Photo: Courtesy of Citizen

Join the fight against breast cancer while treating yourself (or your mother, aunt, or a friend) to something special.

A pink dial surrounded by 20 diamonds will make getting to that early-morning meeting a lot more glamorous. Plus, this Citizen Watch is water-resistant up to 100 meters, so forgetting to take it off before you shower or tackle a sink of dishes is no longer an issue.

$395, Macys.com; $100,000 will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation

Keep Reading
19 buys that support the fight against breast cancer
What's it really like to live through breast cancer?
A reason to be hopeful: 5 new breast cancer breakthroughs

Photo: Robert Trachtenberg

Q: Is it my imagination, or does my dandruff get worse in the cooler months?

A: Dandruff might worsen when it's cooler, says Jeffrey Benabio, MD, voluntary clinical assistant professor of medicine at UC San Diego. Seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff, to you) seems to be triggered by an overgrowth of the yeast malassezia, says Benabio; washing your hair less frequently (as you might in cool months) can lead to more of the yeast. Also, low humidity can increase dandruff, while sunshine seems to reduce it. So the dry air and loss of sunlight in fall and winter might be contributing to your problem. 

Keep in mind: Shampooing daily and using an anti-dandruff shampoo at least three times a week (try Pert Plus Dandruff Plus 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner, $4; drugstores) should keep flaking under control.

Photo: Thinkstock

Growing up, while other kids were out playing with their pets, I was inside rereading Where The Red Fern Grows and weeping. I loved the idea of having a near-supernatural connection with an animal, and of course I was sure that I would be the clever child to be able to communicate with the misunderstood beast.

New research suggest I might have been on to something (had I been able to work up the nerve to go near an actual canine).

According to the journal of Applied Animal Behavior Science, 10-year-olds have a natural talent for understand what dogs are trying to say. A study revealed that children (aged 6, 8, and 10) and adults listened to different kinds of recorded dog barks. The 10-year-olds could best categorize the barks as fearful/lonely, angry, or playful.

Discovery News has an interesting run-down of the long relationship between dogs and people--and the way animals "eavesdrop."  It  does not, alas, include how you can communicate to your 10-year-old who's begging for a dog why she cannot have a pet.

More reasons to love your pets:
What we learn from our dogs
How having a kitten helps kids
Life lessons from a hungry beagle

"I make tart from blackberries, not calls":  Living the unplugged life.

This eleven-year-old has a million dollar idea. You can help make it a reality.

Commute times. Green space. Friends. A new report reveals what really makes people happy.

A GPS for career paths: 4 steps to getting your life on track.

The Life-Lifter: After losing one of their company to a roadside bomb, marines work with a New Hampshire shop to pay it forward, sending care packages to others in combat zones.

Photo: Thinkstock

Finally I can stop feeling bad about my raging sweet tooth, which regularly causes me to do things like send my husband out in the middle of the night for an emergency Chips Ahoy, strawberry ice cream, and jelly bean run (no, I'm not pregnant): Researchers found that people who eat a lot of sweets also have sweet personalities. Thank you, science!

The findings, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest that people who consume sweet foods are more likely to help someone afterward, and are more likely to be agreeable and friendly than people who prefer bitter or spicy foods. And, interestingly, one study revealed that people believed strangers who liked sweets were also nicer. Huffington Post has more on the story and how the metaphor of sweetness affects our perceptions.

I plan to celebrate this great news by very nicely gorging myself on Halloween candy in a very friendly manner. And to make sure the whole process stays very sweet, I'll stick to the ethical treats Good suggests in its fair trade Halloween candy list.

Go ahead, be sweet:
Grownup versions of childhood treats
Cristina Ferrare's delicious desserts
Vanilla that's anything but, well, vanilla

Photo: Cotton Ridge Emporium

The weekend is within reach...let these little splurges make getting there more fun.

Mice Halloween Decorations, $6. Add these rodent silhouettes to your baseboards or stairs to surprise your guests (or make them scurry) and get everyone in the Halloween spirit.

Hard Candy Eyeliner, $5. These creamy pencils glide on easily and the chopstick shape makes them ideal for holding a bun in place in a pinch.

Real Simple Hangers, $10 for 12. We love that these ultra-slim hangers have built-in hooks so that you can stack your pants, skirts, and blouses to free up more space in your closet.

Drumstick Pencil Set, $10. Give these drumstick-shaped pencils to the musical genius or aspiring rock star in your life.

An Oscar-winning actress gets a new modeling job. At age 64.

"If it brings a moment of happiness or restores health, then for the small amount of time that image is out there, it serves its purpose": Navajo artist fights climate change with graffiti.

The "Change-Back-Attack": How to deal when the people in your life can't accept the new you.

The Life-Lifter: This young man is living with a fatal wasting disease. And he's really funny.

I used to have the perfect coffee cup. Just looking at it could make me relax, as if ingesting a cappuccino by osmosis. Then one morning my toddler hurled a sippy cup into the sink where the lovely mug was serving up a soapy brew and the thing shattered. My response was not mature. My toddler examined my face and said, "I'm a little sad that you're sad."

Photo: Run for Your Lives

Next weekend, in a forest outside of Baltimore, 10,000 people will be running as fast as they can in order to stay alive. Those who aren't fit enough to handle obstacles like chain-link fences, muddy streams or tunnels of sewage pipes will be attacked by the hundreds of flesh-starved zombies that lurk in the woods, waiting for their human prey. This may sound like the premise of the horror film you're planning to watch on Halloween, but it's also the idea behind the first-ever Run for Your Lives 5K. The only things this event has in common with the many other road races taking place this month are that participants will wear a bib with their number on it and a chip to record their finish time. They'll also wear a red tag (like the kind you see in flag football), and they'll be chased by volunteer "zombies" who will have the torn clothing, bloody faces and hungry eyes of the undead. Once a zombie catches the flag of a runner, that participant is out of the race--but they'll still be able to attend the after-party with survivors, musicians and other entertainers, and zombies (we assume the sports drinks and beer will act as an antidote). 

While the Run for Your Lives is now closed to runners, those who have the stomach to watch can purchase a spectator's pass that will allow them access to the course as well as the after-party (more information is available on the Run for Your Lives web site). A portion of all ticket sales will go towards the American Red Cross. Even though this event hasn't even taken place yet, zombie fever has already spread to other cities, and similar races are scheduled for next year in places like Boston, Seattle and Austin.

Watching the creepy video on the Race for Your Lives site made our hearts pick up the pace and got us thinking about the motivational power of zombies. If the feeling--real or imagined--of a rival breathing down our necks in a race can make us hustle, imagine how much faster we could go if we pictured that rival as a brain-eating monster? This Halloween season, we're going to try to a little experiment. When on the trail, the treadmill or even on the way to the office, we're going to pretend that we're being closely followed by a hungry posse of the undead, and that our lives depend on getting to our destination faster than usual. We may even do zombie pick-ups, in which we'll imagine being chased for two- to three-minute intervals during the course of a workout. We're getting the willies just thinking about it.

To help you form a mental image of the kind of monster than will cause you to get moving fast, here are some frightful examples:
Ordinary British pub-goers and townsfolk become deadly (if somewhat daffy) killers in the comedy film, Shaun of the Dead.
A plague turns noblewomen as well as nursemaids into flesh-eaters in lace and muslin in the novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Wandering corpses as well as scheming survivors become equally life-threatening in the television drama, The Walking Dead (the second season premiered last night on AMC).