Growing up in the UK, I never imagined I’d one day call Los Angeles home. However, in 2023, I traded the sheep in Wales and the Tube in London for the palm trees of Southern California.

When I first visited LA in 2020, I fell in love with a local who eventually became my partner. A few years later, our marriage brought me across the pond, and I was ready to start my new life in the City of Angels.

Although I’d traveled and lived abroad in places like South Korea and China, adjusting to life in the US has been the biggest culture shock I’ve experienced.

Here are a few things that have surprised me most since moving from the UK to LA.

I’ve observed a different attitude toward friendship in LA

In my experience, it’s not as easy to form a substantial friendship with someone in LA as it was in the UK. I’ve found that one of the first things people ask me in LA is what part of the city I live in — and my answer often dictates whether we will become friends.

Depending on traffic, driving from the west side to the east side of LA can often take over an hour, so meeting a friend or a new acquaintance on a different side of town requires effort and planning.

Back in London, for example, it always felt easy, and often quick, to hop on a train to a different part of the city — or even a different town altogether.

With good public transport, living far from friends in the UK rarely prevented my friendships from forming or flourishing.

LA’s scrappier theater scene has changed my perspective on performance art

Coming from the UK’s rich theater culture, I was curious to see how the scene in LA would compare, especially given the city is typically known for its film studios.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover a vibrant and diverse theatrical landscape, though it has a few major differences from what I had known in the UK.

For example, London’s West End is known for its polished productions of classic plays and big-budget musicals, but LA offers an eclectic mix of intimate venues and experimental spaces, emphasizing new works and avant-garde productions.

Clown comedy (a type of performance art with actors dressed like clowns) and magic shows are huge in LA, and people constantly put on performances with next to no budget.

Unlike London’s often well-funded theater ecosystem, LA’s scene thrives on scrappy creativity and an experimental spirit, shifting my view of what performances can achieve.

I was stunned by LA’s Mexican food scene

People in LA always seem to talk about clean eating and green juices. However, what quickly stood out to me was how prevalent Mexican flavors and food are in this city.

In my experience, Mexican-inspired food in the UK was most often limited to soggy nachos at the pub or overpriced but very average tacos.

However, in LA, Mexican food is super easy to come by. And it perhaps shouldn’t have been surprising, given that a 2024 Pew Research analysis found LA County to have the highest concentration of Mexican restaurants in all of the US.

I’ve found myself trying endless new dishes, like tamales, mole, and chilaquiles, which I’m now not sure I could go without. Before moving here, I hadn’t even tried a burrito.

People in LA are constantly hustling or self-promoting — traits that were often looked down upon back in the UK

Perhaps the most striking cultural difference I’ve noticed between LA and pretty much anywhere I’ve been in the UK is the relentless ambition.

Based on what I’ve seen, the profession you say you’re working toward can hold more weight than what you’re currently doing full-time.

I’ve met people who confidently say they’re writers, directors, and actors, but that often means that it’s what they do in their spare time. People constantly seem to be hustling, networking, or working on their next big project.

Although I find it inspiring, as someone from the UK, the constant drive to achieve and succeed can also feel exhausting.

Back in the UK, constant networking and self-promotion were often seen as trying too hard. I’ve had to learn to find a balance between the two extremes.

Read the original article on Business Insider

It’s easy to understand why thunderstorms are such a common fear among pets. It can be very loud, and to a dog, they’re probably very often unexpected. Since they can’t quite understand what’s going on (or when it’s going to be over), it’s no wonder they can be a bit scary. All dogs figure out their own ways to cope, though — like hiding under the bed until the storm passes, or snuggling up next to their favorite human for protection.

And then, there are storm-fearing dogs like the Corgi in the video below, who turned to a pretty unusual source of comfort once the rain started up.

On Sunday, March 9, @atlarchiethecorgi on TikTok shared the way her dog, Archie, went straight to his baby brother — an actual human baby — for comfort when the storm outside started freaking him out.

Poor Archie is so scared that he’s visibly shaking, but he’s got his head in his baby brother’s lap, and fortunately, this little one seems to understand his duty. While he sucks his thumb with one hand, he’s petting his dog with the other. This is real love, folks.

“When your dog is afraid of storms but now has a new comfort buddy,” their mom wrote in the video.

These two are lucky to have each other!

Are Corgis Good With Babies?

