Meg Hemphill

When did it become okay to call a main course an entrée? You don't need to be a French speaker to translate the word -- it means entrance, as in entry into a meal; starter. But for some reason on menus all around the country (and even on the Food...

Here are the things I needed when planning a girls' getaway for with my sister and her daughter: Sunshine, proximity to the Pacific Northwest and a sophisticated but kid-friendly atmosphere. So we packed our bags for Palm Springs. Upon landing at LAX, we picked up a BMW 6-series...

One of many things I love about my boyfriend (keep reading for a title change) is that he would never squander a day sitting inside watching TV or anything else mind-numbing; he's ready to go do something at any moment. So I wanted to plan a getaway for us that...

When I lived in Manhattan, the holidays meant one thing: Throngs of tourists outside my Rockefeller Center office gawking at a tree. No thanks. Now that I've been away for a few years, I felt nostalgic for a visit at the holidays (and I can always use a business trip...

Vancouver, British Columbia is one of the loveliest cities in the world: It's clean, easy to walk around, friendly, and full of delicious seafood. And, after having visited four non-English speaking countries this month, I have to say there's something nice about not struggling for directions or doing math to...

ABC's Pan Am is a bit dramatized when it comes to plot, but how accurate are the uniforms they use for their stewardesses and pilots?
The original stewardess uniform was designed by the Californian couturier, Don Loper, who used a...

As the holidays approach, so do party invitations and the potentially confusing dress code requests. "The point of adding a dress code is so that everyone feels comfortable -- it puts everyone on the same playing field," says etiquette consultant and author Mindy Lockard. "Since the invitation itself...

Vail almost has a strange Stepford wives thing going on. Everyone is fit, outdoorsy, smiles a lot, has amazing skin and seems lit from within. Is this just the altitude (Vail's at 8,150 feet) making my brain fuzzy or is there more to it?

Vail is renowned for its...

Is farm-to-table what food foam was three years ago: a big buzz trend that no one is actually doing? Well that's the point of the Northwest farm collaborative dinner that I attended this weekend: To strengthen the movement by presenting dinners throughout the summer, to make sure this worthwhile way...

When I was invited to Tales of the Cocktail, it was described to me as "the Fashion Week of spirits." (Um, yes I will attend, thank you very much.) For this annual event, mixologists, alcohol brand ambassadors and cocktail consumers descend upon New Orleans to taste and see...

Let me begin by acknowledging my feelings about Las Vegas: I've had many fun times there, some amazing meals (ones at Mix and the now-closed Daniel Boulud Brasserie come to mind) and a few ridiculous boozy gambling adventures. But when I walk through a hotel casino at 5:30...

By Meg Hemphill for iVillage

Until last week I'd only spent one night in the south of Florida, in Fort Lauderdale as a teenager en route to the Bahamas. So I was due for a trip, albeit a shorty, to see a bit more of the area; namely, Miami Beach and Key West. A mini...

When you think Scotland, golf, kilts and Scotch come to mind, right? After a recent trip to the Highlands, I discovered outdoor sports much more exciting than golf, that people do wear kilts (mostly for occasions like weddings) and that Scotch is fantastic.

I tagged along on the Drambuie...

Between creamed rabbit, beef cheek, and mussels with lemon fries, I have eaten well the past four days. It's not hard to find a decent meal in Portland, OR -- it's mecca to up-and-coming chefs who can't afford the restaurant rents in NYC. These three meals were so remarkable that...

New Zealand is an amazing country because it's about the size of Colorado, yet you can spend weeks and weeks exploring it and still feel like you've just hit the tip of the iceberg (which, coincidentally, do float up to NZ from Antarctica). I've traveled to NZ about a dozen...

When Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz, Blake Lively and all three Kardashian sisters are just the beginning of a long list of bold-face names wearing the exact same thing, it catches my attention. This was the case with the Tummy Control Capri Pants...

Free alcohol, fully-reclining seats, the packet of beauty products, including sleep mask and ear plugs: ah the perks of business or first class. Unfortunately, my seat number is higher in the double digits sometimes, so I make do with my own airplane beauty kit.

Travel companions have even commented...

At the beginning of January, I decided to try barre-based workouts on DVD. The main reason for this is that I loathe how crowded the gym is at the beginning of the year when New Year's resolutions prompt people to work out more. (Good on everyone, but it's annoyingly crowded...

Plane food is gross. I used to eat it -- chicken or beef -- because it was there, free and would keep me occupied for 11 minutes of the flight. But now that plane food sometimes costs money, there's no way I'm getting near that preservative-laden garbage.

These days...