#matt and kylie's wedding

[laf-outloud]

@kat.mcnamara Happy birthday @jaredpadalecki! You are one of the most caring, generous, and genuine folks I’ve ever met. You sure know how to make a great great great great grandmother proud! Thank you for always being so welcoming and supportive. Truly grateful to have a friend and mentor like you. Enjoy your day!

OMG! That fourth photo is everything!!! LOL!

[lillysilverus]

[positivexcellence]

Jared & Gen at Matt Barr, and Kylie Duffs wedding (x)

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

12" Of Pleasure 1994 House / Garage House / Dance-Pop

Firmly settling right into the middle of Pride Month with this look back at some vintage, early-to-mid-90s, certifiably gay dance jams. UK label Almighty Records has been a very popular outfit among the gay crowd since its 1989 founding, and with this album from '94, they put together a little collection of tunes that was made of both dance covers from their own catalogue as well as tracks licensed from other labels.

Now, you all know that classic early-to-mid-90s gay club sound. It's that carefree shit that makes you feel like you're dancing blissfully on a light and fluffy cloud. High-pitched string synths that surge and squeal; sharp, rich, and cheery piano chord stabs; soft combinations of kicks and snares; and a female vocal that exhibits some passion as she typically sings about love. It's deadly when done right, but by that same token, given that there's a basic formula for it, it can also feel, well, a bit formulaic and disposable at times too.

But there's two songs that manage to pull that sound off exceptionally well here: the "Woman's Prerogative mix" of Sybil's "When I'm Good and Ready," and the "Mad March Hare mix" of Kylie Minogue's "Better the Devil You Know." Both of these tunes apply that early-to-mid-90s gay dance formula, but Sybil's song comes with these added polka-dot electronic bleeps on it, and Kylie's song is just a prime example of the formula being executed perfectly. And both songs on the production tip involved the same people too. Sybil's was written and produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, and Kylie's was by Stock, Waterman, and Matt Aitken. That Stock, Waterman, and Aitken trio were known as prolific UK pop producers for quite some time too, but Aitken ended up splitting from the other two in 1991.

But my favorite song of all on this album is UK dance group Undercover's 1992 poppy house cover of Gerry Rafferty's 70s smash hit, "Baker Street." The original version of this song features probably the second most iconic use of saxophone in the entire pop music canon—just behind George Michael's "Careless Whisper"—and Undercover cleverly decided to bring it back in the early 90s to use within a dance context. But while that sax part is from the 70s, the use of it here in Undercover's version is also somewhat paradoxically way ahead of its time too, because it's utilized as the song's drop, which seems to presage that whole early-to-mid-2010s craze when using sax as the drop in a dance tune appeared to be all the rage. And I'm sure that Undercover's version received some updated remix treatment in that era too.

I also don't think that most Americans are aware of this song either, because while it was an enormous top-fiver throughout most of Europe, it didn't actually end up charting Stateside at all. So, you could probably slay something like a wedding dancefloor with this in the US, because practically no one would be expecting to hear that famous Gerry Rafferty sax part, and once they did, it might cause them all to collectively lose their shit 🤯. It would probably work better with the radio edit instead of this extended version though, because the radio edit hides the sax until the chorus, and this extended version actually opens with some of it.

And another reason why I particularly adore this song is because it also incorporates my favorite synthesizer sound from this era: the Korg M1's Organ Preset 2, which has been used in a whole bunch of different songs, and perhaps most famously in Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman," which is another early 90s gay club classic.

Much of this album honestly feels a bit lacking almost three decades later, but the few tunes that I've mentioned in this post here still make for some exquisite examples of terrific early-to-mid-90s gay dance fare.

🏳‍🌈Happy Pride!🏳‍🌈

Highlights:

Sybil - "When I'm Good and Ready (The Woman's Prerogative mix)" Kylie Minogue - "Better the Devil You Know (The Mad March Hare mix)" Undercover - "Baker Street"

More certifiably gay dance posts:

1995 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras: The Party Anthems Nights in Heaven

[cinnamonrollsos]

Desert Island Discs

You’re stranded on a desert island, but you can pick eight recordings, a book and a luxury item to have with you. You get the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible/other appropriate religious or philosophical book as a ‘freebie’. The luxury item must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside. What do you take? Say as much or as little as you like about why you made those picks

Thank you to @a-noble-dragon and @jamilas-pen for the tags.

1 Tracy Chapman – Talking About a Revolution - my favourite song of all time to play and sing

2 Louis Armstrong- What A Wonderful World - my dad sang this at my children's naming ceremonies and we sang it back to him at my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Gorgeous.

3 The Wailing Jennys – One Voice – a beautiful song featuring and about voices in harmony.

4 Mozart Requiem - The greatest music ever written. In my humble opinion.

5 Dresden Dolls – Coin-operated Boy – Piano-based punk cabaret. Is Amanda Palmer the coolest person ever?

6 Arrested Development – People Everyday – to make me smile.

7 Nick Cave and Kylie – Where the Wild Roses Grow – cool and sexy

8 The Young Uns - Be The Man - A beautiful song about a tragic story of religious homophobia. Please support The Naz and Matt Foundation in working towards a world where religion never comes between the love of a parent for their child.

Book Some giant compendium of poetry about love and nature (and how to survive on a desert island).

Luxury item A grand piano please.

If you are reading this consider yourself tagged, I would love to know more about you.

[justoneofthoseghosts]

Going into the finale, I was so convinced it would be Sylvie's final episode, that she and Matt would be engaged and she'd move to take care of the baby or something. Now that that obviously hasn't happened, how do you think (or want) their storyline to go for season 12? Matt obviously still has some time left in Oregon and I'm assuming if she adopts Julia in Illinois she can't just immediately leave the state (though I obviously don't actually know anything about how DCFS works)... Based on your recent ask, I also think season 12 will be the last season and I desperately hope they get to end the show on their terms and not be canceled/have it open ended. Like I desperately want a good series finale.

