Girlfriend birthday card

So my mother is co-parenting with her ex for my younger brother (10 M) and my younger sister (9 F). Let’s just say he was a shit partner and getting into being a shit parent. He continuously talks down to my mother when they’re texting about the kids and their activities like sports and his weekends or trips. He never used to do this it has just recently happened since he has gotten a new girlfriend. My little brother and sister hate going to their dads house because of how their dads new gf treats them. My little brother is not allowed to play his video games or watch sports with his father when they’re there on the weekends and his new gf makes my brother play dolls and stuff with my sister and her daughter, what 10 year old boy is going to want to do that? Their dad just says nothing and continues doing what he was doing. My brother is in lacrosse and has missed a few games for his friends birthdays or school events.
Last night my mom was messaging their dad about my brother not wanting to go to his lacrosse game today and their school fair is today and he wants to stay there and play at the fair and see his friends. He then texts her and says “yea whatever” and then texts her “I’ll just take him out of it since he seems to not want anything to do with stuff when I pay for it” which is not true my brother loves playing sports but he is also a kid and wants to go to school fairs and birthday parties. Their dad is also guilt tripping them most times. The most recent time they had gone to visit his new gf family in the valley and my little sister didn’t want to go and their dad told her that if she didn’t come she wouldn’t be able to go to her horse riding lesson(s) if she didn’t come. Of course she’s 9 so she went.
My mom doesn’t know how to go about this at all and just looks defeated every time he texts her about them. She lets him take them during weekdays to hockey games and just recently let him take them on a weeks long vacation on a Disney cruise, which he bought the tickets before even talking to my mom about it so didn’t really give her a choice. He’s legally only supposed to have them on his weekends but anytime he wants to switch weekends or take them somewhere she allows it. Before he has had other girlfriends and has never acted like this. He used to go to Costco and get food more mainly my siblings but would ask if she did need anything but now since getting his new gf he has been extremely rude to not only her but just not treating his own children right. It’s getting to a point that I don’t think they’re going to want to go to his place anymore on the weekend s and I don’t want this to turn into something worse when they do. Me personally my dad didn’t see how his gf had treated my brother and I and we both stopped going to his place on the weekends when we were 14 and 12 (we have different dads from our younger two siblings) because of how our step mother treated us. I am now 24 F and am now just in the last 2-3 year getting closer to my dad again and I don’t want that to happen to my siblings.
If any parents that have gone through this with their kids parent or even kids that were in this similar situation have any advice it would be much appreciated!❤️

Hi, I made the biggest mistake of my life.
My ex and I were friends for 2 years, and after we had a disagreement and stopped talking to one another, realized we had feelings for one another and dated for 8 months. We planned to get married next year, and during those 8 months spent as much time as possible together.
Before I deployed, we had what she called the best date shes ever had and the favorite night of her life.
Now she wonders how I became an asshole so quickly and I dont blame her. I deployed for 35 days unexpectedly and the first 7 days were shit, but i had her support.
She forgot my Birthday for the second year in a row and it was the beginning of my spiral. One of the big promises she made during that argument before we started dating was she would never forget.
I was destroyed because no one has ever cared about my birthday besides family. The deployment was already going terribly and there was a very big risk i would lose my career. So i broke down and told her how much this hurt me, how much i was looking forward to it. She revealed that she was planning something really beautiful in August, she just misplaced the month instead of it being in may. I still laid awake every night thinking about it, being torn up.
A friend of mine that she did not like, was the only person who remembered. That friend is someone my girlfriend felt compared to, and I understand why. I made an asshole comment that "I would" my friend before i left.
One night when my girlfriend had a bad day at work, she came to me with a story about a bunch of dudes hitting on her, and i did honestly just become hurt and started being a dick over text. I started saying "did it really happen? Sounds like something that happened on reddit." I was venting to my friend at this point and my girlfriend had sent her the same story, so she started asking the same questions i was, but then without my knowledge started insulting my girlfriend while we were talking. It went from me just having an asshole moment to pretty much being a part of bullying her.
This caused alot of damage between us, but she was still trying to make things work. She just felt uneasy speaking to me, felt afraid of me, and couldn't stand to look at my face. There were nights she was sweet and nights she was angry, nights she was cold and apathetic. I know i hurt her alot and tore her up. My deployment wasn't making anything better with the stress and timezone difference, but its not an excuse for my actions.
She presents 3 options 1. We break up 2. She supports me until im home, then we take a month break 3. We work through this but her love and trust resets to 0
At first I chose the 2nd one, because i felt time to cool down was important, but a few days later i asked for the 3rd one which was a mistake. We talked and talked, i offered therapy for both of us, a couples counselor but she didnt want anyone else involved in the relationship. She was hurt.
She broke up with me because she said she was exhausted and didnt want to be hurt anymore, she didn't want to break up but she couldn't bear it anymore. She said she wanted me to try again with her but not now.
We were silent then began talking for a few days. We spoke about happy memories, the time we had together, my issues and what needs to be done to fix them, set up boundaries and a plan for me to work on myself. I asked about getting back together and she said she needed time to think.
When i found out she had a dating profile setup after we had that conversation it broke me. I told her that i appreciated her, but i couldn't keep speaking with her while she was doing that, i told her it was completely fine for her to do that, were not dating anymore, but it hurts to see so soon, its not her fault, i just didnt want to communicate for my own mental health.
She said she was willing to let me in again, she just needed a distraction, some casual sex and hook ups to fill her loneliness. She said that but as i found out she was really looking for a new relationship.
I dont blame her, everything fell apart in a month and i didnt handle things well. I was very stressful.
Even now though she still tells me she wants us to keep talking, she wants to support me and she respects me and cares for me, shes trying to be accommodating and wants to be around me.
I shook her off the first few times and tried to go no contact because i knew i wouldn't react well but shes been hanging on and i dont know why. I keep spiraling and just getting better then worse again. Im starting to finally get my emotions under control but its came at the cost of blowing up on her a few times and just being a total dickhead. I was very pushy and mean during the breakup and a very ugly side of me came out.
Im currently scheduling to get therapy and will be trialing medications for my issues this monday. Ive lost roughly 20 pounds during this ordeal and plan to just continue my weight loss and become a slave to the gym. My ex said she wanted me to really start my career and get a solid foothold in life, so i plan to start college and a better job soon.
Im moving on but i do truthfully want to give things a try again later, after we've growed and matured and ive handled my issues. She says the same but i dont know if its possible to undo all the negative feelings she has for me. I worry that the 8 months we had together of pure bliss, those memories will be replaced and soured with the month i was terrible.
She says she wants to stick around and see me change, but we just cant be together right now. I know were both going to see other people, and thats not an issue now that ive had time to sober up and mentally evaluate my situation.
Im not clinging onto the hope that we may love again, if it happens it happens. But i just need some strangers to give me the reality, can someone really forgive or move past these actions?
During our last spat about a week ago after we had a great night playing a game together, this is what she said.
"Stop thinking so hard, It's actually starting to piss me off Like it just feels no matter how accommodating I become you just you can't handle it I just don't know why, I have zero reason to accommodate I left because I didn't like how I was being treated. You just don't like it But like I just I don't know what the fuck I'm doing wrong here I have done likewise for you because I still care a lot about you I respect you and I understand you've done the same for me I'm reciprocating and not giving up on you But you're making this really really hard I'm exhausted You were fine before You're not going insane"
The best thing I feel i can do i just back off, and be present when she feels comfortable with it. It was only a month ago we planned on marriage and a family. Now her and i both agree i changed into someone else. She has a longstanding illness that will shorten her life and I dont want to not be a part of her life. I've stopped her from killing herself multiple times, we've been through alot of shitty things through friends and as lovers, dealing with her getting discriminated against, her friends hurting her, ive been there and supported her for all that. She used to avoid expressing who she really was, i got to see her transform from a shy introvert to a social butterfly who actually wears makeup and dresses now.
I just became the bad guy and i really dont know where to go. Everything we had is destroyed. When i got home from deployment i learned my mother had stage 4 cancer in the lung and brain and it just changed my entire outlook. I dont want to give up on this person, i want to be the best friend I can and hopefully be a better love and husband if that something im allowed to even attempt in their eyes.

