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I am not a mother myself, but I’d imagine all moms eagerly await the day they can finally hear the words “I love you” sweetly whispered by their kids.

For Texas-based mom Jayla Henry, that moment might have come a little later than usual, but that certainly didn’t make it any less special. Plus, she was able to capture it all in a video that has people in tears.

The clip, which has 6.8 million views on TikTok, shows Henry baking holiday cookies with her 4-year-old son Braylon, who was diagnosed with a speech delay.

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It’s already a happy time between a mother and son, but then Braylon does the unexpected. In an outburst of pure joy, he wraps his arms around Henry’s neck, showers her with kisses and utters those long awaited words:

“I love you mommy!”

Her voice shaking, Henry quickly replies, “I love you so much!”

@jaylabrenae5 It’s an even sweeter moment for me knowing I used to pray for the days my son could tell me he loved me due to him being speech delayed. I’m in awe right now😭❤️ #momlife #sahm #mommoments #sweetestboy #toddlertalk #beautifulmoments ♬ janes love song – Miya

She then posted the video to TikTok, along with the caption:

“It’s an even sweeter moment for me knowing I used to pray for the days my son could tell me he loved me due to him being speech delayed. I’m in awe right now.”

In an interview with TODAY, Henry shared that Braylon had been diagnosed with a speech delay at 18 months old.

“He wasn’t even babbling at that point. He would just point at things,” Henry said. “That’s when we realized something wasn’t right.”

Braylon began working with a speech pathologist up until the family moved, when his parents took on the role themselves. Luckily, he was a determined and avid learner.

Henry added that at first she blamed herself for Braylon’s delay, wondering if she didn’t do enough. Knowing this guilt is a common feeling for parents of children with developmental challenges, she sought to open up about her experience so that others might feel more comfortable talking about their own.

“We need to normalize talking about the things in our life that aren’t perfect,” she told TODAY.

Clearly, Henry’s video did in fact resonate with a lot of folks.

“I pray for the day my 3 year old son can say ‘momma’ and ‘I love you.’ He has Apraxia so he says very few words,” one parent shared in the TikTok comments .

Another added, “My daughter has been in speech therapy for 3 years now. The 1st time she said ‘mommy’ I was a mess.”

The truth is, speech delays are fairly common. One out of 5 children will learn to use words a little later than other children their age. And while, yes, a speech delay might sometimes signal something more serious, the condition also can resolve on its own with a little bit of patience and encouragement.

Of course, it’s easy to say that. But for parents actually living through it, the waiting can be painful. Perhaps that’s why moments like the one Henry was able to capture carry a little extra weight—not only do parents with similar challenges feel validated, but they get the hopeful reminder that every milestone is precious, no matter when it comes.

Are we living in the golden age of Las Vegas residencies? It’s a lot more than just Celine Dion headlining evenings in Sin City these days. Adele’s Weekends With Adele residency has been wildly popular (she even disappears in a prime Vegas magic trick fashion), Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak set up camp in Vegas for a residency earlier this year, and if you ask Usher, he’ll most certainly tell you that it is, in fact, prime time for Vegas concerts. That’s because his Usher: My Way The Vegas Residency is selling out like hot cakes. But rest assured, he’s added a few more dates.

This past August, Usher announced that Usher: My Way The Vegas Residency would be returning for 2023 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Those dates quickly soon sold out and today, Usher added three more residency dates for 2023. The three additional dates that Usher added are February 24, 25, and March 1. In a sly move, he promoted fans in a tweet to, “Text (404) 737-1821 and you will receive a text with the presale password.”

The groundswell of interest for the Vegas residency coincided with a 25th Anniversary Edition release of My Way this past September.

Check out the full list of shows for Usher’s Las Vegas residency here. A pre-sale for the new dates begins on Wednesday, December 21 at 10am PT. General on-sale is on Friday, December 23 at 10 a.m. PT at the above link as well.

Paul McCartney played the iconic UK music festival Glastonbury over the summer, with a truly wild set. Between singing with the late John Lennon, through technology that had isolated The Beatles’ star’s vocals for the Disney+ Get Back documentary, and bringing both Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl out as special guests, McCartney made it a magical experience for all attendees.

