Double-dating could be one of the secrets to a long and happy marriage, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Social Work have found that maintaining healthy friendships with other couples can help to solidify a couple's sense of themselves as a unit and can even increase partners' attraction to one another.

Researchers reviewed findings from a series of studies on couple friendships conducted between 2008 and 2010 and compiled the results in a new book, "Two Plus Two: Couples and Their Couple Friendships".

The studies examined the overall impact of couple-to-couple friendships. Participants were asked questions such as, "How do you define couple friendships?," "How important are they to you as a couple?" and "How do these friendships work or operate?"

HuffPost Weddings spoke to "Two Plus Two" editors Geoffrey L. Greif, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland and Kathleen Holtz Deal, an associate professor at the school to learn more about how couple friendships can enrich a marriage.

HP: How does having couple friends benefit your marriage?

KHD: We found that there was a number of benefits to having couple friends. One of them is people actually use their couple friends as a model to emulate and a model to say, "Let's never do that." In both ways, they would have conversations a lot of times afterwards like, "I like the way they do that," or "It's great that they're so supportive like that," or "Let's never fight like that couple does." Modeling is important. Another benefit of having couple friends is that you get to see your partner at their best (hopefully) when you're with other people. Some aspects of our personalities may come out when we're working with more people or people we're not normally involved with. If you have the opportunity to see your partner being really thoughtful towards other people, that can make you feel warmer toward them and make you feel connected with them.

Osama Bin Laden has run into more drama -- and major production hasn't even started.

After congressional republicans voiced concerns that the White House was leaking classified information to Bigelow and her team (a suggestion the administration summarily dismissed) and Sony postponed the film's release until after the 2012 election, the "Hurt Locker" director may have thought she was in the clear.

But new turmoil in India has further complicated filming as right-wing Hindu activists protested the production on Friday. AFP reports that members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or VHP, disrupted shooting in the north India city of Chandigarh and demanded that any representations of Pakistan on Indian soil be taken down.

A production company claimed it was merely making "establishing" shots and that the Abbottabad home in which bin Laden was killed would be recreated in Jordan.

The movie will star Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong. Chris Pratt and Jason Clarke were also original members of the cast.

In development for years and written by Mark Boal (who also won an Oscar for "The Hurt Locker") film had to retool after Bin Laden was killed by the Navy's SEAL Team 6 early in 2011.

"The attempt to kill Bin laden in the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 was no longer as relevant a story as what had just happened," Edgerton told Indiewire last year, "But then what had just happened was so fresh and as we all know, history often needs time and perspective to kind of settle in everybody's minds, you can't just go and start shooting the movie in the next month and assume that you're going to get everything right and have all of the information. So the project was put on hold for a while while Mark and Kathryn kind of gathered information."

The movie's working title, "Zero Dark Thirty," is military slang for an early starting time, as Deadline reported.

Mariah Carey made her return to the stage since giving birth to twins in diva-like form: She changed her shoes after singing two songs and touched up her hair and makeup in a sleek, sleeveless black dress, all in front of an eager audience.
Carey, who gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section in April, performed for a few hundred fans Thursday night at New York's Gotham Hall.
Of her return she said: "I didn't realize this was a big deal."
The Grammy winner sang a number of her hits during the short performance, from "Hero" to "We Belong Together" to the Jackson 5 cover "I'll Be There."
The concert was one of four shows Thursday dubbed "Plot Your Escape: Four Concerts. Countless Celebrities. 1 Epic Night," by Caesars Entertainment. Diddy was Carey's opening act in New York, while Lil Wayne and Cee Lo performed in Los Angeles, Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles in Chicago, and Mary J. Blige and Gavin DeGraw in New Orleans. The concerts were part of Caesars Entertainment's rewards program.
The shows happened simultaneously and were streamed online.
"We can't do anything without it being documented," Carey told the audience. "Doesn't it freak you out at all?"
Carey said if her son Moroccan was onstage, he would probably beat-box, and that her daughter Monroe would be a diva.
The multiplatinum performer thanked her fans for being there and joked: "Catch me at my real show next time."
____
Online:
http://www.mariahcarey.com

The former teen star and mother of one is hard at work on her sixth album and recently wrapped the video for her first single, a duet with Monica called "It All Belongs To Me." This is first time the two have recorded together since their 1998 Grammy Award winning hit, "The Boy Is Mine."

"Monica and I have a bond as women and as mothers, working with her doesn't feel like work," Brandy says. "Chris Robinson directed the video and we're both in dysfunctional relationships. We're helping each other through both situations, it's sort of like a 'Thelma & Louise,' girl empowerment video."

Recruiting producers like Rico Love, who wrote and produced "It All Belongs To Me," Jim Jonsin, Danja, Timbaland, Chris Brown and longtime collaborator Rodney Jerkins, Brandy's also seeing what two Canadians have to offer.

"I heard the song that Drake did and I loved it," Brandy says of working with the Cash Money MC and his primary producer Noah "40" Shebib. "I haven't recorded it yet but I'm looking forward to it because it's such a great melody and the beat is nice. It's a vibe that I haven't dipped into and I think the fans would get a kick out of hearing my voice over a record like that. I'm not sure if Drake's going to be on it but I'm a huge fan of his. His melodies are beautiful, I like the way I sound in the shower singing his songs."

