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Spring Trends 2024!
1k Plays6 months ago
The temperatures are slowly rising, the birds are gradually returning and the Easter season is upon us! It must be spring! And you know what that means, dear listeners: it’s time for our annual Spring Trends episode! What’s in and what’s out in 2024? Well, stay tuned, friends, as we dig into the food, fashion and travel “its and icks” this year!
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Transcript
00:00:23
Speaker
to listen to podcasts and by sharing us with your friends.
Spring Trends 2024 Overview
00:00:37
Speaker
Welcome back to the Modern Lady podcast. You're listening to episode 152. Hi, I'm Michelle. And I'm Lindsay. And today we are excited to present our annual Spring Trends episode. Here we go, Spring Trends 2024.
00:00:53
Speaker
The temperatures are slowly rising, the birds are gradually returning, and the Easter season is upon us. It must be spring! And do you know what that means, dear listeners? It is time for our annual Spring Trends episode. What's in and what's out in 2024? Well, stay tuned, friends, as we dig into the food, fashion, and travel, It's and Ix, of this year.
Supporting the Podcast
00:01:19
Speaker
But first, the best way that you can support the Modern Ladies by subscribing to our podcast on whatever app you use to listen to podcasts and by sharing us with your friends. We also welcome you to join us over at Patreon, where for just $5 a month, you will get exclusive and extra content. We want to remind our listeners that we have now activated a free trial option on Patreon. So while you can just follow the page for free,
00:01:44
Speaker
If you actually sign up for a free trial, you will have access to all of our extra content for seven days. And then you can decide if you'd like to join us as a paid member. Find us at patreon.com forward slash the modern lady podcast. And if you can't join us on patreon at this time, a free way to support our show is by leaving it a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. It's a chance to tell us what you love about the show and it helps others discover it too.
Listener Engagement and Tips
00:02:14
Speaker
This week's shout out goes to listener Christina Andras, who stopped by our vendor table last weekend at the Dynamic Women of Faith conference in Toronto to say hello. Christina, it was so lovely to meet you and to be able to chat for a little while.
00:02:29
Speaker
thank you for all of your support over the years. Now, Christina was also kind enough to help us test a new idea that we had where we asked you to record a short clip telling us either a tip of the week you'd like to share or something that you've been loving that we can include in the show.
00:02:45
Speaker
So stay tuned to hear what we and Christina are loving at the end of this episode. And if you would like to contribute your own clip, you can leave us a voicemail message at www.SpeakPipe.com forward slash the Modern Lady podcast, or find the link on our website at the very bottom of the page.
00:03:06
Speaker
If you'd 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. 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.
Wilderness Survival Guide
00:03:24
Speaker
But before we get into today's chat, Lindsay has our modern lady tip of the week. Welcome back to part two of my potentially anxiety inducing how to prepare properly to take a walk in the woods and what to do if you get lost tip. And once again, I will be referencing an article with that exact title on the CBC website, cbc.ca.
00:03:46
Speaker
This week we will address what to do if you do indeed find yourself lost. And again this has happened to Jason and I and the kids and another time with me and a friend and it gets scary pretty darn quickly.
00:03:58
Speaker
So regardless of that, the first thing you have to do though is not panic. Stop walking and take a moment to collect your thoughts. Staying calm right now is the safest thing that you can do. The next thing the article says is, can you see the sun? It rises in the east and it is south at midday and it sets in the west. The next tip is something I wouldn't have thought of. So remember that whistle you packed that we mentioned last time? Well, it's time to use it, but don't just blow on it once.
00:04:27
Speaker
One whistle blow might make passerby's pause for a second, but they'll likely move on. You're to blow it three times, then wait 10 seconds, and then three times again, then wait, then repeat. This signifies that something is wrong. If you really are lost, then don't venture too far from where you are. If you can find a nice clearing nearby, then move there and stay put. It is easier to spot you from the air in a clearing. Make a shelter and start a fire and wait.
00:04:57
Speaker
What about finding clean water? Let's say you've already consumed what you brought. It's time to find drinkable water and not all water is safe to drink. Hopefully you also packed some purification tablets or filter with you, but if not, you'll need to find water. You can look for well trodden animal trails, or you might see a shimmering line through the trees, or you might spot willows, reeds, and cattails. These things are all signs of water nearby.
00:05:24
Speaker
You can also squeeze water out of sphagnum moss which grows abundantly in North America and it holds a lot of rainwater. It is crucial that you do not become fatigued or dehydrated in those first 48 hours so that you can stay strong and signal for help.
00:05:40
Speaker
Gather a firewood and branches for shelter while the sun is still up and so you're ready to sleep if you need to. A fire is a great signal, a great way to stay warm, and it helps keep the animals away. You can also sing and hum as you walk in order to alert animals and keep them away from you as you search for firewood.
00:05:58
Speaker
The two biggest mistakes people make are not being prepared for a walk in the woods, even a short one. Go back to the last episode for my tip on how to do this. And the other mistake is starting to panic. The article states that even familiar places can be a danger because we have a false sense of security there, thinking we know the place. So there is no reason to not be prepared.
Fashion and Beauty Trends Disclaimer
00:06:20
Speaker
Finally, if you think it can't happen to you, the data is staggering. It actually made my stomach turn as I started researching how many people get lost every year. The number is 600,000 in the US. And many of those are hiking or going into the woods. Now 500,000 are found, but 100,000 people are not found every year. And the majority of hikers who go missing are just your average people who think that they can pop out for a quick hike and be home before dark.
00:06:46
Speaker
It isn't usually campers who tend to stick to camping and it isn't the seasoned professionals who go out in all weather. It's usually men between the ages of 20 and 50 who go for a walk in the woods between June and September in the mid-afternoon. There is so much more I could say but I will leave it there with one final tip and this one is based on my own experience of being lost in the woods.
00:07:07
Speaker
We went into the remote Vermont woods. We were not near anything that we could walk to and we had four little kids with us and we trusted the people we were with and accidents happen. They never imagined that they'd lose their way. They'd been in that forest many times before.
00:07:22
Speaker
But they did, and it became very frightening very quickly for us and our children. So my tip is this, even if you love and trust the people that you are going with, make preparations anyways. Research the area yourself and familiarize yourself with the route and a map. You are responsible for your own safety and for the safety of your family.
00:07:42
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Well, don't be scared. I never want to go into the woods again. Like this is really serious, but I already promised part two when I had to do it. You have to follow through.
00:07:57
Speaker
Okay, but honestly, if we take the precautions and the sentiments of last week's episode and just apply it to this week's episode, I think we just have like a really healthy, whole bird's eye view of what hiking and what going into the woods would entail.
00:08:16
Speaker
I do understand the importance of everything and even just the knowledge of what to do in these worst case scenarios is in itself preparation. So what you're saying is true, like the best thing you can do before you go out into the woods is just be as prepared as you possibly can.
00:08:37
Speaker
This episode of the Modern Lady podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Being tired suburban moms in our 30s and 40s doesn't exactly make us influencers, and you might want to look to more reputable sources for new fashion and beauty trends.
00:08:52
Speaker
Please contact the professionals to find out if buckwheat is actually cooler than quinoa before adding these ancient grains to your menu. And for the sake of all that is beautiful, don't go out and buy a bold red leather pencil skirt and rose covered sheer shirt for your night out at a fake fish low alcohol restaurant based on this episode of the Modern Lady podcast without double checking to make sure that all of the cool Instagrammers are doing it first.
Researching Spring Trends
00:09:20
Speaker
Thank you and enjoy this episode.
00:09:23
Speaker
Well, it's that time of year again. The influencers are influencing, the designers are runwaying, and we are still in our closets. But we have the internet in here, and we always eagerly await spring so that we can deep dive all the current trends happening in food, fashion, and travel. Right, Lindsay? I've never been more thankful that this is just audio. As yours all said, I looked at myself sitting in my closet going,
00:09:51
Speaker
Ew. I'm so glad no one can see me right now as we're about to present our trends episode. Yes. Oh my goodness. I love
00:10:04
Speaker
It really is, and I know that every spring we say the same thing on this episode, right? We're like, we cannot stress enough how far from some of these trends we really are. But that doesn't stop us from being interested in them. So that is like the spirit of the thing.
00:10:23
Speaker
But yeah, audio does lend itself well to our Spring Trends episode. Yeah, I have that too in my notes how we love producing, researching, writing this episode. It is so much fun for us. We've always even joked that we don't know if our listeners even like this episode. Like we don't get a lot of feedback on it. It's true. But we enjoy it so much that we will continue to produce a Spring Trends episode.
00:10:47
Speaker
And then the best for every year and then our favorite part, right? Is that we'll go into like a grocery store and like a couple months from now and I'm like, wait a second. I know about that ingredient because of the work we did.
