Lifestyle

12 energetic and restorative wellness activities in L.A., one for every month of the year

Published

1 year ago

January 1, 2025

12 energetic and restorative wellness activities in L.A., one for every month of the year

This stands to be an interesting year — if not a potentially stressful one — as we transition leadership in this country. Just remember to care for yourself.

With that top of mind, here’s a calendar of wellness activities, each tied to the mood and cadence of the month. There’s a high-energy trampoline fitness routine, an affordable facial, a supermoon hike, a sound bath in a dome designed for time travel and more.

Feel free to mix up the order of these activities (hey, do them all in January, if you want!) or simply use them as inspiration to chart your own wellness path. But do prioritize self-care this year to stay healthy, grounded and strong.

January: Roast on salt rocks, soak in hot water and shed your skin

Los Angeles has a rich Korean bathhouse culture. But my favorite — and I’ve tried them all — is Wi Spa. The spa is open 24/7, for starters, and has a coed floor with five progressively hot saunas (one offers “salt therapy”; another, “medicinal” clay). There’s a wall-length bookshelf of loaner manga, a rooftop terrace and a surprisingly good Korean cafe (try the spicy buckwheat noodles or the shaved ice with red beans, fresh fruit and ice cream). The soaking tubs and saunas are included with the cost of entry. But consider adding on a scrub and sloughing off a layer or two of skin — it’s my favorite way to enter the new year. I always leave feeling rejuvenated, not to mention just a little bit lighter. ($30 entry)

February: Consult a tarot reader

Melinda Lee Holm wears a black T-shirt and displays one heavily tattooed arm.

Valentine’s Day may be consumerist crap, but it’s inescapable — chocolate, flowers and dating app ads abound! It’s hard not to think about the state of your love life in February. Whether you’re single and searching or coupled and working on things — or anywhere in between — why not get some guidance? Tarot reader Melinda Lee Holm, who’s based in L.A., has been reading cards for more than 30 years. She’s authored several books, most recently “Your Tarot Guide: Learn to Navigate Life With the Help of the Cards.” Contact her for a private reading or attend one of her free tarot readings, held weekly, on Instagram. She also performs staged versions of her Instagram Live events, for free, typically at the Philosophical Research Society. And she’ll be releasing a series of Instagram videos in 2025 about “love spells.” (Private session: $200; live events: free)

March: Enjoy a springtime tea ceremony

A woman in a kimono kneels next to a sliding shoji screen that opens to a pool surrounded by rocks

There’s no shortage of places to enjoy tea rituals in Los Angeles, including at Alhambra’s Tea Habitat, which offers a gong fu cha service, or the Arts District’s “tea meditation” space, Tea at Shiloh. But Yusuian takes it to the next level. The traditional Japanese tea room is situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Malibu. Guests sit on tatami mats with a view of a Japanese garden with a waterfall. Owner Yuko Uyesugi is an expert in the centuries-old Chado tea ceremony, which is the ritualistic preparation of green tea, meant to provide a relaxing break from everyday life. She holds classes there and, twice yearly, opens up the tea room for visits. Bonus: In spring, the garden is bright with flowers, and you may just find a cherry blossom on your plate of sweets. ($85 for a single visit; address upon RSVP)

April: Get heady

Reporter Deborah Vankin receives a Chinese scalp treatment, only the bottom half of her face visible.

April is tax season. Which equals one massive headache from — for me, anyway — poring over receipts. Even the score at a head spa. We visited both Japanese and Chinese head spas in the area. At both, the luxury treatment begins with a detailed scalp analysis followed by a neck and shoulder massage and repeated shampooings and conditionings. At Cai Xiang Ge in San Gabriel, the 60-minute, $95 treatment also includes a warm foot bath and a blowout over tea and sweets. At Head Spa En in Pasadena (there are also Beverly Hills and Newport Beach locations), the 60-minute, $150 treatment instead includes a slow, 35-minute Shiatsu head massage with a moisturizing scalp gel. Practitioners claim head spas aid circulation as well as detoxify and hydrate the scalp. Wherever you go, getting your noggin scrubbed for an hour is transformative — in both cases, I nearly fell asleep. Now that’s a worthy benefit. ($95 and $150)

May: Bounce

People in workout wear stand on low trampolines.