It’s clear to see from the video above that this baby is clearly Archie the Corgi’s emotional support human. But not all dogs will be quite so quick to decide they like a baby – let alone love them the way that Archie does!

But are Corgis good with babies and kids in general? Of course, it’s going to depend so much on the individual dog’s personality and training, but Corgis are typically a pretty good breed to have around children. As Native Pet points out, these dogs are known for being affectionate pets. Another thing they have going for them? Their high energy levels, which are great for running around outside and keeping up with the kids.

However, if you know your Corgi will be living with kids and/or babies, it’s very important to make sure they’re well socialized — and to keep in mind that above all else, these are herding dogs, and those instincts could take over and lead to a little one getting nipped.

The site also points out that Corgi’s defensive nature may cause clashes with children who don’t understand, and that they’re rather loud… just make sure baby’s got a good sound machine in the room where they’re napping!

Related: Rescue Corgi Discovers Treats For the First Time & It’s Love at First Sight

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It’s my (kid’s) party, and I’ll cry if I want to.

The things parents will do — or not do — for their kids. A mother hosting a birthday party for her youngest child did not provide food for two partygoers because their parents refused to RSVP in time.

Now she’s wondering if she took things a little too far.

Anonymously posting on Mumsnet, a UK-based parenting forum site, the mom explained her situation before asking other parents if she was being reasonable or not.

She explained that she was hosting a bounce-castle birthday party for her 8-year-old, and she sent out invites three weeks beforehand to around 40 children, asking for a response a week before the party’s date.

The mom stressed that she asked those who didn’t RSVP after some time for a response ASAP due to food allergies in the family because she “was doing individual lunch boxes for each child and would like to make sure they had the perfect party lunch box,” she wrote.

“I also put on the invites that once I got an RSVP I would provide food options for their party food box —this was put on both invites: NO RSVP = NO food provided,” she wrote on the parenting site.

In total, 32 kids were expected to be in attendance. “I now had 18 from school confirmed + 6 siblings and 8 family [members]. Happy days,” she explained.

Of course, there were still some parents who dropped their kids off at the party — despite them not acknowledging the RSVP deadline in time.

Considering how firm this mom was with her party food rules, those two unexpected kiddos did not receive lunch boxes.

That didn’t go over well with the hungry kids’ parents as they couldn’t believe the mom didn’t have any extra food.

“It wasn’t a buffet, it was tailored boxes due to allergies. I am not putting my niece at risk. It also cost me less than a buffet doing the boxes for everyone, and much less waste,” the party mom ranted online.

Luckily for this mom, many commenters validated her feelings by agreeing with how she handled things.

“YANBU (you are not being unreasonable). Warning was given on invites, they turned up so must have read it because they knew when and where to come,” one person wrote.

“The thing with spares [lunchboxes] is how many do you do though? Also, some kids can drop out due to illness, change of circumstance on the day and they end up wasted. You followed up and made it clear there would be no food for them without a rsvp … You were not unreasonable,” another commenter chimed in.

“YANBU (you are not being unreasonable). Maybe it’ll make them think twice about being so rude in future. If their children were upset, it’s entirely down to them,” someone said.

However, many other commenters felt the children shouldn’t suffer for their parents’ carelessness.

“I would have done a few extra because you’ve punished the children for their parent’s thoughtlessness,” a person wrote.

“Good for you but I’d have brought along a little extra food anticipating this. The parents deserve it but the kids don’t,” someone else said.

“I don’t think you’re unreasonable but I would definitely have made a couple of extras. I get why you didn’t though!” a commenter offered. “It’s just part of my culture to over-cater. I do what someone else suggested above though and try to get a bunch of pre-packaged stuff that we’d eventually get through anyway, just so it feels less wasteful.”

In a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, Dr. Trisha Pasricha bursts the multibillion-dollar probiotics industry’s bubble.

While fans of probiotics—including physicians, health influencers, and what Pasricha calls self-proclaimed “gut health experts”—purport that the supplements can boost your gut microbiome and treat everything from digestive issues to mental health, Pasricha is skeptical.

“The marketing claims about over-the-counter probiotics largely do not match the evidence,” Pasricha wrote. As a gastroenterologist, Pasricha said, she rarely advises her patients to take probiotics—which often surprises them.