00:10:58
Speaker
That inevitably happens, right? And then there are some things we discuss that never end up becoming trendy, like where we live, so we'll never really see it, but it's just fun. You and I have always said that we like to know the trends, but we do our own thing. Yes, yes,
Food Trends: Plant-Based and Beyond
00:11:13
Speaker
yes. And I think that's like part of trends too, right? Like if you see people who do actually focus on trends,
00:11:20
Speaker
That's what they're doing at the heart of it, is that they're looking at what, you know, culture, I guess, is saying is on trend right now. And the truly trendy people take that, but make it their own. And so, yeah, I think that that's all like encapsulated and are doing these episodes too, is not only being able to like spot it in the wild.
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And get really excited. But also, like, sometimes there are some things where we're like, you know what, I actually do kind of like the concept behind this. And I'd be more apt to think creatively on how maybe I could incorporate that into my life here. And that's where the fun of trends is, really.
00:12:03
Speaker
And there's been a couple of really interesting aspects. So now that we've been kind of researching this for several years, you can kind of step back and look at the data. And I'm realizing that some things are definitely like top down trends, right? We've always said like fashion tells you that you have to buy the next thing in style and that the shoes you bought last year are no longer in style, right? You have to buy the new ones to make money.
00:12:23
Speaker
But I found some other things are kind of bottom up. And I've seen that this year and when we get to the food and drink, it seems more so like that industry is responding more to what people want versus top down and telling people what they want. So it's really interesting to see how that happens. And then like what you're saying, there is a lot of fun and like realizing that the people who kind of sometimes come up with these trends, right, because there's always a trend setter, whether it's street fashion from Korea or New York that gets translated onto the runways a year or two later,
00:12:52
Speaker
or an innovative chef at a little private restaurant somewhere, this still stems from creative people. And it's really interesting to see what creative people come up with all the time. And then we take that on and we either adapt it to our own situations, our own budget, but it's fun and it's playful. And so I think as long as we don't think, well, I'm never going to be trendy, I can't be on trend, I'm never going to be able to afford all these things, but you realize that it's just another opportunity to be creative.
00:13:20
Speaker
And to have fun, I think that that's the right attitude to take to this.
00:13:24
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And if you stay in one trend long enough, as I've learned many times, you'll eventually come back around on trend eventually. Yes. Yes. Like the denim skirts. I always wait and hope. Denim skirts. We talked about them last year. We predicted them right before they became big, but I saw them all at Joe Fresh this week. And I'm like, I literally wore all these in 2004, 20 years ago. I owned those actual skirts. And I'm like,
00:13:50
Speaker
And the rule is, the unspoken rule is if you wore it the first time, you can't wear it the second time, which is fine by me. But yeah, it is really interesting to see things come back around when you've hit that age. Oh, for sure. Okay, so we'll first start with food and drink and some of the trends we're seeing for 2024. Now, this first one we've seen over and over again over the last couple of years, and it's just kind of shifting and changing with what people are rejecting and what they're still desiring.
00:14:19
Speaker
And so this is all about protein, right? Everyone's talking about protein. And so that's the first part, protein on its own. So there's a lot of talk about getting good quality protein and increasing that in our diets every day. But where it's trending in 2024 is back to plant based protein. Now I want to be really specific on this. This is not artificial meat anymore, right? You can tell they were trying that for years, the last couple years, trying to force the artificial meat on everyone. And there was a lot of hate.
00:14:48
Speaker
Um, so what these companies are doing is people still want non meat protein options, right? There are a lot of people who legitimately want that, but they're going back. It looks in 2024 are really trying to find creative ways to create vegan meals that are better tasting and more nutritious. Um, so again, it's, it's a plant based protein, but not artificial meat.
00:15:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not surprised by this trend either. Or that better than beef is out. But yeah, vegan has been in for a while now. Do you remember the Deliciously Ella podcast and Instagram account? Yeah, her recipes have always looked delicious. I still think they look delicious. And I'm not like a vegan, but I would eat everything that she has and they look very helpful.
00:15:40
Speaker
The one vegan option that I keep seeing are the roasted chickpeas. I see them everywhere, right? And when people add them as like a texture to their grain bowls or they serve it with like the green goddess sauce, it just looks so incredible. But I do see how veganism in the spring
00:16:04
Speaker
It just goes so well together. The meals seem lighter to me. You get so much nutritional value without the weight of the typical classic foods, classic comfort foods in the winter. So it really does make sense, I think, that we keep seeing plant-based food and then in particular this year to combine it with the demand, I guess, for protein. I don't even know if protein knew it was going to have a moment.
00:16:31
Speaker
The protein is like, yay, go me. Yeah, it all just kind of aligned. It makes a lot of sense. Well, you talked about comfort food and that is the next trend. So we actually saw comfort food as a category being a trend in the last couple of years. But the the 2024 twist on comfort food is being called melty mashups. This grosses me out, but I'm sure a lot of people are excited about this.
00:16:57
Speaker
But like the examples that were given are burger tacos. I saw that pop up in a lot of places or pizza pot pie. So think about, yeah, mashing together things that are melty. I don't like melted cheese. I'll eat pizza, but I'm not a melty mashup type of person. But yeah, it seems like people are still, so you either want your vegan stuff, right? Your lighter meals going to spring or you want to shove all those melty carbs all into one thing. Yeah.
00:17:27
Speaker
It's about balance. Yeah. Really. Yeah. Well, that's hilarious because I have written in my notes that this might be my favorite food. I love melted cheese and I love comfort foods. And if I can figure out how to mash them together, that sounds fantastic.
00:17:46
Speaker
Um, but it was reminding me of the fusion trend from previous years, right? But just way more casual, way less pressure. And a pizza pot pie sounds really incredible. Like I was looking at pictures of that. I would, I would eat that. That's like the ultimate comfort mashup. Um, and then I was also reading in an article about another popular melty mashup is the carbonara ramen. Okay. Wow.
00:18:14
Speaker
I actually tried that last year. It was a viral carbonara ramen. This is Korean. I can't say it. I hope someone can correct me and teach me how to say that.
00:18:29
Speaker
But that was really viral last year. And the tiyokbaki is like a street food. It's chewy rice cakes that are simmered in a spicy red broth. So they would combine it with the ramen that had the spicy powder and you'd mix in parmesan with it and then you cook the ramen.
00:18:50
Speaker
you eat it it was it was so good so i'm all for the melty mashups i'm sorry that's no i'm sorry if that kind of grossed you out but yes this is your year no this is your year see i maintain if you just stay in your lane the trends will come to you well you reminded me
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah of another trend that's not on my list but when you were doing your research too did you come across the higher end ramen kits are really popular right now so you just were like ramen is here to stay and so yeah so like Momofuku is a famous brand restaurant developed by David Chang a famous chef and so like it's like this high-end instant ramen
00:19:29
Speaker
um, thing is really, really popular. And actually that leads it into the next thing I did have in my notes, which is efficiency. So I've seen a lot of like people are still wanting like either like the chef's table or like the boxed food ready kits, right? Like those kinds of cooking kits. But cause a lot of people got into cooking, right? During the lockdowns, a lot of people really did. And a lot of people actually develop new cooking skills. They found out that they enjoyed it. They like eating those types of meals, but most people, their lives are fully back to normal.
00:19:56
Speaker
they're working, their kids are doing sports, they're busy. So they don't want to fully give up on what they had learned, but they don't have the time. So it's about now trying to be really efficient. And so companies are trying to capitalize on that. So that's where you see these higher end ramens, these like better quality, um, instant meals and, and meal prep things where people are wanting quick and easy recipes, but they still want to feel like they're cooking.
Food Preservation and Health Foods
00:20:22
Speaker
Which is so interesting and how
00:20:25
Speaker
That's an example of what you were saying at the beginning of how the food industry really takes its cues from the people and works its way up the trend scale, right? With the developments on how to be able to preserve food and ship food all over the place, those boxes fascinate me, the chef's boxes and everything like that. And in regards to ramen, like we have a local place, we keep seeing them on Facebook too, Crafty Ramen.
00:20:52
Speaker
And they started as a ramen place, but I think they do the same thing. They'll put together these gourmet ramen meals and send it to you. So I think that's a great development in the food industry. Okay. And then actually just piggybacking off that as we're talking about trends being moved forward from the people up.
00:21:13
Speaker
less waste and more preserving. We're seeing that in our own circles, right? This has been a growing trend. People are very aware of where their food is coming from. And this is especially true with those like meal delivery services too. People don't want the waste. So there's, but the trend again, the way it's turning in 2024 is manufacturers are finding ways to use those, those byproducts, the wasted products that would normally get thrown out. So they're becoming a lot more creative.
