Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
lundi 5 février 2018
This Latin Wedding Playlist Will Make All Your Guests Get Up and Dance!
Whether you're getting ready to marry another Latino or not, your wedding playlist has to include some salsa, merengue, and maybe even a little reggaeton. These 30 songs will have all your guests ready to get down and party - yes, even those who might not be as loose on the dance floor.
Source: Shutterstock
44 Times Jessica Alba's Outfit Was No Match For a Long Plane Ride
If you're like us, your airport style consists of a pair of sweatpants (jeans if you're feeling ambitious) and an oversize t-shirt. If you're like Jessica Alba, even if you're wearing just that, you look put together and chic like no one else.
Her sweatpants are not just plain and boring; they're cuffed, are fitted in all the right places, and have interesting designs. Her t-shirts are elevated with laid-back but stylish jackets and fun accessories like hats and fashionable sneakers. But even though that's the actress's preferred uniform when getting on a plane, she's not afraid to go above and beyond, wearing the occasional heel and leather jacket, too. Keep reading for all the times Jessica's travel style totally nailed it.
5 Incredible Products You Need to Try From Affordable Skincare Brand The Ordinary
Earlier this year, I was introduced to new cult-favorite brand, The Ordinary. The Canada-based brand comes from the company Deciem, which has an umbrella of skincare-based lines. All of them have one thing in common: they strive to create clinically clean products that don't contain harmful chemicals and which people can actually afford. I personally became obsessed with it when a friend recommended I try its popular Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 ($6). Sephora even just starting carrying the line, and it is already flying off the shelves.
If you're not sure what to buy, we rounded up a list of its bestselling products. From rich serums to silky-smooth foundations, these amazing products won't cost you a fortune because they're all under $12. Shop before they're gone!
I'm One of Those Girls Who Plucked Off All My Eyebrows - Here's How I Got Them Back
Some of you might be able to sympathize with this horror story: when I was in high school, it was cool to pluck off all your eyebrows. I was pretty much left with one tiny straight line that looked like I drew it on with a gel pen. At that time I felt really cool and thought I looked like Kate Moss, but eventually I realized it was a mistake. For years after, I always struggled to grow them back, which was even harder because I have extremely thin and light blond hair that was already sparse and barely showed up on my skin. Throughout the last 10 years, I've used dozens of different powders, pens, gels, and pencils, but nothing ever really looked natural or made me feel confident.
About two years ago, a coworker who had insanely long lashes told me she used this product to make her eyelashes grow longer. RevitaLash is a cosmetic formula developed to help improve flexibility, moisture, and shine while increasing the lushness of your lashes. Once my friend told me about this, a light bulb immediately went off in my head that maybe I could use this to grow my eyebrows. In less than 30 seconds, I was back at my desk researching the product and discovered that the brand also has a formula for your eyebrows: RevitaBrow ($58). I instantly purchased the serum with two-day shipping. I was excited.
A few days later, I received my RevitaBrow in the mail, and I was initially hesitant because I get freaked out using new products, especially on my face or around my eyes. But in this case, I was desperate for fuller brows and gave it a go. Within just two months, I noticed my eyebrows had definitely started growing, and by the time I hit six months, they were at a place I never knew I could get them. I do have to say because my hair is so fair that I don't see the full thickness of my eyebrows until I dye them (which I do on a monthly basis), but once they are my preferable darker shade, I can't believe that full thickness is actually mine!
I often get compliments on my eyebrow fullness, and it really means the world to me after all the struggles it took to achieve them. I still use a pencil every day because, like most people, I still get bald spots and like to create a fuller but still natural look. I don't use the product every day anymore, maybe just a few times a week when I remember. When I use it, I still see a difference when it comes to keeping up the fullness. Overall, this product is a huge win for me. Eyebrows really frame your face, and I can't express enough how much this product changed my brows.
This $19 Makeup Organizer Is Amazon's Bestseller - It's the Answer to Your Messy Counter
There is nothing more stressful than having your collection of cosmetics sprawled across a bathroom counter or vanity. That's where the Jerrybox Makeup Organizer ($19) comes in. It's an Amazon bestseller that can hold up to 30 makeup brushes, 20 bottles of skincare products, and other additional items. It has 735 reviews, and 70 percent of customers give it five stars - that's impressive.
The organizer includes seven layers of adjustable trays that you can change according to the various heights of your products. Its sturdy base rotates 360 degrees so you can easily get to everything. The storage is also washable, which is important when keeping your cosmetics sanitary. This organizer comes in black, white, or lucite - get the design that best matches your space.
"This organizer was very easy to put together," one customer said. "The adjustable shelves work great. Because it's vertical, this organizer uses little counter space. It is easy to rotate, which is important because it's in the corner. Great design. Great product!" We are totally convinced that this is the space-saving solution we need to stay in order this year. Get one for yourself before they're all gone!
How to Darken Any Lip Color You Already Own - No New Purchases Required
If you're a lipstick-lover, you probably have go-to brands in your favorite shades and a pile of "others" collecting dust and taking up precious room in your vanity drawer. In 2018, the trend of minimalism continues to grow with people wanting to edit down to just the best of the best. That said, you may desire seasonal options to change your look to match your mood or outfit. We have a hack to help you use those old standby lip shades in a new way: we're going to teach you how to darken any lip color you already own. Read on for prep steps and tips for trying this hack.
9 Thoughtful Things You Can Do For Your Partner This Valentine's Day
If you've been with your partner for years, you know that it only gets harder to impress them with every passing Valentine's Day. Sure, this "holiday" shouldn't be the only time you do something nice for one another, but it's another opportunity nonetheless. This year, skip the usual card and gifts and take it back to the basics. Simplicity is key and much more authentic, anyway. Here are nine sweet ways to mix things up on Feb. 14 and beyond.
- Serve breakfast in bed. Seeing him or her wake up to their favorite morning foods with a smile is totally worth rising earlier. It'll help the both of you start the day off on a more positive note and allow you to sneak in a few more minutes together before getting ready.
- Write a love note. Sneak in a sweet little letter into their work bag saying how much you love them. They'll be so surprised upon finding it and continue to think of you until they get home.
- Send a sweet delivery. Have your SO's favorite cookies, cupcakes, or macarons sent to their workplace for an afternoon pick-me-up.
- Greet them with champagne. If you get home before your partner does, have a bottle of champagne waiting for them, along with two glasses. Pairing bubbly with their favorite appetizers is an option, too.
- Hire a babysitter. Even if you don't have big plans, get the kids out of the house to enjoy some quality time together. It can be as simple as ordering their favorite takeout, lighting some candles, and watching a movie. And of course, you can always go the fancy route and make a reservation at a restaurant they've been dying to try.
- Take care of their errands for them. Who said Valentine's Day has to be about gifts? If you've noticed that your partner has a long list of to-dos, give them the gift of time by picking up their dry cleaning, running to the post office, or whatever else they need to get done. You'd also be freeing up their schedule for more moments with you.
- Give them a massage. And not just a quick, over-the-clothes rubdown. Have some proper oil on hand and instruct them to strip down. There's no shame in asking for one in return, either.
- Plan a staycation. You don't need to leave your city to get away. Book a room at a hotel you've both been eyeing and enjoy an evening of room service.