Now, he’s opened up about how he felt about it all, during a recent interview with the BBC.

“Festivals are special, but Glastonbury is particularly so and it’s a big event in lots of people’s year. Because it had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, it became more important to pull it off,” McCartney shared. “I’d asked Bruce Springsteen in 2020 if he’d be happy to come onboard and he said yes, and he kept his promise two years later. So that was very exciting, having him and Dave Grohl up on the stage.

“It’s a pretty impressive scene for people in the audience, but we get the whole view up on the stage with the flags and the hills going back forever, so it was quite a big deal that they said yes to joining me in that experience,” he added. “It’s a magical thing, knowing music can do that to people. We’re the only animal on the planet that does that.”

McCartney also touched on seeing James Taylor play live, which was an experience that still brings him to tears.

“Of course, up on stage I can’t really see people’s reactions but I love to hear them because I’ve found myself doing that at concerts. I went to see James Taylor once and started blubbing because it was just so lovely! I was thinking, ‘Oh, I love this guy’ — I’m getting emotional even now!” he said.

Sometimes it might feel like the winter months (especially the holidays) were made for dark spirits and even darker beers. Stouts, porters, Scotch ales, and other dark beers get all the attention during the colder months. And bourbon, single malt Scotch whisky, rye whiskey, dark rum, and other aged spirits take center stage. But don’t undervalue the appeal of a well-made gin this time of year.

Gin offers a nice palate cleanser after the heavy food and dark beers and spirits the holiday season has to offer. It’s literally “merry and bright.” But which gin should you enjoy this season (and the rest of the frigid winter)?

Keeping it classic, I decided to pick eight of the most popular London Dry Gins and blindly nosed and tasted them. The results offer up some great mixing gins and a few true blue sippers!

Here’s the lineup:

• Sipsmith
• Gordon’s
• Broker’s
• Burnett’s
• Hayman’s
• Bombay Sapphire
• Tanqueray
• Beefeater

Part 1: The Taste

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

This gin doesn’t start with a ton of aromas. But what it does have, it does well. Juniper is bold and up front, but it’s followed by pine, licorice, orange peel, and other wintry spices. The palate continues this trend with flavors like juniper berries, pine needles, coriander, and lemon zest. The finish is warming, spicy, and memorable.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of juniper, pine, coriander, cinnamon, and other spices highlight the nose. Sipping it brings forth flavors of juniper berries, orange peels, lemon, lime, licorice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices. This is a very flavorful gin with so many bold, spicy flavors.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Pine, juniper, citrus peels. It starts with classic gin aromas but doesn’t move much past that into any exciting scents. Sipping it reveals more bold, floral, piney juniper as well as some licorice, and lemon zest. Overall, it’s just a little light on flavor besides the air freshener-like juniper.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

The nose is a trifecta of floral notes, bright, piney juniper berries, and fruity, aromatic citrus peels. Drinking it only adds to this start. Juniper berries and pine needles give way to orange peels, lemon zest, and gentle spices.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Juniper, citrus peels, pine needles, coriander, and various earthy, herbal spices make for very inviting notes. On the palate, I found flavors of bold juniper, orris root, licorice, coriander, and bright citrus. The fish is spicy, sweet, and warm.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

While juniper berries are present, this gin’s nose is really propped up by lemon zest, orange, and other citrus aromas. There’s also a floral, herbal dynamic that draws you in. On the palate, I found floral notes, lemongrass, tangerine, lime, juniper, and some coriander. The finish is warming, and gently spicy.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Juniper, orange peels, lemongrass, and just a hint of wintry spices can be found on the nose. It’s not overly exciting, but still inviting. The palate is first and foremost juniper and pine and then moves into orange peel, lemon, lime, and maybe coriander and some other light spices. The finish is a little more abrasively warm than I’d prefer.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

For a gin, this is a bit of a one-trick pony. It smells cheap as the only notable aromas are spicy juniper berries and maybe a little lemon. The palate continues this less-than-stellar trend with a heavy dose of juniper followed by lemon and orange peels. That’s really it.

