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Fall Trends of 2025
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The Modern Lady Podcast is BACK!! After a year-long sabbatical, Michelle and Lindsay have dusted off their mics and are keen to jump back into the swing of things! And what better way to relaunch the podcast than to revisit one of their favourite episode topics, at the start of their favourite season, with some of their favourite people (that's you, friends! We've missed you!) So buckle up and prepare yourself for the Fall Trends of 2025 - What's in? What's out? And most interestingly, what kind of cultural commentary do these trends really provide when you take a deeper look?
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Transcript
Podcast Relaunch and Listener Engagement
00:00:00
Speaker
okay you know how we always go okay now we're dressed up looking good or whatever let's go eat something i yes yeah i love when we do that i know let's do that again let's do it again and
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome back to the Modern Lady Podcast. You're listening to episode 155. Hi, I'm Michelle. And I'm Lindsay. And today we are talking about fall and winter trends for 2025.
00:00:37
Speaker
Ah, September. It's the start of a new school year, the beginning of a new season, and the relaunch of the Modern Lady podcast. Yes, after a year-long sabbatical, we are back and dusting off our mics to rejoin the conversation with you, our dear friends and listeners.
00:00:55
Speaker
And what better way to return than with one of our favorite episode topics at the start of our favorite season with some of our favorite people. Buckle up friends, it is time to deep dive the fall and winter trends of 2025.
00:01:09
Speaker
But first, the best way that you can support The Modern Lady is by subscribing to our podcast on whatever app you use to listen to podcasts and by sharing us with your friends. We also appreciate it when our listeners take a few minutes and write a review of the podcast on whatever app you're using.
00:01:25
Speaker
We read each and every one and pick one to give a shout out to. This week's shout out goes to all of you who sent us wonderful messages of support, encouragement, and excitement and when we announced that we were coming back for another season of the Modern Lady. Thank you so much. We were so thrilled to read through your kind comments and posts, and it really fired us up even more to get back into the swing of things.
00:01:51
Speaker
We really do have the best podcast community, and we're so grateful for each and every one of you. And if you would like to leave us a comment or message us about today's episode, the best way to get in touch with us is on Instagram at The Modern Lady Podcast.
00:02:07
Speaker
But be sure to stay tuned to the end of the episode for other ways to connect because we would love to hear from you.
00:02:17
Speaker
But before we get into today's chat, Lindsay has our Modern Lady Tip of the Week.
Exploring Vanilla: History and Recipes
00:02:22
Speaker
Let's talk about vanilla. Is there anything more delicious looking than the little black flecks of vanilla beans speckled throughout some creamy dessert?
00:02:31
Speaker
Whether it's ice cream or frosting or… well, you get the picture. I've been thinking about vanilla lately. It all started when I was trying to decide between French vanilla or just regular old vanilla ice cream at the grocery store.
00:02:43
Speaker
Aside from French vanilla obviously being bilingual, one is more yellowy than the other, and the other is bright white. Why? Why? I asked myself, and I decided that it was time to finally ask Google and settle this long-standing mystery.
00:03:00
Speaker
Well, French vanilla is a custard-based ice cream that uses egg yolks, which give it its yellowish color. Regular vanilla is called Philadelphia style, it is made without eggs, which makes it whiter.
00:03:13
Speaker
One thing that I've longed to buy but I never seem to remember to grab them when I see them are actual vanilla beans. And they're actually quite pricey too. I've seen them ranging from $12.99 Amazon which seems a little sketchy to me.
00:03:25
Speaker
$40.99 at an organic market. What exactly is a vanilla bean? According to Google's new friend, AI Overview, a vanilla bean is not a true bean, but rather the long-cured fruit pod of an orchid plant from the genus vanilla.
00:03:43
Speaker
After the orchid flowers are hand-pollinated, the pods develop and then are harvested and put through a complex process of drying, curing, and aging to develop their characteristic flavor and aroma.
00:03:56
Speaker
primarily from the compound vanillin. This complex process, especially the hand pollination, is why vanilla beans are so expensive. Now, hold on to your socks. For over 2,000 years, there was another source of vanilla flavoring, castoreum.
00:04:12
Speaker
And this is a secretion from the scent glands of a beaver. In Sweden, it was traditionally used for flavoring schnapps, and they called it... Beaverheut, which literally means beaver shout.
00:04:26
Speaker
It was used not only to flavor food, but it was a popular ingredient in expensive perfumes, and something that is a little intriguing to me, cigarettes. Some manufacturers added it to create a luxurious aroma.
00:04:40
Speaker
Nowadays, artificial vanilla, called vanilla extract, is made from wood pulp, cloves, and petrochemicals. Yum! I'm sure many of you have already done this, but I have yet to try it, and I think I'm going to do this as a fall project so that it's ready for all of my Christmas baking.
00:04:56
Speaker
I'm finally going to make my own homemade vanilla extract by splitting a few vanilla beans lengthwise and placing them in a glass bottle or jar, and then you cover with vodka and let sit for two to three months, shaking occasionally.
00:05:09
Speaker
You can also use rum or bourbon for a deeper flavor. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavor. Making vanilla sugar is another easy way to add that great flavor to your Christmas baking.
00:05:20
Speaker
The ratio is one vanilla bean to two cups of sugar. Scrape the contents of the bean into the white granulated sugar and give it a stir and vo voila! This is so much easier than wrestling a beaver and milking its scent glands.
00:05:36
Speaker
Who would have thought that a conversation vanilla would diverge? So many different topics. Who would have thought? I know.
00:05:47
Speaker
And I was going to, I was already hung up on the fact that like vanilla plants, the orchids are like hand pollinated. Yes. Do we have...
00:05:58
Speaker
vanilla before people decided to hand pollinate this orchid? I have no idea. Or was it the beavers? I have so many more questions. Were the beavers pollinating the orchids?
00:06:12
Speaker
Is that one more expensive?
00:06:18
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Does there need to be a part two? Do I have to do a deeper dive Well, if it's the beavers pollinating it, then yes.
00:06:29
Speaker
Yes, there does.
Fall and Winter Fashion Trends 2025
00:06:34
Speaker
This episode of the Modern Lady Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Being tired, middle-class, suburban moms doesn't exactly make us influencers, and you might want to look to more reputable sources for new style and decor trends.
00:06:49
Speaker
Please contact the professionals to find out if underwear as outerwear and Balmoral-inspired silk handkerchiefs tied under the chin really are back in style before purchasing said items.
00:07:03
Speaker
And please, for the sake of all that is beautiful, do not go out and buy a dress with tassels and barn coat for your night out at a virtual reality ping pong roller skating bar based on this episode of the Modern Lady Podcast without double checking to make sure that all the cool Instagrammers are doing it first.
00:07:22
Speaker
Thank you and enjoy this episode. Fashion and travel and food. Oh my. Normally, we look at trends and culture as they're emerging on the scene in the spring, but this year we're taking a closer and cozier look into what's popular and digging into the fall and winter trends of 2025. It's just such a perfect note to come back on, right, Lindsay?
00:07:47
Speaker
Oh, it's our favorite thing, and we love it so much. Oh! No, it's just wonderful. And it was a little odd doing it at the end of the year because I'm like, well, are these things still even and trendy? It moves so quickly.
00:07:58
Speaker
But no, you know, you and I both prefer like fall and winter. It's our favorite season. And so it is nice to kind of wrap it up and to think and get a little sneak peek and maybe into what's coming next. And no, it's perfect. This is exactly how I'd want to dress anywhere. I don't want the spring and summer clothing trends. Give me this.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, I was thinking as I was doing the research, maybe the whole episode needs to do a seasonal flip. Just like every year we do fall and winter. Everyone likes fall now. Yeah, everyone does like fall. The whole consensus has switched, right? Everyone likes fall so much that, yeah as you know, I've decided to like the very end is of winter, as you've termed it, Swedish winter. so Because I'm like, certainly no one likes the end of February, beginning of March. So i will take that. I will claim that as my new fall.
00:08:46
Speaker
That's right. We have to stay niche. but yeah Yes. but you know before we do launch into the trends and starting with fashion and and everything like that another reason we love this episode i was just remembering um we talk about it every year when we do this trends episode is that to like keep your finger on the pulse of culture is some not only interesting, but it is also kind of important, right? Like even if we're not going to follow all the trends or even any of the trends at all, we often find by the end of these episodes that it tells kind of an overarching story about where humanity is ad And some of the trends are like, yeah, sometimes they're reactive of what
00:09:33
Speaker
We've collectively been going through or there the trends speak to something underlying that collectively as a culture, we're all kind of desiring or wanting. So it's almost kind of like an annual study of humanity. So it's both fun.
00:09:50
Speaker
And enlightening. And so we just we just enjoy it so much. Oh, my gosh. That's so true. And you and I have talked before, too, about how much fun it is after we've done the research to be out in the stores and be like, oh, wait, I do know what that thing is, that weird ingredient that's popped up somewhere or that item of clothing.
00:10:08
Speaker
We might not have ever paid attention to it had we not done this episode. So, yeah, even though we might not buy it, eat it, wear it. um We're just aware of it. And I do think it is important to be culturally aware of what's going on right now.
00:10:21
Speaker
All right. So as we usually do, we start with fashion. Right, Lindsay? So you get us started. What are the people what are the people wearing these People.
00:10:35
Speaker
Well, the people turn to Vogue, right? They still call it the fashion bible. It's where you have to go first. And the article I read from Vogue really interestingly kind of summed up the overarching style that's happening right now. And it's all about your own personality, which is my favorite thing.
00:10:52
Speaker
So it doesn't matter it's that if you're a minimalist or a maximalist or whatever kind of like, I guess, genre of fashion you're into discovering your own personality and individual style in the middle of that is is what's on trend right now people don't want to look like everybody else and this is so exciting to me as we're talking about cultural movements this to me is a clear moving away from like the instagram face everybody looking the exact same or desiring to look the exact same so this rise again of individual fashion style and personality through fashion is really really exciting for me
00:11:27
Speaker
hu Yeah, that is so true. Like an embracing almost of um and your own physical attributes and then figuring out how to like elevate them or feature them.
00:11:41
Speaker
Right. And yeah, I noticed this too, like a few years ago when like curly hair. ah really started to come back, but not not even so much styled curls. But like if you just had curly hair, how to make it so that it was like, oh yeah it was elevated. um Yeah. Yeah, but embracing it, right? And so we see this, like you're saying, in in fashion at large in general, right?
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, and embracing specifically fashion. femininity. We've seen this movement, right? We started this, we think, with the Modern Lady podcast when people were talking about femininity back in 2018.
00:12:21
Speaker
This has been growing behind the scenes. and And even the people who hate, you know, the controversial trad wife movement and all these things and all the dresses, there's been a lot of discussion ah in on social media about all these things over the last couple of years. Well,
00:12:35
Speaker
Clearly the people want it because feminine clothing is very on trend right now. Specifically a look that is very feminine gypsy. I guess like Stevie Nicks, like going back to that like Stevie Nicks look of like the layered laces and flowing clothing.