As the weather warms up and we look to summer, it’s a good time to restart (or just start) your fitness routine. Take a trampoline fitness class at LEKfit in Mid-City, Ritual Fitness in Highland Park or Trampoline Trim in Hollywood. Yeah, we know it’s all about strength training these days. But aerobic exercise is still crucial, and working out on a trampoline is low-impact. The studios actually use “Rebounders,” a type of mini-trampoline that has a gentler bounce than a large trampoline; it uses bungee cords instead of metal springs to better absorb impact, making the workout easier on your joints. The dance-like moves are good for coordination, balance and calorie-torching, and rebounding is said to stimulate the lymphatic system, which helps clear toxins from the body. All three studios incorporate elements of strength training, stretching and toning using bands and weights as well. Plus, there’s something to be said for pure, unadulterated, childlike play. (Trampoline Trim, $29; LEKfit and Ritual Fitness, $35)

June: Meditate

OK, we’re midway through the year. How are things going? Check in with yourself and meditate. Amid the hustle of summer vacations, barbecues and road trips, take some time out to get grounded. If you enjoy the community ritual of “sitting” en masse, my two favorite public meditation spaces are Insight L.A.’s Benedict Canyon retreat, which hosts ongoing meditation events, and the Hammer Museum’s Thursday afternoon Mindful Awareness Meditations. Insight L.A., a nonprofit, has a Santa Monica location and also holds overnight retreats with Big Bear Retreat Center. But its Benedict Canyon space is magical — a hillside haven filled with fruit trees, towering pines and fragrant lavender bushes. Its events are pay-what-you-can, with no one turned away for lack of funds. The Hammer’s free 30-minute meditations, co-presented by UCLA Health, are a dependable respite in the heart of Westwood. Meditations are livestreamed on the museum’s website too. (Free and by donation)

July: Rage

An angry-looking woman holding a large stick outside among tall trees.

July is hot. It’s crowded and trafficky in L.A. And you may still be reeling from the election (perhaps more so). If meditation didn’t do it for you, try a Rage Ritual. Intuitive advisor Mia Magik will hold several events in L.A. this month. One of them, on July 12, is a daylong retreat in the forest in Topanga. Among the many activities that day will be a Rage Ritual, during which participants collectively scream and thrash around enormous sticks as Magik guides them in releasing pent-up emotions. Or stop by one of L.A.’s Rage Rooms to unleash your fury. At both Rage Ground in downtown L.A. and the Break Room Los Angeles in Van Nuys, visitors don protective gear while smashing glass and ceramic objects. Really, truly friggin’ furious? At both establishments you can book a session to wreck an entire automobile — windows, doors, headlights and all. (Retreat: $150. Rage Ground, from $70 for 45 mins; Break Room Los Angeles, from $45 to $65 for 20 or 30 minutes)

August: Attend a transcendent ‘silent’ piano concert by the sea

Imagine the sun setting over Santa Monica Beach. There’s a large grand piano on the sand, surrounded by enormous upright sunflowers. Hundreds of attendees lie on blankets, wearing wireless headphones rimmed with aqua lights. As it gets darker, the lights glow brightly against the night sky. This is one of Murray Hidary’s MindTravel events, a fusion of live music and meditation — he’ll hold several in the L.A. area in late summer. The experimental music composer and mindfulness teacher performs on an electronic keyboard inside the sculpture of a grand piano, and the music is moving, an improvised mix of contemporary and classical that’s silent to passersby who aren’t wearing headphones. Each concert has a theme, which Murray riffs on, whispering into attendees’ headphones as he plays. The night I went in 2023, the theme was “Courage,” which one attendee had spelled out in candlelight on the sand. (Average: $100; check website for dates)

September: Trek to the desert for the ultimate sound bath

White mats in semicircles on the floor inside a wooden dome.

September always feels extra busy, with back-to-school activities and the shift to fall. Center yourself at the ultimate sound bath, a short road trip away near Joshua Tree. The Integratron, a “fusion of art and science,” is a ’50s-era wood dome that was designed to be an “electrostatic generator for the purpose of rejuvenation and time travel.” It’s situated in Landers in a spot in the desert that its architect, George Van Tassel, claimed is sparking with geomagnetic forces. You can take a deeply relaxing, mind-melding, hour-long sound bath in the dome. It includes a history of the building to start, followed by a live performance, on 22 quartz crystal singing bowls, by a sound healing artist. You may not travel back in time, exactly, but you will most likely be transported. ($58)

October: Worship the supermoon during a Griffith Park night hike

People walk in front of a rising supermoon at Griffith Observatory.

