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Kwanzaa has become a nationally recognized celebration of African culture and community in the United States since its founding in 1966 and also is celebrated in countries with large African descendant populations.
The holiday, which serves as a nationwide communal event reinforcing self-determination and unity in the face of oppression, spans seven days from the day after Christmas through New Year’s Day. It is observed in large, city-sponsored events as well as in smaller communities and homes nationwide.
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Kwanzaa has grown in popularity in the decades since its founding and is celebrated by 3% of the country, according to a 2019 AP-NORC survey. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all released statements commemorating the holiday, and in 1997 the U.S. Postal Service began issuing Kwanzaa stamps. It is not recognized as a federal holiday.
Kwanzaa emerged during the Black Freedom Movement of the 1960s as a way to reconnect Black communities in the U.S. with important African cultural traditions that were severed by the transatlantic slave trade. It also promotes unity and liberation.
“It was also shaped by that defining decade of fierce strivings and struggles for freedom, justice and associated goods waged by Africans and other peoples of color all over the world in the 1960s,” Maulana Karenga, the holiday’s founder, wrote in his annual Kwanzaa address in 2023. “Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom.”
Karenga, an African American author, activist and professor, founded Kwanzaa following the Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion, in Los Angeles in 1965.
Karenga described Kwanzaa as a “political-motivator holiday” in an interview with Henry Lewis Gates Jr. for PBS.
“The idea is for African and African descended people to come together around family, community and culture so we can be in spaces where, in Dr. Karenga’s words, we feel fully African and fully human at the same time,” said Janine Bell, president and artistic director at the Elegba Folklore Society in Richmond, Virginia.
Many people who observe Kwanzaa, which is a secular holiday, celebrate it alongside religious festivals such as Christmas. People of any faith, race or ethnic background can participate.
The name Kwanzaa derives from “mutanda ya kwanza” a Swahili phrase meaning “first fruits” or “first harvest.” The final “a” was added to the name to accommodate the seven children present at the first Kwanzaa, each of whom was given a letter to represent.
The holiday is governed by seven principles, known collectively as the Nguzo Saba, and a different principle is celebrated each day: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).
The Nguzo Saba is represented by a candleholder with seven candles called a kinara. Each night, one of those candles is lit. The candles are the same colors as the Kwanzaa flag: Black representing the people, red their struggle and green their hope.
Large Kwanzaa celebrations happen across the country every year in cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta and Detroit. These events often feature storytellers, music and dance.
Bell said the theme at this year’s Capital City Kwanzaa Festival in Richmond is “knowledge of self,” and an African descendent will be selected by drawing a name from a fishbowl to win a free DNA test so they can learn where they come from.
The holiday is also observed in individual homes, often focusing on children, because they are key to the survival of culture and the development of community. This concept of children and the future they embody is often represented symbolically by corn.
“The intention is that it’s 365 (days a year),” Bell said. “The need for the principles and the strengthening value of the principals don’t go away on January 2nd.”
Family celebrations also involve giving gifts and sharing African American and Pan African foods, culminating in the Karamu, a feast featuring dishes from across the African diaspora. Typical meals include staples of southern cuisine like sweet potato pie or popular dishes from Africa like jollof rice.
Activities over the seven days are geared toward reaffirming community bonds, commemorating the past and recommitting to important African cultural ideals. This can include dancing, reading poetry, honoring ancestors and the daily lighting of the kinara.
Jessa Duggar (m. Ben Seewald)
Jim Bob and Michelle’s fifth child, Jessa Duggar, was born Nov. 4, 1992.
Jessa met Ben through church and he began courting her in 2013—the old-fashioned approach to romance coming as a brand-new notion to a lot of viewers. The kids never talked about their romances pre-engagement, so Jim Bob explained to People, “Courting is getting to know each other in a group setting, both families spending time together and the couple setting goals together to determine if they are meant to marry. With dating, a couple will often pair off alone and that sometimes leads to a more physical relationship.”
Ben asked for Jessa’s hand and then proposed in August 2014—sealing the deal by holding her hand for the first time. They married on Nov. 1, 2014. Jessa was pregnant with their first child when 19 Kids and Counting was canceled and TLC subsequently aired a special about sexual abuse, featuring Jill and Jessa, to further educate viewers on the subject. The sisters would end up the stars of their own show, Jill and Jessa: Counting On, that winter; the show then evolved to become Counting On, featuring other Duggar siblings as well.
Meanwhile, Jessa and Ben welcomed son Spurgeon on Nov. 5, 2015, son Henry on Feb. 6, 2017, daughter Ivy Jane on May 28, 2019 and daughter Fern in July 2021. In February 2023, Jessa shared that she suffered a miscarriage over the 2022 holiday season. She gave birth to her fifth child, George, in December 2023.
