Un-friend your ex on Facebook while you’re at it. As appealing as the prospect of sitting in the dark and looking through his or her wall posts may seem (why does that dude keep “liking” all her photos? Haha, I don’t even care. OH MY GOD WHY WOULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?!), there is an especially insidious type of narcissism inherent to wallowing in your own heartache, and I can assure you that there’s nothing like the year after graduation to show you how not special you really are.
 
3. Frozen spinach is the roughage of the gods.
 
Where I live, you can get like 5 boxes of frozen spinach for 4 dollars. I have two words for you: unbeatable value.  Spinach is a great addition to any pasta, rice, or omelet (if you’re feeling adventurous!) dish. What’s more, spinach is rich with vitamins, and loaded with various other nutrients too! (Photo: Thomas Monaster)

I eat this stuff like every night and, wow, do I feel great! There is, however, a slight chance the excess spinach build-up in my system has become sentient and organized hostile take-over of my brainstem with the intent to use me as a human advertisement encouraging the sale of more…Whoa there! Sorry about that folks. What’s that guy talking about, amiright? EAT MORE SPINACH. 
 
4. Do little things to make yourself feel like a good person.
 
Given the state of the economy, you are unlikely to achieve any tangible measure of professional success in the coming months, and as a result, there will be many days when it becomes impossible to stave off the sneaking, snarling suspicion that life is hopeless and you are a frivolous, pointless ninny adrift across a sea of black despair. When that happens, buy lunch for a homeless person.  Give up your seat to an old lady on the subway. Volunteer your time and energy with a local charity.

It is hard to justify your nagging feelings of insignificance when you can directly see the positive effect your existence has on other people.  To the blasé, kindness may feel cheap, and its long-term efficacy is up for debate – but trust me, when you’re barely scraping by, your ex-girlfriend’s living it up in Cabo for spring break, and your last job interview began with “Well we are looking for someone with a bit more experience” – you might just need to give a hungry man a sandwich and feel like a good kid for a while.
 
5. Economize alcohol consumption by drinking the ends of strangers’ drinks at the bar.
 
I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking: if our generation is good at anything, it is blithely consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol. That’s our thing, and we might as well own it. That said, once you’ve graduated, all the money you make during the month can no longer go straight into your liver. At the end of every month now, you will be forced to gather your carefully apportioned finances, tally up an enormous sum of money and unceremoniously toss it all into a giant, howling pit (more specifically rent, bills, loan payments, etc…), and thus you will have to learn to economize your various social crutches. (Photo: AP)

Thus, I enthusiastically recommend drinking the ends of drinks left by strangers at the bar. They just left those drinks there, they aren’t going to need them, and I doubt you’ll get poisoned or anything.Dignity is for the aristocrats, and kids whose parents got them consulting jobs right out of college. Remember to tip the bartender on your way out though. 
 
On a side note, you could argue that drinking straight vodka from a plastic bottle would be a less risky way to economize alcohol expenses, but this is just hubris. As cute as you thought blacking out was in college, if you do so in the real world you’re going to fall asleep on the subway ride home and get justifiably mugged, which can be pricey.
 
6. Call your Mother.
 
You are going to get lonely. You are not going to be taken seriously. You are going to feel depleted and beat down and for some reason you can’t quite articulate, guilty. But there is still someone in this world who would love to hire you, had she the means. She is understanding, loving and she thinks you’re just great. Your mother cares about you. Give the old gal a ring. 
 
7. Hang in there.         
 
We were all told that if we worked hard in high school, went to a good college and cropped out all the illegal substances and paraphernalia from our Facebook photos, that there would be a well-paying career waiting for us on the day of graduation. This turned out to be false. The truth is something you probably expected: that the world has never owed anybody anything, and it isn’t about to start now just because you got pretty good grades.  

Like it or not, you are graduating from a place filled with tight friendships, nourishing support networks, and fond, if blurry, memories, to a life of work every day and frozen spinach every night. But as exhausting as being a real world nobody can be, there sure are a lot of us, and there is always strength in numbers.
 
One year out of college, I certainly have not gained enough insight or experience to say with any authority whether or not you are going to be all right. Some of you will be, and some of you will not be. In any event, I’ll be right there with you, and even in the glass isn’t quite half full, you can always salvage a few sips.
 

by Hilary George-Parkin | 6:35 pm, May 13th, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! In honor of this very special day, we’ve taken the expression “mother knows best” to heart and rounded up some of the best pieces of advice that top designers say they ever received from their moms.

The bits of wisdom range from sweet (Elbaz) to inspiring (DVF) to somewhat questionable (Lagerfeld), but no matter what they all seem to have done the trick!

Oh, and Ford‘s is technically from his grandmother. It’s her day today too!

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1. 
   1.Michael Kors: “Keep it simple, keep it comfortable, and stay consistent.”
   
   
   from Kors’s twitter
2. 
   2.Tory Burch: “To be optimistic, compassionate and that family comes first.”
   
   
   from Huffington Post
3. 
   3.Tom Ford: “You have one decision to make in life: you can either be happy or you cannot be happy.”
   
   
   from Ford’s interview at the 92Y
4. 
   4.Alber Elbaz: “Stay big in your work and small in your life.”
   
   
   from The Independent
5. 
   5.Valentino Garavani: “Try to make beautiful things because people, they expect nice things from you.”
   
   
   from InStyle
6. 
   6.Tommy Hilfiger: “Treat others as I would want to be treated regardless of age, race or financial status.”
   
   
   from Harper’s Bazaar
7. 
   7.Diane von Furstenberg: “Fear is not an option.”
   
   
   
8. 
   8.Karl Lagerfeld: “Go to bed like you have a date at the door.”
   
   
   from Interview

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Alber Elbaz diane von furstenberg Karl Lagerfeld Michael Kors mother’s day Tom Ford tommy hilfiger Tory Burch Valentino