- Take a trip down memory lane. If staying home is a more reasonable option for you, have a nice bottle of wine ready and go through your relationship memorabilia together. Relive your fondest memories through old photos and and love notes, and don't forget to also capture this evening's moments to look back on.
13 Reasons Your Kid Is a Brat That Are Completely Your Fault
Parenting can feel like an uphill battle, no matter your child's age. Not only is there a lot of pressure, but it also feels like whatever you're doing is constantly being scrutinized by strangers, friends, and family.
If you're involved in your kids' lives, then you hear that you're a helicopter parent and you're raising a fragile child. If you leave your children alone and try to let them work things out on their own, then you're neglectful. It seems as though no matter what there's someone there to tell you that you're doing it wrong.
However, a lot of issues with brattiness are the parents' fault - or at least become the parents' responsibility to fix. Although children might pick up bad behavior by modeling what they see on TV or at school, parents are still to blame if they don't put an end to it or just attribute it to age.
"It's not really fair; it's just kind of the way it is," Elaine Rose Glickman, author of Your Kid's a Brat and It's All Your Fault, told POPSUGAR. "If we don't teach our kids a better way, nobody else is stepping up to do so."
The first step to breaking that bratty behavior is realizing what you're doing to contribute to it. Here, the 13 problematic things that parents of spoiled kids do.
5 Ways an Open-Concept Floor Plan Secretly Sucks
Growing up in houses built long before World War II, I've become quite used to the idea of rooms with a specific purpose. That's why when my husband and I were buying our first home, we had a strict "vintage home only" policy. While open-concept floor plans look beautiful in photographs, living with them is a whole other animal. The idea of the floor plan is to have as few internal walls between rooms as possible. With fewer dividers, the home in turn is more - you guessed it - open.
Being a parent of a toddler, I can concede that there can be some benefit to seeing all the living space from one corner of the house. Certainly it is nice to not have to guess what he's doing and to closely monitor his play. However, outside of that one reason, open concept isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, it kinda sucks. Here is why we should consider embracing rooms again and abandon the overused open-plan design.
- Sound makes doing two things at once impossible. So, your partner wants to read that stack of New Yorkers in the living room in peace and quiet, and you want to make a homemade pesto and listen to Dua Lipa. Sorry, no one is getting what they want, at least not without compromise. Simple tasks like washing dishes, watching TV, and playing music consume the whole house. With rooms, each person gets to make the noise that they want without disturbing everyone else. Rooms also provide some distance, so if someone is being particularly noisy, the one seeking quiet can go away and shut that thing called a door.
- It's impossible to keep clean. At a dinner party, guests are sitting down to dinner, and distracting everyone from the conversation is a pile of dishes waiting to be washed, staring them in the face. Open concept means that everyone sees everything, all the time. Even without the challenges of entertaining, it's really difficult to keep a large space clean the whole time. There's always one corner that is off, especially if kids have their way. Stacks of toys and laundry to be folded make even the most kept-up living space seem cluttered.
- Privacy is forfeited. If I have to sign for a package, the mailman can only see into the foyer, since the living room is off to the side and the kitchen and dining spaces further back. With rooms, I have more control over who sees what, giving me greater control over my privacy. In an open-concept situation, guests are granted unlimited access to your home.
- Decorating is challenging. With designated rooms, decor is a lot simpler. Spaces don't necessarily need to coordinate, giving more design power to the homeowner. Open concept pushes its needs on the family, since creating a coordinated look becomes more important. Changing furniture therefore becomes complicated, since the decision to change one thing can cause a domino effect of new purchases.
- It's changed the way we entertain. It's not that open concept is better for entertaining, it's just different. My home was designed in 1915, and we have no problem entertaining with friends. Everyone gathers in different rooms and moves between the spaces. This means that real, more intimate conversations get started, and it allows people an opportunity to find a more quiet space whenever they want. We've managed to throw dozens of fun parties because of, not in spite of, our old-school layout.
This Girl Got a Tiny Bed For Her Hamster, and OMG, the Little Guy Is Living His Best Life
i bought my hamster a lil bed and now we do everything together pic.twitter.com/V7EJPWdAQj
- Amberly Dzimira ❥ (@Amberly_Dzimira) January 29, 2018
If you're in desperate need of a day-brightener, allow Chip the hamster to intervene. This cutie of all cuties is going viral for the sweetest reason: his owner, Amberly Dzimira, bought him a tiny hamster bed, and he's living the dream. Amberly shared a trio of photos on Jan. 29, writing, "I bought my hamster a lil bed and now we do everything together," and people cannot handle how freaking adorable they are. Chip hangs out in his bed while Amberly studies, relaxes by her side for nights of watching The Secret Life of Pets on Netflix, and joins in on snack time with carrots.
for everyone asking,, his name is chip he's a male teddy bear hamster who is chill asf pic.twitter.com/kUXMFfIdFS
- Amberly Dzimira ❥ (@Amberly_Dzimira) January 31, 2018
Amberly wants the internet to know that Chip is a male teddy bear hamster, and he's "chill asf," thank you very much. Chip's calming presence and laid-back demeanor in his cozy little bed are giving people a dose of joy that they need. If your goal has suddenly become to get a hamster and bed of your own, you're in luck. There are hamster beds readily available online from places like Petsmart. You can try the 6.5-inch All Living Things Fleece Bed ($6) or the You & Me Small Animal Fleece Bed ($3), for starters. We can all take a moment to thank Chip and Amberly for this moment of cuteness!
The Problem With Owning a Home That I Didn't See Coming
The decision to purchase a home a few years ago was a no-brainer. Having spent all of my adult life in apartments and with roommates, I longed for a space to call my own. One where if I wanted to paint, hang some pictures, or do some remodeling, I could do so without risking the deposit. While owning a home has allowed me the freedom of decoration, I wasn't prepared for the never-ending list of projects that would consume my thoughts and strip my bank account.
When my husband and I were house hunting, we wanted our future home to be "flexible." Unsure of how many rooms we would need or how we planned on using the space, it was imperative that our home be able to grow with us and meet our needs. While it's been nice having rooms that can serve different purposes (and while we realize we're lucky to be able to own a home at all!), it's that same flexibility that has created projects that can be overwhelming. A lot of my free time is spent discussing, working on, planning, and thinking about how to improve the house.
Buying a vintage home meant that I had the opportunity to make some changes to various rooms. The kitchen had been an awful 1970s cave, and I was eager to transform the space. This remodel took about five times as long as it could have and was all we talked about, but we were working with a tight budget and needed that time. Once completed, other projects and problems popped up throughout the house. It seems that there is always another task, always something else to be done. Part of owning a home is accepting that the list of things to be accomplished will go on forever.
Besides remodeling, just the amount of general maintenance is pretty astonishing. Tasks that would have been done by a landlord or custodian are now our tasks. The free time and money we had once taken advantage of as tenants of someone else's property are now spent caring for and redesigning our home. Even though a lot of the time it's fun to daydream about our big projects, it can also be overwhelming. Now the decisions we have to make, on top of being costly, can impact the value of our building. Not wanting to make any bad decisions, I often worry about even the most minor decisions, weighing them against my own needs.
Owning a home has been a great and eye-opening experience, one that has made me appreciate the freedom of renting a little more. What it lacked in flexibility it made up for in not forcing me to always think about projects. But those chores and remodeling are the reality of homeownership, one that I am fortunate enough to get to complain about.
