The prosecution: Marnie We’ve been speaking about it for ages. She’s just getting cold feet, but I know she won’t regret it My best friend Kady and I are planning a backpacking trip around south-east Asia in a few months and I have proposed the idea of us getting matching tattoos. Kady was initially keen, but … Read more
My dear friend has turned out to be an appalling father. He has unmanaged anxiety, admits to being an alcoholic, is in a relationship of convenience with the mother of his child after deciding, whether unilaterally or mutually, that they cannot resolve their differences, and seemingly only notices the bad about his four-year-old son. His … Read more
Silhouettes dart across a lake and the pale morning sky. Avocets screech high-pitched cries, defending their eggs from a squawking crow that circles above, while a barnacle goose with a barking call flies overhead. There are 12 of us watching and listening on a dawn chorus workshop at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge … Read more
These days, there are plenty of brilliant low- and no-alcohol options for when you want to stay off the sauce. But what if you’re wanting to enjoy a “real” drink – just minus the negative effects? Step up to the stage, mid-strength drinks. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you … Read more
Renting often means living with someone else’s design choices, from magnolia walls and tired carpets to ugly furniture. And the worst part is, you usually can’t do much about it. While social media is full of dreamy interiors and home renovation projects, most renters don’t have the option to knock down walls, retile a bathroom, … Read more
Whether you’re frying an egg or dressing a salad, cooking oils are a staple in most kitchens, but figuring out which one to use can feel strangely complicated. With conflicting advice all over social media, it’s easy to get lost in the swirl of hot takes: some say seed oils are toxic, others swear by … Read more
Every now and then, a local restaurant called La Torricella has millefoglie among its regular offerings of lemon sorbet, tiramisu, pineapple-cut-into-a-fan, and pine nut or vanilla gelato with strawberries. Customers are very likely to have spotted the millefoglie long before seeing it typed up on the paper menu, though, because it will be sitting near … Read more
It is estimated that one in seven couples in the UK will experience difficulties conceiving, and many will go on to have fertility treatment. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) reports that more than 1.3m IVF cycles have been performed in the UK since 1991. I was 32 when I first underwent treatment, and … Read more
To hear many social media influencers tell it, a proper skincare routine requires dozens of expensive lotions and potions applied in complex, multistep sequences multiple times a day, and an understanding of advanced chemistry that would put Marie Curie to shame. As customers stock up on all the creams, toners, masks and acids the epidermis … Read more
Can you hear it? That sound of the horticultural industry exhaling? We are at the end of the Chelsea flower show, AKA Gardening Christmas. Designers, contractors, nurseries, growers and gardeners have been beetling away building things, attending things, observing things from a distance and generally finding the whole event a delicious, exhausting, engaging, controversial affair. The … Read more