Entertainment
A Week of Outfits: Olivia Muenter


Someone recently pointed out to bestselling novelist Olivia Muenter that she tends to romanticize life. “That’s my instinct,” she told me. “Of course, life is also hard and messy, but I’m always looking for that beauty.” Olivia spoke with me from her Hudson Valley home, after the release of her buzzy new novel, Little One. Below, she shares a movie that inspired her style, jeans she’s worn hundreds of times, and a necklace engraved with a meaningful reminder…
Above: Top: DISSH. Jeans: Eloquii. Flats: Loeffler Randall.

“Plus-size-specific fashion can be deeply tragic. But when I saw these cuffed Eloquii jeans, I thought, Those are cool, period. Now I’ve worn them a thousand times. And Loeffler Randall is my favorite shoe brand of all time. For special life occasions, I’ll treat myself to a pair. My wedding shoes were from there, and the shoes I wore to the first big event for my debut novel were from there.”

Button-down: thrifted, similar. Jeans: “old ASOS,” similar. Socks: similar. Slippers: L.L. Bean.
“Growing up, I was always a bit bigger and taller than everyone. I loved fashion, but I felt like I didn’t have the body required to be a fashionable person. It really helped to find people on social media who look like me in some way. My long-time follows are Kristina Zias, Rae Ann Langas, Abisola Omole, Callie Thorpe, and Abby Bible.”

“When thrifting, I go through the men’s section first. That’s where I found this flannel, which is utterly perfect. I could buy oversized button-downs all day long. They’re the staple of all staple pieces.”

Sweater: Sézane. Trench: Gap. Pants: Nikki Chasin. Shoes: Converse. Sunglasses: Madewell.
“I always thought trenches looked so cool on other women, so I finally decided to get my own. I call it my Inspector Gadget coat. And I bought these pants at Nikki Chasin, a boutique near me in the Hudson Valley. I was thrilled that they were not only available in my size, but in-store too. That’s basically unheard of when it comes to plus-size shopping!”

Heart necklace: Monica Vinader.
“For jewelry, I pretty much just wear simple hoops, my wedding rings, and a necklace my dad gave me in high school. Then, sometimes, I’ll add this heart locket from Monica Vinader. I engraved it with the words ‘lovely as is,’ as a reminder to myself that I don’t need to change to be worthy.”

Dress: “old Dôen,” similar. Sweater: J.Crew, no longer available, similar. Boots: Shoes of Prey, no longer available, similar. Scarf: “old ASOS,” similar. Wedding band: Bario Neal.
“As a teenager, I watched the movie Bright Star, which tells the love story of poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. I was so enamored with all the costumes, colors, and textures. At the time, I was growing up in Florida, wearing popped collars and Uggs — but that movie helped me find my true personal style.”

Overalls: Gap. Top: Damson Madder, no longer available, similar. Shoes: Converse.
“I’ve never worn an item of clothing more than I’ve worn these overalls from Gap. I like pairing overalls with something that reads more feminine, like a billowy top or this leopard-print one. My clothing style is like my home style: classic, but a bit eclectic.”

Thanks for sharing, Olivia! Congratulations on your new novel. Also, should we feature Olivia’s house tour???
P.S. Many more weeks of outfits, including a vintage stylist in England, and an Indiana mother of five, with a flair for clowncore.
(Photos by Lyndsay Hannah for Cup of Jo.)
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.
Mashable Deals
Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.
Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.
You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.
Mashable Deals
Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
Mashable Trend Report
Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
Entertainment
SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.
Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.
Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”
Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.