00:12:51
Speaker
Now, this time I called it feminine gypsy, but Vogue called it nomadic spirit, perhaps because maybe we can't say gypsy anymore. Is that on the no say list? I don't know. But they called it get nomadic spirit. And what that is, is elevated boho. So boho first came out. Oh, gosh, I'm trying to think maybe even 20 years ago.
00:13:13
Speaker
And but it's like the long flowing skirts, the low slung belts, very early 2000s still like that Y2K trend that started around last year is really holding on.
00:13:24
Speaker
Long and layered necklaces, rich embroidery on jackets, which is beautiful, handmade, you know, like this embroidery, um which Michelle, you've been practicing embroidery, so you can just embroidering some jackets and like billowing blouses. Very, very pretty clothing.
00:13:41
Speaker
hu Yeah, I was ah just Googling some pictures. Like anytime you send me the fashion lists in particular, i have to Google them to see what they look like and like get a real visual. And what I liked about that this latest evolution of boho style yeah is yeah that softness, that femininity that we were just talking about, right?
00:14:04
Speaker
um But also, I was reading they also still want to give the impression of unfussiness. So it's they want to marry the two. They want to be more chic, more feminine, but also look like they didn't really care about looking chic or feminine.
00:14:21
Speaker
So very French style in that way, right? Yes. And actually, you are definitely like zeroing in on something that I'm polished and put together, but I have to look like I didn't really care about it is also that overarching trend of a lot of these styles. Yeah.
00:14:35
Speaker
um Which is so interesting, right? Like, no, I just woke up like this. like and And again, I think this is a movement away from like that perfect snatched, chiseled makeup look. um Everything being like the perfect waves in your hair. Everything looking so polished and clean the last couple of years. It's like a little bit, yeah, tussled.
00:14:54
Speaker
Like you've been on the windswept moors in your 1970s-esque hippie kind of clothes. it's It's very pretty and deeply romantic. Mm-hmm. The next trend is one that I love and it does come back all the time. But again, it is in a more feminine style and that is preppy, right? The prep look.
00:15:14
Speaker
And I think this is just a continuation of the quiet luxury trend that was started around last year when we were on our break. So a lot of these things we weren't able to present last year, but that that quiet luxury old money, right? That those trends we've really seen popping up over the last year or two.
00:15:31
Speaker
And I would say that this look is really defined by Ralph Lauren. He is really having a moment right now. um I'm a huge Ralph Lauren fan. I have been for years. There is a documentary called, and it's from 2019, called Fairy Ralph.
00:15:44
Speaker
I think I found it on YouTube a while ago. But it's even worth paying for if this interests you at all. It's very Americana. it's very It shows how his look completely defined American fashion versus European.
00:15:57
Speaker
His whole lifestyle, his love of his wife, who has been his muse for forever. 50 years, their children, his whole lifestyle. um I'm glad Ralph Lauren is having a moment. And yeah, so it's like that whole kind of look. So think button-down shirts, varsity wear, pencil skirts, my all-time favorite fashion item ever since high school has been a pencil skirt.
00:16:19
Speaker
I'm swooning. Then I saw this long black leather pencil skirt. We'll talk little bit more about leather in a minute. And I'm like, this, if I had to pick one item, right, to add in as a trend, I'm A long black leather pencil skirt is my must-have item for this ah fall winter season.
00:16:35
Speaker
And it's all about the knee length skirt in general. You're still seeing micro minis. You're still seeing those, like we were saying, boho long skirts. But really, the Taylor Beautiful skirts, the ones I kept seeing most, are knee length.
00:16:48
Speaker
Okay, that was going to be my my next question. It's like, how long is long? and So yeah, down to the down to about the knees. And then, okay, so my question, I've tried to get into skirts for a long time.
00:17:00
Speaker
What do you wear on top with something like a knee length leather and the skirt? So I would probably wear an oversized white men's button up.
00:17:12
Speaker
um I love a pop collar a little bit, tucked, but pulled out. like quite a bit. So it's quite blousy and I would have the sleeves really rolled up. I love a man's watch. So I would do a big chunky watch with that, um, pairing that masculine and feminine, and then a great pair of heels.
00:17:30
Speaker
And that is exactly what I would wear it in a big statement piece of jewelry, um, underneath of the open neckline. Um, all right. Now this next one, i think this can be done tastefully, but it is the lingerie trend.
00:17:43
Speaker
Um, Back in the 1990s, when I was a teenager, I was all over this because this trend has popped up since Madonna did it, right? I think in the 80s with like a virgin. But I had this vintage black slip, I think was from the 40s or fifty s that I bought in high school that I wore as a dress. And I love a good slip dress still.
00:18:03
Speaker
So think like a lacy blouse. And it can be modest if it's paired with the right undergarment, right? It doesn't have to be a bra underneath of it. um I really think this lingerie trend, these really pretty satiny dresses with the lace trim on them, um that they can be the ultimate in femininity.
00:18:22
Speaker
And then finally from Vogue, and I'm a little ticked at this because I do feel like if you go back into our past episodes, they have been trying to push this one on us every single time we do a trends episode. Sequins.
00:18:32
Speaker
sequins i am i maybe i'm misremembering michelle but i feel like we talk about sequins every single time we do a trend episode um but yeah we've been seeing like the little micro mini sequin skirts a lot of the young girls are wearing those um okay but like enough already um i'm we get it they've always been in style i think they're what is it perennial is that where they're like just always in style every year but they're like oh no this is the year i'm like nah you said that 2018 19 2021 right two It's true. they do They do come back with things. I thought you were going to say fringes.
00:19:08
Speaker
Oh, I saw that. I couldn't even, you know, now you've triggered me because I did say fringes. And I was like, I am not even going there, Vogue. i yeah This one is going to be left unsaid. know. Sorry. and It has been said.
00:19:21
Speaker
Okay. and Sorry. The fringes are still here as well as the sequins. But if you do want to be cutting edge, you could pair them together because I have not seen that anywhere. o Well, talking about pairing together, um then they were also talking about like um uptown punk, right? So like punky looks like leather, like we were saying.
00:19:42
Speaker
But like, so um ah a motorcycle leather jacket paired with that pencil skirt, like a different material, not both leather, because that's great. That's, you know. A different look. ah a different look altogether um but yeah i and then if you are going to go ahead and invest and a leather motorcycle jacket which if you were to take my advice again coming from a woman wearing a holy sweatshirt um i am a huge fan of a motorcycle jacket it has popped up in fashion since i started studying fashion over the last thirty years it's always in style However, the way that they are being done this year, they're called LLJs and they're little leather jackets, like little, they're much shorter, they're cropped, they're tinier.
00:20:20
Speaker
um You know, okay, I get it. Like that makes it really on trend from now. um And then I was like, well, I actually have like a green suede motorcycle jacket from 2018 that I still love and and it is undersized. So I'm like, I guess I'm on trend with my ah small motorcycle jacket.
00:20:36
Speaker
Okay. So I know what you're saying. Like, it seems to go back and forth between oversized, then yes cropped, then oversized, then cropped. And it's the almost the same clothing, article of clothing. But every year it's switch, things switch from being big and then little again.
00:20:57
Speaker
it's the same with jean jackets and trench coats, right? Like, you so you can just buy one of each, friends, and then just alternate every year as they go little big, little big. I'm going wrap up my section here and then we'll throw it to you, Michelle. But the very last thing that I saw, and i again, they like try to push this on us every time the temperature drops. And I'm like, we are we don't want this.
00:21:17
Speaker
It's faux fur on everything. and yeah the one thing I would do, you know what i mean? So they had these jean capris with this band of faux fur around the knee. Gorgeous. Not they were $700. Yeah.
00:21:34
Speaker
Nobody wants jean capris with faux fur around the knee. It's just they're terrible. Now, there there are some cute faux fur jackets that are really cute and in style. um Again, I had one. I had a vintage one in the 90s that I wore with my high school kilt, and we named him Fuzzy Llama. All my coats had a name.
00:21:51
Speaker
And so I love those. And so I could see maybe investing in a cute little faux fur jacket, but no one's buying those capris. I'm telling that them right now. No, the placement around the knees is a little is a little bit eccentric for me. But yeah, do you know what?
00:22:09
Speaker
it It's interesting because when you listed out like the leather, the faux fur, the lace I've been noticing and just an overall focus too on trim.
00:22:20
Speaker
Yes. clothes Does it seem like just everything is trimmed? it And like, it doesn't really matter what material it is, but there seems to be a real return of trimming your clothes collars. So whether that's a leather collar or faux fur collar, something of that, like, so that could be also a trend.
00:22:42
Speaker
Absolutely. I think you you nailed it. I mean, whether it's a fringe or whatever it is, you're right. There's a lot of and it's almost like a basic piece, right? A lot of the pieces are like a solid one color and then they've got that little like funky trim on it.
00:22:54
Speaker
And I don't know. It's I do feel like those are the things that rise in popularity very very quickly and then are gone. Okay, now I do have to ask before we move into a couple of other things I found on the fashion side of things, Lindsay.
00:23:09
Speaker
Did you come across, it it seems very, very popular this year, is cow prints? Oh, Really? I don't know. Yes. Those pop up every couple of years, too.
00:23:22
Speaker
Do they? Why? Yes. Okay, I'm not entirely sure, but I can't get over them. However, i do feel like... With an agriculture working husband, I should be right in front of these trends.
00:23:35
Speaker
but Yes. You actually need to be completely modeling those yeah in your neighborhood. I did think of that, but then I wondered if that would be a little bit too ah much like bringing work home for my husband.
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah. to have me kind of also looking like a cow. So i I'll just leave that one alone. i just needed too much. yeah yeah How trendy is the cow print trend? But it doesn't sound like it's overly much. So I think I'll leave that one there.
00:24:04
Speaker
but Oh, but you know what? as As always, there's also colors that factor into fashion trends, right? And so the color trends are so interesting to me this fall and winter because it feels like everyone's ah trying to say the colors are so cohesive.
00:24:22
Speaker
But there seemed to be like two wildly different trending groups of color. Right. So like maybe within their groups, they go together. um but but anyways, I'll explain what I mean. The first group is fine. The first group is the neutrals.
00:24:38
Speaker
Okay, yeah. It's fine. Neutrals are great. yeah We love them. And the the most trending neutral is actually just the most most trending most trending color in general, which is that rich chocolate brown.
00:24:53
Speaker
Yes, yes. Everywhere. Can I say one thing about that? This morning I was on. Oh, thank you. I was on the phone with my mom and she's like, I'm really wanting like a nice brown sweater. She's like, I've never wanted one before. And I'm like, that's because fashion has told you you want ah a nice brown sweater. Like she didn't know because people don't know that you are being fed these trends. This all goes back to that whole Miranda Priestly monologue that she says in the Devil Wears Prada where all sudden you think you want that item because it's gone through all of these steps.