Hello, I am trying to customize a birthday card, I have Cricut access. I used to use the Cricut Joy app to make cards and it was super simple, I could make a card in under 15 minutes. Now that the Joy app is gone I don’t know how to make a card, so I searched for cards and picked one I wanted to Customize. Design Space says to select a finished size, so I selected the size of Cricut Joy insert cards I have on hand. When I click customize it just keeps telling to select a finished size, no matter how many times I click the size and customize it sends me in an endless loop. Please help, I don’t understand why it’s not working.
Fun craft has become so stressful, it’s no longer fun.

Hello, my gf is a runner and I'm looking to gift her a pair of running shoes or running gear for upcoming birthday. I am not a runner so I'm having hard time what I should be gifting her. I went through some gift-related posts on this subreddit and the general advice seemed to be gifting a gift card rather than actual shoes since running gears are very personal.
I was initially thinking of HOKA, but it doesn't seem like HOKA is not offering gift card option for UK website (I'm in US and she's in UK). Does anyone know any work-around for this?
I would appreciate other gift recommendations for runners too!

I am an only child and I grew up alone because my parents are both abroad. I basically raised myself, but I still lived with my aunt and grandma until high school. Since my parents are away, they provide everything I need and spoil me with what I want. We are fairly comfortable and that sets me different from our relatives.
Kaso typical Filipino culture, kapag medyo nakakaangat ka, relatives can be insecure and they will try to put you down by making stories about you. Kawawa daw ako kasi mag-isa lang, mukhang nagrerebelde daw ako, etc. This was during my early adolescence na tingin nila sakin kawawang bata ako kasi I’m left with no one. Wala din daw kasi akong kapatid iniwan pa ako ng nanay ko. They kept judging me and my parents during my formative years kaya I’ve grown to set my distance. Hindi talaga ako malapit sa kanila except for a few family events na I’m forced to attend and tuwing summer lang where a cousin will stay over at my place to play video games kaso nalaman ko as we grew older na he was just trying to get close to me so he can get some of my dad’s money. Nanghihingi sila ng pamilya niya ng pang-birthday, pang-new year, pero dalawang parents niya healthy. Unfair lang kasi kung gusto nila umangat sana diba cinonsider din nila mag-abroad kasi mas kailangan nila at tatlo silang magkakapatid.
To be fair I am in med school and patapos na ako. I may have lapses in the past like taking a gap year kasi I do have mental issues that I overcome with the help of my loving girlfriend and friends, but no one from my family. Wala talaga silang pakialam sakin pero todo congrats kapag pinopost ng mom ko achievements ko.
Now, this brother of my cousin, who used to stay over at my place, is asking for my gaming laptop. Gagamitin daw sa OJT. I felt offended kasi pinadaan pa sa tatay ko, hindi diniretso sakin eh pareho na kaming adult. 2 years lang tanda ko sa kanya. At bakit sa lahat ng pwede hingin yung gaming laptop pa. Halos lahat ng gadgets na meron ako in the past gagamitin ko lang for 1-2 years then upgrade na to pass down to them. Yung parents niya may trabaho, pati kapatid meron. Sobrang judgy nila samin tapos kapag may kailangan hihingi? Kaya nung tumagal dine-decline ko na offer ng dad ko na mag-upgrade and I stick with what I have until it gets old and itong laptop na to since 2018 pa. Wala akong narinig ever na pangangamusta man lang when I was at the pit bottom of my med school tapos ngayon manghihingi na naman sila. Not to mention na this is one of many relatives na hingi nang hingi ng kung ano sa pamilya ko and my parents are just too nice to give in everytime. But not me.
I expressed this to my dad and he said baka nahihiya lang daw. Sabi ko, “Hindi yan mahihiya manghingi kung kilala naman nila ako talaga. Nahihiya yan kasi ngayong may kailangan lang makakaalala.” I just know for sure when I rejected his request pinag-usapan na nila akong pamilya at makakarating pa to our other relatives.
ABYG kasi hindi ko na pinagbigyan at hindi na ako magbibigay because I’m over their “kawawa” facade?