If you’ve ever dreamed of hitting it big on a slot machine, then progressive slot games are where those dreams can become a reality. Unlike regular slots, progressive slots offer jackpots that grow bigger and bigger with every spin, attracting players worldwide in pursuit of life-changing sums of money. In this ultimate guide, we’ll take a deep dive into how these games work, what makes them different from other slots, and tips on how to maximize your chances of winning.
Progressive slot games are online slots or land-based machines where the jackpot keeps growing until someone wins. The jackpot increases every time a player makes a bet, regardless of whether they win or lose. A small percentage of each player’s wager contributes to the jackpot, and the prize continues to rise until one lucky player hits the big one.
Progressive jackpots come in a few different varieties. Here’s a quick breakdown:
These are single-machine progressive jackpots, meaning the jackpot is only linked to one specific machine. The prize grows as players continue to play that one slot, but once someone wins, the jackpot resets.
These are machines located in a specific casino or group of casinos. The jackpots in these games are shared among all the connected machines, which means the jackpot can grow faster than a standalone one, but it’s still limited to a single location or network.
These are the big kahunas of progressive slots. These jackpots are linked across multiple casinos, which means the jackpot can grow to huge amounts as a large network of players contributes. Think of it like a giant community of players, all chasing the same massive pot.
When you spin the reels on a progressive RTP slot, part of your bet contributes to the jackpot pool. The more people play, the faster the jackpot increases. For example, a game may have a jackpot of $500,000 that grows by $500 every time a player makes a wager. As players continue to spin, that jackpot increases until someone hits the winning combination.
It’s important to note that in most progressive slots, hitting the jackpot requires you to bet the maximum amount. Some games have special rules where the progressive jackpot is only triggered by specific symbols or combinations, and sometimes you need to unlock a bonus round to have a shot at it. It’s also worth mentioning that the odds of hitting the jackpot in these games are typically much lower than in standard slots, so patience is key.
The primary attraction of progressive slots is, of course, the size of the jackpot. While the odds of winning are slimmer, the potential rewards are astronomical, sometimes reaching millions of dollars. Many players are willing to take a gamble for the chance to walk away with life-changing amounts of money.
There’s something uniquely thrilling about seeing that jackpot climb. Every spin feels like you’re one step closer to hitting it big. Plus, with wide-area progressives, you can follow the jackpot’s growth over time, making the gameplay feel like an exciting race toward the prize.
Progressive slot games are available in a wide variety of themes, from ancient civilizations to pop culture references, fantasy worlds, and everything in between. No matter what type of slot game you enjoy, you’ll likely find a progressive version to suit your taste.
While progressive slots are largely driven by luck, there are a few tips that can help you get the most out of your gameplay:
Before you start playing, always check the bet requirements for triggering the progressive jackpot. Some games require you to make a maximum bet to be eligible for the jackpot, so it’s important to play with that in mind.
It’s easy to get carried away when chasing a jackpot, but setting a budget is crucial. Progressive slots can be addictive, so make sure you’re only wagering what you can afford to lose. Don’t chase losses, and be prepared to walk away if it’s not your day.
RTP, or Return to Player, is a percentage that tells you how much a slot pays back over time. While progressive jackpots are typically lower in RTP compared to regular slots, you can still find progressive slots with a good RTP that give you a better shot at winning smaller prizes along the way.
If you’re new to progressive slots, it might be a good idea to start with smaller jackpots. These games typically have better odds of winning, and you can get a feel for how the progressive system works before going for the larger prizes.
Chasing jackpots on progressive slot games can be an exhilarating experience. While the odds of hitting the jackpot are low, the massive rewards make it a tempting adventure for many players. Whether you’re drawn in by the huge prizes or the excitement of seeing the jackpot grow, these slots offer a unique form of entertainment. Just remember to play responsibly, set a budget, and most importantly, have fun as you chase that elusive big win. Happy spinning!
It’s the season for dry, itchy skin, from your flaky scalp all the way down to your cracked heels.
Why is winter so brutal on our bodies? You can thank the dry winter air—which is often made even drier due to cranked-up indoor heating systems—for your parched skin. “If your skin is less moist than the air, the skin will absorb water,” explains Dr. Dawn Davis, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. “If your skin is in an arid environment where there’s less moisture in the air, your skin will give off water.” Hence why your skin may be plump and hydrated in the summer humidity, but dry as a bone come winter.
Escaping the chilly weather with long, hot showers only makes matters worse. Hot water strips the skin of its naturally hydrating oils and may also disrupt the skin barrier, a mix of cells and fats that form a protective outer layer on the skin. The skin barrier keeps pathogens out and moisture in. When it’s damaged, water gets sucked out of the skin and into the dry surrounding air even more easily.
But you don’t have to spend all winter itchy and uncomfortable. Use these expert-backed tips to treat dry skin from head to toe.