Tammy Duckworth Will Make History as the First Senator to Give Birth in Office!
Tammy Duckworth is many things: the second female senator elected in Illinois, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a Purple Heart recipient, a mom to 3-year-old Abigail, and now, pregnant with her second child, she will be the first sitting senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is expecting the arrival of baby girl number two this April, just a few weeks after her 50th birthday on March 12.
In US history, just 10 women in Congress have given birth while in office, but all were serving in the House of Representatives at the time (and Duckworth is one of them!). Her colleague Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois acknowledged Duckworth making history in a statement: "I am proud to have her as my Illinois colleague and prouder still that she will make history by being the first U.S. Senator to have a baby while in office. I couldn't be happier for her."
Just over six months pregnant now, Duckworth says she "feels great" - but the senator has had a long road to motherhood. She and her husband, Bryan Bowlsbey, tried a variety of methods to get pregnant before conceiving Abigail via IVF. Eighteen months after Abigail's C-section birth, Duckworth and Bowlsbey chose to try IVF again but endured several rounds and a miscarriage in 2016 before becoming pregnant with baby number two.
"I've had multiple IVF cycles and a miscarriage trying to conceive again, so we're very grateful," Duckworth told the Chicago Sun-Times. She added in a statement from her office: "Bryan and I are thrilled that our family is getting a little bit bigger, and Abigail is ecstatic to welcome her baby sister home this spring. As tough as juggling the demands of motherhood and being a Senator can be, I'm hardly alone or unique as a working parent, and Abigail has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere."
A Dozen Delectable Things to Do With Trader Joe's Cookie Butter
Though many of us would happily eat Trader Joe's cookie butter with a spoon all day for the rest of our lives, there is a whole world of scrumptious, speculoos-rich desserts out there to try - you know, for the days you want to exert just a little more effort during your sugary endeavors. Here are a dozen delicious, luscious, and easy ways to incorporate cookie butter into your favorite sweets.
Every Single Thing on the Fabulous Menu at Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen Restaurant
Gordon Ramsay's first Hell's Kitchen-themed restaurant opened in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace in January, and it's a must visit for big fans of the chef and the show. Not sure what to order if you're planning a visit? Check out the entire dinner menu below!
Chilled Seafood
HK Grand Shellfish Tower
lobster, king crab legs, Jonah crab claws, gulf shrimp, oysters, clams
$49
Oysters on the Half Shell
chef's daily selection, HK mignonette, gin cocktail sauce
half dozen $21, full dozen $31
Lobster Risotto at Hell's Kitchen.
Appetizers
Wagyu Meatballs
slow-roasted tomato sauce, polenta croutons, Parmesan cheese, basil
$18
Scampi Prawn Flambé
garlic white wine sauce, drawn butter
$24
Pan-Seared Scallops
celery root, braised bacon lardons, pickled Granny Smith apples
$19
Seared Foie Gras
spiced carrot cake, golden raisins, candied pecans
$25
Lobster Risotto
butter-poached lobster tail, butternut squash, sage
$24
Tuna Tartare
soy chili vinaigrette, pickled Fresno chilies, cilantro
$19
Smoked Golden Beets Salad at Hell's Kitchen.
Salad/Soup
Smoked Golden Beets
Greek yogurt, kumquats, pistachio granola, white balsamic vinaigrette
$21
Caesar Salad
Parmesan cheese frico, garlic croutons, lemon zest
$16
Red Quinoa Salad
Honeycrisp apples, dried apricots, goat cheese, toasted hazelnuts, honey vinaigrette
$16
Pumpkin Soup
spicy chorizo, crème fraiche, toasted pepitas
$12
Beef Wellington at Hell's Kitchen.
Entrees
Beef Wellington
potato purée, glazed root vegetables, red wine demi-glace
$49
Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Vadouvan carrots, Bloomsdale spinach, harissa lamb jus
$39
Braised Short Rib
creamy polenta, baby vegetables, beef jus
$34
Brick-Pressed Chicken
lacinato kale, sweet potato hash, chicken jus
$29
Crispy Skin Salmon
beluga lentils, shaved fennel salad, citrus herb beurre blanc
$32
Broiled Alaskan Cod
spicy olive tapenade, patatas bravas
$30
From the Grill
Filet Mignon
8 ounces, roasted tomatoes on the vine, béarnaise
$47
Dry-Aged NY Strip
12 ounces, glazed wild mushrooms, shishito peppers, red wine demi-glace
$49
Prime 30-Day Dry-Aged Porterhouse For Two
32 ounces, choice of two side dishes, bearnaise
$125
Sides, $9 each
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
smoked Gouda, crispy prosciutto
Roasted Cauliflower
chili lime gremolata, mint
Potato Gratin
fresh herbs, Parmesan cheese
Wild Mushrooms
shallot white wine glaze
Brussels Sprouts
pickled Fresno peppers, cilantro
Potato Puree
crème fraiche, chives
Sticky Toffee Pudding at Hell's Kitchen.
HK Signature Pre-Fixe Menu, $69 ($120 With Wine Pairing)
First Course
(choice of)
Pan-Seared Scallops
celery root, braised bacon lardons, pickled Granny Smith apples
Caesar Salad
Parmesan cheese frico, garlic croutons, lemon zest
Main Course
Beef Wellington
potato purée, glazed root vegetables, red wine demi-glace
Dessert
Sticky Toffee Pudding
speculoos ice cream
20 Easy Pasta Recipes Anyone Can Make
Pasta is the ultimate staple for a fast and easy meal. And even if your pantry and fridge are nearly empty, there's a good chance you have the ingredients on hand for these speedy pasta dishes, because they all have between three and seven ingredients (besides salt and pepper, of course). From parmesan garlic spaghetti to the easiest tomato sauce you'll ever make, these will become your go-to recipes when you need a carb fix ASAP.
78 Easy Dinners That Won't Break the Bank
The act of cooking dinner from scratch rather than turning to takeout or microwave meals is a money-saving strategy in itself, so if you're reading this, you're already off to a great start! Beyond that, consider making vegetarian meals out of staples like beans and other legumes, rice, quinoa, pasta, and eggs. (While less meat-centric recipes are typically more affordable, inexpensive cuts like ground beef and turkey, chicken thighs, and bacon have a place in budget-friendly meal planning, especially when they're not the main event.) To make things easier, we curated more than 75 recipes that won't break the bank; keep reading for inspiration.
7 Things You Never Knew About Chick-fil-A, Straight From an Employee
When you think of Chick-fil-A, the first thing that comes to mind is how all locations are closed on Sundays, and of course that drool-worthy sauce, but there are a lot of things we don't know about the fast-food joint. One employee just revealed tons of secrets about what it's like to work at Chick-fil-A in a Reddit AMA, and we're impressed. During the "Ask Me Anything" conversation, this teenage employee dished where the delicious chicken comes from, their thoughts on the chain being anti-LGBTQ, and why they always say "my pleasure" instead of "you're welcome." Read on for all of the Chick-fil-A insider secrets, straight from someone who knows best.
How "fresh" is the chicken?
It seems like fast-food chains are constantly competing with each other and saying that another chain's food comes frozen, but this employee is setting the record straight about Chick-fil-A's chicken. When asked if the chicken comes prebreaded and is frozen on site, the employee shut that down. "The chicken is FRESH and hand-breaded then fried on site," they said. "We're not lying to you."