I'm rambling but what I'm hoping for is Sylvie and Matt having an actual wedding, even if it's rushed I desperately want her in a white dress. I want to see Griffin and Ben meeting their new sister and see how much Ben has changed from his grumpy self in that one episode he was in. I'd also love if the series ended with Casey as batallian chief and maybe Sylvie pregnant with baby number 2. Thoughts?

I thought it would be her last episode too! Now I think they'll get engaged in the premiere before Matt goes back to Portland and they fast forward to the fall when he comes back to Chicago. They've dropped hints that his time in Portland is ending and it seems like they retconned that again cause it hasn't been three years, has it?

I think we'll hear about them off screen. Maybe Sylvie decides to leave 51 to handle Paramedicine with Mouch full time - because Mouch is going to retire after that incident (he's not dying, okay?) and she needs more regular hours to take care of Julia. Maybe they pop in every so often depending on the actors' schedules. I'd love to see Ritter get more screen time. Maybe he helps Kylie through her time at the Academy. Maybe Herrmann and Boden begin to think about retirement too and search for the next set of leaders to take 51 forward - it could be a season long arc.

I hope they do get to end the show on a nice series finale. I would like it to be Casey and Brett's wedding and the ending shot maybe Kylie walking into 51 as a candidate, similar to how Peter Mills walked into the firehouse in the pilot just to bring it full circle.

[girlmadeofstarlight]

It was nice to see new episodes of TV once again . I give this premiere episode of CF season 12 a grade of a B.

What I liked:

BRETTSEY ENGAGEMENT!!!!!!

I really enjoyed the scenes with Sylvie and Mouch/Stella/Violet. They really are going to miss one another when she leaves.

Gallo's goodbye. So happy he has family that he's with now, it makes me happy. Also, his heartwrenching goodbye with Violet and Ritter.

Kylie is a candidate!

Things that were just meh:

For those who have waited so long for an engagement, it was so annoying not to get to see the answer! We want to see Sylvie say yes!

While I liked that we got a Brettsey family photo, this a $$$ franchise, they couldn't get a better photoshop picture?

What really slowed this episode down for me was another OFI case. It's getting really repetitive at this point and the cases lose its luster because we've already seen many cases like it before.

Not sure how I feel about Carver and Violet. I'd hope they let her take a break and focus on herself.

With that said I'm looking forward to when Matt returns and hopefully we get a wedding.

[beautytreats]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Triangle Cut Owyhee Blue Opal Gemstone Handmade Ring.

[quillandrapier]

So weird thing I noticed, both Kylie Minogue and Matt Smith were at James Corden's wedding.

It would be weird if Mat worked with James for over 10 years and not invited to his wedding too.

So do you think Mat Bayton is the Kylie Ghosts connection lol?

[raven-blends]

Celeste Cook Lookbook

I've never made a lookbook for a sim before so when I made this sim, Celeste, I loved her so much that I decided to show off all of her outfits.

Here is the CC list and my gallery ID. CC can be found mostly on TSR and Patreon but I recommend just using Google to find each piece. Some may be VIP on TSR:

Everyday: Sims3melancholic Highlight 19 MM Greenllamas Gossip Nico Rings R Sifix Crystal Dress Rusty 211105 Pearl Flower Earring Serenity Eva Necklace Rusty 210816 Shoes for Kate Urban Nails Classic French Long Matte Moonlight-sim Tattoo Set 2 Greenllamas Opal Hair Sagittariah Rosie Eyeshadow Merci Coffee Lipstick Sims3melancholic Blush N3 Divinecap Howlite Non Default Eyes Sims3melancholic Verona Skin LadySimmer Wild Child Eyeliner Sims3melancholic Eyebrows #35 Arethabee Marija Bracelet Greenllamas Alexa Hair Kijiko Eyelash YF Version 2 Pralinesims Cleavage Overlay Pack N01 Obscurus Eyes Presets 5f Lutessasims Nose Presets MonarchPresets Stanky Lip Preset

Formal: S-Club 3D Eyelashes F Snow Savvy.Sweet Alisha Afro Rusty 210816 Jewelry VII Earring JulHaos Eyeshadow #69 Rusty 210816 Jewelry VII Necklace Sifix Eden Dress

Athletic: Madlen Lea Outfit Madlen Kylie Sneakers ArethaBee Lily Hair

Sleep: GoodChillsStudio Sleepwear MM Apr22 Lace Robe Lingerie Provence Rusty 220501 Audrey V White Wedding Shoes W/O Ribbon

Party: JulHaos Lipstick #76 S-Club 3D Eyelashes V1 Bassis Sentate x HFO x Joliebean Polly Sandals Goppolsme GOLD Eyeshadow CC 04 Joliebean Malibu Necklace V2 JoanCampbellBeauty Penelope Long Dress Arethabee Crush Earrings Imvikai Lana Hair

Swim: Joliebean x HFO x Sentate Confetti Hair v1 Joliebean Coconut Water Bikini Bottom and Top

Hot Weather: Sifix Darla Dress Sagittariah Rosie Eyeshadow Greenllamas Maple Hair

Cold Weather: Madlen Colette Outfit Sentate Simone Boots

Blender scene by SLFJ Productions

ID: revengelovers Feel free to also add me on Origin!

[laf-outloud]

@philemonchambers WIndy x Mexico here’s a recap from this past weekend when we got to celebrate with our favorite outlaw and his moral compass. Lots of pictures/videos were taken but these are the only ones allowed out into the world.

Philemon delivers! (And apparently tried to steal Gen away from Jared! LOL!)