A flaky scalp isn’t necessarily dry, Davis says. In fact, dandruff is often caused by excess oil and yeast overgrowth on the scalp, not a lack of moisture.
If you have a truly dry scalp, it will likely appear pale and produce small, easily removable white flakes, Davis says. (Dandruff flakes, by contrast, tend to be bigger and oilier and may have a yellowish tint.) If that’s the case, look for moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, not oil-removing anti-dandruff shampoos, she says.
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If those products don’t cut it, Dr. Shoshana Marmon, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York Medical College, recommends using a scalp brush to manually remove flakes, then applying a moisturizing scalp oil. “Rub the oil into your scalp and use a shower cap overnight to really help it penetrate,” she suggests.
A good moisturizer is key for treating dry facial skin. To figure out which one you need, it’s helpful to understand the wide variety of products and ingredients on the market.
Terms like “lotion,” “cream,” and “ointment” are often used interchangeably, but they mean different things. Lotions are the thinnest of the bunch due to their high water content; creams generally contain equal parts oil and water; and ointments are almost entirely oil-based, making them so thick they sit atop the skin rather than totally soaking in.
Lotions sink in fast but evaporate quickly due to their high water content, Davis says, and ointments tend to be too thick for sensitive facial skin. Creams are the Goldilocks product: neither too thin nor too thick. “The vast majority of the product soaks into the skin to hydrate it,” Davis explains, while the oil component creates a “thin, protective layer on top to act as a sealant.”
When you’re shopping, look for creams that contain certain hydrating ingredients. Humectants such as hyaluronic acid, urea, and glycerin “attract water from the environment and increase moisture in the skin,” Marmon explains, while emollients such as squalane and shea butter “soothe dryness and irritation and fill in gaps and cracks in the skin barrier.” There’s no single best ingredient, Marmon says; a lot of it comes down to your personal preference and skin type. Just make sure you choose a product that’s unscented, hypoallergenic, and non-comedogenic to avoid irritation or acne, she says.
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If your skin is very dry, you may also want to change your cleansing routine for the winter season, says Dr. Jason Miller, medical director of Schweiger Dermatology Group. “People who are usually able to wash their face two or three times a day may only be able to tolerate washing it once during the winter,” he says. If that’s the case for you, he says, cleanse at night to remove dirt, makeup, and sweat but consider skipping your morning wash. And unless your skin is acne-prone, you may want to swap cleansers containing harsh ingredients like salicylic acid for gentler products, Marmon says. Micellar water is an effective but less-drying alternative to many makeup removers, Miller adds.
Finally, pay attention to your eyelids, Miller says. If the thin, delicate skin in that area gets dry and itchy, it can be a sign of a product allergy or irritation, he says.
If your lips are very dry and cracked, start by using a damp washcloth to buff away dead skin, Marmon says. Then apply a layer of petroleum jelly to seal in moisture. She recommends using petroleum jelly on the lips each night before bed and re-upping with lip balm throughout the day as needed.
And resist the urge to lick your lips when they’re chapped, Davis says. The acidity and salts from your saliva can strip away moisture.
Moisturizing creams work for the body as well as the face—but since the body tends not to be as sensitive as facial skin, “you have a lot more leeway when it comes to body moisturizers,” Miller says. If you want to branch out from traditional creams, you could also try a body oil or a product that contains an exfoliating agent, such as lactic or glycolic acid. Very dry skin may also benefit from a thicker product containing ingredients like lanolin or petrolatum, he says.
Regardless of the product you choose, it’s best to apply it within about three minutes of getting out of the shower or bath, while skin is still slightly damp, Davis says. Doing so helps the skin seal in moisture and slows its water loss.
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And—hard as it may be on a cold winter morning—the American Academy of Dermatology recommends limiting showers to a maximum of 10 minutes and using warm, rather than hot, water to protect the skin. Keeping the bathroom door closed to trap steam inside can also introduce some much-needed humidity to the air.
Outside the bathroom, using humidifiers and turning down the heat can help minimize the dryness of your home’s indoor air. Just make sure you clean your humidifier regularly and read the directions about what type of water your unit takes; ultrasonic humidifiers, for example, require distilled water to avoid spewing out potentially harmful particles.
Hands and feet “take a beating,” Miller says. “They’re the most used parts of the body” and often also the driest.
Since you wash your hands frequently, especially during winter illness season, Miller recommends keeping moisturizer right next to the sink, so you can apply it to your still-damp skin after each wash. The skin on the hands and feet are very thick, so you can choose a product that is similarly thick, like a cream or ointment, Davis says. Exfoliating products that contain ingredients like lactic acid can also help with rough elbows and heels, Marmon says.