No real substance to this one.

Part 2: The Ranking

8) Gordon’s (Taste 8)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $15

The Gin:

Named for its founder Alexander Gordon, this value gin has been distilled for over 250 years. This triple-distilled London Dry gin gets its flavor from juniper berries, angelica root, coriander, orange peel, and other notable flavors.

Bottom Line:

I wouldn’t suggest buying this gin unless you plan to use it to spike a holiday punch or a drink with a ton of flavors to drown out the aggressive juniper flavor. This one is definitely not for sipping.

7) Beefeater (Taste 3)

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $24

The Gin:

Beefeater is an easily identifiable gin due to its bottle that’s adorned with the iconic Tower of London guards that are technically called the Yeoman Warders, but affectionately called beefeaters. This award-winning gin is made with the brand’s original nine botanicals, including juniper, Sevilla orange, almond, or orris root.

Bottom Line:

I was fairly surprised when I saw that this was Beefeater. I expected more from such a well-known brand. All I can say is that you better plan to mix this one with bold citrus flavors instead of drinking it neat.

6) Burnett’s (Taste 7)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $15 for a 1.75-liter bottle

The Gin:

This gin can trace its history back to the 1700s when Sir Robert Burnett created its original recipe. It’s well-known for its juniper-forward flavor profile and bold, bright citrus flavor. It’s also known for its bargain price.

Bottom Line:

Burnett’s London Dry gin has a nice flavor profile of juniper and a ton of citrus, it just has a bit of an ethanol burn at the end that makes it tough as a sipper. The addition of some water can temper this. It still works better as a mixer though.

5) Tanqueray (Taste 1)

ABV: 47.3%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Tanqueray is one of the most well-known gin brands in the world and its London Dry gin is one of the best-selling gins. This juniper, licorice, angelica, and coriander-centric gin is currently distilled at Cameronbridge Distillery in Scotland.

Bottom Line:

I’m not a big fan when a gin is a bit one-dimensional. I enjoy juniper but prefer it to be paired with other complementary flavors. Tanqueray does this well. It’s only held back because there aren’t enough distinguishable flavors — it feels a tad muddled to me.

4) Broker’s (Taste 5)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $24

The Gin:

This highly-rated London Dry gin is most known for its label adorned with a dapper gentleman and the tiny black bowler hat that sits on top of the bottle. This quadruple-distilled spirit is infused with juniper, coriander, cinnamon, orange peel, and various other herbs and botanicals.

Bottom Line:

This is a well-balanced gin. While juniper is up front, it’s a great mix of pine, citrus, and spices. It’s also sweet and spicy. A great sipping gin with a single ice cube or chilled.

3) Sipsmith (Taste 4)

ABV: 41.6%

Average Price: $35

The Gin:

Sipsmith might not have the history of some of the gins on this list. But even though it was launched in 2009, this well-balanced, flavorful gin has gained a major following, and for good reason. It’s surprisingly well-priced for such a well-made London dry gin.

Bottom Line:

With its citrus flavor, it’s a great gin for a classic gin & tonic, but it’s also complex and balanced enough to make it a great slow holiday sipper.

2) Bombay Sapphire (Taste 6)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $22

The Gin:

Bombay Sapphire is just as well-known for its iconic blue bottle as it is for its ten hand-selected herbs and botanicals. These include juniper, almond, lemon peel, coriander, cassia, and even grains of paradise.

Bottom Line:

While many London Dry gins start and end with juniper. Bombay Sapphire’s bold citrus aroma and flavor make unique when compared to its counterparts. This is the sipper for the citrus-forward crowd.

1) Hayman’s (Taste 2)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $27

The Gin:

It takes two days to distill and infuse this popular artisanal London dry gin. It gets its balanced, complex flavor from the addition of juniper, angelica, orris, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other herbs and spices.

Bottom Line:

This is a complex, balanced, spicy gin. There are a ton of flavors, but they all meld together nicely to create a multi-dimensional, very sippable spirit.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Sometimes, it seems like I look for balance above all else. But what I’ve noticed after this blind taste test is that when it comes to gin, I’m looking for complexity, balance, and a ton of flavor. Not just juniper bombs will do for me when it comes to holiday sipping and mixing. You shouldn’t settle for those either.