I am just tired of my family for hounding me about my actions. I just want to know if I should forgive or go no contact because I am tired if arguing for 12 years. So this happend to me when I was 15. I was a sophomore in high school and I was dating a girl we will call (L), so me and L have been going out for about a year and I figured all was great between us. Her family liked me and my family liked her. I figured this is the girl I mind spend forever with. Just wanted to give a little back story. On the day of my birthday me and my little brother we will call (J) shared a birthday we were born 2 years apart but almost on the same day me the 17 and him the 16 of August. It was a good celebration we were all having fun my friends and his friends were attending and the family was there everything was in full swing. L and myself got separated after awhile and I was talking to the guests and sharing jokes and other discussions. I figured L went to my bedroom as she didn't like large crowds. After some time one of J's friends came to look for me and ask were J was. I haven't seen him in awhile either. So I went to search the house. I didn't find him on the main floor or even the renovated basement so I went to the second floor and was hearing thumping sounds. At first I checked my room and no one was in there and J's room was right across from mine. Then I heard a moan. I step up to J's door and opened it. It didn't take long for me to see what was going on. I saw my brother the person I trusted most, the guy I thought always had my bad screwing my girlfriend. I screamed and J and L tried to explain but I walked away. I went outside to get some air and the party was silent at this point. My grandpa asked what happened and I told him everything. He looked sad but said nothing. While I was outside L tried to talk to me and I told her it was over and she is a cheating whore and knew where I stood on cheating. Then she told me something else that crushed my heart even more. She told me that she used me to get to J and they have been screwing around since the 3 month of our relationship. I was devastated, I wanted to hurt my brother. To give a little bit of size difference I was 6ft 260 mostly muscle and boxed alot. My little brother was 5'11 athletic fram but didn't have the same strength I did. So I went inside and wanted to hurt him I was seeing red I didn't care what happened. My grandma stepped in front of me to stop me. My grandma told me if I hurt him I should pack up and leave and the whole family was on her side. I was so mad, I was the one who got hurt and betrayed and now this is happening. So I couldn't do anything as it was my only home. I felt I was left out and the family didn't help my pain either. The. J and L started openly dating. Everyday was a slap in the face to me and my family condoned this kind of behavior. After I hit 18 I moved out keeping low contact and haven't been to abother family gathering since. Of course J and L didn't last and they broke up about 2 years later. J would become a serial cheater and everytine one of his girlfriend would reach out to me ask me why I wasn't around I would always ask if they are J's girlfriend and tell them to leave because he is a serial cheater and will hurt them. Now fast forward the last 4 months everyone in my family wants me to rejoin them and say they miss me or some other crap but I can't get over what happened and how little I felt in that moment and how they all condoned his behavior. I have changed my number 6 times and somehow they keep getting ahold of me. They don't know where I live thank God but I am starting to get worn down. The last time any of them saw me was when my grandpa passed away and I left right away after the funeral. So reddit I am here to ask should I forgive and try again or just keep my peace and move on from them.

