Now, if you’re like me, you love getting out of the house (finally!) to enjoy the warm spring weather, but you’re afraid that all your spring flinging won’t look too appealing on you, what with the inevitable runny nose and red eyes that your seasonal allergies will bring. Yet new research suggests that there might be a new way to cure those pollen-driven blues: kissing!

In a recent study conducted in Japan on 24 people with eczema and 24 people with hay fever, subjects were asked to kiss (or as a control, cuddle without kissing) while listening to romantic music. Since the kissing group was shown to produce significantly less allergen-specific antibodies than the cuddling group, it was concluded that kissing may alleviate allergic symptoms. For those of us going solo or not in the mood for lip locking, listening to Mozart or watching a heartfelt film can deliver similar results.

And if you’re still uncertain you can get through the spring season sniffle-free, join us tonight at Babeland Seattle for our free Kiss Me, I’m Irish: Flirting Tips from a Flirt workshop tonight at 6 pm, where we’ll cover eye contact, suggestive conversation starters, and tips to take it a step further. After all, you can’t cut corners when it comes to your health, right?

There’s been a lot of amazing viral efforts in the last month to rally around Planned Parenthood, following the House of Representatives’ recent vote to end their federal funding. These efforts been coming from both the organization itself, as well as from the supporters of the organization’s reproductive health care, sexuality education, cancer screenings and family planning information. I woke up to a particularly inspiring one yesterday from Wesleyan college students and knew I had to re-post it. My favorite part about this video is that it serves as an amazing reminder that sex education and sexual health services are foundational aspects to having happy and healthy youth populations, who are informed about their sexual choices and prepared to make their own life decisions. Kudos to the creators of this video!

And Babeland customers have their own way to show their support, too! Buy Proper Attire condoms at any Babeland store or online and proceeds will go to support Planned Parenthood. How cool is that?

Have you noticed that 2011 is almost 1/4 done?  Pretty unbelievable.  And in the last four or five months, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of new vibrators and sex toys added to our product line (thanks to our wonderful and dedicated purchasing team!).  So it stands to reason that behind the scenes, we’re lining up to try these toys and get back to you about how they work.

With that in mind, I present to you the March 2011 Staff Picks!  And more to the point, I present you an interview with one of our staff pick-ers.  Jen May is Babeland’s Chief Operating Officer, and has been here for over eight years.  In fact, Jen and I started only a few months apart, with her managing our Lower East Side shop and me selling sex toys to eager New Yorkers five days a week.  (This was back when we were Toys in Babeland, for those of you who remember the good old days.)  A lot has changed since then, but we’re both still here, and more in love with Babeland than ever.  So I’m pleased to present Jen May in all her articulate, sex-positive, business-savvy glory.  Read on!

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