Maggie Niemiec

Your Essential Grammy Awards Playlist

February 5, 2013 at 1:31 pm , by Maggie Niemiec

We looked at 81 different Grammy categories—and multiple songs within every category—to pick our 15 favorite songs you need to hear before music’s biggest night. Take a listen, and even if you don’t know your Fun. from your Frank Ocean, you’ll be an expert by Sunday!

1. “We Are Young” – Fun. Featuring Janelle Monáe

record of the year, song of the year, album of the year, best new artist, best pop duo/group performance, best pop vocal album

2. “Thinkin Bout You” – Frank Ocean

record of the year, album of the year, best new artist, best urban contemporary album

3. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” – Taylor Swift

record of the year

4. “I Will Wait” – Mumford and Sons

album of the year, best rock performance, best rock song, best Americana album

5. “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson

record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, best pop vocal album

6. “Lonely Boy” – The Black Keys

record of the year, album of the year, best rock performance, best rock song, best rock album

7. “Somebody That I Used To Know” – Gotye Featuring Kimbra

record of the year, best pop duo/group performance, best alternative music album

8. “Payphone” – Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa

best pop duo/group performance, best pop vocal album

9. “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” – Eli Young Band

best country duo/group performance, best country song

10. “Madness” – Muse

best rock song, best rock album

11. “Wide Awake” – Katy Perry

best pop solo performance

12. “Love On Top” – Beyoncé

best traditional R&B performance

13. “Wanted” – Hunter Hayes

best new artist, best country solo performance, best country album

14. “The Motto” – Drake

best rap song, best rap album

15. “We Take Care Of Our Own” – Bruce Springsteen

best rock performance, best rock song, best rock album

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Sounds of Summer Playlist

July 29, 2011 at 4:36 pm , by Maggie Niemiec

1. “Last Friday Night (TGIF),” Katy Perry – I love dancing to this, and the music video with Kathy Beth Terry cracks me up.
2. “Summer Nights,” Rascal Flatts – “Come on ladies, it’s time to pop that top” (off the convertible, of course!)
3. “Rolling In the Deep,” Adele – I never get sick of her soulful sound.
4. “Smooth,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas – Santana’s legendary guitar playing plus Thomas’ seductive voice equals one hot hit.
5. “Summer Love,” Justin Timberlake – Makes me think of that summer crush. Swoon.
6. “Judas,” Lady Gaga – Definitely the best dance track on her “Born This Way” album.
7. “Forget You,” Cee Lo Green – Whenever I hear this, I turn the stereo all the way up and sing at the top of my lungs.
8. “Summertime,” Kenny Chesney – Country Music Awards’ four-time entertainer of the year, Chesney is the undisputed king of summer music.
9. “Only Girl (In the World),” Rihanna – The pop princess came back better than ever with this single.
10. “All I Wanna Do,” Sheryl Crow – All I wanna do is have some fun, just like former LHJ cover girl Sheryl Crow.
11. “Blow,” Ke$ha – Although I hate to admit it, she sure knows how to make a catchy song.
12. “Empire State of Mind,” Jay Z feat. Alicia Keys -It’s my first summer in New York City, so this song is my jam.
13. “Kids,” MGMT – Sure to get stuck in your head.
14. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO – The best going-out song. Period.
15. “Twist and Shout,” The Beatles  - Makes me want to run outside and dance in the street like Ferris Bueller did.

What’s your favorite summer song?

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The Diet Soda Dilemma

July 27, 2011 at 11:51 am , by Maggie Niemiec

Diet soda might be making you fat. Okay, we know what you’re thinking: I get it! Obesity is a problem! But give me my diet soda or give me death! And trust us, we feel the same way. Diet soda is delicious. It’s sweet, fizzy and it has zero calories. But recent studies are chipping away at the drink’s guilt-free reputation.

Last month a University of Texas study found that people who regularly drank diet soda saw a 70 percent greater increase in their waistlines than non-drinkers over a 10-year period. Those who drank two or more diet sodas a day saw a 500 percent greater increase. Even more shocking: earlier studies from this year linked a diet-soda habit to diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

Why? It could be because artificial sweeteners are 200 to 700 times sweeter than real sugar. Experts theorize this makes you crave more sweetness, which has an effect on your eating habits.