The company has changed its anti-LGBTQ ways.
It's no secret that Chick-fil-A has been against LGBTQ rights and has even donated to anti-LGBTQ causes in the past, but this employee is explaining how the chain has changed and why it doesn't bother the employee at all. "As of late, they've actually made a turnaround and stopped donating to anti-LGBTQ corporations and apologized to the community," the employee said. "It's all about keeping a good name. I'm transgender and I know a gay guy who works there. I feel fine."
About that employee discount . . .
The employee said, "We get a free meal for 5 1/2 hours of work." This employee's favorite meal? "I'm a fan of the #1 (Just the chicken sandwich)," the employee shared. "CFA sauce and the mayonnaise they have is soooo tasty! Everything about the sandwich is perfect from the toasty buttery bun to the pickles. My location also serves mac and cheese and it's the bomb!!"
There's a reason they always say, "My pleasure."
Anyone who's been to Chick-fil-A can recognize within seconds that the employees don't say "you're welcome" and instead say "my pleasure." WHY?! "It's a courtesy thing," the employee said. "'You're welcome' seems too indifferent and we're told to use elevated language. Besides, we could get in trouble if we don't say it. Also, did you know that saying 'my pleasure' is not mentioned in the official training at all? It's a learned behavior."
The fries are highly ranked, but here's the truth behind them.
One Reddit user asked the employee how he or she feels about the fries and the fact that the crisped-to-perfection waffle fries just won the number one spot on The Ringer's best fast-food items list. "I'm very proud," the employee shared. "We don't make them in house though, they come in a box. Honestly, I think the Wendy's fries are better." OUCH!
The employees are legitimately trained to be super friendly.
When someone asked if friendliness was part of training because they "get diabetes every time I go to the local one because everyone is super sweet," the employee said yes! "We are literally told in training and reminded constantly to be 'aggressively courteous' there are literal steps on how to do it," the employee shared. "I won't tell you those steps so the sweetness remains genuine."
Fun fact: you can order Oreo pieces in any drink you want!
Yup! The employee shared that a big pet peeve is "people who order too quickly and then they MUMBLE. Also, if you have a huge milkshake order please please please call ahead!" But the most important thing here: "you can order Oreo pieces in whatever beverage you want."
20 Things to Let Go of in Your Kitchen in 2018
There's no better time to take a really good look at your kitchen and get rid of sh*t you don't need than the New Year. Make 2018 the year you finally get rid of unwanted clutter, extra kitchen gadgets, and years-old spices, and you'll feel a huge sense of relief every time you step into your kitchen. Ahead, get an idea of the 20 things you really don't need and that you should get rid of ASAP if you want to be more organized than ever this year.
41 Easy Work Lunches That Aren't Salads or Sandwiches
If you've resolved to take more lunches to work, you've likely resorted to salads and sandwiches most of the time. And that's fine! But if we're being honest, you can only take so many leafy greens and cold turkey sandwiches before you've fallen into a rut and begun dreading lunchtime instead of looking forward to it. If that sounds like you, you need one of these hot lunch recipes in your life. From pastas to soups and more, these 41 recipes can be made ahead of time and make for the perfect lunch - one that you'll actually look forward to heating up and eating at your desk.
The 13 Best Frozen Appetizers From Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's is the absolute best place to find budget-friendly, frozen appetizers to feed a hungry crowd. And let's be honest: how much easier is it to take a quick trip to the grocery store instead of making a bunch of homemade appetizers when you're entertaining? We fully support taking a shortcut by buying premade food from the frozen aisle - as long as it's delicious. Here, we're sharing our favorite Trader Joe's frozen appetizers that we've tried and loved. For your next girls' night in or low-key dinner party, pick up some of the following bite-size goodies from TJ's, which can all be found in the freezer aisle.
Chef Angela Davis on Switching Gears, Starting Small, and Finding Her Footing Through Food
Following Angela Davis on Twitter is such a joy. No, I'm not talking about iconic political activist Angela Davis (who, to my knowledge, does not have a social media account) but an equally courageous, self-assured black woman who happens to share the same name. This Angela is a self-taught cook, private chef, food blogger, and author who tweets from @TheKitchenista. She is a 35-year-old mom of two - her son, Jaden, is 14, and her daughter, Raven, is 3 - who has a specialty in comfort food and frequently communicates with her followers about everything from recipes and kitchen techniques to motherhood and the news of the day. She does so with a sense of humor and laid-back, cool-girl attitude; she's your best girlfriend who helps you stock a perfect pantry while you talk about Insecure, intersectional feminism, and the best way to cook ribs.
Angela Davis's story is one that many young women can likely relate to. Many young women work a 9-to-5 job that doesn't quite satisfy them and try to develop a way to fulfill their passions on the side. Some even end up quitting or getting let go from those dissatisfying jobs and are faced head-on with the decision to either find another one or finally figure out a way to turn their hobbies and obsessions into a real business. Davis knows this internal struggle quite well.
Before pursuing a culinary career, Davis was a full-time accountant in the construction industry, and her blog, The Kitchenista Diaries, was something she was doing in her spare time. The transition happened "out of necessity." "I was pregnant with my daughter and had to move back home and lost my job - kind of all at the same time," she told me over the phone from her home in Virginia. "I had a little bit of a network built up at that point; I had some opportunities to cook for a few people in person, and around that time I started selling recipes and e-books online." Davis did whatever she could to make a little bit of extra money and was also doing a lot of self-reflection. "I began realizing that I was actually happier standing in the kitchen all day than I was sitting at a desk," she told me.
Being out of work was difficult on its own, but Davis recognized that being pregnant was going to make it harder to find another desk job, even if she wanted one. "It was like I had nothing to lose," she said. "All of these [cooking] opportunities were within reach, and I went for it. Once you have one win, it encourages you to keep going." The baby steps made her feel even more confident, and she began seeing the potential for success. The best part was that it was happening publicly and other people were able to see her brand. "It just kind of grew organically," Davis said.
What started as a side hustle is now a full-fledged business: Davis has two online cookbooks - a holiday recipe collection and an appetizer handbook - for sale on her site, and when she's not testing recipes and photographing her dishes, she's catering events under the Kitchenista brand.
"When I first started doing this, it was more of a personal goal to learn how to cook better, and I didn't even know at that time that along this journey it would become a career," she said. "As I got into it, teaching other people how to cook and encouraging them to kind of adopt that lifestyle at home became more of my platform." Food is personal, and once you realize that you are actually having an impact on somebody's day-to-day life - teaching them how to cook for themselves and their loved ones - it can be intoxicating. What Davis loves most about connecting with her followers through social media is the immediate feedback. "I like Twitter the most because of the interaction. It's fast-paced; as soon as you post something, you can have a conversation about it. I tend to kind of gravitate toward those conversations vs. some of the other channels," she told me.
Davis gets the most social media interactions on weekends - "When everybody's sharing Sunday dinner" - and says she hears "the most heartfelt stories around the holidays." "I've had followers share with me that they hadn't cooked since a parent or grandparent died, and my [recipes] helped inspire them to get in the kitchen again and revive those traditions. There are women who have shared that they've used my recipes to work through depression or anxiety - something I can relate to personally," she said.
