Culture

This Latino Family Went Viral For Throwing a Costco-Themed Party For Their Son

By November 25, 2019 at 1:10 pm
mandmvinyl / Instagram

Is there anything Latina moms love more than Costco? The cult-favorite market supplies its customers with amazing wholesale items at can’t-beat-it prices (let’s be honest–our madres have enough frijoles and arroz stockpiled from Costco to survive the apocalypse at this point). We all have memories of visiting Costco as a kid and stocking up on delicious samples that always tasted better in-store than they did at home.

The love for Costco seems to be an inter-generational, bipartisan experience. Recently a story about a young family throwing their one-year-old son a Costco-themed birthday party went viral after it had everyone saying to themselves: “Why didn’t I think of that?”. The party, which 34-year-old mother of two, Josie Gonzalez, originally shared on Reddit.

Photo via Reddit

Sebastian and Josie Gonzalez of Canton, Massachusetts recently made headlines when they decided to celebrate their son Mason’s first birthday with a Costco-themed party.

Considering the (non-verbal)age of Mason, it’s safe to assume that the decision to go with a Costco theme was the brainchild of Sebastian and Josie. And according to Josie Gonzalez, the idea was exactly that. “We were honestly just making fun of my husband because that is what my friends and I usually do is make fun of his love for Costco,” Josie told TODAY. “He has always loved Costco.” According to Ms. Gonzalez, Costco is a group activity that the family partakes in multiple times a week. While Josie’s husband takes the children with him to Costco on Sundays, Josie goes on Mondays to load-up on household items.

Photo via Reddit

One look at the birthday photos, and it’s evident that the family left out nothing when it came to throwing the most authentic Costco party they could imagine.

As for the guests, they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the commitment the Gonzalez family exhibited. “There was plenty of laughter every time someone walked in the house,” Gonzalez told Insider. Guests of the Gonzalez family were supplied with Costco name tags that they could personalize themselves. Some party goers even arrived in their own costumes, wearing Costco shirts, red aprons, and accessorizing with Costco’s signature hairnets. It seemed as if the guests were just as enthusiastic about the theme as the Gonzalez family was. “[Some guests] arrived with bottles of Kirkland wine and liquor, someone even brought one of Costco’s famous rotisserie chickens,” Gonzalez told Insider.

Photo via Reddit

As for the food, the family supplied their guests with Kirkland cheese, crackers, meatballs, and stuffed mushroom “samples”. The hors d’oeuvres were served on red trays and labeled with signs that mimicked Costco’s recognizable placards. The family even added semi-accurate pricing to the signs. The Gonzalezs also decked their house with a red balloon arch and red and white flowers held in Costco’s Kirkland-brand liquor bottles. The family literally thought of everything.

The Gonzalez family even went one step further, naming Mason Costco “Employee of the Year” with a commemorative collage that displayed photos of him from every month of his life.

Photo via Reddit

As for Josie Gonzalez, the Costco theme wasn’t just a lighthearted way for her to elaborately make fun of her husband. According to her, Costco holds sentimental weight for entire family.”My husband is obsessed with Costco…he goes to Costco for it all”, she said in a Reddit comment. “He was even in the Costco parking lot in Puerto Rico when he called my dad to tell him he was going to propose to me. Costco is a huge part of our lives, and our son is kind of a huge part of our lives, too, so it just seemed perfect”. As a postscript, she added, “and ridiculous, and we like ridiculous”. So do we!

A brief scroll through Twitter will show you that the Gonzalez family are not the only ones who have an undying devotion to Costco.

The culture of Costco-stanning is alive and well in the Twitterverse.

This person is so addicted to Costco that she thinks of her next visit before even finishing her current one.

There should be a Costco Addicts Anonymous group at this point. The addiction is real.

This person made a very astute observation about Costco crowds around the holidays.

Costco employees should hand out helmets and protective padding to customers at the store’s entrance during the holiday season. It might prevent unnecessary injuries.

Of course, this person made an on-point tweet about how aggravating Costco’s long lines can be.

If there’s one thing the store can work on, it’s line-control.

This person wrote a very relatable tweet about how hard it is to be frugal when you have a Costco membership.

Yes, the point of the store is for customers to save money, but it can be so hard to save money with all those samples convincing you to buy them in bulk.