Oct. 7 is the date of the enormous, glowing Hunter’s moon this year. Watch it rise in the sky from the Griffith Observatory, which has free public telescopes as well as coin-operated ones. Or go DIY and view the moon from one of the park’s highest peaks, Mt. Hollywood, which we like to hike to from the Riverside trailhead at the Greek Theatre. Luckily, Oct. 7 is a Tuesday, which means the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter will be leading free night hikes, with groups divided by skill level. The hikes, which take place every Tuesday and Thursday evening year-round, barring rain, are roughly two hours long and leave at 7 p.m. from the park’s Upper Merry-Go-Round parking lot. The Hunter’s moon takes its name, in part, from its brightness — said to make hunting easier in the dark. No matter which peak you choose to view it from, it surely will illuminate your way. (Free)

November: Trek the length of Wilshire Boulevard

Participants fill Pershing Square during the 2018 Great Los Angeles Walk.

If moving our bodies, observing our environment and connecting in person with other people are tenets of wellness, then the Great Los Angeles Walk has it all. And this year marks its 20th anniversary. The event, started by journalist and walking aficionado Michael Schneider, has hundreds of Angelenos trekking the length of an iconic boulevard every November on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Some join individually, others come in groups. Participants are encouraged to “go slow” and stop, repeatedly, along the roughly 14- to 16-mile journey, exploring the landmarks, public art and architecture that they’d otherwise speed past in a car. The event provides much-needed exercise before the holiday festivities, but it’s as much a social happening, bringing together a cross-section of the city. (Free)

December: Prepare for holiday parties with an affordable facial

L.A. Times reporter Amy Kaufman receives a facial.

The intimate, bohemian-feeling Raven Spa — with locations in Silver Lake and Santa Monica — doesn’t have a large menu of facials. But its signature Radiant Raven Facial is a solid deal in L.A., where facials run $150 to $300 on average (never mind the $1,400 oxygen facial at the Spa at Maybourne Beverly Hills!). The Raven’s is 60 minutes and $110. It’s a custom facial, tailored to your skin’s needs, and all the products used are paraben-free and cruelty-free. It includes a face steam, extractions and face massage along with a brief neck and shoulder massage while a moisturizing mask is being applied. Go ahead, put your best face forward for the holidays. ($110)

Lifestyle

The Nerve Center of This Art Fair Isn’t Painting. It’s Couture.

Published

10 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

The Nerve Center of This Art Fair Isn’t Painting. It’s Couture.

The art industry is increasingly shaped by artists’ and art businesses’ shared realization that they are locked in a fierce struggle for sustained attention — against each other, and against the rest of the overstimulated, always-online world. A major New York art fair aims to win this competition next month by knocking down the increasingly shaky walls between contemporary art and fashion.

When visitors enter the Independent art fair on May 14, they will almost immediately encounter its open-plan centerpiece: an installation of recent couture looks from Comme des Garçons. It will be the first New York solo presentation of works by Rei Kawakubo, the brand’s founder and mastermind, since a lauded 2017 survey exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Art fairs have often been front and center in the industry’s 21st-century quest to capture mindshare. But too many displays have pierced the zeitgeist with six-figure spectacles, like Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped banana and Beeple’s robot dogs. Curating Independent around Comme des Garçons comes from the conviction that a different kind of iconoclasm can rise to the top of New York’s spring art scrum.

Elizabeth Dee, the founder and creative director of Independent, said that making Kawakubo’s work the “nerve center” of this year’s edition was a “statement of purpose” for the fair’s evolution. After several years at the compact Spring Studios in TriBeCa, Independent will more than double its square footage by moving to Pier 36 at South Street, on the East River. Dee has narrowed the fair’s exhibitor list, to 76, from 83 dealers in 2025, and reduced booth fees to encourage a focus on single artists making bold propositions.

“Rei’s work has been pivotal to thinking about how my work as a curator, gallerist and art fair can push boundaries, especially during this extraordinary move toward corporatization and monoculture in the art world in the last 20 years,” Dee said.

Kawakubo’s designs have been challenging norms since her brand’s first Paris runway show in 1981, but her work over the last 13 years on what she calls “objects for the body” has blurred borders between high fashion and wearable sculpture.

The Comme des Garçons presentation at Independent will feature 20 looks from autumn-winter 2020 to spring-summer 2025. Forgoing the runway, Kawakubo is installing her non-clothing inside structures made from rebar and colored plastic joinery.

Adrian Joffe, the president of both Comme des Garçons International and the curated retailer Dover Street Market International (and who is also Kawakubo’s husband), said in an interview that Kawakubo’s intention was to create a sculptural installation divorced from chronology and fashion — “a thing made new again.”