“Artificial sweeteners trick the palate, so when you can’t get your Splenda but want something sugary, you need six times the sugar to reach the same level of sweetness,” says Lisa R. Young, Ph.D., a registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at New York University.

In diet soda’s defense, the researchers didn’t take into consideration other parts of participants’ diets. It could just be that people who choose any kind of sodas over, say, water or green tea, are more likely to have poor eating habits. “People usually eat a bag of chips, not an apple, with their Diet Coke,” adds Dr. Young.

Keri Gans, registered dietitian and author of The Small Change Diet, says people who want to drink soda should always choose diet over regular, especially if they’re trying to lose weight. “It has its place in the American diet,” she says. But even then, diet soda should only be a treat every once in a while. Water, seltzer or low-fat milk are much better choices.

So what’s your diet-soda stance? Are you going to try to cut back or keep on sipping?

Photo by the Self Improvement Association.

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Like Us on Facebook, Get a Cupcake!

July 18, 2011 at 1:41 pm , by Maggie Niemiec

What could be better than discounted cupcakes? Discounted Georgetown cupcakes!

It’s simple. All you have to do is like us (or like Georgetown Cupcake, or like us both) on Facebook. If we reach 20,000 fans and Georgetown Cupcake gets to 200,000 fans by the end of July, you’ll get 20 percent off their delicious gourmet cupcakes throughout the month of August! At that price, you can afford to try everything from their signature red velvet to their seasonal banana split.

Sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne started Georgetown Cupcake, Washington D.C.’s first cupcakery, back in 2008. They’ve since become national stars with their TLC reality show D.C. Cupcakes. Not a D.C. resident? Don’t worry! Georgetown will ship cupcakes to anywhere in the contiguous U.S. – making for the perfect birthday present, anniversary gift or just-because-I-feel-like-it indulgence.

So what are you waiting for? Like us on Facebook. Tell all your friends to like us. Spread the word and get ready for a sweet reward.

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Winnie Cooper Leads Girls to the Top of the Class

July 6, 2011 at 11:21 am , by Maggie Niemiec

We all remember her as Kevin Arnold’s first love in the 1980s TV show The Wonder Years, but Danica McKellar has reinvented herself. She’s continued acting, but she’s also a best-selling author and role model for young girls. Her books aim to give girls the edge in math class, and her latest book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed, was rereleased in paperback this month. I caught up with her recently to talk about how she went from Winnie Cooper to mathematician, and why encouraging tweens to excel in math class can build lifelong confidence.

LHJ: After The Wonder Years you studied mathematics at UCLA—what led you in that direction? Were you always good at it?

DM: I was actually terrified of math when I was a kid. I really struggled with it. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, and if I didn’t understand things right away, I got discouraged. In seventh grade, I had a new teacher who was funny, friendly and nurturing, and that made all the difference. I started to get it, and I realized that if I just relaxed, I could do things I thought I couldn’t do. But when I got to college I was still scared of taking a math class because I thought it would be so much harder. I saw in my head a vision of who would be good at college math, and it wasn’t me. It was a guy. I went for it, though, and signed up for a class. I ended up scoring higher than everyone, and after my first midterm someone in my class tapped me on the shoulder. I thought he was going to ask if I was the girl from The Wonder Years, but instead, he said, “Aren’t you that girl who got the highest score?” It was a perfect moment. Math gave me a sense of self and helped me figure out who I was outside of Winnie.

LHJ: Why did you think only a guy would be good at college math? When I was a kid I excelled at math, but I remember feeling a little embarrassed about it. Were we both subjected to some kind of social conditioning?

DM: I don’t remember somebody blatantly telling me girls shouldn’t do math, but I know that I got that message. I think it’s because we’re bombarded with images from the media that say girls can either be pretty or smart, but they can’t be both. Girls get a lot of makeup, hairstyle and fashion lessons, and they’re told that stuff is important. Girls are not taught how to be smart—they’re taught how to look good. But they can be smart. And they can practice overcoming obstacles and handling challenges through math because it has this reputation for being so hard. The true purpose of my books is to give girls the confidence that comes from feeling smart. That confidence will follow them everywhere they go.