00:25:21
Speaker
By the time it reaches the average consumer. So, yeah, my mom's like, yeah, it's so weird. like I'm just really I'm going to look for a nice brown sweater. I'm like, not weird at all. You are just fully in line with what's on trend this fall that you've been seeing subconsciously.
00:25:33
Speaker
It's a beautiful. cow I love chocolate. I want all chocolate brown, too. I want chocolate brown boots and purse and full outfit. And ah it's beautiful. huh Oh, yeah. I was going to say, it like, I'm a massive fan that this is the trend and it's like um brown is the new black.
00:25:49
Speaker
but Yeah. Yeah. For this year. Right. Especially that very dark brown swapping out maybe a stark, sharp black. For a dark chocolate brown can add a ah softness. We were talking about that return and hearkening to soft femininity.
00:26:05
Speaker
um So in particular, the shade is mocha mousse. That's what it's called. yum. I know. it just sounds delicious. Yeah. um And it goes with so many other colors. It's easy to see why it's so popular.
00:26:20
Speaker
You can use it as a base. You can use it as an accent. It's classic. It's also Pantone's 2025 color of the year. so Oh, is it? It is. it'll probably be popping up even like in decor and things like that, like everywhere over the next few months.
00:26:37
Speaker
It's also, and I was thinking about this, I'm like, am I strange for thinking that ah Rich dark brown has a very 90s feel to it. It sure does. Yes.
00:26:49
Speaker
and And I googled it and we're not alone in thinking that. There are others, they were saying that it kind of was reminiscent of say like the cafes or the coffee shops of the 90s.
00:27:00
Speaker
um I immediately was thinking like the coffee shop in Friends. Yeah. Just, it yeah. So it just, it makes me nostalgic, this shade of brown for like movies like You've Got Mail, My Best Friend's Wedding.
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah. um and And like back at that time, there was a lot of rich brown um hair dye. A lot of girls are doing like a very coffee... But with like caramel highlights, we did brown lipsticks. There was a brown smoky eye.
00:27:26
Speaker
There's even a return right now to using brown mascara, which is often a lot less harsh on a lot of people's eyes than then having the black. That was really, really in style in the 90s. And then just let me take you a little bit further into the future then.
00:27:38
Speaker
Brown came back in, I would say, the mid-2000s, the first decade. um When I was having my first baby, brown was the base color for the nursery, a chocolate brown. And you either did baby pink and brown nursery or you did a baby blue and brown. Do you remember this? Yes. And then we didn't dare think of brown for so long again. because it But that was really, really in style back then when I had my first baby.
00:28:02
Speaker
Okay, that and as soon as you said that, it all came back. That's totally what it was for the baby nurseries. Yeah, around that time, which is funny, because the other really popular neutral for this year is powder pink.
00:28:17
Speaker
Oh, so we're boomed away from Barbie pink. Yes, that's exactly. That's exactly what Vogue, the fashion Bible, has said about this color, is that it used to be that 2023 bright pink from the movie when the movie came out, right?
00:28:34
Speaker
Yeah. um But this more subdued powder pink, it's so much more versatile. um You could use it as a subtle pop of color, but I feel like it could be used quite neutral as well.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah. Also very classic and also probably go really well, as we were saying, with Mocha Mousse. Yeah. Mocha Mousse and Powder Pink. I'm loving these, just saying the color names.
00:28:59
Speaker
I know. The names are so much fun. It's yeah so hard to, and I don't know if anybody else feels this, but like once you've already lived a trend, it is hard to wrap your head around doing it again to think about it because my head goes right back to that other place. But I love those two colors on on their own.
00:29:14
Speaker
And then as soon as you see somebody do a good job of putting the outfit together, you go, oh, I get it now. Right. It's hard to picture in your head. But as soon as you see somebody do it you like, no, that's beautiful. I like it. hu Well, I need someone to do this, do that for me for this next one.
00:29:27
Speaker
Okay. This is where I get confused. um And i I usually am confused at some point when researching fashion trends, I'll be honest. Oh, but according to this same vo Vogue article I was using for the 2025 color trends, it suggests another neutral.
00:29:48
Speaker
Are you ready for this, Lindsay? Okay. Slime green. Oh, slime green. A continuation of the brat green. Yes. It's like it's it's older. It's newer sister. It's younger sister. OK. OK.
00:30:04
Speaker
ah Yeah, I know. And I was like, m ah so anyway, it's kind of a lime sort of a hue of green. Yeah. I was surprised to see it listed as a color, but at let alone described as a neutral. but right then i was and then I was like, I guess I could maybe see the it with ah the the brown.
00:30:24
Speaker
Right. The really dark brown, maybe. Okay. Anyways, all I was going to say, I put it in into the show because if any of our friends listening here, if you try the slime green this season, please send us a picture because then maybe we'll be like, oh, I get it. Right. Yeah. I just need to see somebody do it well. And they'll my gosh, it's gorgeous. And then I'll need to go buy something slime green.
00:30:45
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. um So the second group of colors I'm seeing are like really vibrant pops of color. Right. So, for example, chili red is really big this year. It's back. It's back.
00:30:58
Speaker
And you called this for like the last few years. You're like bright, bright red is going to come back. Yeah. And you could pair it either with like black and white for a bold statement or people are toning it down by ah wearing it with grays or with a navy.
00:31:16
Speaker
So i I do, too. i love the idea of this bright, bold red, especially accented with navy blue. I think that's such a nice combination.
00:31:27
Speaker
um and now another classic color that is in is blue. And it's not even any particular shade of blue. It's like blues in all hues I have written in my notes. You're a poet and you don't know it.
00:31:40
Speaker
I know. I know. I can't help myself. um But everything from like you have the aqua blues to more icy, then you have like way more like contrasted with royal blues or cobalt.
00:31:53
Speaker
um So a little twist to that chilly red navy combination that we love from above. is a combination you mentioned to me in your notes, Lindsay, which is the powder blue and maroon.
00:32:06
Speaker
Yes. i was like, that's like a more subdued version of the combination, but still the same trending colors. So you can experiment even with the different shades and the different hues.
00:32:19
Speaker
And that's one where if somebody like if you if you're just hearing that color combination, you go, ew. But I saw it done beautifully um on an Instagram post where they had done like a couple put pictures of it up close, like a little like a jacket with the dress underneath and then like a leather glove holding a purse. And um and i'm like, it's gorgeous together. And I would have never put those two colors together.
00:32:41
Speaker
Mm hmm. It's almost like the fashion industry people know what they're doing. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't question them because they're clearly the experts.
00:32:54
Speaker
So, you know, overall, I think the trending colors and the color combinations, they paint an interesting picture as we head into fall because All of them, when I think about it, they have this underlying tone of luxe or comfort, right? Which is so fitting as we head into this like hygge sort of season. And I just love that the colors go with nature's palette this time of year. They complement each other's essence, I'll say.
00:33:23
Speaker
Like the vibes are on point. Except for the slime, but yes. Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, the slime green. I was going to say you not everything we see in nature should come into the closet, the wardrobe. but
00:33:40
Speaker
But it's not going to look awful against the mocha mousse brown.
Dining and Food Trends: A Cultural Exploration
00:33:45
Speaker
Right. so here's my question for you. Okay. Yes. If you were to go right now and one new purse for fall, what color would you go buy?
00:33:55
Speaker
Um, I think, well, first would be suede, which is also massively trendy right now. Okay. And I do. And like a tote bag, right? Like the big floppy bags are really in style. Okay. So like a suede tote. Slouchy ones. Slouchy. What color are you getting?
00:34:12
Speaker
I think it would be dark brown. Yeah. um i Well, first of all, I do tend to really enjoy classic pairings of like fabrics and materials with colors.
00:34:23
Speaker
To me, leather and suede and things like that, to me, they always just seem brown in my head. so yeah um ah right that's probably I'm just basic that way.
00:34:34
Speaker
um But that is where I would go. How about you? What bag would you buy right now? I can't get my brain off the maroon ever since I saw that Instagram post. I'm like, I need something maroon leather this year. So yeah either gloves poking up out from ah a new coat. I need a new winter coat this year. So if I just go black coat, although if I go navy blue coat with maroon like yeah um wrist length, like a little bit longer, um not quite elbow length leather gloves.
00:35:03
Speaker
I might do that. That would be, that would be so great. And then you can show me what it looks like.
00:35:12
Speaker
I'll inspire everybody with my on-trend fashion looks. Please do. Please do. I'm waiting for it. Okay. So now we are dressed, right? And we love to do this with our trends episode. Yes, we're all dressed up. Yes, painting a ah narrative here.
00:35:30
Speaker
um So we're all dressed up and we're ready to go out. We want to grab a bite to eat. What are we eating? What are we grabbing for drinks? Let's get into that. So much fun. um Okay, so maybe my leather gloves are going to come in really useful because one of the number one things right now that is on trend for food are spicy foods, but specifically still...
00:35:53
Speaker
Spicy chips. that's Those spicy chip challenges that we first started seeing a couple of years ago, these have grown um in viewership on social media by 31% in 2025.
00:36:05
Speaker
And so people are still loving a spicy chip. So let me just say, if you've ever eaten one then rubbed your eyeball, you're not going to want to go through that. So I'm going to be wearing my maroon leather gloves and doing a chip challenge. Oh.
00:36:17
Speaker
The gloves are doing double duty this season. Function and fashion. That is so interesting. And do you notice with your kids, because I see it with mine, their capacity for handling spicy foods?
00:36:31
Speaker
I'm like... I'm a little bit in awe and a little bit as their mother concerned. ah Like how spicy they can handle. And i'm like, surely that's too much, but it never is.
00:36:44
Speaker
And so is it like a younger thing? It is because Jason always could go like he he at work one day they did a ghost pepper challenge and him and another co-worker had to eat them and they recorded the whole thing. This was on their lunch break.
00:36:58
Speaker
And he ate the full and it was like the hottest thing you could eat at that time. On camera, he didn't show like it was bothering him. When I saw him at home for the next 48 hours, he always tells people, listen, I've never gone into labor.
00:37:13
Speaker
But I'm pretty sure I know what it feels like. Oh, no. I'll leave it at that. But let's just say Jason really had a so very high capacity and tolerance for these these spicy foods. And he now...
00:37:28
Speaker
He just doesn't. it's It's starting to go down. My dad was the same way. So I do think they have it when they're young. So my Benny is my spicy food, spicy chip nut. And every Friday he gets his bag of Takis.
00:37:40
Speaker
That is his favorite treat, right? And all the kids love their Takis. And then they get Havoc chips. i don't know if your kids have had those yet. No. What are those? They're good too. They're similar. You still get the rolled up chip, like the chili lime flavor, that chili lime combo. Yeah.
