The Richards sisters might not have had sitcom star husbands or basketball teams, but they quickly became a driving force for drama on the show. As numerous cast members have come and gone, Kim and Kyle remain at the center of the action. With the reunion airing tonight, let’s learn a little more about the Richards sisters below.

Names:

Kyle Richards Umansky and Kimberly Richards. Like the Kardashians, the Richards family apparently had an affinity for alliterative naming. Kyle and Kim are the daughters of Kenneth and Kathleen and younger sisters to Kathy Richards Hilton (mother of Paris for anyone out there who has been without television or internet for the past decade).

Origins:

Kyle and older sister Kim were born five years apart to parents who evidently had Hollywood hopes for their children. When I started watching the show, I kept getting annoyed by Kyle’s incessant mentions of ‘what it’s like to be a child star.’ I was skeptical about the stories of bygone fame that Kyle kept pushing. However, after I did a little digging, I realized Richards sisters were legitimate child stars. Or at least Kim definitely was. Kim was essentially the Lindsay Lohan of her day, and sadly, may have some of the same emotional baggage from child stardom.

Kim first appeared on camera at four months old in a diaper commercial. She rose in popularity as the star of several Disney movies like Escape to Witch Mountain. Kim continued to act in television shows throughout the eighties until she went into semi-retirement at twenty-six to raise her kids. Twenty-six sounds like a young age to retire, but after being the primary breadwinner for her family at such a young age, anyone would probably want a break.

Kyle acted as well, but didn’t achieve quite the same level of child stardom as Kim. Her biggest claim to fame was playing an adopted child on Little House on the Prairie during the late ‘70s, early ‘80s. Kyle kept up with it longer than Kim as well. She continued to try acting well into adulthood. She even had a minor recurring role on ER as a nurse. (Side note: I’m shocked Kyle never tried to make it as a hair commercial model. Those long, long locks have some serious sheen. I’m not sure I believe her claims that she just uses Pantene.)

Real Housewives, though, is where Kyle became nationally known. Despite once saying on Good Morning America that she ‘absolutely’ regretted going on the show, I get the sense that she enjoys finally experiencing the level of fame her sisters did. Also, I know she’s playing herself, but she’s really good at playing the part. Plus, without Kyle’s appearance on Real Housewives, we would never have one of the greatest scenes in reality television history: the appearance of psychic Allison DuBois and her electronic cigarette. Has any other reality television personality in history been as bold as Allison to say something like, ‘I can tell you when she will die, and what will happen to her family. I love that about me!’ I don’t think so. Thank you, Kyle, for making Camille, and, thereby, Allison despise you enough at the time to make that moment possible.

Identifying Characteristics:

As the pair of sisters on the show, Kim and Kyle are frequently associated with their tumultuous sibling relationship. They do seem to love each other, but screaming at each other on national television about sobriety and substance abuse probably isn’t exactly the best recipe to strengthen the sisterly bond. However, at least they keep trying to work on it. Kim and Kyle even appeared on Stars in Danger: The High Dive to give themselves an opportunity to work on their relationship and support each other through a challenge. Look, I don’t know why there is not one, but two celebrity diving shows, but the Richards sisters are entitled to any form of therapy that they feel works. I bet it was nice for the two of them to feel like they could cry wearing something other than a cocktail dress and airbrush makeup for a change.

However, if you prefer cocktail dress crying, you’ll get your chance when Real Housewives airs part two of the Reunion tonight.

Image via People.com

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Women aren’t just ready to take control behind the wheel—they’re ready to change it as well. This February marked another milestone, as Christmas Abbott became the first woman pit crew member at an elite level in NASCAR history. Christmas joined the Michael Waltrip racing team in pit crew support role to start. Her ultimate goal is advance to a tire changer role. No matter her role in a NASCAR pit, she’s a badass on and off the track. With a name fit for a Bond girl, I guess she really had no choice. Find out more about this pit pioneer below.