[bqstqnbruin]

Priceless

Ok so here I am somehow with a second fic in a matter of, what, two ish days? Anyway, this is one that I wrote and posted last year but I reread it and it sucked so I took it down and rewrote it. Hope you like it!

Word count: 5.5k

Warnings: none? swearing? Typos for sure.

_______________

You loved him with your whole heart; there was nothing that you wouldn’t do for him, and you knew that he felt the same about you. At least, that’s what you used to believe.

Ever the one for dramatics, a three am alarm was what made you question not only your whole relationship but your whole existence. The witching hour was an ungodly time to be waking up and getting ready, no matter what the reason was. Even when it involved flying off to Europe for a destination wedding that involved Jake’s entire team.

“Babe?” you call to him, the shower just turning off. He pokes his head out, hair wet, droplets of water rolling down his face as he waited for you to answer, “We’re going to have time to stop at a Dunkin’, right?” you whine, doing everything in your power to not pass out then and there instead of finishing your packing.

“Maybe?” he says, ducking back into the bathroom before coming out with just a towel on, hanging on his waist. If you weren’t so exhausted, the things you could be doing right now, your mind wanders as he continues talking, “We have to get through TSA and I don’t think they would allow you to bring that through security, would they?”

“Fucking hell,” you mutter to yourself, throwing the last of what you needed into your suitcase, trying to find anything of Jake’s lying around that you knew he would forget. “What if I finish it in the car before we go through security?” you beg, hoping he’ll cave.

“Y/N,” he sings, “then you’re going to have to use the bathroom a million times and it’s going to be my fault.”

“Do I have to be pleasant before I get coffee in me?”

You hear him laugh from the bathroom as you lean back on the bed and close your eyes. “You wouldn’t be you if you were pleasant before your coffee, babe.” You do everything in your power to try to stay awake while he gets ready, him saying random things as he runs around getting dressed, you murmuring weak responses in return. “Hey, come on, sleepyhead,” he says, pulling you off the bed, “We’ve gotta get to Logan.”

You drive there in silence, praying for the moment you get coffee in you as you still struggle to stay awake while Jake keeps talking. The car stops, Jake pulling down the window when you finally open your eyes, seeing that you were sitting in the drive-thru line at Dunkin. “God, I love you,” you say, leaning over and kissing his cheek, a smile covering his face.

“Who’s paying, you or me?” he asks, not letting you answer due to the voice of the cashier inside coming through the speaker to take your order. Two small coffees, enough to hold you over for the drive to the airport before you get more coffee once you’re through the gate. He looks at you as you stare down at your phone, having to check your bank account to see if you even had the money to begin with. “I’ll pay for both,” he says, a calm tone covering her voice.

Money for you was tight. You had never really struggled to pay your bills and your share of the utilities, but you definitely didn’t have the amount of extra cash that Jake did because of the seemingly never-ending student loan payments you were making. “I’m sorry,” you say, taking the coffee from him so he can get to driving again. You hated having the money conversation; no matter who you talked to, they always seemed to bring up the fact that your NHL player boyfriend made more money in a single season than you had seen in your entire life. It always left things awkward, as the implication of you being a gold digger hung in the air between you and the person you were having a conversation with. “I can probably transfer some money from my savings for extra stuff, but I had really only planned on buying a few meals and a few other trinkets for my family,” you admit, staring at the low number that showed in your checking account.

“Hey,” he says, resting his hand on your thigh, not taking his eyes off the road, “It’s fine. Anything you want, I’ll pay for it.” You smile at him, hoping he couldn’t tell from the corner of his eye that it wasn’t sincere. That was another thing you hated: other people covering for you. You grew up being taught that if you didn’t have money for it, you either didn’t pay for it until you had the money yourself, or you forewent it entirely. Having to worry about paying someone back was unnecessary stress in your life. Or, if they were like Jake, then they would insist it was their treat, not taking the money you owed them no matter how much it was.

You look out the window, the empty, tree-lined highway lighting up as the sun rose over it, the sky turning from the dark purple night to a brilliant orange right in front of you. You had never been one to wake up for the sunrise, taking in the sight for what was probably the first time in your life. “It’s so beautiful,” you say, taking a sip of your coffee, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this calm and quiet before.”

“I’ve seen one thing more beautiful than this,” he says, a huge smile on his face.

“What?” you ask, bracing him for the cheesy comment you knew he was going to make.

“You,” he says, proudly, trying to find your hand without looking away from the road, bringing it to his lips before connecting his back to the wheel.

“God,” you moan, both of you laughing, “That was so corny.”

“Well, they call me Chef JD, gotta have some corn sometimes,” he says, resulting in you screaming.

“I will in fact leave you if you say something like that again,” you tell him.

“Yeah? Where would you live, then?” he teases, immediately regretting his words, “Fuck, sorry.”

“I’d figure something out,” you tell him, trying to match his teasing tone so that he doesn’t think you took it the way you did. The rest of the ride to the airport is in silence, you both finishing your coffee as you pull up, seeing some of the guys getting their stuff out of their car at the same time. “Hey, aren’t international flights normally at night?” you ask Jake, Charlie, and Matt coming over to help you guys get your bags.

“Bergy booked the flight for all of us and we don’t question him,” Charlie says, pulling Jake away from you, the two of them wandering into the airport with Kylie trying to keep up with her own boyfriend

“It should be more concerning to all of you that he has to act like your father,” you say to Matt, walking with him to security. Besides Jake, you were closest to Matt. He adopted you as a pseudo younger sister, the one who knew just as much, if not more about you than your boyfriend.

Matt shrugs, watching Charlie and Jake mess around with each other in line in front of you, “It just kind of happened that way. None of us ever questioned it, like Chuck said.” The two of you watch the boys, bickering about something as they seemingly all forget their girls were standing right around them. You and Matt fall into a mundane conversation, watching Jake and Charlie together as they pass through security. The five of you gather your things, trying to find which way your gate was so you could meet the rest of the guys before boarding the flight.

