T LOunge for April 30th 2024

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PinLaurent Restaurant – France, Paris

Eleganza, yes? That’s what today calls for. It is TUESDAY, the most hated day of the week, and that calls for extensive fantasizing and day-dreaming in order to get through it. Join us in Paris, won’t you? We saved you a seat.

Shonda Rhimes Ascends the Throne: TV’s Most Powerful Showrunner on the Future of ‘Bridgerton’
It’s well known that in her decades-long career, Shonda Rhimes — the writer behind such television sensations as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “Bridgerton” — has smashed pervasive racist-casting tropes, and in doing so, changed the literal face of TV, whether that meant having “Scandal” revolve around Kerry Washington’s antihero Olivia Pope or elevating Regé-Jean Page to thirsty heights as a Black duke in Regency England on “Bridgerton.”
What’s talked about less is how Rhimes has changed the way people speak.

Baby Reindeer‘s deleted scene reveals key details on Donny and Teri’s relationship
Nava Mau just gave us the closure we were craving.
While Donny is being stalked throughout the series, he meets Teri on a dating app and the pair strike up a relationship. However, despite his best efforts to keep Martha away from her, she eventually finds out about Teri and takes to harassing her too. Unsurprisingly, this creates a lot of friction between the couple – and when Donny later sees Teri in the street with another man it’s clear that things are done between the two.
We were invested in Donny and Teri’s relationship, so this was pretty devastating news to us. But according to Nava Mau who plays Teri in the series, there was a deleted scene which didn’t make the cut – and it reveals some key details about where the pair left things off with their relationship.

Embellished Jeans Are The Dramatic Denim Trend We Deserve
We’re not saving sparkle for special occasions this year
The long-standing appeal of a good pair of jeans might be rooted in practicality, but this season’s most joyful new denim trend offers something a little different: embellished jeans are well and truly back, and we’re more than happy to welcome them warmly.
The polar opposite to your trusty pair of 501’s, and so much more dramatic than the season’s cargo jean revival, these spangly, sparkly, souped-up pieces are made for magpies, promising to inject a jolt of energy into any outfit.

Vintage Clothing Online: The 46 Best Vintage Stores You Can Shop On The Internet
From Etsy stores and Instagram shops, these are the best places to buy vintage, pre-loved and second-hand clothes online
The most sustainable clothes are, of course, the ones you already own.
However, styles change, bodies fluctuate in size and, occasionally, the itch for something new just can’t be ignored. Thankfully, there is one (very stylish) way you can scratch said itch without (or minimally) contributing to fashion’s carbon footprint: buy second-hand and through online vintage stores.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: An Exclusive First Look at the Director’s Retro-Futurist Epic
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel scan the horizon, and Coppola explains his sprawling influences for the utopian drama.
Megalopolis has been taking shape inside Francis Ford Coppola’s mind for nearly half of his life, and now he’s finally ready to show it to the world. The 85-year-old director of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation has finally completed his operatic passion project, at considerable personal cost. It will debut next month at the Cannes Film Festival, hoping to attract global distributors willing to take a similar chance.
The movie is about the personal, political, and romantic clashes that arise during a battle to construct an American utopia, and it was shaped in part by the speculative prophecy of H.G. Wells, a murderous conspiracy from ancient Roman history, the devastation of the September 11 attacks, and the outsize influence of attractive cable news hosts, among a litany of other inspirations. “To that, I added everything I had ever read or learned about,” Coppola says in a statement.

Jane Fonda vs. Big Oil
The actress and activist on her mission to stop oil companies from drilling near communities in California.
California is an incredibly diverse and culturally rich place, but one that has already been impacted profoundly by the climate crisis, with the unprecedented (and near-apocalyptic) fires, floods, storms, and weather we’ve experienced in recent years. It is also among the top oil-producing states in the country. Because of the amount of drilling that happens here, almost three million Californians live near oil wells—a disproportionate number of them people of color. The pollution created by those wells affects air quality and can cause birth defects, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and aggressive cancers. The oil industry refers to the areas near wells as “sacrifice zones”—as if there were an acceptable human or environmental cost associated with drilling for oil.

The 20 Best Tennis Movies to Watch Now
From documentaries to romantic comedies, here are our favorite movies that feature tennis.
Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama Challengers is finally in theaters, and viewers have fallen not just for the love triangle of tennis players Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor), but for the sport depicted on screen. If you’ve already seen Challengers in theaters and are looking for more tennis movies, we have the list for you. From documentaries about Andy Murray and John McEnroe, to romantic comedies and dramas starring the likes of Will Smith, Kirsten Dunst, and Emma Stone, here are our favorite 20 tennis movies to watch right now. (And if you’re looking for tennis books to read, we have you covered, too.)