00:21:42
Speaker
and making sure that nothing is being wasted, which is great. This just popped into my head. That's how PG tips tea in England, I'm sure you've seen PG tips around, we sell it here. After the bigger tea companies when Britain first started harvesting tea in Sri Lanka, they were using the tea leaves, but all of the little dried tips weren't used. And so another company was like,
00:22:03
Speaker
those have flavor. So they started scooping up the tips and they just called it PG tips and made tea. Right? So I feel like our ancestors, as we all know, were far better at less wasting. But that's coming back right now and preservation of food. A lot of my friends do canning. I will never can. I think I said that every year on this podcast. So we have it
00:22:26
Speaker
Preserved. We have it preserved. Yeah, it's really trendy right now and that's a great thing and other companies are still really looking into doing pickling and all that and like sauerkraut. All those things are still very, very much on trend.
00:22:42
Speaker
You've persevered in not preserving food. Yes, I have. Thank you. Yes. You know what? I also still love the idea of preserving food, but I'm so intimidated by it because it's so, so new to me outside of the realm of anything I've done before.
00:23:01
Speaker
Um, maybe one day, but it hasn't been that day yet. Right. Well, you're just doing sourdough now, so we'll check back in with you in here. Maybe you'll be doing making some jams before we know it. Maybe that's, that's the gateway. I'm here. I hear. That's the gateway.
00:23:18
Speaker
You're going to be popping open your fresh jam, right, that you get from your cellar until you put on your sourdough, making your butter. Oh my goodness. It's going to happen. 2024 is my year. I think we've already said that once. We're going to say it again as we go through the list. But yeah, but for sure.
00:23:37
Speaker
Canning, I just can't think of anything that would be more pleasant than going downstairs in mid-January and getting a can of peaches that I've preserved from the summer. Canned peaches would be top of my list. If I was going to start anything, I would want to can peaches. Or vanilla ice cream, yum. Yes, right? I know.
00:23:59
Speaker
So there, we'll continue to think about preserving. Well, now that we've talked about bread, we will just let everybody know that there is a new it grain. Every year there's a new grain that is like the popular one. This has thrown us for a bit of a little twist because quinoa is back.
00:24:17
Speaker
Okay. That one was really popular, what, five, six years ago, maybe even 10 years ago. It's back, but it is not the it grain. It is buckwheat. That came out of nowhere. So I don't know. Can you make sourdough with buckwheat? What are we doing with buckwheat? I don't know. But just in case somebody tries to challenge you on this, buckwheat is the it grain.
00:24:40
Speaker
I feel it would be best to say it with a bit of a smug. Of course, yes. Actually, I think it's buckwheat that is in. I don't know either because I feel like quinoa is so diverse. Yeah, it's like a side. You can make it as a side with your dinner. Yeah, I don't know, buckwheat pancakes?
00:25:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I guess. And quinoa seems to be a little bit more nutrient dense. Yeah. Although buckwheat is pretty good too. So yeah, I would love to know why as well. It's considered the it grain, but okay.
00:25:16
Speaker
All right. Hi, Buckwheat. Welcome to 2024. And then another thing that we've been seeing year after year on our trends list, and it's not going anywhere, but it's this low or no alcohol idea, right? They're really pushing mocktails
00:25:32
Speaker
And yeah, I definitely see that more and more people are wanting to periodically abstain from alcohol or not drinking at all. They have given it up completely. And I keep hearing rumors that this like next generation are not drinking alcohol. They're still doing other vices. Let's not pretend that they're tea totalers, but that alcohol itself, the sales are dropping. And I've heard that there are like contingency plans in place for our Liquor Control Board of Ontario, our stores here that sell alcohol.
00:26:00
Speaker
as they continue to drop in sales. So that seems to be happening, but I put in my notes here, I still don't know anyone in my life that orders a low alcohol cocktail or like a mocktail version of something unless they're pregnant. Like I haven't seen it translate into my circle yet, but it keeps coming up year after year on this list.
00:26:19
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's true. This is another example of one of the trends that I don't see. Yeah. Like in my everyday world, but I see it a lot on the online world. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other cocktail thing, now this is one I am seeing everywhere and this is
Fashion Trends: Feminine Styles and Quiet Luxury
00:26:33
Speaker
something that I am buying and it's the less sweet trend, right? No, I'm sick of this high sugary cans of cocktail or
00:26:40
Speaker
all that. So that's definitely a trend. We're seeing it everywhere, right? You go into the liquor store and there are so many options for low or no sugar cocktails like that. So I still want the alcohol. I just don't want the sugar. Yeah. Yeah. It's totally reasonable. Yeah. Totally reasonable. I'm the same. I've actually never been a super sweet
00:27:00
Speaker
Drinker yeah, I don't go for that but even more so in the last few years I find like if I do want to drink I will actually up for a light beer. Yeah over anything else or even one of those vodka coolers Yeah, and the sweetest thing I'll have is maybe a glass of wine. So I'm I'm glad that you know, that's kind of the the trend because I know what you mean like I've never it just kind of leaves a
00:27:28
Speaker
like a film in your mouth, I feel. Let's say you feel grosser, right? Your body's down with all the sugar plus the alcohol. It's too much. It's too much. And then speaking of drinks, right? So I guess we will talk again, non-alcoholic drinks, but if there's another thing we've seen everywhere
00:27:46
Speaker
It is energy drinks. So it's either energy drinks or sports drinks, electrolyte drinks, just any of the right. I have all of those under one umbrella. It has exploded. And you know, when a product has exploded on the market, when it's at Costco, when people like you and I
00:28:02
Speaker
suburban moms are at Costco. And we're like, Oh, here it all is. So it started. Okay, we if we could just go back in time and Gatorade dominated the market for like 30 years, right? It was only ever Gatorade. I'd never I've never to this day tasted Gatorade, I would have never bought Gatorade. But then
00:28:18
Speaker
Prime came on the market and every pre-teen begged their mother and especially us Canadians when it was only in the States, people were crossing the border and bringing it back and kids were selling Prime in the high school hallways like drug dealers on street owners. Yes. And then my children and all the children I know collected the empty bottles, one of each color, and they had them in their rooms like,
00:28:41
Speaker
Crime changed everything for this market. And now it's like, I swear every time I pop into a grocery store, there's like four or five more different varieties of electrolyte drinks or sports drinks or energy drinks. Hmm. That's so interesting. We haven't really crossed the sports drink threshold yet. And my husband will sometimes still just buy a Gatorade, a good old fashioned Gatorade.
00:29:05
Speaker
For my kids at their hockey tournament or something. But my boys did just participate in like this mini one evening tournament that some of our local hockey coaches put on the other week. And one of the coaches was really sweet. He picked up pizza for the boys, but the other coach picked up prime.
00:29:27
Speaker
scorestrings for each boy and I'll never forget my one of my sons came home and he had his prime
00:29:35
Speaker
And he was just sitting on the couch sipping it and he kept turning to me. He's like, this is really good. This is really delicious. I'm like, well, enjoy it. It's your only one. I don't have prime here, but I have seen them at Costco. And it's really interesting because people, again, are being really, a lot of people are really interested in what chemicals and ingredients are going into these things, right?
00:30:00
Speaker
So people want a bit of a like caffeine hit, but they want a cleaner version of caffeine. So you see a lot of green tea extract in these and other botanical extracts. And I will note as well that botanicals themselves are very hot this year. I didn't do a lot more research into it, but just botanicals as an ingredient, right? And like cocktail flavorings and all the ingredients and foods. So which is botanicals, super popular.
00:30:24
Speaker
But people want like sugar substitutes. They do want cleaner versions of these electrolyte drinks and energy drinks and stuff So yeah, there's it is kind of fun We grab some different ones sometimes and the kids can try them We have our grid our garage fridge right in our home gym and we always have a whole slew of teenage boys in our garage So we do like to have some stocked in there to be the cool parents You remember the old sunny commercial like your mom's cool. She has sunny D So I'm hoping now they're going your mom's cool. Do you have bio steel?
00:30:56
Speaker
But I have to give BioSteal a shout out. So we're big Toronto Blue Jays fans and we were watching them and they were drinking it down in the dugout last year. And as many of our listeners know, I had a really bad concussion, right, had injury and concussion that I suffered from for most of last year.
00:31:13
Speaker
and every night I had crippling headaches like needed to like cover my eyes and take so many meds and crawl into bed. Well I finally was like I'll try a bio steel like if it's a sport drink with electrolytes I'd heard that that could be good. I never drink anything other than water, coffee, and milk but I'm like I'll try one.
00:31:29
Speaker
And sure enough, those darn bio steals, I never had another headache. Like I had one a day for a couple of weeks. And to this day, I think I've had maybe two headaches since last summer. I don't drink them now regularly, but I have to give bio steal all the credit.