And apparently Davis's buttermilk biscuits have led to a full stomach in more ways than one. "Quite a few women [on Twitter] have joked that they got pregnant after making the buttermilk biscuits. It's a long-running urban legend at this point," she told me. "When I was the one who became pregnant [with my daughter], the Twitter timeline lovingly nicknamed her Biscuit before she was born. The name stuck! It's been cool sharing those connections over the years."
Seeing her mentions blow up with photos of her dishes on strangers' tables lets Davis know just how big of an impact she's making. "It's just amazing that so many people are cooking more at home, and they tell me that they weren't doing that before," she said. "It feels really good; it starts to feel like you're part of one big family and not just out here blogging to empty space."
Angela Davis's aformentioned pregnancy biscuits.
As someone whose recipe knowledge ranges from "stuff my mom taught growing up" to "stuff I see on Pinterest," I'm always fascinated by how chefs find their niche in the kitchen. In her own cooking, Davis gravitates toward Southern soul food but is "always looking for ways to amplify." She will often incorporate ingredients or seasonings from other ethnic cuisines (Haitian, Portuguese, and Indian fusions are popular on her site) and interpret the idea with a twist, like making tacos with Nigerian beef suya or wrapping curry-flavored chicken salad in collard greens.
"I start with one thing that I'm really familiar with, and then it's just [about] making a few small tweaks: maybe I switch up the spice blend or maybe instead of potatoes I'm going to use yuca or manioc," Davis said, adding that she tends to "make things traditionally the first time" and from there her recipes begin to shift in another direction. "My mind just starts getting creative [and thinking], 'How can I make this mine?'" she said. Sometimes she changes the ingredients; other times it's just the technique. "A lot of times you have something [your] family has always made, but they weren't necessarily the kind of cook that was really precise about technique," she noted. "It's usually about refining that process and getting results that still feel familiar but unique [to you]."
For instance, Davis recently began testing recipes with a sous vide calculator, a tool that allows you to cook food in vacuum-sealed bags placed in a temperature-controlled water bath. The technique promises juicy, perfectly cooked meat (and eggs) with no guessing games of how "done" it is. "I like to know what I'm talking about before I present any recipes because people start to rely on me and ask a lot of questions. And I don't want to feel like I have to look things up," she said with a laugh. "[Sous vide] is a fairly new technique for me, but I've gotten comfortable with things like steaks. I do a lot of pork tenderloin, and I've also done ribs."
As a black chef, does Davis feel a responsibility to make sure her work gives voice to and celebrates black traditions? "I feel strongly that the black experience isn't monolithic," she told me. "My mother's family is Cape Verdean, so I didn't grow up only eating traditional Southern soul food. When I started cooking, I felt self-conscious about that because feedback sometimes led me to believe that as a black American I was expected to be cooking a certain type of food. Stewed chicken and manioc, Portuguese kale soup, and jagacida [a Cape Verdean rice-and-beans dish] have an equal place in my heart to a plate of fried chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens."
Image Source: A few of Davis's delicious dishes.
Davis cites Mexican, German, West Indian, and Nigerian cuisines as those that have made a big mark on her. "The ingredients I choose, the techniques I use to prepare food, and the way I season my dishes are a reflection of my background," she said. "It's a unique perspective, and I'm OK with showcasing that. My approach to cooking is to allow all of these diverse influences to shape my ideas and point of view. I'm having fun, and my food is always going to be from the point of view of a black woman because that's who I am."
Davis makes a point of celebrating a variety of black cuisines across the diaspora and highlighting the many ways that our food traditions are connected. "[There are] so many ways that our food traditions are connected," she said, telling me that food has given her the motivation to not only re-create the dishes that her grandparents and great-grandparents used to cook in Massachusetts, Virginia, and North Carolina, but to also find out what regions of Africa her family's history traces back to. "Eventually, I think I'll arrive at a place that feels authentic, that speaks to something even more personal," she said. "I've barely scratched the surface, and I'm really excited to continue sharing that process of self-discovery as a black cook."
"Cooking is so personal. There are so many different ways of going about it, and ultimately it has to feel right to you."
Davis says she relishes in learning new things - and as a self-taught chef, it's especially important to stay creatively open. "Cooking is so personal," she said. "There are so many different ways of going about it, and ultimately it has to feel right to you. I'm more of a hands-on cook." Davis told me she loves working with her Dutch oven because "it's really involved in the beginning, and then you put it away for three or four hours." Getting all the aromas and checking up on it every once in a while makes her feel more involved in the process. She "never got into" using a slow cooker - it just wasn't part of how she learned to cook while growing up. "I shied away from a lot of those recipes," she said, adding that sous vide has helped show her a modern way of doing things that she never thought she'd be interested in. "Learning to cook with the pressure cooker is the same way," she said. "I've been using Instant Pot and experimenting with sous vide . . . [but] it's so hands-off that it was really intimidating to not have those cues to know when things are done."
I was curious to know what Davis considers the best and worst parts about being an entrepreneur - and a creative one, at that. Most in her field would admit that it's not an easy road to take, but the pros have a way of outweighing the cons, and Davis acknowledges as much. "Living in my truth and being able to express myself every day is the best part," she told me. "Having that freedom to change course when something isn't working . . . I can wake up every day and decide what I want to create and how to shape this bigger picture that I'm working on." When it comes to a disadvantage, her answer comes equally as quickly: the lack of stability. "I'm still trying to figure out how to build income consistently. There's no comparison to my freelance income that I had as an accountant. I'm not there yet. So, yes, it's a little scary. But you just have to accept that those things will start to come together and keep doing the work."
In recent years, it seems like only a handful of prominent black female chefs have been highlighted in modern media.
You've likely heard of Tiffany Derry and Carla Hall, who rose to national fame after competing on Top Chef; Tanya Holland and Ayesha Curry, both Bay Area-based restaurant owners and cookbook authors; and Sunny Anderson, a longtime fixture on the Food Network. Perhaps most well-known is Barbara "B." Smith, a former model who, though not professionally trained, has over 30 years of experience in the lifestyle industry. I'm willing to bet that most people wouldn't be able to add to this list without heading to Google, so I was interested to know if Davis, as a black chef, is disappointed by the lack of representation in the media and in the culinary space as a whole. Spoiler alert: she is. And when I asked Davis what challenges she's faced as a black woman trying to start her own business, she told me that visibility can be particularly tricky.
"It can sometimes feel like my work isn't taken as seriously or given the same amount of credit as my nonblack peers'," she said. "It's hard when you see others being celebrated for lazy or unoriginal content; it starts to feel like, 'I've done 'X, Y, and Z,' but I'm still not being recognized, included, or paid as much. What gives?'" Davis is quick to point out that these feelings aren't unique to food media. "I experienced the same [things] in my former career and in school before that, as so many other black women have. It's difficult to prove outright, and it feels uncomfortable to address because nobody wants to come off like a victim," she told me.
"I have taught myself to cook, taught myself food photography, [and] I can pretty much research whatever I want to know about growing a business," Davis continued. "But none of that replaces networking, being welcomed into professional circles, getting offered lucrative contracts, or access to funding. If you're a person like me, trying to break into spaces that lack diversity - and let's be honest here: the food industry is still remarkably white - you're constantly stepping out on the faith that you will come across people willing to acknowledge your talent and genuinely wanting to open doors for new voices."