00:37:56
Speaker
They have some, though. Okay, so i don't usually reach for these things, but they have this. This is just you and I talking as friends now. um You can keep it if you want, but we're just going to talk chips.
00:38:07
Speaker
Okay. Havoc has like these. They're like twisted. They almost look like rotini pasta noodles, but they're like a spicy nacho flavor. I can't stop. If that bay and that my mouth is on fire, I'm chugging milk.
00:38:19
Speaker
And they're not even that spicy. I'm just a wimp. But they the flavor of those spicy nacho havoc chips. Let me recommend that to you for this weekend. OK, I'm going to have to because like I'm intrigued, but I am probably the mildest.
00:38:35
Speaker
taste um spice profile person in my family so that would definitely be up many other family members alleys the one that i think is a good gateway um spicy chip is one that my family is it's a regular purchase in our house and that's the doritos sweet chili heat you get that bit of sweetness um but though that is a good that's a good chip And then the sweet chili heat, that reminds me of Asian flavors, right?
00:39:02
Speaker
And this is very on trend for 2025. So obviously, we all love Chinese food. We love Japanese. We love Thai food. um And those have been around for a very, very long time. But other Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines are finally finding their place in the spotlight.
00:39:19
Speaker
And I think the first one is the most obvious one from lot of people, if you paid attention at all to food, and that is Korean food. Korean food is totally having its moment, right? Like Korean fried chicken and For a while, there's been those Korean barbecue places, but it's this is not not surprising at all with Americans' love of K-pop and K-dramas.
00:39:38
Speaker
um Yeah, I'm actually a little surprised that it took this long for it to really explode. So think, obviously, kimchi, but then honey butter, that flavor of honey butter flavors, like on chicken and stuff.
00:39:50
Speaker
That is a Korean combination. Oh, I had no idea. No. And then I don't know if you've seen the Korean corn dogs um that are popping up. There's little restaurants. They have some in Toronto. and I think we even have one locally. Yes.
00:40:03
Speaker
I think Claire was just saying to me the other day, she's like, I want to try Korean corn dogs. And I'm like, OK, but I had like i have no idea what she was talking about. OK, so it's a thing. It's ah it's a big trend right now.
00:40:16
Speaker
It's a big trend. And so what they are is it's a hot dog that's been rolled in panko breadcrumbs, right? Or potato pieces, which looks so good. And they're deep fried and drizzled with condiments.
00:40:26
Speaker
um um see I think you can choose what condiments you want on them. Now, the difference being that korea the Korean version uses wheat and rice flour batter, which is different than the American version, which is a corn dog, right? Due to the corn flour that's used.
00:40:39
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. Thank you, Korea. um You're yeah importing a lot of your, a lot of your exports right now. Yeah. We're number one exporter. ah Yeah. Your skincare. I forgot the skincare. Oh, the skincare. Yes. Yeah. We love, i I've long, like you said, long loved many other aspects of Korean culture.
00:41:02
Speaker
I'm glad the cuisine is making its way over too. I'm really excited to try some of those things. And Like you you were saying, some of the other Southeast Asian cuisines are also coming, ah like up and coming in North America too. And I'm so happy about this.
00:41:18
Speaker
I just, I love the the adventurousness of cuisine right now. And I think that that really speaks to why so many different cultures are having a moment, um even in Western culture, like Western trends.
00:41:34
Speaker
It's like people are really curious curious. And they're really wanting to try new things. And i I just love that. I love that we're looking for new and exciting adventures, even culinarily.
00:41:47
Speaker
can I say that I think that maybe is this in part due to like shows like um Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, the popularity of these shows, right? And then so much again, that this is one of the positives of social media are people sharing these foods and eating them and tasting them and then and inspiring other people to go out and be a little bit more adventurous. So There's some good things, right, that come from Netflix and social media.
00:42:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah, for sure. And actually, I'll jump to, um in particular, like Filipino cuisine. A lot of the popularity comes from um an increase, first of all, in population, the Filipino community in North America right now.
00:42:24
Speaker
But also the fact that they love to share their cuisine, um particularly on TikTok, on social media. And the chefs, the Filipino chefs who are here too, are really keen on sharing like their home cooking, their cultural dishes with other people but with the wider community and so yeah yeah it's easy to see why the filipino dishes and then i'll also talk a little bit about vietnamese because vietnamese food as well very trending right now and it's easy to see why with these south asian dishes i think they all have
00:43:04
Speaker
that really bold flavor yeah that we were talking about with the spicy chips. Right. it's all about like packing a punch with yeah the taste buds. Um,
00:43:15
Speaker
And then a lot of them also have various cultural intersections, right? So you it's fun, in a way, to see the combination of different cultures. So, for example, like Vietnamese food has been influenced a lot by ah French cuisine and African cuisine and Portuguese dishes. Right. And Filipino cuisine, very influenced by Chinese or Spanish and American cuisine. And within their culture, it's fusion, right? So it's just, again, appeals right now due to this curiosity and ah more intrepid culinary consumer.
00:43:54
Speaker
And then another thing is a lot of these South Asian cuisines, they really appreciate or have a focus on health and nutrition. Yes. And fresh ingredients.
00:44:06
Speaker
I was just going to say it's the fresh vegetables and the protein. Foods like in Vietnamese culture, the super popular pho, right? It's spelled pho.
00:44:17
Speaker
um But i I hear pronounced pho. um And it's a noodle soup, but it's made with a a bone broth base. like And it's often made from scratch, even in restaurants, even if you're catching like a little bit more, um not fast food, but yeah in in a restaurant, they're making the bone broth from scratch in a lot of cases.
00:44:40
Speaker
I got to tell you about my favorite fuck place where we live. Yes. What is yours? well one of the places that, you know, when I do my brother's lunches, right, three times a year for our birthdays, we've been doing that. We kind of did like um Arabic cuisine for the first year, and now we've been doing Vietnamese cuisine for the second year. And um the place that my brother started taking us to, the husband and wife chef team, they're just amazing. It's a little hole in the wall restaurant. It's always the best place, right, in our little Chinatown area of our um of our city. Obviously, it's Vietnamese food. Yeah.
00:45:09
Speaker
um he came right over and told us like i skim the fat off my broth i know other places leave it in because they like the flavor but i don't need it we don't need it everybody needs to eat healthier so i skim it off and it tastes so clean in the mouth obviously i do believe that fat broth has a different purpose sometimes but i just thought that was so like he's really into that how fresh it's made and then he totally pulled us out back there's like vats of the fatty grease that he skimmed off the top i'm like All right. Thank you But it's so good.
00:45:42
Speaker
Yeah. And I was just going to say, isn't it that excitement and pride in yes your culture and in your the dishes that are notable in your own culture and sharing that with other people? That's where the excitement is all coming from.
00:45:55
Speaker
Yeah. Right. It's like we get excited when others are excited. Yeah. And this is what Phil has done so well on Somebody Feed Phil. Like that show is an outstanding show. It is a cultural bridge and it helps you um not be as scared going into these restaurants or you think, am I going to even understand anything on the menu? Am I going to like it?
00:46:13
Speaker
Like it can be an intimidating thing for a lot of people. And so when you watch him do it and he gets so excited and he's, and you see how much the people are happy to share their food, like what you're saying with him, um we get to experience that too in our own towns and go try these places that we would have never tried before. And just been like, well, you feed me something that you guys love. I'm happy to try it. And, and I feel like his show has really, really inspired so many people to do that.
00:46:37
Speaker
yeah His episode on the Philippines is incredible. It's incredible. Yeah. I haven't gotten to that episode yet. I'm going to have to check that one out or look for that one. Also, a great um interesting trend is that people want the authentic versions of foods, right? We don't want a North Americanized version or a Westernized version.
00:46:58
Speaker
We want to taste it as you would have it, like um in your culture. um So my sister-in-law used to work at a Vietnamese restaurant when she was at school in Ottawa.
00:47:09
Speaker
And she was the one that got my sister and i on a pho kick last winter. So that's kind of where we're coming in. But I have yet to try another popular dish from Vietnamese culture, which is the banh mih.
00:47:21
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:47:23
Speaker
it's a usually usually spicy i was reading sandwich served on his short bagette it's filled with various usually vietnamese ingredients like pork belly coriander cucumbers are big in it pickled vegetables in general um you put daikon in there to name a few and then when we were talking about the cultural influences i've seen like um just mentions of like maybe a french dressing could make its way in it's really just it's
00:47:54
Speaker
ah sandwich it's a But on a baguette, which is the yeah French element too. That's right. That's right. So, and then the the combinations are endless with banh mi's, right? um But the key feature is that you're filling it with these um classic Vietnamese ingredients, which which is, again, another great bridge, maybe, if you want to try something new in a different culture, and you can go in and order this banh mi sandwich.
00:48:24
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome. So another thing that I'm seeing everywhere are seafood boils. um and Oh, yes. Right? I have a lot to say Okay, I can't. Okay.
00:48:35
Speaker
Okay. A strong love for. but Well, there was a moment, I would say, a couple of years ago in our city where there was a seafood boil restaurant. So we have like a mid-sized Canadian city and it was up near our universities. And I'd always wanted to go. And then it closed.
00:48:50
Speaker
It just never really caught on. But it's back. Like not that restaurant, but this idea is back. I saw that even Red Lobster is offering a seafood boil now, which I'm like, it's about time, Red Lobster. Yeah.
00:49:01
Speaker
I shouldn't have had that on the menu 30 years ago. um But this trend has my mouth watering every time I see someone pour them out and sprinkle the old base seasoning and squirt the lemons. I'm like, oh, this is so up my alley. And it's just it's it's hard to imagine, though, that where we live in like southwestern Ontario, we could get fresh seafood it's just like i feel like i should wait on this until maybe we visit out east or somewhere else but um i just want to share that one of my favorite youtube content creators lauren lease um she has a series about the outer banks in north carolina on her show where they have go to cottages and she does like a bit of a cooking show and she had one of their seafood boil restaurants come to her house and they did it there and then they presented it to her
00:49:46
Speaker
And they were explaining everything to her on YouTube. And their slogan, I forgot the name of the company, but their slogan will stay with you because we have the best pot in town. Because it's cooked in a big pot.
00:49:58
Speaker
and Not the leafy variety, but the best pot in town. How cheeky. yeah cheeky. So, yeah, Seafood Boils. What are your thoughts? Okay, my thoughts are all positive. Yeah.
00:50:10
Speaker
We love seafood boils. yeah Yeah. My brother-in-law makes them for us every year on the September long weekend. So we just had our annual seafood boil. Yeah. um We're so grateful. The kids ask for it all year. So he's like, sorry, Adam, you're going to have to make them every single year forever. And for me, I'm coming next year.
