Today’s Indianapolis City Guide Update comes from Leslie Bailey, a freelance writer for Indianapolis Monthly, regular contributor to the Indianapolis Star and author of the blog Lesalina.com. She lives in downtown Indianapolis with her two cats and subscribes to a preposterous number of magazines. Today she has graciously updated the Indianapolis guide (just in time for the 2012…
(all photos by Eric Lauer) Today’s Miami City Guide update comes from Sarah Lederman, author of the lifestyle blog Chevrons & Stripes and co-owner of the jewelry line Aroc Urtu. A born and bred New Yorker, Sarah spent several winters in Miami before moving to Miami Beach, and she has amassed a collection of great local restaurants, shops…
Photo by David Bacher Back in 2009, I wrote the Paris City Guide with help from some of the Paris designers I featured in our regional round-up. I don’t think I knew at the time that I’d be moving to Paris later that fall, where I’ve been for 2.5 years now. While I’ve done a lot…
Photo by Carey Baker Today’s Northampton, MA, city guide comes from designer Mary Wiseman, who moved to Northampton from Beijing, China, five years ago. Living downtown, Mary keeps a sharp eye on this quaint city and its happenings while she develops instructional materials and online courses. Thank you for this wonderful guide through Northampton, Mary! — Stephanie…
Illustration by Julia Rothman Our Brighton City Guide comes from Michelle Butler, a printmaker and web designer based in Brighton. Her prints are influenced by folk traditions, dark tales, mid-century design and Forteana. Today Michelle shows us around her city’s artistic sites, classic shops and charming cafes. Thanks, Michelle, for this wonderful tour of Brighton! —…
I love books. I have a master’s degree in library science, spent eight years at the New York Public Library before joining Design*Sponge and have a relatively large collection of books at home. So each fall, I anxiously await the moment I can begin work on this guide. This year while traveling around the country,…
Even nature fiends happily succumb to commercialized holiday commemorations. Since I launched my flower business this year and started writing a flower column for the site, I’ve got nothing but blooms on the brain. From a classic book by flower gods to rubber galoshes for morning garden runs and tongue-in-cheek gilded lily stationery, this list…
Early on during our 10 weeks on the road this fall, Amy and I started joking about starting a beauty blog. We both became obsessive about eye creams and face masks on the book tour in an attempt to cover up our lack of sleep and over-consumption of caffeine and sugar. Sadly this was nothing…
The time has come for the last of my gift guides, and I’m ending with something a little fancy, extra special and on the “splurge” end of things. But I’ll be honest — I don’t plan on doing much splurge buying or receiving this year. With all that’s going on with the economy and the…
Image of the Historic Robert Mills House via Akhenaton06 Today’s Columbia, SC, city guide comes from one of the city’s resident girls about town, Kim Jamieson. After finishing graduate school at the University of South Carolina, Kim landed a position at a Columbia-area PR firm, bought a house and planted roots in the state’s capital…
Every year when the Christmas decorations start to roll out in droves, I find myself overwhelmed with all the options. But when I talk to my Jewish friends, they often lament the lack of decoration options for Hanukkah. So this year I decided to turn on a marathon of The Big Bang Theory (Sheldon!) and…
Like Santa, I’ve listened closely all year to friends and acquaintances as they spoke passionately about objects and experiences they really loved. What struck me most about their stories was that many of them never expected to derive such enjoyment, personal enrichment, and/or utility from the items/experiences they spoke about, such as a beautiful platter, a…
I’m a sucker for beautiful patterns, and this new Troika collection from Frida Plumm is just gorgeous. The tins of stationery would be perfect holiday gifts (or really nice stocking stuffers), and the platters are great for housewarming presents. Click here to view the full collection and shop online (note cards are $30 and platters…
I adore the holiday season. From candlelit nights and spiked eggnog to evergreen boughs on the mantel and solstice soirees, the stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve is one of my most-beloved times of the year. I can’t get enough of sitting beside the wood stove in my flannel PJs, mug of hot cocoa…
Today is my final budget-friendly gift guide (there are still more guides to come), and I’m wrapping things up with gifts on the higher end of the price spectrum: $100 and under. For those with a little extra to spend this year, I’ve rounded up some great options, from jewelry and accessories to tabletop goods,…
DIY lovers are some of my favorite people to shop for, and it’s not just because they sometimes give me the things they make :) It’s because most of the avid DIYers I know are always looking to learn a new skill, try a new craft or experiment with a new tool, and this makes them…
I’ve finally started to make my Christmas list and begin shopping for friends and family. I far prefer figuring out gifts for other people, so sometimes making these gift guides is fun because I like to imagine who I’d buy what for out of each one. This guide was one of my favorites because there…
This year instead of trimming the tree and hanging stockings, my husband and I have been labeling moving boxes and lovingly wrapping our knickknacks. We are in the process of buying our first home, and all I want for this holiday season is to feel settled in a place where I can plant my roots….
After hours of internet window shopping this weekend I ended up with a desktop folder overflowing with over 400 gift ideas. On Sunday night I cozied into the couch, turned on my favorite weekend shows and started creating this year’s budget-friendly gift guides. I arranged the gifts according to price, with tons of options $25…
Music fans are a tricky bunch to buy gifts for. I’ve learned this firsthand, mostly by shopping for a few in my own life every December, but also by being one myself. You’ve probably run into trouble with this, too. It likely won’t do to buy the music fans on your list any old record…
