Having lived and worked in St. Albans for 22-years, Melinda McCarthy has seen the area grow from a rural retreat to a much more active community. “My kids are grown now, and my oldest son lives in Chicago and hasn’t been back here for years,” she says. “He came home not long ago and said, I can’t believe all the stuff they have now, why didn’t they have all of this when we were growing up? If you’ve been here before and you think you’ve seen St. Albans, you haven’t: You need to come back. Everything has changed—but the beauty remains constant.”

The following luxury homes and condos went on the market the last week of April and the first week of May:

Itching and scratching are bad enough. But did you know that fleas also can lead to tape worms or carry diseases like bartonella, and even the plague?

Often thought of as a game for the privileged, PGA REACH flips that generalization of golf on its head. PGA REACH serves underprivileged youth by working to increase their academic—and ‘Beyond 18’ life—success.

Spring is finally here! And when the weather gets warm, people run outside. Then they fall down. Or twist their ankle. Or throw the ball just a little too hard for their own good.

As vibrant as Seattle days are, after-dark activities are equally as spirited with untold clubs and bars ranging from the Old World elegance of Oliver’s Lounge to great jazz at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley.

Love to report new places opening up: The Sweet Divine's new Soulard location at 1801 S. Ninth St. is now open for business. Likewise, Piccione Pastry at 6197 Delmar Blvd. in the U-City Loop is now up and running.

The high cost of raising a child is indisputable, and my wife and I are somewhat in denial about how much we spend on our children’s extra-curricular activities. Sure, we know what it costs to sign up for hockey, and we know the fee for each tennis lesson. It is those incidentals and unexpected opportunities that are difficult to determine. And to be honest, my parental enjoyment of these activities might be diminished if I paid too much attention to these financial expenditures.

The common wisdom is that people who love their work are those who find the most success. Here, we feature three women who prove that common wisdom right: By following their dreams, each built a business that has seen more success than most of us would dare to dream for. As John Updike once said, “The refusal to rest content—the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions—is what distinguishes artists from entertainers and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.”

“I’ve got a story to tell.” Kristina Blank Makansi and her daughter, Amira, hear those words a lot when people find out they publish books. Their publishing company, Blank Slate Press, was founded in 2010, and is steadily building a list of novels that it has brought to market.

Throw a full-time job on top of being a mother, and women these days are busy. We spotlighted three working moms who balance high-profile jobs and motherhood with ease and style.

Eric Rhone didn’t start out to be in the ‘funny’ business. Growing up in Normandy and Pine Lawn as the son of a Bi-State bus driver and city school district employee, he probably did not see himself running an entertainment company, making multi-million-dollar decisions and living in a palatial home in Frontenac.

When Saint Louis Ballet presents its Contemporary Series on May 10 and 11 at The Touhill Performing Arts Center, it will premiere brand new choreography by artistic director Gen Horiuchi, Dance St. Louis’ Michael Uthoff and Christopher d’Amboise. A renowned choreographer, former artistic director of Pennsylvania Ballet and former principal of New York City Ballet, d’Amboise says he was inspired by his previous work with Saint Louis Ballet, and created his work in conjunction with the troupe. He gave us insights into the process and the upcoming performance.

The Missouri History Museum is now offering a fun way for history buffs and barflies alike to gain an appreciation and a new perspective on the city’s fine public houses. The new initiative is called History On Tap: Pub Tours of St. Louis' Historic Neighborhoods. The first excursion led participants through Soulard. The next tour will focus on Dogtown and is scheduled for Wednesday, July 24. More info can be found at mohistory.org.

An assistant of Sir Paul McCartney recently called local designer David Deatherage to discuss purchasing a vintage desk--  the desk that was featured on the cover of LN’s Fall 2012 Elegant Living edition.

Weather conditions and human activities affect the population of monarchs. And according to Dr. Chip Taylor, a continued decline could mean the migration of these butterflies could be lost.

Admiring abstract art. Analyzing articles in The Wall Street Journal. Researching the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not the usual activities for an older adult, but for Henrietta Freedman and other local retired professionals, it’s all in a day’s coursework. As co-founder of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University, Freedman has given area seniors the gift of being in college again. And it’s a pleasure, not a chore, this time around.

The Gatesworth is getting ready to break out the silver, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary this fall. That kind of longevity doesn’t come easily, and it has been earned with a commitment to providing the highest possible level of service, says director of operations Bob Leonard. “We do quality, not quantity,” he says. “We’re not trying to run 30 senior living facilities—we have one at each level of care. We decided to do one thing, and do it right.”

At the age of 26, Ellie Hock has done a lot of things—she’s earned a master’s in speech therapy, she’s done the show-dog circuit, and she’s started her own business: Urban Nectar was the result of a journey Hock took after the death of her mother in the fall of 2011 from brain cancer. We talked to her about how it all got started.

Did the apple fall right next to the tree? Is your child your doppelganger? Are you the mother of mirror-image children? Celebrate your look-alike loved ones with LN’s Mother’s Day Look-Alike Contest!

Salish Lodge and Spa is one of those places that the travel gods sometimes reward you with. Booked at the tail end of a driving tour of the Northwest, I wasn’t expecting much. Boy, was I surprised!

I don’t know what to tell you. This movie stars some of the greatest comic actors working today. It has a clever, timely premise and some very funny dialogue. Yet, all I can do is picture a half-dozen studio executives and screenwriters sitting in some dive bar in West Hollywood saying to themselves, How did it all go so terribly wrong?

Among the most common orthopedic injuries, rotator cuff tears cause shoulder pain and temporary disability for millions of people each year. And while we associate rotator cuff injuries with baseball pitchers who are constantly putting strain on the shoulder, this problem is most often diagnosed in adults age 60 and older.