I am a Latin woman by all accounts -- a dark-haired, first generation Cuban American with a love of all things fiery and over-the-top. But a northeastern American upbringing has tempered my ethnic predilection for displays of excess. I count calories. I wear lots...

I was fortunate enough to be present at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 4 for the launch of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons. To be managed by the United Nations Office on...

During the early decades of the twentieth century, Alfred Stieglitz vividly captured the architecture and urban streetscapes of New York City. The first photographer to take the camera off the tripod, out of the studio, and into the streets,...

From Audrey Tatou's star turn as Coco Chanel in Anne Fontaine's Coco Avant Chanel to the recent, major exhibition devoted to thirties designer Madeleine Vionnet by Paris' Les Arts Decoratifs, French Art Deco is once again, a la mode. The Metropolitan Museum of Art...

Since the first time I heard about it, I've wanted to do the 127 Sale, that once-a-year 648 mile yard sale that runs along RT 127 from Alabama through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. A gorgeous drive, southern food, and a shot at quite possibly...

Anything plus technology is better. Especially shopping. I think that one of the best ideas ever was the big box stores installing those scanner machines that let you check the prices of items before you check out. I feel like I'm getting a better deal...

Last week I bought my eighth Mega Millions lottery ticket of the year. I'm not a gambler, but it's getting rough out there. And somehow the one dollar and 60 seconds of pride swallowing I invest weekly have become a minuscule price to pay...

Last year I heard about an online retail venture that was supposed to be the next frontier in e-commerce. In this economy? Not likely, I thought. And then I got the company's official launch announcement email last month. Eleven months and one successful online...

I'm not much of a red meat lover, but throw it in a beautiful ornate frame and I'm yours.

Los Angeles-based artist Victoria Reynolds creates strangely beautiful paintings of meat of every variety. From undulating waves of bovine musculature to delicately speckled pimento loaf...

In the weeks following the 2008 election, there has been little talk of anything not tinged with our country's pride in electing our first African American president. The dramatic crossing of this racial threshold had been a loud, heralding cry to the rest of the world that the dawn of...