If your hands and feet need some extra TLC, Davis recommends applying a layer of your preferred moisturizer before bed, then popping on cotton gloves and socks to let it soak in overnight. You should wake up with much softer skin.
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The end of the year is near, and the 2024 edition of Spotify Wrapped is here.
The annual recap of what music you listened to most, which began in 2016 as a marketing tactic, has since become a pop-culture staple mimicked by rival streaming platforms like Apple Music and Amazon Music as well as other services like Duolingo and Reddit.
Spotify’s personalized insights are presented in fun, share-worthy graphics, and the package includes several unique features—from video messages from artists to “Your Music Evolution,” which analyzes how your tastes have transformed throughout the year, and even some new artificial intelligence twists.
With the launch on Wednesday of this year’s Wrapped, here’s what to know.
Subscribed Spotify users—even if they don’t have Premium—can access their personalized Wrapped experience in the mobile or desktop app (make sure to have the latest version downloaded). The Wrapped feed will be featured on the app home page and can be accessed directly through this link.
In addition to presenting your annual lists of most-streamed artists and songs, 2024 Wrapped introduces the Your Music Evolution feature, which uses your listening data to reveal how your music choices have changed throughout the year. Users will receive descriptions of up to three musical “phases” characterized by specific genres and artists.
Users will also now get to see the artist they enjoyed most this year with the new Longest Listening Streak highlight, while Spotify is bringing back Top Listeners, which reveals what percentile you rank among listeners of your favorite artist.
AI will also play an expanded role in this year’s Wrapped: users will get a personalized podcast about their music listening this year, delivered by generative AI hosts and built with Google’s NotebookLM. Spotify says this feature will be available in English for eligible users for a limited time across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.
Spotify is also integrating Wrapped into its popular existing AI features, including AI DJ, which will tell users about their year in listening and even about their personal relationship with AI DJ, and AI Playlists, which will allow Premium users to create personalized playlists with their Wrapped data.
Data tracking begins in January and ends a few weeks prior to launch.
For the second year in a row, Taylor Swift, TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year, was the most listened-to artist on the platform with more than 26.6 billion streams globally. She’s followed by The Weeknd and Bad Bunny. (Spotify counts one stream if a user listens for 30 seconds or more.)
Unsurprisingly, Swift also holds this year’s top spot on the most-streamed albums list, with her The Tortured Poets Department: the Anthology. Albums from female artists dominated Spotify’s list this year: Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft came in second, while Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet was third.
Carpenter’s “Espresso” was the most-streamed song of the year, with more than 1.6 billion streams. Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” and Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” took the next two spots, respectively.
Joe Rogan’s The Joe Rogan Experience claims the title of the most-streamed podcast on Spotify for the fifth year in a row, and Spotify also unveiled its first top-streamed audiobook in Premium: fantasy-romance novel A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
Spotify encourages users to share their Wrapped results on social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, both of which Spotify has rolled out custom integrations with in the last month.
A number of third-party applications that you can connect your Spotify account to can also analyze your listening data. For example, How Bad Is Your Streaming Music? uses AI to judge your taste; Instafest will generate a music festival line-up for you based on your favorite artists; and Receiptify condenses your listening stats in the form of a receipt.
Born in 1955 at a military base in Kansas, Debbie is the mother of Eminem.
She married the “Without Me” artist’s father Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. when she was 15, according to her 2008 memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. She became pregnant with Eminem 16 months later and relocated to Michigan, where her maternal grandmother lived.
Debbie and Eminem’s strained relationship has been documented in several of his songs, including his 2002 smash hit “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.” In the track, he alleged that Debbie abused prescription pills when he was young—which she denied in her autobiography.
“What mother wants to be known as a pill-popping alcoholic who lives on welfare?” she wrote. “None of it was true, but the fibs kept getting bigger, and ultimately Marshall and I became estranged.”
However, Eminem has since expressed regret in airing out his family drama. In his 2013 song “Headlights,” he rapped, “I went in headfirst, never thinking about who, what I said hurt / In what verse, my mom probably got it the worst.”
Nelson died at the age of 69 in 2024 following a battle with cancer.
Joe and Jill Biden welcomed daughter Ashley Blazer Biden, their only child together, on June 9, 1981.
The Tulane grad got her master’s degree in social work from University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice in 2010 and was associate director of the Delaware Center for Justice for more than seven years.
In 2017, Ashley founded the clothing brand Livelihood, her logo—the letters LH being pierced by an arrow—a tribute to her late brother Beau.
“We have to sometimes be pulled all the way down to shoot forward,” Ashley explained to The Lily in June 2020. “He was my bow. His cancer brought me to my knees. I had no choice but to shoot forward, keep going, keep aiming at my own dreams.”
“I’m extremely proud of her,” Joe told E! News when she debuted the line at New York Fashion Week. “She’s been trying to change the world since she’s been 3 years old, and I think she’s going to do it.”