“They’re even more surprised when I tell them that’s part of the evidence-based guidelines: The American Gastroenterological Association does not recommend probiotics for most digestive conditions,” she said.

So as we learn how pivotal the gut microbiome is for our overall health, what should we do instead? Pasricha’s recommendation is in line with what many dietitians and doctors are focusing on nowadays: a high-fiber diet.

Pasricha points out that studies show low-fiber diets can lead to the permanent loss of certain gut bacteria, leading to a less diverse gut that can worsen your health. She encourages people to focus on a diet with a variety of plants, nuts, and fermented foods to feed your microbiome the diverse nutrients it needs.

“This time-tested recommendation remains one of the strongest-studied ways to promote and preserve a healthy microbiome and improve your overall health,” Pasricha wrote.

Probiotic confusion

Pasricha pointed out that the research on probiotics is hard to rely on—with over 1,000 clinical trials of probiotics completed, there are too many different bacterial strains, doses, and outcomes being measured for scientists to come to a consensus.

Additionally, Pasricha said that probiotics, like other supplements, don’t go through rigorous clinical trials and testing by the Food and Drug Administration, like prescription drugs do. That means consumers can’t know for sure if the probiotics are as effective as manufacturers claim.

“Probiotics…have incredible potential,” she wrote, “but realizing that potential is still a nascent scientific field in many ways. Each of our microbiomes, medical history and diets is unique. We still need rigorous studies that would allow us to personalize such treatments for individuals.”

Misinformation both from marketing campaigns and social media also fuels the confusion around probiotics, Pasricha said. Marketers will sometimes extract data about the benefits of one probiotic and use that to sell their product, even if the probiotics are different, she said, “as if all probiotic types fall neatly under one big umbrella.”

Meanwhile on social media, one 2023 study found that the majority of YouTube videos about probiotics were not only positively endorsing them—but most of the content was produced by amateurs, not experts, Pasricha said.

Focus on a high-fiber diet instead

As experts have told Fortune, fiber is your frontline diet defense against cancer—especially colorectal cancer, which is on the rise among millennials and Gen Xers. Nutrition experts have also found that people who fixate too much on protein intake are often missing out on the numerous benefits of fiber, and could be worsening their health in the process.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that women eat 22 to 28 grams of fiber per day, while men should aim for 28 to 34 grams of fiber per day.

Yet Americans eat about 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day on average, according to Harvard Medical School.

While fiber supplements might seem like the easy way out, registered dietitians like Abbey Sharp have previously told Fortune that whole-food sources of fiber are your best option, as they will offer vital micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in addition to fiber.

Here are some high-fiber foods to start incorporating into your diet:

If you’re not sure where to start, nutritionist Federica Amati told Fortune this trick for building filling, high-fiber meals: Fill half your plate with some plant source—a salad, broccoli, sautéed zucchini. Next, fill a quarter of the plate with your favorite lean protein like salmon, chicken breast, edamame, or tofu. The last quarter is for a high-fiber complex carbohydrate like brown rice, barley, or sweet potatoes.

Who should take probiotics

Pasricha wrote that there are few cases in which clinical guidelines advise the use of probiotics. Those include:

“It should be noted that the guidelines do not recommend even these indications very strongly—and that the quality of evidence upon which they’re based was rated ‘low’ or ‘very low,’” Pasricha said.

She added that some people’s positive experiences using probiotics is still valid, however, as a small fraction of people can experience benefits from taking them.

“In these cases, I tell my patients I’m glad they’ve found something that has helped them and feel reassured if they’ve bought a probiotic from a company vetted by a third party,” she wrote.

However, Pasricha warns that people looking to take probiotics to alleviate belly pain or bloating may be disappointed when those symptoms do not improve—and find they wasted money in the process.

“That’s a good moment for us to pause and consider the data together,” she said.

For more on nutrition:

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Everyone loves a good rescue story, but some pets don’t immediately open up. It takes a loving, patient parent to ease their fears so they’ll learn to trust again. Rescued Cockatoo, Chloe, is one of those pets, and it’s taken 780 days to finally do the one thing these birds are known for—and it’s a beautiful moment.

If you’re in need of a heartwarming, tear-jerker of a video, this is it. Watch as Chloe chooses to take the leap and trust that her new mom will never hurt her, and will remain a steadfast, loving figure she can count on.