Name Christmas Joye Abbott. Shocker! Christmas was born close to December 25th (the 20th to be exact). Her mother decided to embrace her birthday’s holiday proximity and give her a name full of yuletide cheer. Journalists and bloggers should really thank her mother for giving her such a perfect pun-worthy name for article titles. I’m sure no one has ever joked around about ‘Christmas coming early’ to her before. Good work.

Origin Christmas has an origin story fit for a superhero. She grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, the middle of three children. Since a young age, Christmas has been trying to break into ‘boys only’ clubs. When she was nine, she realized a baseball fit into her hand better than a softball and tried to join the boys league (I feel you, Christmas. I quit my grade school softball team for similar reasons—and because my coach benched me for the three games as punishment for showing up late to one practice after my pottery class ran long. It was an intense world of choice for a fifth grader). The boys league resisted, but a threat from Christmas’s mother to alert the media got the league to change its position.

At 22, she decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and head overseas to work as a civilian contractor in Iraq. It was there that she found her first love—CrossFit. I feel like the word is out on CrossFit, so there’s no need to explain what it is exactly. Pretty much everyone has a friend at this point that shares the minute details of the ‘WOD’ (workout of the day) and eating Paleo, so we all understand that CrossFit is more of a fitness lifestyle than exercise class. CrossFit changed the course of Christmas’s life. Upon returning to the U.S., she began competing in CrossFit competitions, and eventually opened her own CrossFit gym.

Christmas essentially turned her body into, pardon the pun, a well-oiled machine. That crazy strength and speed built a solid foundation for her transition to cut it with the guys in the pit crew. She was invited to a pit crew challenge after motor world marketing guy saw a video of her CrossFit competitiveness. It turned out Christmas was a natural. Now, less than a year after she began her pit crew training, Christmas is a NASCAR pioneer. All at 31-years-old. I guess my high school guidance counselor wasn’t full of it when she said discipline was the cornerstone of success. Who knew?

Identifying Characteristics Many stories about Christmas can’t seem to escape focusing on her beauty and femininity. Yes, Christmas is easy on the eyes, but her looks alone didn’t earn her a place in Michael Waltrip’s pit and NASCAR history. She had to have the skills, not to mention strength, to backup a good publicity story. Christmas is only 5’3 and 115 lbs, but she can dead lift 255 lbs. I sometimes find my purse a little heavy to carry, and this woman can lift more than twice her weight.

Christmas has to be strong and fast to keep up with the demands of working the front tire position in the pit crew. She’s responsible for changing the front 60 lbs tires on both sides of the car–all in a matter of twelve, very chaotic, seconds. NASCAR obviously isn’t a calm sport. Her role can be the difference between winning and losing and, potentially, life or death. Luckily, Christmas is as fearless as she is speedy and strong. In a recent interview, she commented, ‘If it scares me, then I absolutely have to try it. All of the things that I’ve been most scared of in my life have been the ones that have really changed my life.’

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Identifying Characteristics: The basic format of the videos is all the same. One person—usually masked, usually a guy—starts thrusting to Baauer’s intro solo while other people idly carry about mundane tasks in the background. When the beat drops fifteen seconds in, the video cuts to the entire room of, generally costumed, people going wild to the song. See the example below from Riot Games.

Origin: Like all dance phenomenons before it – ‘Gangnam Style’, the Macarena, that song that’s always played at weddings demanding ‘everybody clap your hands’ – the Harlem Shake seemingly came out of nowhere. True, the original Harlem Shake, as some would say, dates back to the early ‘80s, which itself is derived from an Ethiopian dance called ‘Eskista’. But that Harlem Shake shares pretty much nothing other than a title with the viral video dance craze that’s exploded in that past two weeks.

The song is nothing new. Baauer released ‘Harlem Shake’ in the spring of last year. Then this video, which claims to be the original, was uploaded to YouTube on February 2nd. Now everyone from Stephen Colbert to the Matt & Kim are getting in on the action.