Matt figured out that you were supposed to head to the left, so naturally, Jake and Charlie veered right, leaving you and Kylie with all their stuff to lug to the gate. “Where are they going?” you ask Kylie, dumbfounded as you struggle to carry Jake’s bag along with your own stuff.

“Charlie mentioned he was hungry on the way here, so I’m just hoping that’s where they’re going,” she mutters, “Dealing with all of them together is like herding cats,” clearly as cranky as you were earlier that morning as you try to stifle your laughter. Just like you, Kylie was not a person to interact with before she had caffeine in her, one of the reasons the two of you got along so well.

You get to the gate, Jake and Charlie nowhere to be seen even though you were suddenly surrounded by the rest of the Bruins roster. From the looks of the waiting area, the flight was mostly the guys and their families, and thankfully so: you would hate to be on a plane with the Bruins organization if you were outside the organization itself. You loved the boys, but god, they were loud and annoying sometimes. Everyone else on the plane would definitely hate the group, but they didn’t care. The city was fueled by the hate of everyone who wasn’t them.

Jake and Charlie finally reappear, more coffee and now food in hand. Jake hands you what he got you as you reposition yourself so you’re sitting cross-legged on the seat, slightly uncomfortable due to how scrunched up you were so you could face him. You lean over, kissing his cheek before you start eating

He turns his head to smile at you as you catch him off guard and kiss him again. “What’s this for?”

“I don’t tell you enough that I appreciate you,” you say to him, taking a bite of the breakfast sandwich he got you.

Jake smiles at you, turning himself so he faces you. He wraps his hand around the back of your neck, gently pulling you towards him so he can kiss your forehead, mumbling something you can’t quite make out against your skin. Charlie starts chirping Jake over something, resulting in him leaving you to go argue with his teammates. You can’t help but smile as you watch Jake and his teammates. You knew he loved them, just like they loved him.

“You didn’t have coffee in you when I was talking to you before and you were actually pleasant?” Matt plops down next to you, taking your attention away from Jake.

You roll your eyes at him, even though you knew he was right, “Shut up, Gryz. Jake and I stopped for coffee on the way here. This is round two,” you say, raising the cup to him. The two of you watch some of the younger guys aggregate around Jake and Charlie, Jake telling them some story while they hang onto every word of his, laughing their heads off with every sentence. “God, he loves you guys.”

“Yeah, but you know he loves you more,” Matt says, nudging your shoulder.

“I think he loves Oreos more than he loves me sometimes,” you joke, knowing that it’s not true. Hoping that it’s not true, more like it.

“Trust me, JD loves three things in this order: you, hockey, then Oreos. He loves you more than he loves hockey. Nothing you can do will change that.”

You both laugh, the announcement for your flight to board interrupting the noise the rest of the guys were making. Jake rushes over to your side, picking up the bags both of you were planning on bringing onto the plan, practically pushing Matt out of the way. He kisses you on the cheek, a soft smile on his face.

“What?” you ask him, linking your arm in his.

“I love you,” he says, getting in line behind some of the guys.

“I love you, too,” you say, leaning your head against his arm.

“Ready for seven hours on a plane with these fools?” Jake asks, using his other arm to gesture to the rest of his teammates.

“I’m only ready because you’re with me,” you say to him in a sing-songy voice.

“Woah! So you can be corny, but I can’t?” he jokes, sending you two into a flirty bickering match as you board the plane with everyone. You get settled into your seats, resting your head on his shoulder to hopefully fall back to sleep despite the amount of caffeine coursing through your veins. You can hear the guys talking around you, probably annoying the rest of the passengers on the flight more than they intended.

You end up in that half awake-half asleep state while on his shoulder, the sounds of the rest of the guys fading in and out as you did. You could feel Jake occasionally kissing the top of your head, resting his on yours in an effort to go to sleep like you were. Both of you were woken up by the sound of the flight attendant coming through with food, the long flight warranting a hot meal, you and Jake being handed something different than the rest of the people around you.

“What is it?” you whisper to him once the flight attendant has passed by you.

“None of the free meals looked good so I got us something different,” he says, taking a bite of what looked like chicken covered in some sort of sauce.

“We could have just done the free meal so you wouldn’t be paying for me again,” you mumble, a little annoyed that he didn’t even ask when paying for food made things awkward earlier that morning.

You sit there in silence, eating the food that Jake bought you. Honestly, it was airplane food, not something that you had even wanted in the first place but you couldn’t let it go to waste now.

“I think I’m gonna go sit with Charlie,” Jake says, getting up without saying another word once the food is gone, leaving you to sit there by yourself with the other people in the row.

You try to find something to watch on the screen in front of you, only to be interrupted by Matt appearing and Jake’s seat, startling you as you rip out the headphones you had on while the first movie available was starting to play. “Your boy just kicked me out of my seat by sitting on top of me.”

You can’t help but laugh, picturing the other passengers' reactions around then as the grown men that were Jake and his teammates acted like absolute children. “I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that he did that or that fact that I’m not shocked that he did that.” You watch him with Charlie, your smile fading as his grows.

“Hey, what’s up?” Matt asks, pulling your attention away from Jake.

“Same argument that we haven’t really fought over yet.” Matt was the only one on the team that knew about the seemingly never-ending awkwardness that surrounded you and Jake when it came to money. “It’s not getting worse, but it’s more frequent. I’m just worried we’re gonna end up blowing up at each other and losing each other in the process,” you tell him, fixating on the screen in front of you.

You hear him exhale, looking over to see a sad look on his face. A single lock of hair falls down in front of his forehead, moving along with the rest of his head, “Couples fight. I don’t want to tell you that you should have this argument this weekend, but you have to talk about it. And I mean really talk about it, not just the vague undertones you two constantly have dancing around the subject.”

