The following luxury homes and condos went on the market the first two weeks of May:

Fork & Stix recently opened its doors on the eastern edge of the U. City Loop just off Delmar Boulevard, and local foodies have been talking and blogging about the place ever since. On our recent visit, we learned first-hand what all the hype was about.

Parents make lots of sacrifices for their kids: soccer games, recitals, braces and the family truckster. Fortunately, family vehicles have progressed since Chevy Chase's Vacation in a Ford station wagon.

The pseudo-Alpine facade of Schneithorst's has been a landmark at the corner of Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road for almost 60 years. In recent times, the lot has been altered somewhat. Now the restaurant is part of The Village at Schneithorst’s, a development that includes several retail establishments that cluster outside the restaurant like a feudal village. While the building and the surroundings may have changed, the food at Schneithorst’s remains—in many ways—unchanged.

The following luxury homes and condominiums sold the first two weeks of May:

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:

A two-story home in Ladue with 12 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5 full- and 1-half bath is listed for $1.375 million.

Cini is now open in Ladue’s Colonial Marketplace. The ‘fast-casual’ Italian restaurant concept was created by DAVID JONES and DOUG TIEBER (developers of Buffalo Wild Wings in the St. Louis area), along with FRANK and CARMELO GABRIELE of Il Bel Lago. Short for ‘arancinis,’ the name comes from a traditional fried Italian street food staple made with rice and vegetables, which will be handmade daily at Cini. Also open at Colonial Marketplace is The Original Pancake House, known for its mouth-watering breakfast treats like the Dutch Baby and Apple Pancakes. 

The following luxury homes sold the third and fourth weeks in April:

Imagine this life if you will: You are a senior in high school. You can throw a fastball 90-plus miles per hour. You are a starter on a very good basketball team. And you also happen to be one of the better quarterbacks in the Midwest.

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.

Beach season is almost here, and the look for summer is definitely Bohemian. Ethnic prints mixed with muted colors, fringe details and loose-fitting shapes work on everyone.

In celebration of Earth Day this month, we focus on electric/hybrid automobiles. Though some may think electric cars are something new, from about 1900 to the late 1920s, there were a number of electric cars built and sold in America, including Milburns, Bakers and Detroit Electrics. They were mainly driven around town by women who didn’t want to deal with the oil, gas, fumes and shifting of an internal combustion engine.

The following luxury homes and condos went on the market the second and third week of April:

When we first heard about chef/owner Ben Poremba's innovative vision of turning an old South City house into a fine-dining restaurant (Elaia), and the retired service station next door to it into a wine bar (Olio), we were a bit unsure of just how it would work out. Since the dual concepts have been up and running for a while now, we finally stopped in for dinner at Elaia and are pleased to report the project is quite the success.

It's getting closer…soon, St. Louis will be hosting the top senior professional golfers in the world.

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.

GREAT NEW PRICE! 15% REDUCTION FROM ORIGINAL LIST PRICE! THIS IS THE MOST HOUSE & PROPERTY FOR THE PRICE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN LADUE! Spacious home in great Ladue neighborhood. Approx. 7,000 sq. ft. of living space on 1.8 acre property. Updated kitchen with center island, family room plus hearth room-open floor plan. Main lever master bedroom suite plus upper level master suite and 3 additional second floor bedrooms. Updated baths. Walkout lower level with bar/kitchen area, exercise, game/family room, sixth bedroom and full bath. Rear deck, patio and pool. 3-car garage.

Well, it’s another dry week at the cineplex. So if you were hotly anticipating my review of the Evil Dead remake or Jurassic Park 3D I’m sorry to disappoint. Nevertheless, if you insist on getting out of the sunshine and hunkering down in a murky movie theater here are your options:

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