Here are the five wardrobe essentials every woman needs going into fall.

That’s why we’re loving AnnaSophia Robb’s braided bangs with a twist. It’s the perfect no-fuss updo: You’ll get your hair off your neck but the easy braided bang is fun and fresh from the front.

Here’s how to steal this hairstyle: First, part your hair to one side. Section off the hair in the front (your actual growing-out bangs if you have ‘em, or what would be bangs if you don’t). Braid your “bangs” along the crown of your head, down to your ear, and then all the way to the end. Follow our how-to video if you need some help. Secure the braid with a clear elastic. For extra credit, take the front section on the other side of your part and twist that back. Now gather all of your hair, including the braid and twisted section and pull it back into your favorite bun or twist. Done! We promise the braid is super-fast once you get the hang of it, and you’ll be able to rock this way-cuter-than-a-pony style all summer long.

You won’t even miss the alcohol in these totally tasty mocktail recipes. (But of course you can sneak in the hard stuff if you want.) Give them a try for your big game day bash!

Salted Rim Limeade
½ cup sugar
2½ cups water
Zest from half an orange
½ cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp kosher salt, plus additional for garnish
Crystal sugar, for garnish

In a small saucepan heat sugar, ½ cup water and orange zest, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cool and strain sugar mixture to remove zest; mix with remaining water, lime juice and salt. Rim glasses with a mixture of kosher salt and crystal sugar. Serve limeade in rimmed glasses over ice. MAKES ABOUT 3½ CUPS

Virgin Hurricane
1 cup seltzer
2 tbsp simple syrup (sugar syrup)
2 tbsp Grenadine
½ tsp rum extract (optional)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 cup passion fruit juice (we used Ceres brand)
2 cups crushed ice
Maraschino cherries, orange and lime slices for garnish

In a pitcher mix selzer, simple syrup, grenadine, rum extract and juices. Serve over crushed ice, garnished with Maraschino cherries, orange and lime slices. SERVES 2

The Hail Mary
2½ cups (20 oz) tomato juice
1 tsp prepared horseradish
Dash Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp celery salt
1½ tsp Sriacha hot sauce
Bacon, Celery and Slim Jims for garnish

In a pitcher mix tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, salt, celery salt and Sriacha. Serve over ice, garnished with a stalk of celery and a strip of bacon, or a Slim Jim. MAKES ABOUT 2½ CUPS

Nojito
1 cup crushed ice
8 mint leaves
3 tbsp simple syrup (sugar syrup)
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
¼ cup club soda
Mint for garnish

Combine the ice, mint leaves and simple syrup in a glass and use a wooden spoon handle to muddle. Add the lime juice and club soda and stir. Garnish with mint and serve. SERVES 1

Faux Cosmo
¼ cup cranberry juice
¼ cup orange juice
½ cup mineral water
1 tablespoon lime juice
Ice
Lemon zest twist for garnish

In a cocktail shaker combine the juices and mineral water with ice. Mix, then strain into martini glasses. Serve each drink with a lemon twist. SERVES 2

Spring Cider Punch
2 cups apple juice
2 cups pear juice or nectar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups seltzer
Thin green apple slices
Thin lemon slices

In a punch powl, mix juices and selter. Add ice and apple and lemon slices for garnish. MAKES ABOUT 6 CUPS

Have you heard of 365 projects? In our February issue we featured 8 amazing women who decided to to do something creative every day. It’s definitely a commitment, but whether it’s snapping a photo or knitting a cup cozy, the effort is totally worth it. If you’re looking to start your own 365 project in the new year (and you totally should!) here are tips for choosing your idea and sticking with it:

