Lifestyle

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The Guardian Lifestyle • 1 hour ago

Rebecca ‘Darl’ Ritchie ticked all the boxes for musician Jack Ceriani . Then one morning his eye ruptured – and she was a calming force Find more stories from the moment I knew series About eight years ago some mutual friends put Darl and me in touch, thinking we’d be a good match. We’d talked on the phone a bit, but hadn’t found the time to meet in person. I lived in Busselton, Western Australia, and she lived about a 30-minute drive away. Then on St Paddy’s Day my mates and I invited some friends around to the Star hotel, which was what we called our share house at the time. It was a bit of a bachelor pad with a bar set-up, and I made some really bad mojitos. But when Darl arrived, they improved a lot – she knew what she was doing behind the bar. Continue reading...

The Guardian Lifestyle • 4 hours ago

Summertime brings with it outdoor adventure and these backpacks ensure you can comfortably carry everything you need for a hike Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things Hiking daypacks seem simple enough: toss in water, snacks, extra layers, some first aid and hit the trail. But anyone who has spent miles wrestling with cramped shoulder straps or chafing hip-belt pockets knows that the wrong daypack can make a short hike feel like the worst of slogs. The best daypacks help you move comfortably, keep your gummy bears within reach and match the kind of hiking you actually enjoy. Some are built for fast, ultralight missions while others are meant for rough weather, heavy loads, or body types underrepresented in gear design. Best overall hiking daypack: The North Face Trail Lite 24 Best budget hiking daypack: Quechua MH500 22L Continue reading...

The Guardian Lifestyle • 10 hours ago

The southern Italian cheese has DOP status, but which brands are milking the title and which are leading the whey? • The best (and worst) supermarket feta Mozzarella di bufala Campana with Protected Designation of Origin ( PDO ) status is an incredible cheese from the marshy, volcanic regions of Campania in southern Italy. Buffaloes are hardy creatures that are more suited than cows to these wetlands, and they produce a fatty, calcium-rich, protein-filled milk that gives the mozzarella its classic soft and creamy texture, porcelain-white colour and perfectly balanced, clean and flavoursome lactic tang. It’s minimally processed, too, being made with 100% buffalo milk and rennet that’s required to be made in the same micro-region to qualify as PDO (or DOP in Italian). Continue reading...

The Guardian Lifestyle • 12 hours ago

In coup for Dior, couple wear French haute couture designed by Northern Irish creative director, Jonathan Anderson Your English teacher and your gym teacher wore Dior: Jonathan Anderson, the Northern Irish creative director of Dior, has been revealed as the designer of haute couture wedding looks for Taylor Swift and her new husband, Travis Kelce. Photographs have not yet been released, with Swift’s team in charge of timing, but a Dior statement confirmed that Swift is the first bride for whom Anderson, who joined Dior last year, has created an haute couture gown. Continue reading...

The Guardian Lifestyle • 14 hours ago

The Indian photographer dunked his iPhone underwater to get this shot of his pet Rashid Sheriff’s fascination with photography and drawing originated in his school days, though “due to various limitations and circumstances, I couldn’t pursue those interests”, he says. For the past 18 years, Sheriff, who is from Kerala, in south-west India, has been working in Qatar as an auto electrician. Smartphones, however, have allowed him to return to his passions once again. Continue reading...

The Guardian Lifestyle • 14 hours ago