Quieting the Static: Two Months with Moment Mushrooms Psilocybin Microdoses
Wellness, Culture Amanda Kotiesen Wellness, Culture Amanda Kotiesen

Quieting the Static: Two Months with Moment Mushrooms Psilocybin Microdoses

We tested Neuro and Flow over 60 days to see how microdosing supports focus and mood

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

It starts as a flicker. Then a sharp, crackling wash of sound. The image fractures, light breaking into fragments, dissolving into a restless field of grey. You move closer. Adjust the dial. Pause, holding still as if your body might somehow steady the signal. For a moment, it almost clears. Then it slips again.

TV static is a small disruption, but a jarring, abrasive one. Anxiety carries the same rhythm, persistent, unsettling and not always overwhelming, but constant enough to send you careening off course.

We spent two months with Moment Mushrooms psilocybin microdoses to see what might shift. Here’s what we found.

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Feathers, Fringe & Film: 13 Films to Celebrate National Burlesque Day 
April Issue, Culture, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen April Issue, Culture, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen

Feathers, Fringe & Film: 13 Films to Celebrate National Burlesque Day 

Sure to make you shiver with antici... pation

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Somewhere between the first flicker of stage light and the final reveal, burlesque finds its rhythm.

A feather catches the air. A glove slips, slowly. A room full of people leans forward at the the edge of their seat.

This is the art of the tease. Not rushed. Every movement considered.

Film has always been drawn to this world for good reason. The costumes alone deserve their own billing.

This watchlist moves through that spectrum, from classic showgirls to nightclub camp to iconic performances that win the hearts of new generations with every passing year.

Consider this your invitation to sit front row, the show is about to begin.

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11 Gothic Honeymoon Destinations for the Dark Romantic 
Travel Guide, Gothic Wedding, April Issue Amanda Kotiesen Travel Guide, Gothic Wedding, April Issue Amanda Kotiesen

11 Gothic Honeymoon Destinations for the Dark Romantic 

From the lantern-lit streets of Edinburgh to the volcanic shores of Bora Bora, these destinations frame dark romance through architecture and atmosphere

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Picture this: day one of your honeymoon arrives and you wake aboard a cookie-cutter cruise ship pointed dutifully toward the Caribbean. An bountiful buffet appears each morning while sun-soaked afternoons unfold on a crowded pool deck, interrupted only by hurried excursions through bustling tourist corridors that sell identical souvenirs.

If that version of escape feels a little light on substance, you’ve arrived in the correct corner of the internet.

The dark romantic prefers cathedral bells to steel drums and cobblestone streets to poolside bingo, which is why the following destinations offer a very different kind of honeymoon.

Here are 11 gothic escapes where architecture and atmosphere transform travel into a trip rich in dark romance.

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World Sleep Day With Alice Mushrooms: A Month Inside Nightcap
Wellness, Culture, March Issue Amanda Kotiesen Wellness, Culture, March Issue Amanda Kotiesen

World Sleep Day With Alice Mushrooms: A Month Inside Nightcap

We tried Alice Mushrooms’ Nightcap for 30 days to see whether functional mushrooms could quiet a racing mind and transform a nightly ritual into something worth looking forward to

By: Amanda Albert

In recent years, the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mentality has (thankfully) shifted and sleep has become an essential performance metric. We track it, optimize it, negotiate with it and still sometimes wake feeling as though something unfinished lingers at the edge of the bed. Alice Mushrooms approaches this challenge differently. Founded on the belief that food can function as medicine without forfeiting enjoyment, the brand formulates chocolate bites infused with functional mushrooms, nootropics and botanicals designed to support focus, mood, intimacy and rest. For World Sleep Day, we committed to a one-month trial of Nightcap, their evening formula, created to support relaxation and circadian rhythm through ingredients such as reishi, magnesium, L-theanine, zinc and chamomile — all delivered in a square of dark chocolate that feels more artisanal chocolatier than supplement aisle.

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Poise & Provocation: 22 Films That Celebrate Feminine Strength
March Issue, Culture, Film, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen March Issue, Culture, Film, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen

Poise & Provocation: 22 Films That Celebrate Feminine Strength

An alt International Women’s Day watch list honouring heroines who claimed power on their own terms

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Not every revolution arrives draped in righteousness.

Some arrive lacquered in gloss. Some step forward in armour. Some smile before they strike.