Image via ABC News

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Name: Lisa Olivia Munn

Natural Habitat and Identifying Characteristics: There are few things more irritating to me than describing a mixed race woman as an ‘exotic beauty’, which roughly 77% of articles about Olivia Munn tend to do. Olivia is undoubtedly beautiful, but it’s 2012. We’re not sailing ships to the New World. I think we can come up with better ways to describe Olivia’s Chinese, German and Irish heritage. While we’re at it, let’s eliminate the other frequent Munn moniker, ‘guy’s girl’, from our vocabulary, as well. If you describe yourself as a guy’s girl, I’m pretty much assuming that you don’t like other women. The association is one that, at times, has frustrated her. As she said during an interview with Shape, ‘Yes, it may surprise you to know that most of my close friends are women. I don’t trust a girl who says she has a hard time being friends with other women. She’s the person who will steal your boyfriend.’

The guy’s girl label started during Olivia’s time as the co-host of G4’s Attack of the Show, a show dedicated to discussing comics, gadgets and video games. The label continued to stick as she landed in Iron Man 2 and as a correspondent on The Daily Show. I know most women are jealous of Olivia for getting to do love scenes with Channing Tatum in Magic Mike, but I was insanely jealous that she got to even talk to Jon Stewart (my love for Jon Stewart runs deep. I proclaimed it in my local paper during high school, so yeah, I was obviously totally normal and killing it at seventeen).

It’s true that comics, gadgets, video games and (oddly) comedy tend to be filed as fairly dude-centric topics, but you don’t have to have a Y chromosome to love cracking jokes and playing Call of Duty. Liking ‘guy’ stuff doesn’t necessarily equate with disliking women.

Olivia attributes her love of robots, comics and all things geek guy culture to a childhood spent moving around a lot due to her stepfather’s career in the Air Force. Having to constantly try to transition between places as different as Japan and Oklahoma, Olivia has said she found ‘geeks’ always to be the most accepting of the new girl. That warm welcome caused her to redefine the word and embrace herself and her interests. In her book Suck It, Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek she writes, ‘The word ‘geek’ today does not mean what it used to mean. A geek isn’t the skinny kid with a pocket protector and acne. There can be computer geeks, video game geeks, car geeks, military geeks, and sports geeks. Being a geek just means that you’re passionate about something.’

I like this more inclusive definition of the word geek. I know Olivia Munn is often a divisive figure, but her m.o. seems to be giving people a break and a chance. Why not do the same for her? And if I haven’t convinced you, then maybe Elaine Benes can.

Images via here and here.

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With a lot of my favorite regular programming in re-runs due to the election, I decided to venture into this personally unexplored territory and go straight to the realest of the real: TLC. I’ve been too terrified to even stumble upon TLC shows while channel surfing. I don’t handle being disturbed to my core well, so I’ve avoided the likes of Hoarders and 19 Kids and Counting—the latter of which seems like birth control in the form of television programming. However, it seems like everywhere I turn, someone is talking about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

For those who are also new to Honey Boo Boo, let me be your guide.

Official Name: Alana Thompson

Common Reference: Honey Boo Boo or Honey Boo Boo Child. At first, I thought the name ‘Honey Boo Boo’ was a type of doughnut. I’m still disappointed that such a doughnut doesn’t exist—and I’m hungry for it.

Origins and Identifying Characteristics: The Thompson clan hails from McIntyre, Georgia, but their reality television roots date back to another TLC gem, Toddlers and Tiaras. Speaking of things that disturb me to my core, child beauty pageants absolutely fall into that category. It probably has something to do with coming of age when the JonBenét Ramsey case was constantly in the media spotlight. I will forever associate the sight of a child in professionally applied lipstick with tragedy. Therefore, I obviously skipped Toddlers and Tiaras and missed out on the world’s introduction to Honey Boo Boo. I fixed that by spending nearly an hour watching Youtube clip after Youtube clip of Honey Boo Boo on Toddlers and Tiaras (I’ve had a really busy afternoon). I definitely understand why Alana became the show’s breakout star.