You stare at him, slightly confused at how something like that came out of him, “I don’t like how you said that so eloquently,” you laugh, Matt throwing his head back to join you.

“But you know I’m right,” he says.

You roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” you huff, waving him off.

Without another word, he hands you his other earbud, starting a movie on his screen that would hopefully last the rest of the flight. You rest your head on his shoulder to get a better view of the screen, picturing Jake in his place.

You didn’t remember falling asleep, but you must have at some point because the next thing you know, the movie is over, the plane is about to land, and Matt is trying to get you off his shoulder so he can get back to his seat. “Hey, Y/N,” he whispers, nudging his shoulder gently. “Jake’s coming back,” he says, acting as if he didn’t want to get caught with you asleep next to him.

“Hi,” you yawn, rubbing your eyes as he plops back down in his seat, him kissing your cheek as you now struggle to stay awake. “It’s like, the middle of the night now, isn’t it?” you ask him, having no idea the time difference between Boston and where you were.

“I think it’s like 10 pm. I didn’t realize I was dating an old woman,” he jokes, pulling a laugh from you.

“You wear me out, babe,” you say, everyone getting up from their seats, the boys making more noise than anyone on the plane as people anxiously waited to get off.

“And you keep me young,” he says, giving you a quick peck before handing you your bag.

You hear someone groan behind you, turning to see Matt standing there already waiting for the two of you to move out of his way. “I’m not going to hang out with you if you’re like this the entire trip” he teases.

You can’t help but scoff, playing into the teasing nature of his comment. “Sorry, bubs, you’re the only one who didn’t bring a date so that makes you our third wheel.”

“I could third wheel any of the guys here and you know that,” he tries to defend himself as Jake grabs your hand and starts to pull you off the plane.

“That’s a weird thing to brag about,” you tell him, the three of you walking in a line to go get your bags, you and Matt carrying a conversation while Jake stands off to the side, not paying attention to the movement of the unfamiliar airport around him.

Everyone waits outside for whatever transportation Patrice had arranged to the hotel, still unsure how he swung any of the details he did. The guys had way too much energy considering how many hours they spent cooped up on a plane. You were exhausted, the coffee practically gone from your system as you tried to convince Jake to just go back to the hotel room with you and spend the night in. “Please?” you beg him, draping yourself on his arm as he waited to get your room keys.

“But the guys want to explore the city,” he whines, jutting his lip out to you.

“I have no more coffee in me,” you whine back. He pouts at you, contemplating whether or not it’s worth it to try to convince you to stay in or go explore with the guys. “I will do anything you want.”

He raises his eyebrows, pulling you close to him, “Anything?” he asks, forgetting the guys surrounding you as he kisses you, his grip around your waist tightening as his teammates start teasing the two of you.

“Hey, JD! Save that for the bedroom!” Matt chirps, your face turning bright red at his words.

“Ah, fuck off and let me love her,” he says, his forehead against yours. “I think I like the sound of the bedroom.”

You ignore the chirps from the boys as he kisses you again, the heat in your cheeks not subsiding until the two of you get to your room. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out with the guys? Apparently, the nightlife is supposed to be awesome in the city,” Jake says, flopping down on the bed. You had been there all of two seconds, and he was already starfished on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling.

You sigh, sitting down next to him. “I told you I don’t want to go out,” you repeat, a little more annoyed than you intended to sound. “I’m tired, and when we go out, we’re going to end up spending more money and-” you stop, cutting yourself off as Jake sits up.

“Hey,” he says, taking your hands in his, “I told you I would pay for you. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is, though. To me it is. I don’t need you to keep paying for me for everything. I don’t want you to.”

“What’s the big deal?”

Were you really about to have the fight you and Matt talked about on the plane in your hotel room? “Don’t you get it? You have so much money while I’m constantly struggling to make ends meet because of fucking loans. Do you know what it’s like to be a grown adult and live off someone else's money, the constant looks from people when I talk about you that say they think I’m just dating you for your money? That unless you’re home and go grocery shopping for us, I have to choose between food and gas until you get back? All I am is a fucking burden.”

“What, you think I don’t know about all of that? Why do you think I pay for you? So you don’t have to worry about food and gas,” he says, getting up.

“And I hate that you do that!” you snap, “That you feel like you have to. It’s like a slap in the face that I can never pay for anything and you have to pay for everything.”

“So what do you want me to do? Stand by and watch you struggle when I have the means to help you?” The volume of his voice matched yours, hearing doors in the hallway opening and closing, praying that it wasn’t other guests trying to figure out what room the screaming match was coming from.

“I don’t mind if you help out once in a while when I really need it but it’s stuff like the second round of Dunkin’ when I could barely get the first, the meal on the airplane when they give out free ones, or when you keep asking to go out, knowing that we’re going to spend money after I told you no.” Jake rolls his eyes, pushing past you and out the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going out with the guys. You want something, you can get it yourself, see if I care,” he hisses, leaving you standing there with the door propped open by your foot, watching him walk away. Matt gets off the elevator when he tries to get on, saying something you can’t make out when the elevator door closes.

“What the hell happened?” Matt asks, looking between you and the elevator.

You shake your head, trying to hold back the tears that were forming, knowing that there were other people in the hallway that had just witnessed the end of whatever that was. “Remember the fight you said we would have? We just had it,” you tell him, flopping down on your bed with your hands over your face. You let out a long groan, feeling the weight of Matt’s body sink the corner of the mattress down. You knew he was giving you that sympathetic look that was going to make you more upset, feeding into your already upset nature just that much more.

“What happened?” Matt repeats.

“We just finally snapped. God, of all places to have a stupid fight like this, we have at the night before your teammate is supposed to get married. I mean, fuck, we’re in Barcelona, for god's sake and you and I are here watching me mope instead of exploring like we should be.”