With only a few movies left to be released in 2022 (Babylon, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Women Talking), it’s time to look ahead to next year.

Fandango polled 5,000 moviegoers to find 2023’s most anticipated movies. There must be a mistake, because Barbie isn’t #1. Instead, the honor goes to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, followed by Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. That’s a lot of Marvel (DC is bigger on certain websites), and a lot of sequels. In fact, there’s only non-sequel in the top 10: The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Other results of the annual Fandango survey:

–99% are excited to see more new movies debuting in theaters.

–97% will attend the theater more often in 2023 than in 2022.

–82% claim the moviegoing experience can’t be recreated at home.

–72% would like to see more movies in IMAX and other premium large screen formats.

Here’s the complete list, along with release dates:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5)
2. Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (June 2)
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17)
4. John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24)
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30)
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 25)
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (July 14)
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes (November 17)
9. Creed III (March 3)
10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7)

Highly-anticipated movies that didn’t make the cut include Cocaine Bear, M3GAN, and Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Cocaine bears, murder dolls, and male strippers just can’t catch a break, y’know?

(Via Deadline)

It has only been a few months since Adidas cut ties with Kanye West and the company is reportedly already preparing to start releasing its former Yeezy Supply models without the rapper’s branding. Alleged photos of the rebranded Adidas 350 V2 model hit Twitter, setting the trending topics abuzz with users weighing in on the move. The overwhelming sentiment appears to be that without the Kanye co-sign, the 350s could end up being DOA when they supposedly hit shelves early next year.

Kanye’s partnership with Adidas hit the skids sometime over the past year, with the rapper using his social media to criticize Adidas employees, including former CEO Kasper Rørsted and Vice President Daniel Cherry. He called the Adilette Slide a “fake Yeezy” despite some pretty obvious cosmetic differences, and even called out the brand for its Yeezy Day promotion going ahead without his approval — approval industry sources say he refused to give unless his demand to be installed as CEO was granted. When he started making antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews, claiming a cabal of Jews controlled the world economy, Adidas put the partnership under review. In the end, Kanye was sent packing with 100 percent of his brand but none of the designs, which Adidas created with its own resources and some input from Kanye. As it turns out, that brand may not be worth much at this point.

It was later revealed that throughout the partnership, Kanye had behaved extremely unprofessionally, bullying employees, harassing them with porn, and otherwise terrorizing anyone who had to work with him. Although Yeezy Supply brought in at least a billion dollars annually, in the end, Adidas seems better off without him — and if the 350s don’t sell, something tells me they’ll be just fine without them.

On November 22, Donald Trump played host to Black white supremacist Kanye West and infamous white nationalist/Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes with a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home and golf club. Donald Trump, Jr. didn’t seem to make a peep. But the former president’s eldest spawn suddenly has a lot to say about antisemitism, following an unfortunate design choice in The New York Times.

As Raw Story reports, Don Jr. took to Twitter to wail about how “Disgusting!” it was that the Times’ crossword puzzle seemed to mimic the shape of a swastika.

While Junior wasn’t the only person to take issue with the puzzle, which both the paper and designer swear was unintentional, his problem seemed to be less about antisemitism and more about allowing for accidental antisemitism, as evidenced by the question: “Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them?”

You mean, like a former president who broke bread with a couple of antisemites and was rightfully condemned for it?

For their part, The New York Times is defending its puzzle. In a statement to The Jewish Chronicle, a Times spokesperson said: “This is a common crossword design: Many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares.”

This is not the first time the paper’s Games section has had to defend itself against what readers have perceived as anti-Jewish imagery. In 2017, they were accused of another design that looked an awful lot like a swastika, though their response to it was far less formal:

(Via Raw Story)

This year, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin have taken a different approach to The Hanukkah Sessions, their annual series of covers of songs by Jewish artists. Instead of sharing studio recordings of the songs, Grohl, Kurstin, and a bunch of guests got together for a not-really promoted concert at Los Angeles’ Largo At The Coronet earlier this month, and it’s those performances that the duo is gradually sharing.

