Kelly Clarkson vs. a singing bird, Tom Cruise’s $250 million oops, and back at Notre Dame with my dad

Kelly Clarkson is feuding with a Brooklyn magic shop over a bird that was never for sale, I went back to Notre Dame with my dad and came home without a voice (worth it), and Tm Cruise’s new movie is on track to lose $250 million.

Let's get into it.

Kelly Clarkson got the Pretty Woman treatment in Brooklyn, or did she?

ICYMI, Kelly Clarkson went to Art of Play, a puzzle and magic shop in Brooklyn Heights, and left empty-handed and fuming, posting on X that a staffer acted like she couldn’t afford anything and offered to find her something “comparable.” The store’s side of the story (via TheWrap): what she wanted was Molly, a 1-of-a-kind singing, dancing mechanical bird that’s literally attached to the wall and stars in their magic shows. So…not exactly something with a price tag?? The internet has picked sides HARD, and the shop says it’s now getting harassed by fans. Either way, I need to meet Molly.

That mystery meeting on your calendar might be a scammer, so maybe don’t click the link

Phishing through calendar invites jumped roughly 33,000% between May and September, according to cybersecurity firm Sublime. The invites skip right past your spam filter and land on your calendar with a link that either asks for your login, downloads malware, or drops you into a “meeting” with someone pretending to be a client. Recruiters and salespeople get targeted the most, and some of these are sneaking in because people’s AI assistants are auto-accepting invites for them (the robots are too polite, apparently). ConsumerAffairs suggests turning off the setting that automatically adds every invite to your calendar, which takes 2 minutes and might be the most productive thing you do at work today.

Tom Cruise made a $170 million movie about a balding billionaire with a dying cat and, shockingly, people did not go see it

Digger, his satire with director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, opened to just $8 million in North America, his weakest debut since 2007. It’s now on track to lose around $250 million, which would make it one of the biggest bombs in recent memory (about $100 million of that was marketing, mostly for Tom’s global press tour). Executives at Skydance, Warner Bros.’ new parent company, were reportedly shocked when they saw the numbers, which feels like the corporate version of moving in with a roommate and discovering their credit card debt. Tom will be fine, though. Days of Thunder 2 with Anne Hathaway is already on deck.

This weekend I flew into Chicago with my favorite date (sorry, husband, it’s my dad) for a father-daughter trip to the Notre Dame game. GO IRISH!!! Being back on campus is absolutely surreal. The last time I was on these quads I was pulling all-nighters for Mendoza finals and calling a bowl of cereal dinner, and now I’m a married woman leading my own unofficial campus tour (stop 1: the room where I sobbed over a group project). I also got to interview 2 incredible ND athletes, Hannah Hidalgo and Reese Sanders (pictured!). I feel 21 again and also like I could sleep until Thanksgiving.

Finally back at my desk after a cold that lasted longer than an entire fiscal quarter. I celebrated by donning real pants and an actual collar for the first time in weeks. Favorite Daughter (perfect brand name…) makes the button-downs of my dreams. This pinstripe top with crisp white collar and cuffs makes me feel extremely put together after weeks of postnasal drip.

It’s that time of year when HR sends an email with “ACTION REQUIRED” in the subject line and, if you’re anything like past me, you scroll to the bottom, click “keep my current elections,” and move on with your life. This is one of the few 15-minute tasks that can save you real money next year, so let’s do it properly once.

Start by finding your deadline and putting it on your calendar today. Most enrollment windows are only 2 to 3 weeks long, and nobody wants to be stuck with a plan they hate until next November because they missed a Friday cutoff. Then log into your insurance portal and look at what you used this year. If you went to the doctor twice and filled zero prescriptions, a higher-deductible plan paired with an HSA could save you a chunk on premiums. If you basically had a standing reservation at urgent care, a lower-deductible plan might cost less overall, even if the monthly number looks scarier.

If anything big changed this year, like getting married (hi), compare your plan against your partner’s side by side instead of assuming you should both stay put, since one employer often subsidizes spouses way better than the other.

Last thing, and it takes 2 minutes: while you’re logged in, update the beneficiaries on your 401(k) and any life insurance. If your ex or your college roommate is still listed, now is a great time to fix that.

Thanks for reading!