“Well, who says we can’t?”

“My bank account.”

Matt pries your hands off your face, forcing you to sit up despite you clearly not wanting to. “There’s so much to do in Barcelona at night that doesn’t involve spending money. We can find the guys no problem, probably doing something free.”

“And how do you expect we do that?” you ask him as he tries to drag you off the bed, grabbing the room key on the way out the door.

Matt waves his phone in the air, a smug look on his face. “I have the location of everyone on the team, past and present, on Find My Friends.”

You hesitate for a minute, your wallet and bag sitting right there by the door for you to grab to go join your boyfriend and his teammates and try to enjoy the night despite the fight you just had. “Matt,” you try to protest, your eyes darting back and forth between him and your bag. You didn’t want to worry about Jake on the night out, but you knew you couldn’t be spending a lot of money. You had been out with the guys too many times before when Jake promised they wouldn’t be big spenders, only to go home and have to worry about how you were going to survive to the next paycheck.

“If you want anything then I’ll pay for it and you pay me back with food or something. Y/N, Jake is wandering Barcelona with Charlie right now, probably just as upset as you are,” he tries to reason with you. “There’s no point in sitting here alone in your hotel room when you’re in a city that you’ve been talking about visiting for as long as I’ve known you.”

You let out a groan, knowing that he was right. “I can’t stand you,” you mumble, grabbing your bag and heading out the door with him.

Matt had his phone pulled out, trying to navigate the city based on a little dot that showed your boyfriend’s location. You had no idea where you were going, and, to be honest, you weren’t sure that Matt had any idea either. You had never been in a situation where the two of you had to wander through unfamiliar territory before, but something told you it was going to be a while before he figured out how to get to the rest of the guys.

“Matt, this is useless. We’ve been walking around for over an hour already,” you tell him, sitting down on the bench that was just off the path you had been taking.

“It hasn’t been an hour, you’re being dramatic.”

Matt sits down next to you as you pull out your phone. “We left the room at 10 pm. It’s 11. That’s an hour,” you snap at him, clearly hating that you can’t find them. “I just want to see Jake,” you mutter.

“Have either of you calmed down enough to have an actual conversation with each other? You know, not a screaming match?” Matt asks you, watching the small dots that represented his teammates move around his phone screen. “If you want to try to figure out your way around here, when neither of us speaks the language to ask for directions, we can. If not, we go back to the hotel.”

You stare at his phone, seeing JD, CM, TF, two JS’s, and a DP altogether, somewhere off the road where neither of you were able to figure out how to get to them. You shake your head, thinking about Matt’s words: you weren’t sure you were cooled off enough to talk to Jake rationally, and you had a feeling he was still the same. “Let’s just find our way back to the hotel,” you tell him, getting up off the bench.

You look at Matt, the look of sympathy covering his face as he follows you back the way you came. You probably could have easily found Jake and the rest of the guys, working out whatever the hell you needed to before the wedding tomorrow. If you couldn’t work it out, what did that mean for your future, though? If you didn’t live with Jake, you would be struggling way more than you were now, probably living paycheck to paycheck without the luxury of everything Jake did for you.

Were you wrong to be mad that he was trying to help?

The two of you get back to the hotel, the empty lobby eerily echoing with your footsteps on the marble floor. You hadn’t even noticed it before, the hotel you were staying at was probably the nicest one you had ever set foot in. You were tempted to sit on one of the chairs in the lobby, wait there for Jake and the rest of the guys to come back despite the fact that they would probably be drunk off their asses when you saw them.

Matt puts his hand on your arm, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Do you want to stay down here and wait?” he asks you, reading your mind, “Or, do you want to go back to either your room or mine?”

“I don’t want to impose,” you try to protest.

“So, you’d rather go back to an empty room and wallow alone instead of sitting on my bed, eating ice cream, and watching a movie,” he tempts you, raising his eyebrows with his offer.

“I don’t want ice cream.”

Matt scrunches his nose, letting out a laugh. “I never said the ice cream was for you. It’s summer, I can cheat on the nutrition plans a little more right now.”

He manages to pull a laugh from you, the two of you heading up to his room. You plopped yourself on his bed, your hands behind your head while you couldn’t take your mind off Jake. You really didn’t want him to be as miserable as you felt, but part of you also did want that. Was that bad?

You knew you had to set boundaries. You knew you couldn’t live without him, both financially and in life in general.

“You know,” Matt says, pulling you out of your thoughts yet again, “The guys are back here at the hotel. If you wanted to go back to your room, I’m sure you could talk to him now.”

You roll over, your back facing Matt. “I don’t think he would want to talk to me.”

Matt sighs, lying down next to you and staring up at the ceiling. “Like I told you in Boston, Jake loves you more than anything. If I know anything about him, he’s just as miserable as you are, probably back in your room panicking about where you are.”

You turn to him, narrowing your eyes. “This is your way of trying to get me out of here before the ice cream comes and you feel like you have to share with me, isn’t it?”

You both laugh, sitting up to get ready to go. “Oh, of course.”

You head out, opening the door, caught off guard by who was standing there. “Jake?”

He shoves his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet. “I thought you would be here.” You nod, both of you standing there in an awkward silence as you held the door to Matt’s room open. You didn’t know if you should speak first or wait for Jake to do it, and apparently, he felt the same.

“As much as I love just staring at you two,” Matt breaks the silence. “Would you be able to do this with my door closed? You can be in here, but,” his voice trails off. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear whatever it was you were about to talk about even though he already knew.

“We’ll see you tomorrow,” you tell him, letting his room door close behind you as Jake took your hand in his, leading you down the hall to your room.

You don’t say anything until you get into your room, both of you sitting at the foot of the bed.