Every look at Independent was made in an edition of three or fewer, but only one of each will be for sale on-site. Prices will be about $9,000 to $30,000. Comme des Garçons will retain 100 percent of the sales.

Asked why she was interested in exhibiting at Independent, the famously elusive Kawakubo said via email, “The body of work has never been shown together, and this is the first presentation in New York in almost 10 years.” Joffe added a broader philosophical motivation. “We’ve never done it before; it was new,” he said. Also essential was the fair’s willingness to embrace Kawakubo’s vision for the installation rather than a standard fair booth.

Kawakubo began consistently engaging with fine art decades before such crossovers became commonplace. Since 1989, she has invited a steady stream of contemporary artists to create installations in Comme des Garçons’s Tokyo flagship store. The ’90s brought collaborations with the artist Cindy Sherman and performance pioneer Merce Cunningham, among others.

More cross-disciplinary projects followed, including limited-release direct mailers for Comme des Garçons. Kawakubo designs each from documentation of works provided by an artist or art collective.

The display at Independent reopens the debate about Kawakubo’s proper place on the continuum between artist and designer. But the issue is already settled for celebrated artists who have collaborated with her.

“I totally think of Rei as an artist in the truest sense,” Sherman said by email. “Her work questions what everyone else takes for granted as being flattering to a body, questions what female bodies are expected to look like and who they’re catering to.”

Ai Weiwei, the subject of a 2010 Comme des Garçons direct mailer, agreed that Kawakubo “is, in essence, an artist.” Unlike designers who “pursue a sense of form,” he added, “her design and creation are oriented toward attitude” — specifically, an attitude of “rebellion.”

Also taking this position is “Costume Art,” the spring exhibition at the Costume Institute. Opening May 10, the show pairs individual works from multiple designers — including Comme des Garçons — with artworks from the Met’s holdings to advance the argument made by the dress code for this year’s Met gala: “Fashion is art.”

True to form, Kawakubo sometimes opts for a third way.

“Rei has often said she’s not a designer, she’s not an artist,” Joffe said. “She is a storyteller.”

Now to find out whether an art fair sparks the drama, dialogue and attention its authors want.

Lifestyle

They set out to elevate karaoke in L.A. — and opened a glamorous lounge that pulls out all the stops

Published

11 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

They set out to elevate karaoke in L.A. — and opened a glamorous lounge that pulls out all the stops

Brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer visited karaoke spots around the globe and almost always had the same impression.

“The drinks weren’t always great, the aesthetics weren’t always so glamorous, the sound wasn’t always awesome and the lights were often generic,” says Leo, a former bassist of the band Third Eye Blind.

As devout karaoke fans, they wanted to level up the experience. So they dreamed up Mic Drop, an upscale karaoke lounge in West Hollywood that opens Thursday. It’s located inside the original Larrabee Studios, a historic 1920s building formerly owned by Carole King and her ex-husband, Gerry Goffin — and the spot where King recorded some of her biggest hits. Third Eye Blind band members Stephan Jenkins and Brad Hargreaves are investors of the new venue.

Inside the two-story, 6,300-square-foot venue with 13 private karaoke rooms and an electrifying main stage, you can feel like a rock star in front of a cheering audience. Want to check it out? Here are six things to know.

The Kremer brothers hired sculptor Shawn HibmaCronan to create an 8-foot-tall disco-themed microphone for their karaoke lounge.

1. Take your pick between a private karaoke experience or the main stage

A unique element of Mic Drop is that it offers both private karaoke rooms and a main stage experience for those who wish to sing in front of a crowd. The 13 private rooms range from six- to 45-person capacity. Each of the karaoke rooms are named after a famous recording studio such as Electric Lady, Abbey Road, Shangri La and of course, Larrabee Studios. There is a two-hour minimum on all rentals and hourly rates depend on the room size and day of the week.

But if you’re ready to take the center stage, it’s free to sing — at least technically. All you have to do is pay a $10 fee at the door, which is essentially a token that goes toward your first drink. Then you can put your name on the list with the KJ (karaoke jockey) who keeps the crowd energized throughout the night and even hits the stage at times.

Harrison Baum, left, of Santa Monica, and Amanda Stagner, 27, of Los Angeles, sing in one of the 13 private karaoke rooms.

