Typically, it’s we here at Bostonista who dole out the style advice. We’ve helped you with blue cues and collar capers and even cleared up a few personal hygiene issues. Rarely are we at a loss during fashion 911s. But our current situation has us flummoxed.

Last week, one of us had reconstructive knee surgery. (We’ll spare you the visuals and vivid painkiller-induced dreams.) Being house-bound for a week was alternately horrid and therapeutic, the latter thanks to lots of TLC from the littlest Bostonista. But now that we’re up and working again, we’ve hit the biggest roadblock of all: Accessorizing a monstrous leg brace and crutches is no easy task. We have entered into precarious fashion territory a fellow editor has termed “gimp chic.”

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Now that it’s spring, Bostonians with chutzpah are remembering the bikes they’d left rotting in garages and basements. That coupled with the imminent environmental crisis makes this a perfect time to share a few riding pointers to ensure that you have a safe and pleasant trip. Here are my quals: I’ve been bicycle commuting for about 15 years in Boston and in Philly, daily distances ranging from 5 miles to 22 miles roundtrip, from 22 degrees to 102 degrees.

So let’s jump in! (more…)

Until Tuesday, I was fairly ignorant of the particular hazards of dry cleaning. Until Tuesday, I vaguely understood that the chemicals used in the process were not awesome, so I would be sure to tear off the plastic bag right away and let my clothes air out after picking them up. (I would also sort of try to hold my breath every time I stopped by the cleaners.)

But then Tuesday came. And what began as an extremely simple work-related query to the people in charge of a local dry-cleaning chain exploded into a hostage situation in which I was stuck on the phone for roughly 17.5 hours. But! I did come away with some (kind of) interesting information regarding dry cleaning solvents and practices.

Here, the very abridged version of What I Semi-Consensually Learned About Perchloroethylene. (more…)

Blogging, we learned this week, is not the best occupation for people who would rather not die.

Here at Bostonista, we were worried about our lifestyle well before the Times article materialized, though our concerns focused less on imminent heart failure and more on our daily tendency to eat the chocolate-covered items that constantly bombard our office.

Either way, it’s a good thing we tried Healthworks’ Bootcamp.

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As any reader of Vanity Fair’s “My Stuff” column knows, non-regular people use non-regular toothpaste. (The gorgeously packaged Italian brand Marvis is a favorite among supermodels and socialites.) But ever since Bostonista started buying $90 bras, we have to save money somewhere. And we’d rather sacrifice some style for good old American bleaching power, anyway.

So for years, we’ve used Colgate Total toothpaste. Tartar control plus whitening, and a strong minty taste—done. We buy it in bulk and don’t think twice.

However, as a PR pitch helpfully informed us this week, we really do need to be more discerning when selecting oral care brands. True sophisticates obviously buy French toothpaste. And so we wound up with samples of Gallic bestseller Elgydium. (more…)

I don’t own a Blackberry. I have a deeply-rooted distrust of ringing cell phones. I send out about four of the 200 texts I pay for each month. And when my sister accidentally put my iPod through the wash, I could honestly tell her it wasn’t that big of a deal.

So I was understandably alarmed yesterday, when I felt my first-ever pang of gadget withdrawal during a morning Spin class. Why was I so sluggish? What was that unfamiliar feeling of discomfort? Was I dying?

Or was I just missing my Polar heartrate monitor?

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Psychoanalyst and Harvard med school prof Jean Fain claims that self-hypnosis can help over-eaters lose weight by changing their attitudes toward food through directed trances. Her new CD, Mindful Eating Mini Trances, includes an intro and five five-minute hypnosis sessions.

The Masochist weighs in, after the jump. (more…)