00:31:47
Speaker
Okay, that's like a really, a really winning review. All right, bio steal. Bio steal, your post concussion needs. This is not a medical podcast. Right. Oh, another disclaimer. I'll get my voice. I'll get my voice. Yes.
00:32:06
Speaker
Then we'll just gonna go back to food again. We're jumping all over the place. But another trend I was I'm starting to see everywhere is single-serve desserts a lot of recipes popping up for when you have that sweet tooth and you just want to make one thing right a lot of people are living on their own and But still want something and have instead of doing the math the dreaded math and reducing a recipe down And in my notes I wrote move over mug cakes because it seemed like mug cakes was the only
00:32:36
Speaker
that you could do if you were desperate and I have been desperate. So there is somebody on Instagram I follow and her account is at bromabakery. And she's been making lots of desserts. Her page is incredible, but she's been doing a few single serving ones and her latest one was a single serve
00:32:55
Speaker
cinnamon roll, like just one big cinnamon roll. She also has recently a single-serve berry crisp, a single-serve brownie. Nigella has some single-serve desserts in her last cookbook. And then just going off of that, another thing that was on her Instagram account, but I'm also seeing it everywhere.
00:33:15
Speaker
is the chocolate chip cookie croissant. Now croissants are very trendy right now as it is. They are everywhere. People are filling them. They're putting all different things on. But this filling, so at Broma Bakery. So she had like day old croissants. They work a little bit better if they're a little bit stale. You cut it like a sandwich. Then she put cookie dough. You just get Pillsbury inside.
00:33:36
Speaker
put the sandwich top back on, put a little more cookie dough on the top, pop it in your oven, and she broke that crispy, flaky, buttery croissant open with the gooey and half-cooked, melted, chocolatey cookie dough in the middle. And I'm like, when is Lent over? When is Easter this weekend? I know. Yes. That looks so good. You know what that sounds like? That sounds like a melty mashup.
00:34:01
Speaker
Oh my gosh, it is! Look how trendy we are. We know the trend. Oh my gosh. Yes, and it's one I would actually like. I forgot, it's not just cheese that melts. There are desserts that melt. Chocolate does too. Yes.
00:34:17
Speaker
oh my gosh and speaking of chocolate that is part of a really large trend right now about foods and drinks that are being created to promote woman's health so there's like estrogen chocolate and that type of cocktail there's teas and cookies and all these things now i reject a bit of this because i just see it as another way to like
00:34:37
Speaker
take women's money and kind of give them these false health claims, like this will help you. So I'm really skeptical about things like that that promote health. Like for example, a lactation cookie, they taste delicious, they give you extra energy, there's some
00:34:54
Speaker
decent ingredients in it, but supply and demand is what makes your milk increase. Um, so enjoy the cookie, right? But let's like just being really skeptical of all of these things that promise all of these health benefits. That being said, if you enjoy it, any of these women, the health things that they're going to be really selling to us over this next year, I saw so many things targeting women's health and particularly in my age group, right? For like perimenopausal women, there's, they're just really trying to capitalize on this market. Um, just if you enjoy it, great. But just,
00:35:24
Speaker
You have a healthy sense of detachment from all the promises that being said as well I was trying to think about why this is popping up right now And I think it's because they can't market. They're not like marketing diet foods to women anymore They're like moving away from like all the detox teas and all that stuff They were trying the last couple years. So now they're like now it's like how can we still sell wellness products to women and
00:35:46
Speaker
Um, so yeah, that one I might be a little cynical about, but that is definitely a trend for 2024 or selling foods and drinks that are under the guise of women's health. Hmm. That is so interesting because you're right. Like you can almost see like the marketing wheels trying to turn because the, the trend is whole foods and gardens and food preserving. Um, all in and all of those are.
00:36:16
Speaker
long-tested ways of staying healthy and having a healthy diet. So, okay, yeah, I get what you're saying. At first I wrote in my notes, um, I'm like, why? Why is this a bad thing? I would think it's a good thing to promote women's health. But I do see, I'm with you now. I hear it. Yep. And this is so funny because speaking about marketing to women and being cynical, it's time for fashion and beauty. Yay.
00:36:44
Speaker
as we transition into the best in marketing. So I actually have to say, and I was messaging you about this, I love all of the trends. Usually we're like, ew, ew, like how, like usually we have a lot more to laugh about, but maybe this year
00:37:00
Speaker
Like maybe this year is coming from like bottom up and people being like, we're not wearing the weird haute couture things coming out of the Paris fashion houses. We need real clothing because the stuff that's trending, and I'm talking on Vogue and on the high end of fashion magazines, almost everything I saw, I was like, I love that. I'd wear that. This is great. So I'm really excited about 2024 fashion. And I have not said that in a long time.
00:37:24
Speaker
yeah okay so what what are the things let's just get right into them the first thing is instead of the little black dress it is the little white dress is what they're calling it but and it doesn't necessarily mean little it was just beautiful white dresses like lace detail embroidery eyelet material cotton just really just summer feminine clean looking it's that whole clean beauty
00:37:52
Speaker
So just beautiful white dresses. I love it. Every year I buy a white skirt. I saw one I should have picked up at winners and it's probably sold out now, but I spotted it. I do tend to buy like a white eyelet lace skirt every summer that I love. So I love the idea of a whole dress. I have not been able to take the leap to white clothes. No, and I think it's for a couple of reasons. Number one, reality.
00:38:21
Speaker
It's not going to stay white for very long, which is totally fine. But I think for me too, I'd be curious to know if it's like a pure white that is the trend or if like off white.
00:38:35
Speaker
could work too, like an ice cream, or is it white? I was seeing white, but I'm sure cream. It's so classic. It would be fine. Let me say having worn a white skirt for years and being the clutchiest person I know, it actually stays clean. I don't know how it is. I can't wear a white shirt without spilling on it, but somehow something I'm sitting on, right? Like sitting on a park bench, sitting somewhere and thinking you're
00:38:58
Speaker
Your bum's going to get all dirty. It doesn't. And it cleans up really, really well. So I have not had, I am so klutzy and clumsy with things. I spill things on myself all the time, but I've never had an issue having a white skirt. Okay. All right. Well, maybe I'll take the plunge. And I think I just don't suit pure white. That's why I'm interested in the cream. I think I could pull off the cream. Yeah. All right.
00:39:24
Speaker
I will keep an eye out and maybe this is the year I also try a little white dress. I picture you with your pizza pot pie, a melty mashup with your white dress. With my chocolate chip cookie croissant and my white dress.
00:39:41
Speaker
Well, I have the perfect thing for you to cover your white dress and it's year after year I'm probably sure for 150 years the trench coat has shown up on the must-have items right for spring summer and It's so easy to see why I wear a trench coat every day. I wore it to school drop-off this morning Now my French my trench coat is a cheap one from Joe fresh. It's terribly structured. It doesn't look very good. I
00:40:05
Speaker
But I love throwing it on, like it just elevates whatever I'm wearing. So my dream one day is to buy a nice trench coat. But that being said, Joe Fresh has a really cute pink trench coat that I just saw right now. But the trench of 2024, now what's making it different this year? It's fancier and it's got like dramatic details, either a cape attached at the back, which is just beautiful, or like a breastplate type of edition that would fold over the front.
00:40:32
Speaker
I don't know, like bedazzling, bejeweling, like different kinds of things, like making it a little bit more dramatic, which I love. But yeah, a trench, it's always in style, always. I need to invest in one too. I don't have a trench coat at all, but I've always loved the slightly oversized trench coat look. And I've actually been looking into getting one. I actually really like the navy.
00:40:59
Speaker
Yeah, trench coats. I'd love to have one in Navy. It's just kind of a little bit different, but still classic and still neutral. So I know I won't be able to keep up with the trench trends every year though.
00:41:13
Speaker
If you were going to just buy one for many, many years to come, what are one or two features that you look for for a timeless classic trench, in your opinion? I would go try on an expensive one, like a Burberry one, and just see how it feels. I think the problem with mine is the material's too thin, so the parts that are supposed to be laying flat and adding structure flip up.
00:41:37
Speaker
peel up the structure that color doesn't sit. I don't think you need to buy a super expensive one. As long as to me, the material is weighted enough that it feels like it's got structure to it where it looks designy. And I just grabbed the first one I saw that was a good price years ago, but I definitely want one that has a little bit more weight to it. Okay.
00:41:59
Speaker
So let's talk color. I love this trend. So color blocking, what that means in terms of design is that you'd have like, like blocks of color, essentially. So instead of even like a smaller stripe or a pattern, right, you would have like a skirt of all one color and then like maybe a shirt that is all one color up to just like a below your collarbone and then maybe another block of color.