Davis asserts that black cooks and food writers have a unique perspective to offer in this industry, and she wants to see more of them getting the same chances to tell those stories - and, more importantly, getting paid fairly to do so. "All I can do is keep working and pushing for bigger opportunities and believe that it will eventually pay off, despite the deck being stacked against people who look like me," she said. Despite her frustration, Davis believes that it's possible to create a new wave of culinary personalities, to build platforms that are "big enough to share so we don't have to be so concerned with what the mainstream decides to pick up."
"It's opened my eyes to the importance of supporting and amplifying other black creatives - specifically black women - because who else will take care of us but us? If there's a way for me to bring somebody else to my team when I have an event and put a spotlight on what they're doing, that's where I sit. We all need each other," she told me.
Her open and honest approach to bringing others up the ladder with her is refreshing and inspiring, and it served as a natural lead-in to my next question. What guidance would Davis, a woman who has been able to turn her passion into her livelihood and (as we say at POPSUGAR) "find her happy," give to someone who is considering switching gears in their career, thinking about going to culinary school, or starting a food blog?
"Don't quit your day job!" Davis said, laughing. She went on to deliver one of the realest pieces of advice I've probably ever heard. "I mean, [I know] I did it. I know some people look at my story and want to go down that path . . . it sounds really inspiring to [begin a new] career and become a cook! But it wasn't that simple, and I'm still kind of struggling to kind of climb out of that [financial] hole."
She stresses the importance of maintaining your creative side in your free time as much as you can: take jobs on the weekends, stay consistent with blogging, take photos of your work, and generally fine-tune your craft. "I think that's a more realistic way to blossom and, more importantly, to figure out if it is really something that you want to do," Davis told me. "There are some realities about working as a chef that I wasn't prepared for. It's one thing to cook and blog from home, and it's quite another to be on your feet for 12 hours a day when you're cooking for another person or for an event. It's not for everybody. So I would say, just take your time: explore all of your options, save money if you can, and don't be afraid to start small."
Before we wrapped up, I couldn't help going back to our prior conversation about Dutch ovens, sous vides, and slow cookers. I told Davis that I grew up learning slow-cooker recipes but have only recently become obsessed with using one; I feel like it teaches me patience. "Slow cooking is a good exercise in that for anybody . . . just learning to leave it alone, let it do its thing, and knowing it's going to come out all right in the end," she said. I chuckled, recognizing the obvious metaphor for life in her cooking advice - and knowing that she did, too.
The Best New Trader Joe's Products From 2017
One of the best things about Trader Joe's is that it's constantly releasing new products for customers to try, and we're not just talking about the free samples. Shopping at Trader Joe's is never boring thanks to the never-before-seen foods available every month, and 2017 was a fantastic year for the brand. We kept up with every single new offering from Trader Joe's to let you know which items are worth the purchase and which ones you should skip. Ahead, read up on all the best new Trader Joe's products of the year, and add your favorites to your shopping list the next time you head to TJ's.
- Additional reporting by Jamie Mieuli
You'll Never Look at Figs the Same Way After Learning This Fact
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Perry
I was recently perusing a farmers market and eyeing a basket of fresh figs. My friend looked at them and said, "I used to love figs, but I can't eat them anymore after learning how they're made." I was confused. I said, "What do you mean? It's just a fruit," and she gave me a look that said "see for yourself." So I did. And now I can't unsee the process either.
Figs, which are technically inverted flowers, require a special pollination process, and fig wasps play an important role in it. Figs and wasps have a longstanding mutual relationship in nature (they depend on each other, which sounds kind of sweet - yay science!). As explained in a BBC article about fig pollination, "Figs depend on wasps to make their seeds and distribute their pollen. In turn, the fig tree acts as a womb where the fig wasps can reproduce." This is where your reaction might become less "aww" and more "eww."
Source: Flickr user Jnzl's Photos
Pregnant female fig wasps carry pollen and enter male figs through a tiny opening at the bottom of the fig. The opening is so small that most wasps lose their wings and antennae as they make their way in. The fig wasp lays her fertilized eggs into flowers that are inside of the figs; she also fertilizes some of the fig flowers with her fig pollen. Once the female wasp is done with that, she usually dies inside the fig. Then, all the baby wasps start to grow. The male wasps mate with the female ones, the male wasps die inside (they're born without wings), and the female ones manage to escape, flying out to start the process all over again.
Here's the important part: humans don't eat male figs, only female ones. But this process of fig wasps entering figs occurs in female figs as well because there's no way for a female fig wasp to know if the fig she is entering is male or female. Female fig wasps are unable to lay their eggs inside female figs, so no new fig wasps are born, but they typically die inside the female figs, too. Are you lost yet? A video from PBS's Gross Science series offers a clear illustration of how this intriguing process works if you want to visualize it. Serious wasp-haters may want to avert their eyes.
The bottom line is, are we really eating dead wasps when we eat figs?! Not exactly. Luckily, a large percentage of figs sold in the US are self-pollinating. But another video about figs by HowStuffWorks claims that, "Most figs we eat contain at least one dead wasp" that has been broken down into protein inside the fruit. And to be clear, the crunchy bits inside of figs are not dead wasps - they are definitely seeds. Does this mean I'll never want to make a fig recipe again, like roasted figs with goat cheese and balsamic vinegar? Probably not. But will I possibly get a little squeamish if I bite into a particularly . . . crunchy fig? Probably.
Copycat! 18 Homemade Versions of Classic Canned Soups
Growing up, canned soup was always my quick and easy go-to meal; I even went through a phase where I would only eat Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup every night for dinner. Now that I'm older and more skilled in the kitchen, canned soup only makes an appearance when I'm feeling under the weather and can barely muster up the energy to actually cook. As colder weather moves in, I find myself craving the comfort of canned soup but with my own personal culinary touch. These recipes embrace all of the yumminess of those canned classics but with a homemade touch that takes the flavor to the next level.
This Cheap Wine From Walmart Is Ranked as One of the Best in the World
If you're one of those people who orders the cheapest glass of wine on the menu because you can't tell the difference (no shame), this news is going to make your day. A $7 bottle of wine sold at Walmart has been ranked as one of the best in the world by Decanter Magazine, which covers wine and spirits. The award-winning red wine is La Moneda Reserva's Malbec, a Chilean wine whose description notes that it has a "deep purple color with violet tints, rounded and velvety tannins, complex plum, fig, and strawberry flavors and excellent length."
The wine earned the title of Platinum Best in Show at the 2015 Decanter World Wine Awards, where more than 200 experts tasted thousands of wines (blindly!), proving that a wine's price tag is not always associated with its quality. The best part is the wine is now available for the first time at Walmart locations in the US, after previously only being sold by Walmart's UK-based grocery brand, Asda. It's available in more than 500 Walmart locations in the country while supplies last, so be sure to scan your location's wine aisle. If you volunteer to bring the wine to dinner, you'll be able to impress your family and friends with this award-winning bottle - they'll never have to know the cost.
