Lifestyle - Thursday, March 19, 2026

A happiness researcher called prolonged eye contact ‘the best thing ever’, claiming it can bring couples closer. Does it really work? In January, business professor and happiness researcher Arthur C Brooks appeared on the Modern Wisdom podcast to offer advice on optimizing morning and evening routines. His tips seemed reasonable – think exercising early and no alcohol before bed. Then, for couples, he made a kookier suggestion: every night before going to sleep, spend five minutes holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes. “This is the best thing ever,” he enthuses, explaining that it can help with mood management and to strengthen your relationship. Continue reading...

Every Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern, recipes editor Becky Krystal answers your cooking questions.

Our expert puts the best power washers through their paces on the toughest – and muckiest – outdoor chores, from grimy paving slabs to dirty decking • The best lawnmowers to keep your grass in check The trouble with the great outdoors is that it gets a bit untidy. Your garden tools might do a good job of keeping your plot in check, but keeping your patio, decking and outdoor furniture spick and span can take hours, especially if you rely on a bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush. That’s where the pressure washer comes in. These handy tools connect to your hose pipe and squirt water at any cleaning problem. Stubborn and unpleasant stains, from bird dirt to years of neglect, can be lifted from your garden’s hard-wearing surfaces in seconds. With the right attachments, you can also use your pressure washer to hose down cars, bikes and boats. Best pressure washer overall: Ava Go P40 Best budget pressure washer: Kärcher K 2 Classic Continue reading...

The diminutive Kensington restaurant’s extensive menu celebrates all that Indonesian cuisine has to offer.

From scarf tops to flip flops—your guide to spring style. The post 5 Spring Fashion Trends Everyone’s About to Be Wearing—And How to Style Them Now appeared first on Camille Styles .

From Ed Harris to Stanley Tucci, women everywhere are desiring and dating balding men, fondly stroking their thinning manes The Oscars were this week, and as usual I took the day off to judge the red carpet looks from my tracksuit pants-ed position on the couch, pick apart the monologue (love you Conan), declare I could write better presenter segments, and keep an eye on social media to see which stars cause the most buzz. This year, I noticed something interesting: in a room full of classically handsome stars such as Chris Evans and Michael B Jordan, as well as newly minted hotties like Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, I was reading many appreciative and deeply thirsty tweets about … bald 75-year-old Ed Harris. Continue reading...

From asparagus fritters and crab cakes to rhubarb tarts and barely dressed baby potatoes, now’s the time to embrace fresh, bright flavours • Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast After what felt like months and months of endless rain this winter, in the UK at least, the arrival of spring is more welcome than ever this year. It’s undeniable that a few days of sunshine and milder temperatures change everything: my mood, my palate, my dinner table (see below for my achilles heel: serveware). And to mark the change in season, the Guardian is launching a new seasonal food magazine. This Saturday will see the arrival of the Guardian Food Quarterly, for which I have showcased crab – one of my favourite spring arrivals. I have written five recipes , including a speedy, spicy crab cake banh mi with quick pickles, and a hot cheesy crab and chive dip inspired by the American south. If you are in the camp that thinks that cheese and seafood are a no-no, then I hope you will trust me on this one. Just be sure to use that sweet, punchy brown meat in the mix, too, for maximum flavour. Continue reading...

Michael Coyne, who has autism and works at the cafe, said he was shocked and confused when someone stole about $20 from his tip jar.

From mezcal to sotól, the agave plant delivers a bounty of styles and flavours to explore “We were amazed,” wrote the Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo as he beheld the extent of the Aztec empire in 1521. “Some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream.” I remember feeling a similar vertigo when I first saw the wall of agave spirits at the long-since-closed Los Angeles mezcaleria Petty Cash more than a decade ago. Agave spirits are distilled from the fermented heart (or piña ) of the agave plant – not a cactus, but a succulent, like aloe vera or that thing dying on your windowsill. Tequila, from Jalisco, is the most famous kind, but it’s far from the only one, much as burgundy is just one way the French make wine. And here was an entire continent to (respectfully) explore: not only refined tequilas, but hundreds of mezcals from wild, untamable agaves: madrecuixe , arroqueño , tobalá and pulquero , some of which take 25 years to reach maturity. Beyond these foothills were spirits that had barely penetrated European bartending consciousness: sotól and raicilla , bacanora and pox (“posh”) made from maize, as well as pechuga , whose ingredients include, yum, poultry breasts. And all this at a time when a lot of tequila sold in Britain came topped with red plastic sombreros. Continue reading...

Mom spent their phone calls “berating” the letter writer for moving far away.