trend

The combination of black and white is a classic for a reason — its versatility just can't be beat. While I normally love its crisp, clean decisiveness, these days I am leaning towards a different riff on the pairing. When applied to organic shapes, either naturally or by design, the color duo takes on an earthy substance that is just the right amount of rough around the edges. There is an element of wabi-sabi in these pieces that has them feeling fresh but understated at the same time. Here's what I'm coveting right now.

• Handwoven Rug (from $148): Round, rectangular or square, no matter which shape you choose, this rug is a winner.
• Agate Coaster ($18): beautiful and alluring, these coasters don't need to be protecting your coffee table to serve a purpose: they look wonderful on their own.
• Reef Pendant ($250): made from metal chain link, these pendants look like fishermen's nets.
• Salvaged Table ($399): this salvage table is one of a kind but would be easy enough to replicate.
• Black and White Bowl ($258): low and elegant, this bowl would look wonderful full of fruit or in an entry as a catchall.
• Hugo Guinness Wire Basket Drawing ($2.800): simple and sweet, this drawing embodies the wabi-sabi aesthetic.

Keeping the wedding dress, bouquet, or invitation is expected, but now The New York Times is calling out a new trend: keeping something unexpected.

Some out-of-the-wedding-book mementos require planning, but I'd say the best ones are spontaneous, like the couple who kept a Spider-Man water squirter that was a prize from a box of Froot Loops guests opened to use as confetti in a makeshift, postceremony parade. One bride went all Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for her destination wedding by sending her wedding-day shoes to all her female friends who couldn't make it for signatures.

And then there are the unexpected mementos that start traditions. One couple kept a jar of rain from their wedding day, which they've since used sparingly to baptize their children. A little water remains, but the woman has begun collecting rain for other couples with stormy-day weddings. Sunny-dayers, you're on your own!

So planned or not, if you're married did you keep anything out of the ordinary? And if you aren't, would you plan to?

Source: Flickr User tantrum_dan

It used to be that if you went around town hanging up photos of your ex to warn people a registered sex offender had moved into the neighborhood, you'd get a bad reputation: "the crazy, spurned lover." Now I bet if someone hacked into the National Sex Offender Registry and actually registered an ex, they'd be applauded . . . and arrested, but still applauded as a hero to the brokenhearted.

Online revenge is becoming the norm; creativity seems to cancel out the psycho, stalker stereotype of scorned lovers past. There was the guy who broke into his ex's Netflix and reviewed movies until her top recommendations were all films about cheating; the woman who turned a photo of her ex-boyfriend into a LOL Cat-style meme and used SEO to ensure Google picked it up; and now one woman is selling her ex's stuff on eBay, posing seductively in each shot and marketing the stunt on the site My Ex-Boyfriend's Closet. Personally, I give her low points for creativity — she's probably not the first to try it, just the first to publicize it so well — but I'll reserve further judgment until I hear how much she earns.

And why not publicize it? Online revenge seems to return fleeting, Internet fame; real revenge earns long-term, bad raps. Not that I'm suggesting it!

When it comes to divorce, a new survey says, revenge is a dish best served on the operating table. I prefer revenge to be creative, meme-worthy, and raging, so a boob job, moob job, and something known as the "yummy mummy package" don't really make the cut.

The results, also, don't exactly represent the average divorcée. The survey was done at Transform Cosmetic Surgery in the UK, and it found 62 percent of its clients were newly divorced and 11 percent of them were men. Of course, it could be that clients are looking to prep for reentering the dating world or their divorce settlements are just begging to be spent, but 48 percent said they had plastic surgery to make their exes jealous.

So maybe there is some truth to it, but isn't it just like the pricier, more painful, and slightly crazier version of looking hot when you see an ex?

Last year it was vajazzling; this year it's the v-steam. In December, the Los Angeles Times introduced Americans to the vaginal steam bath, a "centuries-old Korean remedy" that's now taking off in both traditional, Korean salons and luxury ones.

Known as chai-yok in Korean, the vaginal steam bath is exactly what it sounds like. Maybe worse! You perch over a bottomless pot of boiling water infused with herbs for about 20 to 45 minutes. You're either naked or wearing a poncho-like getup that does not breathe to maximize the steam's effect.

Ancient Korean wisdom says it fights infections, reduces stress, eases PMS, and even increases fertility; Western doctors say maybe so, but so far there's no absolutely no proof. Dr. Laura Riley, director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General in Boston, says, "I just don't understand physiologically how putting steam up the vagina is going to change your fertility or help you relieve stress."

So what do women who've had v-steams say? Find out below.

No matter how beautiful funeral homes are, they are inherently creepy. But funeral directors are trying to end the stigma by getting into the business of life. Are people just not dying fast enough?

More likely, funeral trends (there's a blog idea!) are moving further away from traditional wakes toward more personalized services, leaving funeral directors looking for new ways to bring in business. I get why funeral homes are offering weddings, but why are couples going along with it? I've rounded up a few reasons below.