00:50:30
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. And then addition to that, last year for my mom's birthday, my sister-in-law, the same one who worked at the Vietnamese restaurant, um she made for my mom's birthday um a huge seafood boil. This one would like hold out all the stops.
00:50:49
Speaker
And um like you were saying with where do we get the fresh seafood? Yeah. Yeah. And so we tried to like find good deals. Yeah. And the best quality.
00:51:01
Speaker
um but man did it turn out well and then you have like fresh crusty bread to dip into the level you is afterwards oh seafood boils it's a it might be a trend this year but i think it's just gonna have to just be something that stays forever ah that's um awesome Okay, Michelle, there is another something.
00:51:24
Speaker
I don't like this, so I actually didn't want to write the notes on this. You assigned it to me. Yes. So if you could tell the pet love listeners while plug my ears. No, I'm kidding.
00:51:35
Speaker
Go ahead. Share it. Okay. So i guess the flavor that Lindsay will not be participating in this year for Trends is dill pickle flavoring.
00:51:46
Speaker
don't like dill pickle flavoring? Nope. I don't even like fresh dill on stuff. No, no. Get it away from me. Okay. ah Okay. Well, um clearly everyone else does.
00:51:57
Speaker
i was just going to say, it's taking the whole world except one little part of your neighborhood by storm. In 2025. um honest We love dill pickle flavoring. And I thought it was just our family. Because I think it was earlier this year, Phil heard that we can make our own dill pickle flavored hummus by just saving the pickle juice from a finished pickle jar and adding a small spoonfuls of it to hummus to taste. And we love it it. To us, it makes the hummus.
00:52:31
Speaker
and And I was interested as to why. Because Like dill pickles, like I feel like it's a classic food ah condiment yeah that people have had out forever. But yeah um there was an article in the Seattle Times about why this trend is so popular. And it really goes back to just that classic dill pickle taste that it's naturally tangy and salty, but also at the same time fresh tasting and herbal.
00:53:02
Speaker
um And it cuts really well the acidity. It cuts really well into the um richness of some foods. It adds brightness, which is why we can often see it paired with dips like hummus, like a creamy dip, um or along foods like burgers.
00:53:19
Speaker
Right. Because it it just cuts that. But here's the thing. Of course, social media helps to make trends explode. And this one's no different. um The singer Dua Lipa. Mm-hmm.
00:53:32
Speaker
She posted, well, I don't know how recently, but she posted her favorite way to enjoy a Diet Coke. And it is, quote, ice cold with a splash of pickle juice and a few pickles floating in the glass.
00:53:46
Speaker
Oh, I'm done. ah Podcast over. i gotta go.
00:53:53
Speaker
Well, it has 14, over 14 million views and has inspired many others to try this combination. And maybe Jason would like to try that too. Not in this house.
00:54:08
Speaker
Okay, and then it's just me coming in as a negative Nancy again, because ah this is another trend I feel like they have pushed on us every year since we've been doing this being like, nope, this is the year everyone is going to be eating plant based foods. And I'm like, we see through you trend makers.
00:54:25
Speaker
You've tried to tell us that this was the up and coming trend every single year. I get it. We should be aware of how many animal products we're consuming. We should be very intentional about that. We totally agree with this. But I'm like, enough. they're This is not going to take over everything like they say it has since we started doing this research. So let's just get that one out of the way, fringe jackets.
00:54:45
Speaker
Can I just say? Yeah. It is kind of... a comedy of sorts when you go back through the years at the different ways they've tried to sell this stuff.
00:54:57
Speaker
Because in retrospect, you were thinking like, oh, it's like they've tried to sell us um mushrooms as burgers. Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. The portabellos. Just put a big mushroom on your bun. On your bun.
00:55:12
Speaker
um Or like denial. Like complete they tried to sell us denial with them Better Than Beef. Yeah. um It's just one day someone's going to write a book on the plant-based foods movement.
00:55:25
Speaker
And I think that's different from someone just genuinely wanting to eat a more plants-based diet, but just like as a marketable diet. thing right it doesn't seem to be catching on so perhaps maybe this is the final year and we'll just kind of move on to something else yeah sure that being said i think this michelle was the first year we didn't have an alternate milk that popped up on the list i remember every year like thinking that what is it this year potato milk i don't think that was ever a thing but every year we had different milks and i think they finally been like okay this is done fine yeah okay fine we give off
00:56:00
Speaker
Honestly, right before we started recording, this whole conversation in the notes reminded me about the clip from Parks and Recs, I think, when he was, ah they had this like brand new milk, beef milk.
00:56:15
Speaker
Oh!
00:56:20
Speaker
That is hilarious. Yeah. Yeah. And it was like this brand new thing is like you've tried oat milk. You've tried try beef milk. So maybe the plant based style will just be like, you know what, maybe just a whole foods diet.
00:56:37
Speaker
Yeah, like exactly. All of its forms. Enjoy good food and nutritious food. Absolutely. Now, this is a cool trend that I came across, and this is just very brief. But um so a couple of years ago, there was like the private dinner party, private restaurant kind of trend where like you would host a dinner party in your house as a restaurant or a chef. Like it was just like gathering together and trying different things. Well, the new way people are gathering together right now is cookbook clubs.
00:57:06
Speaker
And so you'll all cook something out of a cookbook, right, and bring a different meal from it. And I'm like this, oh my gosh, check, check, like it's all my favorite things. And I just love that idea of another way to be social and gather friends together.
00:57:20
Speaker
um And it kind takes the pressure off you of being like, what do I bring? I don't know what to bring for potluck. Well, it's just easy if you're each assigned as one of the sections of the cookbook and you pick a recipe out of there. So I loved it.
00:57:31
Speaker
And then this actually made me think, too, I have a lot to say about cookbooks. Like I collect them, right? I've got some beautiful cookbooks. And the reason why and when I first started that, again, a lot of people weren't buying them. They were dying, a dying genre of book.
00:57:44
Speaker
um And people are buying them again because we are just tired. I'm sorry, bloggers who have tried so hard to, you know, make a little income with your recipe blogs. No one can scroll through all of that to get the recipe and all the pop ups and ads. And so going back to having just a cookbook in your house that you can have in your phones, not turning off every two seconds where you're trying to like with your greasy finger, turn it back on.
00:58:05
Speaker
Cookbooks are back and cookbook clubs sound awesome. And then just to finish this up, AI for meal planning. So you and I throughout the season are going to have to because it is 2025 and over this whole year we took off, the rise of AI has happened since we last recorded.
00:58:23
Speaker
episodes. And so people are using ChatGPT as a great tool for meal planning. I've used it for recipes instead of having to look it up somewhere else. And it really is a very, very beneficial tool for helping with meal planning and recipes. So cookbooks and AI.
00:58:40
Speaker
hmm. Which is so neat because it's two completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Yes. A person versus a robot. But then we're just going to ask Siri about it, right?
00:58:54
Speaker
I know. And I do have to say, like, chat GPT AI, like, sometimes they can be so, don't know, they're robots. They're so excited about your requests.
00:59:04
Speaker
they're so nice i can be so bummed yeah could be like all i have in my fridge today is two sticks of celery a tub of sour cream and they're like that's great here's what we can do i'm like oh thank you yeah it's always when i was asking a question to say it's like those are great questions i'm like thank you that's so nice of you to say stop making me be your friend robot I know.
00:59:28
Speaker
It's so beneficial in some ways. So i I've always said I'm terrible at meal planning. So being able to just use it as a tool for these things is great. um And yeah, cookbooks. And I will always recommend for I've spent a lot of money on cookbooks. But if you just wait a couple months after the launch of a big one, they often end up at HomeSense or HomeGoods in the United States for half of the price.
00:59:50
Speaker
So just
Alcohol Alternatives and Social Shifts
00:59:51
Speaker
hang tight. And i that's the first section I go look at every time I go to HomeSense. That's a great tip. Okay, so we've eaten our meal. We need a cocktail to go along with it. um Cocktail and alcohol trends.
01:00:03
Speaker
Again, there's not been a lot of growth I found in this area from when we've done it previously. They're still talking a lot about low and no alcohol options. And we've talked in depth about that in the past. But just to kind of go over it again, um there's two important reasons why that's becoming important, like culturally important.
01:00:20
Speaker
um A, a lot of the young people aren't drinking that I'm going to talk about a little bit more um in a minute. um A lot of people who've drank forever are really cutting back on their alcohol, right? We're trying to be healthier than ever.
01:00:32
Speaker
And we know that alcohol is just really not good for us. um and Another thing is it's really expensive. Cocktails are like $20 a drink at your restaurant. Yeah. And and there's i would also add that there's been a lot of immigration from countries where people don't drink alcohol.
01:00:46
Speaker
And so places are having to be really creative with having low and no alcohol options because bars are where they make the money in restaurants. That's where you can have the biggest markup.
01:00:57
Speaker
And so we've talked before about like the creativity going into mocktails. And a lot of them are expensive. They're only often a few dollars less than $1. an actual cocktail but that's because of the amount of work that's gone into by the bartender is trying to create these really interesting mocktails so that whole movement seems to still be going on and i don't see that ending anytime soon in fact we've been warned a lot about our ontario liquor store we have the lcbo here it's a government-run liquor store and that they're really trying to face the future of what sales are going to look like because it's rapidly falling people just are not drinking like they used to
01:01:31
Speaker
um those who are still drinking are still drinking things that we saw two years ago on our trends episode. It's still about agave cocktails. Agave is the, um, sugar that is used to make tequila um and mezcal. Those are still really, really big. And espresso martinis are having their moment. They were in 20 years ago 30, maybe in the late 90s. I started making those on Christmas morning um a couple of years ago, and that is our Christmas morning drink, Love and Espresso Martini.
01:02:01
Speaker
um So, yeah, I would say that those things haven't really changed over since our last year of recording a Trends episode. And that makes sense. If people are not drinking as much, that the changing of trends would slow down too.
01:02:15
Speaker
But that, oh my gosh, the espresso martini, it's going back to the mocha mousse color the 90s. Oh, yes, it is. And everything, it's like, everything's brown. Everything is coming up brown.
01:02:27
Speaker
Everything's 90s brown. But I love that. I love it. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about the whole Gen Z not drinking thing. um I have Gen Z kids. um They are not tempted. They don't want alcohol. None of their friends are drinking. I know that this isn't the same across everybody's kids and teenagers, but I'm certainly not seeing the big raging house parties in our neighborhood and kids getting drunk. And this is a great thing.
01:02:53
Speaker
um They're just not interested in alcohol like previous generations. like So it's about 40% of Gen Z has never even tasted alcohol. That's shocking to me. In addition to creating you know low and no alcohol options, one of the things bars and restaurants are having to do to stay open and still make money is something called gamification. Right?
01:03:16
Speaker
They're adding, right, they're adding things to draw young people in. This in two different categories. So when I first looked up gamification, what that first was, was in retail stores about, or coffee shops like Starbucks, becoming a loyalty member.
