bowling, bites, and broken hearts
a lot more than just romance and radicchio this week
💕💕💕💕 is in the air? Well…
Time Out surveyed locals worldwide on the best and worst cities for finding love and found that optimism runs highest in Asian cities like Mumbai, Beijing, and Jakarta.
Fellow Amsterdamers will probably get a laugh out of this—Amsterdam is the only European city to make the cut. Ghosting was practically invented here.
Meanwhile, Bilbao has officially the worst dating scene. A local helped us gather some opinions from Bilbao on this. Firstly, they were as surprised:
Remember last summer’s pineapple in the shopping cart trend to signal you’re open to dating? Bilbao was also the place where things got rowdy.
Traveling to find love – not that desperate, you say? So, we asked 23 couples in their mid-twenties and thirties—together anywhere from 9 months to 11 years—places they met:
7 met through dating apps.
6 met through friends.
3 met at university.
3 were each other's gym crush.
3 met at bars.
2 are high school sweethearts.
1 met at a party.
Draw your own conclusions. But we couldn’t help noticing—so many couples around us have broken up recently.
Ashe has a hypothesis: the turn of the year isn’t just cuffing season but cutting season too, a time for reflection, reevaluation, and making such big boy decisions as letting others go.
🗞️News
The highlight of Super Bowl was Kendrick Lamar’s symbolism-filled performance and his boot cut jeans.
Bridget Jones 4 movie is a box-office hit and is actually a decent romcom?! That’s what critics claim.
Wes Anderson's new film The Phoenician Scheme plot and actors has been revealed. Set to premiere May 30.
Duolingo dramatically reports the ‘death’ of their mascot, Duo the Owl. Users joke they believe Duo died when the platform replaced humans with AI.
The Blackpink girlies are thriving in their solo careers. JENNIE’s Hangover ft. Dominic Fike, and LISA’s Born Again ft RAYE & Doja Cat are the talk of the town. Plus ofc, Lisa in White Lotus S3.
Bill Nye walked the runway for the Blue Jacket Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer.
Hot mascs in Lucy Dacus’s Best Guess music video - but internet discussing the lack of stud and dark skin lesbian representation?
🧂Trends
Bowling
Here are words we never thought we'd say—cool kids are celebrating their birthdays at bowling alleys. This isn’t just based on Instagram observations—The Times confirms Britain’s bowling alleys have never been this packed. Why? People are swapping pub crawls for something a little more active, less booze-centric. Come spring, everyone will switch to mini-golf and pétanque.
Also a good last-minute V day date idea. That is if you can still get a spot in the alley.
Radicchio
An underrated winter veg finally getting its moment, popping up on recipe platforms and hip wine bar menus. Makes sense—given our obsession with over-aestheticizing food and how girly it looks.
Here’s a cool idea for the V day:
Apple ‘Qrumble’
It’s not just love in the air - it’s the distinct scent of apple crumble floating around some streets in the Netherlands. Somehow, the Dutch have increasingly become obsessed with this warm, cozy, and allegedly ‘not too sweet’ apple crumble over the past month or so.
Where are they getting this? Madaq Chocolatier - plastered all over Dutch TikTok. We’ve notice that residents (and influencers) of Amsterdam and Maastricht seem to be particularly drawn to this ‘qrumble’.
Coffee With Younger Self
People are posting about ‘having a coffee with their younger self, looking at how far they’ve come since that age. It’s often a rundown of what an actual coffee date could be like - when both ‘arrived’, their orders, and the topics they talked about.
Montoya, Por Favor!
The Spanish iteration of Temptation Island (La Isla de las Tentaciones) is trending internationally - all because of participant Montoya’s reaction to his partner cheating on him. We’d love to break down exactly what went down, but it’s a truly NSFW saga. The video below will give you enough context to understand the meme, but the drama is worth the watch (if you’re into that).
“The host pleads Montoya to stop running while he sprints across the beach, screaming how he loves her [Anita, his partner], to stop her while she was sleeping with another man.”
The audio snippet from this moment is going viral. We first noticed it due to the sheer amount of sports social media making use of the sound - F1, Football, Tennis. Now, it’s become every social media manager’s go-to reference for the week.
Adidas Japan
Retro, flat-soled sneakers (Puma Speedcat, Onitsuka Tiger, etc.) are back, and Adidas isn’t sleeping on it. Enter the resurrected Adidas Japan from ’64—already plastered all over influencer feet. It won't hit Samba status, but expect to see plenty of it.
Pillbox hats
Proof that fashion houses call the shots—pillbox hats hit the runway last year, and now they’re on the streets. Well, at least during Fashion Weeks.Will they go mainstream beyond the rizzy fashion crowd? Doubtful.
But one thing’s for sure—hats are having a moment.
Cat-eye heart nails
Tis the season for heart symbols everywhere, and cat-eye heart nails are the new obsession. This magnetic polish design has a glowing heart effect created by a paperclip, and everyone wants it - much to the frustration of nail techs.
‘The Countdown’
James Newton Howard’s ‘The Countdown’ for The Hunger Games soundtrack is being lauded on TikTok as the ultimate get-shit-done song. Or at least, get-motivated-to-get-shit-done song.
Originally from ‘Studytok’ - it’s also the perfect song to get you to finally finish writing that email you were supposed to have done 20 mins ago. Without ChatGPT.
[Listening to this song rn while writing this… and Ashe kinda gets it.]
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