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15 Fashion And Beauty Trends That Should Stay In The 2010s

Fierce

15 Fashion And Beauty Trends That Should Stay In The 2010s

By December 2, 2019 at 11:59 pm
BY  | December 2, 2019 AT 11:59 pm
hairdazzleofficial / Instagram

2019 is coming to a close, and you know what that means—we’re about to begin a whole new decade. Each decade has its ups and downs, its memorably bright moments and its tragically bad trends. The last ten years brought us some crazes that really, truly slayed…but there are so many fashion and beauty trends that we hope will NOT return in the 2020s.

Spray Tan

Credit: Pinterest

The Guardian reported that the spray tan was the fastest growing area of cosmetics in 2010. Let’s just hope. Thankfully, that statistic didn’t hold up throughout the 2010s. Let’s hope it stays that way through the 2020s.

Wedge Sneakers

Credit: Pinterest

Okay, sometimes these can be pretty fly, if paired with the right outfit. And lots of celebs loved them—from Beyonce to Alicia Keys to Nicki Minaj, they were everywhere in the early-to-mid aughts. But they’re not the most functional, if you think about the fact that they’re a sneaker, and a lot of ladies complained that they (ironically) made their legs look shorter. They’re still around, though, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them carry over into the next decade.

Couture Athleisure

Credit: Pinterest

On a similar note…athleisure?! Athleisure is just glorified sweatpants. There, I said it. But much like its weird cousin, the Wedge Sneaker, it’s likely to grossly overstay its welcome.

Cold Shoulder Cut-Out Tops

Credit: Pinterest

This is just a matter of logic, people. When you wear long sleeves, it’s probably kind of cold out, right? Why would you expose your innocent shoulders to the elements? It makes no sense. Put a real shirt on.

Glitter Roots

Credit: Pinterest

Glitter is one of those polemic things that people either love or really, really hate. Even if you fall into the former, it’s safe to say that no one is trying to keep this trend alive…glitter is hard enough to clean up, so who wants that stuff embedded in their hair? It may look cute and whimsical, but no thanks.

Heavy Contouring

Credit: Makeupandbeauty.com

Oh, the magic of contouring. No one can deny its wildly transformative powers. But in reality, contouring is something that works best when you’re in front of the camera—it’s not really for everyday life. Not only can it add unnecessary time to your morning routine, it can often have a masklike effect if not done well, and we ain’t got nothing to hide in 2020!

Single Earring

Credit: Refinery29

The single earring trend took hold in 2017 (though it started back in the 80s), and honestly—it’s tough to say whether it should stay or go. Asymmetry can be edgy and fierce, for sure, but leaving one ear completely empty? That sounds like something only Prince could pull off. Maybe it deserves a pass IF the wearer can really rock it.

Heel-less Heels

Credit: Daily Mail

Heel-less heels are often used for cosplay, which makes sense—they’re cartoonish enough to work well for a costume. And if you’re dressing up as a person whose ankles may break at any moment, they are absolutely perfect!

Bubble Nails

Credit: Pinterest

Bubble nails—or “hump” nails—are essentially fingernails in 3D. The sculpted acrylic takes on the appearance of (you guessed it!) a bubble, and even though it first came on the scene in 2009 and got pretty popular in 2015, 2020 just may not be ready for this jelly.

Clear Plastic Boots

Credit: Pinterest

Speaking of jelly, the recent clear plastic boots trend hearkens back to the jelly sandals of the 90s. There’s definitely something nostalgic about this current iteration, but boots have a tendency to make feet hot and, well, damp. Not sure how much we want to show off our sweaty feet in the years to come.

Negative Space Eyeliner

Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

We all know the satisfaction of a perfect wing, but this negative space trend would be way too hard to master. Imagine all the time it would take to perfect that little triangle—and unlike a classic winged tip, it’s unlikely to flatter most eye shapes. Thank you, next.

Flared Nails

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV8y_WthU__/?utm_source=ig_embed

Flared nails first emerged in the early aughts, but they regained traction in 2017. Why, though?

Real Fur

Credit: Imgur

Animal activists argue that clothing made from real fur is unethical, as it unnecessarily puts animals in harm’s way and are likely to be mistreated at every level of fur and leather production. With this in mind, fur alternatives are a much better trend to pursue in 2020 and beyond—

Fake Fur

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3o1ekZgT9a/

—Or are they? The truth is, faux furs pose a major threat to the environment, as the methods and materials used to produce it are teeming with petrochemical poisons. Up-and-coming “bioleathers,” made from biodegradable and lab-grown compounds, are likely to be the best alternative that the upcoming decade will have to offer.

