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Videos

Camila Cabello delivers a stunning mariachi version of 'I'll Be Home for Christmas'

camila cabello, i'll be home for christmas

Camila Cabello on PBS's "In Performance at The White House."

Holy moly, Camila Cabello single-handedly evokes the holiday spirit with her rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Cabello was part of a truly star-studded lineup for PBS’s “In Performance at The White House: Spirit of the Season,” joining legends like Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Billy Porter, three Bocellis … it seems the only thing missing from this show was a partridge in a pear tree.

The singer tweeted, “Such an incredible honor to perform again at the white house. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.”



Watching it (for the fourth time now), it’s hard to not think of Cabello’s performance of the 1940s tune as the epitome of “classic with a twist.”


I mean, the all-red jumpsuit (those gloves especially), the flowing siren hair, the jazzy, chanteuse-y vocals—those alone feel iconic.

Then cue the mariachi band. And it has all the romance of a Spanish ballad. Just … wow. When music becomes a creative vehicle that transports you somewhere else. That’s simply magic.

The song received an overwhelming amount of praise, both from tried-and-true Cabello fans and never-before-listeners:

Cabello had recently performed her mariachi cover as part of "Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City" for NBC. On Instagram she wrote, "I wanted to pay tribute to my Mexican heritage with this Christmas cover…I wanted to bring it to an audience that normally doesn't get to hear the beauty of Mariachi music."


I’d say she succeeded, because that cover is truly beautiful. Music is an amazing gift, whether giving or receiving it.

Joy

28-year-old buys cruise ship apartment because it's less than renting and he can see the world

An all-expenses-paid life for about $50,000 a year? Sounds like a deal.

A cruise ship floating on azure waters.

Living the rest of your life on a cruise ship seems like the dream of the ultra-rich. You wake up every morning and have an all-you-can-eat breakfast. Spend the afternoon hanging out by the pool or touring a fantastic city such as Rome or Dubrovnik.

At night, have a drink in the lounge watching a comedian or a jazz band, then hit the sack and do it all over again the next day. Seems too good to be true for the average person, right? Think again.

Twenty-eight-year-old Austin Wells of San Diego told CNBC that he can make it happen because it’s cheaper than living onshore in Southern California and he gets to see the world. “The thing that most excites me is I don’t have to upend my daily routine, in order to go see the world,” Wells told CNBC.

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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

From preschool philosophers to peek-a-boo parrots to dancing daddies, here's this week's roundup of joy.

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.

Here we are at the end of another year on this beautiful rock hurtling through space and, as always, it's been an eventful one.

We started the year with everyone obsessed with Wordle, then congratulated the guy who created it for his million-dollar deal with The New York Times. Russia invaded Ukraine and we witnessed the world rally behind the Ukrainian people. We said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II, the world's second-longest reigning monarch. We said hello to galaxies we'd never seen before, thanks to the James Webb telescope.

As we head into 2023, let's remind ourselves that, no matter what the people who profit off of polarization try to sell us, there is far more that unites us than divides us. Our human family may have hard problems to solve, but look how far we've come. There's so much we can do when we recognize our oneness and work together to make our world a better place.

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Health

Psychologist explains why everyone feels exhausted right now and it makes so much sense

Psychologist Naomi Holdt beautifully explained what's behind the overarching exhaustion people are feeling and it makes perfect sense.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

It seems like most people are feeling wiped out these days. There's a reason for that.

We're about to wrap up year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's been a weird ride, to say the least. These years have been hard, frustrating, confusing and tragic, and yet we keep on keeping on.

Except the keeping on part isn't quite as simple as it sounds. Despite the fact that COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc, we've sort of collectively decided to move on, come what may. This year has been an experiment in normalcy, but one without a testable hypothesis or clear design. And it's taken a toll. So many people are feeling tired, exhausted, worn thin ("like butter scraped over too much bread," as Bilbo Baggins put it) these days.

But why?

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Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash

Mom reveals strangers' unsolicited parenting advice caused anxiety.

What is it about birthing a human that makes other people feel the need to offer you advice you didn't ask for? It's one thing to hear it from family members or friends, but some of the most condescending advice comes from strangers on the street or on the internet.

One mom's experience with unsolicited advice from strangers caused her to have extreme anxiety about leaving the house. In the video, TikTok creator Young Mi Mayer explains that the young mom in the video she stitched was being yelled at by a stranger for not having a jacket on her toddler.

She breaks down how babies and toddler are experts in communicating with their mom when they're uncomfortable, and says to her followers, "If you don't have kids you might not know this but like, children of that age, babies and toddlers are biologically built to express any level of discomfort and pain to their mother."

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Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You" at Disney World.

One of the most common misconceptions about people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is that they are emotionless. The disorder exists on a spectrum, so everyone is different, but people with ASD experience the same emotions as everyone else and sometimes more intensely.

“Sometimes, an individual with autism may display their emotions differently than one might expect, but this does not mean they are emotionless,” Autism Learning Partners wrote. “Some individuals with autism may internalize their feelings, not as a direct result of autism, but because of external factors such as bullying or trauma.”

A viral video posted by mother Jennifer White-Johnson shows that people with ASD have no problem experiencing emotions and when that’s mixed with self-confidence can result in eruptions of pure, unbridled joy.

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Community

Boy Scout became Santa to foster kids in Minnesota by selling $56,396 in popcorn

'I adopted all the foster care kids in Kanabec County and Isanti County for Christmas.'

Photo by Mael BALLAND on Unsplash

Boy Scout became Santa to foster kids in Minnesota.

Most kids are busy trying to convince their parents they need a new thing added to their Christmas list a few days before the big day. But 12-year-old Jonathan "J.J." Werner in Cambridge, Minnesota, stays busy making sure other kids have something under their Christmas tree. He really takes his service projects seriously.

Last year, the young Scout worked to provide Christmas gifts for children in foster care in two Minnesota counties. This year, he added kids currently living in domestic violence shelters to the list. Jonathan raised money by participating in a popcorn fundraiser. He told KARE 11 in 2021, "I adopted all the foster care kids in Kanabec County and Isanti County for Christmas."

There were up to 120 kids in foster care in the two counties and Jonathan was able to provide a present for each of them, with the help of his mom's minivan. He made more than $46,194 in popcorn sales, and this year he beat that number by $10,000, selling $56,396 worth of popcorn.

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