First it was granite. All granite, all the time—people had to have their granite. But as the kitchen/bath upgrade revolution has aged, other materials have gained a foothold. So it is with soapstone, now the third most popular natural stone countertop material behind granite and marble, according to the International Surface Fabricators Association. “At one […]
First it was granite. All granite, all the time—people had to have their granite. But as the kitchen/bath upgrade revolution has aged, other materials have gained a foothold. So it is with soapstone, now the third most popular natural stone countertop material behind granite and marble, according to the International Surface Fabricators Association. “At one […]
On her second birthday, Ellie Blaine started vomiting repeatedly. After two weeks of multiple doctor and ER visits, her parents finally knew why: Ellie was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called pineoblastoma. The family was in shock. “We knew she was sick but we didn’t expect a brain tumor,” said Carly Blaine, Ellie’s […]
Fine, I did it. We were pulling into our parking space, and even with the Happy Feet DVD playing and my escalating promises of macaroni for lunch and juice at dinner and twin ponies made out of Skittles for her 32nd birthday, my toddler would not stop crying. I could be having a root canal […]
Like many expectant parents, I was dreading the number one and two responsibilities of raising a baby. The numbers are daunting: According to one source, the average baby requires somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 diaper changes from birth to the successful completion of potty training. Newborns require as many as 12 diaper changes a day. […]
Wendy Fisher was forever the new kid. Twelve times she started at a different elementary school. Twelve times she had to figure out how to fit in. She got pretty good at it. “As a kid and as a family, the best thing to do is to join something,” she said. “Join a team, the […]
Is there a more misunderstood and utterly disorganized style of wine than “sparkling”? (Alright, maybe Riesling, but that’s another discussion entirely—stay tuned!) Sparkling wine is, by all accounts, the patron wine of “special occasions” and celebration, and has thus been cast about, bastardized, and otherwise abused to the point of utter confusion and caricature. Let’s […]
After years of working with toxic chemicals in his bath tub repair and refinishing business, Wes Carter decided he wanted “a cleaner, less harmful occupation,” so he focused his attention on stone. “It could provide me not only with those options, but also a rewarding finished product,” he said. He opened Albemarle Countertop Company in […]
An old, rusty fan sat in a building for 30 years before, thanks to Winston Yancey Jr., it got a second chance. The fan, which once belonged to Yancey’s grandfather, had withstood winter’s cold and summer’s heat before Yancey rescued it and brought it back to life with 10 hours of elbow grease, no tools, […]
For most of my sushi eating life, I’ve thought of the the sushi roll as not much more than a wasabi delivery vehicle. Sushi was such an obvious scam when it first showed up on these shores, somehow convincing spendthrift, culinary adventure-seekers that not cooking something made it fancy. And most of the places selling […]
My parents didn’t take me to visit any colleges when I was a teenager. I’m sure they would have, if I’d asked, but neither of them attended college, so it never occurred to my mom and dad that they should have a look-see at the place their first-born would spend her post-high school years. In those pre-Internet days […]