• Choose your project. You could go two ways: Pick something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do and get better at it day by day. Or choose something you absolutely love. Taking a photo (either with a digital camera or—even easier—a smart phone and a service like Instagram) is popular. But other women knit, illustrate or draw, write poems, write letters—we even talked to one woman who vowed to enter an online contest every day. (Hey, it’s not creative but she has a way better chance of winning some free loot than the rest of us.)
• Start today! Don’t wait for January 1, the first of the month, a Monday, or a full moon… it doesn’t matter how the 365 days shake out on the calendar, what’s important is the practice of actually doing something small every day. Taking that time for yourself—to be creative, to reflect, to capture life’s everyday magic—is what makes a 365 project so satisfying.
• But, don’t kill yourself if you goof! 365 days is a lot of days. You might get sick and skip a day, or any number of other things could pop up in your busy daily life. It’s ok. Just start again tomorrow instead of giving up completely. Or take a tip from one of the women we featured who knit a few cup cozies early if she knew she was going to be busy or away. It totally counts!
• Make it public. Start a quick Tumblr or blog to share your project with the world and keep yourself accountable. Even if you don’t want to put your project out there on the web, tell your friends and family. They can help keep you motivated, and will probably want to know what the heck you’re up to anyhow. Even better, start a 365 club and get friends and family involved. You don’t even have to do the same project to give each other support and encouragement, and at the end of the year you’ll have even more great memories.
• Check the web for inspiration, ideas, and people who’ve been successful. For instance, these specific photo-taking tips from daily photo service Photojojo are super-handy.
• Last but not least, share your project with us! If you start a 365 project and share it with us (just leave a link or info in the comments), we may feature you here!

Photo by Meredith Winn, whose 365 photo project is featured in our story.

We love the show Life Dare: Host and life coach Liz Nead helps women tackle challenges big and small to—as she says—”put some life back into your life.” Amen, sister! So we knew we had to team up with her for our April story on mental flexibility, “Go With The Flow.” Our story is all about trying to relax and be less rigid about the little (and big) things in your life, so Liz found a woman who needed a little help loosening up and produced a special episode for us. Guest Lisa isn’t a big fan of foods with weird (to her) textures and flavors–slippery, raw, and spicy foods were just not her thing. But she was ready to break out of her habits—with a little help, of course.

Watch Lisa as she faces her food attitudes on camera. They explore raw foods with chef and nutritionist Sheree Clark (can you really put sweet potato with pineapple in the juicer?), slippery foods at Django in Des Moines (Lisa doesn’t want to gag on oysters in front of you!), and spicy food with Chef Brandy Lueders (spicy Indian food can be really hard on your stomach). Slippery, raw and spicy—will Lisa make it through all three food experiments and leave her old food routine behind? Watch now, above (or see it big here).

But wait, there’s more! (Because if you watched that fun episode, you probably want to tackle your own challenge, right?)

• Feeling inspired to loosen up and let go yourself? Sign up for your own 30 day Life Dare designed by Liz. You can also win a free coaching session with her (enter here!).
• Check out the recipes that Lisa tasted on the show and submit a comment about your own food phobias to win a coaching session and Life Dare kit.
• Want to know how it all came together? We’ll take you behind the scenes.
• Watch more episodes of Life Dare TV and subscribe at lifedare.tv.
• Dare to jump into the conversation! Liz will be hosting a #LHJlifedare chat on Twitter on Wednesdays at 9:00pm ET each week!

Can’t make it to a local International Women’s Day event? Celebrate with us from home! Next Wednesday (March 7—mark your calendar!) we’re hosting a special online screening of the extraordinary documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell with our friends at CARE and ITVS.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the astonishing and inspiring story of a group of Liberian women who united to take on Liberia’s violent dictator and warlords during their country’s brutal civil war. It’s truly an amazing story that you don’t want to miss.

After the film stay online and participate in a live panel discussion with experts and special guests, including the film’s producer Abigail Disney, PBS President Paula Kerger, and CARE President and CEO Helene Gayle. We’ll be talking about the role that women have in changing our world, which—as you’ll see when you watch—is huge.

So go bookmark care.org/IWD now (you can also learn lots more) and don’t forget to join us on Wednesday!

We honored these amazing women at our annual awards luncheon (with fabulous presenters Andie MacDowell, Sara Gore and Diann Valentine) and it was a seriously inspiring—and tear-inducing—day. Learn more about our second place and people’s choice award winners below, and read about grand prize winner, Tessa, in her magazine feature.

Holly McKay is a parent volunteer from Jacksonville, Florida who has gone (way) above and beyond in her volunteer work. Know at her local elementary school as “Mad Scientist McKay,” she has developed more than 40 custom lesson plans and teaches a full day of fun, interactive science lessons twice a week—in her mad scientist costume. Says one parent: “In a world where most of the school curriculum is devoted to the state standardized test given and where the teachers struggle just to make sure the children are prepared for that test, it is no easy task! She loves science and math and realizes that all of our children need to be exposed so that they can learn to love the subjects early.”