Ashley told TODAY she planned to use her platform as first daughter “to advocate for social justice, for mental health, to be involved in community development and revitalization.”
When it comes to dealing with the vitriol directed at her family, especially her dad and brother Hunter, she told Elle in 2023, “The real flex is staying kind no matter how cruel the world gets.”
Not that she didn’t get angry. “I think it’s human nature when anybody that you love dearly is attacked,” she added, “wrong stuff is out there that is just complete BS.”
Netflix is debuting four new holiday rom-coms, adding to an ever-growing collection of original Christmas movies. This year’s slate is truly a gift for anyone who is still obsessed with the pop culture of the early aughts. These festive films feature a couple of Mean Girls in Lindsay Lohan and Lacey Chabert, as well as One Tree Hill favorite Chad Michael Murray doing his best Magic Mike impression. Adding to the nostalgia factor? These merry little Christmas movies also happen to be chock full of clichés that tend to pop up in holiday flicks—but more on that in a second.
With so many holiday movies to watch and so little time to do so before December 25, how do you choose which one (or maybe two) makes your Christmas watchlist? That’s where we come in. We’ve put together a guide to Netflix’s 2024 holiday rom-coms, ranked from least enjoyable to most, which lays out some of the holiday movie tropes you will encounter should you press play on any of these.
Think of us as your personal elf, here to help you choose which Netflix holiday film isn’t naughty, but nice. Well, maybe just a little naughty since this year’s movies are a whole lot steamier than year’s past. This is thanks in large part to Murray and Schitt’s Creek’s Dustin Milligan, who offers a hot new twist on Frosty the Snowman. ’Tis the season for giving after all.
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For fans of: Jack Frost, A Very Nutty Christmas, Elf, The Knight Before Christmas
What’s it about? Kathy, a recently widowed diner owner played by Lacey Chabert, finds herself aiding and abetting Luke (Dustin Milligan), a six-packed snowman who comes to life only to teach her and the lovable eccentrics in her small town how to spread a little joy this holiday season.
Holiday movie tropes:
*Lacey Chabert: Move over Vanessa Hudgens, this Mean Girl is coming for your Netflix holiday crown. Chabert has become one of the true Queens of Christmas, having appeared in more than 30 Hallmark Christmas movies since 2012. Hot Frosty marks her Netflix Original holiday debut—but let’s assume it won’t be her last.
*Deceased family member: Kathy’s handyman husband died from cancer a year ago, and she has been unable to move on. She can’t bring herself to fix their old house, which is in complete shambles, or come up with any new recipes for her restaurant. That is until she meets a very good looking man who thinks he may be a snowman. Always the way, right?
*Christmas magic is real: After Kathy puts a scarf on a very fit snowman, he magically comes to life sans clothes, which results in a very funny streaking scene complete with a well placed, giant scarf that would make Lenny Kravitz jealous. While Kathy isn’t immediately sold on the fact that Luke is a real snowman, her doctor friend (Eastbound & Down’s Katy Mixon) and others have no problem accepting that snow can take on a corporeal form around the holidays. This is all to say, if you are hoping for a more scientific explanation for Luke’s transformation, you’ll be left grasping for candy canes.
*Holiday dance: Luke gets a job helping the local middle school decorate their auditorium for their annual winter ball. In between putting up streamers and balloons, he somehow manages to learn a fully choreographed dance. But the logic here isn’t the real problem, it’s the fact that Luke breaks into a sweat mid-dance. This is a normal occurrence for professional dancers, but it’s no good when you’re a man who was once made entirely of snow.
*Original Christmas song: The Office’s Craig Robinson plays an overly committed sheriff who, during his off hours manages to compose a delightful theme song of sorts for his town, Hope Falls. (To be fair, when you’re in a jurisdiction that hasn’t had a murder in 100 years, you probably have a lot of down time.) If you stay until the credits, you’ll hear a longer version of the track that features Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Joe Lo Truglio, who plays the sheriff’s kind deputy, on backup vocals.
Final verdict: Despite the rom-com’s title, Hot Frosty is a little lukewarm in the romance and comedy department. (Some believe the snowman would have been much hotter if he had a bit more peach fuzz. We’ll let you be the judge of that.) Milligan is a charming fish out of water. Especially, when he’s able to channel his inner Buddy the Elf for some comedy bits that really pay off. (His reaction to Kathy taking the head off a snowman cookie is priceless.) But if you’re looking for a magical holiday film also starring Chabert, you might want to watch Matchmaker Santa instead.
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For fans of: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Anyone But You, Four Christmases, Happiest Season
What’s it about? Two longtime friends-turned-exes, played by Lindsay Lohan and Pretty Little Liars’ Ian Harding, show up to the holiday festivities only to discover that their new partners are siblings. The two decide it’s best that they keep their past relationship a secret from everyone. Hilarious holiday high jinks ensue.