LHJ: What about these girls’ moms? Do they approach you for advice?

DM: Women come up to me and say, “Oh math. I could never do that.” These are smart women, but they just never really believed they could do math. When I talk to them, I find out that someone either told them they wouldn’t be good at it, or they failed once and then gave up. We’ve been told that girls don’t do well in math. So if we stumble on something, we’re likely to see it as evidence of what we’ve believed all along—that we’re no good at it. A lot of women continue to struggle with math, even when they find success in other areas. But I’m one of many women out there who prove that we can be both smart and sexy. I want all women to know that they are stronger and smarter than they think they are.

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Four Things to Remember for the Fourth

July 1, 2011 at 9:36 am , by Maggie Niemiec

Instead of hamburgers and hot dogs this Fourth of July, how about some fresh bacteria casserole? Or maybe some salmonella with a side of E. coli? Doesn’t that sound appetizing? We didn’t think so either. But the thought of those cringe-inducing dishes is just one of the ways a new food safety campaign got our attention.

The USDA, FDA, CDC and the Ad Council have cooked up a “Food Safe Families” campaign to remind people that one in six Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. See the strange yet memorable pig-in-a-sauna one, below.

We know many parts of the country will feel like a sauna this weekend, and you’ll probably be outside grilling something. So keep your delicious barbecued chicken, juicy cheeseburgers and yummy hot dogs free of food-borne illnesses.

Remember:

Clean kitchen surfaces, utensils and hands with soap and water while preparing food.

Separate raw meats from other foods with different cutting boards.

Cook foods to the right temperature by using a food thermometer.

Chill raw and prepared foods promptly.

For the skinny on just how many E. coli cells it takes to make you sick, check out our interview with Elisabeth Hagen, M.D., head of the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the USDA. (Hint: it’s not many.) Head to foodsafety.gov for more tips.

Happy Fourth of July from the LHJ Health Ladies!

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I Did Yoga WHERE?

June 21, 2011 at 4:03 pm , by Maggie Niemiec

It’s been a mere three weeks, but I’ve already decided I love the energy and excitement of New York City. As the new editorial intern at Ladies’ Home Journal, I have moved to the city for the summer. Every day, there’s something new to do or see. I’ve explored museums, shopped at discount department stores, watched free movies in the park and eaten the most delicious cupcakes. Yet as much as I enjoy living here, it can get really overwhelming. The subway is dirty and hot and crowded. The streets smell like garbage, which piles up on the sidewalks. Vendors constantly pester you to buy their hot dogs and knock-off purses. Taxi drivers honk nonstop, and the noise is so bad, I have to wear earplugs when I sleep.

It’s hard to achieve a sense of calm with all this insanity around me. So when a friend suggested we attend a yoga event on the Solstice, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to slow down. The only catch was that it took place on the asphalt in the middle of Times Square. (That’s me, to the right, getting my “om” on.) I was skeptical of how calm I could feel in the busiest of all busy intersections. But when else would I get do yoga in the heart of New York City?

The instructor jumped up on stage at 7:30 a.m. and got us started to the sounds of Alicia Keys’s re-mixed, relaxing version of “Empire State of Mind.” For the next hour and 15 minutes, it was just me and my yoga mat… and more than 1,000 others in my “class.”

Surprisingly, all the hustle and bustle faded away as I curled into cat, pushed back into downward dog, stretched into warrior and balanced in tree pose. I had somehow reached my center through all the madness. I realized if I could relax in Times Square, I could relax anywhere.

I ended lying on my back, feeling like a true yogi. As I slowly rose from the mat, the sun began to peek around the skyscrapers. The buses and taxis sounded a little louder; the neon signs shined a little brighter. It was back to reality, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I had just found peace and tranquility in the most unlikely of places. Invigorated, refreshed and relaxed, I was ready to start the day.

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