Tldr the love of my life was sexually assaulted in a pub restroom and i didn't murder the bastard who did it because I didn't know how severe it was and also i was scared of someone much stronger
this rape incident traumatized me, traumatized the girl and shaped my whole existence. I know I am supposed to care much more about her but what about my own future?
From childhood, I was a selfish and cowardly person who, because of these two qualities, coupled with inexperience, let down family and friends. I was beaten by my parents and offended at school, both by teachers and classmates, and I never knew how to answer. On the contrary, it began to seem to me that my bitter experience allows me to offend others, to take everything from life. I was very wrong, but definitely karma will bite me for this. My bad character and my grotesquely disgusting appearance (my left eye is lazy) led to the fact that I was fatally deprived of female attention and jealous of the men in my environment who drowned in it. Therefore, when on August 14, 2021, the most beautiful girl in my life, whom I had known for three years, invited me on a date herself, confessed her feelings to me and kissed me, I was the happiest person in the world. She was special. The most beautiful woman, dyed red hair and played rts videogames and watched anime, even let me touch her and seemed to want sex with me. However, in 48 hours everything turned upside down.
I witnessed the horrendous harassment of her on August 16th and did nothing. The rapist, our former friend, stood up and towered over her began to somehow strangely demand a kiss from her when we gathered for, as it seemed to me then, the most ordinary drinking party. I felt that she was not comfortable, but then I had no idea how bad everything was. I was too frightened by a physically stronger man to stand up for my beloved, especially since we had not officially dated yet. My God, I should have intervened already then!
The next morning, on August 17, I received a message that if I stood for her, she would have thought whether we should date or not, and since I did not see this, she does not see the point. I sobbed nine times after this message. I'm ready to cry over her right now too. What I didn't know at the time was that shortly after the kiss-demanding incident, he followed her to the restroom and started molesting her. Very bad. I even continued to communicate with this bastard for some time, not knowing the whole story. I learned about the whole picture only a week later, when we met with her in the same company on other friends birthday party (but without the rapist). It was a very difficult conversation and I made a mistake in it, my stupid head. I said complete nonsense and selfishly tried to cling to any little thing, somehow trying to rehabilitate myself, but this only hurt my beloved more. When I tried to promise that I would behave differently if I had known the full story or next time, she started making fun of me. Fucking hell. I cut off all contacts with the assaulter that same evening I had learned the full story, and he was still surprised, he said, “Why does it bother you? Fell in love with her? ”, To which I answered in the affirmative and sent the bastard to the Blocklist, after which, in the spring, I began to talk about his atrocities to the girls in our common institute. Although it hardly mattered, it was our last year at the university.
Somewhere in February, I blocked my beloved everywhere I could, because I realized that my feelings for her were not mutual and having her in my contact list, I only hurt myself. I hoped that I would forget it. Not at all. With a red-hot iron, her image is burned into my brain, heart, in my eyes. My mind is clouded, I feel disgust, shame, regret, depressive sadness, I want to cry forever. I thought that the gym and the study of foreign languages would somehow distract me from the manic desire to end a meaningless life in which I would never again touch the most beautiful and nicest woman on the planet. I began to hate my own sexuality and gladly would have self-castrated myself.
Even right now I pendulum from asexuality to wanting to fuck everyone, anyone at the first given chance. I wish this had never happened.
I want her back. More than anything in the world. I failed her. Now I have no one and nothing. My reputation is also ruined because she told everyone what happened. So now even if I wanted to find another girlfriend, I will never be able to because none would trust a coward such as myself.
It was my first time dealing with such situation and I just froze.
I wrote to my beloved and asked her forgiveness. She doesn't blame me, but when I said that I was ready to do everything for her safety for free, she said "no, but thanks for the offer." I wrote that I understand that she does not trust me, but suddenly yes, and that this is the first time in my life this has happened, to which she said that in any case I am glad that everything is fine with me and I wrote to her. I wrote her a paragraph that she gave me a lot of good emotions and this topic is difficult for me, and I want the best and make sure that everything is fine, she replied with one line "have a nice day" I wrote "you too" and deleted the chat.
I am very sad that she does not trust me and does not see me as a reliable person. She doesn't have to date me or anything, but her not trusting me hurts so much. Like a knife in the heart. I didn't do it on purpose, I panicked because it was the first time. It makes me cry and want to die so much.
Even if at some point I wanted to settle for someone else (I will never be nearly as happy as with her), I won't be able to because she told everyone what happened and news in Baku spread like forest fire.

First of all, I am very sorry if this is a well-covered subject. I feel like this is the kind of problem a lot of people might have had faced already. I am new to this community. Please feel free to refer me to past videos/posts that already cover what I'm asking about.
I have been playing video games since I was 3 years old. Even before that, my mom used to put me on her lap as she was playing video games and that would always calm me down. It has always been my favorite passtime. The only two things in my life that can ever feel better than playing are having sex/watching porn and masturbating or hanging out with friends.
Nothing else feels as good to me, even though I do have hobbies. I write, I play the piano, I go to the gym. I study psychology and I really like it. I give English lessons for some extra cash. All of these feel good, but not good enough. I can't truly commit to any of these.
I am now at a point where I have no doubt I am addicted to video games. I neglect not only my work and studies, I have not commited a single minute to my hobbies for about 3 months now, I overeat, undersleep, my libido went down and all I can think about is playing video games, usually 2 at a time, one idle game in the background, one more attention-demanding video game on the foreground. I will also listen to a podcast or just a random video of someone talking about something I don't really care about at the same time.
On paper I know what the solution is. What I should be doing is making a list of tasks I can realistically complete in a day, cleaning myself up, cleaning up my workspace, taking care of my tasks, and then, when I'm done, go and play some games.
Here's the problem though: doing these tasks feels unbearable to me even though I want to do them! My mind drifts away and I think about games. I do these pointless breaks like I will start studying but "oh I need to make myself a coffee", then go back to studying for 5 minutes, then I need to smoke, then checking the idle game for a minute won't hurt and I keep deluding myself that I will still have enough time to do everything or that I don't really need to do all that today, I can do some of it tomorrow. And this way studying 1 hour a day for a week turns into painfully, ineffectively studying for 6 hours directly before an exam and barely passing it.
And here's why I am worried that quitting completely and forever might be the solution:
Some 5 years ago I was arrested under a drug posession charge. I spent 2 months in jail before I was let out on bond, got probation, stopped breaking the law and basically fixed my life.
During these 2 months the first week was hell, I was sharing a cell with a literall murderer and another violent individual. I was also going through benzo withdrawal. But after we had a fight I got transferred to a cell with two very chill dudes that were also in for petty shit like me. Jail is boring af, so I found stuff to do. I bought notebooks, pens, pencils, I took out books from the library. I was reading more than one book a day, I was writing, drawing, playing cards with the guys, talking some, excercizing. Went from 100kg+ to 80kg in these two months (I know this is an unhealthy pace, but I was eating all my assigned food and I wasn't aware I was loosing weight. Didn't even have a mirror in my cell. I wasn't trying to do so either).
After some time I stopped feeling sad about being in jail. It was just normal. I was fully expecting to get 1-2 years for possesion and just live this life for some time.
But then I got out. And holy shit, life FELT GOOD. The grass was green as fuck, the sky was lovely. Ice cream tasted great, books were still fun to read. Of course after I met up with my family and friends, I went home. And I played for the whole night. But I didn't the next day. I excersized as usual, I made coffee, smoked a cig as usual and went to reading. I went on walks, I was applied for college, I found a job, I was still doing good, but slowly I went back to playing more and more and more and over the years I slowly got to the point where I was before, just not doing drugs.
And hey, I'm proud of myself. I had a serious issue that could KILL ME. Now I'm just unproductive. I still smoke and yeah, it's killing me slowly, but the benzos and the amount of booze I was consuming back then could have easily killed me on a bad day.
So here I am now. I've tried controlling myself, limiting screentime, but with no outside force to stop me, I always break my own rules.
I feel like the rule of "No video games, no youtube except for education/growth, TV only as passtime with girlfriend" would be easier for me to follow".
But video games are fucking fun, man. I love them. They've always been there. I love experiencing stories through them. I love playing with friends, meeting new friends online. I love the satisfaction of getting all the achievments in a game.
But I hate my current state.
Please let me know if there's anything else I can do. I am determined to fix my life but if there is a way for me to do so without giving my favorite passtime up, let me know.
I am planning to go to therapy, will call about an appointment after the weekend. (EDIT: actually, decided to check if I can book a visit online and I can. So I'm booked for July)
Thank you in advance for your attention, I have high hopes. While I wait for your answers, I'm gonna go and clean up myself, my place and get ready to go to the gym. There is no day like today and I'm at least gonna try, damn it.

