Body Language 101: From A First Date To Meeting The Parents

Don't be shy — make eye contact! Don't stand with your arms crossed, don't touch your face, don't break eye contact, but what else?

Don't stand with your arms crossed, don't touch your face, don't break eye contact — when it comes to body language, we've all memorized these words of wisdom.

Whether you're embarking on a first date, going on an interview to land that dream job, or being forced to deal with your fear of public speaking at work, body language is an incredibly important factor in your success — or lack thereof. And according to body language expert Blake Eastman, the founder of Manhattan-based research and teaching organization the Nonverbal Group, not only are physical signals important, but on many levels, they're even more impactful than the words we say.

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"These little slices of how you interact with other people are a big deal in your day-to-day life," Eastman says. "For example, your boss may not even realize it, but the whole reason they perceive you to be less valuable is because you’re expressing that you’re not confident."

According to Eastman, most of the hackneyed body language tips we've come to know are completely bogus, because they're so over-cited and over-used that they accomplish nothing but making you precisely what you don't want to be: completely average.

Read the rest over at StyleCaster: Body Language Secrets: How To Get A Date, Land A Job And More

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What to Wear: When You're Meeting His Parents On Easter [PHOTOS]

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Love Buzz Subscribe to Love Buzz By Lindsey Schickner. Posted on Mar 29th 2013.

Tomboy? Try this casually chic chambray polka-dot dress. Five sweet and stylish Easter outfits for any style.

As if meeting the parents isn't daunting enough, taking the parental plunge on Easter brings another level of expectation to the already nerve-racking experience.

Dress appropriately! With spring weather in full force, you can probably get away with skirts sans tights and open toe shoes. Opt for light and cherry colors, but avoid looking like a pastel Easter egg.

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Choose clothes that will make you feel comfortable and confident, while also looking respectful and composed. Aim for sweet, sunny and stylish, without appearing too fiercely fashion-forward or over-the-top. And, be sure to avoid stilettos in case you need to take part in an active egg hunt.

We give you five Easter-appropriate meet-the-parents outfits to choose from, so all you have to do is worry about is impressing the fam with your festive charm.

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VIEW THE GALLERY: WHAT TO WEAR WHEN YOU'RE MEETING HIS PARENTS ON EASTER [PHOTOS]

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Kim & Kanye: Fleeting Couple Or Perfect Parents? [EXPERT]

ProConnect Subscribe to Experts Blog By Nina Atwood. Posted on Jan 1st 2013.

Congratulations to the parents-to-be! Kimye is pregnant, but how will their relationship fare through parenthood?

Join Relationship Coach Nina Atwood on our Facebook page Thursday, January 3 at 2 p.m. EST to ask all of your questions about love and relationships!

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Kanye West announced this week that his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian is pregnant. And while everyone enjoys a good love story, and all babies are blessings, is this particular union headed for disaster or happily ever after? More importantly, what can we learn about our own relationships from Kim and Kanye's high profile union?

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Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, and Kim's relationship history is full of lightning-fast hookups followed by painful breakups. It doesn't take much to see the pattern, starting with her first marriage to Damon Thomas, which ended in a divorce marked by accusations of abuse. Then there was singer Brandy's brother Ray-J and the sex tape that resulted in a lawsuit. After that came a string of brief, high profile relationships with guys including Nick Lachey and Nick Canon, to name a few.

Then, in 2011, came the infamous, whirlwind engagement and multi-million dollar marriage to Kris Humphries, which ended after a meager 72 days. Now, Kim aims to have a child and establish a life with music susperstar Kanye West. But if she's simply succumbing to the irrational temptation to rush into a new relationship, she's likely headed for disaster.

Yes, there are warning flags flying all over the place. For one, this couple got together almost immediately after Kim separated from Kris. People often rebound in an effort to undo what went wrong before, or to do something totally different than the last relationship. The new love is actually all about undoing the past. Keep reading.

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A couple of decades ago, before I met my wonderful husband Mark, I was married to someone else. Our marriage wasn't going well, but I thought we were "working on it." Turns out, he wasn't. We made it through January, but just barely. Shortly after Valentine's Day (I won't get into how that went), he announced his intention to ... Read moreBy Nina Atwood

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Oh, Parents

When I got up this morning, I had a text from Little Brother.

"Warning: Mom is on Facebook. I repeat. Mom is on Facebook."

I checked my email after that, and sure enough, I had a friend request from my mother. I immediately did a scan of my profile through Mom Eyes, and realized some stuff needed to go. There were a couple of party pics that showed cleavage, drunk eyes, tequila shots, and in one case, me licking the face of Marco, Sarah's good friend, ex-coworker, and as she calls him, "The Will to my Grace." And I untagged myself in one of Ursula's photos, where Ben was seated in his wheelchair, and smacking my butt while I bent over in front of him. I was just about to accept her friend request, when my phone rang. It was my parents' number.

"Hello?"

"Oh hi, K. It's Mom. I just wanted to let you know that I signed up for The Facebook [hee hee] and I sent you a friend request. I don't know if I did it right, though. Can you see if you got it?"

"I did, Mom. I was just about to accept it."

"Oh good. Your brother won't."

"Won't what?"

"Accept my friend request. He said you're not supposed to be friends with your mother on The Facebook. Is that true?"

I tried hard not to laugh. "Some people think it's weird. Not me." (I just scored major points. Take that, LB!)

I got off the phone, accepted her friend request, and then poured myself a glass of water. As I drank it, I clicked on her profile to see how far she'd gotten with filling it out. No photo, but she had 30 friends and had joined a group called "Wildwomen of Greater Jacksonville," which seemed to be a bunch of old hippie ladies. Her favorite TV shows listed were "The Good Wife," "Castle" and "NCIS." I was poking through her friend list when I got a text from Ben.

"Your mom just sent me a friend request on FB. Ha!"

By the time I got to work, she had left a post on my wall:

"Happy New Year, Honey! Love, Mom."

Also, she'd made a comment on a photo of Ben and me, where we were making dumb faces at each other:

"Lol!!!"

And she'd also sent me a Farmville request. In addition to Ben, she'd befriended Sarah, Marni and Brad, and left them all "Happy New Year" posts, which she signed "Love, K's Mom." When I got home, I called LB.

"Dude, you have got to befriend Mom on The Facebook."

"No. Absolutely not."

"Come on! It's funny!"

"No. She's going to send me Farmville requests and leave comments on every single thing I post." (Sometimes, LB's foresight is uncanny.)

"You're depriving your mother of adorable pictures of Emma. I bet she'd love to see pictures of her granddaughter, and share them with her friends."

LB hesitated before answering. "You know, you say you'll never end up like Mom, but you just pulled a very Mom-like guilt trip."

"Did it work?"

"We'll see."

I got off the phone and got back on Facebook. Within an hour, my brother and mother were Facebook friends.

Here's to more parents-and-technology-related hilarity in 2011!

Posted at 9:56 PM

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