00:42:23
Speaker
Think, if you know art, think Rothko and his paintings. He's the famous mid-century painter where it's a big rectangle and the top half might be a lighter orange and then a darker orange at the bottom. If anybody will remember, I talked about Great Art Explained a couple episodes ago in the What I Was Loving, and they do an episode on Rothko. It's quite an upsetting episode because his life is very tragic, but I finally understood his art. I used to look at those and be like, yeah, two colored squares. My kid could do that.
00:42:52
Speaker
But my goodness, there's so much more in those paintings than I didn't understand. So Rothko, but definitely his paintings inspire this kind of color blocking and outfits. So I love that look. I'm very particular with how I wear colors. So that really works for me. And then if you're wanting to add the on trend colors this year, I was really excited to see ice blue. That's what they're calling it.
00:43:14
Speaker
Very clean. Again, I'm going to keep going back to the words clean beauty. I don't have this in my notes, but that's the trend for Gen Z, the clean beauty makeup look.
00:43:23
Speaker
Um, and Sophia Richie, the daughter of Lionel Richie, she's the one who pioneered the clean beauty makeup look recently among the younger generation.
Makeup and Hair Trends
00:43:32
Speaker
So it's like, everything is just that white, this ice blue, right? It's very tailored, very clean. Um, and I, I have not seen ice blue in a very long time and I owned a bunch of clothes in that color again, 25 years ago when I was last in style. Um, and I loved it. And sorry, Michelle, just one more color, one more color. And then I can't wait to hear what you think.
00:43:53
Speaker
Red I might have said red last year too. I know I've been predicting red for a long time again Just watching how cycles happen. I'm like Reds coming back red is really really on trend so but it's like that beautiful bright clean red and As an alternative dark burgundy I'm seeing too. So those are the colors for 2024 Okay, I like the dark burgundy
00:44:16
Speaker
Beautiful on you. Oh, thank you. Thank you. And as opposed to ice blue. Yeah, I can't die. I'm trying to picture my hair. Looks about as good on me as pure white. Right. We've got to get our colors done, Michelle. We have to now. I've wanted to for so long. We'll have to make that happen. But I remember ice blue as the eye shadow of the late 90s, I guess, maybe early 2000s.
00:44:45
Speaker
That's coming back too. I don't have that in my notes, but I did see that the girls are doing that big sweep of icy frosted blue eyeshadow. It is coming back as well.
00:44:55
Speaker
Okay. All right. You know what? When we're going back to like the color blocking, I did have to look up who Rothko was. I'm like, who's Rothko? And what his paintings were about. But yeah, so what I also see in his art besides the color blocking is what you were saying. It's the vibrancy of it. So it's like the bright colors. We're embracing drama in fashion.
00:45:23
Speaker
But this year is not so much about the patterns or the accessories. It's more doing the drama in the color itself, which is interesting. It's less complicated, like we're saying. Again, it's very clean. Things are very structured. We'll get into this too with the next thing that's in style, but it's structured, well-designed, timeless. There's not a lot of crazy, trendy things happening.
00:45:47
Speaker
Um, so for example, pencil skirts, I love pencil skirts. I wore pencil skirts and heels for years and it's my favorite look. Oh my gosh. A pencil skirt with a trench coat, like a bright red pencil skirt, a white button up and a trench coat. Oh, it would be beautiful. Ice blue eyeshadow. Too far. Too many trends. Sorry, back up, back up.
00:46:11
Speaker
But they're showing beautiful pencil skirts. Leather is back. So seeing and I'm seeing even leather coats come back again back 20 years ago. Everybody where we lived all the all of the fancy ladies had a Danie leather black coat and those went away for a long time. They're back again. But like a leather pencil skirt timeless. It is beautiful.
00:46:29
Speaker
And then just with talking about red again, the one pattern that we are seeing is not a pattern, but it's roses. So like, and I think back to early sex in the city, the big flowers that she would wear on her shirt. I had big rose pins that we would pin on our clothes. Oh my goodness. But like roses on, so it's either like as a pattern, but a lot of them are being like 3D, right? Like stitched out of the dress or like all over a purse.
00:46:55
Speaker
So, if there is one pattern that I saw over and over again, it's roses. Mm-hmm. Okay. Leather roses. You're getting it. Red leather roses. I got it. Okay. All right. Let's just keep going. I'm formulating them all in my mind here. So, the bigger picture here. So, we've got that idea of clean beauty, clean fashion, but it's also quiet luxury. This is another word that's going around everywhere.
00:47:23
Speaker
Also, like preppy old school money. We've seen these terms floating around a lot. But what I see when I see that is I see femininity. I'm seeing a huge rise in girls dressing like girls. We're talking the bows, the roses, the skirts, the heels, the pretty ponytail with the big bow in it. This stuff is really popular right now.
00:47:46
Speaker
And so whether it looks a little old school money, which just basically means well tailored and put together, right? It doesn't actually have to mean money being spent. It just means that you're dressed, you've put a lot of thought and intention into what you're dressing in. We're maybe moving away from like the idea of the sweatsuits, right? The comfy, the athleisure.
00:48:06
Speaker
the yoga suit, the pants, and so that we've been seeing over and over and over again, it does seem like this younger generation of girls are dressing back up. Now, the example I want to pull out here is my favorite designer is Ralph Lauren. I love him. I love all of his work. And I just saw the ad for this year's version of his striped classic polo button up.
00:48:27
Speaker
I love all the colors. I'm like, oh, I totally want one. And they are around $150 to buy on his website. But Michelle, I was at Goodwill yesterday, founder Ralph Lauren, navy blue and white button up shirt. And it was $6 and it's in immaculate condition. And it's not that from his real store, it's the outlet version of Ralph Lauren, but still $6. Amazing. It's a little tight. It's just going to get me back on that treadmill. Help me keep up.
00:48:57
Speaker
up with my workout plan. I'm like, you know what, this is the perfect motivation piece for me to buy it so I can get into it. Oh, that is awesome. I actually love the old money. I love it. I'm a quite luxury trend too. I'm so happy to hear that you're finding some of these pieces thrifted. Yes. Because I'd be in the same boat of wanting to add, especially like, I remember my mom saying that like, when you find a trend that works for you. Yeah.
00:49:24
Speaker
That's when you start to invest in the clothing and building your closet. And then you don't necessarily change trends every year or every time they change, which means you're not going to be spending as much money like in subsequent years, but you have a good stock of the things that suit you. And so I'm feeling this urge while things are like that really nicely tailored, tidy, classic timeless look.
00:49:51
Speaker
that I really want to go out and add some pieces to. So I think it all, like this whole look, this whole aesthetic is just, it really is so settled. That's the word that I think of, right? It looks calm.
00:50:06
Speaker
And I can see why people are gravitating towards wanting to make this their look right now, especially in these times and stuff where it kind of goes back to something we talk about often in the podcast where it's orderly and that sometimes feels good.
00:50:23
Speaker
I love what you're saying and I do think it makes sense that they're gravitating towards that which is calm, that which is traditional after these years of upset. It seems like this younger generation is trying to find its roots and they are going back to tradition a bit. Girls are dressing traditionally more feminine like we're saying.
00:50:39
Speaker
And boys are doing, the boys are in my gym working out every day, right? It's really interesting. I think stepping back and having kind of this front row seat to Gen Z, like I do right now. And speaking of that, there's another trend that's very specific to Gen Z, but this popped up the other day on my YouTube feed.
00:50:57
Speaker
from this young, cool fashion blogger who gets like a half million views, you know, on her video. So she knows what she's talking about. And she had a video called Catholic Coquette as a trend. And I was like, interesting. And I was like, I wasn't going to put it on, but I mentioned Charlotte. And I'm like, we talk about everything. My daughter and I, and I'm like, are you seeing things about Catholic Coquette? And she's like, yeah. And I'm like, is it?
00:51:21
Speaker
inappropriate? Is it like, because Coquette, right, is like this flirtatious kind of borderline little girl style that comes out of Asia. Have you seen it? Do you know what I'm talking about with the big frilly dresses and the pigtails? It's this whole aesthetic. Not a whole lot. I was just going to say, I saw it in your notes and tried to look it up. Yeah. But I didn't see
00:51:42
Speaker
much of it, maybe even in terms of specifically the Catholic Carquettes. Yeah, because that's the new twist on it. So Catholicism as a trend, as an aesthetic is kind of growing right now. And so for good or for bad, like it's being used as a trend and the imagery and that kind of thing. And then when it's being mixed with like this kind of cachetish
00:52:05
Speaker
thing, I'm like, oh, my guard went up again. But Charlotte was explaining to me that, um, coquette overall just means girl core, girl core, which is the wider umbrella of this trend of these girls dressing hyper feminine. It's like this thing. So I'm like, okay, so this again, it just all feeds back into this, this whole overarching trend of skirts and bows and being
00:52:30
Speaker
So I'm still on my guard with the Catholic coquette. I might watch her video and see what she's having to say about it. But overall, there is a very clear direction that fashion is going in right now.