Holiday movie tropes:
*Deceased family member: Avery (Lohan) lost her mother when she was on the brink of adulthood, and her childhood best friend Logan (Harding) is convinced that this has led her to run away from her past and, more specifically, from him. He invokes Avery’s late mom a lot throughout the film to play armchair psychologist and judge her decisions. Most notably, he does this in what might be the most cringeworthy going away speech ever. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
*Dysfunctional family gathering: Avery’s boyfriend Cameron (Set It Up’s Jon Rudnitsky) brings her home to meet his picture perfect family, only for it to become very clear very quickly that they are not as normal as they’d like to think they are. (Honestly, the wall lined with their yearly oil painted family portraits would definitely give me pause.) Let’s start with Erica, the bossy blonde matriarch played by Kristin Chenoweth at her most wonderfully unhinged. From the moment Avery arrives, Erica seems to have it out for her. (This whole movie is very Meet the Parents coded.) Erica hates that Avery is dating her favorite child, brought wine with a twist-off cap, and wore jeans to her upscale holiday party. But somehow, it’s Erica’s immature weed gummy-eating youngest son, Callum (Jake Brennan), who becomes Avery’s real enemy. Who doesn’t love a Christmas twist?
*Impossibly upscale kitchen: Erica’s Nancy Meyersesque kitchen is the setting for more than a few great scenes. The best one being when Avery uses Erica’s precious pup as an alibi for her midnight snacking that results in a memorable cameo from Dr. Spaceman himself, Chris Parnell.
*Sassy Grandma: Logan’s grandma (Melinda Tanner) seems to be struggling with her memory, which leads to her making an uncomfortable and unfortunately timed reveal in the final act of the film. What might be more uncomfortable and unfortunate though is the film’s decision to use her dementia as a source of comic relief.
*Secret Santa chaos: Anonymous holiday gift giving lends itself to comedy. The Office proved this with their season 2 episode “Christmas Party.” And Our Little Secret finds a way to squeeze a bit more juice out of a secret present swap gone hilariously wrong.
Final verdict: While there are some comedy set pieces in Our Little Secret that will make you LOL—in particular a church reading gone wrong that allows Lohan to show off why she has always been such a comic dynamo—the film puts so much of its focus on the comedy that it short shrifts the love story. This friends to lovers to enemies back to friends again romance ends up feeling a bit too generic—even for a holiday film.
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For fans of: The Full Monty, A Christmas Love Story, The Best Man Holiday, A Christmas Melody
What’s it about? To help save her family’s failing music venue, former dancer Ashley (Britt Robertson) puts together an all male holiday revue led by the small town’s local handyman (Chad Michael Murray).
Holiday movie tropes:
*Fired for Christmas: Ashley may only be 30, but she’s deemed a bit too old for the Jingle Belles, a Rockettes-like dance troupe that performs in New York City throughout the holiday season. Their loss is Sycamore Creek’s gain, since Ashley’s unceremonious canning lands her back in her itty-bitty hometown where she discovers her parents, played by Beth Broderick (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Michael Gross (Family Ties), desperately need her help.
*Small town bias: Small town guy Luke (Murray) is not so sure about Ashley, who has spent most of her adult life living in the Big Apple. For those looking for a fun drinking game: take a shot of hot chocolate, spiked with booze or mini-marshmallows, every time he refers to her as a “city girl.”
*Accidental intimacy: Ashley and Luke are just two co-workers until they share a slow dance that would definitely need to be disclosed to HR. This spicy interaction even leads to another holiday romance trope, the interrupted kiss.
*Choreographed dance numbers: From a Chippendales-inspired striptease to a sultry breakdance battle set to a hip-hop remix of “Carol of the Bells,” the Merry Gentlemen—played by Murray, General Hospital’s Marc Anthony Samuel, Power Rangers’ Hector David Jr., dancer Colt Prattes, and Grease 2’s Maxwell Caulfield—get to show off their moves and their abs throughout the film. Let’s guess, you won’t be disappointed.
Final verdict: The Merry Gentlemen is a bit more raunchy than the rest of the movie’s on this list, thanks to all the shirtless pelvic thrusting. But it’s full of both muscles and heart, which makes it a titillating Christmas spectacular for those who are looking to spice things up a little this holiday season.
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For fans of: Serendipity, Christmas With You, Love Hard, Something From Tiffany’s
What’s it about? On Christmas Eve, while stuck in an airport lounge, Layla (Christina Milian) believes she has met the man of her dreams (Kofi Siriboe). When she finds herself suddenly single a year later, she attempts to make good on the plan they had to reconnect at a Pentatonix concert in New York City. With help from Teddy (Devale Ellis), a kind Pentatonix-loving personal concierge—think a real life Santa’s elf—she embarks on a wild holiday goosechase to find a last-minute ticket and prove to herself that fate really does exist.
