✦ The Year of the Horse — Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate! If you’re ringing it in with friends and family (or just want a sweet treat for yourself), we’re loving this recipe for lemon-honey nian gao (mochi cake) from Jessica Wang, who runs a Chinese Taiwanese online shop. And how beautiful are these photos of celebrations across Asia? 

✦ Odessa A’zion got real about her seemingly super fast launch into stardom (spoiler alert: she’s been acting for years). Even though she’s excited, she admitted it’s intimidating. “I’m uncomfortable. I’m scared. But I’m also so insanely grateful and excited for the future of my career,” she told Elle. Proof that feeling scared and feeling successful can exist at the exact same time. 

✦ The Forbidden Fruits trailer is here. Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Emma Chamberlain, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp as a witchy cult? Say less. The YouTube caption teases that when Lola’s character “challenges their performative sisterhood,” they’re pushed to face their own “poisons” or “succumb to a bloody fate.” We’re clearing our calendars for March 27 (and will obviously give you all our hot takes). 

✦ Author Taylor Cassidy is telling us all about the Black history behind the fashion industry, spotlighting designers like Anne Lowe and Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. The fashion world today wouldn’t be possible without Black designers of the past, but so many didn’t receive fair treatment, credit, or payment. We’re keeping these stories in mind — because the styles we love today (hello, NYFW) wouldn’t be possible without them. 

✦ Apple Martin showed her “Stressed Out College Student” beauty routine to Vogue, featuring trendy go-tos like Clean Skin Club disposable towels, K18 hair oil, and goop beauty foaming cleanser. Plus, she opened up about figuring herself out in college, dealing with acne (stars: just like us), and being a “secret theater kid.” Very eldest daughter coded. 

✦ Substack-er Plum Pits reminds us “joy has a habit of returning” with their newest article. It has little ways to find more happiness in everyday life, tiny reminders to reframe your perspective, and insight into how the writer, Kylee, stays hopeful on hard days. It’s a must-read for anyone feeling a little blah right now. 

✦ Our favorite private-chef-turned-influencer, Wishbone Kitchen (aka Meredith Hayden), is getting her own food show!! All we know right now is it’s with a “major media company”... and that it’ll definitely mean a beet-pasta-filled watch party for our friends. Meredith promised there’s more to come very soon, so we’ll let you know when the show’s officially announced! 

✦ Fitness instructor Kendall Toole went viral for her reaction to someone with an offensive username joining her Peloton class back in 2023. The video shows Kendall setting boundaries on her bike, saying “We don’t do that here,” and “I take no disrespect.” And yes, it became a reaction meme, but it’s also inspo for standing your ground and sticking up for what you know is right. 

✦ A Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special is coming on March 24!! And it feels safe to say Miley’s gonna be the star (she fully posted about the show). Fingers crossed for a Miley-Lilly reunion (we love a bestie duo), a recreation of the iconic Best of Both Worlds spin, and a Dolly Parton cameo. And, if we’re getting picky, it’s time for those viral transition songs to finally get their moment to shine. 

✦ We are so back — and by “we,” we mean a species of bird on an island in the Galápagos, obviously. The Galápagos rail, a shy bird, was long thought extinct on Floreana, a small inhabited island, after it was last recorded there almost 200 years ago. This year, after invasive rats and feral cats were removed, the rail began showing up again. Scientists aren’t sure how it happened — but other threatened birds are recovering too, and researchers are even hearing new bird songs on the island. And female scientists, like wildlife veterinarian Paula Castaño, marine biologist Paola Sangolquí, and principal investigator Birgit Fessl, are part of the team restoring Floreana and tracking the comeback. Science girls stay busy. 

✦ Zendaya and Robert Pattinson have a wedding website. Which sounds fake, until you realize it’s for their characters Charlie and Emma in The Drama. We almost spiraled for a second. Don’t panic, Tom Holland and Suki Waterhouse!! 

✦ Snowbird by Gabi Sklar is keeping our melancholy February mood board intact. It’s all about prioritizing self love, even when it feels hard and complicated. With a slow tune and cinematic vocals, it’s the song equivalent of rosy cheeks, oversized scarves, and staring dramatically out of a frosted window. Perfect for romanticizing stepping over massive piles of snow. 

✦ Women’s figure skating officially kicked off at the Olympics yesterday, and Team USA came to play. Alysa Liu leads the Americans in third place after a mesmerizing performance (and we’re still thinking about her halo hair). Isabeau Levito follows in eighth, while Amber Glenn is in 13th. All are advancing to tomorrow’s free skate, where the final scores are officially decided. Sending good luck and deep breaths — to the skaters, obviously, but also to the stress-watchers biting their nails from the couch.