I am very new to the world of turntables and vinyls, but my girlfriend has quite the collection which I have helped add to over the past 3 years we’ve been together. However, her current turntable just isn’t doing it for her anymore and she hasn’t listened to any records in nearly 2 years. I thought this may be a perfect opportunity to get her something nice and spark that interest back in her.
After minimal research, I’ve found that the built-in speaker way is not always the way to go, however it may be the only affordable option. She is not an audiophile and I think she just wants a little upgrade so she can get back into the hobby again.
I’m looking for something in the $250-$280 range. Bluetooth is not required. Preferably on Amazon too so I can get it faster than normal.

I’m 23f, I work and have no commute fees luckily but im in 1k overdraft from paying a deposit for the new place I moved to near work and opened some credit cards in February and in like 3k debt in total. I now take home 1900 after tax and my rent is 820, food is about 120 and fun money is 300 a month
im trying to start saving again. I have 2k in total but im going to use most of it to pay off my credit cards and over draft.
My credit card debt is because I moved over new years and went back home to Africa to visit my family over Christmas
Im really sad that im 23 and basically have nothing to my name or nothing to show for it. I calculate all my outgoings and im still barely able to save. I have no family to rely on in London. No inheritance or anything which is a bit anxiety inducing and makes me worry about the future
It’s quite overwhelming because my birthday is coming up in a month and I can’t really afford to do anything besides not having any friends. I also needed to help my family with some money over the past few months
Does anyone have any advice how I can stop thinking about being financially stable and money so much ?

My girlfriend and I are in Berlin at the beginning of September to celebrate her Birthday, any idea or recommendations for restaurants, activities etc? Anything helps!

So my girlfriend has her birthday on 23rd of June and during normal conversations I realized that she wants a “brown eye shadow palette”
After searching it on google, nykaa and random websites I find it extremely difficult to narrow down on one (too much variety in terms of price and brand) as I know nothing about the quality or any other metric that makes y’all buy good make up.
Help me out. My budget is 2-3.5k (not less not more) for the same. She has a fair complexion and loves to apply blush. <<<< just putting this information if in case it helps yall recommending me something.
Also, have been trying to find a women subReddit since so long. Came across twoX and realised they don’t allow men to post there. This is a cue for yall to open an Indian women subReddit which also allows men to post.