Alana actually seems to enjoy being in pageants. Sure, that enthusiasm could have something to do with her mother June feeding her ‘Go Go Juice,’ a mixture of high-caffeine soda and an energy drink which could certainly be called a questionable parenting choice at best (but not as questionable as say, putting your child in a BEAUTY PAGEANT). But regardless of the sugary fuel, she seems like a kid having fun.

That spirit carries over into Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and the entire Thompson clan. Now, I haven’t made it through the entire season, but from the few episodes I’ve watched, they seem like a fun-loving bunch. And even better, they appear to genuinely love one another. Honey Boo Boo, Mamma June “The Coupon Queen,” Sugar Bear, Pumpkin, Chubbs, and Chickadee are a close and supportive family. The whole premise of the show appears to be trying to showcase how unevolved the Thompson family is. But there they are, welcoming Sugar Bear’s gay brother Lee, aka ‘Uncle Poodle,’ and accepting each other for who they are—without question.

Part of my initial aversion to viewing even an episode of the show had to do with feeling like the intention of it was to exploit and mock the Thompsons. The farting. The use of subtitles. The Redneck Games. It felt like the producers were saying, ‘America, please laugh at this road kill-eating, crude family with us.’ I can’t handle that kind of television. It’s too cruel. I cringe with discomfort when fictional characters are humiliated. When actual people are? Forget about it. There’s a line between laughing at and laughing with, and TLC was aiming for the former. I’m happy to say that despite TLC’s effort, the Thompsons managed to turn the show into the latter. They spend their days laughing at themselves, so the joke is really on TLC. As Mamma June told Ryan Seacrest, ‘A lot of our fan base tell us that when they have a bad day they can be able to watch our show and be able to get a good laugh. I actually laugh at the show too, because it is kind of funny, because we know that it was fun filming it. And it’s just all about having fun and making memories.’

Observation Tips: EVERYWHERE. The show’s August 29^th episode had almost 3 million viewers, beating out coverage of the Republican National Convention and Paul Ryan’s speech among adults 18-49. That’s right, America. I only hope this Honey Boo Boo craze will lead to a Christopher Walken cameo next season.

Image via TLC.

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For those that are new to the Solange celebration, check out this field guide below to get up to speed. If you don’t want to be best friends with her by the end of it, you should take a long hard look in the mirror.

Name: Solange Piaget Knowles (With names like Solange Piaget and Beyoncé Giselle, I hereby give Tina Knowles naming rights to any of my future children.)

Common Reference: Little sister to THE Beyoncé

Proper Title and Nomenclature: Anyone who thinks that Solange is trading on her older sister’s success is completely wrong. She’s just as deserving of single name status as her sister. Her name derives from French, meaning dignified, and this chick more than lives up to it. She’s a musician, D.J., model, and actress (Bring It On: All or Nothing, you know you’ve watched it on ABC Family) on top of being a mom and, as HelloGiggles’ own Molls would say, boss bitch.

Solange first started dabbling in the entertainment business as a backup dancer for Destiny’s Child and guest vocalist on a Lil Romeo album. She released her own album in 2003. Solange put her music career on hold, though, when at the age of seventeen she became pregnant with her son Julez. A marriage to Julez’s father ended after three years. Being a teen mom could have ended with her lumped in with MTV personalities and Jamie Lynn Spears, but Solange reinvented herself as the hippest single mom around. I have no real clue, but as a little sister myself, I imagine she stopped trying to live up or differentiate herself from her sister and just embraced being different. Her second album in 2008 cast aside any traces of the pop princess before in favor of a sixties soul and dance sound. I dare you to put on ‘I Decided, Pt. 1’ and not immediately try to enlist your friends to start a girl group.

Solange would be cool enough if she did nothing but release catchy records, but she decided to add model and D.J. to her resume. I know we’ve already covered her Madewell modeling, but can we all just pause to acknowledge that no one else can pull off that technicolor and polka dots. Also, that’s a mother rocking those tiny shorts. That’s her as well in those Rimmel ads and in the D.J. booth at Brooklyn Bowl and Fashion Week’s hottest parties.

