Category: Fun

Ever since Starbucks debuted the psychadelically colored unicorn Frappuccino last week, people have been shaking their heads. How did this unicorn craze come about? What’s with all of the kiddie colors? Why … just why?!

But this isn’t just the coffee chain’s Q2 sales gimmick: It’s evidence of a larger trend happening worldwide, fueled partially by social media (making everyone a photographer/videographer/artist with a need to create and share content). It’s also just a move in general toward anything that’s fun, playful, and whimsical.

Mermaids need love too, ya know??? 🌊 My mermaid toast recipe X 2 + bee pollen + avo stars ⭐️ to make things extraaaaa whimsical (and just plain extra.) (also, why did I just write out an equation to explain what these are?) K bye…my brain is fried, is today not Friday? Help 🙃 ***UPDATE: Just a lil reminder for those who don’t know: this does NOT contain food dye. It’s made of almond milk cream cheese + spirulina… this time I added a little bit of butterfly pea tea #whydounicornsgetalltheattention #mermaidtoast #vibrantandpure

A post shared by Adeline Waugh (@vibrantandpure) on Apr 20, 2017 at 12:58pm PDT

Blogs and food websites — Delish included — have been all over unicorn everything, which essentially means turning any treat pastel tie-dye and covering it in a variety of sprinkles. But it’s not just unicorn — “mermaid” everything (from blue-green, bee pollen-flecked toast to waist-length beachy waves) has been such a hit it’s become the punchline to Iliza Schlesinger’s standup. Dusty pink-bordering-on-rose-gold has gone from Pantone’s 2015 color of the year to trendy hair color, now sold in shops well beyond Spencer’s, making the shade practically mainstream. If Walmart offers three ways to ombre your locks, it’s no longer a fringe interest. These days, the shade’s been dubbed “milliennial pink,” and it’s become the base for most unicorn treats, thanks largely to Creme & Sugar’s Unicorn Hot Chocolate, a blush-tinted hot cocoa that went viral this past December. (The name itself, “millennial pink,” may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, given how the soft, delicate color echoes the common “special snowflake” fragility of the generation.)

Beyond that, since the rise of Pinterest in 2011, people have been crazy about pinning ombre and rainbow cakes, and who can forget the rainbow bagel craze last summer? It’s like we’re finally saying it’s okay to have fun with your food. And just be a little more lighthearted in general.

Culturally, the pivot makes sense. While New York Magazine cited gender fluidity as one reason for the rise of “millennial pink,” I think the whole movement toward whimsical sweets, beauty, and fashion is the result of a craving. A desire to escape the mundane of everyday life, be it feeling stuck in the rut of a 9-to-5 you hate, or just needing a temporary, dopamine-inducing distraction as we climb out of the recession — and still grapple with issues of racism, economic disparity, global warming, and well, everything else that makes you go “What is happening with the world?!” when you watch or read the news. That’s not to say the world’s worse than ever, or that you should stick your head in an Alice in Wonderland-inspired rabbit hole any time the real world gets a little too real for you.

In some ways, it may underscore that millennial complaint, that our generation is always chasing happiness — no matter how fantastical or trivial — but really, what’s wrong with trying to add something special to your everyday life? If that means buying a hot pink latte, so be it. Whatever brings you a little joy.

It’s easy to fall into a routine: work, TV, sleep — each step punctuated by meals, with perhaps some exercise (or just mindless scrolling of the interwebs) thrown in for good measure. For the most part, routines can be great — they add order to a chaotic world, some structure and certainty when so many things in life seem out of our control — but when they turn into a rut, you need something to shake things up, stat. That’s where the “Where have you been all my life?!” challenge comes in.

You’ve got to eat, and often, what to eat for dinner becomes both a pain in the neck and a mega rut we fall into. We have the same go-to dinners and, when we dine out, the same restaurants we hit up every single time. Snore. So, for one month, we’re challenging ourselves to mix things up. Every Tuesday, we’re making the weeknight a little more exciting by hitting up a restaurant we’ve never been to before. It gives you something to look forward to early in the week, and the premise is simple: go for a drive — or a stroll, depending on where you live — and walk into the first restaurant you’ve never been to before, provided it’s within your budget.

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When you’re headed to Universal Studios, or any theme park really, there are a few musts beforehand: Check out the newest rides, create a plan of attack, maybe even plan what you’re going to wear (no sweating, no chafing, no freezing on indoor rides, no blistered feet). You’ve brought cash and packed sunscreen, and you’ve basically thought of everything. Well, almost everything.

You see, what you may not have realized is that there are several Easter eggs hidden throughout the park — little surprises tucked away that only those in-the-know can experience. They completely change the way your day goes, adding a little magic to all of the lines, rides and gift shops.

Consider this your bucket list for your next visit:

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It’s that time of year! You know, when you try to carefully word questions to friends and family, stalk their Instagram and Pinterest accounts, and do any other means of creative sleuthing (and mind-reading) to come up with the perfect gift for everyone on your list. It’s no easy task, so we scoured the web for some interesting oddities, categorizing them into Life Between Weekends’ primary sections: food, fun and fulfillment.