Across fantasy epics, revenge thrillers and period dramas, feminine strength has evolved beyond endurance and into authorship. These women do not wait to be rescued. They negotiate, dismantle, seduce, avenge and ascend, often within systems designed to confine them.

This International Women’s Day, we turn toward heroines who did not simply survive their stories. They altered them.

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A Study in Devotion: In the Studio with 5 Female Tattoo Artists Shaping the Future of Wearable Art
March Issue, Culture, Interviews, Art Amanda Kotiesen March Issue, Culture, Interviews, Art Amanda Kotiesen

A Study in Devotion: In the Studio with 5 Female Tattoo Artists Shaping the Future of Wearable Art

A conversation on craft, commitment and creating work meant to be carried for life with Jenna Kerr, Kristine Vodon, Marily Letendre, Miranda Boire and Jasmine Hernandez

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

On March 21, World Tattoo Day invites us to step into the studio and look closely at the discipline behind wearable art. By the artists devoted the craft, tattooing is not treated as trend or aesthetic shorthand; it’s a processed built on laborious preparation, artistic rigour, humble client services, thoughtful storytelling and responsibility.

In speaking with Jenna Kerr, Kristine Vodon, Marily Letendre, Miranda Boire and Jasmine, a shared theme becomes clear: they talk about composition before execution, they discuss anatomy as much as imagery and explain the reverent weight of permanence. Each artist approaches the body as a living canvas that must be considered carefully because what they create will live there forever.

This conversation sheds light on the complex business of tattooing from the creative process to studio management and client collaboration, by women whose careers are built on commitment to the creativity and business savvy in equal measure.

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A Conversation with Dr. Jess O’Reilly: Modern Intimacy, Desire & Feminine Power
Culture, Interview, Relationships Amanda Kotiesen Culture, Interview, Relationships Amanda Kotiesen

A Conversation with Dr. Jess O’Reilly: Modern Intimacy, Desire & Feminine Power

A deep-dive into emotional literacy, relationship dynamics, confidence and how women can cultivate connection without performance pressure with sex and relationship expert

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Intimacy has long been dressed in expectation. For generations, women were handed scripts about desire that prized accommodation over appetite and harmony over honesty. What is shifting now is not simply how we speak about sex, but how we inhabit it.

In this conversation, Dr. Jess O’Reilly invites us to look at intimacy as something cultivated, deeply tied to emotional literacy rather than compliance. What emerges is a recalibration—one that reframes feminine power not as perfection, but presence.

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Fire Horse, Forward: Lori Dylan on Working With Spring’s Momentum
Wellness, Spirituality, Interviews, March Issue Amanda Kotiesen Wellness, Spirituality, Interviews, March Issue Amanda Kotiesen

Fire Horse, Forward: Lori Dylan on Working With Spring’s Momentum

On accessible tarot, grounded rituals for spring and the heat of Fire Horse energy

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Spring arrives with forward motion, and Lori Dylan meets it without any theatrics. Her approach to tarot resists over-the-top spectacle and is, instead, grounded in clarity, framing the cards as conversation.

Raised with Indigenous lineage and mentored by a witch, she speaks about ritual the way others speak about productive habits or discipline—something lived, repeated and refined over time.

In our conversation, this Lunar calendar’s Fire Horse energy is framed as a current of momentum that asks for our participation. As the season turns (finally!), she offers grounded ways to work with energy, allowing ritual to exist in ordinary life in an accessible, intentional way.

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Don’t Answer the Phone: A Ghostface Date Night Guide
Film, Fashion, Beauty, Hosting, Culture Amanda Kotiesen Film, Fashion, Beauty, Hosting, Culture Amanda Kotiesen

Don’t Answer the Phone: A Ghostface Date Night Guide

In celebration of Scream 7, a flirtation with fear, Final Girl fashion and a ringing phone you should absolutely ignore

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

With the release of Scream 7, horror’s most self-aware franchise returns to remind us that fear has always been intimate; we’ve curated an evening that will get your heart racing, one way or another.

This isn’t a date night about surviving the movie, it’s about leaning into the electricity that follows. From pre-theatre cocktails to a Final Girl style guide, this is an intimate evening that plays by the rules—just not all of them ;).

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The Ache of Unrequited Love: A Study in Limerence Through Film
February Issue, Watchlist, Film Amanda Kotiesen February Issue, Watchlist, Film Amanda Kotiesen

The Ache of Unrequited Love: A Study in Limerence Through Film

Stories that unravel the torment of longing

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Limerence often begins with attention before it becomes attachment as the body learns the rhythm of anticipation long before it knows whether desire will be returned.

