I told myself I’d try to post every week for a year, but the muses weren’t singing to me this week so you get a “best of” roundup instead of anything useful. You’re welcome!

1. Best drug-store nail polish shade: Revlon Top Speed in “Fire”. It’s very red and very firey with some orangey undertones. I always feel super sassy when I wear it, and it dries in about 3 minutes which is fab.

2. Best kitchen gadget that looks like a bedroom gadget (especially when held thusly): Cuisinart Smart Stick. This thing is a blender without the pitcher, which means you can use it to puree soup in the pot, emulsify salad dressing in a jar, and generally upgrade and simplify your life without adding to your dirty-dish load. I use mine every week.

3. Best little-known beauty trick: Fake it ‘Til You Make it. First coined by YouTube beauty gurus Michelle Money and Laura on the MM and L Show it’s my favorite tip for extending the life of a hair wash. For all you ladies trying to be more French  and wash your hair no more than twice a week to maximize texture and je ne sais quoi (I know I am!), this tip is invaluable. You basically wash the front of your hair, sectioning off a chunk that starts behind your ears and goes straight up your scalp to include your bangs. Put the rest in a bun (and a shower cap if you have it) hop in the shower, and shampoo (or do like they do in the video and use the sink). You get to freshen up the most visible parts of your hair while keeping all that lovely dirt and texture in the back, like a dirt mullet – a sexy dirt mullet that makes you feel like Brigitte Bardot.  Anyway, the MM and L Show comes off as a bit silly and the girls are so obviously from Utah, but they have tried every beauty product under the sun and after following many of their recommendations I have come to trust them implicitly. P.S. don’t forget the dry shampoo! Skipping washes is pointless without dry shampoo.

4. Best Fast-Food Fries: Burger King. It’s been a while since you’ve been to Burger King, amiright? While you were away they perfected the art of the fast food fry. BK fries are always crispy on the outside and fluffy and magical on the inside, unlike McDonalds fries which are usually more like rubberized, hollowed-out potato sticks. What BK figured out is that in order for once-frozen then fried fast-food fries to be consistently successful, they need to be thicker, or the middles dry out. A+ for Burger King in french fries 101.

5. Best French Rom-Com: Priceless. This movie is so charming and adorable. Audrey Tautou plays a gold-digger living in the French riviera who falls for the wrong guy. Predictable? Yes, but so fun and so pretty and I bet Ms. Tautou can go two weeks without washing her hair, with all that je ne sais quoi. Oh, the trailer is pretty bad too, but trust me the movie is awesome.