Deep down I knew I don’t need permission or confirmation that my mother is generally malignant and the ultimate source of suffering in my life right now. But I can’t accept why my own mother would do that to me.
So I am turning to you for advice, support, and insights for ways to separate yourself emotionally and individuate from your parents later in life when you should've done so much much earlier. The adult part of me knows what I should do but there is also a part of me that is frightened. let me give you a snapshot of my life trajectory. The story is long but I want to give you as much contexts as possible. If you want a short summary of the dilemma, go to the last paragraph, otherwise, here is my life story (it is long because I want to give as much context as possible, and also show clues for the many different ways a narcissistic parent can disrupt your life): I grew up in a well-to-do family in an East Asian country, my parents gave birth to me when they were in their early 20s and just as their business started taking off in the 'boom years'. Both of them came from very broken family, my mother suffered poverty, abuse, and neglect from her parents (she did not speak to her dad until he died, and almost never acknowledges her mother). My father was the least favourite child in his family of three, he dropped out of high school, ended up on the street (and, as I learnt a few years ago, later in prison for getting into fights). My mother met my dad (21) when she was 19 and ran away from her hometown, they grew a very successful business together in the early to mid 20s and became incredibly wealthy for a society that is generally still very poor. I had a lot of luxuries in my early childhood, we had a car, I had good clothing, but my parents were never around. I started boarding at the age of 3, and generally spent most of my time outside of kindergarten and school with my paternal grandparents, and occasionally, my mum's mother. My parents fought a lot, and I remember my mother threatening to take me away from my dad and drove away from home with me in a car with nowhere specific to go. Once things got really bad and my mother told me that she is divorcing my father, and we even went into another flat (for a grand total of 1 day) before returning home. She emotionally smothered me, told me that she would die for me and nobody would love me as much as her. As the expression in our language puts it ' You are a piece of flesh fallen from my body'. She hit me a lot, often over small things , sometimes in public, I remember being thrown outside of our apartment and crying in the corridor. But I thought she was better than my father, whom, in my mother's words, would swiftly remarry in an event of her death/departure, and I would then be abused by another evil mother in law and her offsprings. My dad was completely absent from my childhood save for the first year (I remember playing video game, going to the park with him at the age of 3).
Although my family was wealthy, my mother took me out of the posh international school I was in after 6 months and sent me to a state school that is (in)famous for being extremely strict and militant. I was a 'good, smart kid' in primary school, but when I got to the state school at the age around 12 or 13, I became very depressed and that life has no purpose. I was falling at almost all school subjects (except History), and I started drinking (my dad drank a lot, and alcoholism is culturally tolerated if not perpetuated). At this point something happened that saved me in retrospect. My family decided to emigrate to an anglophone New World country and I went to yet another boarding school there. Yes, I experienced racism and generally felt horrible about the way I looked (not good looking in the Western sense or sporty), but I got to be separated from my family and grew as an individual. My grades got better, and by year 12, 13 I was among the best performing students. Between 13-18, I rarely see my father (perhaps once or twice a year), my mother would visit periodically, they bought a house next to the school, so I started to live in the house (mostly alone, sometimes with my mother and whatever hapless young women she manipulated into being her assistant). My parents couldn't speak English, and I dealt with most family matters, as with many first gen immigrant kid. By the time that I was supposed to go to university, I wanted to do law & politics at the public university in my adopted hometown but then my father intervened stating that I would never get a good job at a respectful company with a degree from the backwater 2nd rate university. He insisted that I should go to the U.K. or the U.S. He also stopped me from taking a gap year to travel, so I mostly stayed at home, played game, whilst being a driver and an assistant to them for a year. I regret not leaving home and getting a job. I applied to many universities in the U.K, Canada, and Australia, got into most of them, and ended up choosing the worst ranked university because I wanted to be in London. I couldn't do a conjoint degree so I chose to study politics (as that's what I was interested in). University life was eye opening, I got to see Europe, realised that the world was much bigger than the conformist, conservative East Asian country and the backwater suburbs with strip-malls and junk food stores I grew up in. But the degree did not prepare me for life, and all those years of bad parenting, emotionally under-development made me miserable in my first taste of adult relationships. I chose emotionally distant if not abusive friends, was a horrible person who hurt people who actually liked me and loved me. I did no internship or travel because I was expected to go home during school holiday, helping them move house, looking after guests, and being the 'little husband' when my mother was giving brith to my youngest sibling. I really wanted to stay in London, I looked for jobs, very random jobs because I had no life skills and never ever made my own money. So in the end, I left, and had to return to East Asia. By this time, my father had moved to another, more cosmopolitan East Asian city as his lifestyle became more and more extravagant. I lived with him and started interning at a fancy company in the culture industry. I worked there for almost a year hoping they would offer me a job, they did not. I got another job fairly soon in brand consulting, and finally at the age of 23 started making money. I had a relationship with an older woman, she was kind and tolerant, and I was an arse. I also realised that I cannot combine intimacy and sex at this point. I tried to start my own freelancing consultancy, acquired the ability to impress other people (faking it). Things seem to be working, I almost made enough money to support my life, but I was fundamentally lost and unhappy. I had the first depressive episode in my life. I wanted to go back to London, to get a Masters degree. So I applied and got into my dream school, my father agreed to pay for my education, so off I went to university again. That was probably the happiest year of my life, it turned out I loved elements of academia, research, being with other smart nerdy people. I met an intelligent, caring, and beautiful woman, and we moved in together soon after. I discovered more fulfilling, freer ways to live, I found proofs that a successful life was not just about working for an investment bank, or being rich. I wanted to be an academic, so I applied for a PhD at the school, and I got in after two attempts. Academia isn't all rosy, the work condition is pretty awful, the publish or perish mentality literally sucks every last bit of joy and fulfilment out of research, I loved teaching, but quickly learnt that teaching matters little at a 'research university'. I got fat, my relationship got really bad, sex became non-existent, arguments soon turned physical, and I thought that I was a real piece of shit and better off dead. The only thing that kept me going at the time? Bitterness and shame. I felt indebted to everyone, to my partner because I was an abusive arsehole, and to my family because I was stupid enough to do a PhD and wasting their money (and my life away). The pandemic hits, and sure enough, things got even worse, I felt like I couldn't carry on anymore and that I needed to radically un-f my life. My solution to this: was to finally become the person my family wanted me to be, filial, loyal, and rich. I was ready to threw my life in London away, everything, my home, my girlfriend, my PhD and move back to East Asia to become rich, and 'stop being a loser'. I came home to 'fix my family' and showered everyone with love and attention in ways I never did. I networked and explored ways to get into finance, and I got an at a VC firm. Soon enough, the whole thing completed backfired and my life started to unravel faster than I could count to three. I hated the internship, it fundamentally clashed with who I was and my value, I cried everyday in the toilet at work. I also broke up with my girlfriend for a person who was the poplar opposite of her that I had no attachment to (and sex was great because there was zero emotional intimacy). Within 3 months, I had very little savings left, was living in a short term rental apartment, and spent most of my time in bed and eating very unhealthily. Luckily, I had a therapist, a good friend in Shanghai, and my girlfriend was willing to give me a second chance. It was also around this time I realised how my family's (what do you even call it) emotional neglect might have contributed to my unhappiness and depression. I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and medicated, the medicine helped for me to move out of paralysis. But I wanted to tell my family that I am very unwell and get them to love me back, so I confronted them over things they have done to me as a kid and showed them the diagnosis. My mother did not handle this well. She called me horrible names, made fun of me, and accused me for being a horrible son. This whole ordeal made me realise that I needed to break away from them, and what I had thrown away in London was actually the most valuable things I have in life, a career, a family, my own identity. After confronting my mother over her abusive behaviour and emotional smothering, she vowed to never see me again. However, after 6-8 months, she sent me a large chunk of money for my birthday. So I, stupidly, let her back into my life again, a part of the reason was the financial help that I needed (to feel safe mostly), but I also really wanted to see proofs that my parents actually did love and accept me after all. At first, things got better, she came for Christmas, visited a few times, celebrated her birthday, and looked really happy. Both my partner and I spent a lot of time with her, bought her gifts, cooked for her, and hang out with her to make sure she feels loved. But soon, she started complaining that she actually had a horrible time and was mistreated by my partner. To make matter worse, a year and half after I left home for the last time thinking that I would never go back, my parents promise to buy me a flat (and started to pressure me to get married). I accepted the flat, thinking that it would offer stability and freedom (pushing away the past experience of their emotional neglect and abusiveness). Sure enough, the flat became yet another way for my mother to mess with my life. It had daunted on her that I am about to become my own person and live in the flat and start a family of my own, so she lashed out and said if my girlfriend lives there she would sue me and reclaim the flat. She then went behind my back and started disputing the flat's ownership. We have already spent a lot of time and energy planning the move and all of this is happening just 2/3 weeks from the move-in. I have a demand job that requires a lot of cognitive focus, and I feel like I am spending a decent chunk of my day trying to resolve the situation in addition to processing the emotional toll of having my own mother out to destroy my life. I know I have a job, a family, and my own life, and I have a good legal case, but I also feel so unsafe, violated, and confused. I can almost feel the voice in my head telling me that this is all my doing, and that I am too weak. It is like I know what I need to do cognitively but emotionally I am paralysed. Do you think what I mean? What would you do?