00:52:43
Speaker
And then the final aspect of like fashion and beauty is we'll just really briefly here touch on makeup and hair and it goes along the same vein. Like there's nothing shocking. Um, the trends are long and bold eyelashes. I thought those might go away after everybody getting like the crazy thick.
00:53:00
Speaker
eyelash inserts or whatever. But no long and bold lashes, very feminine eyelashes are still in style. There's always the bold lip trend, always the red lipstick trend. But I also saw the trend called ooey, gooey lips. And I like that, like a really glossy
00:53:19
Speaker
big glossy lipstick but again really pretty lips and then this is a trend I've been seeing for a while now it's where blush is being placed so instead of being carving out the hollow of your cheek this again I first started seeing with like Asian beauty influencers and now it's moving here but it's high up under your eye
00:53:38
Speaker
And it's almost like supposed to be like a natural little flirtatious blushing, or as I also read, like an apresky type you've been outside and have a little sun that hit under that part of your eye. And it's also very 80s to have your blush up there. So that is where I don't think I'm going to do it. I still need to try to pretend like I have cheekbones. Michelle, in case you're interested, that's where your blush has to go now.
00:54:05
Speaker
Oh, well, I've kind of seen that too, like putting your blush up higher on your cheeks. And I thought that was really interesting. I've always kind of, um, I don't wear a ton of like foundation makeup, but I find that my concealer, sometimes I want to blend it in with the rest of my face and I will use like my blush, the leftover blush after I do my cheeks, up into my eyes.
00:54:30
Speaker
So like kind of brushing into onto my eyelids and up on the upper cheekbone area. So I've been doing that for a while. And so I was happy to find I'm on trend. But I was thinking about this. It is still like what you were saying. So part of that clean girl aesthetic. But it's kind of upped a little bit to be like healthy girl.
00:54:54
Speaker
yeah with flush cheeks moist lips uh red lips but not garish yeah and it seems like the makeup goes kind of with the food trends in that people are just really wanting to put their best foot forward in terms of health better health and
00:55:12
Speaker
Not only are the food trends reflecting on it, but now also the aesthetic ones. That's just what we want to make holistically, our whole aesthetic, our whole vibe is one of health. And simplicity. Even the food trends were simple, right? We're coming off of years of doing this where things were very obscure or weird, like the fermented pineapple, or there's just so many different things.
00:55:37
Speaker
Yeah, and mushrooms are still on trend. I was like, I cannot write again about mushrooms. I'm like, enough with the mushrooms. But more obscure things, especially fashion was really weird the last couple of years. We joked about, but this year I'm like, it does seem like this kind of
00:55:55
Speaker
Going back to simple, calm, simple, well tailored, clean, beautiful. And that's reflected in the hairstyles as well. So it's about soft brushed out waves, like even looser waves than we've been seeing. Were you getting like maybe just like two waves at the bottom? Very classic. And this like soft blonde color is inspired by the
Travel Trends: Authentic Experiences
00:56:17
Speaker
Taylor Swift who seems to have inspired everything for so many women.
00:56:21
Speaker
And the current it girl and I know nothing about this girl, but I have had it confirmed for me by my young by my teens that she is the girl of the moment Sydney Sweeney. And she's got that it's called like dreamy cloud like blonde hair, very large ways, very romantic, very girly.
00:56:41
Speaker
Um, long layered hair and bangs are still in and they're calling it the Birkin bang. Now Birkin, I believe, I don't have it in my nose, but I think her name is Jane Birkin. The Birkin bag is named after her as well. Um, right. French model. And I think she was an actress and a singer. She kind of did everything back in the sixties. She's absolutely beautiful. So just that kind of bang, um, it's beautiful hair. It all goes so well together. I just see like this whole outfit put together in a nice little date, um, having your low alcohol cocktail.
00:57:09
Speaker
I know I love the look of this hair too. I'm obviously I'm not blonde and I have curly hair so it's not going to be like two waves at the bottom of my hair. But Lindsay I've considered bangs. Really? I have considered bangs. They would 100% be like the Taylor Swift curly bangs though. Still in style, yep.
00:57:32
Speaker
They are I just feel like I don't have the hair and makeup support team. See me through that in a good way. So I'll put the scissors down and look into maybe another style but I do like it's if it frames the face in a softer way, like
00:57:49
Speaker
That's what we're seeing with the makeup and with the hair, right? Is how we can use these things to soften the look. And I also really like that aesthetic. It all seems very cohesive, which is a really nice, calm thing, like we said before.
00:58:08
Speaker
I'm at the crossroads of bangs or botox. This is what happens when you get your mid 40s and you're like, do I botox my forehead or do I hide it with bangs? I love bangs. My husband hates bangs. I talk, I ask him all the time. He's like, you do you, but I'm not a fan, but you can get great clip on bangs from Amazon. So I might do that. Pretend I cut them, get his genuine reaction and then pull them off, horrify him when I rip them off my head.
00:58:34
Speaker
and traumatize him and be like, it was just a joke, but I'll see how they actually look. That's right, because if he's like, wow, I was wrong, they look amazing on you, then you know that's your green light to go ahead and do bangs, the Birkin bang. Exactly. So I might experiment with the artificial bangs from Amazon. They look great. And my daughter wants them too. She also wants bangs. So yeah, I'll keep you updated. All right. You might, you will have to do that.
00:59:03
Speaker
But the third category of trends that we often take a look at besides fashion and beauty and food is travel, which we say like we also laugh because we are not able to travel a whole lot, right? But we love the idea of travel and we would love to travel one day. And so we like to keep our finger on the pulse of what people are doing in terms of the travel industry.
00:59:27
Speaker
as well. So Lindsay, what is one of the first things that people are looking for now when they're planning their vacations? Yeah, it's funny we do this one because when we were first starting the trends years ago, we had all of these smaller categories, right? We had like electronics, we had a very specific thing for makeup we had. But for some reason, as the list has gotten smaller, like you said, we're not world travelers. Like I'm not getting on a plane. I've never even been on a plane.
00:59:51
Speaker
But I found that when I was actually researching it, there are travel trends and I actually found that they're really interesting and they change all the time. So this one I always just enjoy. I find it's fun to look at like what you're saying. So one of the first travel trends, they had a term for it that I didn't write down in my notes, but it was like astro travel.
01:00:10
Speaker
But it was, I wrote here, like, look up. People are wanting to travel to places without light pollution. People are really fascinated by space right now. They want to see like the total dark sky with all the clouds or the northern lights when traveling to see the northern lights is really, really popular. But specifically for spring, summer, it's all about the stars. And so there's these different, especially in Africa, where they're really capitalizing on offering this as an experience because there's so little light pollution.
01:00:39
Speaker
and it's nice and warm out. And so there's a couple different places offering something called star beds, which is a nice way of saying sleeping outside. Sleeping bag on the ground. It's all in the marketing. It is. It is star beds. And there's an area that I'm going to butcher this, and I'm so sorry, but it's like macadagadi, macadagadi pans, which is one of the largest salt flats in the world.
01:01:08
Speaker
And this is in Africa. And you just lay there and you just have this completely uninterrupted vista of the night sky. And I'm like, how romantic does that actually sound? Like salt flats. I can kind of picture that in my head. And you're in Africa and you're watching the sky. I'm like, this sounds incredible. That would have never been top of my travel bucket list, but now it is.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I love this whole trend too. And I think people are just longing for nature, right? And we've said many times on the podcast about how the feeling of being small in the natural world feels so amazing. And I think it's just that much more so for the night sky in particular. It's also funny, we just recently watched Joanna Lumley's travel documentary in the land of the Northern Lights.
01:01:59
Speaker
That's all she wanted, right? For when she was a little girl, she wanted to see the Northern Lights as they were portrayed in one of her favorite children's books. So she goes to travel as far north as she can to try to see the Northern Lights. And obviously one of our favorite YouTubers, Yona Yinten, she just feeds our fascination too with her videography of the night skies in northern Sweden.
01:02:25
Speaker
It's just, yeah, I get it. I get it because I want that too. And like you, I don't think I would have ever thought of planning an entire vacation around the sky. Yeah. But now I would be into that.
01:02:41
Speaker
Oh, I love it. And then another thing, and I just have to say it's really brief because it really doesn't need any explanation, but more and more people are looking into home swapping, right? People are on a budget and they do want to experience things. And we've seen in past years, this idea of kind of like going off the beaten track. People want to experience a culture more than just vacationing somewhere. That's two different types of things. And so this idea of being in someone else's home,
01:03:06
Speaker
And if you're saving money by actually swapping homes with them, so you're not like renting through Airbnb, you're actually not paying for your accommodations, you get to be part of that culture and that community in a very unique way. So I love the idea of home swapping. We don't live in an area where anyone would want to come and stay in my house. I've thought many times of it.
