’s been busy taking care of everyone else but herself. Maybe she’s a busy mom, frazzled grandma, or overworked colleague. Here are some gifts to help her pamper herself, just a wee bit. She will thank you for it!

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