Chloe’s been in her new home since January 2023, and is just now beginning to understand she is safe. This sweet girl’s progress to let love in has been slow, and not always “linear,” as @apparrotly shares, but she’s still grateful for any progress at all.

In a previous clip, the timid Cockatoo let Mom pet her for the very first time—14 months after her rescue, and when Chloe first got close enough to explore Mom’s feet, she shared the clip explaining, “Chloe doesn’t let me touch her or even move my hands around her when I’m looking at her.”

So as you can see, it’s been quite a journey to get to this point, but Chloe’s getting there little by little. The video brought longtime fans who’ve followed Chloe’s story to tears.

“She’s gonna be your sidekick I know it,” famous Cockatoo Cumulus’ Mom wrote. Another added, “I am literally crying! I have been watching you build this relationship for so long!” And another offered praise writing, “I knew she would eventually get there. Trust, love and a lot or patience can overcome so much.”

Related: Precious Cockatoo Loves His Doctor So Much He Sings a Special Song About Her

How To Help a Rescue Cockatoo Adjust

Chloe’s journey is inspiring, but it’s taken a lot of work to help the reserved Cockatoo get where she’s at. Northwest Parrot Rescue explains that the acclimation process in a new home can be done in a few steps, and the first 72 hours are crucial for setting the tone.

The first is to create trust and bonding. Keep your bird in an uncovered cage for 48 hours to become familiar with the new surroundings and only the adopter should feed, water, and care for and speak softly to him/her. This is very important for forming a bond.

On the second day, only the adopter should open the cage and let the Parrot out on their own volition. The home should be distraction-free and quiet. Asks the bird to step onto your hand to slowly walk through the house. No one else should be involved. again, this matters!

Step two is strengthening the bond. The adopter shouldn’t show affection to any other pet in the home for the first three days to avoid jealousy and unwanted behavioral issues. Also, avoid responding to the Parrot if they’re making loud cries or unwanted phrases. Now’s the time for boundary-setting.

They may be acting out to see what they can get away with or to get attention—just like kids! Practice positive reinforcement by rewarding them with time out of their cage for being quiet. Do this for 30 days to set the routine. Likewise, ensure you’re giving them plenty of attention when they are out because Parrot species require a lot of dedicated time with their main person.

The org suggests offering attention in small increments of 10-15 minutes at first so any schedule changes don’t throw them off. Cuddling should be 30 minutes or less and be consistent. Parrots thrive on scheduling and consistency so if any of these things are broken in the first week home, they state to start over.

Some rescues just need a little more time to adjust, and that’s okay. Look at Chloe. 780 days later, she’s finally able to give Mom the same love in return.

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At a luxe island resort in Thailand, three childhood best friends are on vacation, having left their jobs, kids and partners at home so they can reconnect and recharge with the help of Reiki, yoga and wine. That hotel? The White Lotus — the fictional setting of Max’s hit TV show, now in its third season. The comedy-drama provides an incisive take on politics, class, gender roles and relationships — and this season, it’s the trio’s fraught friendship that’s under the microscope.

To a casual resort guest, it may seem like Kate (played by Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jacklyn (Michelle Monaghan) are just gal pals enjoying some time off. But in reality — and what is apparent to viewers — their friendship is anything but easy. The trio subtly competes for who has the lowest body fat mass. They have snarky side conversations about whatever friend went to bed early that night’s plastic surgery or political choices. They pass not-so-subtle passive-aggressive judgment on one another’s love lives and parenting styles. This friendship is stressful — for those watching along at home and to the friends who, when alone, look like they’re having anything but fun. The biggest mystery on The White Lotus isn’t the identity of the dead body teased at the beginning of the season … it’s whether this group will remain friends when they leave the island.

“This is a pretty realistic version of female friendships, especially ones who have known each other since high school,” commenter Annette Hunt shared on Max’s Instagram page. “Any time you have an odd number of friends, someone’s gonna get ganged up on by the other ones.”

As Hunt notes, the pop culture threesome is true to life. TikTok creator Sahar Dahi shared a similar experience. “Every single group of three I’ve ever been in has been a complete disaster,” she said. “I’ve decided I’m never gonna travel with groups of three, go out in groups of three, have a main group of three … there’s too much, like, ganging up, a lot of talking s*** and bullying.”

