Photo: Courtesy of Givenchy

Self-tanner is a smart alternative to spending days baking in the sun, but applying it can be tricky, especially to your face. (Not to mention the Oompa Loompa factor). That's why we're glad we found Givenchy's Mister Radiant. This weightless clear gel is filled with gold and bronze beads that distribute color as you rub it in--leaving you with a subtle glow minus the commitment and the streaks. Plus, it gives enough coverage that skipping foundation--especially appealing on hot, sticky days--is an option.

Givenchy Mister Radiant, $36

Keep reading:

Self-tan without the streaks
5 Steps to getting gorgeous legs

When Claudia Kincaid, heroine of From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, grew tired of the injustice of having to both empty the dishwasher and set the table on the same night and bored of the sameness of every week, she devised a plan to break free from the monotony of everything. That plan involved running away from home to hole up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and for many readers of E.L. Konigsberg's 1977 children's classic--I include myself among them--a museum-based slumber party has long represented the ultimate escape fantasy.

I still haven't figured out a way to sleep in a bed that is also an 18th-century work of art, but the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is offering an opportunity Claudia Kincaid would have schlepped across the country for.

Photo: Thinkstock

The simplicity of sangria--a little fruit, a little wine, and there's your fiesta--is part of the drink's allure. And I'll take a cold glass of the traditional version any summer day (here's Art Smith's sangria, which was served at the Oprah Show farewell dinner). Still, playing with the recipe, whether by swapping in a different fruit or alcohol, or introducing a completely new flavor, can be fun. Here are six food bloggers' creative takes on the classic.

Lambrusco Sangria from Chow.com
Be delicate when you stir otherwise you'll kill the bubbles.

Raspberry Thyme Sangria from Food Republic
Muddled raspberries and thyme go nicely with Prosecco (if you like your sangria spritzy) or Rose (if you prefer it more full-bodied).

Sake Sangria from Daily Loaf
Peaches and plums play up the flavors in sake and plum wine.

Sangria and Iced Coffee from the Women's Health blog
A non-alcoholic version that blends coffee, juices, fruit and soda water.

Summer White Sangria with Pink Peppercorns from Food52.com
Let muscovado sugar, cinnamon, pink peppercorns and mint leaves work their magic on fresh, ripe fruit and wine for a good half-hour before drinking.

Starfruit Sangria from Serious Eats
A cross between spiked lemonade and sangria, this drink can be made with club soda or ginger beer.

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How to buy wine for a party
9 savory appetizer recipes
7 things to do before your party starts

Henry James was wrong. The two most beautiful words in the English language are "Friday afternoon, Friday afternoon...." The things we're thankful for this week:

A marriage proposal to warm the hearts of hopeless romantics everywhere

Seeing that all 3 of the winners of Google's science fair were girls. Between these young brainiacs and the U.S. women at the World Cup, we're feeling all-around dazzled.

Artist Larry Ross recreates famous works of art (Mona Lisa, American Gothic)...out of balloons!

You know what would be nice? If someone would interrupt our workday with a magic trick. Until then, we're happy to see others who were surprised.

Before the weekend arrives, before you hit a restaurant with friends or sit down at barbecue with your family and forget the last five days, you might want to give a check up...on your feelings. How good--or bad--did you really feel this week?

It's a more crucial question than you might think. Barbara Fredrickson, a researcher at the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has found that for people to really flourish in life, they need to experience three positive emotions for every negative one.

Fredrickson has developed an online quiz that takes about five minutes to complete which calculates your positive-to- negative ratio. Mine was 1:1.7, placing me solidly with the 80% of the population that live below the ideal 3:1 score.

Drat!

Wait, I take that back. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

Wait, I take that back too. Fredrickson points out that phony positive emotions don't count and, in fact, may be detrimental to your spirits. My last and final feeling:  Drat (!) about the quiz Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! about Friday nights and the tropical sorbet martinis that I will be soon be drinking in the backyard.

Read More:
How to unhook yourself from negativity.
Optimism Works. Smart ways to try it (even if you're a pessimist)!

Some stories need no introduction. This 2:25-minute-long trip to dreamland (filmed entirely on a Nokia phone) had us at the double brrrring....an alarm going off simultaneously in Paris and New York. You might suspect the ending, but as with any good to romance, that's part of the delicious squeal that utters from your lips during the few final seconds.Watch--and sigh.

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

Read More:
Tales of real-life romance.

Photo: Thinkstock

There are wonderful doctors out there, compassionate, empathetic, with jargon-free vocabularies and an ability to make you feel as if, yes, everything is going to be okay. And then there are the doctors who blurt out a mortifying diagnosis--or worse, a distressing one--in a crowded room. Or treat you like a child who doesn't know how to listen. Or bully a nurse.

The way to avoid having those less-than-helpful doctor-patient interactions, says Cynda Ann Johnson, MD, MBA, dean of the medical school at Virginia Tech Carilion, is to recruit nice people and train them to be "the kind of doctor you want to go see." Yes, most medical schools offer communications and etiquette courses (sometimes with actors playing patients), and U.S. licensing requirements involve a clinical skills test that assesses communication. But a new entrance exam used by VTC and at least seven other medical schools around the country involves a "multiple mini interview" test that screens for courtesy, diplomacy, flexibility, decision-making and tact. (Gardiner Harris, the public health reporter for the New York Times, recently visited VTC on the day the multiple mini interviews took place, and called them the "equivalent of speed-dating.")

Johnson says that students can witness some pretty appalling behavior during their clinical training, and the school's goal is to give them a strong ethical foundation "so the won't succumb" to that--in other words, so they'll know better than their Dr. House-like instructors.

Until the new generation of docs takes over, use this advice to get the best possible treatment from yours:

How to Train Your Doctor

67 Questions to Ask Before an Office-Based Surgery

Four Ways to be a Patient

Photo: Thinkstock

 
Picnics are underappreciated: less hassle and heat than grilling, but endlessly more fun than eating indoors. Yet if you're gluten-free, the classic menu--a potential danger zone of sandwiches, crackers, pasta salad, and cookies--can scream off limits. A picnic can be gluten-free, of course, if you find tasty alternatives to the old standbys. Here's what you'll find in my wicker basket this weekend:

Udi's Sandwich Bread: Whether I'm craving cucumber-cream cheese or mounds of roast beef, I reach for Udi's, a durable rice-and-tapioca bread available in white or whole wheat. Unlike other options, it doesn't require toasting to hold up to messy fillings; you can eat it soft, straight from the loaf.

Tinkyada Pasta: Tinkyada's pasta-salad-perfect noodles (penne, shells, spirals) are made with brown rice and rice bran (fiber boost!), and stay incredibly chewy. One tip: The  directions significantly overestimate cooking time. If you like your pasta al dente, start taste-testing at the halfway point.

The Good Bean Roasted Chickpeas: You can opt for gluten-free croutons, but this new snack has become my new favorite salad topper. All-natural roasted chickpeas, dusted with sea salt, cracked pepper, or smoky chili and lime, are crunchy and flavorful, without overpowering a salad. And the chickpeas are naturally high in fiber and protein.

[After the jump, something crunchy and something sweet]