“I’m sorry I got mad,” he says, his hand still in yours but unable to look at you.

“I’m sorry I got mad,” you repeat, for lack of better words to say. “We need boundaries. I get that you want to pay for things, but I need you to ask me before you do, especially if it’s something we don’t necessarily need.”

“Ok,” he draws out, trying to figure out how to frame his words. “Would you be ok with asking me for help when you need it? You know I can help you, and it kills me seeing you struggle when I have the means to make this stop.”

“I just want you to ask.”

He smiles at you, raising his hand to cup your face. “I will,” he says, his lips finding yours for a soft, sweet kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You spend the rest of the night together, trying to figure out boundaries of what and when Jake can lend you money, what should be paid back, what he doesn’t want back, everything. It was the conversation you should have had years ago, yet never did.

The next morning, you get ready for his teammate's wedding, slipping on the dress, your back towards Jake while he put on his suit. “Can you zip me up?” you ask him while he adjusted his sleeves.

He comes up behind you, his fingers holding the small zipper and slowly pulling it up your back. Jake wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you in front of the mirror hung on the wall of the room, his head nestled on your shoulder. “I can’t wait until we get married.”

You laugh, craning your neck to kiss the side of his head. “That’ll be an expensive day, won’t it,” you joke.

“Yeah, maybe. But spending the rest of my life with the girl I love? That’s priceless.”

[belladoesmakeup]

Favourite Lipsticks 2021

Hey everyone,

Welcome back to my 2021 Favourites series. If you didn't know from the 26th I have been doing daily countdowns of my favourite products from 2021. Today we will be chatting about my Favourite Lip products including glosses, cream lipsticks and matte lipsticks. While we have been wearing masks a lot this year it has given me a whole new appreciation for long lasting lipstick formulas. So sit back, relax and enjoy my countdown.

1. Kylie Cosmetics Matte Lip Kit in Candy K , £26.00. This year Kylie Cosmetics launched in the UK and I was so excited to finally test out her products but especially the lip kits. I was so excited to try out Candy K because it is a gorgeous nude lipstick and this formula it amazing. It lasts all day, doesn't move around and comes with a matching lip liner so I don't need to track one down. I love this shade and of course bought many more afterwards. If you don't want to pay £26.00 you can buy the lipstick for £16 but it won't come with the lip liner.

2. Charlotte Tilbury Look of Love Matte Revolution Lipstick in Wedding Bells , £25.00. This lipstick is just stunning, it is part of Charlotte's wedding collection she launched earlier in the year and I am obsessed with everything from the colour of lipstick to the beautiful packaging. This lipstick is a beautiful plum toned pink shade and it looks gorgeous on so many different skin tones. I love this creamy matte formula because it feels so comfy on the lips and yet it still lasts all day.

3. Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb from Gloss Bomb Gift Set 2020 in the shade Cake Shake (gift set £34.00). We all love a gloss bomb don't we? I have been using last years gloss bomb gift set and in the set was a beautiful bronzy glitter gloss called Cake Shake. I love this shade because it looks gorgeous by itself but throw it on top of a lipstick and suddenly your look is completely transformed. Like I said we all love a gloss bomb.

4. Mac Cosmetics Powder Kiss Lipstick in Velvet teddy 2.0 £19.00. This lipstick was the biggest surprise of 2021 because I never would've guessed that MAC would bring out a upgraded Velvet Teddy lipstick formula. Unlike the original this lipstick is the powder kiss formula which is a matte lightweight formula lipstick. I love this shade because unlike the original this formula is more warm toned and this has become one of my everyday go to lipsticks. I would probably go as far as to say I prefer it to the original which I didn't see coming.

5. Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Festival magic , £25.00. I have been so in love with this lipstick for so long. Originally it had a different name and I thought I would never get it again once it sold out. Little did I know it has been available all this time under a different name!! Festival Magic is my favourite winter makeup lipstick. This berry toned lipstick is my dream colour and I am so happy I finally have it. I never wear purple lipsticks but trying on this lipstick for the first time I felt so confident and bold with this colour on. Honestly it's amazing how much one little makeup product can lift your mood.

Thanks for checking out today's countdown and I'll see you tomorrow.

Lots of love

Bella x x

[positivexcellence]

kat.mcnamara: Happy Monday, y’all! Mentally, I’m still here in the glorious sunshine with the sea breeze, celebrating @matt_barr_and @kylieduff1’s wedding. The #WIndy fam danced the night away - laughed, cried, and everything in between. Thank you Matt and Kylie for a beautiful weekend and for reminding us that fairy tales, rom coms, and true love stories really do exist. 🌊✨🏰💜

[sab-carpenters]

I think critical time for Brett and Sylvie means Sylvie and Brett express to other people about the time they enjoy with each other in Portland and will miss/worry about what happens after the wedding. Because we have gotten promo photos of Sylvie talking to Violet and Kylie along with Matt talking to Severide

in the picture with sylvie, violet and kylie im pretty sure they're planning something that has to do with the wedding because both kylie and sylvie are holding a clipboard/notepad so i think it has to do with that

as for the sevasey scene, even though theyre gonna talk about stellaride's relationship, i feel like kelly may/could ask him about his relationship with sylvie (maybe tease him? which leads to a serious convo)

[tabloidtoc]

Us, January 11

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Diets That Work -- Julianne Hough

Page 2: Red Carpet -- Stars flex their right to bare leg in high-slit dresses -- Dua Lipa, Cynthia Erivo, Kristin Cavallari, Bebe Rexha, Sydney Sweeney 

Page 3: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Ariel Winter, Hailey Bieber, Shay Mitchell 

Page 4: Who Wore It Best? Olivia Wilde vs. Natalie Portman, Ashley Greene vs. Rachel Zoe 

