T LOunge for September 22nd, 2023

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PinCrab Shack Bar and Restaurant at Finolhu Baa Atoll  – Kanufushi Island, Maldives

Darlings, it’s Friday, it’s the last day of summer, and today’s Lounge has no floor or walls. Sink your toes into the sand while you sip your cocktail and contemplate the passage of time gossip and kvetch.

You Can Now Go On ‘Emily In Paris’ Holidays
Missing your favourite American ex-pat? You can now go on Emily In Paris holidays, thanks to this tour operator.
Fancy living like everybody’s favourite American in Paris for five days? Well now you can, thanks to a tour company, which is running planned holidays that will follow in the footsteps of Emily In Paris’ protagonist, Emily Cooper (played by Lily Collins).
Tour company, Dharma, is running five-night guided tours that include pastry classes, behind-the-scenes location tours, a ‘content capture’ trip around the Palais Royal, a visit to a fashion atelier and a cocktail-making class.

See The First Trailer For Paul Mescal And The Hot Priest’s Surreal New Romance
Directed and penned by Andrew Haigh – the British filmmaker behind the sensitive gay romance Weekend, and the critically-lauded coming-of-age saga Lean on Pete – it’s been described as a surreal, metaphysical love story. The intriguing log line reads: “One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (a screenwriter, played by Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with his mysterious neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal) that punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.

Taylor Swift and Sophie Turner’s dinners together prove that every woman should be a girl’s girl
There really is nothing as powerful as the support from your pals.
Taylor Swift and Sophie Turner are the moment. The pair have been seen dining together twice in New York this week (honestly, these pics have been my Roman Empire) amid the ongoing drama that is Sophie’s divorce to Joe Jonas. Yet, are we really surprised that they have been dining together? After all, Taylor has always been a girl’s girl. […] Taylor, of course, is also an ex of Joe Jonas. They dated when Taylor was a teenager back in 2008, with Taylor later claiming on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the boyband star had broken up with her during a 27-second phone call. By going to dinner with Sophie this week, Taylor has made a statement that she will always put her girlfriend’s needs first. It is a symbol of solidarity between the pair, and let’s Sophie know that she has someone powerful in the industry that she can fall back on and lean on for support.

Joe Jonas Responds to Sophie Turner’s Claim He’s Withholding Daughters’ Passports, Says It’s ‘Misleading’
Turner and Jonas share two daughters together
“After multiple conversations with Sophie, Joe initiated divorce proceedings in Florida, as Florida is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case. Sophie was aware that Joe was going to file for divorce. The Florida Court has already entered an order that restricts both parents from relocating the children. Sophie was served with this order on September 6, 2023, more than two weeks ago,” the statement reads.

Showing Eighth Graders an Award-Winning Adaptation of Anne Frank’s Diary Now a Fireable Offense in Texas
Add this to the long list of things you’re not allowed to do in Texas.
In Greg Abbott’s Texas, there are a lot of things people can’t do. They can’t get an abortion after six weeks, even in cases of incest and rape. They can’t walk around town without worrying that someone will be carrying a gun without a background check, license, or training. They can’t remove a top official from office despite that top official allegedly abusing his position to help a friend*. They can’t expect that at least one of their senators won’t flee to Cancún during a state of emergency. And, according to recent events, they can’t teach middle school students about the Holocaust using an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary—or, they can, but they’ll be fired for it.

Peering Into John Waters’ “Trashcan of Memories”
A retrospective at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles dips into the filmmakers’ outrageous oeuvre.
A retrospective celebrating filmed filth would seem a tough sell, but Waters’ role as the Pied Piper of the repulsive has now begat a retrospective at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Fittingly titled John Waters: Pope of Trash and featuring more than 400 objects, it aims to both contextualize and lionize. Presented in three sections—Waters’ emergence as an auteur of the outlandish, the influence of music in his work, and the cult of devotees that followed—the show declares its mission as tracing “the grotesque, daring, deliberately tacky, hilarious, and salacious elements that recur throughout Waters’s sixty-year career.” The director calls it “the trashcan of my memories.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla Highlight Personal Link With Chanel During State Visit to France
The royal couple is on a three-day state visit to Paris and Bordeaux.
The King and Queen visited le19M, which is a creative hub and gallery on the outskirts of the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It is the home to the Métiers d’Art Fellowship Programme, a partnership launched earlier this year between Charles’s charity The Prince’s Foundation and Chanel. The King and Queen met students from the program and viewed the work they produced. The students also did some of their course at the King’s private Gloucestershire residence, Highgrove, which is now home to its own Métiers d’art Training Atelier.

Russell Brand And The Excuses We Made
What the Russell Brand allegations and their aftermath really tell us about the post-#MeToo world we’re living in
The remarkable investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches team reports that Brand, and who Brand is alleged to be, was always hiding in plain sight. His alleged behaviour was referred to as being ‘an open secret in the entertainment industry. Employers are said to have known he was, at the very least, ‘problematic’ with women and not to be trusted alone with female staff.

15 Self-Care Essentials Saweetie Swears By
“I meditate every morning—it’s really important to ground yourself.”
If you’re a fan of rapper and singer Saweetie, there’s one word that likely comes to mind: icy—and not in a cold shoulder kind of way. The star’s radiant energy and effortless style is not only apparent through the lens of her lyrics, but through her persona as a whole—just one of the reasons she’s been named the newest ambassador for Athena Club.
“I think they have a really great brand,” she tells Bazaar of the beauty and wellness company. “The shoot was amazing—I’ve been told I’m known for my aesthetics, and I feel like they understood what world to put me in, so it was just a really great day on set.”