01:03:25
Speaker
Um, but I think it's a great idea. And I mean, we can always think back to the movie, the holiday, right? The holiday is all about the home swap. And it just seems like such a, I guess with, there's a lot that could go wrong about people staying for free in your house. Um, but just barring any of that and just the most romantic way, it sounds great.
01:03:44
Speaker
That's right. Well, the holiday was all I thought about when I saw that home swapping. You could meet Jack Black. Or Jude Law, I guess. You could meet Jude Law.
01:03:59
Speaker
Oh, but yeah, you're right. I think I would probably, I don't know if I would be brave enough to ever pull the trigger on that one, but barring all the things that might be concerning, especially if it's going through a legitimate agency maybe, I think that could be a really financially helpful thing to consider too.
01:04:20
Speaker
I think we have it in the policing in the international policing community. I think they have it like you can set up and it's trusted other police families right from around the world, which sounds really cool. So there's options. It's something to look into. Now this next one and Michelle, I know when you got my notes, probably unless you were like, Oh, I love this one too. This is so exciting.
01:04:40
Speaker
trains and train stations. So trains are, luxury trains are a big thing right now. There's some great YouTube channels where you can like, they take you right inside all these luxury trains. We put those on and become hypnotized by them. Um, although I have to say we were caught behind a train going to mass on the weekend and it was not stopping. And then it went all the way one way, then all the way the other way. And then we had to U-turn it and get out of there. And I was, we're staring at it though. And I was like,
01:05:05
Speaker
Is it a hundred years ago? Because every once in a while, I forget that trains are still a thing. You know what I mean? Like we're still using them actively to transport things across this vast nation. And I, all of a sudden I look at them, I'm like, is it 1850? Like what year is this that we're still using trains?
01:05:22
Speaker
But I love that the tracks are there, that the trains are there. Let's use what we have. And so luxury trains, but the thing that's different with 2024 is that I was reading that a lot of the old train stations that have fallen into disrepair, right? They're usually beautiful little quaint buildings. And usually they're passed by. You pop in there and use the bathroom and that's it. They're being renovated into trendy little restaurants. And now they're becoming the destination and not just something that you stop at.
01:05:51
Speaker
So I thought that's amazing. Oh my goodness. Yes. That like you take the train to the restaurant. Yes. Like it's an all-in-one. But yeah, when you, when I got your notes, I did reply in my notes with all caps lock. Yes, please. Yes. Yes to the trains. I wanted to look up prices for train getaways.
01:06:12
Speaker
so often, but maybe because they've not been as common as in the last little while. I've always just gotten the sense that it's quite expensive to do that. But I mean, the idea of going on a sleeper train with a cute bar car to have a drink in while you're cruising through mountains.
01:06:31
Speaker
that's the dream have you guys watched any of the youtube videos because if not you you can thank you later when you okay the rabbit hole is huge and there's so many travel vloggers who will take you on the night there's one that goes through peru i think it's peru
01:06:46
Speaker
That's again, not top of my travel list. I have put that luxury train. So a lot of these smaller countries have these beautiful old Victorian trains, right? That have just been kind of sitting there. And I think that this is giving them a chance to redo them and to bring tourism to their areas, which I love. They're using the infrastructure that's already there, which is great for the environment as well, instead of constantly building new things.
01:07:08
Speaker
So this one that's in Peru looks absolutely beautiful. There's many. They're really, really starting. And then not to mention the ones, Canada and the States were behind like all the time. We have the Rocky Mountaineer up here in Canada, which is super expensive, but it doesn't have necessarily the charm that some of the ones of Europe and stuff have. And then as a little side note too, I just watched the Wes Anderson movie, The Darjeeling Limited.
01:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, I haven't seen it, but I love Wes Anderson. Oh, I should watch it. It's so good. It's so good. And this being in the train in India, it is so atmospheric. So if you want to go down the train rabbit hole or the train tunnel, there's a lot for you to watch this week.
01:07:51
Speaker
Okay, all right, I choo-choo-choo. Oh, yes, yes! The train rabbit hole. I'm clapping. Amazing.
01:08:05
Speaker
Oh gosh, that's all I got though for trains. That's good. We're almost done. Okay. And then the next trend, and I love this one because I am not a hot place person. And I guess a lot of people are sick of sweating. I guess 2023 turned out to be the hottest year on recorded record, like weather history. And wow. Yeah. And so people were sweating their way through like Southern Italy and all these places. Um, so the trend this year.
01:08:29
Speaker
is called coolcationing. So going places that are a little bit cooler. So Iceland, Scotland, Finland, Latvia, these are all some of the top travel destinations of 2024.
01:08:42
Speaker
Okay. Honestly, except for traditionally tourist destinations like Rome, which is on my bucket list, all my bucket list destinations have been Northern countries. I'm so excited. Yeah. Like even, I mean, even if I can't get international to some of these places, even Northern Canada, I've been so curious about like going to Yukon. Okay. So let me tell you about that.
01:09:09
Speaker
So because we've been dying to see the Northern Lights and so I priced out our family flying up to Yukon or to the Northwest Territories and our flights alone were $8,000 for a family of sorts. And I want to petition our Canadian government because I would love to spend our money in our own country.
01:09:27
Speaker
And they're pushing for tourism up there. I'd love to spend our money in their grocery stores and in their little mom and pop, like craft stores and their hotels and their restaurants. But we can't afford to travel within our own country. And I think that is a crying shame.
01:09:40
Speaker
Yeah. Oh no, I think so too. So it would probably be cheaper at this point for us to go to like Iceland or Scotland. Yeah, that really should be taken a look at. And that's been the case in Canada for a long time, not even going up to Northern Canada, right? We can't travel easily across our country.
01:10:02
Speaker
No, which is very different for our American listeners who hop on planes all the time. Always traveling between states. It is not the same up here. Most Canadians will never see BC or Newfoundland. Pretty much stay in your province here. We don't move around a lot. So no, that's a big dream. If I could just travel Canada, that would be a great bucket list thing.
01:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, but North. Yes, North cool down. I cannot be that. Yeah, I just can't have another hot summer. So a nice cool vacations. And then speaking of cool, I'm kidding, because I don't think she's cool. Taylor Swift. Controversy. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not a Swifty. But this is also the Taylor Swift effect. But
01:10:50
Speaker
The trend this year is called gig, like a musical gig, gig tripping. So this is because her concerts are so hard to get tickets to and that if you can score tickets anywhere, you're making a full trip of it. Like you're hopping on a plane and you're flying the Sea Taylor Swift.
01:11:06
Speaker
So this idea of actually making a vacation out of going to see your favorite performer is this trend. So you're like building a whole vacation around it. This is also true with like sports events. So I guess there's been a rising popularity on the streaming service services of documentaries on like the Tour de France or
01:11:25
Speaker
What's that famous race car thing? Like the Formula One. Like the one in Europe. A fancy one. Like Monte Carlo. You know what I'm saying, like some fancy car races. People are really, I think they're wanting to see those things in person that they've never done before. So they're actually making the trip to those more exclusive sports events.
01:11:49
Speaker
So I think, I just did a quick little Google search because I have friends who listen to this podcast who are big into the famous race car races. I think, I think it's the Grand Prix and Formula One. Yeah. So I'll just say all the names. Car go fast.
01:12:11
Speaker
But did we just learn that that tours around so it was in Spain? Anyways, the whole point is it goes to exotic locales, right? So it's the whole experience, the champagne, the car races, the south of France.
01:12:27
Speaker
It's really neat, and so I could have never predicted that, but I guess people are really liking the documentaries. I think people are getting exposed through documentaries to those sports that they might have never watched before, like on a random Sunday afternoon, if one of those things came on, you might not catch it. But people are now learning about those things, and so now they're like, well, I want to go see it in person, which is really cool.
01:12:48
Speaker
And then finally, the last travel trend that I came across. And I thought this one's great to just kind of wrap everything up. It's a really nice way of showing how far we've come, again, post pandemic. It seems like people still are willing to spend a little extra money to have a new experience and to make new memories. But what's different about 2024 is they're booking it as a group of close friends or family. They're really wanting to travel with family again, maybe.
01:13:17
Speaker
People took a break from their families after being locked down with them or whatever for all those years It does seem like there's been this push to do multi-generational traveling with these private groups that are being booked And so I I think that's great I think that that says a lot about where people's priorities are at And it is a little bit more expensive way to travel when you're booking these private groups, right? Because you do your tours together you'd all try to sit together on the plane you'd be staying all together at the same hotel and
01:13:44
Speaker
But it does seem like that this is still, especially the newer generations or the younger generations are willing to save money in other spots of their lives to spend more money on making memories while traveling. And then just one travel agency that was being quoted in the article I was reading said that these types of private group bookings now account for 30% of his travel business.