Now’s just released the previously mentioned ‘Losing You’ single off her upcoming third album. I don’t know who is squawking in the background, but I’m digging it.

Natural Habitat: Solange recently moved from Los Angeles to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn to be closer to her family and the opportunities in the modeling and music scenes. Incidentally, Solange’s move to Brooklyn practically made us neighbors (not that I know one of her favorite local restaurants is Buttermilk Channel and have plans to stalk her or anything). Beyond her permanent residence, she’s equally at home kicking it with the Carter family on glamorous vacations in the Mediterranean and at the concerts of all the bands you won’t hear of until five months from now. I don’t know anyone who didn’t lose a half day of their lives to looking at all the personal pictures on Beyoncé’s Tumblr, many of which were adorable sisterly love shots. When Solange isn’t with her family, you can probably spot her browsing the racks at Opening Ceremony, among the crowds at Coachella, or hanging out with Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear at Beach House concerts.

Identifying Characteristics: Her sister might often be associated with the word icon, but Solange has the indie edge. She’ll shift from shaving her head to letting her hair grow and go natural, and tell anyone who has an opinion about it to shut up. She’s got that sense of style where she can put the most random, contrasting items of clothing into an enviable outfit. That oversized sweater of your dad’s from the late ‘80s that you wear around the house? Solange could belt, throw on some bright pumps, and look like she just stepped off the pages of a Nylon shoot no matter what. She dresses the way I wished adults dressed when I was a kid. She seems to have that attitude of, ‘F*ck it. Life’s too short to wear something boring.’ Who wouldn’t beg to raid her likely rainbow-hued closet?

Maybe it’s part of being a mom, but the thing I love about Solange is that she always seems to be owning who she is and allowing herself to evolve. She doesn’t shy away from bold choices. And neither should you.

Images via Madewell.

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I’m always reluctant to let it go when the leaves start to change. That love has its limits, though. Here are some of the reasons I’m ready to embrace autumn.

1. Men in flip-flops
I’m sorry, guys, but I think I speak for the majority of women when I urge you to cover your feet. Unless you are within sight of the ocean or a pool, no one wants to see you in flip-flops. No one. That jagged, big toenail that’s a light yellow hue doesn’t need to see the sun. I especially don’t want to see your hairy toes in a Vineyard Vines pair adorned with whales. You’re not five years old, and you’re not in Martha’s Vineyard. Also, definitely don’t try to transition flip-flops to fall. I know you think they look great with your cargo shorts and hoodie in 45 degree weather, but they don’t.

2. Milkshakes
I should probably clarify, so you don’t think I’m the devil. It’s not that I dislike milkshakes, it’s that I dislike my total lack of self-control when it comes to milkshakes. In the summer months, I can’t seem to walk past an ice cream place without thinking it’s the perfect time for a chocolate shake. My shoulder shrug justification of, ‘Whatever, it’s a hot summer day’ has become somewhat ridiculous now that it’s above 80 degrees for roughly four months in New York. It’s only so long before those hot summer day shakes lead to diabetic coma, so I need to cool it.

3. Local news stories about ‘beating the heat’
Just in case you are living underground, your local news team most likely feels it’s their journalistic duty to let you know that it’s really hot outside. You all know how these stories go, with their frequent mentions of  how it’s ‘going to be a scorcher.’ Early in the summer, Conan O’Brien compiled a montage of anchors repeating ‘I scream, you scream..’ His montage didn’t have the quick images of children splashing in fire hydrants and crowding around ice cream trucks that usually follow. The worst part of these broadcasts is that moment when they linger on a shot of elderly people fanning themselves. The poor elderly and their diminished ability to properly regulate their body temperature. I don’t want to see shot after shot of a grandma looking miserable in the sun. Unless walking outside will cause people to literally burst into flames, let’s stop the stories about people being sweaty.

