A new study has revealed that 60% of Brits think Valentine’s Day is the “most stressful” day of the whole year.
To be fair, they've got a point.
In case you need a little reminder, the most romantic day of them all – also known as Valentine’s Day – is today, and if the findings of some new research by popular chewing gum, Extra, is anything to go by, then that spells stress for more than half of the British population.
Many lucky – or unlucky – lovers have a story to tell about a time the big V Day has crept up on them, and so they have resorted to spending either the day before or the day itself running around as quick as they can trying to grab gifts and make last-minute plans in a bid to pass it off like they haven’t forgotten all about it.
Situations like this are probably why more than half (60%) of us consider Valentine's Day to be such as stressful day, and even when we do remember, it can still be a pretty nerve-wracking experience.
Credit: Pixahive | Pexels
Valentine’s Day is among the top 10 times of year when people experience so-called ‘microstresses’, according to Extra’s research results – with one in eight (13%) feeling even more stressed around the day than at Christmas.
A quarter (24%) of survey respondents said they found that the pressure to have plans or a date on Valentine’s Day was the cause of their microstresses, whilst almost a fifth (17%) put it down to struggling to know what to buy their partner to celebrate.
‘Microstresses’ may feel harmless in the moment – but, just as a recent study in the Harvard Business Review has found, they can slowly build up over time and create more long-term issues for an individuals’ wellbeing.
Apparently, the study found that one of the best ways to combat such microstresses is by taking time to “invest in close relationships” and take part in activities that “help to keep stresses at bay”.
So, what’s your thoughts on all this then? Is Valentine’s Day a cause of stress for you? Or do you see it as a walk in the park?
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Emily Sergeant -
14th February 2024 