Singer-songwriter Frank Ocean is also contributing to her new project, and according to Brandy, their relationship is more than just professional.

A devastating storm system moved across the United States on Friday, spawning a slew of tornadoes that contributed to at least 28 fatalities in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Gordon reported Friday afternoon the agency had about "half a dozen reports of tornadoes on the ground," as well as reports of "significant damage" -- making his comments before some of the worst twisters were reported.

"This is an enormous outbreak that's going on right now across Kentucky and the South," Gordon said. "It's crazy. It's just nuts right here."

Southern Indiana was particularly hard hit, with Indiana Department of Homeland Security spokesman John Erickson saying three had died in Jefferson County as a result. Sgt. Rod Russell with the Indiana State Police said later that three people also were killed in Scott County.

In addition, Emergency Management Director Leslie Cavanaugh of Clark County -- which has about 110,000 people -- reported one death. Sheriff's Department Maj. Chuck Adams added that a man was found dead in his car several miles outside Henryville.

"We've got total devastation in the north-ceindntral part of the county (and) widespread damage from the west to the east," added Adams. "We are inundated with calls."

At least 15 people were killed across Indiana, authorities said.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate WLKY showed structures torn to shreds and large swaths of trees knocked down in Henryville, about 20 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.

Other aerial images showed similar devastation in St. Paul, Indiana. Several officials -- including Jeffersonville, Indiana, Mayor Mike Moore, U.S. Sen. Dan Coats and Adams -- indicated that the town of Marysville suffered especially significant damage.

Cavanaugh also said that the local high school, Henryville Junior-Senior High School, had been "demolished."

According to Sara Reschar, an administrative assistant for the West Clark Community Schools, "students were already out of the school when the storm hit" -- having been dismissed about 15 minutes earlier. Adams said there were some "scrapes and scratches," but no serious injuries as a result.

Authorities used thermal imaging equipment, search dogs and other means Friday night to look for a 9-year-old boy in Henryville whose whereabouts was unknown after the tornadoes came through, Adams said.

She has been teasing her fans over the past few days about a little surprise that she had made for them.

Today, Avril Lavigne finally revealed her gift to some 4million followers on Twitter and showed a very different side to the skater girl they had all come to know.

The 27-year-old unveiled a new music video as a thank you to all the people who had watched her perform on her world tour and the Girlfriend singer looked more grown up than ever.
The good hearted Lavigne must have really been feeling the love because she asked her fans to show their support by donating money to the Avril Lavigne Foundation, which was set up to help sick and disabled children.

The punk star showed off an elegant and sexy side in the artistic video which sees her enter a hotel room in the part black and white part colour video.

Over the past few weeks, Tulisa Contostavlos has been hitting the beaches and pools of Miami and Los Angeles in a series of tiny bikinis.

But as she prepared to shoot the video for her debut solo single in Florida today, the N-Dubz singer, 23, decided to look to the '50s for inspiration.

The X Factor judge showed off her curves in a floral Ted Baker 'Pictou' swimsuit, exaggerating her slim waist with a elasticated red belt.

Tulisa is filming the promo for We Are You - the first release from her upcoming debut solo album, which she has been recording since last month in the U.S.

After three weeks in California, Tulisa and her entourage arrived in Miami on February 21, where she has been hitting the recording studio and visiting Disneyworld.
Last night, Tulisa appeared in high spirits as she joined Chipmunk, 21, for dinner, before going to the Liv nightclub at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

Tulisa's single We Are You has been produced by ex-boyfriend and N-Dubz bandmate Richard 'Fazer' Rawson.

The sexy singer was a sheer delight at Paris Fashion Week in the transparent dress and matching underwear.

And she finished the bizarre look with a co-ordinating waistcoat and bright coral handbag.

The single star is in the City of Love to hang out with the fashionistas at the French event and was snapped outside her hotel as she headed to a show.

Later in the day she turned heads with another hot fashion statement, dressing for dinner in a tight white and gold dress.

She showed off her enviable curves and impressive cleavage in the mini-dress, which also revealed her tanned and toned legs, as she went for some posh nosh at La Maison du Caviar.

The 33-year-old actress appears in sexy promo shots which mark the return of US drama The Client List.

Jen drapes her gorgeous curves over the floor wearing just a bra and knickers.

She stars as a mother-of-three who has to turn to prostitution to survive after being abandoned by her husband.

But it's not long until she figures out that giving more than just facials and massages will line her pockets even more, so she teams up with the salon owner to provide extras.

Although the new series hasn't been aired yet, it's already had complaints from legitimate massage therapy workers.
I tried to make a joke on Twitter that I wondered why people were not writing to Dexter about killing people, or to Nurse Jackie about taking drugs on the job.

"Those are big, big television characters audiences love and adore so if there can be a serial killer we all like, I feel like a happy-endings specialist is the least of our worries."

The MTA released some mesmerizing photos of the subterranean mega-project, started in 2007 and slated to be completed in 2016, when New York will run a brand new subway line through the tunnel from the Financial District all the way up to 125th Street along the East side.

The photos reveal some serious progress, and puts into jaw-dropping perspective the immensity of the task at hand.

And for some more photos, and specifically portraits of the construction workers doing all the dangerous mining, check out Gina Levay's "Sandhogs," or watch the documentary by the same name (see the trailer below).SEE MORE