Gerit Quealy

Gerit Quealy's goal is to make your life easier by offering you style options and opinions — not judgments. She has written or co-authored books on topics ranging from fashion to flowers to 50 Things To Do When You Turn 50. An award-winning writer, she's covered everything from lipstick to Shakespeare—style & weddings for The New York Times, gardens for Country Living, food for Woman's Day, travel for Modern Bride, and a host of topics for The Huffington Post. Current favorite quote, reportedly from Eleanor Roosevelt: "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."

Hello! I see SGS as an ongoing conversation — hope you'll join in.

GQ-tips: Practical style advice on what works — to save you time & money. NEW: Style & Substance — when it's more than simply beauty or fashion; Quick & Dirty: Short takes when you're pressed for time. Others:

• Rant o' the Week (usually Mondays), to get your blood circulating, your brain stimulated and get the week off to an energized start.
• Beauty  - Tuesdays (usually). I'm fortunate to be able to sample many of the products and procedures I write about (unless noted otherwise) — if this weren't the case, I'd be reporting from debtors' prison. But, I have a much bigger beauty "budget" (read budget deficit) than the average woman.
• Wednesday's Zen Moment The pause that refreshes.
• Cosmetic Surgery Thursdays - secretly, we really what to know what's going on with plastic surgery & scientific advances in beauty, don't we? Even if we don't partake.
• Friday...Who knows. Anything goes: Celebrity style, polls, men's grooming and more.

(Photo: Suko Presseau and Virginia Ines Vergara)