Man Buns

Credit: Pinterest

You either love them or you hate them. Either way, it might be okay for them to stay fossilized in the 2010s, at least for a while.

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Slick Woods’ Stage 3 Melanoma Diagnosis Has Sparked a Conversation About Skin Cancer Among Communities of Color

Fierce

Slick Woods’ Stage 3 Melanoma Diagnosis Has Sparked a Conversation About Skin Cancer Among Communities of Color

By November 25, 2019 at 4:31 pm
BY  | November 25, 2019 AT 4:31 pm
slickwoods / Instagram

Fans of fashion model Slick Woods are in shock after the edgy alternative model took to Instagram last Wednesday to announce that she was going through chemotherapy. On November 20th, The Shade Room then exclusively announced that Woods was currently battling Stage 3 Melanoma and was “fighting for her life”. “At this time, we continue to pray for Slick’s health and that she’ll beat this disease,” The Shade Room said. “Her good spirit and will to fight is a testament to her strength and she’s certainly not alone in this fight given the outpouring of love and support from friends and fans all over the world”.

Woods’ initial hint towards her health troubles came from a photo she posted on Instagram last Wednesday. The photo was of herself, decked in a neon green ensemble, surrounded by friends and throwing her head back with her tongue sticking out. She captioned the photo: “How I feel about chemotherapy, shout out to everyone that gotta go through it #atleastimalreadybald”. 

The cancer diagnosis of the model, famous for being one of the faces of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line, has rocked the fashion world.

Friends and fans have flocked to Woods’ social media accounts to express their shock, grief, and support to Woods. No one expected a seemingly healthy woman of only 23-years-old to be faced with such a challenging health battle. On Woods’ photo, fans commented with supportive statements like “You got this Queen #wearesurvivors. You have my support” and “u got this. sending prayers & love ur way”.

The diagnosis is one in a long list of challenges that Slick Woods has had to face in her life. In the past, Woods has been upfront about her difficult past. Originally raised by a single mother, and then by her grandmother after her mother was incarcerated, Woods didn’t have a permanent home during her childhood. “I had a job, I had to do things I didn’t want to do, I saw a lot of s*** I shouldn’t have seen,” she told Evening Standard magazine. Once she was on her own, Woods revealed that she battled opiod addiction while living in a “traphouse”. She scraped together cash by running credit card scams. 

Woods’ diagnosis has sparked a conversation around the common misconception that people of African descent are somehow immune to skin cancer.

While statistics for skin cancer among people of African decent are lower with black people in the United States only making up 1-2% of skin cancer cases in comparison to white Americans who make up 35–45% of skin cancer cases, the truth is, anyone can get skin cancer, regardless of race. In fact, the survival rate of melanoma for people of color is lower, due to the fact that there is lower public awareness in communities of color and it shows up in less-likely places (like the soles of your feet).  “Melanin does confer some natural protection against the risk of skin cancers from UV, but everyone, of any complexion, is still at risk for sun-related skin cancers,” says dermatologist Dr. Andrew Alexis, the director of the Skin of Color Center in New York City. “There’s also just an overall lack of awareness that these cancers actually do occur in patients of color”.

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That body hurt huh #ugglife

A post shared by @ slickwoods on

Slick Woods’ diagnosis and battle is a reminder to everyone why regular skin cancer screenings are so important. As for Woods, we respect her request to not be treated like a victim by her fans or the media during this time. Instead, we commend Woods for her bravery and honesty about a situation that is so personal to her. Her courage and forthrightness is inspirational.  

On Twitter, fans of Slick Woods have taken to the social media platform to process her shocking revelation. 

It’s natural that Woods’ diagnosis would spark such a large reaction on social media–the place where she largely rose to prominence.

This fan was effusive in her praise of Slick Woods as the paradigm of female power.

Woods’ battle with cancer is simply another reasons to recognize her as the icon that she is. 

This woman used Woods’ diagnosis as an opportunity to educate the public on the omnipresence of skin cancer.

Contrary to popular belief, skin cancer does not discriminate–everyone has the potential to be at risk, regardless of ethnicity.

This person is still processing the injustice of Woods’ diagnosis as a new mother.

It seems like just yesterday when Woods was sashaying down the catwalk with a full baby bump. Life is unpredictable.

This woman had nothing but good vibes and positive thoughts for the game-changing model.

The optimistic outlook is exactly the outlook that Woods is exemplifying on her own social media platforms. 

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