2. Thumping, high sound quality was a top priority

As someone who toured the world playing bass for Third Eye Blind, top-tier sound was a nonnegotiable for Leo. “Typically with karaoke, the sound is kind of teeny, there’s not a lot of bass and the vocal is super hot and sitting on top too much,” he says. To combat this, he and his brother teamed up with Pineapple Audio, an audio visual company based in Chicago, to design their crisp sound system. They also installed concert-grade speakers and custom subwoofers from a European audio equipment manufacturer called Celto, and bought gold-plated Sennheiser wireless microphones, which they loved so much that they had an 8-foot-tall replica made for their main room. Designed by artist Shawn HibmaCronan, the “macrophone,” as they call it, has roughly 30,000 mirror tiles. “It spins and throws incredible disco light everywhere,” says Leo.

3. A concert-level performance isn’t complete without good stage lighting and a haze machine

Each karaoke room features a disco ball and dynamic lighting that syncs up with whatever song you’re singing, which makes you feel like you are a professional performer. There’s also a haze machine hidden under the leather seats. Meanwhile, the main stage is concert-ready with additional dancing lasers and spotlights.

Brett Adams, left, of Sherman Oaks, and Patrick Riley of Studio City sing together in one of the private rooms at Mic Drop.

4. The song selection is vast, offering classics and new hits

One of the worst things that can happen when you go to karaoke is not being able to find the song you want to sing. At Mic Drop, the odds of this happening are slim to none. The venue uses a popular karaoke service called KaraFun, which has a catalog of more than 600,000 songs (and adds 400 new tracks every month), according to its website. Take your pick from country, R&B, jazz, rap, pop, love duets and more. (Two newish selections I spotted were Raye’s “Where Is my Husband” and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” which both released late last year.) In the private karaoke rooms, there’s also a fun feature on Karafun called “battle mode,” which allows you and your crew of up to 20 people to compete in real time. KaraFun also has an entertaining music trivia game, which I tested out with the founders and came in second place.

The design inspiration for Mic Drop was 1920s music lounges and 1970s disco culture, says designer Amy Morris.

5. The interiors are inspired by 1920s music lounges mixed with ‘70s disco vibes

If you took the sophisticated aesthetic of 1920s music lounges and mixed it with the vibrant and playful era of 1970s disco culture, you’d find Mic Drop.

When you walk into the lounge, the first thing you’ll see is a bright red check-in desk that resembles a performer’s dressing room with vanity lights, several mirrors and a range of wigs. “So much of karaoke is about getting into character and letting go of the day, so we had the idea to sell the wigs,” says Oliver. As you continue into the lounge, the focal point is the stage, which is adorned with zebra-printed carpet and dramatic, red velvet curtains. For seating, slide into the red velvet banquettes or plop onto a gold tiger velvet stool. Upstairs, you’ll find the intimate karaoke studios, which are decorated with red velvet walls and brass, curved doorways that echo the building’s deco arches, says Mic Drop’s interior designer, Amy Morris of the Morris Project.

Sarah Rothman, center, of Oakland, and friend Rachel Bernstein, left, of Los Angeles, wait at the bar.

6. You can order nontraditional karaoke bites as you wait for your turn to sing

While Mic Drop offers some of the food you’d typically find at a karaoke lounge such as tater tots, truffle popcorn and pizza, the venue has some surprising options as well. For example, a 57 gram caviar service (served with chips, crème fraîche and chives) and shrimp cocktail from Santa Monica Seafood. For their pizza program, the Kremer brothers teamed up with Avalou’s Italian Pizza Company, which is run by Louis Lombardi who starred in “The Sopranos.” He’s the brainchild behind my favorite dish, the Fuhgeddaboudit pizza, which is made with pastrami, pickles and mustard. It might sound repulsive, but trust me.

As for the cheeky cocktails, they are all named after famous musicians and songs such as the Pink Pony Club (a tart cherry pomegranate drink with vodka named after Chappell Roan), Green Eyes (a sake sour with kiwi and melon named after Green Day) and Megroni Thee Stallion (an elevated negroni named after Megan Thee Stallion).

Lifestyle

You’re Invited! (No, You’re Not.) It’s the Latest Phishing Scam.

Published

22 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

You’re Invited! (No, You’re Not.) It’s the Latest Phishing Scam.

When John Lantigua, a retired journalist in Miami Beach, checked his email one recent morning, he was glad to see an invitation.

“It was like, ‘Come and share an evening with me. Click here for details,’” Mr. Lantigua said.

It appeared to be a Paperless Post invitation from someone he once worked with at The Palm Beach Post, a man who had left Florida for Mississippi and liked to arrange dinners when he was back in town.

