Jenni Avins

Cannes, France

I was a bit sheepish bringing Melissa Broder’s The Pisces to the checkout line. Not only does the book’s cover feature a woman with pin-up curls passionately embracing a silhouette of a fish, but the enthusiastic blurbs seem to suggest that contemporary literature has been incomplete until this, a fictional compendium of genuinely hot merman sex. Yes—merman sex. 

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Culver City, CA

“CBD is the new avocado toast,” stated the caption on an Instagram that recently appeared in my feed—a photo of a chalkboard outside at a Williamsburg, Brooklyn café advertising a “magical CBD latte.”

In a video from June 6, the opening night of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On the Run II tour in Wales, a towering black screen blazes with stark capital white letters, lighting up with the words, one-by-one: “THIS … IS … REAL … LIFE.”

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For a few years, I worked as a nightlife reporter in New York, interviewing celebrities on red carpets and at after-parties around the city. I often left for work at 4:30pm and returned home after midnight, having spent hours waiting for Chloë Sevigny to say something funny, or Lindsay Lohan to do something rash. A handful of crucial elements made the job possible: a Sony voice recorder, a modest-but-attractive black dress of hammered silk, and countless grilled peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

It seemed inevitable that someone would sue the creators of The Happytime Murders, a raunchy puppet murder mystery starring Melissa McCarthy. That someone is Sesame Workshop, the educational organization behind Sesame Street.

Dior’s first female creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, has made strong women part of her storytelling. Since taking the reins at Dior in 2016, she has paid tribute to Peggy Guggenheim, Georgia O’Keefe, and the sexually liberated 1960s student protesters with her designs.

Some newly married couples get monogrammed towels; others get personalized stationery. The new Duchess of Sussex, aka Meghan Markle, got her very own royal coat of arms—a classy but standard gift for spouses of British royalty.

The retired Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho, also known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a highly eligible bachelor, enjoying the celebrity and spoils that come with a storied career in soccer. So it seemed plausible that he would soon be marrying not one, but two women in a civil ceremony, as newspapers around the world reported this week. Perhaps with the royal wedding behind us, global nuptials enthusiasts just needed something to look forward to.

Here in Los Angeles, certain Starbucks locations are hunting grounds for paparazzi in search of the perfect shot of an artfully rumpled famous person enjoying an iced matcha in yoga attire. (Celebrities—they’re just like us!) At the intersection of that celebrity and their beverage of choice? A plastic straw.

Unlike many newlyweds, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not need to wait months for official photographs of their big day. Kensington Palace has already released official portraits shot by Alexi Lubomirski—also a prince—and they are delightful! They demonstrate many “Do’s” when it comes to wedding photos:

Shopping for a wedding dress is one of those activities that theoretically should be fun: What’s to dislike about searching for an outrageously beautiful garment to make you look and feel awesome, often with free champagne?

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I love drinking. I look forward to mixing a beverage deserving of a lime wedge after a long day, and was once deeply moved by the gift of a shower beer-caddy. But last month, when my boyfriend announced he’d be taking four weeks off from alcohol, I agreed to join him. I was curious, and figured since it was his goal, not mine, I could fall off the wagon at any time.

It had been a good 15 years since I read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, but when I learned of Tom Wolfe’s death on Tuesday morning, I pulled my old copy off the shelf.

The first Monday in May is more than just a harbinger of spring. It’s a date deeply etched in the calendar of New York society—and those of fashion-lovers worldwide: the Met gala. At the Met gala—one of the world’s most spectacular red carpets for fashion–luminaries from the worlds of technology, politics, Hollywood, sports, media, and music convene. From Bezos to Beyoncé, the Gala is essentially a Vogue-sanctioned theme party.

Artichokes, to my mind, are a nearly perfect food.

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For her inaugural state dinner as first lady, Melania Trump changed out of the supremely white Carmen Sandiego-meets-Bianca Jagger hat that puzzled the internet all day, and slipped into something a little more comfortable—namely, Chanel haute couture. A former fashion model, Melania is no stranger to the power of the fashion, which doesn’t entirely explain the hat, but it does explain the Chanel.

Earlier today, US first lady Melania Trump made headlines when she demonstrated what many adult women already know: Holding hands is the worst.

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