Then there’s Brandon Edelman, co-host of the “Between Us Girlies” podcast, who said that he’s happy with his four-person squad because groups of three are a recipe for disaster. “Anytime I’ve been in a friend group of three, someone is always the third wheel,” he reflected. “Especially in high school, when you’re younger, two people latch on to each other, and the third person notices — and everybody notices. And I honestly feel like sometimes as an adult, that still happens.”

So are groups of three actually problematic, or do they just get a bad rap? Here’s what some experts have to say.

You’re inviting exclusion into your friendship

Groups of three aren’t inherently bad but they do add an extra layer of complexity to friendship than when two people are hanging out.

Psychotherapist Barbie Atkinson of Catalyst Counseling tells Yahoo Life that while three-person friendships can be “really enriching,” you have to be “more intentional” than you would be in two-person friendships to avoid conflict and hurt feelings.

Spending time in a group of three can easily leave one person feeling left out. No two friendships are exactly the same, so it’s natural for someone to feel like the other two are closer or that their voice carries less weight in the group because, often, that’s the reality. But according to Atkinson, this imbalance isn’t always personal or malicious — it’s simply harder to give two people equal attention at the same time.

One example Atkinson gives is when planning a dinner with your trio. If you live closer to one of the friends, you will likely end up picking a place more convenient for two out of the three people — at least, if you’re not intentional about it. “You naturally exclude, and that can feel tricky,” she says.

Three-person friend groups can lead to triangulation

Sometimes, however, the hurt caused by a friendship with a group of three goes beyond inadvertent exclusion — especially when the group’s balance is thrown off by conflict.

One of the biggest problems with three-person friend groups is the likelihood of “triangulation,” Victoria Kress, professor of psychological sciences and counseling at Youngstown State University, tells Yahoo Life. This is when two people bond at the expense of the third person — like on The White Lotus, when Jaclyn and Laurie gossip about Kate’s political and religious leanings after she’s gone to bed for the night. While this talk connects them with each other, it alienates Kate in the process — and when she witnesses it, she’s left feeling hurt and uneasy.

“If one person is experiencing tension with another person in the group, they’ll often go to the person they aren’t experiencing tension with to try to diffuse it, so they don’t feel so alone and feel connected,” she explains, “but this is a really unhealthy and unfair dynamic to the person who is being talked about, because they don’t get an opportunity to protect or defend themselves.”

And you might end up triangulating with different members of the group at different points, as is the case on The White Lotus. That means that whatever conflict you’re having never really gets resolved: You’re talking about people without actually talking to them.

“Healthy relationships involve people talking directly with each other about their issues and concerns and communicating those and working through those so that they can become closer and build genuine intimacy,” Kress says.

Power imbalances come into play

There are also power imbalances at play with groups of three, Kress says, as often one person in the group wants to be the leader. This isn’t a problem if that person is operating from a place of kindness and looking out for the needs of the group. But as Kress explains, if they’re more interested in control and status, that can open up room for conflict, particularly if there are people in the group who don’t really assert themselves.

You know how Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is the leader of The Plastics in Mean Girls — while Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) is content to be walked all over … until her whole “we should all just stab Caesar” freak out? Kress says that groups of three can create this type of pressure cooker.

“Sometimes what you see is those people who don’t assert themselves is that they can explode,” Kress says. “They’re frustrated that people aren’t asking what they think or what they want.”

Plus, Atkinson says that these different imbalances can also occur when one person feels closer to another in the group, which can “inadvertently fuel jealousy and competition for attention or perceived ‘best friend’ status,” Atkinson says.

When fights do happen, they can ramp up in intensity quickly, says Atkinson. A disagreement between two people within the group “suddenly involves the third,” which can “unnecessarily escalate the conflict” by bringing “a whole other person’s energy into it.”

The bottom line

Atkinson stresses that just because friend groups of three have unique challenges doesn’t mean they’re impossible to maintain healthily — but you have to “make a concerted effort” if you want to avoid the drama.

That means paying attention to how you’re communicating. Instead of triangulating when you have a conflict with a group member, it’s important to communicate directly. And while it’s normal for friendships to go through phases where people feel closer to one person than another, being mindful of giving everyone an equal voice in the friendship is also important. (That may mean heading to your furthest friend’s neighborhood for dinner occasionally!)

“If done well,” Atkinson says, “it can be really cool, and you can have so many different points of view, and know that everyone has your back and you have theirs.”