Meet the Cast of The Cloverfield Paradox, Netflix's Epic Sci-Fi Surprise
Fans of the Cloverfield franchise were certifiably shook on Sunday night when Netflix dropped a brief trailer for The Cloverfield Paradox (originally titled God Particle) out of nowhere during the Super Bowl. The cast for the third installment in J.J. Abrams's sci-fi trilogy is pretty incredible, to say the least, so take a look at who helped Netflix pull off such a grand surprise before you stream it for yourself.
dimanche 4 février 2018
The Ultimate Adventure Travel Bucket List For Thrill Seekers
The world is your oyster when it comes to travel destinations, but sometimes it can be tough to think outside the box for some real once-in-a-lifetime adventures. If you're a thrill seeker who's planning your next vacation, then this list of activities should be on your bucket list. Go out of your comfort zone and take a transformative trip that will be unforgettable. From gorilla trekking in Africa to diving in the Maldives, here are the best adventures around the world for every adrenaline junkie.
This App Actually Rewards You (and Gives Back!) For the Hours You Spend Unplugged
Image Source: Unsplash / Anthony Tran
Knowing the benefits of unplugging versus actually doing it are two very different things. But what if there was an incentive to put away your devices? Meet Lilspace, an app that not only rewards you with perks but also supports the causes you care about most in return for spending time offline.
Here's How It Works
First, download the app for your iOS or Android device, and sign up. Once you create an account, you'll be asked to select at least three areas you'd like to focus on while you unplug, like reading or relationships. Then, hit "Unplug Now" on your home screen and start practicing being present! Every minute you spend offline will then be tracked to your account, which allows you to redeem certain perks from businesses and organizations that Lilspace partners with.
For example, in the month of January, the Lilspace community focused its efforts on the nonprofit organization LA Family Housing, one of the largest homeless service providers in Los Angeles. The goal was to collectively reach 100 hours of unplugged time in order for The Cohan Team of Keller Williams to donate meals to the center's residents. Another partner, Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, rewards visiting app users with gift shop discounts for putting their phones away during their museum experience. The app also allows Android users to set auto replies to incoming texts and calls during their time away from their phone.
So even if you don't want to unplug for yourself, do it for others!
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Yi
Minecraft Boss Helen Chiang on Her New Role, Breaking Records, and What's in Store For 2018
On Jan. 17, a collective cheer erupted among women in tech and gaming when news broke that Helen Chiang had been named the new head of Minecraft at Microsoft. Chiang replaced Matt Booty - who was promoted to head of Microsoft Studios – but she's no stranger to the brand, having previously overseen operations and being a nine-year Xbox veteran. Chiang is also the first woman of color to lead a major gaming studio - and a passionate supporter of the digital world that Minecraft inhabits.
"I've gotten to know the people in the studio really well over the last three years, and I can't think of a better team to get to lead," Chiang told me by phone on Jan. 19. "When I think about what's next for us - well, my job is really not to change the plan that we're on, but to focus on a number of different things."
"The first one is bringing over more people to Bedrock through Nintendo, and that's coming out pretty soon. The second is expanding the features in the game that the players love, so we have the update Aquatic coming out pretty soon. The third one is the new graphics engine that we talked about both at MINECON and E3, the superduper graphics pack. They're all areas that I'm really excited about and that the team is working very hard on."
Chiang's ascension comes at a time when Minecraft is reaching all-time highs in nearly every metric; 144 million copies of the game have been sold across more than a dozen platform, with 74 million players coming back to play the game each month.
"We just recently set a new record in December for monthly active users, so now we're at 74 million monthly active users - and that's really a testament to people coming back to the game, whether it's through the game updates or bringing in new players from across the world," Chiang told me. "That's really our goal, to keep building the community that we have."
Going forward, Chiang hopes to unite all of the Minecraft players on different devices into one, cohesive community. "The Better Together update came out in the Fall, and that was really our first step towards this vision of bringing all of our players together," she said.
"All of our players are playing across a number of different devices and platforms, and it shouldn't matter where they're playing - what's important to us is that they have the opportunity to play it together, because it makes it so much more of a rich experience. That's the journey we're still on . . . we've been doing a lot of work to expand into new geographies and really just making Minecraft available to anybody, anywhere in the world, any way that they want to play."
Naturally, growing the community requires the game to be constantly updated, and the team at Minecraft is hard at work at making that happen. That's where Chiang's other two key endeavors - the graphics update and the update Aquatic - come into play.
"The update Aquatic is focused on Minecraft oceans . . . it'll bring a rich set of new experiences to our players, and we're really excited about that," Chiang said, noting that she recently previewed the updates and, while the big news has been the addition of turtles to gameplay, she's far more amped about the dolphins that will make their way into Minecraft with the next update.
Chiang also pointed to the Bedrock update for Switch - which will introduce some previously unavailable features to the platform, most notably the Marketplace for textures, mini games, and skins - as a huge step toward improving the cross-platform experiences. The Marketplace enables creative-minded fans to develop their own Minecraft experiences and sell them to other players - and has been a massive boon for the company, especially as it brings new content to users on a regular basis.
"I'm really excited about how well the marketplace has done," she said. "It launched in June of 2016 and has steadily been growing month over month - we just came off the strongest month this past December. Honestly, it's been just so amazing to watch the creators grow. And the part that's really inspiring to me is the stories I hear about how we're changing creators' lives. Some of them have been really involved in Minecraft for a long time . . . and because they've seen so much success in the marketplace, they've been able to quit the job that they thought would be the one that financially sustained them and been able to go focus on the thing that they're truly passionate about."
"A lot of these creators grew up playing Minecraft, and now they're the ones creating content for Minecraft," she added. "I love that Minecraft can unlock that creativity in people and really give them the opportunity to build a life for themselves on it."
The final piece of the puzzle, then, is the new graphics engine. But it's no easy task, developing a system that works across such a large number of platforms around the world - especially given that the aim is to come up with the perfect version of everything that rolls out on Minecraft, as opposed to requiring constant patches and fixes on something that wasn't ready for market.
"People ask, 'Hey, when is it coming out?' Well, I think the thing that we've learned through the Better Together update is that we want it to be perfect when it comes out," she explained. "So the team is taking the time to iterate and make sure that the experience is at the quality we want it to be by the time we bring it out to our players."
Above all else, Chiang wants to ensure that the Minecraft studio is a place where the creative staff can really work their magic. As it stands, she's already been an inspiration to those she's worked with over the last couple of years at Minecraft - not just as a leader, but as a working mother, a woman of color, and a female voice in a primarily male-dominated world.
"The Minecraft franchise has never been stronger, and Helen's amazing work and thoughtful leadership have been instrumental to our success as a global Minecraft team," Head of Communications Aubrey Norris told me. "She is so inspiring to me as a woman in games and a mother - she proves to people like me that we can run a major games studio and be a wonderful mom."
For her part, Chiang describes her driving motivations as twofold; she wants to make a difference in the world while at the same time having a lot of fun and empowering those around her to evolve Minecraft to the next level.
"That's why I'm so passionate about working on Minecraft," she said. "Life is too short to not work on something fun . . . and I [want to] build a place where everyone in the studio is empowered and enabled to do their best work. We have amazing artists, and designers, and engineers - and really, my job is to make sure that we're building the right environment for them to go do their best work."
From a fan perspective, it's incredibly exciting to have such a brilliant woman at the helm of such an immensely impactful cultural phenomenon. Her promotion is a big win for hardworking, passionate females in STEM around the world - and I really can't wait to see what new heights the Minecraft universe will reach under her guidance.