01:14:04
Speaker
So yeah, it's a growing trend and then we'll just give a shout out to our friend mountain who we've had on the podcast Yes, right. He's at the Catholic traveler and he he gets large groups from all over the world coming to travel with him in Rome But you do often see big families that will book with him like grandparents cousins and some close families and stuff So if you're gonna travel to Rome, we highly recommend the Catholic traveler
Listener Favorites and Recommendations
01:14:30
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. And what a great trend. I love that. I love that that's the direction that people are going. To have that kind of shared experience really bonds people. And what better way to do that than with your family or with close friends. I really think that relationships
01:14:51
Speaker
That's another thing that we're seeing is people really trying to dig deep and figure out relationships and really try to connect with people again. And the travel trends are really reflecting that.
01:15:14
Speaker
Okay, it's time for our What We're Loving This Week segment of the show. So like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we have a clip from listener Christina Andres, who shared with us at the Dynamic Women of Faith conference in Toronto last weekend some of the things that she's been loving this week. So first, let's hear from Christina.
01:15:34
Speaker
Hi, my name is Christina and I'm here visiting the modern lady podcast table at the dynamic women of faith conference. And I'm so excited to meet Michelle and Lindsay and I want to share something that I'm loving this week, which is a
01:15:49
Speaker
Look, I started kind of late in the game. I think I heard so much about, um, he leadeth me by Father, Father Walter Sisik. And, um, I think I was meant to wait until now to start reading it because it's really been so profound for this time of my life right now.
01:16:06
Speaker
And so I'm definitely loving that this week I started out last week but anyways I'm loving it now and also something I've started to practice is getting daily sunlight early in the morning and how I wasn't expecting any kind of transformation or anything other than just trying something new but that practice of having that sun even overcast but that light in my eyes in the early morning
01:16:30
Speaker
has transformed my sleep. And really, like, I thought I was a sleepless person not getting enough at night. But I actually realized that I just having that morning light, getting better quality sleep, I need to sleep less. So it's been a really great tip for me and maybe for any other listeners. But yeah, I'm loving the sunlight in the morning and that book, He Leadeth Me.
01:16:54
Speaker
Thank you so much, Christina, for sharing those favorites of yours with us this week. Once again, it was so nice to connect with you at the conference.
Book Recommendations
01:17:03
Speaker
Okay, so now Lindsay, what have you been loving this week?
01:17:06
Speaker
Well, two weeks ago, I read Shirley Jackson's 1962 modern classic novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Have you ever heard of her or that book? I have heard of it, but I've never read it. OK, OK. Well, I wanted to revisit her after I read her book, The Haunting of Hill House, which I don't know if I ever did on this podcast, but I loved that book. And then she was really famous for a short story she did called The Lottery.
01:17:33
Speaker
And there's a movie about Shirley's life and it's starring Elizabeth Moss from Mad Men right from Handmaid's Tale. I don't think I'll watch the movie. I think there's some like inappropriate stuff in it, but there she's had a wild life. She had a really hard go, but what a fantastic writer and what a great imagination she had. So Shirley Jackson.
01:17:52
Speaker
Now, her genre is like that gothic mystery novel. It's deeply atmospheric. It's boldly modern, like especially this one that we have always lived in the castle. Yet her books also feel so timeless or like outside of time. And there's a strangeness or as some people describe it, the feeling of otherness. People, the characters feeling like they are others and outside of the ordinary.
01:18:19
Speaker
And the two novels I've read by her, the houses themselves are characters as well. The houses have a very big role to play. So in this one, and we have always lived in the castle, we meet 18-year-old Mary Cat, it's a shortened version of her name, and her sister Constance, and they live with their ailing Uncle Julian. We know that they live an isolated life in a beautiful and gated home.
01:18:43
Speaker
And we know that for some reason they're despised by everyone in their small town. The people hate them, like hate them. I can't take that lightly. And they hate the townspeople. Now we do find out what happened to the rest of their family and why their neighbors feel that the way that they do about them. The story unfolds and your feelings will go all over the place. At one point you'll feel like great sympathy and sadness for them.
01:19:08
Speaker
at other times you'll be horrified and it all reaches a very dramatic climax and you won't it'll stay with you for a long time. Now there's a recent film adaptation and I've heard that it of course not surprisingly strays from the storyline but that it's a decent movie
01:19:24
Speaker
It's really hard to find, though, right now. It's not really airing on any of the streaming services. So and if I haven't before, I can also recommend The Haunting of Hill House. So those two Shirley Jackson novels are really good. I think they're perfect for like a dark and stormy, rainy April week. Michelle, if you're needing something to read during that period. Yeah, they're not long reads and highly recommend it. OK, well, I will definitely keep those in mind if I need a break from
01:19:52
Speaker
my ongoing current classic, which is Kristen Laverne's daughter. Not quite like us. Well, I guess it's a switch in genres, but it's not like I need a lighter read. Yeah. I'll go to Shirley Jackson. Sometimes a fun mystery is lighter. Do you know what I mean in that way? It's like entertaining in a way maybe that Kristen Laverne's daughter is not.
01:20:14
Speaker
And I will just say about while that we're talking about Kristin Lavern's daughter, when I was at the Goodwill yesterday, they had the trilogy and they were, they looked like they'd never been opened, like brand new books recently published. I have already bought that. I have a set, like a box set of the trilogy from the 1930s. I already bought that at a used bookstore and they're beautiful. And I have it on my Kindle, but I had these ones in my hands too. And I'm like, is there a role where I should buy Kristin Lavern's daughter wherever I go, just so I can have copies for people?
01:20:43
Speaker
Anyways, I put them back and chose the Ralph Lauren shirt instead. But yeah, if you're interested, I can let you know the location if you want another copy. Okay. Okay, well, I'll finish the series first. Yes. And then, but I mean, like, so far, so good. But yes.
01:21:01
Speaker
Shirley Jackson for a palate cleanser from Kristin Lofrin's daughter in April. Got it. So what have you been reading this week? I'm assuming it's reading. What have you been loving this week? Well, you are right. It is what I'm reading this week.
01:21:17
Speaker
My what I'm loving is another pic that I've actually done or actually I'm currently doing with my kids But when I was deciding whether or not to include it in our episode today because of that like I'm like is this too much of a kid thing I realized
01:21:33
Speaker
that I'm actually enjoying it just as much as they are. Yeah, yeah. And so what I'm going to recommend this week is a book series called The Story of the World by Susan Weisbauer. Have you heard of these? Yes, I have heard of them, but that sounds so cool. Go ahead. Yeah.
01:21:49
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So there are four books in this series. They're history books written kind of in the narrative. So it's a story. And each one of them covers world history in a certain era. So the first book is ancient history. The second is medieval history. And the third and fourth kind of go together. They're a little bit like industrial age through to the modern age.
01:22:14
Speaker
And what I absolutely love about these books is that it goes through history by time and not necessarily by place or by event. So it doesn't necessarily follow one event from history from start to finish all in one go. It bounces all over the world to talk about what was happening simultaneously all through history, all throughout the world. And just one example, we just finished reading about the world wars.
01:22:42
Speaker
But it took like several chapters to get through everything like his first we would read about what led up to the world wars in Europe in Africa in Asia and then what was happening during the wars in North America in Russia in Central America and
01:22:58
Speaker
what happened after and because of the world wars and how all those things impacted maybe the main storyline that we know or that we would have learned in history class. There were so many other things going on. I found it fascinating and the scope of history and how it's presented is unlike anything I have ever read or watched in regards to global history. I find it excellent.
01:23:25
Speaker
So I think I'm going to reread the whole series again myself once we're finished with it as a read aloud with the kids. And I just told my husband he should read it too on his own because I love when subjects are not compartmentalized.
01:23:42
Speaker
I think if we were all able to enjoy resources and series-like story of the world a little bit more, I just I wonder how much more of a robust and more complete worldview sense that we would all have and what a huge impact that could make in how we all live today.
01:24:02
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. I think if we were to study history and read the classic literature, right, it gives us such a great worldview and understanding of the human experience that is particular to that time, but then not particular at all. That's what we start to learn, right?
The Value of Studying History
01:24:18
Speaker
Is that it's outside of history and that there is nothing, that history doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly does rhyme, as Mark Twain said. That's right. Right? So yeah, I love that.
Show Conclusion and Social Media
01:24:33
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, or YouTube at the Modern Lady Podcast. I'm Michelle Sacks, and you can find me on Instagram at mmsacks. And I'm Lindsay Murray, and you can find me on Instagram at Lindsay Homemaker.
01:25:01
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening, have a great week, and we will see you next time.