Page 6: Loose Talk -- Barack Obama joking about quarantining with his daughter Malia’s boyfriend, Pink revealing she broke her ankle and had a staph infection in addition to testing positive for coronavirus, Amal Clooney joking to husband George Clooney about the time and effort she put into her new 1000-page legal book, Miley Cyrus on feeling like she really made it after Cher slammed her 2013 VMAs performance, Anderson Cooper on being a dad to 8-month-old Wyatt 

Page 8: Contents 

Page 10: Hot Pics -- Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani stopped at the music studio together in Pasadena 

Page 11: Tiger Woods and son Charlie teamed up for the PNC Championship in Orlando, Vivica A. Fox during a tropical getaway in Tulum in Mexico, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner took a stroll around the village and did some shopping in Mammoth Lakes, California 

Page 12: Paris Hilton and Carter Reum in Sherman Oaks, Niecy Nash showed support for Regina King at a drive-in event for her film One Night in Miami in Malibu, Candice Swanepoel in a white bathing suit in Miami 

Page 13: Duchess Camilla held a virtual royal engagement in London, Dancing With the Stars couple Sasha Farber and Emma Slater were in a great mood while out and about just days after becoming American citizens in L.A. 

Page 14: Stars They’re Just Like Us -- Matt James hit the golf course in Jupiter in Florida, Renee Zellweger with an armload of packages in L.A., pregnant Emily Ratajkowski sipped on a beverage during a beach day in L.A. 

Page 15: Molly Shannon hopped on her bike after withdrawing cash from the ATM in L.A., Sandra Lee taking out the trash at her new place just days after moving out of the N.Y. home she shared with her ex Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Malibu

Page 16: Seeing Double -- mom match with their mini-me’s -- Serena Williams and daughter Alexis Olympia Jr., Sutton Foster and daughter Emily, Gabrielle Union and daughter Kaavia, Kylie Jenner and daughter Stormi, Cardi B and daughter Kulture 

Page 17: Kourtney Kardashian and daughter Penelope, Tamera Mowry-Housley and daughter Ariah, Eva Longoria and son Santiago, pregnant Kelly Rowland and son Titan 

Page 18: Lady Gaga’s hair looks great in all hues 

Page 20: Love Lives -- Lauren Burnham and Arie Luyendyk Jr. welcoming twins 

Page 21: Kevin Jonas commemorated his 11th wedding anniversary with wife Danielle by sharing a photo of the two posing at the very spot they met, Chrishell Stause is defending her new romance with Keo Motsepe against all of the conspiracy theories, Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest’s love was built to last 

Page 22: Just days after Shia LaBeouf was sued by his ex FKA Twigs for sexual battery and assault and emotional distress Shia was spotted making out with Margaret Qualley at LAX airport -- they’re very much in the honeymoon phase and Margaret’s totally smitten and she trusts he’s not the bad guy people say he is but Margaret’s loved ones are concerned about her new beau especially her mother Andie MacDowell who’s keeping an extremely close watch on the situation and if Shia so much puts a foot out of line she’ll come down on him like a ton of bricks -- Shia insists he’s a changed man and that he’ll never go back to those dark days ever again 

Page 23: Life behind bars hasn’t been easy for Mossimo Giannulli and he’s having a rough time -- he’s in Covid-19-related protective custody and spending almost all of his time in his cell has been very mentally taxing but he’s doing his best to stay positive by reading, writing letters to his family and planning future business ventures and turning to prayer when he feels weak 

* After relapsing in December John Mulaney is hoping to make 2021 a better year and he’s committed to a total change of lifestyle -- John who has been vocal about his decades-long substance abuse struggles and he had been on a really long run of bad habits that had turned his life upside down but his family and friends are standing by his side and they’re proud that he’s finally getting the help he so desperately needed for quite some time 

* Keeping Up With Us -- Maren Morris has officially cancelled her upcoming tour due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and is in the midst of working on her third album, Rachel Zoe was scarred for life after her 9-year-old son Skyler fell 40 feet from a ski lift, TikTok star Charli D’Amerlio and her family are getting their own reality series, Wilmer Valderrama and his fiancee Amanda Pacheco are expecting their first child, six months after The Weeknd put his Hidden Hills mansion on the market for $25 million his asking price has been slashed to just under under $22 million 

Page 24: A Day in Our Life -- Sistine and Sophia Stallone 

Page 25: Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez are engaged -- she’s beyond excited and they are so in love and committed to spend the rest of their lives together and her loved ones approve of the real estate agent

Page 26: What Leah Remini Knows -- actress and Scientology critic Leah is calling out Tom Cruise for his on-set freak-out 

Page 28: Reality Bites -- these stars got their first moments in the spotlight appearing on unscripted TV shows -- Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Laverne Cox, Kesha 

Page 29: Aaron Paul, Josh Henderson, Emma Stone, Jamie Chung 

Page 31: Cover Story -- Survival of the Fittest -- how the hottest stars get and stay in shape -- Halle Berry 

Page 32: Julianne Hough, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood 

Page 33: Weight Loss Winners -- Rebel Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Adele 

Page 34: Jennifer Aniston, Gal Gadot 

Page 36: Kaley Cuoco, Jennifer Lopez 

Page 37: Power Couples -- Thom Evans and Nicole Scherzinger, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes 

Page 38: My Healthy Routine -- Kristin Cavallari, Miranda Kerr 

Page 39: Reese Witherspoon, Vanessa Hudgens 

Page 40: Style -- shades of glory -- Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2021 is actually two defining hues -- wear Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray in myriad ways 

Page 42: Entertainment -- Gina Torres on her role on 9-1-1: Lone Star 

Page 43: 2021 movie preview 

Page 46: Fashion Police -- Gwen Stefani, Ashley Roberts, Lily Collins 

Page 47: Saweetie, Gavin Rossdale, Bella Thorne 

Page 48: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me -- Brian Austin Green