T LOunge for March 29th 2024

Pin

Pin

Pin

PinMadi Hiyaa Restaurant at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru – Maldives

It’s FRIDAY. Your table is waiting. Get on this.

Beyonce Rewrites Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Lyrics to Deliver Fiery Cover on ‘Cowboy Carter’
It looks like Dolly Parton hinted correctly. After the country icon said that she believed that Beyoncé would sample or interpolate her 1973 classic “Jolene” for her new album, Bey has done just that, including a cover of the song with altered lyrics and song structure on her highly anticipated new album “Cowboy Carter.”
Parton didn’t let the cat fully out of the bag — she makes two cameos on the record, introducing the trap-meets-country song “Tyrant” as well as having her own “Dolly P” interlude just before “Jolene.”

Alessandro Michele Is Valentino’s New Creative Director
The designer famous for his maximalist eccentricity at Gucci will succeed Pierpaolo Piccioli, who exited the house after a 25 year tenure.
Valentino, your favourite red carpet label, has a new designer at the helm.
The couture house has named former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele as its new creative director, succeeding Pierpaolo Piccioli, who announced his departure from the Italian fashion brand last week.
Michele described his new gig as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ in a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday afternoon.

Big Mood unapologetically portrays the messy reality of mental illness, and it’s so necessary
The comedy marks a huge step forward.
The conversation around mental health has never been more prominent, especially on our TV screens. Shows like Sex Education, Normal People, Ginny and Georgia and Euphoria have all tackled the topic, exploring anxiety, depression, self-harm and more. Now, Channel 4 comedy Big Mood is digging deeper, moving past a palatable depiction of mental wellbeing to the messy reality of mental illness. Starring Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton) as playwright Maggie and Lydia West (It’s A Sin) as bar owner Eddie, the six-part series follows these thirty-something best friends as they struggle through life, love and careers that hang in the balance.

This is the healthiest time to eat breakfast, according to a nutritionist
It’s all about balance.
It’s touted as “the most important meal of the day”. But the healthiest time to eat breakfast is still shrouded in mystery. A cursory glance on Google certainly doesn’t help; one site reveals a definitive time slot (between 7am and 8am), while another pins it down to within one hour of waking up.
There’s overwhelming evidence that eating a well-balanced breakfast gives you a dose of big morning energy, as well as improving your metabolism, blood sugar levels, mood and concentration. It even helps to stave off cravings later in the day. Food is fuel, after all, so think of it as putting petrol in the tank.

Cowboy Carter: The tracklist for Beyoncé’s new album is here and alludes to some exciting guests
Bey says the album ‘has a few surprises’.
After Beyoncé released Renaissance and revealed that it was the first of a “three-act project,” fans wondered what direction she might go next. And Cowboy Carter is almost here.
Renaissance was dance- and house-influenced, and the cover depicted the singer atop a space-age horse. Well, the horse is sticking around, but the rest is changing for album two. Cowboy Carter is more Americana and country-influenced, and after the releases of singles “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” it seems like she’s got the genre down pat.

14 of the best Airbnbs in the South of France
Girls’ holiday in the South of France on your bucket list?
The South of France is your chosen girls’ weekend away destination for the summer, and you’ve done the hard bit of getting a date sorted. Bravo. Next on the agenda? Finding a stylish Airbnb in the South of France for a girls holiday that ticks everyone’s boxes.
Granted, it isn’t always easy to find the perfect place, and it can feel practically impossible to please everyone. One friend is looking for a bit of R&R, while another just wants to be close to the region’s iconic beach clubs. You get the picture. That said, we reckon our edit of the best Airbnbs in the South of France serves up some options that are pretty close to perfect. To save you hours scouring through trending Airbnbs for a property to suit everyone, we’ve done all the hard work for you so you can finally get that girls trip out of the group chat.

Girls State documents an amazing real-life journey as teenage girls build their own democracy
Who run the world?
So we are super excited about Girls State, an upcoming documentary film. It’s been given rave reviews at Sundance Film Festival, and now it’s coming to Apple TV+.
Girls State is a follow up to 2020 documentary film Boy State, which followed a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas, as they joined together to build a representative government from the ground up.
We revisit this premise, this time empowering young girls to have a go. Of course, we are four years on and the global political climate is just as, if not more, complicated. Call us fascinated.

Blue Eyeshadow Is Having A Revival – Here Is Everything You Need To Know
From graphic liner to 90s smokey eyes.
Like jean cuts and hair colours, every year has its statement make-up hue. 2023 was undeniably hijacked by all things Barbie pink, while you might remember ‘Veri Peri’ and soft pastels reigning supreme in 2022. This year’s shade is already dominating runways and red carpets; consider 2024 your something blue, especially when it comes to eyeshadow.