Check out our roundup, and if you still need more ideas, don’t miss our features on gifts that show off your hometown pride — and our list of 9 sites that can help you find unexpected presents for everyone you know.

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In the past few years, Chip and Joanna Gaines have gone from Waco wunderkinds to household names. They’ve gone from starring in HGTV’s Fixer Upper and running a housewares shop in their Texas hometown to opening a bakery, fixing up a cafe, running a bed and breakfast, writing a memoir, launching paint, wallcoverings and rug lines and — whew! Are you getting winded just reading this? — now, debuting a lifestyle magazine. It’s enough to make even the most obsessed fans’ heads spin. It’s a lot to keep up with.

With that many projects in the works, I raised an eyebrow at the thought of a magazine. How involved would the couple be, exactly? When they’ve got so many other things going on, are they just going to slap their names on a bunch of photos of the houses they’ve already featured on Fixer Upper and call it a day?

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No insane Halloween party this year?  Too old to go trick-or-treating (at least, that’s what your neighbors seem to always say as they roll their eyes after seeing you at the door)? No worries. Here are a few last-minute ways to make the most of All Hallows Eve — without accidentally lighting a black flame candle and letting out a trio of soul-sucking witches, Hocus Pocus-style.

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It’s hard to fathom what 5,000 Jack O’ Lanterns looks like until you’re standing in a field surrounded by them. Even then, the awe comes in waves: First, there’s the surprise of the sheer volume — so many pumpkins! Then, the manpower behind them: How many hours did it take to carve them all?! Even the really basic, triangle-eyes-and-semicircle-mouth variety takes a while. And what happened to the guts? They must have pumpkin seeds for weeks!

But, the true shock and awe comes when you check out the pumpkins on pedestals — the ones that clearly took hours to sketch, scratch and carve, recreating spot-on Disney princesses, Draculas and Freddy Kruegers.

Even crazier, still, are the human-sized piles of pumpkins, carved to look like full-size creatures (dinosaurs! Spongebob Squarepants!) or classic cars and trucks.

This isn’t an anomaly; this event’s known as Rise, and it takes place in five cities across the country: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Pomona, CA and Secaucus, NJ. Each one features 5,000 hand-carved pumpkins, offering tours to the public all day (and night) through Oct. 30th.

Check out some of our favorites from the New York event. It may inspire some last-minute carving — or a road trip.

Can you believe It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is 50 years old?! Rise had an entire series of gourds dedicated to the classic cartoon.

Some kid-friendly fun. 

Look at the detail in that skull! It’s more than 6 feet tall.

New York’s one of those cities people dream of living in someday. Not me. I never planned to move there, let alone live there more than a year, and yet, almost seven later, it’s the place I call home. During those first three years, I had a love-hate (but mostly, overwhelmingly hate) relationship with the five boroughs, and then, one day, we hit an understanding. Yes, it’s bitterly cold in the winter, and the people can often be brusque and moody, but it’s a lively place, brimming with ambition and the resources to make it happen.

While New York is currently home for me, Florida’s just as much “home” too. As Nate jokes, home is wherever you’re not — as in, I’ll always say I’m heading home whether I’m in the Southeast or the Northeast. Either way, I take pride in my home state, even if it is, quite possibly, the most bizarre place in the U.S.

Right now, there’s a trend toward celebrating your roots with simple jewelry and understated tees that runs counter to the traditional souvenir kitsch (though, let’s be honest: I love kitsch). I’ve rounded up a few of my favorites, in case they inspire you to show off your home state pride wherever you happen to be.

The Home T, $32 (You can find even more options here, including the Florida “y’all” tee shown at the top of this post.)

Vintage map, $49-$139 (depending on size)

Bar necklace, $24-$56 (depending on metal and other customization options)

Cutting board, $19

“Home Is Wherever I’m with You” tote, $9

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It looks just like any run-down, probably-thrived-in-the-’70s hardware store. You’ve got your questionably out of date cleaning solutions in the front window, the pegboard displays, the old-school gummy sticker price tags haphazardly tagged on every hammer, screwdriver and tube of caulk shown.

But then you realize it doesn’t open until 5:30 p.m.

What is this, some not-too-subtle New York drug front?!

Nah. It’s just another bougie, semi-secret speakeasy. And you’re going to love it. At least if you’re a sucker for kitsch and a good theme, like me.

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Wearing all white to a dinner party seems like something only friends of P. Diddy — or people in a detergent commercial — would do, but Diner en Blanc makes an incredibly compelling case for busting out your brights. The organization hosts secret, pop-up dinner parties in major cities across the country, letting you know its location just hours before the big event.

You buy tickets and agree to the dress code (head-to-toe white, or as much as you can muster); they provide the entertainment, usually in the form of a live band and/or DJ, the tables and chairs. The party itself is more of a potluck — groups of people will haul coolers, plates and over-the-top table decorations, creating over-the-top tablescapes that’d make Sandra Lee proud.

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