4. The constant use of the phrase ‘bikini body’
You know what’s strange? Women never think about how much they weigh or how they look in a swimsuit. It’s really lucky that every other article aimed at women from February to August reminds us with tips about achieving a “bikini body.” The phrase swimsuit season I can handle, but bikini body is just plain gross. I’m all for being healthy. I just don’t need to be incessantly bombarded with articles about ‘superfoods’ that will reduce bloating or moves that promise a ‘taut tummy’ or ‘sculpted stomach.’ So embrace these autumn months. Notice the leaves changing. Watch a football game or two. Make a killer Halloween costume yourself. And then get ready. Come January there will be an article instructing you on how to shed those holiday pounds for a spring break bikini body.

Image via here.

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When most females in their teens and twenties have thoughts about children, those thoughts are generally how to avoid having them. The thought rarely enters your mind, “What if the time comes when I want kids, and I can’t?”

It crossed my mind earlier than many girls my age. During my junior year abroad in Spain, a friend’s host dad claimed to have a flawless record of predicting the number and gender of anyone’s future children. The prognostic experience involved placing a silver string on one’s palm and observing the direction of its movement. It was obviously all very scientific. My friends were all excitedly putting their palms out, being told they’d have two boys or a boy and a girl or three girls and a boy. I was somewhat hesitant. My grandmother struggled with infertility. My mom had cervical cancer. It didn’t seem like a whole lot of lady luck in my family history, so I went last. What happened when the silver string was placed in my hand? It stopped dead. No movement, zero children. I know the method was ridiculous and in no way based on scientific fact, but it still reduced me to tears.

That thought, no matter how fleeting, of “what if I can’t” is jarring. The idea of not being able to have children feels unfair. The years we spend annoyed and worried about periods could be for nothing?

When discussing infertility, the first and biggest question is usually, “Why?” But before getting into why infertility happens to some women, let’s talk about what it really is. Infertility is the failure to become pregnant after one year of regular sex sans protection. A whole year without condoms, the pill, IUD, etc. and no babies. So why does it happen?

According to the National Infertility Association, about 10% of all couples deal with infertility. The association’s website goes on to explain, ‘Approximately 30% of infertility is due to a female factor and 30% is due to a male factor. In the balance of the cases, infertility results from problems in both partners or the cause of the infertility cannot be explained.’ Thanks, science. Glad to know that sometimes it’s just a big ole mystery why nothing is cookin’ in the oven. I kid.

The reality is there are common risk factors for infertility. They are: weight, age (over 35), sexually transmitted diseases, tubal disease (blocked or damaged fallopian tubes), endometriosis (cells from the uterus growing in other parts of the body), DES exposure (scary fertility drug used from the late ‘30s to early ‘70s), smoking (as if anyone needed another reason to quit) and alcohol.

While that list might seem somewhat long, it’s also filled with options. Weight can be monitored. Smoking and alcohol intake can be controlled. We can’t stop time from passing and our biological clocks along with it, but we can get informed about risks that come with age and plan. Even endometriosis, which by some estimates accounts for 30% of infertility cases, rarely means that conception is 100% impossible. What these risk factors mean is that all women—regardless of age, weight, family history—should go to the doctor for regular check-ups and detailed discussions about their health.

If infertility is an issue, doctors can outline potential treatments. We’re lucky to live in time where so many advances have been made in women’s health. Doctors are constantly doing crazy and amazing work. Swedish doctors were just able to perform a uterus transplant. There hormonal treatments, medications to stimulate ovulation, assisted insemination, and advanced procedures like in vitro fertilization and even surrogacy. All of these steps begin with a trip to the doctor. No one likes being in those stirrups and paper gown, but we’ve got to do it, ladies. Regular visits can not only catch potential fertility issues, but potentially even prevent them.

Khloe did it. This is going to be the one time of my life when I advocate that every woman try to keep up with the Kardashians. Keep going to the doctor regularly, but in the meantime, learn more about fertility issues here and here.

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