The series kicked off on December 18, when they shared their rendition of “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears, for which they were accompanied by Judd Apatow. The second performance dropped last night, and it was a rendition of “Get The Party Started,” for which they were joined by Pink herself.

For this rendition, Grohl was on drums while Kurstin took to the synth, delivering a relatively simple instrumental backing for Pink to sing her 2001 hit. The whole thing felt particularly off-the-cuff and fun, with Pink even forgetting her own lyrics at one point before playing it off and carrying on.

Aside from the aforementioned, artists who were also at the concert were Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Karen O, and Beck. If you want spoilers about what other recordings are on the way, here’s the concert’s setlist.

Update 12/20/22: You can now watch the official trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin below. The Witcher: Blood Origin makes it debut on Netflix on Christmas Day. Scroll down to read everything you need to know about the upcoming series.

Original Article 11/23/22: The Witcher franchise went to an unexpected place recently. Henry Cavill, whose presence was an integral part of why this show is more enjoyable than it needed to be, decided to leave the building. He shall be replaced by Liam Hemsworth, presumably so that Cavill can go back to being Superman with fewer projects on his plate. Hemsworth did the semi-stoic thing on The Hunger Games, but can he please a rabid fandom who loved that Cavill lived and breathed the video games like they were his own nerd-children?

That remains to be seen. Cavill’s second-season co-star (and onscreen mentor as Vesemir), Kim Bosnia, told us how Cavill was the soul of the show as well as its heart and brain. We’ll see Henry for one more season, but the franchise feels different now, and Hemsworth cannot be looking forward to the inevitable scrutiny that his arrival shall bring in Season 4. However, the franchise must travel back in time now for a pre-planned jaunt into the days when elves weren’t considered vermin.

That’s quite a departure from the conflicts seen in the O.G. series, which infamously saw Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier tangle with some angry, ostracized elves. That conflict led to Jaskier amplifying (with a banger) what had actually transpired and painting Geralt as the kicker of elf asses. It’s something that was completely ridiculous, but Geralt didn’t bother to correct The Bard. Now, the elves will get their day in the spotlight with the limited prequel series called The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Netflix’s four-part event series will stream on Christmas Day. A teaser trailer reveals enough sword-and-ax swinging to make John Wick take notice. Now, I’m dreaming of a crossover, but first, here’s that teaser trailer, which travels 1,200 years back in time:

This series, which will star Michelle Yeoh portrays Scian as an elven swordmaster, also stars Jodie Turner-Smith, Jacob Collins-Levy, and Sophia Brown. We’ll probably see the inception of the first Witcher prototype, but before that happens, we’ll see a world where elves weren’t nearly as shunned as they are in the series proper. We’ll see no Geralt, Ciri, or Jennifer, but I can always dream that Jaskier will time travel. Maybe not? Oh well. Let’s do an official synopsis:

Set in an elven world 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell a tale lost to history: the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that led to the pivotal Conjunction of the Spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.

The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres on December 25.

Amid a very public lawsuit with Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift is expected to take in a good chunk of her upcoming tour’s sales. Forbes is reporting that the “Anti-Hero” singer will pull in 48 times more than Ticketmaster will from her upcoming Eras tour. Meanwhile, Ticketmaster will earn substantially less.

One expert told the magazine that Swift could earn $620 million for the Eras tour. If this is the case, Billboard predicts that Ticketmaster would pull in $12.9 million of this.

While the Eras tour is expected to prove lucrative, several Swift fans weren’t able to get tickets, due to an allegedly botched and rigged presale. And hell hath no fury like Swifties scorned. Several fans have filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, alleging fraudulent practices and various antitrust violations, including price discrimination and price fixing.

According to a complaint filed in in LA County Superior Court last month, and has since been obtained by NPR, the “Defendant’s anticompetitive behavior has substantially harmed and will continue to substantially harm Taylor Swift fans, as well as competition in the ticket sales marker and the Secondary Ticket Services Market.”

At the time of writing, 26 plaintiffs, who live in 13 states across the US, are among those suing Ticketmaster.