Ordinary moments start to feel charged once the imagination takes over the work of intimacy.

Fantasy grows persuasive because it cannot correct itself.

Film understands this progression instinctively, lingering on glances, pauses and missed timing rather than neat resolution.

This watchlist traces those moments where longing sharpens the gaze and teaches us how desire learns to look.

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Morning After Dread: Understanding Hanxiety and What Helps
Wellness, Entertaining Amanda Kotiesen Wellness, Entertaining Amanda Kotiesen

Morning After Dread: Understanding Hanxiety and What Helps

A clear guide to navigating post-drinking anxiety, body signals, science-backed coping tools and the products that can help

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Your pounding headache and rising nausea jolt you awake long before your alarm.

Your chest feels tight, a knot of dread coils in your gut and a single thought crawls in: did I say or do something embarrassing last night? Is it as bad as I think?

This experience — a signature blend of hangover and anxiety, now lovingly referred to as hanxiety — is familiar to many, especially after nights of heavy drinking, when physical and psychological distress overlap.

Hangxiety symptoms can include the obligatory nausea, shakiness, headaches, etc. paired with racing thoughts, shame, regret and fixation on what could have gone wrong the night before, often worsening as blood alcohol drops and brain chemistry rebalance begins.

It doesn’t help that, even on a good day, anxiety disorders are common with over 359M people worldwide affected and counting according to the World Health Organization. Adding stressors such as sleep loss and dehydration to a possibly already-anxious foundation can be challenging.

If you find the morning after harder than the night before, you are far from alone — here is what to do next.

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Heretics and Headliners: The Women Who Rewired Rock

Heretics and Headliners: The Women Who Rewired Rock

From the architects to the agitators shaping the genre now

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Right now feels different.

Not quieter, not softer, not diluted; but, volcanic and disruptive.

Women are not entering rock again. They are reclaiming it, backed by decades of women who screamed into rooms that were never built to hold them.

Women have been consistently ranked among the most influential rock musicians of all time, with Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith and Joan Jett shaping entire movements rather than moments.

Today, that lineage is no longer symbolic. It is audible in festival lineups, metal charts, touring rosters and a new generation of artists whose rage is articulate, intentional and unapologetically feminine.

This is not a revival. It is an expansion.

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The Year the Noise Comes Home: Must-See Rock, Metal & Alt Tours of 2026
January Issue, Culture, Music, Concert Guide Amanda Kotiesen January Issue, Culture, Music, Concert Guide Amanda Kotiesen

The Year the Noise Comes Home: Must-See Rock, Metal & Alt Tours of 2026

A field guide to the tours and festivals defining the year ahead

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

There is a difference between hearing a song and feeling it pulse in your chest.

Live music collapses the distance between sound and self, turning memory into muscle and strangers into co-conspirators.

This year’s calendar is stacked with festivals that feel mythic, tours that read like cultural milestones and one-off shows that you’ve got to see.

We’ve curated a list of confirmed festivals, announced tours and verified 2026 performances, alongside anticipated moments already lighting up ticket platforms.

See you there.

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House of Steam: Inside Canada’s Most Haunting Winter Hydro Spas
Travel, Wellness, January Issue Amanda Kotiesen Travel, Wellness, January Issue Amanda Kotiesen

House of Steam: Inside Canada’s Most Haunting Winter Hydro Spas

The Canadian winter is a creature of contrast: frozen air that bites, trees stripped to bone, stillness that feels older than snow.

Step into steam rising against that cold, and the world realigns — warmth unfurls muscle tension and settles thought like a cathedral organ.

Outdoor hydrotherapy in the depth of winter feels mythical. Water that heats the skin becomes a balm, cold plunges elicit a sharp intake of breath and the virgin white surroundings focus every sensory moment.

This is not mere relaxation; it is a pilgrimage into sensation, a communion with heat and ice that feels sacred.

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Hide Under the Covers: A Goth-Coded Psychological Thriller Watchlist
Film, Culture, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen Film, Culture, Watchlist Amanda Kotiesen

Hide Under the Covers: A Goth-Coded Psychological Thriller Watchlist

Fourteen films designed to unsettle the mind

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

National Cuddle Up Day (January 6) does not necessarily require sweetness. It asks for closeness, lowered lights and something unsettling enough to make you pull the blankets higher.