Restaurants Should Be Able to Rate Customers, Too
Criticism should be a two-way street
When it comes to the business of reviewing restaurant experiences, it’s a one-way street and customers have the right of way. There are multiple platforms where they can spout their opinions about everything from the food, to the service to the traffic they had to endure on their way to dinner. Some customers write reviews as seriously as Shakespeare wrote sonnets, entirely forgetting that opinions are subjective.
They’re also unverified, meaning they can say whatever they want and no one will know if it’s fact or fiction. Did it really take 20 minutes for the server to bring drinks or did it just feel that way? Maybe it’s time restaurants got to review customers.

Prosecco 101: A Guide to the Budget-Friendly Bubbly
No, it’s not Champagne — but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t toast with it.
Let’s get something important out of the way: Prosecco is not Champagne. It doesn’t taste the same, nor is it produced in the same way. So, now that we know what Prosecco isn’t, let’s explore what it is.
Prosecco is a white wine produced in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of northern Italy. It’s generally bubbly, dry, and made with a grape variety known as Glera. It’s been enjoyed around the world for centuries, thanks to a bright, crisp profile packed with vibrant, fruity flavors, a lively body, and a refreshing finish.

16 Best Wines to Buy Right Now for $20 or Less, According to Wine Pros
Owners and operators of wine stores we love recommend the best buys from the world’s major wine regions — all of them under $20.
Finding great wine doesn’t need to cost a great deal. There’s a lot to love about a special occasion bottle of wine, like the First Growth Bordeaux you were gifted for your wedding, or the bottle of Champagne whose vintage is your birth year. But everyday wine, those easy-breezy bottles that you pop at a dinner party or after a long day of work, are the wines that should matter most.

The 25 Best Documentaries of 2024 (So Far)
These will make you see the world (and several celebrities) very differently.
Documentary filmmaking is important part of our media intake here at MC. Sure, epic dramas, heart-racing action flicks and thrillers, terrifying horror tales, and laugh-out-loud comedies take up big chunks of our slate, but it’s just as important to take time out of our weekends to learn something new. So far, as with last year’s stellar selection, 2024 is shaping up to be a great year for thoughtful, comprehensive docs about our society, from biopics on our most acclaimed public figures (like Jennifer Lopez and Frida Kahlo, to snapshots of everyday life, to examinations of structural inequalities and troubled institutions. Read on for the best documentaries of 2024. (If you’re looking for your next true crime binge, read our list of 2024 true crime documentaries and series here.)

Roommates After 50
Middle age can be a time of huge change: career shifts, empty nests, relationship transformations. For some, sharing a space with a housemate can be a welcome salve.
While there’s a belief that roommates are for the young, it’s becoming increasingly common for those in middle age—and beyond—to choose to live with someone who isn’t family. According to a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, nearly one million older adults in the U.S. have roommates, a number that has nearly doubled over the past 18 years. That this is overlooked is perhaps, in part, intentional.

Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Are Starring in a ‘Lion King’ Origin Movie Together
The “16 Carriages” singer will be reprising her role as Nala in the upcoming movie.
Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy are teaming up once again on the heels of their Renaissance Tour success. On Monday, April 29, Disney confirmed that the mother-daughter duo will be starring in a new movie together by releasing a trailer for an upcoming live-action Lion King prequel. Mufasa, which will be an origin story for Simba’s dad, a.k.a. the original king of the Pride Lands, will see Queen Bey reprise her role as Nala while Blue Ivy will play her daughter, Kiara. Donald Glover will also be returning as Simba in film, which is set before 2019’s live-action Lion King.

The Secret to Building More Muscle? A Breakfast High in Protein
When it comes to breakfast, most experts agree that incorporating plenty of protein is key for maintaining energy and satiety. But consuming a breakfast high in protein might help you build a healthy physique, too: “Starting the day with protein will help you have fewer cravings for sweets and carbohydrates throughout the day, and also help you build muscle mass,” explains nutritionist Mariana Pérez Trejo Soltwedel.

The Case for Carrying Two Bags
Fashion is one way to measure where we are as a society, and if the last few seasons have proven anything it’s that function is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. The signs are all there–what with the influx in denim at couture houses like Schiaparelli and the likes of Giambatista Valli making embroidered utility jackets. But one of the most blatant signifiers is all the baggage we’ve seen on the runways, specifically the two bag trend.