Holiday movie tropes:
*Meet-cute moment: An airport lounge on Christmas Eve is where Layla first meets Siriboe’s James, a caring uncle who loves It’s a Wonderful Life, which is just basic enough to make him adorable. But it might be another guy, the one who Srirachas her quiche (not a euphemism!), that she should be paying closer attention to.
*The wrong one: Layla struggles to see that her ex-boyfriend, who fed her peanuts despite an allergy and most likely killed her pet fish, is no good until she catches him cheating with another woman in the house she owns. Better late than never, right? Unfortunately, this won’t be the last time she puts her focus on the wrong guy.
*Celebrity cameo: All five members of the acapella group Pentatonix—Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola—play an important role in Meet Me Next Christmas. They are the Greek chorus of the rom-com, giving their take on Layla’s love story. They also don’t mind poking a little fun at self-obsessed pop stars in between musical numbers. The best of which is their new original Christmas song inspired by the film’s title.
*Impromptu holiday performance: In this case, it’s a Christmas-themed lip-sync battle in which the prize is two tickets to the Pentatonix concert. How convenient! While this may feel a little too on the nose for some, it does allow the audience to meet Jordy, Teddy’s cousin and the film’s MVP. Jordy, played by Kalen Allen, has been “Snow Ball blackballed” and is hell bent on helping Layla and Teddy take the top spot by any means necessary. But Jordy has his work cut out for him. As he makes clear, in a hilarious training montage, this competition is not “the Housewives of Canarsie. These are understudies from Dear Evan Hansen and runners up from RuPaul’s Drag Race.” In the end, all you’ll want for Christmas is for Jordy to get his own holiday movie.
Final verdict: Of this year’s holiday slate, Meet Me Next Christmas is the star at the top of the tree. The chemistry between Milian and Ellis is palpable and will have you cheering for them to find their happily ever after. You might also find yourself listening to Pentatonix on repeat this Christmas and every one after.
The English Premier League is the best national club championship in the world, and every true football fan will confirm it. However, as we race into the 2024/25 season, we can’t shake the thought that it may have become all too predictable. With Guardiola’s final season at bay, chances are that we’ll likely see another dominant season from the blue side of Manchester.
However, the big question is — are upsets like the 2015/16 Leicester City still possible in the modern EPL, or have Claudio Ranieri’s boys pulled off the final one-in-a-million trick? Well, there’s no definitive way to know, but our experts will share our train of thought with you, and maybe we’ll come up with a decent prediction together.
Before we head into our Premier League 2024 predictions, let’s stop for a minute to discuss squad updates. As it turned out, we had a rather uninteresting summer before the 2024/25 season when it came to EPL transfers. Perhaps the biggest juicer was a transfer of Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke to Tottenham Hotspur, and we are yet to see if he’ll be able to fill Harry Kane’s shoes.
The Spurs have certainly been missing that “number nine” ever since Kane left, but other teams haven’t been standing still. Local rivals, Chelsea, have updated their squad with the addition of Pedro Neto and Joao Felix, both very perspective players and offensive threats.
Among other powerhouses, Manchester City and United mainly remained the same, with some notable additions like Manuel Ugarte, De Ligt, and Zirkzee, mainly enhancing UTD”s squad.
Liverpool’s biggest change is surely the change of their head coach as Arne Slot is yet to prove himself on the big stage, while Salah and van Dijk enter the last year of their contracts. Overall, it seems that Manchester City, who only added Gungogan and Savinho as key Premier League players 2024 seem like the most stable contenders once again.
Based on how things stand at the moment, we can only see several title contenders EPL and these, of course, start with Manchester City. However, we’re not leaving anything to chance, so here’s a detailed breakdown of what to expect this year:
Other than these few teams, we don’t see the supporting cast in the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea, or Manchester United clinging the battle. Plus, Aston Villa finished in a remarkably high fourth spot last year, and they’ll hardly do the same again after UCL participation.
We’ve seen it too many times when it comes to EPL teams, and Newcastle is a fresh example, having missed the Euro cups after being in the UCL last year. So, the black and whites might once again turn up the heat battling for that fourth spot.
One thing is for sure, it will be enjoyed by EPL fans and betting fans alike. Plus, you can use the Hollywoodbets mobile site to get all the betting options right at your fingertips. If you want to install applications, please use the instructions.
Well, that rounds it up for our EPL season preview and while it seems that Manchester City will once again have an easy one, this season feels somewhat special. We’ve got Leicester City back in the league again, and perhaps that’s a sign that something unpredictable will happen this year.
