First comes a Relationship Contract.. then comes Prenup?!

Sure everyone knows what a prenup is.. another legally binding contract for married couples (aka a contract to protect marital assets in case of a death or divorce).. but have you heard about 'Relationship Contracts' ?


The New York Times says many couples make such contracts either written or oral that outline the needs, wants and stipulations of their relationship. Some agreements may decide on how much time the couple needs to spend together, how chores are divided up or who takes the dog out in the morning.


Newly weds, Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan was said to have had such an agreement before she moved to be closer to Zuckerberg. In their arrangement it was reported that she insisted on at least one date night and 100 minutes together a week which had to be outside of his apartment and his Facebook offices. 


With a guy like that I don't blame her for drawing up a few terms, if I was moving my whole life for some gazillionaire who's known to work crazy hours I would be a little reluctant to trust his word too.


And let's not forget the fictional character from Fifty Shades of Grey who had a whole sex-contract drawn up. ( I know its fiction but in BDSM most dominant and submissive partners draw up contracts to detail exactly what is expected out of one another).

But are these so-called 'relationship contracts' really necessary? Whatever happened to asking a girl to go steady and then buying her a promise ring?


Some lawyers say that these contrasts are fluffy versions of cohabitation agreements that same sex couples started writing up years ago and that some heterosexual couples who don't ever plan on getting married write-up.. look at celebrity couple Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger who have been dating for years, the former Dawson's Creek star recently told Life & Style, " We're together for six years now, so for all intents and purposes, we are [married]" he added. "I have no need for a priest to tell me that!" 

Now although most lawyers will tell you that these agreements are legally unenforceable, such discussions at least make it clear what each partner wants in the relationship. And in this day and age you can't assume all the same rules and regulations of a regular/normal relationship apply.. maybe some couples want to write down that they are free to sleep with other people or that when you move in together the kegerator gets retired?

For some it might sound like a business plan for a romantic relationship while for others it could sound like a relationship wish-list.. But if you look at it in a playful way, maybe it could be fun to draw one up, what would be on your list?

Here is a clip from CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory" when Sheldon, "the boyfriend" presents his 'Relationship agreement' to his girlfriend, Amy.

Leonardo Dicaprio as The Great Gatsby

20th Century Fox

Leonardo DiCaprio will always be my favorite male actor. My Hollywood crush whose face once wallpapered my teenage bedroom. My romantic hero and 1 fling exception ( you know when you make a deal with your partner that if you ever got the chance to sleep with one celebrity it would be this person).

I was already excited to hear that the brilliant classic, "The Great Gatsby" was being turned into a movie but now that the trailer is out with a glimpse of Leo as Mr. Gatsby, Christmas can't come soon enough! Plus its directed by Baz Luhrmann, who directed the famous and heart melting rendition of Romeo & Juliet (I think every girl dreamed about that fish tank scene at least once or twice) and it's amazing soundtrack ( aka Desiree's Kissing You song)

 ... also to point out.. this film reiterates my recommendation for Leo to nab the leading role in Fifty Shades of Grey.. He would be the perfect Christian Grey.

Fifty Shades of Grey Finished...

The infamous erotic novel, Fifty Shades of Grey is still generating quite a buzz throughout the country. American Idol host, Ryan Seacrest has even caught the bug saying he is “obsessed”! Also adding that, “I think it can be a study book for a lot of people,” he told Access Hollywood.

The popular read has also invoked a stream of spoofs and parodies. Andrew Shaffer wrote  “Fifty Shames of Earl Grey” a satirical novel that stars a handsome and wealthy count, Earl Grey who buys businesses to capture the heart of another young college student.

"The hero is so fabulously rich that he buys up every company the heroine works for, including Amazon.com and Walmart, and he also has a private dinosaur island ... so they actually have sex on a dinosaur's back which is not something I have ever seen in a romantic novel before," Shaffer told Reuters.

And you don’t have to look far to find parodies on Youtube, Howard Neuthaler produced, “Christian Penetrates the Suburbs” saying he wanted to spoof the majority  of the people who actually read the book- the suburban mom.

But some people are just lucky enough to reap the benefits of the hot selling title without even trying… a 2011 young adult novel about a Lithuanian girl’s life in a Siberian labor camp got a boost in sales just by having a similar name, “ Between the Shades of Gray”. In just three weeks, the novel moved into the No. 5 bestselling children’s paperback on the New York Times list.

While all the hype continues to grow, I couldn’t help but feel a hint of disappointment when I finished the last page of book number three.

