Driving home the other night, I caught the first installment of All Things Considered’s seasonal series Summer Song Favorites, in which they asked songwriter Todd Snider to recall the single song… More

Many warn that painting a wood floor is not an entirely practical choice -- the restoration, should you change their mind a year from now (it happens), can be difficult, and cause some serious damage if… More

I recently regaled my husband with the story of how I once, many years ago, installed a dimmer switch in my old San Francisco. I was super proud of myself, until a good friend alerted me of my good fortune… More

With the recession has come a wholesale review of the definition of value, the importance of price, the role of quality and the meaning of brand. It's as if somewhere it has been decided that because money… More

This week work and real life have intersected, once again. My husband just repainted our exterior trim and all of the exterior doors. It was a long time coming, I’ll tell you. Our house was built… More

Summer, even in these lean times, has a sense of abundance, in large part because the fruit and vegetables growing at this time of year are quite literally ripe for the picking. At our house, dinners outside… More