01:03:31
Speaker
Buy 10 things you get, or 9, you get 10th one free. That's gamification too. That's making it exciting. McDonald's monopoly gamification. um That is a way that they've been able to really build repeat and loyal customers throughout retail and other businesses.
01:03:47
Speaker
Gamification um and in this trend, I'm talking about arcade games, trivia nights. You and I and Jason and Phil were talking about going to a trivia night, right? yeah um Ping pong is huge. It's coming back to restaurants and bars. love ping pong.
01:04:02
Speaker
Oh, golf simulator restaurant. Those are everywhere in our city. And we have yet to do one because we're not golfers. But I said to Jason, let's go do it. Let's go get a drink and try one of these golf simulators. And virtual reality bars are really popping up. This is just scratching the surface. Places are getting really, really creative at creating an entire immersive experience about going out.
01:04:22
Speaker
That is so much more than just having some drinks and, you know, falling flat on your face outside the bar. Mm-hmm. So I think it's interesting. I love that. Again, this is what you're talking about with an episode like this where it goes. It's not about the drinks per se. It's about the cultural shift that we're seeing and how places have to keep up or die or they're out. And so seeing what Gen Z is not doing and seeing how the industry has to respond, I think, is absolutely fascinating.
01:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, it is so interesting. I wonder if like. Obviously, the the I don't know if the restaurants would feel this ramification as much as selling drinks, but like our generation with the and new studies that came out when we were growing up about smoking.
01:05:06
Speaker
ah Right. And so like over the course of our generation, I feel like um a lot of people either didn't start smoking or gave up smoking at some point. Yeah. Right.
01:05:17
Speaker
um And so for Gen Z, I wonder if drinking is their version of that, of that. Right. And how did the smoking industry respond? Right. Vaping. So they created a whole new industry, which is just as bad for you as smoking.
01:05:30
Speaker
And they created vaping. So it's like, what is going to come? So you're right. We're on the brink of seeing what will come to replace alcohol for these for these young people, these youngins. They got to get them hooked with something.
01:05:41
Speaker
It's a brave new world. I know. i know. We could just stop at golf simulators. feel like we could all agree. We could agree to that. This is good. Those are terms.
01:05:52
Speaker
ah Yeah. Yeah. It's fascinating. That's absolutely fascinating to me, um especially raising kids. I'm always like, did you guys want to like when we were in Alberta? My daughter is legal drinking age. We're like, do you want drink?
01:06:03
Speaker
You can have one. And she's like, maybe I'll have half of your twisted iced tea. Like that was the most you would try. And i was like, girl, OK. And um'm I'm really proud of her for that. But it is it is shocking to me. Just the generation I was in, that is the complete opposite.
01:06:19
Speaker
um Yeah. So, OK, but I still love a cocktail, Michelle. So every year, not only do I make my espresso martini, but every year, Jason and I pick a new shot or cocktail that we serve to family and friends. So can you tell me what I have to make this year?
01:06:34
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. Well, i i won't tell you specifically because i I love to see your creativity come to play in the Christmas season. um Spoiler alert, I actually get my Christmas cocktail from you.
01:06:47
Speaker
okay. I will. I will say, actually, yes, I will say that every year, and this is just popping in my head, because I don't buy like really sweet drinks. I'm not a sweet drink person. I'm not sweet coffee. I don't drink iced coffees. like any that.
01:07:01
Speaker
But once a year, as our longtime friends will know, I buy whatever sickly sweet cream based alcohol drink. And that's what I drink as I'm decorating my tree right over three days. Yes. And so, yeah, I didn't realize that people follow along with that until every year people are like, um you haven't told us yet what alcohol you're buying for your tree. I'm like, oh, I'm sorry.
01:07:20
Speaker
I didn't realize that. You're such an influencer. I had no idea. Of course, I'm an alcohol influencer. I'm an influencer.
01:07:28
Speaker
this is This is the category. Christmas tree decorating alcohol influencers. yes. Okay. Please tell me what I should be looking out for. Yeah. Okay. So looking out for, there are some interesting things going on, but one of the more intriguing ones I found was adding umami into your cocktail okay through unusual combinations so ah more specifically you're looking for a distinctly savory element to balance a traditionally sweet or sour or bitter drinks and the ingredients i was seeing popping up with things like miso a mushrooms we can't escape the mushrooms yeah
01:08:09
Speaker
I'm not sold yet. Keep going. okay Okay. So mixologists, as well as chefs I was reading, they're rumored to be trying to incorporate also more starch into their creations.
01:08:23
Speaker
Isn't this interesting? That's all I need. I know. More starch in my diet. Yeah. it's kind of like fashion where I need to see someone else do it. Yes. Because I am having trouble visualizing. But they'll add, they're adding like sweet potatoes. i'm but i imagine it has to be emulsified.
01:08:42
Speaker
Yeah. Floating chunks. ube. Remember when that was trending a couple years ago? We did yeah as one more thing. was just going to say. And that is like the Filipino cuisine still coming in, right? The purple yam is often in Filipino cultural dishes. Yeah. um And it has. So this is what I'm wondering. Is it more about the flavor profile?
01:09:04
Speaker
Because it was describing ube as having like a sweet, nutty, vanilla-like flavor. and Vanilla. We know how to get access to vanilla.
01:09:19
Speaker
If you don't have ube.
01:09:23
Speaker
We've got you covered. Oh my goodness. um So with these Flavors, though, there are mixologists who are trying to create like an ube coconut eggnog, for example. Okay, okay.
01:09:39
Speaker
Okay, like as ah as a cocktail for the holidays, which sounds interesting. I can see it if that's what the flavor profile of ube is. Okay. Right. so Right. There you go.
01:09:52
Speaker
I wasn't prepared for cocktails to be the most experimental of all of these things. Yeah. I know. i was looking I was looking originally for one of those liqueurs.
01:10:02
Speaker
Right? Yeah. Yeah. But I just kind of got a little bit intrigued and fell down the umami rabbit hole. So there probably is a liqueur out there. Wait till I tell Jason, like, this year it's an ube coconut eggnog. Eggnog. He's going to be so excited. But then you can pull out the dill pickle juice and...
01:10:26
Speaker
Merry Christmas, Murrays. Well, as you were saying, it I was reminded of my favorite Christmas special every year, the Giles Corn and Sue Perkins Good Life Christmas that I watch it at least 20 times every Christmas season.
01:10:39
Speaker
And they have a portion, which is the best three minutes ever on TV of them making 1970s Christmas cocktails. And i think they have a bit too much to drink on TV as they're making them. And it spirals out of control very quickly.
01:10:52
Speaker
But he makes a bowl shot. And you reminded me of beef milk. So, like, a bowl shot is a classic cocktail. And it's vodka, beef bouillon or beef consomme, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, ah Tabasco, salt, and black pepper. And you rim the glass with celery salt.
01:11:11
Speaker
And I don't like tomato juice, so i I don't have Caesars or any, like, of those savour. I guess that's an example ah The new mommy savory drink, right, is a Caesar or a Bloody Mary for our Americans.
01:11:23
Speaker
um But i i will make a promise. I will make a commitment to everybody right now that I will make the bull shot. I will make this cocktail for Jason and I and we will have our first sips on Instagram so you guys can see ah the reaction of the beef consomme cocktail.
01:11:39
Speaker
Okay. ah but That's how you'll hook us in. And then you're going to tell us the real liqueur cocktail to buy. Yes, that's right. Yeah. um Unless I love it and I'm like, this is so good. No wonder people drink these.
Tourism and the 'Tourists Go Home' Movement
01:11:52
Speaker
And then we'll all be having bull shot shots. Yes. Bullseye shots? I don't know. Bull shot. Bull shots. Yeah. Great. All right. We are very well dressed.
01:12:04
Speaker
We are well fed. We have drank beef based cocktails. We need to get out of here. We need to travel. And we like to wrap up this one and travel trends. I was reflecting on this because I'm like, when we first started doing trend episodes, I was like, do we do home decor, hair, makeup, like trend thing like so trend things like that.
01:12:21
Speaker
But then we ended up doing some travel and I thought this one ended up being more fascinating to me. And I had no idea that there was travel trends every year, but there are. So I love this section. i was excited to write this section.
01:12:34
Speaker
um And so let's talk about travel trends. But I have to start on a sad note. Again, a bit of a more serious note. Because one of the biggest trends in the travel industry, the things being talked about, is the tourist go home movement. And I feel like we would be remiss if we didn't talk about this because this is a really big thing happening.
01:12:53
Speaker
And people who are traveling to these tourist hotspots are and are ah experiencing these protests and running into these protesters. So I looked into it and um it started back in the 2010s with locals who were living in those tourist hotspots realizing that a lot of their homes that were for sale and apartments were being snapped up by the brand new Airbnb right company and Airbnb investors.
01:13:16
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And they were like, we're getting priced out of our own housing in our own neighborhoods. And they were getting these short-term tourists coming and partying in their neighborhoods in these quiet little neighborhoods that they'd never experienced before because they weren't hotels.
01:13:28
Speaker
And they were getting immediately uncomfortable by these people coming in and out of their neighborhoods. um And then the slogan, tourists go home, ah first appeared as graffiti in Barcelona between 2014 2015.
01:13:40
Speaker
And then between that time and the pandemic, large scale protests started happening across Europe in cities like Venice and Dubrovnik. And then there was something that they called the pandemic pause. And that made locals reflect even more about how much their quality of life was improved without having tourists dominating their cities.
01:13:59
Speaker
Wow. They noticed it was quieter, that they could actually visit their favorite coffee shops, go on the beaches. And they loved, again, how their cities felt when they were much more quiet. And then after the pandemic, travel surged at higher levels than anybody has ever seen. There are more people traveling to Europe and stuff right now.
01:14:17
Speaker
And this is due to deeply discounted flights and really affordable accommodations, plus travel vlogging and YouTubing and stunning Instagram reels that make you want to go there, Right.
01:14:28
Speaker
It is like a the travel industry is bigger than it's ever been. And then these activists are protesting and they're just demanding something called tourism degrowth.
01:14:40
Speaker
And it's just an intentional effort to reduce tourism in certain destinations to slow it down. and And these locals do have a good reason to be frustrated, right? They they can't live in their own cities. A lot of these people have been there for generations.
01:14:53
Speaker
they're filled The cities are filled with garbage. Their noise is constant. People are partying at all hours of the night. And there is a huge environmental effect. And so all I'll say is if you want to look into that, look into what creation. cruise ships due to the um underwater platforms that are literally holding up the city of Venice.
01:15:11
Speaker
like with The way the cruise ships come in and push water in and then pulls it back is destroying everything that Venice is is built on. Venice is a really good one to look up if you want to understand what happened to locals and how many people live there in the rest restaurant industry and cruise ships. So That being said, there are countries that are begging for tourists um who are like, no, come here.