Psychological thrillers thrive in this space.

They trade jump scares for tension, spectacle for intimacy, comfort for proximity; these are films that crawl under the skin slowly.

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The Mind, Reframed: A Watchlist Inside the Psyche on Screen
Watchlist, Film, Wellness, January Issue Amanda Kotiesen Watchlist, Film, Wellness, January Issue Amanda Kotiesen

The Mind, Reframed: A Watchlist Inside the Psyche on Screen

How 26 films portray mental health, harm and healing

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Film has long been fascinated with the complicated workings of our inner selves. The portrayal of mental health on screen ranges from being cast as mirror for our deepest fears to empathetically-driven epilogs or funhouse distortions, depending on who is telling the story.

Some narratives offer care and complexity, while others lean into spectacle at the expense of truth.

This watchlist examines how mental health is framed across genres, decades and tones, from compassion to controversy.

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End the Year with Grace: A Conversation with a Modern Mystic, Molly Zancanaro
Culture, Wellness, Spirituality, Interviews Amanda Kotiesen Culture, Wellness, Spirituality, Interviews Amanda Kotiesen

End the Year with Grace: A Conversation with a Modern Mystic, Molly Zancanaro

Reflections on revelation, Reiki and the rituals that bridge one year to the next

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

The year ends softly for those who know how to listen. The light thins, and time seems to breathe between hours.

We spoke with a modern mystic, Molly Zancanaro, about the quiet work of closing the year with grace and intention. Her practice blends spiritual intuition with energy work. Specializing in Reiki healing and tarot, she reminds others that ending the year doesn’t mean that we have to resolve the past to move forward; but simply release carrying what no longer belongs with us.

In this conversation, she shares her story of self discovery and finding her online community, and then invites us to peak behind the curtain of a session to gain a deeper understanding of the energy and intuitive work she does. She also shares a simple ritual we can each use to welcome the new year as 2025 comes to a close.

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Close the Circle: An Intentional Guide to Ending the Year with Grace
Amanda Kotiesen Amanda Kotiesen

Close the Circle: An Intentional Guide to Ending the Year with Grace

A ritual roadmap for stepping into 2026 with purpose

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

Endings are their own kind of magic. The final page turns, the season dims, we feel that soft weight lift of what must fade away.

Make your final act of 2025 one of an acknowledgement of the lessons you’ve learned this year and a seed for what you’ll cultivate next.

In this guide you’ll find ritual ideas, prompt tools and a mystic tech stack to help you release 2025 and step into 2026 with clarity.

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The 2026 Gothic Watchlist: Goth-Coded Film and Television
Amanda Kotiesen Amanda Kotiesen

The 2026 Gothic Watchlist: Goth-Coded Film and Television

A year of unhinged storytelling and sequels for the darkly inclined.

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

The year ahead looks deliciously chaotic, which is exactly what we want from our screens. Hollywood is still deep in its remake era, and 2026 leans into the trend with a slate that feels theatrical in all the right ways.

Wuthering Heights rises first with a fresh retelling that promises stormy obsession. Scream 7 follows with blood and meta bravado. The Bride builds upon 2025’s luxurious, heartbreaking retelling of Frankenstein. The Devil Wears Prada makes a high-fashion comeback. The Odyssey gets a modern edge. And, Practical Magic stirs again with renewed enchantment.

Television keeps pace as familiar worlds expand with new chapters. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adds fresh armour to the Game of Thrones universe. Bridgerton heats up the winter with season four. Euphoria descends later in the year with a long-awaited third season already subject to fan-fic plot theory. House of the Dragon storms again in June. And, The White Lotus is rumoured to be shooting it’s next season in France.

It’s a lineup built for nostalgia, inviting your favourite characters and stories to curl up with you on the couch.

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Prompt Journals for an Intentional 2026
Amanda Kotiesen Amanda Kotiesen

Prompt Journals for an Intentional 2026

Pages that quiet the noise and give you space to map out your style with dark, feminine aesthetic

By: The Lace Ledger Staff

There’s a journal for nearly every facet of your life this year (and beyond). We have curated titles for everything from wellness to witchery, healing to personal growth, sensuality to shadow work, cooking and travel.

Choose what matters most to you and give it a place to land with intention.

The right journal becomes a lethal accomplice, every entry pulling you a little closer to the person you’re becoming and meant to be.

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