Travel Experts Share Their Picks For the Top Can't-Miss Destinations of 2018
While we're all busy setting goals for the coming months, for a wanderluster, a new year means another chance to explore an unfamiliar city and feed your thirst for travel even more.
To help decide where your next flight might take you, we teamed up with the travel experts at Kayak to share their picks for can't-miss destinations this year. Huge sporting events, increasing affordability, additional flight routes, and more influenced this list of top-notch destinations. So whether you already have most of your 2018 travel arrangements in order or your passport plans are still up in the air, the following destinations are worth your consideration for a 2018 trip.
Instagram's Type Mode Is the Feature We've All Been Waiting For
On Feb. 1, Instagram Stories finally added the long-awaited text-only feature of our dreams. You can now share whatever's on your mind with funky graphics and sassy fonts - with no photo required. And unlike a Facebook status or tweet, sharing your thoughts on Stories isn't permanent; as always, the stories will disappear after 24 hours.
To access Type Mode, open the camera in the Instagram app and swipe to "Type," then write out your favorite lyric, type your best shower thought, or throw some shade. Once you've put the final touches on the text, tap the button at the bottom of the screen to change the font, background, text color, or highlight color - and even, if you're feeling exceptionally fancy, add a background photo by tapping the camera icon on the bottom right.
And the fun doesn't end there. Since you'll be adding this update in Stories, once you've clicked ">" on your wittiest one-liner, you can add stickers and all sorts of other goodies as you would with any other Stories post. So, what are you waiting for? Hop into Instagram right now and give the new feature a try - it's hard not to fall in love with sharing your thoughts in such a creative, impermanent way.
31 Geeky Things to Do Before You Die
You may already have a life bucket list that you're checking off, but do yourself a favor and make room for these life experiences that no geek should go without. Some are incredibly easy and others require lots of planning time, which is why you should make room for them in your 2015 resolutions. One thing's for sure though: all are 100-percent worth it.
Source: Shutterstock
I Traded Up For the Apple TV 4K and Here's Why I'll Never Go Back
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Chelsea Hassler
I got my first Apple TV as a present; I was still working in television at the time, and my boss presented it to me as a (very, very generous) holiday gift. The supersleek, supermysterious object would quickly become something that I could not picture my life without. Not only did I use the second-generation device a lot for work, but it also meant that I no longer had to squint at my teeny-tiny laptop screen when I wanted to watch something on Netflix or Hulu, opening the floodgates of binge-watching that would remain constant for years to come. In the seven years that my Apple TV and I cohabitated together, I lived in three different boroughs of New York City, saw partners and friends come and go, and changed my career several times over. It was just in September of this year, 2017, that I tried its much, much younger sibling - the Apple TV 4K - and knew it was time to update my trusty partner in crime.
To be clear, I hadn't ever even considered upgrading my old device. It worked perfectly, so why would I bother? But when I unboxed the 4K and got it up and running, I realized the light years of tech I had been missing out on. Therefore my experience isn't one shaded by a side-by-side comparison, a judgment of what sets it above and beyond its competitors (or, for that matter, not). Instead, it's one of awe and wonder - and of falling back in love with TV all over again thanks to the help of a device that's roughly the size of a thick slice of bread.
Ahead, you'll find some of my favorite functions of the Apple TV 4K. And if you're in the market for a more thoughtful way to streamline all the many ways we get our entertainment these days and for things to be a little bit simpler in several of the most intuitive yet impossible ways, I promise you won't be disappointed by the Apple TV 4K.
Image Source: Apple
The TV App
I'd always been curious about that "TV" app that appeared on my iPhone at some point over the last year, and as soon as I got started with iOS 11 and my new Apple TV, everything sort of just fell into place. It's basically where you can find everything you're looking for, all in one easy-to-find place. Once you've signed in with iOS 11, it pulls together all of your apps (like Hulu, Showtime, and HBO) and you can also add in your cable subscription to gain access to all of the programming on apps like CBS, The CW, and more. And once you watch something - or leave off halfway through an episode - it puts it in there for easy access to pick up exactly where you left off on any other Apple device.
For me, the best thing about this is the fact that it eliminates having to search for the latest episodes and where you can stream them - it puts them right in front of your face where you quite literally can't miss it, and you can essentially just live in the "watch now" section of Apple TV if you want to. For full instructions on how to set this up and get going, head on over to Apple to read more and know that I am not exaggerating when I say that it has eliminated hours of searching from my life and I couldn't be more stoked about it.
Image Source: Apple
Siri
When I said that I wasn't looking to highlight specific features that are new only to this device, I was very much referring to Siri, who honestly blows my mind (even now!). A recent convert to voice control, it almost feels like Siri was made explicitly to make browsing more easy - and to make it so that when you lose the remote control, you've always got the ability to control your TV via your mouth. Siri can do lots of things, though, and isn't just limited to "pause" or "play."
You can ask Siri to find the most recent episode of a TV show or pick up where you left off on a movie. You can rewind a couple minutes or a couple seconds, or search through what's available in the massive libraries of the streaming giants for a specific moment in time that you just have to watch again. Say "What did they say?" and she'll skip back 15 seconds in time and throw some captions up on the screen for that scene. Ask her "Who stars in this?" and she'll give you an IMDB-style rundown on the bottom of your TV screen, no iPhone required! Oh, and if you're indecisive (like me), she can also tell you what to watch based on what Apple sees as trending at that moment in time.
Image Source: Apple
4K and HDR
I'd be lying if I said that I could tell the difference between 4K and regular TV before I got the Apple TV. But I had the pleasure of hooking my box up to a real, legit 4K TV and all I can say is: holy sh*t. It's like being in an adventure that requires no glasses or special devices to traverse, and the colors are mindblowingly vivid. I'm almost - almost! - tempted to upgrade my old TV, but as the saying goes, I'm probably better taking one step at a time. And it can cost you a bit more money (Netflix has a "premium" plan that features 4K movies in all their glory), so it may not be for everyone. But if you do have a 4K TV, do yourself a favor and get an Apple TV. I promise it won't disappoint you. Even the screensaver that comes up when you've been idle too long has been upgraded to a beautiful, crystal-clear set of images that will leave you transfixed as you listen to music or talk on the phone.
Image Source: Apple
And a Few More Things
Apple recently changed its movie rental period to a whopping 48 hours (!), which means that instead of only having a night to watch a movie, you can make a weekend out of it - and it makes the rental fee feel a lot better from where I stand. And when you don't feel like watching a movie, there's also a whole host of beautiful, addictive games that have been brought into the device, which means you can play the things you love most as well as a bunch of new TV-native apps via your tiny Apple remote (or, if you're fancy, via a control which you can purchase separately). I would be remiss if I didn't mention just how smoothly the interface works. No more loading screens and clunky click-throughs - everything about using the Apple TV feels crisper, snazzier, and, frankly, more enjoyable than ever before. And finally, one of the features I love the most: since the Apple ecosystem is so efficient, I don't have to get rid of my old Apple TV. Instead, I moved it into my bedroom, which means I can pick up exactly where I left off in the living room. It may be a whole lot more rickety, but it's the sign of true progress. Apple has clearly got one eye on making all of your devices, old and new, work together - and I couldn't be happier with the result so far.
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