Chefs’ Secrets to Slurp-Worthy Ramen, Soba, and Udon
Slurp your way through the three ubiquitous types of Japanese noodles with intel from the experts.
Noodles are a pillar of Japanese cuisine and culture and the base of some of Japan’s essential dishes. Japanese noodle dishes are ever more available in major cities around the world. Among the most popular types of Japanese noodles, ramen’s reputation has gone from a perception of the cheap, microwaveable college meal in the U.S. to rightful international reverence for the craft that’s earned the noodle and bowl so much recognition in pop culture. It even has an emoji.

Americans are cheaping out big time on restaurant tips. Here are the states with the worst and best tippers.
Restaurant tipping rates in the US have dipped below 20%, per an industry report by Toast.
Delaware is in the lead with the highest tipping rate at 21.5%.
Washington and California are at the bottom of the pack, at 18.0% and 17.4% respectively.

That “free” iPhone 15 could cost a fortune
How to buy a new phone for less without paying more.
Are you in the market for a new phone, or just want to get the latest and greatest? Either way, you’re sure to come across seemingly incredible offers from major carriers offering heavily discounted if not free phones, including the highest-end versions of the newest models. With the new iPhone 15 hitting the shelves, now might be a great time to upgrade what you’ve got. And you’ll want to get the best price for it, of course. That’s easier said than done these days.

Who is Queen Letizia of Spain? The TV reporter who became one of the world’s most glamorous royals
In 2004, she married then Prince Felipe of Asturias, son of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. The couple had met at a mutual friend’s dinner party two years prior. It was a happy and glamorous day that felt like a fairytale and made headlines around the world due to the queen’s status as a ‘commoner’ and her previous career in journalism, which she was forced to give up for royal duties.
Letizia became the Queen of Spain in 2014 when King Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of his son. The couple share two children, Princess Leonor, 17, and Infanta Sofia, 16. Felipe and Letizia were recently pictured together, waving off Leonor who just began her required military training. The two have been praised for their work as king and queen, particularly for their recognition of the LGBT community.

Where the Crowds Are Gulls and Crabs
On Block Island, a tiny dot off the New England coast, birders and other nature lovers can find beauty and solitude in 2,500 acres of ponds, dunes and marshes.
Had I stepped into a scene from “Planet of the Gulls”? The sky resonated with the sound of flapping wings, and groups of the birds shrieked and stalked among the shrubs on a rocky beach at Block Island National Wildlife Refuge.
A fuzzy, freckled gull chick emerged from a bayberry bush, stared curiously at me as if it had spotted a Martian, and then waddled back to its hiding place.
It turned out I had stumbled on Rhode Island’s largest gull colony, and the reason so many other sunset watchers had stayed behind in their cars may have been that, as I later learned, the gulls are known to divebomb trespassers.

How to Hand Wash Clothes the Right Way
From silk to wool, hand washing your delicates can help your clothes last longer.
When it’s time to do the laundry, there are a few hard-and-fast rules that you may already know: always separate your colors from your whites, use cold water for non-white items, and never put anything delicate into the dryer (especially if instructions advise “lay flat to dry”).
But what about when it comes to washing clothes outside of your washing machine?

Is It Safe to Leave Butter Out on the Counter?
The answer depends on several factors, including the type of butter you’re using, and your kitchen’s climate.
If butter is your bliss, learning how to properly store it for taste, freshness, and safety is important. You want the golden bars to be fresh yet soft to spread on your toast. Is the refrigerator always the best place to store butter, or can butter be left out? To learn the right way to store butter you’ll need to consider the type of butter (salted or unsalted), the climate (your kitchen temperature), and the type of container (manufacturer’s wrapper, butter dish, or crock).

How to Substitute One Cake Pan for Another When Baking
Think you can’t bake a cake if you don’t have the right pan size? With a little math and some flexibility, you can make nearly any cake pan work.
If you’re making a cake and the recipe calls for a pan size you don’t have, do not despair. Even the most ardent home baker—the one with a baking cabinet filled with pans of all sizes—runs into this situation now and again. You don’t have to change recipes or head to the nearest store to buy a new pan, all it takes is a little adaptability. The following suggestions and guidelines will help you turn out a great cake, no matter what size pans you have at home. (To keep things simple, our information applies to most layer cakes, sheet cakes, and loaves, but should not be used for cheesecakes, flourless cakes, and meringues.)

The Ultimate Vacation to Take in Every Decade of Your Life
Your next big adventure is right around the corner.
The definition of a dream vacation varies from person to person, but no matter how you define it, everyone deserves to go on a big, once-in-a-lifetime trip. But where to start and how to choose? Chances are the vacation you fantasize about in your 20s isn’t what your 40-year-old self finds appealing — and with a world full of beautiful cultures, natural wonders, and historical sites, things can quickly become overwhelming. Do you book that ski trip to Japan or save up for an excursion through the Galápagos Islands?

This Little-known Peninsula in Maine Is One of the Best Places to Eat in the U.S. Right Now
How to eat your way through Maine’s Blue Hill Peninsula.
I heard it from more than one person: this was unusually clear weather for Deer Isle, the craggy, granitic spit of land connected by suspension bridge to mid-coast Maine’s Blue Hill Peninsula.
When, on Labor Day Weekend, my husband, two kids, and I pulled up to Aragosta at Goose Cove, the 21-acre, nine-cottage, three-suite property on Deer Isle known for its attendant restaurant run by chef-owner Devin Finigan, there was not a stitch of classic Maine fog in sight. Instead, clear and sunny weather greeted us, as well as spindly spruce trees, wide granite boulders, and a view of Barred Island, which guests can walk to at low tide

[Photo Credit: finolhu.com]

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