In Kay Jewelers commercials and Hallmark cards Valentine's Day is perfect: it's full of chocolate-covered strawberries, glistening roses and enough romance to melt the abominable snowman's heart. But perfect doesn't always go as planned. After the great Valentine's fiasco of 2003 that left Dave, my then boyfriend, with a bloody nose wandering a mall and me freezing to death in front of a restaurant, we've been eating at Wendy's every year. We love the tradition so much that once we got married we started going to Wendy's for our anniversary as well.

As Cupid's visit approaches couples inevitably feel pressure … Read More

The Bible comes down hard against divorce. “I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel," states Malachi 2:16. In Matthew 5:32, the Bible clearly lays down the line: "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." Yet, despite these strong edicts, in 1533, Henry VIII demanded that the Catholic Church give him a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon so he could marry his new (and hopefully fertile) squeeze, Anne Boleyn.

Until then, Henry VIII had … Read More

During the vice-presidential debate, my normally peaceful relationship with my husband turned into a Soviet-era showdown. We both sat icily on opposite sides of the couch, and when I snorted at Sarah Palin's winking he glared at me. When he mumbled "lies" under his breath while Joe Biden was talking, I chucked a pillow at his head.

An iron curtain has descended in relationships across the country—on one side lie McCain supporters and on the other side Obama backers. With a looming economic crisis, two wars, a crumbling health care system and the future … Read More

Christine is a 41 year-old New Yorker. She has competed in 11 marathons, runs her own consulting firm and is working on her Ph.D. She is also single. Christine recalls, "I recently had a male friend tell me, 'Chris, men just want a woman who's going to be home and be a great wife and mother. You're too intense. Look at you, you're going 100 mph all the time, no guy wants that.'"

"I am attractive, in gosh-darn good shape, fun, great sense of humor, full of energy and life, smart and ambitious," says Christine. "You would think these are … Read More

We are fighting over socks. His socks. He has a knack for leaving them in the most bizarre places. The bathroom cupboards. The kitchen counter. This time they were behind the TV. Now they are balled in my hands, and I am muttering something about not being his slave. How can socks make their way behind the TV of all places?

Dave, my husband, is silent for a moment, and then he begins to smile a large sheepish grin. A consummate football fan, Dave shrugs and says, "The Vikings lost." I don’t laugh. "Why are you so mad? Is there … Read More

In the face of looming problems that range from abuse, blending families, to who does the chores, couples are encouraged to seek couples therapy. Yet, what happens when therapy fails to address the problems in a relationship. What options are left?

At the age of 42 with two children in elementary school, Mary Ann Lowry was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition. Lowry explains her husband had a hard time coming to terms with her illness. "He frequently used verbal abuse to try to convince me to be healthy," she says. "The therapists tried to help him see that sickness, … Read More

In one of my favorite episodes of 30 Rock, Liz Lemon asks Frank what guys like. He answers, "Porn."

"No, I mean if you are gonna go on a date with a woman, how would you want her to act?"

"Like she is in porn."

And there you have it: life's wisdom from 30 Rock.

According to Family Safe Media, 72% of visitors to pornography sites are men. And in the US the porn industry rakes in over $15 billion each year.

"Watching porn is so normal for guys that they will even share their favorite DVDs and videos with … Read More

Welcome to the club, men, it's not a fun place to be. It turns out, women aren’t the only ones dissatisfied with their bodies. Studies show a growing trend toward negative body image and self esteem. A recent Harvard study shows that, eating disorders among men are on the rise across the country and this scary trend seems to be going under the radar, because men are less likely to talk about it. Ted Spiker from O, The Oprah Magazine gives us an inside look at body image from a man’s perspective.

"I'm not the only man … Read More

iVillage has compiled a list of the top ten things that women do that really turn a guy off and no, it's not your predilection toward romantic comedies, although that might fall under number four, don't become too emotional. Number nine on the list is, don't pretend to be virtuous.

"A recurring theme among many women is that they try to place themselves under a "holier than thou" light, never admitting that they fooled around or dividing their number of boyfriends by five. Now, we applaud those ladies who truly are innocent and pure, but the rest should stop … Read More

If we take our cues from Axe commercials, men really, really want mobs of nearly naked women to chase them down and rip their clothes off. But there is danger in taking advice from Axe commercials, just as there is danger in actually using Axe, because it smells like an overripe Junior High dance. So when you meet a great guy (who is probably not wearing Axe), Read More