As in most trilogies, my favorite was the first book- the characters are all brand new and I was immediately drawn to Christian and wanted to know more about him and his dark secrets. By the second book, the plot thickens and I realize the book has more depth than just a story about love and kinky sex. By the third and final book I notice I'm reading in a slower pace, perhaps it's because I know it’s the last one or maybe because it is a tad bit slower than the first two. Either way the sex scenes are still as steamy and their relationship on a new and intriguing level. The ending was.. well it was, good. New and welcomed suspense draws you in as you wonder whether you will be satisfied with the finale. To be honest I could have done without the last couple of pages but E.L James revives herself with an interesting swap of narrators in the last few pages giving the reader a new and intimate look into the beloved and worshiped mind of Christian Grey.

But now that I’ve finished Fifty Shades what the hell am I going to read? What is going to capture and keep my attention like Fifty Shades of Christian Grey?

Without any time to research  I downloaded “Beautiful Disaster” by Jamie McGuire. The book has been out since last May but the synopsis gave me a glimmer of hope that this new novel might offer a Christian-like bad boy that I might enjoy reading about.


“The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn't drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.”

I won't sway you one way or another but after reading some of the reviews I know I was intrigued enough to give it a try. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11505797-beautiful-disaster

I’ll let you know how it goes… Happy Friday

Fifty Shades of Grey..2 Books Down 1 More to Go

If you haven't heard of the 'Romantic' novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" yet, then .. well.. then you need to get better girlfriends or crawl out of the hole you've living in. 


The book that has captivated millions is basically about a love story between one gorgeous rich man, Christian Grey and one virginal and virtuous young woman Anna Steele.


Sounds like your run-of-the-mill romance novel right? ... Maybe Not.


Christian has not only intrigued Anna with his boyishly good looks and confident swagger, but he introduces her into the unspoken world of BDSM ( Bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism). 


I'll be honest, my mother was the first to tell me about the book- which she described to me as a 'romance novel everyone is talking about'. I had just finished the Hunger Games trilogy and figured why not give another trilogy a go. Though it wasn't until I was riding the subway to work at 6 in the morning that I realized this was not your traditional Nicholas Sparks type of love story. Thankfully I was reading from my kindle and no one around me could tell that I was leafing through an erotic sex scene before bashfully running out of the metro.


Now I've shared a few pages with my boyfriend, who just rolled his eyes and told me I was reading porn and when I shared my enthusiasm for the book with my girlfriends they too didn't show any interest. Was I missing something here? The book did sell more than a quarter of a million books within a year not to mention the movie deal it scored for a reported 5 million. 


Perhaps some can't get over the idea that "Fifty Shades of Grey" is just some soft porn dirty Ol' romance that more of the 40-somethings are responding to, but I still recommend you to pick up at least the first one and give it a try. 


Yes there is a lot of sex-talk and sex-scenes...some with whips, floggers, blindfolds, cuffs, plugs, clamps etc.. but behind all the kinkery there is a solid love story between two people.. one that has a sad and scary childhood that unveils secrets into why a life of BDSM works for him... and another played by the hopeless romantic who cant help feel the need to "fix" her troubled lover, which I think everyone at some point might be able to relate to.  The broken man that has so much 'potential', could you be the one to fix him.. Could you be his white knight?


I just started the third book of the trilogy and (without giving anything away) will tell you the book is one- not all about sex (thought there is A LOT).. two- not all hearts and flowers ( though there are some corny lines mixed in) and three- actually has some interesting and thrilling plot twists that will surprise you. 


Some extra interesting tidbits on the 50 Shades extravaganza:

• The author, E.L James told 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas "it's all my fantasies in, in one thing." ..and went on to say her two teenage sons have NOT read her book (Thank God..or else her book sales will be paying for their psychotherapy for the rest of their lives).
• Fifty Shades is now a NO.1 on multiple best seller lists.
• Books two & three hit book shelves today (they were only available in the U.S electronically before)
• Sex shops have seen a spike in sales since the book has been out ( Pleasure Chest, a sex shop in California is organizing a "Fifty Shades of Pleasure" workshop- Chk your local listings).
•  One Man told Pleasure Chest, "my wife's reading this book. She attacked me three times last week. I've been married for 20 years and we rarely have sex three times in one week."
• Twitter and entertainment sites have already been taking guesses at who will be cast as Christian Grey ( Leonardo Dicaprio (my favorite), Ed Westwick ( you know from Gossip Girls, doesn't anyone still watch that show other than me?), Ryan Gosling (would be great but a little too obvious and well known). Here is a good read on possible castings for the whole movie:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/fifty-shades-of-grey-casting_n_1430214.html?ref=entertainment ) 

So don't be embarrassed and jump on the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon and GO ahead and read them.. and read them all~