All posts tagged: afternoon

This one tool made my home look years newer in an afternoon

This one tool made my home look years newer in an afternoon

Published by skeptic

If you’re like me, you don’t mind some yard work. While I hate doing chores like pulling weeds, I enjoy being out there and trying to get my lawn right. While it’s always a work in progress, I’m glad to be doing the work. I’ve learned that, when you own a home, there’s always something to work on. After a few years of neglect, our home desperately needed a full cleaning. I’m not talking about the inside of the house either, although that is another place that always needs cleaning. With two small kids, we are constantly picking up, wiping down, and doing everything in between. The outside of the home needed a facelift. So I got a power washer to do the heavy lifting for me. Related Robot vacuums are getting cheaper, but I still won’t buy one for this reason Get the job done right the first time. Using a power washer can be a simple task This is a serious cleaning tool The siding of my house looked green on one of …

McDonald’s latest move to fix its afternoon sales slump: expensive beverages

McDonald’s latest move to fix its afternoon sales slump: expensive beverages

Published by Sam Flores

Fast food chains, thirsty for new ways to grow, are amping up their beverage offerings. McDonald’s said Tuesday it will launch six crafted beverages in U.S. restaurants on May 6. It’s joining other chains, like KFC, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, that have elevated their drinks in order to lure customers away from rivals like Starbucks and Dutch Bros. McDonald’s will offer three refreshers, including a mango pineapple flavor with strawberry boba and a blackberry passion fruit flavor with freeze-dried dragon fruit. It will also offer three crafted sodas, including a dirty Dr Pepper with vanilla flavoring and a topping of cold foam. McDonald’s said visual appeal — think bright colors and foams — and drinks as a form of self-expression are increasingly important to customers. “Our fans have an obsession with beverages — to them, drinks are more than just drinks. And soon, our beverages won’t just be a reason you come to McDonald’s, they’ll be THE reason,” Alyssa Buetikofer, the chief marketing officer for McDonald’s USA, said in a statement. The drinks are also …

Luxury things to do in London in March: Spas, Mother’s Day afternoon teas & new openings

Luxury things to do in London in March: Spas, Mother’s Day afternoon teas & new openings

Published by Daniella Wilson

March always feels like a bit of a reset in London. The cosy, candlelit months start to fall away and the city slowly shifts towards brighter days – something I couldn’t be happier about. My weekend plans and date nights are already following suit, swapping snug corners and comfort food for playful, colourful interiors and menus that feel fresher and lighter.  With Mother’s Day landing on Sunday 15th, there’s also a welcome excuse for florals everywhere, and maybe the most classic celebration of them all – an afternoon tea. Elsewhere, there’s a very exciting hotel opening in Bayswater this month. Even if you’re a Londoner with no need for a place to stay, it’s still worth having on your radar thanks to its beautiful spa. Consider this your little black book for luxury in London in March 2026. Daphne’s  Chelsea Daphne’s beautiful conservatory-style dining room is the epitome of elegance, but it’s also warm and welcoming. The Italian restaurant has touches of a Milanese trattoria and has been a neighbourhood institution since the 1960s. Tucked …

Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal on reimagining Dog Day Afternoon for Broadway

Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal on reimagining Dog Day Afternoon for Broadway

Published by Sam Flores

Dog Day Afternoon is the third rail of male love and loneliness—a primal scream from the sweltering streets of a stone broke New York City. My dad, Sidney Lumet, directed the 1975 film and his heart cracked for its antiheroes, Sonny and Sal (played by Al Pacino and John Cazale): “They’re like open wounds up there,” he once said. Ebon Moss-Bachrach can’t remember a time before he loved the movie, about a pair of bumbling crooks who try to rob a Brooklyn bank on a sweltering summer day. “There was something so adolescent about both these guys,” he tells me. “They seemed so unformed in different ways. When you’re a teenager, the world is big and mysterious. You can’t pull it into focus.” Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal will try to channel that energy on Broadway this spring, in a stage adaptation written by Pulitzer winner Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by Rupert Goold. Bernthal plays doomed Sonny, who’s hoping to pay for his lover’s gender-affirming operation; his longtime pal and costar on The Bear plays …

The surprising health risks of having an afternoon nap

The surprising health risks of having an afternoon nap

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter You’re in the middle of the afternoon, eyelids heavy, focus slipping. You close your eyes for half an hour and wake up feeling recharged. But later that night, you’re tossing and turning in bed, wondering why you can’t drift off. That midday snooze which felt so refreshing at the time might be the reason. Naps have long been praised as a tool for boosting alertness, enhancing mood, strengthening memory, and improving productivity. Yet for some, they can sabotage nighttime sleep. Napping is a double-edged sword. Done right, it’s a powerful way to recharge the brain, improve concentration, and support mental and physical health. Done wrong, it can leave you groggy, disoriented, and struggling to fall asleep later. The key lies in understanding how the body regulates sleep and wakefulness. Most people …

Lobby journalists ‘furious’ as No 10 scraps afternoon briefing

Lobby journalists ‘furious’ as No 10 scraps afternoon briefing

Published by Sam Flores

The Houses of Parliament building in Westminster, London, UK. Picture: Nigel J Harris/Shutterstock Downing Street has scrapped its daily afternoon press briefing, in a move journalists warned could damage scrutiny of the Government. Number 10 normally holds two briefings for political journalists on most days that Parliament is sitting. The briefings allow the Lobby, the group of political journalists that cover Westminster, an opportunity to question the Prime Minister’s official spokesman. But the Government announced on Thursday it would abolish the afternoon briefing from the new year, claiming it was “sparsely attended” in an email to Lobby members. Number 10 said it would instead offer “occasional” afternoon press conferences with ministers or technical briefings to allow greater access for “content creators” and journalists outside the Lobby. It also said there would be some morning press conferences with ministers and the prime minister, also for a wider group of journalists and creators, and that on these days there would be no regular morning Lobby briefing. Tim Allan, Downing Street’s executive director of communications, said the media landscape …

The 15 best places for afternoon tea service in Los Angeles

The 15 best places for afternoon tea service in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

As Los Angeles prepares for the imminent reopening of the Huntington’s prestigious Rose Garden Tea Room, on May 24, expect that tea as a social engagement will only become more popular. Many Americans associate formal tea with Britain and the pomp and circumstance of the monarchy. But a tea party, at its core, transcends the court of the queen. . Traditional British tea service takes place midafternoon and involves tea poured from floral china pots, finger sandwiches and scones, but in and around Los Angeles, California variations on the theme and a formal Chinese tea ceremony have also cropped up. Steep LA co-owner Samuel Wang is quick to remind us that tea is from China, and the British tradition derives from that history. “We’re not trying to be snobs about tea,” he explained. “Our way is not the only way. We’re sharing our knowledge, not teaching.” Wang and co-owner Lydia Lin hand-select all of the tea that’s poured at Steep, sourcing from farmers in China and Taiwan. The ceremony consists of first selecting a personal …