Here’s How To Cut Your Own Fringe Like A Pro
Because who has the time for bi-weekly trims?
There are certain beauty things that are fairly low-risk to DIY; manicures, pedicures, creating your own face mask from good ol’ honey and oatmeal spring to mind. But others, such as cutting your own fringe, are often best done in salon by well-versed professionals who know their way around a pair of shears.
But let’s be real, as much as we love our hairdressers, finding the time to pop into the salon every couple of weeks to trim a fringe is challenging. Especially for those whose hair tends to grow quickly.

The 30 Best Movies on Paramount+
From must-see classics to fresh favorites, these are the films to settle in with for your next movie night.
The modern glut of streaming services can leave you feeling spoiled for choice. Of course it’s great to have a nearly endless catalog of some of the greatest movies of all time at your fingertips any time you choose, but with practically endless options can also come decision overload. Narrowing your movie night down to a single streaming service can make your life feel a little more manageable, while still leaving you plenty of flicks to choose from. One service that’s developed a particular following among film lovers is Paramount+, whose back stock of films includes tons of modern classics and old favorites, as well as fresh new picks that you might have missed in theaters.

The 23 Best Colognes for Men, According to Bazaar Editors
These timeless scents smell great on just about everyone
Alot of power can be found in a simple spritz of cologne: It can tell a lot about a person, or even awaken a long-lost memory. And like the best perfumes of all time, the best colognes are nearly universally beloved for how fantastic they smell. What’s more, these scents are no longer reserved for the men in our lives, but anyone who wants to smell delicious.
“What we see more and more is a non-gendered perfumery. Today, a lot of fragrances are created without any notion of gender,” says Delphine Jelk, perfumer at Guerlain. “For example, Tobacco Honey, which was released recently, was immediately adopted by both men and women alike.”

A Guide to Nutritional Yeast, the Umami-Packed Vegan Ingredient
This good-for-you seasoning is the secret to cheesy and nutty flavor in vegan dishes and beyond. Here’s everything you need to know before using it in your cooking.
Fans of nutritional yeast have long known that this vegan pantry staple, sold in powder and flake form, is way more delicious than its name implies. Beyond adding cheesy, Parm-like flavor to popcorn or dairy-free takes on pimiento cheese and pasta primavera, umami-packed “nooch” can punch up restaurant-worthy dishes like Cabbage-and-Kale Slaw with Toasted Yeast Dressing. The dairy- and gluten-free ingredient also offers impressive health benefits.
Here’s everything you need to know about nutritional yeast, including what it actually is, where to find it, and how to use it in your cooking.

The Best Places to Visit in France
The best places to visit in France shouldn’t only be consigned to Paris and the French Riviera. Sure, there’s nothing quite like watching the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night or reveling in the glamour of summer on the Côte d’Azur, but there’s much more to France than the traditional tourist path. So, where to begin? From 10 major wine regions sweeping the country, to its variety of diverse coastlines stretching from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, to a vast mountain range that shares its borders with Switzerland and Italy, there’s plenty to explore in France year-round.

What If We All Just Said No to Extravagant Bachelorette Parties?
This week, Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper went viral for airing an anti-bachelorette-party take that seemed designed to upset high-maintenance brides everywhere. “If you are the bitch that is asking your fucking friends to go to Greece for your bachelorette, knock it off—knock it the fuck off, okay?” Cooper said on her show. “Unless you are paying for every fucking thing, you got the plane, you got the tickets, you got the Airbnb…I don’t want to go to Greece and have to take [time off] of work…to go to your fucking bachelorette.”

From Technicolor Musicals to Moody Foreign Dramas, the 15 Best Classic Movies
[…] the act of listing and debating films provides both writers and readers something undeniably delightful: a wistful nostalgia for pockets of the past that we ache to relive—or perhaps never knew—and which we are able to summon by a particular onscreen collage of faces, places, and encounters. If films are like memories, then lists are like the crumbs of tea-soaked madeleines that can easily transport us.
This is no more true than with so-called classic movies, a genre distinction that by its very name implies a burnished antiquity, a gilded bygone era of more flawless creations. In that spirit, Vogue has assembled a short list of classic films for your (re-)consideration, from mid-century melodramas to Technicolor musicals to atomic noirs and queer home movies.

The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife
Alena Kate Pettitt helped lead an online movement promoting domesticity. Now she says, “It’s become its own monster.”
For readers of Betty Friedan or viewers of “Mad Men,” the idea that the interior life of a mid-twentieth-century housewife could be anything but tormented is strange, but the trad wives want to reclaim the role and show it as a source of pride and happiness. Though many trad wives voice suspicions of contemporary feminism, there is no singular model. The current queen is Hannah Neeleman, a homesteading mother of eight, who milks cows, bakes, dances, and takes part in beauty pageants, to the delight and incomprehension of her followers.

Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Is Here, and It’s Much More Than Country
The superstar’s new LP is a 27-track tour of popular music with a Beatles cover, cameos by Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, and features from Miley Cyrus and Post Malone.
Beyoncé has gone country, sure … but it turns out that’s only the half of it.
For months, the superstar, who made her name in R&B and pop, has been telegraphing her version of country music and style. There was the “disco” cowboy hat at her Renaissance World Tour last year, and her “western” look at the Grammys in February, complete with a white Stetson and black studded jacket. Then, on the night of the Super Bowl, she released two new songs, and sent one of them, “Texas Hold ’Em” — with plucked banjos and lines about Texas and hoedowns — to country radio stations, sparking an industrywide debate about the defensive moat that has long surrounded Nashville’s musical institutions.

10 Red Wines to Drink Now: Austria Edition
Don’t underestimate these wines, mostly made from the blaufränkisch or zweigelt grapes. They range from juicy and refreshing to complex and age-worthy.
Austria is best known for its white wines, grüner veltliners and rieslings primarily. But it also produces brilliant reds, which, because they often seem like afterthoughts, can be great values.
Why do they seem so relatively obscure? Partly, it’s because grapes like blaufränkisch, which has great potential for making complex, contemplative wines, and zweigelt, the most widely planted Austrian red variety, are not well known to Americans, who often gravitate to the familiar. It’s well worth taking the plunge, though, because these wines can be superb, ranging from juicy thirst-quenchers to complex, elegant wines capable of aging and evolving.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Tallying Your Tiny Wins.
Taking stock of small achievements can keep you motivated when times are tough, experts say.
Tallying up victories, even little ones, can be motivating, said B.J. Fogg, the founder of the Behavioral Design Lab at Stanford University and the author of “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything.”
In his two decades of research for his book, Dr. Fogg found that adults had many ways to say “I did a bad job,” and very few ways of saying “I did a good job.” But tracking your wins by using something like the penny method is effective for morale and motivation, he said.

Dal Is the Ultimate Comfort Food
Cheap, unfussy and adaptable, these lentils call up warming memories of home and family for many South Asians.
One of my favorite Hindi terms is “ghar ka khaana.” It literally means “home food,” but it also encompasses the singular joy and unfussiness of meals made in your own kitchen — the dishes that remind you of childhood, the ones you won’t often find in restaurants. My quintessential ghar ka khaana? Dal.

14 Common Interior Design Mistakes—and What the Pros Say You Should Do Instead
From awkwardly placed art to inadequate lighting, interior designers reveal the most common décor blunders they see.
We all want a home that’s beautiful, comfortable, and inviting. But all too often, we start decorating without taking enough time to think about how we need our rooms to function. Or we start decorating without a plan, which can be a recipe for décor chaos.
Meanwhile, there are so many nuances in interior design that many of us have simply never considered—like area rug size or curtain length. Not getting these right can lead to a room that looks off, when the goal is a space that is harmonious and welcoming.

Our 22 Most Popular Easter Recipes That You’ll Want to Cook Year After Year
These Easter foods are must-haves for your holiday menu.
After a long winter of heavy roasts and stews, lighter, fresh Easter foods are a welcome change of pace. Even if the temperature is still chilly and the growing season has only just begun, spring dishes offer a glimmer of color and life. This collection of our most popular Easter recipes are ones our readers return to again and again.
All the Easter holiday classics are here, from ham, lamb, and salmon to scalloped potatoes and asparagus. And, of course, there are much-loved desserts, including several cakes that would make a spectacular finale to your Easter feast.

14 Flower Arranging Secrets That Will Help You Build a Better Bouquet
Florists share their tips for making your best flower arrangement yet.
Martha has been growing and arranging flowers since she was a little girl. And there is no lack of them at Bedford Farm, her 150-acre property in Katonah, New York. Over the years, she’s cultivated a garden filled with all of her favorites: peonies, lilac shrubs, hydrangeas, clematis, shade plants, and tulip beds.
If you, like Martha, are inspired by your outdoor garden in full bloom, you may want to use your flowers to create a beautiful bouquet for your next dinner gathering, house visit, or summer party. And while you can always freestyle an organic, asymmetrical arrangement that serves as your very own work of art, there are some tried-and-true rules for creating a floral arrangement that looks fresh, vibrant, and even lasts longer.

[Photo Credit: ateliernomadic.com]

• T LOunge