Hi ya'll, I have a question about prepaid sims and e sims. I'm currently coming back to the States after living overseas for a while and was looking to buy a prepaid sim card for me and my girlfriend.
The rate says X/month but does that balance charge after every 30 days? Or at the start of every month?
The reason I'm asking is cuz we're only going to be in the states from 6/4 till 8/5 so depending on when the billing cycle comes through, it would be the difference of paying for 2 months vs. 3 months..

May be a reach...Nomi (Mac Miller's ex-girlfriend) said her favourite show was SpongeBob. Since Mac tried to get her back and not Arianka before he died, I wonder if her bonking Sponge Boy has anything to do with it. Nomi's favourite movie was Jaws and I remember Areola suddenly talking a lot about having a Jaws birthday party when she was a kid - a super random detail to constantly bring up in like every single interview. She also wore the exact same jumpsuit that Nomi had previously worn for her Baby I music video as well as constantly wearing circular sunglasses at the time (and again now) which Nomi was more known for doing. Nomi was a theatre kid on YouTube so I wouldn't be surprised if Aritha basically stalked her and learned how to be her to take Mac. Nomi was always very shy and this when Arthello entered her shy, anxiety era. Nomi has also always been a very vocal women's rights advocate/feminist (which eerily reminds me of Lily Jay - maybe Arvin and her chipmunks are threatened by strong women). Again, around this time, Arfield jumps on the wagon seemingly out of nowhere. It seems like these aren't issues (womens' equality rights) that would be pressing on her mind - considering how she lets men treats hehow she treats other women - so I wouldn't be surprised if she was just saying all the right things and kept at it long-term because it became popular so could benefit her career. Nomi also said Jessica Alba was her girl crush and Arfar's original surgery was very Jessica Alba-esque - she even got a photo with her and they looked practically identical. These girls could just have a bunch of things in common and maybe Mac had a type (Nomi did forgive him for cheating on her with Arianahnahnah, putting the blame on herself and I love Mac but maybe it was easier to go for women with low self-esteem?) yet Nomi seems so genuine and consistent in what she likes whilst King Ari VIII sort of picks up trends like iced coffees from Starbucks. Oh, wait, she stopped going to Starbucks because she now only shops at black-owned businesses that she got a photo at one time before going straight back to Starbucks. I also hate how she's been trying to copy Britney Spears so bad lately. It's giving personality disorder (not to shame people who deal with this but she needs to recognise whatever's going on so she can deal with it). And I don't know if she's on too many drugs or not enough but Arizona is on the wrong amount

