News

Going on vacation is supposed to be relaxing and fun. But 9/10, everyone always feels like they need a vacation from their vacation. There is always so much to worry about before you leave. You need to check your luggage to make sure you packed everything you meant to. When you’re actually on vacation, you are worrying about your house and your pets, hoping that they are being good for the sitter. How many times have you stressed about turning the stove off before you left the house?

Have you ever thought of using your time off from work for a staycation? This is when you don’t actually go anywhere on vacation, but you instead take time off and enjoy your city/area. Staycations are gaining popularity in recent years. As expected, some cities are much better than others for staycations. If your city doesn’t have much to offer, then that probably isn’t going to be the best city to staycation in.

Though Michelle Obama spent eight years in one of the biggest houses in the country, she didn’t always live such a spacious lifestyle. In promoting her new book, Becoming (out November 13), Michelle shared a sweet photo of her with her parents on Instagram, reminiscing about her “cramped apartment on the South Side of Chicago.

Booking a vacation is supposed to be relaxing, right? You go away for the sole purpose of escaping your day-to-day life for a week. But the actual process of planning that vacation can be a hassle. You can search multiple different sites to find the best deal and still feel like you totally missed out. If you are trying to book a flight, KAYAK is a great place to look. But what about where to stay? Hotels can be pricey, even at “discounted” rates.

Renovations came come in all shapes and sizes. Most often, we see homes transformed. But sometimes, very unique renos happen, where a building that formerly hosted one activity becomes something entirely different. Just look at this former Dutch church that was made into a library and museum. Have you ever traveled to a major city, like New York or Paris, and noticed beautiful 19th-century architecture?

Channel your inner Chip and Joanna Gaines. This Mississippi Victorian mansion truly needs every ounce of Fixer Upper spirit that there is in the world. If you love historic homes and big renovation projects, you’re going to want to pull out your checkbook and buy this house ASAP. From a first look, this crumbling Mississippi mansion might be off-putting. Who wants to spend thousands of their hard-earned money on something that is falling apart?

Have you ever wanted to live like you were rich and famous? If you said no, why are you lying? Maybe you don’t want the fast and dangerous lifestyle that might come with wealth, but everyone dreams of having a lot of money, at least once in their lifetime. John D. Rockefeller sure had that dream and he accomplished it ten times over. The oil industry business magnate became cemented in the history books when he became the first U.S. billionaire.

The architectural community is abuzz with the news that the first stateside IKEA hotel could be coming soon. Reportedly, the Swedish home goods giant has plans to expand its stake in the hospitality industry by converting the Pirelli Tire Building in New Haven, Connecticut into lodging.

Reboots can either be the absolute worst, or they’re the best thing to happen to TV. It’s frustrating that some showrunners just won’t let a series end. But then there are instances where they know what’s best and bring back the show we really needed – thank god Trading Spaces is back! In a world where HGTV reigns supreme with 20 different house-flipping shows, the Trading Spaces reboot is a breath of fresh air on TLC.

Friendship is an amazing, incredible, frustrating, annoying, and beautiful thing. Each friendship that you have is different from the other. You might have one friend you’ve known since you were five that knows every embarrassing childhood story possible. But then you can have a best friend that just knows you on every single level, even though you’ve only known each other for a year.

Amazon is trying to become the coolest place in the world. They bought Whole Foods. You can have things delivered to your house in an hour. You can watch TV from basically anywhere using Amazon Prime. Honestly, is there anything bad about Amazon? Well, if you think it is great to be an Amazon customer, it sounds like being an employee is even better. The Amazon headquarters are even more pet-friendly than any other office in the world What could make any workday better? A dog, obviously.

Apparently, catching a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis isn’t the easiest exploratory feat to check off your travel bucket list. But one surefire way of increasing the odds of witnessing the shimmery cosmic phenomenon up close and in person is to spend a few nights in the Panorama Glass Lodge, a family-owned seaside retreat in Iceland that grants guests full access to remote relaxation and plenty of aurora-viewing opportunities throughout the duration of their stay.

You might know Kate Walsh from her roles on Shondaland series staples Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, but did you know she has her own fragrance line? Called Boyfriend, the scent has recently expanded to candles, and we chatted with the star about her home projects, embracing coziness, and how she prefers to relax. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

It’s been a minute since Jennifer Garner’s Alias and 13 Going On 30 days, but the star is hardly finding it tough to stay relevant. Her amazing response to the GIF of her realization at the Oscars notwithstanding, the actress has a truly wonderful Instagram series where she reads children’s books to her golden retriever, Birdie.

It’s not just the sex of Chip and Joanna Gaines’s new baby that’s causing quite the discussion. Now that the Waco duo has revealed their baby’s gender, the world is plotting away trying to determine what the little boy’s name will be. As any Fixer Upper superfan would know, the Gaines family already has two boys: Drake, 12, and Duke, 9. (There are also two little girls, Ella, 11, and Emmie Kay, 7.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Mattel just announced that they will be releasing a run of new Barbie dolls modeled after inspiring women. Along with adding dolls to their Shero collection, Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo and Katherine Johnson have all been given the Barbie treatment for the new Inspiring Women series. I am truly honoured to be part of the Barbie family, celebrating International Women’s Day.

Slip into some sweet silk sheets and get ready to drift away, mystic mermies. For most of this month, the Sun is in touchy-feely Pisces, and the prescription is pure surrender and shell-colored shades of allowing. Think of the possibility of simply “melting” into every area of your life. No hard focuses. No musts or shoulds. Just a sense of moving with and alongside the tidal shifts exactly as they are.