01:15:31
Speaker
It's fine. We need you. We need the money because it is undeniable to that tourism does bring industry and money to a lot of places that don't have factories or manufacturing or anything else to draw an economy to build their e economy. So.
01:15:43
Speaker
There is a good side to tourism. So just for some of the countries, I'll give them a shout out that are like, come and see us. ah Latvia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia is really pushing for tourism right now. And Cuba.
01:15:56
Speaker
um A lot of like the but um Baltic states and and all those like a lot of Eastern Europe um countries, they're beautiful. They have wine growing regions and castles and medieval towns. They have all the things that have made some of the other cities um popular. It's just that people aren't going to them yet.
01:16:11
Speaker
And you can travel for a third or less of the cost than to anywhere else. And they want to share their custom and their food with you too. So all I'm saying is really be intentional and do your research before you're planning to take that big bucket list trip.
01:16:24
Speaker
And if you still want to go see Paris and Rome and all the places that I hope to see one day, um just consider also popping into those other places that are really wanting you to come see them. Mm-hmm.
01:16:35
Speaker
You know what? That's a really good point because I don't think that is often a thought at the top of people's heads is that, yeah you know, people live here. Like this is their everyday life.
01:16:47
Speaker
This is their everyday world. And so definitely um that's ah probably a conversation that should be had if there could be some sort of. policy, maybe?
01:16:59
Speaker
i don't know. ah ah Travel policy yeah in order to protect it. Because I get it. I do get it. And so, yeah, the travel industry is just going to have to adapt and mold to that new concern.
01:17:13
Speaker
And it's one of the reasons why you're seeing like tourism um taxes um on bills and restaurants and places you're going to there. They're not just trying to gouge you They're trying to reduce the flow in a little bit while making some things a little bit more expensive.
01:17:25
Speaker
um They're starting, especially in Venice, they're trying to create new rules because those cruise ship people just get off and then they leave. They're spending money in the towns versus. So they are looking at different things with like day passes, regulating how many people can get into the cities.
01:17:38
Speaker
There's a video, too, on the El Mofi Coast. And you cannot even drive your, like, there there's simply not enough places for people to park their cars. And so people will drive for four to five hours around a parking lot waiting to get a parking spot just so they can get that famous Instagram photo of the coastline and stuff. So, wow yeah, I think it's a really important conversation to have and to see what countries are going to be doing in cities to still welcome the tourists because it's a great thing. But, yeah, protect the people who live there who definitely definitely deserve protection.
01:18:08
Speaker
Mm hmm. And then, like you were saying, there are places that do still want the tourism um or to increase their tourism, we'll say. yeah um And what about those places? What what what can we maybe shift to then? What are the trends trends shifting us to in terms of travel? Well, one of the trends, and it actually is, you're right, it really does actually would draw us up to less frequented places, is something called a coolcation. Cool, as in temperatures.
01:18:38
Speaker
So people, it was a very hot summer where everybody lived, right? Like that's everybody was talking about it. So people want to travel to cooler destinations. Yeah. So it's Iceland, Northern Ireland, Scandinavia, um the Baltic states.
01:18:52
Speaker
And they're seeing a boom in tourism. And that's great. they Those are less frequented places. The thing that sounded the most exciting to me is there's something called the Sapporo Snow Festival Tour of Japan.
01:19:03
Speaker
Obviously, Japan's cities are crazy for busy busyness. It's a very popular tourist destination. But they want to draw tourists away from the the extremely busy cities into the lesser known regions during a quieter time of the year where there's beautiful snowfall.
01:19:18
Speaker
And I thought that would be an incredible trip through Japan. Mm-hmm. That's such a great idea. And creative on the part of these governments, right? Yes. And then also, too, closer to home, we would, once again, like to petition our own Canadian government yes all to please look into opening up our north ah because yeah we love Caucasians. I love this idea.
01:19:42
Speaker
um and I think, like, I've always... probably preferred to travel that way anyways i've never really wanted to go someplace super hot no me neither right but i'd love to begin my caucation exploring my home country that would we have an entire north we have so much north yes so much north um i looked into flying the kids up to yellow knife um a couple years ago and our flights alone were going to be eight thousand dollars And I was horrified by that because, yeah, I'd rather give my money back to our own country and to our own culture up there and learn it and the food and the people and all that. But you're right. That is something that needs to change in Canada. And we should become a travel destination in our cooler areas.
01:20:25
Speaker
like Well done, Michelle. We're cool, too. Let's contact our MPs. Yes, I yeah totally agree. um You looked into another trend, right, about
New Travel Trends: From Gap Years to Nocturism
01:20:33
Speaker
people who were able to take a bit of a longer vacation.
01:20:36
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. This is like the mid-career gap year. That's the trend, right? It's such an interesting trend because it feels like, like we were saying before, this also speaks to much more about how our society is functioning. Yeah. As a whole than just speaking about travel trends alone.
01:20:57
Speaker
Yes. um So it can also be known as microret return micro retirement or an adult gap year. um I also saw it one place and on Instagram as a radical sabbatical.
01:21:11
Speaker
did like that. i did enjoy that. Yeah. But basically, it is this intentional extended break from work taken by professionals. Often it's in their 50s.
01:21:23
Speaker
But also, this is extending as an idea to many who are in their twenty s their 30s, their forty s as well It is kind of like a sabbatical, um but there's a small difference maybe in intention.
01:21:36
Speaker
So with sabbaticals, you really are just taking off work. The purpose is to focus or refocus on like non-work related important things, right? Passion projects, hobbies, hobbies.
01:21:50
Speaker
Whereas I'm getting the impression that this mid-career gap year is really about taking a break or taking an intentional rest. um Just ah trying to like almost like a palate cleanser yeah type of a thing where you're just trying to be um who you are for a year. And then whether or not you go back to your current job or try something new when you come back,
01:22:15
Speaker
It is that transitional time. um It's gaining a lot of momentum right now because of burnout culture being so much on the rise, right? People are wanting to be proactive about not burning themselves out with work anymore.
01:22:29
Speaker
That's great. Yeah. You know, yeah, I thought so, too. And then because remote work makes things more flexible, I feel like people can and are working with their companies to make this sort of gap year feasible and and happen for everybody.
01:22:46
Speaker
And going back to my thought that, you know, this really says much more about our culture as a whole, i think it points to a shift in how we communally are beginning to see our work and how we view our careers.
01:22:59
Speaker
yeah And I just get the sense that people aren't living to work anymore. yeah That hustle culture, climbing the corporate ladder, boss babe culture, it's its was already beginning to give way, but even more so now to this community.
01:23:16
Speaker
balanced view of working. um It reminds me of a clip I've seen pop up on Instagram too from a documentary, Where to Invade Next, with Michael Moore.
01:23:27
Speaker
um I've seen the clip come up on Reels where the founders of a company in Italy called Lardini Clothing are speaking about why they give so much time off to their employees.
01:23:38
Speaker
And the host, Moore, says to them, like, well, if you just did things the North American way, They could make way more money, but they shake their heads. And the woman says, what's the point of being richer?
01:23:51
Speaker
It's more important to work beside people who are smiling. I get a good vacation. They should, too. And when Michael Moore, again, asks if they mind paying their employees for all this time off, they say, like not at all.
01:24:06
Speaker
And that vacation time is, quote, their right and our pleasure but to give it to them. Yeah. Right. And so my final point is this makes me wonder two things.
01:24:18
Speaker
First, how do I apply for a job with Largini clothing in Italy? Yes. second is, is the mid-career gap year much more prevalent in North American culture than than in Europe?
01:24:31
Speaker
Because is there just in general as much of a need for it there? Yeah. It might be interesting to consider. Yeah. Yeah. I love that so much. There's that, there's like a ah photo I've always seen floating around of like a really elderly couple sleeping in their gondola on, in Venice. They're like fully crashed out and they're missing it.
01:24:49
Speaker
They're missing the gondola ride, which are expensive. And you laugh because that's the time of life where most people can finally get away and go to your, you know, Jason and are obsessed with those 4k walking videos, which again, let me just give a plug on YouTube. If anybody is interested in And traveling, but you can't.
01:25:05
Speaker
Look up 4K walking video and pick a city or a town. Anywhere you want, you're going to see the most beautiful videos. And it feels like you're there. And you look around at all the tourists who stick out like a sore ru thumb in all these towns.
01:25:15
Speaker
And there're ah most of them are quite old. And I think that's probably going to be the time, Jason, that I can finally travel. and But to this idea of companies going, hey, we'll give you this time off halfway through your career. I love that so much.
01:25:28
Speaker
And so much of what we're seeing in travel trends, you've alluded to it. I'm going to talk about it. This is still a response to the pandemic. A lot of travel trends are really our cultural response.
01:25:40
Speaker
So... This just builds off of what you were just saying. One of the other trends right now is called a calmcation. And it's it's a total reset. This isn't just about going for relaxation.
01:25:50
Speaker
This is a mental decompression, rest and and spiritual restoration trend. um This isn't bucket list travel and going, I want to check off Paris and all these places. This is about prioritizing places where you can leave your phone and your laptop back in your room There's no busy city center. There's no ah to restaurants you've got to hit and museums. It is natural landscapes, hiking, restorative rest.
01:26:18
Speaker
Country Living Magazine said that these are the must-book vacation in 2025, and it reflected the slow travel trend and the increased desire for off-grid getaways. Neela Goyle, she's from o Away Holidays, she said people no longer want to just escape their daily lives.
01:26:34
Speaker
They want to recalibrate. She added post-pandemic travelers are drawn to destinations that allow them to switch off completely and return home feeling recharged rather than exhausted. So yeah, cabin in the woods, a silent retreat, forest bathing.
01:26:49
Speaker
Calm-cations.
01:26:52
Speaker
love that. You know what's also really calming? Nighttime. calming. And that's also another big trend coming up in travel for 2025. And I think probably related to what you were saying with the calm-cations is astrotourism and nocturism. Yeah.
01:27:13
Speaker
They also kind of remind me of cool-cations. It's all coming together. Right? I know. Oh, my gosh. It's like the red thread is, like, ah connecting all the dots.
01:27:24
Speaker
um It's seeking travel outside the travel norms. All of these trends, right? um So, astrotourism is travel that's focused on experiencing the night sky or on celestial events, right?
01:27:39
Speaker
Yep.
01:27:41
Speaker
catching a meteor shower, seeing the northern lights. And especially in our light-drenched world, people are seeking out darker places in order to better see these celestial phenomenons.