i am remarried mom of three kids, 18, 16, 12. my middle son is currently very angry with me, and refusing to come home after a week vacation with his dad.
context:
their dad and i divorced six years ago. i left everything, started life over quite alone and broke. it was so hard. the biggest grief was losing the kids half time. they were and are everything to me.
after a few years of healing i meet my now husband, who is nice and great. the kids love him. he list his wife to cancer young, no kids. he has character and respect of his friends and family.
two years ago, we moved the kids 15 miles away from town #1 to town #2, with legal permission from my ex and the support of the kids.
it was a disaster. my kids’ dad stopped talking to us after initially fully supporting the move, and took us to court trying to get custody and stop the move AFTER we actually moved. 🤡
the 18 months of custody dispute was horrible. worse than divorce. early on in the case, we moved BACK to our original town to show the kids how much we cared about what they wanted, which was apparently NOT moving after all. (their dad was using this to drive a wedge between us and the kids, even after we moved back, he would not drop the case against us.)
ultimately, the judge did not approve his motions and found him in contempt in some other areas. she gave us a new parenting plan that of course he is not following. custody remains at 50-50 for the boys, though my daughter has been with us full time since last august.
during this time, the kids dad also burns his house down with a cigarette, displacing the kids and racking up four more moves in a year in addition to our two for them (to the city and back.) my son's dog freezes to death after he lets him outside at his dads. he totals his car, with booze and passengers inside. he’s having major outbursts on the soccer fields and got in a fight with his one of his best friends. his dad also gets put on notice from my sons soccer club for unacceptable and hostile sideline behavior (chronic behavior)that includes kicking a ball AT a kid on the other team, ON PURPOSE, and admitting loudly it was.
so i’m seeing signs of deep distress in my son. he is a quiet kid and deep thinker, not one to talk about feelings, though we have been talking deeply for weeks…about soccer. his coaches and friends parents are telling me they are noticing he’s showing signs of too much pressure on him. they say it’s coming from his dad. so i start hunting for a strategy to get him through this time.
all the while, his dad is sneaking him around to try out for this super competitive traveling soccer team i said i wasn’t supportive of, mostly for mental health reasons. i also had him screened for adhd and took him to a therapist in the days leading up to our conflict. (maybe this was too much but im new at this too!)
so that’s the lead up. last friday we have an argument that starts about soccer, and what i see as betrayal and deceit: i said no to a traveling soccer team after my son had four weekends of volatile sportsmanship and yellow/red cards. he went to tryouts anyway with his dad and was surprised when i wasn't fully supportive.
he “sees me as an obstacle to his happiness.” that turned into … he’s still mad at the move—which i never fully explained our side. (all the parenting advice said don’t talk to the kids about court stuff, so i didn’t. you know who did? their dad.) but when i tried to share just the basics, he says im a liar and not a victim. i told him to get out (he was leaving anyway and this felt good at the time, but probably shouldnt have said it.)
he hasn’t come back. says he isn’t ready. he had a week vacation with his dad and is still there. his dad says he does NOT want james there full time. (his dad has several girlfriends currently, so that would hamper his style.)
my heart feels like it’s ripped from my chest, like our connection was completely cut. and the thing is: i SERVE that kid. i coddle him and dote on him and create memories and experiences and life lessons and all the good mama things. i’m a good mom to him. i spend so much time mothering him (directly and indirectly), probably too much at the expense of myself. i’ve felt guilty since the divorce and have always babied the boys especially. and what i get is blame and rage.
i’m hearing this is typical teenage angst, made worse by some huge traumas in his life.
i cant go back to court. there’s lots i could say my kids dad is not doing, to include mandated court coparenting counseling, but it will only make things worse. he’s a narcissist with substance abuse problems, and at least now, with this conflict, he’s finally talking to me again. so much of our trauma these last few years have come from us not talking. it’s truly like dancing with the devil, talking to him now and trying to come together for our son.
my longtime therapist said that their relationship with their dad will be marked by his mask slowly falling off and disappointing them in huge ways. my daughter went through this and i thought my son was starting to see some things … and now he’s flopped, and seems to be incredibly loyal to his dad.
(it’s not about loyalty to one parent over the other for me, it’s about healthy relationships and living in truth.)
so long, sorry. i just need a strategy for how to proceed. do i give my son the space and time he's asking for, even if he's just couch-hopping from friends house to friends house while he's there? what if he doesn’t come back? how much autonomy do i allow him and when do i stand up for what i see is best as his mom?
thanks for reading if you made it this far. looking for books or ideas, resources, advice.

23F here. I was dating a guy, essentially a situationship from 2020-2023. In May 2023, we fell out & started seeing each other again in July. But we've been fwb rather than dating. Around Sept, he lmk there is a girl in another state that he's dating long distance & wants to be serious with. We still kept seeing each other b/c he said he was still "single". I believe he has been in a relationship with her since June 2023 but he did not finally claim her as his girlfriend to me until February of this year.
Anyways I still continued to see him despite knowing about the girl. I thought to myself well he was mine first. Very childish on my end, I know. I remember in December he told me was on vacay with this friends. The day after he came back, he was asking to see me. I found his gf's page a couple months ago & turns out, he was on a baecation with her. He was literally in Mexico with her for a week, just to cheat on her the next day.
Last week, when we were together, he even asked me for an orgy ( I said NO). So, I am sure he's sleeping with other girls too.
Yesterday morning, he asked me to come over. I said no bc of work, but what about this weekend? He said he'll be busy over the weekend but he can see me next week. I had an intuition that the girl was flying in this weekend so I check her IG & she's posting in his car. Mind you this is her birthday weekend. In the past, I have thought about telling her, but it was out of anger towards him so I chose not to. However, this time I genuinely feel bad for her. She's flying to her boyfriend's state to celebrate her birthday & little does she know her man was asking to sleep with me the same day she's flying in.
He has been sleeping with me for the entirety of their relationship. Should I tell the girlfriend over Instagram? Should I tell her from a fake page or my real one? I plan to tell the full story & acknowledge the parts that make me look bad as well. I can attach our messages for proof.

Me and my girlfriend are going to the Olivia Rodrigo concert for my birthday and we were looking to find somewhere to eat a quick meal after, we are staying in Villa viva somewhere between there and Barclays arena would be perfect
Also ideal vibe would be somewhere we can just stand around outside and is well lit with good food
Concert shouldn’t last beyond 11 so it doesn’t have to be open all night but generally late for German restaurants