With the change in seasons comes with it the necessary sartorial adjustments. Flirty sundresses will be retired in favor of wool socks, and sun hats for knitted beanies. I, for one, think it's high time this shift was reflected in your closet, don't you? I mean, can we just all get this right this time around? After all, rotating your closet seasonally isn't merely a task for the anal retentive or the slave-to-fashion, it's for ...

Even those who prefer au natural ingredients and the relish of from-scratch deserve the convenience of a ready-made-mix. When I was young, my family spent a lot of time at our lakeside cottage in Northern Michigan. Among the paraphernalia packed was inevitably a pancake mix--that is, the assemblage of dry ingredients required for our pancake recipe. The cottage kitchen was fully stocked with things like Hershey's bars, marshmallows and graham crackers, but tended to lack ...

I live around the corner from a grocery store, which is a great convenience. That the grocery store contains a Starbucks is besides the point, but necessarily increases the amount I frequent said store. Anyhow, there's a man who stands outside the place. He's there every day, selling Real Change newspapers. There are a few scenarios wherein it feels especially strange to be especially fortunate--in the presence of those not as fortunate--and trotting into a ...

Picking up from Spotlight on France, The Country (Part 1)... From Fontainebleau it was on to the South of France--dear, lord, be still my heart, the South of France. A dream. A private villa that almost had you convinced nothing and no one else existed beyond its bounds: Dinner was taken at Le Clos Saint Pierre, a meal to be remembered, put plainly. It's one of those places where you tell the kindly waiter, "I can't/don't ...

You have a kid, and then you have to get storage, so says the golden rule. Or something. It's not uncommon for the closet in baby's room to (at least initially) be monopolized by mom's or dad's belongings. Especially if the home is smaller in scale, and the baby is brand spankin', there won't have been a reason for said parents not to utilize the perfectly good closet space until that point. During the time ...