01:27:55
Speaker
And there are, around the world, so ah certified international dark sky places, which are designated right by their exceptionally clear night skies. And I think those places are really trying to ah catch on to this astro tourism trend but the astro tourism leads to the broader trend of knock tourism it's not quite the same thing it's more like the broader category of travel so knock tourism is travel with the intention of enjoying nighttime experiences in general love it
01:28:33
Speaker
Yeah. so one of the activities within nocturism is astrotourism, where you go to stargaze somewhere neat. ah But the list of places and activities that are offering like after dark adventures is growing. And they're so interesting.
01:28:50
Speaker
There was an article on Vogue. They don't just do fashion. Yeah. Or the author of the article, Stephanie Vermillion, who actually wrote a book on this trend for National Geographic that I want to check out now. Yes, yes.
01:29:04
Speaker
She lists her favorite nocturism events and destinations. um And she's naming things like stargazing in southern Africa's Namib Rand Nature Reserve.
01:29:17
Speaker
um sleeping at Everest base camp ah truffle hunting in Piedmont Italy how you say it yes Piedmont yeah okay and apparently nighttime is the best time to find truffles who knew knew the pigs um yeah I know they knew um or attending Australia's nightly penguin parade Name a few. Like, those sound awesome to me.
01:29:43
Speaker
This is what I want to do, too. You're right. I don't want some all-inclusive vacation sitting up by a pool. This is what I want to do. yeah This is awesome. want to see the penguins parade at night. Yes. And then there's another article for for National Geographic where this author, James Stewart, not that James Stewart, I guess, a different one, suggests things like night safaris. Yeah.
01:30:07
Speaker
Which is apparently a much fuller experience than daytime safaris because, and I didn't know this either, 70% of the mammals that live there are nocturnal. Makes sense. It's so hot.
01:30:19
Speaker
They don't want to move the heat. I don't want to move in the heat. I get it, lions. Yeah. Right. We'll just catch them after dinner. Yep. There's rainforest nighttime walks in places like Madagascar or Costa Rica.
01:30:32
Speaker
um oh and this was cool. After dark, city or architectural tours where you can see maybe more typical landmarks, but from a new perspective. Like, I saw this picture in an article about a candlelit tour through Petra in Jordan.
01:30:47
Speaker
it Fascinating. I was able to travel to Petra when I was in my early 20s, and it was already impressive. I can't even imagine seeing it lit up at night by candles.
01:30:58
Speaker
That's incredible. Right? And so I'm just like, ah so basically... Our travel preferences are to go somewhere cold and dark.
01:31:09
Speaker
But, and this is my final thought on travel trends in general, is just, ah this is just so well illustrated um also by the food trends, is that people in general are much more adventurous and curious And I find that really hopeful because as a trajectory, yeah, it just points to like a reawakening, I think, of our wonder. We're curious again. We're interested again. And we are still able to be wowed and in awe.
01:31:39
Speaker
And I think that as we head more into tech-driven culture... The desire to still live in and experience a world that's real and amazing and that can really excite us is a good indication that even on a subconscious level, we realize you know our humanity is still something worth tending to and celebrating.
01:32:12
Speaker
Okay,
Media Reviews and Cultural Discussions
01:32:13
Speaker
it's time for our What We're Loving This Week segment of the show. So, Lindsay, what have you been loving this week? I finally finished, because it's a long book, um David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. And um when I asked Jason if he was familiar, he's like, yeah, I met the magician when I was a I'm like, not?
01:32:31
Speaker
The Magician. that David Copperfield. No, I'm like, it is the novel written by Charles Dickens in 1850, Jason. um It was so good. So it was written in 1850.
01:32:43
Speaker
um And then he added it to his roster where Charles Dickens was famous for doing these public readings of his work. i don't know if you've ever known this about him. And he had this, like, frame that he would stand up, like at ah a frame without a painting. and It would frame his face and he had it, like,
01:32:59
Speaker
oil candle lit something. It was like almost a flame all around him. It would like light him up. And he was like this incredible storyteller and he would captivate audiences and like acting it all out and voices. And it just would have been a thing to see. So this became one of his most famous public readings starting in January of 1855.
01:33:17
Speaker
So um it is autobiographical. it know Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, same initials reversed. um It is as close as he can get to his own life. um And it is considered his favorite child, which he called out of all of his novels, this is his favorite child, right? If they loved all of his works as his children. Yeah.
01:33:37
Speaker
um It also pioneered the whole, I'm going to get this wrong, Bill Dung's Rommelman. I've never known how to say it. that That German genre of storytelling that follows the character from his childhood through his adult years, right?
01:33:50
Speaker
it's the It's like building the child as he grows up. um that' So this was one of the first English stories of that. Yeah. So it follows young David Copperfield, who is Charles Dickens from his childhood and all of his losses and all of his gains in his whole story. And it is so good. It actually is a page turner. It kept me totally captivated.
01:34:11
Speaker
um Each character that is introduced in his life is so unique and well-developed. Boy, can he write a character like you truly. hear their voice. um It's, I felt, like I said, it's really readable.
01:34:23
Speaker
um i felt like at some points it was written much later than it actually was. It's just so accessible for a long novel. And um yeah, just not just the characters, but the atmospheres and the locations, like you're really pulled into the story.
01:34:36
Speaker
And a lot of David Copperfield is a part of our culture still. So the main enemy character in the book is Uriah Heep. And he always talks about how humble he is, but Dickens cuts off the H. So it's always, I'm so humble. He's so in my humbleness.
01:34:52
Speaker
He talks about it. And that to call somebody a Uriah Heep still in England means something. It means that this is an and insincere person. There's even a rock band in the 70s called Uriah Heep.
01:35:03
Speaker
So his characters really stay with you. And like what Dickens does best, it opens your eyes up to people, to the goodness in people and often people from a very poor background. Dickens was such a believer in bringing poverty to into people's lives.
01:35:19
Speaker
forefront into the forefront of the discussion especially in in victorian times so you saw the goodness in those people but also the darkness in people he's just the best at doing it and so yeah if you want to curl up with a good long winter read david copperfield Oh, I do think that's going to be my winter read.
01:35:39
Speaker
I'm very excited. I was going to do Dostoevsky. and i was going to try The Brothers Kazmazurov. I can't escape those recommendations either.
01:35:50
Speaker
but But maybe David Copperfield's one or the other. ball you have a take on that? Both. Okay. Wow. I found that Brothers Karamazov was a quicker read. It's not long. It's not a long book. Okay.
01:36:01
Speaker
um And I would say David Copperfield starting in November. um and so it's so atmospheric. So do that one. And then The Brothers. I feel like that's a deep winter book. so and That's a Swedish winter. It's your Swedish, well, a Russian winter, I guess, in this case.
01:36:15
Speaker
Russian winter book. And a lot of it takes a place in like he really describes some like wintry scenes in that book that will really stay with you. So that's your winter reading. Done. Okay. I'm done. I'm done until spring. That's amazing.
01:36:28
Speaker
So what have you been loving this week? Okay, so this one, as per usual, a bit of a departure from David Copperfield. um It might be a little bit controversial. I'll just warn you guys.
01:36:43
Speaker
People seem to have very strong opinions about this. And you know what? Let me just say off the bat, I respect that. I totally understand. If you guys don't love it or don't agree with me, I have a different opinion. Okay.
01:36:55
Speaker
So here's what it is. ready. What I'm loving this week, and really for the past few weeks, is the Netflix cultural phenomenon that is K-pop demon hunters.
01:37:09
Speaker
i can't I can't help it. it was enjoy I really enjoyed it. So it's an animated movie if you haven't heard of this. um Just came out on Netflix about a month or two ago, I think.
01:37:21
Speaker
A lot of people love it. um Some aren't so sure. like I said, totally understandable. But what I love it is for a few reasons. First, the music is really catchy. I find it very uplifting. um So especially like with the back to school, I feel like I was really not stressed, but there was a lot to get done.
01:37:42
Speaker
and I was like very, like a little more serious heading into September, trying to get everything in order um with a new curriculum I had to learn and everything like that.
01:37:53
Speaker
And I found the music just very uplifting. So I liked it for that. yeah um But the movie itself and the plot, though, I'll admit, cheesy at times, I thought it brought up some great conversation points for us and the kids that linked to parts of our faith. And I wasn't expecting that.
01:38:13
Speaker
It's not a Christian movie, um so we can't find like pure theology in it, obviously. But I was intrigued to give you an example about how the main villain, um he's a ah demon called Guima.
01:38:28
Speaker
He ensnares souls, but but how he does that is he's constantly whispering their shame back to them yeah in their ear. And it takes their sense of worth away that way.
01:38:41
Speaker
like Any mistake, any flaw is exploited and just constantly being thrown back at them and they're enslaved by it. And so... I was talking with the kids later on about the connection how, like, in our faith, you know, Satan is known as the accuser.
01:38:59
Speaker
yeah and it it is often our shame that is used against us to drive us to despair and to give up hope. And so, you know, in the movie, it's up to these demon hunters so who throughout history is...
01:39:13
Speaker
made up of three singers in a K-pop girl group through different eras. Okay. Yeah. And they create a seal by their singing to keep the demons out of the world and save souls. Okay. And at one point in the movie...
01:39:28
Speaker
One of the souls who's tormented by these whispers asks the main character, he's in disbelief. He's like, do you really not hear him in your head? And she's like, what are you talking about?
01:39:39
Speaker
And he's just like gobsmacked that there's a possibility that you don't have to live like this. The thought never even occurred to him. And so then it led us in our family to discuss, you know, just themes of like redemption, how you know, God doesn't want us to live under the burden of our shame, ah what Jesus did to come and free us of that, and how living in his will frees us of all that. We find our worth and our hope in who he says we are, and not who the accuser accuses us of being. And that's a ah shared theme
01:40:15
Speaker
between our faith and kind of the whole overarching theme of the movie. So anyways, I probably read way too deeply into this movie than the creators intended me to, and that's okay.
01:40:27
Speaker
That's my way.
Connecting with The Modern Lady Podcast
01:40:28
Speaker
um But all this to say, we really enjoyed the movie and we continue to enjoy the soundtrack at our house and the discussions that follow so if you're unsure definitely preview um before you choose to watch it with the family and you have the final call but if you've also been interested in this cultural sensation it is that is k-pop demon hunters then you might enjoy checking it out too Oh, that's so cool. i um but it You've reminded me of a quote and I just had to look it up to make sure I got the with the wording straight. And it's attributed to Ricardo Sanchez. And think it's such a good thing to lead people on.
01:41:05
Speaker
And it says, the devil knows your name, but calls you by your sin. God knows your sin, but calls you by your name.
01:41:15
Speaker
Okay, that's going to do it for us this week. If you want to get in touch and chat with us about our topic today, you can find us on our website, www.themodernlady1950.wordpress.com or leave us a comment on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at The Modern Lady Podcast.
01:41:32
Speaker
I'm Michelle Sachs, and you can find me on Instagram at MMSachs. And I'm Lindsay Murray, and you can find me on Instagram at Lindsay Homemaker. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week, and we will see you next time.