pink posts

At 43, Marisa Acocella Marchetto finally had life in its place: she was getting married for the first time and her cartoons were in demand by The New Yorker. Suddenly all of her success took a back seat to breast cancer, which she had to fight without health insurance.

Marchetto captured this life-changing battle in her cartoon memoir, Cancer Vixen: A True Story. Her Cancer Vixen foundation pays for women, without insurance, to get mammograms at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

On Monday evening on New York's Fifth Avenue Marchetto joined actor Dylan McDermott, Estee Lauder spokesmodel Elizabeth Hurley, and Evelyn Lauder of The Estee Lauder Companies and founder/chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, to raise awareness and funds to fight a cancer that strikes one in eight women.

In a move that's sure to help parents of indecisive children, Toys R Us has just released its five toy trends for the holidays. The list is culled from data which Toys R Us collects from its stores throughout the world in order to determine what toys kids will want this holiday season.

Toys R Us doesn't just look at sales figures to determine these trends, the list also includes influences from the adult world. Bob Giampietro, the Senior Vice President of Trend and Innovation for Toys R Us, provided the following commentary on how some of the categories and toys made the list: "Children continually emulate and adapt based on what they see and hear in real life, and this is reflected in the trends we've recognized this year.".

The Toys R Us Toy Trends for Holiday 2008 include:

• $avvy Savers
• Adorable Animatronics
• Curious Kids
• Earth-Friendly Fun
• Music: My Way

While all of the categories should prove helpful to gift givers this season, the $avvy Savers category caught my eye, especially after Bob Giampietro linked the trends to current events. The $avvy Savers category focuses on toys that help kids save their allowance as well as budget for a big ticket item that they didn't get to unwrap on Christmas morning. I know I would have loved to get one of the items, a laser protected safe, back when I was saving up for a Super Nintendo!

Keep reading for 3 toys that aren't only fun but can educate your children about money. And also see the best discounts in the toy book catalog.

Every man should have at least one pink shirt, if only to prove that he's manly enough to pull it off. If you're a young guy -- let's say, under age 25, at least in spirit -- this one from Hollister is a great one to get you started. This is what Hollister has to say about it:

"100% cotton, left chest pocket, seagull embroidery, Vintage Hollister Destruction Wash, Muscle Fit, Imported"

Basically that means that if you have a good, lean body with a little bit of muscle, you will look really good in this shirt. Abercrombie and Hollister give your chest a nice convex look that would take hours at the gym with clothes from most other stores -- if you're feeling bold, try a size smaller than you normally wear. Note: if you have a Pillsbury Doughboy physique, go with a different pink shirt.

It's currently $9.90, marked down from $15.50.