Mr. Lantigua, 78, clicked the link. It didn’t open.

He clicked a second time. Still nothing.

He didn’t realize what was going on until a mutual friend who had received the same email told him it wasn’t an invitation at all. It was a scam.

Phishing scams have long tried to frighten people into clicking on links with emails claiming that their bank accounts have been hacked, or that they owe thousands of dollars in fines, or that their pornography viewing habits have been tracked.

The invitation scam is a little more subtle: It preys on the all-too-human desire to be included in social gatherings.

The phishy invitations mimic emails from Paperless Post, Evite and Punchbowl. What appears to be a friendly overture from someone you know is really a digital Trojan horse that gives scammers access to your personal information.

“I thought it was diabolical that they would choose somebody who has sent me a legitimate invitation before,” Mr. Lantigua said. “He’s a friend of mine. If he’s coming to town, I want to see him.”

Rachel Tobac, the chief executive of SocialProof Security, a cybersecurity firm, said she noticed the scam last holiday season.

“Phishing emails are not a new thing,” Ms. Tobac said, “but every six months, we get a new lure that hijacks our amygdala in new ways. There’s such a desire for folks to get together that this lure is interesting to people. They want to go to a party.”

Phishing scams involve “two distinct paths,” Ms. Tobac added. In one, the recipient is served a link that turns out to be dead, or so it seems. A click activates malware that runs silently as it gleans passwords and other bits of personal information. In all likelihood, this is what happened when Mr. Lantigua clicked on the ersatz invitation link.

Another scam offers a working link. Potential victims who click on it are asked to provide a password. Those who take that next step are a boon to hackers.

“They have complete control of your email and, in turn, your entire digital life,” Ms. Tobac said. “They can reset your password for your dog’s Instagram account. They can take over your bank account. Change your health insurance.”

Digital invitation platforms are trying to combat the scam by publishing guides on how to spot fake invitations. Paperless Post has also set up an email account — phishing@paperlesspost.com — for users to submit messages for verification. The company sends suspicious links to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a nonprofit that maintains a database monitored by cybersecurity firms. Flagged links are rendered ineffective.

The scammers’ new strategy of exploiting the desire for connection is infuriating, said Alexa Hirschfeld, a founder of Paperless Post. “Life can be isolating,” Ms. Hirschfeld said. “When it looks like you’re getting an invitation from someone you know, your first instinct is excitement, not skepticism.”

Olivia Pollock, the vice president of brand for Evite, said that fake invitations tended to be generic, promising a birthday party or a celebration of life. Most invitations these days tend to have a specific focus — mahjong gatherings or book club talks, for instance. “The devil is in the details,” Ms. Pollock said.

Because scammers don’t know how close you are with the people in your contact list, fake invitations may also seem random. “They could be from your business school roommate you haven’t spoken to in 10 years,” Ms. Hirschfeld said.

Alyssa Williamson, who works in public relations in New York, was leaving a yoga class recently when she checked her phone and saw an invitation from a college classmate.

“I assumed it was an alumni event,” Ms. Williamson, 30, said. “I clicked on it, and it was like, ‘Enter your email.’ I didn’t even think about it.”

Later that day, she received texts from friends asking her about the party invitation she had just sent out. Her response: What party?

“The thing is, I host a lot of events,” she said. “Some knew it was fake. Others were like, ‘What’s this? I can’t open it.’”

Andrew Smith, a graduate student in finance who lives in Manhattan, received what looked like a Punchbowl invitation to “a memory making celebration.” It appeared to have come from a woman he had dated in college. He received it when he was having drinks at a bar on a Friday night — “a pretty insidious piece of timing,” he said.

“The choice of sender was super clever,” Mr. Smith, 29, noted. “This was somebody that would probably get a reaction from me.”

Mr. Smith seized on the phrase “memory making celebration” and filled in the blanks. He imagined that someone in his ex-girlfriend’s immediate family had died. Perhaps she wanted to restart contact at this difficult moment.

Something saved him when he clicked a link and tried to tap out his personal information — his inability to remember the password to his email account. The next day, he reached out to his ex, who confirmed that the invitation was fake.

“It didn’t trigger any alarm bells,” Mr. Smith said. “I went right for the click. I went completely animal brain.”

The new scam comes with an unfortunate side effect, a suspicion of invitations altogether. It’s enough to make a person antisocial.

“Don’t invite me to anything,” Mr. Lantigua, the retired journalist, said, only half-joking. “I’m not coming.”