Alison Bearman has been volunteering 30 to 40 hours per week at the Atlanta Humane Society in 2002. To help the rescue dogs who are often sick or injured and desperate need of some TLC, no job is too big or small. She walks between 15 to 20 dogs each day, cleans kennels, gives baths, comforts the animals and even picks up poop. Her goal is to help these animals become great candidates to be adopted by a loving family. Says a fellow volunteer: “One of Alisons’s favorite ways to help the animals is by taking pictures of them to put on the AHS website. In this way, she speaks for the animals who have no voice. Alison is tireless in her efforts. She never complains about the hard work and never brags about her good deeds.”

So I was excited to finally give it a try and let me tell you — it was hard to choose. I wanted to help every woman that I clicked on! When their loans are funded, Ana Cecilia in El Salvador will buy tires for her auto repair shop, Naimajon in Tajikistan will purchase fabrics and gold embroidery thread for her sewing business, and Sama in Togo will buy groceries for her small market. I eventually decided to give my free $25 loan to Flaviana (picture above) to buy supplies for her beauty salon in the Philippines. She has four school-aged children and her goal is to use her income to pay for their education.

It was so rewarding to know who I was helping (and why) that I am definitely going to give another loan — this time on my own dime. What can I say, I’m hooked. So what are you waiting for? It’s free, people! Go to Kiva.org/LHJ now to give your free $25 loan. It only takes a few minutes (unless you just can’t decide like me) and I promise you it’s worth it.

I love to accessorize my wardrobe with some bold jewelry pieces. There is nothing more fun than choosing one or two unique items to dress up a T-shirt and jeans or amplify a dressier look. In the summer however, I tend to shy away from my favorite metal bracelets because in the heat they feel sweaty and uncomfortable. This year I have become totally smitten with wood, cork and simulated wood bangles. They are lighter and more pleasant to wear in the humid weather—and talk about style versatility!

You can find them in tons of shapes, colors and sizes and many of the designs can easily transition from casual to evening ensemble. The price points—especially for the basic simulated wood pieces—are very affordable and they work well on all ages. My daughter loves her animal print bangle, I love my cork cuff bracelet and my mother adores her stacked wooden bead set but we frequently swap! — Lisa Scott

Even though summer’s almost over, we like that these cute wood bracelet picks can transition into fall, too. Thanks for sharing your favorite trend, Lisa! And congrats also to our runners’ up, Angela Rodgers, Faith Heimbrodt, Dawn Moore and Carrie Clogston who won LHJ swag bags for spotting (and blogging) some of summer’s cutest looks.

Even if you didn’t win, you still have a chance to score great prizes for your trendspotting skills–check our Trendspotters site soon for a brand-new contest for fall!

Wizard’s Blood
6  cups  apple cider
4  cups red wine
3  cups  cranberry juice cocktail
3/4  tsp  ground cinnamon
6  whole cloves
Sliced Lady apple, for garnish
Cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions
1. In a large pot, combine cider, wine, cranberry juice, ground cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Pour into mugs and garnish with apple slices and cinnamon sticks, if desired. Serve hot. Makes 8 cups.

Looking for some more variety? Here are our favorite Halloween cocktail recipes from around the web:

Satan’s Whiskers - A classic drink with a festive twist, this recipe has gin and vermouth plus OJ and orange peels for flare.

Vampire’s Blood – It’s red (of course) but the homemade hibiscus syrup in this tequila cocktail is much tastier (and a lot more chic) than food coloring.

Candy Corn Cocktail – There are tons of fun, creative cocktails in this roundup from Hostess With The Mostess but the layered candy corn version looks surprisingly good. (Although who could resist some Pina Gouladas?)

Eyeball Highball - Looking for a little more of the gross-out-factor? The Eyeball Highball delivers. It’s easy too: A classic martini with “eyeballs” instead of plain old olives.

Devil’s Handshake – It’s fruity enough to appeal to most (especially those of us who can’t quite do a straight-up martini) but the ginger puree adds some grown-up spiciness.