The Battle for Attention
How do we hold on to what matters in a distracted age?
For years, we have heard a litany of reasons why our capacity to pay attention is disturbingly on the wane. Technology—the buzzing, blinking pageant on our screens and in our pockets—hounds us. Modern life, forever quicker and more scattered, drives concentration away. For just as long, concerns of this variety could be put aside. Television was described as a force against attention even in the nineteen-forties. A lot of focussed, worthwhile work has taken place since then.

How Far Would You Go to Track Down a Discontinued Beauty Product?
A liquidation warehouse in rural Canada, the depths of eBay… for these devotees, there’s no substitute for the original, and no lengths they won’t go to get it.
Content creator Hannah Chody has been in love with Tom Ford’s cream and powder eye color in Golden Peach since 2017, when a friend who shares her green eyes and fair complexion gave it to her as a birthday present. “It was unlike any other cream shadow I had ever used,” Chody says of the duo, which included a metallic cream base and sparkly peachy-brown shadow. “It was easy to apply, it stayed all day, and I loved the color.” […] “But when I tried to link it, it wasn’t on Sephora’s website anymore. I thought, ‘That’s weird,’” she recalls. “Then a follower commented, ‘Just so you know, it’s being discontinued.’” Record scratch.

How anxiety became a catchall for every unpleasant emotion
Here’s how to understand the difference between everyday anxiety and an anxiety disorder.
More Americans are seeking professional mental health treatment than ever before. Nearly a quarter of adults visited a psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, or other mental health professional in 2022, compared to 13 percent who did so in 2004, according to a Gallup poll. No longer stigmatized or discussed in secret, mental health terms — and mental health-adjacent terms — have trickled out of the therapy room and into casual conversation. “Narcissism,” “gaslighting,” “and “boundaries” are just as readily discussed at brunch or online as in clinical settings. Self-diagnosis based on simplified videos and memes on social media can result in pathologizing seemingly mundane behaviors and thought patterns.

How Did Black Forest Cake Become the World’s Favorite Dessert?
Dessert lovers from Chile to Pakistan to Fiji claim it as a national treat. How did it get there from the woods of Germany?
It’s a classic Trinidadian dessert — a chocolate cake soaked in overproof rum and topped with swoops of ultrapasteurized whipped cream.
But wait: It’s also a signature Pakistani cake, saturated with cherry brandy essence. And a Chilean cake, festooned with locally grown cherries. And a Lebanese cake — not too sweet, with little to no alcohol. And a Nepali cake. And a Zimbabwean cake. It’s even popular on the remote islands of Fiji.
What kind of dessert could inspire such a territorial dispute?
It’s Black Forest cake, named for a corner of Germany that still conjures images of lederhosen and fairy tales.

The Difference Between a Family Room and Living Room—Plus, Designer Tips for Styling Them
While these terms sound similar, they actually denote two completely different rooms in your home.
In many homes, it’s not uncommon for two living spaces to coexist in the house—a living room and a family room. Though some might use the terms interchangeably, there are notable differences between the two rooms, such as their physical location inside the house and their function in our day-to-day living. We spoke with two interior designers who shared insight into what makes these rooms different and how you can style each of them.

12 Shrimp Pasta Recipes You’ll Want to Make for Dinner Tonight
These dishes are a quick route to a delicious meal.
Want a light dinner with protein, vegetables, and some pasta to fill you up? These shrimp pasta recipes are the way to go. Shrimp can handle spices from all around the world, and is equally delicious with olive oil, parsley, and lemon as it is with mango, lime, and chili. Noodles, whether they’re made from wheat, rice, or other grains or legumes, are reliably satisfying as the base for a quick meal.

10 Ways to Save Water Around the House (and Why It Matters)
The average family uses more than 300 gallons of water daily in the United States—here’s how to reduce your usage.
Water is one of the most precious natural resources on the planet, and it’s essential to sustaining life for humans, animals, and plants alike. Because water is a limited resource, it’s important to use it wisely, saving as much as we can whenever we can. The average family in the United States uses more than 300 gallons of water a day at home.1 Reducing the amount of water we use is beneficial to the environment, helps reduce shortages, and saves the energy it takes to get water from the source to your faucet.

17 Best Beach Towns in the U.S. With Laid-back Vibes and Stunning Coastal Views
From coast to coast, these are the best beach towns in the U.S.
Come summertime, the longing for sea breezes and salt water rushing over your toes is powerful stuff. When the pull of the beach is strong, you may just adopt an “any beach will do” mentality. But there’s a big case to be made for seeking out the best beach towns in the U.S., where an easygoing vibe and beautiful coastal views make for an intoxicating combination. For beach lovers who prefer quaint cottages, custard stands, and historic wharves over beachfront go-karts and megaresorts, these are some of the best beach towns the American shoreline has to offer.

[Photo Credit: laurent.paris]

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