Back in 1987, watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 with our fingers over our eyes, we never dreamed that the part that could come true was Freddy Krueger bursting out of a television set snarling, “Welcome to primetime, bitch!” More than two decades later, the once-verboten B-word permeates popular media. But rather than shocking, it’s acquired a veneer of sass. There’s Bitch Slap, a retro chixploitation film currently in theaters, starring scantily clad women squabbling over crime, and Skinny Bitch, the best-selling diet book series. The epithet pops up regularly on primetime television, everywhere from How I Met Your Mother to Grey’s Anatomy. A memoir called Bitch Is the New Black, about successful young African-American women, has already sold the film rights and gotten Hollywood buzz though it won’t be published by Harper until June.

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Like everyone else, we were saddened and horrified by Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake on Jan. 12. Though we wanted to help immediately, we also wanted to make sure our donation would be put to good use. Following are a few ways you can contribute to relief efforts, as well as tips from philanthropy groups to ensure responsible donations.

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Too often, we have failed to heed the call of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. While celebrating the courageous civil rights leader’s works, we put off following his example. So rather than say, What could I possibly do? we’ll replace that negativity with responding to King’s famous query, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

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We always start the year with two promises: To eat more healthfully (especially after the holiday indulgences); and to further shrink our impact on the environment. The Gorgeously Green Diet (Plume, 2009) — the follow-up to eco-expert Sophie Uliano’s bestseller Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life (Collins Living, 2008) — promises that greening our diet is better for the planet as well as our health and wallet.

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When making donations to worthy causes, we like to make sure our money is being used in the best manner possible. We’re grateful there are resources such as GreatNonprofits.org, a website that allows beneficiaries, clients and donors to post positive and negative charity reviews, which are then posted to the organizations’ GuideStar reports. Perla Ni — GreatNonprofits CEO, Stanford Social Innovation Review founder and “philanthropy game-changer” as voted by readers of The Huffington Post — offers some additional tips for choosing the right charity.

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We’re just about partied out and yet we have one more to go … a friend is giving a bash to ring in 2010. Since we’re also just about shopped out, we have a hostess gift quandary: What to bring? A bottle of wine is fine, but not exactly original. Thankfully, celeb party planner Jes Gordon, author of Party Like a Rock Star (GPP Life, 2009), is never short of ideas. “I usually go for something unique or indulgent,” she says. “I look for the stuff people want but don’t usually buy for themselves.”

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It’s time for holiday office parties and cookie/gift exchanges. Since we often fall short on time to create impressive treats for our co-workers, this year we’re relying on Celebration Generation cookie mixes. Just add butter and vanilla extract to whip up chai shortbread cookies or butter, eggs and water for spiced oatmeal raisin cookies. We like having these mixes on hand for last-minute cookie emergencies, which happen with more frequency than one would think. As for those Secret Santa picks, here are some of our favorites.

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Every now and then, we hear something that makes us wonder what kids are listening to these days. But instead of feeling old, we realize our taste in music has improved with age. Amazon.com’s picks for best records of the year proves that 2009, for the most part, was a pretty great year for music. If you’re at a loss for a stocking stuffer for a music-lover and already have ruled out a Weezer Snuggie, check out our guide to the top five albums as chosen by Amazon’s music staff.

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When confronted by malls full of frantic holiday shoppers and barraged with advertisements promising the perfect gifts, we’re sometimes overwhelmed. We realize we’re very fortunate to be living somewhere that has so much available, while many others have very little. That’s why Mercy Kits — symbolic humanitarian gifts that support the health and education programs of Mercy Corps — are perfect for the person who has everything.

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With our own soiree just around the corner, we’ve been pondering how to make it stand out from the holiday blur. So we consulted Jes Gordon, an NYC- and L.A.-based event planner who has created fetes for the likes of Madonna, Barbra Streisand and J. Lo. It made us feel better, frankly, that even these remarkable women need help making their bashes unique. Gordon’s new book, Party Like a Rock Star: A Celebrity Party Planner’s Tips and Tricks for Throwing an Unforgettable Bash (GPP Life, 2009), is full of wisdom on topics ranging from booking a venue to menu planning to cleaning up afterward. With our location and menu covered, we asked for other quick and quirky details to make our party a hit.

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