For reasons we probably don’t need to explain, we did very little traveling over the last couple of years. But after so much time spent baking bread and re-watching “How I Met Your Mother” in our apartments, we’re itching to hit the open road. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of worthy destinations in our very own backyard. From glittery metropolises to sunny island paradises to rolling national parks, the U.S. is a treasure trove of highly desirable travel destinations.

Comedian Daniel Sloss hasn’t reached the level of celebrity at which he’s recognized on the streets of Houston — yet. But whether or not Texans can identify the 31-year-old Scotsman from his critically acclaimed standup specials “X,” “Dark” and “Jigsaw,” his double-digit appearances on Conan O’Brien’s talk show or his hundreds of performances around the U.S. and worldwide, they tend to be delighted to meet Sloss, anyway. Mostly because of his accent.

Mere weeks before his reported death on April 23, 1616, 51-year-old William Shakespeare sat down to write his last will and testament. Though he began the document by proclaiming he was "in perfect health and memory, God be praised," his tremulous signature—and subsequent death a short time later—suggested otherwise.

Cheekily dubbed by some critics as “The Pumpkin Spice Latte of Interior Design,” midcentury modern style is everywhere you look. It’s popping up on your Instagram feeds, it’s cushioning guests on TV talk shows, it’s peppering the pages of West Elm catalogs and — of course — it’s all over our homes. The design trend was mentioned by The New York Times in 1998, and — more than two decades later — midcentury modern is arguably more popular than ever.

The year was 1993: Bill Clinton had just been elected president, Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" was climbing to the top of the charts, and the CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) had barely hit the market when a company called Interotica released the very first interactive porn CD-ROM. The adult game, called "Nightwatch Interactive," let players control a voyeuristic security guard who could navigate between TV monitors to peep on sexy scenes unfolding around the building.

There's a time and a place to eat at Starbucks while traveling abroad: it's after day 49 when you're hungry and lost and they won't give you the WiFi password unless you buy something. The occasional blueberry scone at Starbucks during a moment of weakness aside — travelin' meals are best served street-side, squatting on a plastic chair among locals beneath the cool night air, sipping from a dusty bottle of local lager as a grizzled Australian expat tells you the story of how he lost his left hand to a shark while sea kayaking.

Since their joint suicide in 30 B.C., Antony and Cleopatra's tomb has remained hidden somewhere in Egypt — but researchers may now be closing in on where the storied queen is buried.

Like many of its millions of adoring viewers, I was hooked on “Euphoria” — HBO Max’s exhilarating teen drama — by the first three minutes of the pilot episode. I voraciously consumed the first two seasons, enthralled by the hallucinatory images, stirring soundtrack and ridiculously good-looking cast. I didn’t know if I necessarily wanted to be friends with the troubled characters I saw on screen, but I did know one thing: I wanted their makeup. From the imagination of head makeup artist Doniella Davy, “Euphoria’s” iconic makeup is bold, unconventional and enchanting. Characters wear tears of glitter, razor-sharp winged liner, daring eyeliner and artfully arranged gemstones.

For the newly sober, sex can be weird and awkward but also bedframe-shaking.

These days, scrolling through my Facebook and Instagram feeds means navigating a minefield of targeted ads for pricey, high-end beauty products. One ad for a Korean face mask claims to banish wrinkles and under eye circles. Another for a pair of magnetic eyelashes declares it will cut the time spent on my beauty routine in half, while still another ad for an at-home microdermabrasion wand promises to make me irresistible to hunky firemen.

It's the understatement of the century to call 2020 a tough year, but it was especially troublesome for California-based singer-songwriter-slash-music-journalist Jake Kussmaul. In addition to being hindered by the same obstacles as the rest of us—that is, social distancing requirements and a decidedly unsexy sense of gloom and doom—Kussmaul's romantic prospects were limited further by the fact that he was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around.

It would be remiss to write a blog highlighting the work of BIPOC artists without taking a moment to reflect on the events and conversations of the year. Propelled by the momentum of protests following the horrific deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and Dominique “Rem’mie” Fell, the world is protesting, watching, listening, trying, speaking out, making mistakes, and — hopefully — changing.

In the days leading up to February 14, grocery stores swarm with roving heart-shaped nylon balloons, mail carrier routes clog with orders of imported roses and lifesize teddy bears, and partners throughout the land scratch their head wondering what would be an astounding gift for their loved one. And the internet floods with Valentine's Day origin stories. (But not as good as this one!)

Though food carts in some form or another have been meandering the country for hundreds of years, the mobile dining revolution truly took hold of America during the last decade.

I’m an avid climber, devoted yogi and clumsy-but-no-less-determined kickboxer — but so help me, I’ll turn around and drive home if I arrive at the gym and realize I’ve forgotten my headphones. How can anyone expect me to be up in the gym just workin’ on my fitness without “Fergalicious” pumping into my ears? I’m a firm believer (and I know I’m not alone) that a solid pair of headphones is about as essential to a good workout as a hair tie and deodorant. But they can’t just be any old pair.

In the mid-80s, a curved, plastic hair accessory started popping up on the heads of ponytail wearers across the country. It was called the banana clip, taking its name from its skinny, banana-like shape. The versatile clip featured small teeth and snapped in place on one of its hinged edges to hold your hair together in a voluminous updo that kept your hair out of your face and cascaded down like a waterfall.

From baby food to juice cleanses, diet trends rise and fall with time and scientific advancement. But while many nutrition fads have been discredited or forgotten, others have withstood the test of time and nutrition science scrutiny. Counting macros (short for “macronutrients”) is a nutritional strategy long favored by bodybuilders that has recently gained mainstream popularity.

Capable of conjuring Instagramable butterflies out of steamed milk, remembering your seven-ingredient-long drink order, and keeping cool when faced with a queue of caffeine-fiending customers, baristas may seem superhuman.

Once upon a time, way back in the '90s, the iPad hadn't been invented yet, Boy Meets World was still on the air, and interior playgrounds at fast food restaurants weren't regarded as foul dens of germs and discarded heroine needles. During this magical age, children frolicked in ball pits and slid down slides in the playscapes of restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King. Meanwhile, their parents chatted nearby, knowing their kids were fenced in and playing someplace "safe."

Soft, horizontal and hidden away in your bedroom, the mattress typically sees more action than any other piece of household furniture. As a reoccurring presence in your lovemaking, your bed can either enhance or hinder sexual activities based on factors like bounce, sagginess, squeakiness and type.