Either way, we’ve got a fun one ahead of us, and we hope our guide will be enough to help you catch up to speed if you’ve missed the summer transfer deadlines and squad updates. Who’s your favorite to win it all this year?
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It’s Sagittarius season, baby! If someone you love has a birthday between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, they belong to this bold and fiery zodiac sign. Known for their adventurous spirit and magnetic energy, Sagittarians are the ultimate experience seekers.
Our shopping editors have pulled together a gift guide full of the perfect gift ideas for the Sagittarius in your life.
Shop zodiac sign-specific jewelry so your Sag best friend can let the world know it’s their birth month. We’ve found a simple gold design for the minimalist Sagittarius and a glitzy necklace for the Sag that likes to be noticed.
Sagittarians are natural-born travelers, always looking for their next great escape. Discover cute and practical travel accessories essential to any centaur sign, whether they’re hopping on a flight, riding a train, or taking a road trip.
Appeal to their competitive side with games that bring people together, such as the card game we’ve found below that’s perfect for group gatherings.
If they’re a Sagittarius who’s always booked and busy with pilates, yoga, and run club, gift them some exercise gear they can take with them wherever they go.
We’re sure your fiery Sagittarius will love all these gift ideas below.
The road to Morocco 2025 comes to a climax with Matchday 6 of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers, promising a day packed with exciting clashes across the continent. Teams will battle for pride, qualification, or to improve their standings as the group stage concludes.
Key Fixtures for Monday, 18th November 2024
Malawi vs Burkina Faso (13:00) – Group L
A lunchtime showdown where Malawi will look to challenge group leaders Burkina Faso in a bid to make a late statement. Burkina Faso are already through
Libya vs Benin (16:00) – Group D
Libya and Benin will lock horns in a critical fixture that could determine their fate in the qualifiers. Each side would fight for a win. A good win for that matter.
Nigeria vs Rwanda (16:00) – Group D
Nigeria, a perennial powerhouse, will face Rwanda as they seek to stamp their authority in the group. A win for Rwanda could send them through to the competition if Libya and Benin play out a drawn game.
Sudan vs Angola (16:00) – Group F
A pivotal encounter, with Angola already secured qualification while Sudan fights for survival.
Ghana vs Niger (16:00) – Group F
Ghana plays for pride at home, while Niger eyes an opportunity to sneak into qualification if Angola defeats Sudan.
Comoros vs Madagascar (19:00) – Group A
An island derby in the evening will see Comoros and Madagascar face off in a highly anticipated clash. Comoros is already through to the tournament.
Tunisia vs The Gambia (19:00) – Group A
Tunisia, a tournament favorite, hosts The Gambia after securing their spot in Morocco.
Morocco vs Lesotho (19:00) – Group B
Host nation Morocco will look to put on a show against Lesotho as they continue their preparation.
Central African Republic vs Gabon (19:00) – Group B
A Group B clash that is meant to be played for pride and honor as Gabon already has secured a spot in Morocco.
How to Follow the Action
Fans can catch all the matches live through SuperSport and other regional broadcasters. Highlights and key moments will also be available on CAF’s official social media channels and website.
For those unable to watch live, minute-by-minute updates will be provided through dedicated sports apps and platforms such as FlashScore, LiveScore, and CAF’s official match tracker. Fans are encouraged to tune in early to get pre-match analysis and live commentary.
As Matchday 6 unfolds, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Let’s see who will seize the moment and punch their ticket to Morocco?
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The stakes are always high during an episode of Yellowstone. The Dutton family members (and their many enemies) have really been going through it and there are no signs of the drama letting up any time soon.
The best way to enjoy Yellowstone is by watching the show, of course, but that’s not all you can do. Bring the ranch life to you with some Dutton-inspired clothes, mugs, home decor, games, and more.
Channel your inner John Dutton, Rip Wheeler, Beth Dutton, and the rest of your favorite Yellowstone characters with these gift picks that will make you feel like you’re on the ranch.
The best Christmas gifts and Hanukkah presents are cute, thoughtful, and will have your bestie raving about them for years to come.
For the self-care enthusiast, discover an editor-loved scented candle. We’ve picked one from Emme NYC that smells like cherry blossom. If they’re deep into TikTok gua sha videos, shop a facial massage kit—it’s on sale, by the way.
The perfect way to wow your host-with-the-most best friend is with some chic coupe glasses. They’ll love whipping them out for a champagne toast at their annual New Year’s Eve party.
If your jet-setting bestie prefers a practical gift, you can’t go wrong with a cute jewelry case to help keep them organized on their travels.
Looking for a sentimental gift oozing with nostalgia? You’ll love the chic BFF pendants we found, which are a stylish upgrade from the friendship bracelet you wore in elementary school.
Whether they live across the country or across the street, ditch the gift card and get your best friend one of these amazing gifts instead.
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